THE ASSISTANT COACH OF A SOCCER TEAM (TWO DIFFERENT AREAS: PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL AND GRASSROOT FOOTBALL)

The assistant soccer coach has existed for decades, being today a standardized figure within the technical staff, with its roles, functions and responsibilities; the main reason I find it strange that nobody has ever stopped to study and describe this profession.

The book is clearly 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 the sides of 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 Gonzalez, Quique Sánchez Flores, and Paulo Sousa.

The second part is related to grassroots soccer, which I have experienced in clubs like Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona. My proposal is to provide the assistant coach working in youth soccer with a more formative and educational role than what is currently given, wanting to direct their effort towards two dimensions: the team’s sporting performance (which the vast majority do) and the personalized monitoring of the young player (which very few do). This second dimension will be described in the last chapter, trying to demonstrate a new vision towards assistant coaches in youth soccer, who in my view have to dedicate their time to improving the players as an athlete and also as a person in a more personalized and integral way.