All hail football’s “teacher coach”
Roar Guru By Jesse Fink, 29 Apr 2009 Jesse Fink is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Bayern Munich, football, Jurgen Klinsmann, World Football
Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann, right, celebrates with forward Miroslav Klose at the end of the World Cup, Group A soccer match between Germany and Poland, at the Dortmund stadium, Germany, Wednesday, June 14, 2006. Germany won 1-0. The other teams in Group A are Ecuador and Costa Rica. AP Photo/Murad Sezer
How the mighty fall. German superclub Bayern Munich has fired Jürgen Klinsmann after just eight months in the job, an amazing state of affairs when you consider that Klinsmann, Germany’s folk hero at the 2006 World Cup, was so in demand he could have signed anywhere and for just about any amount of money.
But after starting his club coaching career brightly, amid the attendant mists of hype and optimism, his reputation began to wane and, after crashing out of the UEFA Champions League and the DFB Cup, a 1-0 home league loss to Schalke 04 at the Allianz Arena in Munich sealed his fate. Bayern, a club used to sitting atop the Bundesliga perch, is also currently sitting in equal third with Hamburg and Stuttgart behind Wolfsburg and Hertha Berlin, but only three points behind Wolfsburg with five games to play.
A not insurmounstable lead, but for the Bavarian giants, to even be in third at this stage of the season is unacceptable by any measure, let alone with a former Germany national-team coach at the helm and stars of the wattage of Luca Toni and Franck Ribery on their roster.
Brutal, perhaps, but this is not a club that mucks around – even with national heroes.
What Klinsmann’s story underlines is the danger to many clubs of falling for a “player coach” over a “teacher coach”.
A “teacher coach”, a term Iran manager Afshin Ghotbi introduced me to, is as exactly as it sounds: someone, usually a man who never achieved much as a player himself, who has done all the groundwork to assume a position of such responsibility, who has fastidiously studied every facet of the game, who is familiar with training and tactical innovations, who has gathered experience and wisdom through legwork and failure, who can impart valuable knowledge to his players and know they will listen and inspire them to become better footballers and human beings in the process.
Sort of a like a footballing Glenn Holland or a John Keating.
Ghotbi is one. Pim Verbeek is one. As is Guus Hiddink, Jose Mourinho, Klinsmann’s Bayern predecessor Ottmar Hitzfeld and his Nationalmannschaft replacement, Joachim Löw.
The Socceroos have had a few over the years, such as the aforementioned Hiddink, Terry Venables, Frank Arok and Joe Vlasits.
The “player coach” is the complete opposite: a manager that has arrived in his vaulted position by virtue of the career he had on the park and the notoriety he achieved as a result. Usually they are young, have scant qualifications and are ill-equipped to assume the mantle of life guide to footballers not that much younger or inexperienced than themselves.
Think of Alan Shearer, Gianfranco Zola, Ruud Gullit, Diego Maradona and, closer to these shores, Graham Arnold and Frank Farina.
They might luck out with one or two good seasons but over a longer period of time – if they are allowed to coach that long – and under pressure their deficiencies quickly become apparent.
In football, as in life, there is no substitute for experience and just playing football and scoring goals does not a coach make. That’s not to say “player coaches” can contribute some valuable things to a dressing-room, as we have seen with Maradona and the thrall in which he is held inside the sheds of the Albicelestes, but up against good teams and shrewd tacticians of the calibre of a Mourinho or Hiddink, the likelihood is sooner or later they will be found wanting.
And that, sadly, is precisely the fate that has befallen Klinsmann.
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- Bayern Munich, football, Jurgen Klinsmann, World Football
April 29th 2009 @ 10:10am
whiskeymac said | April 29th 2009 @ 10:10am | Report comment
Keegan almost got NUFC to the EPL in 96 (i think) – a great team to watch, and a great manger to watch implode…
April 29th 2009 @ 11:13am
Jesse Fink said | April 29th 2009 @ 11:13am | Report comment
Lucas Toni? No idea. Obviously one of those Microsoft Word autofills.It should be back to Luca Toni now. Hahahaha.
April 29th 2009 @ 11:23am
Vicentin said | April 29th 2009 @ 11:23am | Report comment
I’ve always thought that footballing intelligence and the ability to impart it is what is important, not the strength of one’s playing career. Pippu will remember this but on another blog some years ago we talked not only about whether you need to be an elite player but also what part of the pitch you played on. Of course there are always a few noticable exceptions (Cruyff, Ferguson I think) but the majority of decent coaches I can think of also played deeper – fullbacks, keepers, midfielders – my explanation to this is that as you play deeper you have to be a better reader of the game and almost naturally have more of a “team” mentality. Strikers – and rightly so – are selfish players who obsess about their own position but often don’t really care about what happens on the other side of the halfway line or even their half of the pitch – as long as it gets to them!
In relation to Luke W’s Qld RL example, lots of people thought that Klinsy and Low had the same kind of roles as Meninga and Henry. Bayern bought the wrong one I fear or should have tried to get them as a double act. Remember too that Ferguson generally has had a tactical specialist working with him – Quiroz for instance (who will forever be a good Number 2 but seems to be failing in his current role heading Portugal). On that point it is probably important to note that charisma is important too and there are probably plenty of people who on paper should be good manager but just don’t have the charisma or strength of personality to really carry it through.
April 29th 2009 @ 12:24pm
Slippery Jim said | April 29th 2009 @ 12:24pm | Report comment
There is only three years difference in age between Mourinho and Zola.
While I had my doubts about Zola’s as a top level coach due to his lack of experience, he has done wonders for West Ham, who are in contention for a spot in Europe on current form. Not sure how much of that is down to Steve Clarke, though.
By the way, I must say I am warming to this guy Ghotbi. The more he gets mentioned the more I start to see him as one of the top managers in world football.
Jesse, see if you can get another gig on TWG’s TV slot, you could introduce the occasional subliminal shot of Ghotbi Fight-Club style to promote his career, maybe interspersed with shots from Nick Carle’s wonder days with the mighty Jets.
April 29th 2009 @ 1:37pm
Pippinu said | April 29th 2009 @ 1:37pm | Report comment
Vicentin
yes recall the discussion (and many variations around it since) – I also recall that you first raised it in the infancy of Arnold’s NT coaching career (i.e. before he was utterly discredited by all and sundry).
While there are plenty of exceptions, and a few have been mentioned on this thread, I think it’s hard to argue with the basic premise that you need to have a deeper understanding of the game to play deep (pun was not intended, but now that it’s happened, well, it’s almost like an epiphany…)
April 29th 2009 @ 2:03pm
Vicentin said | April 29th 2009 @ 2:03pm | Report comment
Yes, well I guess that accounts for Arnie’s tactical favourite (regularly shouted from the sidelines) of “get it in box” !
Pippinu – with your IQ, depth of football knowledge and language skills, is it any wonder that you can drop puns while not even realising it?! Let us all thank the lord for putting you on the planet – and in the lucky country! If only you could move to Sydney!!!!
April 29th 2009 @ 2:27pm
Joe said | April 29th 2009 @ 2:27pm | Report comment
Interesting take on “player coaching”. A similarexample I could think of is in the NBA: Coach Magic Johnson compared to Coach Phil Jackson. Both became players and both ended up coaching the LA Lakers. Magic will forever be known as an all-time great player (and forgotten as a coach) and Phil will always be known as an all-time great coach.
April 29th 2009 @ 2:27pm
Art Sapphire said | April 29th 2009 @ 2:27pm | Report comment
Yes, defenders and midfielders are more likely to become managers.
But you would rather watch a team managed by an ex-striker/attacking player. Much more entertaining and positive.
E.G Cruyff, Ferguson, Tele Santana (jogo bonito).
As a Hammers fan, Zola is getting the boys to play some decent stuff.
April 29th 2009 @ 2:44pm
Pippinu said | April 29th 2009 @ 2:44pm | Report comment
Art
that’s an interesting question for everyone.
Is an ex-attacking player likely to play an attacking style, and conversely, is an ex-defender likely to be more defensive?
Does been ultra-organised necessarily mean being ultra-defensive? (a team with strategic nous will destroy a team without it – such that the question is almost academic).
I can still recall Arnie putting on 4 or 5 attacking players late in that game against Iraq in the Asian Cup when they smashed us – it wasn’t a pretty sight. And yet, when Guus did something similar against Japan, it pretty much saved our bacon – but I guess that’s your difference right there in having a robust game plan and not.
Does anyone have any first hand knowledge as to how Dino Zoff’s teams played? (I presume they didn’t resemble 11 keepers!!)
April 29th 2009 @ 2:59pm
Vicentin said | April 29th 2009 @ 2:59pm | Report comment
Zoff’s teams were very attacking infact – both his Lazio side (ok, perhaps not as attacking as Zeman’s but still attractive) and the Italian side that lost the final against France were very attractive atttacking teams. It is going back a while now but were nothing like the dour Italy under Trappatoni or Cesare Maldini that’s for sure. I was really disappointed that he quit immediately after the final – supposedly because Berlusconi criticised him and thought he should. That’s a worry.