Even The Best Players Are Coached

We are never too good to learn from our coaches and players around us. The ability to understand certain situations and solve problems comes from taking in different perspectives. Every player needs that challenge and to be held accountable for their actions on the field. Even though a player may have won everything there is to win, they are still in a position to learn. The stories of coaches being timid of the big names that are around them continue to be shared. Those players want to be coached. The same goes for our youth players. Even though they may have had loads of success in the past, the coaching moments still need to happen

We want to get the best out of every single player that we are involved with. Having those hard conversations are necessary to progress not just the player and the team, but the coach as well. We must look at this opportunity to show the squad that everyone will be held to a standard. This is not and should not be taken as a personal attack on anyone. An outsider to the situation can translate a conversation into a conflict. One of the more recent moments was when Pep Guardiola took Erling Haaland off the field because he was under performing. The media had spun it as Pep having to be careful how he speaks with his players as Haaland could easily walk away and join any team in the world. But why would he? As a professional who just won everything, including the golden boot in the best league in the world, he still wants to be coached. Pep is one of the top managers in the world and has worked with the biggest names in the sport. The standard never drops for him as he recognizes what it takes to stay at the top.

Not everyone is the same and can be handled in the same way. We are dealing with the youth, which 99% of the players that we deal with are not going to understand these corrections at first. The goal is to establish accountability throughout the squad to allow players to still perform while receiving criticism. As coaches, we must manage this to the best of our ability. We are developing people first who will be held to a standard in the real world as they get older. Most coaches truly want the best for their players, so bring the best out in them.