This is what a study conducted by a UGent master’s student, Marco Verheuge, in collaboration with the knowledge center of the Belgian Football Union (RBFA Knowledge Center) reveals. The latter now wishes to share these results internationally.
In total, the study compiled between the seasons 1979-1980 and 2017-2018 the European results of 205 coaches who had a career as a professional player and who obtained the Belgian coaching diploma UEFA A or UEFA B. This compilation has in particular allowed to calculate the success of each coach, while looking at their background and previously held positions.
“The study shows that ex-professional footballers who started as a youth assistant or coach before becoming T1 are more likely to succeed than those who start immediately as a head coach in professional football,” notes Marco Verheuge.
However, staying too long as an assistant or in age teams can also have negative effects. The results indicate that success decreases for coaches who have been assistants for about four to five years, or youth coach for about seven years.
“The results confirm the feeling of Kris Van Der Haegen, responsible for coaching training on behalf of the RBFA, who has been preaching patience to ambitious ex-professionals for a while and who in this regard referred to the career of Philippe Clément” , says RBFA Knowledge Center coordinator, Dr Matteo Bailiauw.
In the light of these results, the Belgian Football Union then sought to obtain the opinions of former footballers who had become coaches. So she turned to Red Devils coach Roberto Martinez and former Real Madrid star striker Raul. “Your experience as a player is important, but it does not determine whether you will be a good coach,” reacted the current manager of Castilla, the training center of Real Madrid. “Every day I learn more about how to better communicate my vision for football so that my players perform better individually and as a team. Along the way, my confidence as a coach has also grown in the way I play. address them and stimulate them “.
From now on, the RBFA wishes to share its results at the international level. This was the first study of this magnitude to be conducted on the subject.
