The message

I was at the World Cup in Qatar, working as a commentator for the BBC, when I got a WhatsApp message from Sylvinho.

“How are you doing? I have an interview with the Albanian Federation in the next few days, for the job of head coach. If I’m chosen, I’m counting on you.”

Sylvinho and I have had a great friendship for many years. We met for the first time in Manchester in 2009. He left Barcelona that summer, to sign for a season with Manchester City, and I had already been at the club for a year. I had come from Espanyol.

It was a very spontaneous relationship. I was much younger than him – I was 23, while Sylvio was 34. We often bumped into each other – for example at breakfast, where we were among the few players who started the day very early. Our friendship was also influenced by the fact that Sylvio previously had a very good relationship with Argentinian teammates at the clubs he played for. That included Lionel Messi at Barcelona and, during his time at Celta Vigo, with Gustavo López, Eduardo Berizzo and Pablo Cavallero.

That is why he speaks Spanish with a bit of an Argentinian accent.

During that time together in Manchester, we also lived very close to each other, on the outskirts of the city. Almost every Sunday, Sylvio liked to cook pizza. He would invite me to his house, along with the Brazilian players who were at Liverpool, Fábio Aurélio and Lucas Leiva.

"I was not expecting his message at the World Cup in 2022. It was a surprise"

That is how a very good friendship was struck up between the two of us. It has remained ever since, even though after playing together for a year at City we each went our separate ways. Whenever we were in the same place, though, we would get together. As we did when Sylvio – as a member of Tite’s coaching staff with Brazil – would go to England to watch a Brazilian player in the Premier League. He would come by my house and stay.

Still, I was not expecting that message I spoke of at the World Cup in 2022. It was a surprise, but I said yes.

The next day, in my hotel room in Qatar, and still not knowing whether he would be chosen as the national coach or not, I started watching clips of Albania’s matches. I had two jobs: with the BBC, covering Argentina’s World Cup matches; and in the mornings, watching Albania videos.

With Sylvio’s message, I felt that the time had come to start the new stage in my career. It was time to move into coaching.

In a sense, it all kicked off in 2020. I finished my contract with West Ham in June that year, and went with my family to live in Barcelona. At the age of 35, I felt good physically, without any injuries, but in the last few months at West Ham the idea of leaving had started to cross my mind. Although it was not a final decision to stop playing, what was clear to me was that I was leaving England. By that time, I had spent nine years at City and three at West Ham.

That summer of 2020, the pandemic was there. That, plus the fact that nothing was coming up that could convince me to keep playing, led me to make a decision.

"I took practically the whole year off to be in Barcelona. One hundred per cent dedicated to my children"

One morning I woke up and told my wife, Christel: “I have already lived everything I ever dreamed of experiencing as a footballer. There is nothing that can persuade me to continue playing.”

She looked at me and asked: “Are you sure?”

I know why she was asking me that way, because it is not easy to stop playing when you still think you can go on. But I had no doubts.

“Yes, that’s the end of it. It’s over.”

I decided to retire and made it public in October 2020, to start thinking about becoming a coach. I was planning to go and watch training sessions of some of the coaches I had during my career as a player.

However, it was a difficult year, because in the 2020/21 season you practically couldn’t go to any training sessions or matches because of the pandemic. At the end of the season, it was possible to go to some sessions, but you had to have PCR tests. That made me wary, in case something happened afterwards. That is to say, in case there was any contagion.

So, I took practically the whole year off to be in Barcelona. One hundred per cent dedicated to my children: Asier, who is now nine, and Julen, six.

"when we did the team analysis in January 2023, we saw a lot of potential in young players"

When you are a player, football often takes you away from your family. There are so many trips, matches and training camps. It is not easy to be a father, but it is even harder as a coach, because sometimes you have to go somewhere to live on your own. I have seen that with many of the managers I had as a player.

So, during the time I was at home, I was able to be a normal dad. I took them to school every morning, to their after-school activities in the afternoons, to see some of the shows they had at school. I also watched them playing football.

Those two years of transition, after I retired and before I started working as part of a coaching staff, were two very nice years. I was able to enjoy my children, almost all the time.

Since I started with Sylvio in Albania, I can still live in Barcelona and spend time with them, but I have started to miss out on important things. Even more so when everything has gone so fast in such a short space of time.

It wasn’t easy to take over a national team where you knew you had a tough qualifying group for Euro 2024. Poland and Czechia, without a doubt, were clear favourites in Group E. But I think, when we did the team analysis in January 2023, we saw a lot of potential in young players.

What do I mean by this? There is a very important generation that emigrated from Albania 30 years ago, and they had their children abroad. Those children, today, have chosen to play and represent the country that is the land of their parents. So, in the national team there is also a very emotional aspect, and a great sense of belonging for many of these kids.

"We did a really good job and made a nation happy. IT IS something emotional"

Then we saw that there was a group of important players and were convinced that we had a chance to qualify for the European Championship. Of course, if you asked me before the qualifiers if we were going to finish first, I don’t know if we were that optimistic. But we wanted to at least fight for a place and, yes, we ended up playing really well and winning the group.

We did a really good job and made a nation happy. It is something emotional, because this is just the second European Championship that Albania has experienced.

It is a blessing for us as a coaching staff – with practically all of us being South Americans – to experience a European Championship. In terms of the stage in Germany, the stadiums and everything that goes with the Euros, it is practically the closest thing to what you live at a World Cup.

The message is that we are all going to live the dream of the European Championship, with the respect it deserves. We are ready to compete to the maximum, as we have been from the first day we arrived, because we have a tough group – Italy, Croatia and Spain. But I think we have to go with the dream and the desire that a European Championship deserves, to compete and live up to what a competition like this requires.

"There is a level of responsibility and a workload that didn’t exist as a footballer"

On an individual level, I face this new stage as a coach with the same enthusiasm as when I started playing. But I am also aware that I have 20 times more responsibility.

When I am in the camp, I work practically all day long. I start in the morning with videos, sitting next to the analyst, watching every training session, every match, filtering a lot of information to Sylvinho. There is a level of responsibility and a workload that didn’t exist as a footballer. That is a big difference, but I love it.

If you have the chance to work in a job you love, you can dedicate as many hours to it as necessary during the working day.

Honestly, I didn’t miss anything when I stopped playing and switched to coaching. At no time did I ever have the feeling that I regretted it.

I don’t know how far I’ll go, but I am full of energy to make the most of every second. That important time with Asier and Julen also helped to renew my strength, to live this new stage to the maximum.

Author: The Coaches' Voice

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