World Cup Coaching

Today's blog post was written by Jennifer Jasper.  Jennifer is a senior Marketing major at Notre Dame and a student in the Social Foundations of Coaching course taught by Play Like a Champion Today Founder and Director Professor Clark Power and Program Director Kristin Sheehan. In addition to her studies, Jennifer also served as the goalie for the Notre Dame Women's Soccer Team.

This past summer, I had the opportunity to go to the FIFAWorld Cup Final between Germany and Argentina. It was honestly one of the best days of my life. I have been playing soccer since I was three years old, and I was about to go into my final collegiate season. It was incredible to see some of my favorite players including Lionel Messi, Manuel Neuer, and Bastian Schweinsteiger compete and play for the highest award in the soccer world. These players and that game will be remembered for the next several decades, but in ten years, I doubt people will be talking about how great a coach Joachim Low was. So for my post, I want to talk about the some of those that will not be featured on the highlight reel--the coaches of the World Cup.

photo courtesy of lawyerherald.com

There are two coaches I want to focus on, Joachim Low and Jurgen Klinsmann. These two coaches are very similar and are revolutionizing the sport with their coaching tactics.  Klinsmann is currently the head coach of the US national team while Low is the German national team head coach.  Before he came to the US, Klinsmann was in Low’s spot as the German head coach and is considered Low’s mentor and good friend.  Together, these two coaches created a new style of play; some call it the “blitzkrieg” due to the fast and furious speed of play. While both are considered as co-creators of this philosophy, they are still different types of coaches.

Klinsmann is the charismatic motivator, and this can be seen throughout his coaching career.  In interviews, Klinsmann constantly makes jokes and turns his success around to his players rather than focusing on what he did well.  He is respected by his players and this respect enables him to effectively coach. However, this does not mean he is best friends with his players. Klinsmann practices tough love with his players, and is not afraid to discipline them when they are acting out. I believe this leads to a stronger team. When Klinsmann was implementing his new style of play in Germany, he received criticism from both players and the public for switching from a static defensive style to a dynamic attack style. They claimed he was forgetting the roots German soccer was based on. Despite all the criticism, Klinsmann continued with his new strategy and they placed third in the 2006 World Cup. I think this shows how great a coach Klinsmann truly is; the man was probably going to be fired if the team was not successful at the World Cup, but he decided to go ahead with his controversial style anyway. I believe that Klinsmann knew that if anyone could transition to this style of play, it would be his Germans, and he knew it was only a matter of time before it started clicking.  In the end, Klinsmann was the coach, and despite the criticism from all ends, he knew that as coach, no one should control his decisions.  His dedication to implementing this style has carried over to the United States Team, too.

photo courtesy of  newsprovince.in

Klinsmann is considered the one who originally came up with the new soccer philosophy, but Low is considered the technical mastermind. Low was with Klinsmann every step of the way as his right hand man in Germany. After Klinsmann stepped down from the head coaching position, Low went on to develop the philosophy further through his unique lineups and attention to detail. Low’s players also respect him like they used to respect Klinsmann. Low also demonstrates a tough love type coaching. He is strict in his practices, but that does not mean he is all work no play. Often there are videos or pictures of the team playing soccer-tennis or soccer-golf. These games help lighten the mood at practice and help them release whatever distractions they have in order to focus on soccer.  You can also see him playing smaller games such as 5-on-2 with his team.  This helps the coach monitor what his team is doing and focus more on each individual. I think this also creates transparency for Low’s players.

I think it is crucial to have a coach who is confident in the style of play he or she wishes to coach, but their players must also respect him or her. These coaches need to earn the respect of their players too.  I think this is why coaches such as Jurgen Klinsmann and Joachim Low have been successful and have been so revolutionary.  The confidence of a coach and team, and the mutual respect between coach and team are fostered by coaches who strive to build teams of talent and character, which is just what Play Like a Champion Today promotes. 

The Jasper family at the World Cup in Brazil, June 2015. The author is on the far left.