Coaching, continued

Modern soccer turns toward science to the greatest possible extent, thus forcing the contemporary trainer to follow the development of all innovative and revolutionary changes.

Such a trainer constantly searches for new truths, seeks answers to newly arisen questions, is open to new knowledge, practice and theory, trying to be objective and just towards himself, his profession and his colleagues.Of course, it is necessary to have a broad intellectual horizon with knowledge of the principles of individual sciences and society, knowledge of foreign languages, educational and psychological scientific disciplines, etc.

My personal view of the future soccer trainer is reflected in the orientation toward the future without copying the past, a future that will bring new knowledge and discoveries. Whoever does not want to improve himself, to influence himself and others, does not know how to achieve results.

The characteristic of such a trainer is first of all determination and persistence in long-term work, and research that leads to his own success. Courage in factual opposition to authorities, independence in judgment, endurance in moments of difficulty and crisis, and speed in reacting in the search for the most rational solutions are just some of the factors of success of the future soccer trainer. All of these qualities can be considered a part of the concept of a mature personality or a well-trained trainer. Such a trainer is consummately professional, objective and tactical, determined and persistent. He controls his emotions and is completely independent in his professional, didactic-educational and comprehensive work as soccer teacher.

Whether the trainer will succeed in turning the athlete into an associate or whether he will remain self-taught depends first of all on the relationship between the trainer and the athlete, and the orientation toward what they will achieve in the future. The basic error in orientation is that athletes being taught to copy instead of to understand and discover. This is one of the ways of manipulating athletes as well as future trainers. The future of an ongoing relationship between the trainer and the athlete is largely dependent on the personalities of the athlete and the trainer, as well as the situations in which they find themselves.

The athlete’s heart is not infrequently like that of a child – if it is treated too roughly it may not react immediately but the treatment will rarely not have consequences. That is why it is important to note that trainers are not blacksmiths and athletes are not made of metal. The attitude of the trainer toward the athlete should be firm, but not rough and humiliating.

It is generally understood and accepted that the primary thing in sports is physical status and that the intellectual traits of the athlete are of secondary importance (here it is impossible to generalize about soccer and soccer players, or soccer trainers). Certainly every one of us chooses the scale of our own existence, as well as the path of our own humanization, based to our own abilities. Sports, including soccer, are one of the human activities that demonstrate that human capabilities are unlimited.

That is why it is essential from the very beginning to develop the spirit of the soccer player, not just to prepare him to achieve sports results.
Although the ultimate targeted purpose in sports is results (in comparison with the essence of sports, where it is the fulfillment of self and others, and the sports result is a goal of lesser importance), it is necessary to go beyond this and turn to the possibility of affecting the essence of sports. It is essential, therefore, to use one’s intellect in soccer and in sports in general to a maximum, which means achieving the full value of the sports life, and that is far more than a sports result.

One of the important factors in good planning is time, which is based on breadth of view, realistic prediction, accuracy of prediction, etc. Time is very important for the achievement of high results for both soccer players and trainers. That is why it is necessary to possess many things in one being: first of all, a strong personality. All for the purpose of justifying the old folk saying, "to be able to make time, run away and exist in a horrible place". One of the causes of subjugation of thinking and the relatively poorly developed intellectual activity among soccer players is that they are not required to think but merely to follow orders.

This limits their ability to think for themselves. Probably one of the reasons is that the we usually enter the world of soccer free, while others take the right to influence and shape us, imposing their own methodological, organizational and doctrinal experiences, and usually neglecting what the soccer player (athlete) says without knowing that they, too, may be able to learn something from him.
In every line of work there are moments of weakness and lack of interest but if we were to succumb to them we would look irresolute, like those who are constantly changing their jobs and ultimately do everything badly.

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