The magazine Foot Citoyen has consecrated a special edition to the "transmission" of a message to players from their coaches. Eric Gerets gave a long interview to the magazine, unveiling his method. Here is the first part of his interview.
Since his arrival at Olympique de Marseille at the end of September 2007, Eric Gerets has managed to instill confidence in his players. Having seen a radical turn around in behavior and the complicity that links the players to the coach, the magazine Foot Citoyen wanted to find out a little more about the method used. The Belgian coach does not talk about technique, nor tactics, but affection, respect, honesty, work and solidarity... the keys for getting the message across!
Do you have a memory of your first coaches and what they taught you?
I played in a small club, who didn’t have trained coaches. When you start playing with psychology, you have to know what you’re talking about. I don’t mean they were bad, but they were focused on the football. That’s what was expected back then. All I remember is that they had noticed that I was a bit more talented than the others and that they did their utmost to help me become a professional footballer. All they talked about was hard work : « If you want to make it, you have to work for it! » That’s what remains for me.
It’s a value that has always been with you?
Yes as, in whatever you do, you have to work and be concentrated.
That’s the message that you pass on to your players?
Not just that... As I try to live in the present, I try to work on the human and emotional side as well. You have to help your player with his thoughts. I can see when one of the players has a problem... If he puts in a poor performance, well it happens, but after three poor performances you notice that something is up. In that case I have to help him... for his sake, for the team and for me. That is why I often have fairly long « conversations » with players. I’ll tell them after training : « You didn’t play well today, but I’m sure there is a reason and if you want to talk to me about it, you know where to find me... ». It’s important to be there when they need to talk to you.
Do you have the impression that you are talking to the man rather than the player in these cases?
Yes, and as a man I know how important that is.
This interview is taken from an issue of the magazine « Foot Citoyen » (available by subscription) all about the keys of « transmitting » a message from the coach to the player. A special edition rich in accounts which reveal that players rarely forget their coaches when their attitudes are a mix of honesty, hard work, conscientiousness, tenderness, benevolence and strictness. Also when the coach has proven that he is there for the player before anything else.
For more info : click here
What keys do you use?
First of all you have to analyse the group before you analyse the individual. Each player needs something different. Some have to be hurt in their pride for them to show the need to get « revenge » by scoring the « goal », and then coming to find me after the game to say : « Are you happy now? ». And, of course I am. With other players you have to act differently, more on the affective side. The job of a coach is much more difficult today, in a human realtions context.
"You have to give your best for these people who are here to see you, so that they have a good weekend "
Why has this psychological aspect become so important?
It’s a question of the era and education. When I look at the education that I gave to my children and compare it to the one given to me by my parents, I think that we are all a little guilty of making todays youngsters much more spoilt. They earn a lot of money, they have nice carsand houses, all of that at 24 years old... We are responsible for all that. You have to put yourself inside the head of a 24 year old player who is already a millionaire! I only started really earning any money at 28 years old... And if I didn’t change, it’s because I was already mentally strong.
Finally, you have to educate them a little as well?
Yes, even if that is a strong word when you are talking about professional players. I’m there to help them and make them understand that money does not change a person’s life... In certain forms anyway...well, you know what I mean.
When you were playing, which coaches passed on the most to you?
Each coach gives you something. Goethals gave me a lot, Gus Hiddink gave me a lot... I was lucky to have had a lot of great coaches. They all had a message to pass on.
If you only had to pass on one thing to your players what would it be?
« Do all you can to make the public love you! » There is nothing more beautiful than hearing the the public applaud you. It’s the best reward that you can have for your work. You have to give your best for these people who are here to see you, so that they have a good weekend.
"At half time of a game, the 15 minutes that you have can only be used for sorting out details "
What would you like in return for that which you have passed on to your players?
As long as they do their job, which is what they are doing at the moment in Marseille and that they leave the field to the applause of the spectators, I’m satisfied.
There is a certain amount of personal gratitude... Often they celebrate their goals with you?
I don’t know how that came about... It must be the way I go about things as I mentioned before. I’m very human and they know that. When I’ve spoken to a player during the week and he scores a « goal » then comes and celebrates with me, at that moment he is almost certainly thinking about how the problem was resolved and how it made him feel better. It’ just natural, I think.
Can you pass on a message at half time?
At the start of the season, you explain how you see things and you hammer that home, you have the time for that. But at half time of a game, no, the 15 minutes that you have can only be used for sorting out specific details.
Details for the whole group or individuals?
You can go and see a player that is in difficulty and talk to him briefly. But you an’t talk too much either as everyone is excited after the first half...
Is it passion that makes you give so much to a group?
For football, certainly, but I fin dit natural to have these sort of relations. You can live with the mat the same time keeping in mind to no get too close.
Is that a line that you have crossed?
All the time, it’s happened. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was my weak point, but it’s my character. The danger, it’s true, is to go too far, to give too much of yourself. But I have to take this risk as, if I do, I can get the best of my players whilst remaining myself.
"I often hear that people say « Valbuena, is your favourite... », but I am much more demanding of him and he gets a lot more grief than the others "
Are they like your children?
Yes, of course... If I stay more than 3 or 4 months at a club and I get on well with the group, obviously, they become like your children. I see them like that at times and I know that on occasions they need me... That’s my philosophy.
Do you sometimes prefer certain players more than others?
No! (categorically) I often hear that people say « Valbuena, is your favourite... », but I am much more demanding of him and he gets a lot more grief than the others.
We’re often more demanding of the people we prefer...
I like players who have problems it seems. I’ll spend more time with them, not because I prefer them, but simply because I want them to get better as I will need them.
Are you interested in that player for the needs of the team or because you are sympathetic to his difficulty?
It’s all linked. I’m paid to get the best out of the team, but apart from that there I the human side which obliges me to approach and help them.
Your son, Johan(1), is a professional footballer. What did you pass on to him as a coach and father?
Unfortunately, I’ve never been his coach...
... mais c’est aussi votre métier.
But I would have liked to have been a coach and a father at the same time, just to see what it’s like to be in charge of your own son. I’ve always been honest with him in life, as I have been with his performances in games. I even told him that I thought it unlikely that he become a Premiere Division player as he was lacking certain things. Now, when he does his interviews, he often says : « I’m happy that my father was wrong ». I could have given a party for 400 people, the day that he played his first game in the Premiere Division, I was so proud and happy to have been wrong. It’s not such a big thing to say that we were wrong, especially in such circumstances. It would have been worse if I’d told him he would be a professional and then it hadn’t happened. I would have lied to him in a way.
