Christophe Berra: From player to coach

Berra on creating the right environment at Huntsville

At Huntsville there were about eight full-time staff. The environment starts with the staff. I was always a believer that I was not going to be one of these managers or coaches who just does everything themselves.

Yes, I oversaw everything, but I gave people the responsibility to go and do their own stuff: the coaches to take the sessions and have their input, those who are young and learning responsibility to go and look at videos and teams and produce video sessions.

If you’re in an environment where you’re doing everything yourself, it’s not enjoyable. You need to trust people, you need to give people responsibility. They’re there for a reason. They’re good at their jobs. 

In terms of the players, I was never too harsh on the guys. I was always very approachable, had an open-door policy, was quite easy going. Of course, I had demands when it came to training and matches, though. 

I believe in giving players freedom within their role in the team. If you’re playing a positional kind of game, the players need to respect what their role within the team is. However, there is a time when they need to go and find the ball and make a little bit of magic as well. You can’t just make them be robots. 

On the touchline I was very enthusiastic: encouraging them to close down and press when they need to, encouraging them to get back into shape and position. On reflection, there are times when I got a little bit too carried away, but I think any manager is the same. You look at the top-level managers, even Pep Guardiola at times, they all get carried away. 

Berra on different approaches to matchday preparation

It’s fast-paced and sometimes football can be over-complicated.

In this day and age, a lot of players like to get coached and see that what they are working on in training contributes to the game. In the past, I’ve been in involved in environments where it might not have been like that.

That doesn’t mean you’re a success or not a success. There are a lot of managers who will leave no stone unturned and cover every aspect but still get beaten, whereas some managers just won’t do that and the training will be basic, it’ll just be fun and they win games. 

Berra on development and winning

Taking Huntsville FC as an example, at that level, there’s the question about development and winning when you’re on a development team. For me, yes, you need to develop individuals within the team environment. But winning is also part of development. 

I think people sometimes get too stuck on it being about development. It clearly is, but you need to develop winners as well. You need players that are willing to compete in games because if you don’t have that competitive edge in games or within an individual player, it’s hard to get. 

At any level, if you can’t compete and you’re not competitive, it’s going to be a hard road. You’ll be fortunate to make a career out of the game, unless you’re exceptional.

Berra on whether elite coaches need to have played the game at the top level

I think it’s naive to think that someone who’s never played a game [at the highest level] can’t coach. Everyone’s got their place. I don’t think you can really make a judgement on a coach until you see them coaching and doing their thing.

There are a lot of managers who have never played the game who are exceptional. But they’ll be surrounded by assistants and coaches who probably have played the game. Everyone’s got their strengths and weaknesses and will see things differently. It’s about getting people around you who can help with your weaknesses. 

Of course there’s a place for you having lived and felt it as well. You’ve been in that situation. By the same token, some players have been in it and, at times, get stuck in that: ‘This is how we’ve done it. This is what we’re going to do.’ But you need to adapt. You need to move on. Football evolves. Everything’s different. It’s a new generation of players.