Roxburgh's coaching X-factor

By Andy Roxburgh, UEFA Technical Director

Forty-five national associations have joined UEFA's coaching convention and the remaining seven will, if everything goes to plan, be on board within the next two years. With UEFA's help, the formal education of coaches throughout the continent has reached a new level of efficiency.

Investment required
But is it enough to develop sophisticated programmes, to train the trainers to become knowledgeable about the principles of the game, to understand the team building process, and to have the capacity to coach players, on and off the pitch? Having a coaching licence will confirm a coach's competence, but in top-level football it is the individual qualities, the special talent, that makes the difference. Formal coach education is not enough - coaches must also invest in themselves.

Own style
Because there is no formula for success, coaches need to develop their own style; they must dare to be different. In Brazil, where there is no organised coach education programme (except for university physical education studies), the top coaches are self-taught. Through trial and error, personal study, and discussions with coaching colleagues, they find their own way.

Long-term curiosity
Such self-reliance creates a long-term curiosity about the game. As Carlos Alberto Parreira, the head coach of Brazil, reflecting on the art of coaching, stated at the UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul: "It takes a lifetime to simplify it." Formal education, with its many advantages, speeds up development and minimises basic mistakes. But coaches who win at the highest level have added an extra dimension, something personal, something special.

Winning mentality
The Champions League champion coaches of the last two years, José Mourinho and Rafael Benítez, are good examples of coaches who have been educated but who have also pursued their own path. José Mourinho encapsulates the global thinking: "There's a history made up by each of us that leads us to that final victory. It's that history, in its entirety, that turns us into champions." When Rafael Benítez found himself unemployed he went to Italy, studied at the top clubs, and reinvented himself into a European champion. Which begs the question: Can a winning mentality be trained?

Learning situations
Creative coach education recognises the importance of heredity, environment and personal history in the development of a coach. But those who train the trainers also understand their role in creating learning situations, in stimulating student coaches to think for themselves, and in encouraging self-reliance and the continuous search for simplicity, effectiveness and fine details.

Teach themselves
As Arjen Robben of Chelsea FC says about his boss, Mourinho: "He is successful because of his attention to detail. Nothing is left to chance." Of course, there is a time and place for direct teaching, but if coaches are to be independent and self-sufficient, then coach educators must promote the axiom: Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. In other words, teach them to teach themselves.

Experience helps
Coach education is important. However, it is only part of the jigsaw that makes up the individual's coaching DNA. Experiences, like a career as a professional player, having a father who was a coach, studying to be a teacher, surviving the sack in management, mixing with football winners, reading extensively, and so on can all contribute to the coach with a rich history.

Tough people last
Tough times never last - but tough people do. The top coaches who participate in UEFA's competitions are mentally strong, fully committed, well educated, and fiercely self-reliant. UEFA's coaching convention has helped the associations to upgrade, or to refine, their coach education schemes. But formal education will never be enough - coaches must also invest in themselves if they want to be special, if they want to be winners.

This article appears as the editorial column in the official UEFA publication The Technician.