The Assistant Soccer Coach

The assistant soccer coach has existed for decades, and is a standard figure within the coaching staff, with specific roles, functions and responsibilities. However, I find it strange that nobody has yet described this profession formally. I used to only be a head coach, until one day I was proposed to be the assistant coach of U18 team of FC Barcelona. That is when I started thinking about writing this book, moved by my desire to continue learning. If I wanted to train in my new role I could only do it by asking others and observing training sessions. But I was missing one of the pillars that has forever supported my training: studying and reading. With this book I hope to cover that lack of information. The book is divided into two parts: the first is based on describing the assistant coach in professional soccer and I have not found a more practical way to do it than through interviews with assistant coaches. Each interviewee has contributed his experiences from working with the most recognized soccer coaches: I am talking about people who have worked with Vicente del Bosque, Ernesto Valverde, Luis Enrique, Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino, Sergio González, Quique Sánchez Flores, and Paulo Sousa. The second part of the book is related to Youth soccer, which I have experienced in clubs like Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona. I propose the role of the assistant coach working in Youth soccer to be more formative and educational than what is currently given, and I want to direct their effort towards two dimensions: the team's sporting performance (which the vast majority do) and the individualized analysis of the young player (which very few do). This second dimension is described in the last chapter, to demonstrate a new vision of assistant coaches in Youth soccer, who in my view have to dedicate their time to improving the players as an athlete and as a person in a more personalized and integral way.