Pursuing excellence

It’s like a Formula 1 team.

I always use this example to explain how high-performance teams work. Driver, mechanics and engineers all have to be on the same page to achieve success, because the smallest improvements can make the difference.

It is the same in football.

When you can build a team culture focused on the improvement of the player and achieve harmony in the work between the coaching staff, players and vision for the club or national team, the performances not only add up, they multiply.

This is what we were able to build at Rayo Vallecano, but with the unique identity of Vallecas, a neighbourhood in Madrid. Nobody could have dreamed back then - I’m talking about 2007 to 2011 - that a team like Rayo would dominate women’s football in Spain. We managed to win three Leagues, a Copa de la Reina (Queen’s Cup) and we were also the first Spanish team to play in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

How? By optimising existing resources to the point of turning weaknesses into strengths, with a defined style of play and working methodology. Not forgetting our determination to transform disappointments and challenges into successes.

"All of that has given them a habit of seeking excellence every day"

However, we were not able to extend that dominance much further.

My experience of working in five countries, in the best clubs and with the best players in the world, has also led me to a clear conclusion: you can only compete above your potential for so long. For one season, maybe two or even three, as was the case with Rayo. But forget about extending it much longer, because it’s impossible.

After Rayo’s success, along came Barcelona. They grew as a project, with more resources, a lot of talent and a long-term vision. All of that has given them a habit of seeking excellence every day. And what has happened? They dominate women’s football not only in Spain, but also Europe. What’s more, many of Barcelona’s players were a key part of the Spanish national team that won the World Cup.

But I owe everything I am to my time at Rayo. Above all, to the players, because without them there would be none of what has happened to me since.

"It also helped me understand how to develop a game model in a simplified way"

I arrived in the United States in 2012, although it all came about months before, when I was still at Rayo. After a Champions League match, on the way out of the stadium, a person I didn’t know approached me to talk to me. “Hello Pedro, I am Araan Lines. We would like to talk to you about a project we are going to launch in the United States.”

We chatted for a while – also with his wife, Alex – and made an appointment for an interview that same evening. There they explained their project in depth and the role of each of them in the team. Aaran was coach, Alex was president of the club, and their daughter was owner of the franchise.

They offered me to be Araan's assistant coach in a professional team, the Western New York Flash, and to create the WNY Flash academy with him. The team had players like Sam Kerr, Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd; some of the best players in the world. We finished first in the regular league and played in the NWSL final against the Portland Thorns. I was also lucky enough to work for Niagara University in NCAA Division 1. 

The United States helped me grow as a coach and a person. It also helped me understand how to develop a game model in a simplified way, to bring it to other languages and cultures. And it worked. I was offered to stay on as head coach of the Western New York Flash, but by then Arsenal had already crossed my path.

I arrived at Arsenal in 2014, at a time of transition for the club, when teams like Manchester City and Chelsea had already made the step up to professionalism. Together with Clare Wheatley, the general manager, we began to shape this new vision of professionalising the women’s section, with the aim of continuing to win trophies.

"I was lucky enough to spend three years with Arsène when he was at Arsenal"

As part of the change process, the first step was to set up morning training sessions at the London Colney facility, where the men’s first-team trains. We focused on getting a physical space for the team, changing rooms, our own gym, rest room, offices, nutrition and a player development programme at the heart of the project.

Next was to build on the talent in the club, with players such as Chloe Kelly, Lauren James, Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Anna Patten and many others who are now world class. We also tried to attract the best international players, including Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema, Daniëlle Van de Donk, Vicky Losada, Kim Little and Dominique Janssen.

The overall vision was to create our own identity, while respecting the values of the club and its history. Also, and not least, to have a coaching staff with high professional and ethical standards. We created a family.

This vision was always supported by our CEO, Ivan Gazidis, and with Arsène Wenger's approval. I was lucky enough to spend three years with Arsène when he was at Arsenal. He encouraged me to go ahead with the change process. “Pedro, when I came to England the English footballer only thought about drinking beer during the week and playing,” he told me in one of the chats we had. “Now it’s up to you to make those changes.” Arsène referred to the fact that before his arrival at the club, there was no process between the training work, the culture of training, preparing for the game and then the competition.

"Changes always REQUIRE you to make decisions that are not easy"

He also encouraged me to take a chance on talented young players. On the way to one of the training sessions I bumped into him and Per Metersacker, the director of the academy. Arsène said to me: “I saw that you have brought in these young girls.” I said yes, and explained to him that I was banking on a defence with younger, talented players – 17-18 years old – like Williamson, Wubben-Moy and Patten. “That’s very good,” he said. “We know it’s difficult, but it’s very good.”

I will never forget those words from Arsène, because they were reassuring and gave me confidence in my work. He always treated me impeccably.

I was also able to share moments with Thierry Henry, who was then assistant coach of the male Under-18 team. In one of our chats, the chance arose for Thierry to help us with a talk about the transition of the older players to their next professional stage.

Changes always require you to make decisions that are not easy, especially when you have to make them about players you respect and value. People you have shared experiences with, and who have given everything for the club and for your team.

"we achieved the objectives of leading a process of change without losing our identity"

With hindsight, it was difficult to make some decisions, but they were made with respect and affection. Always based on performances, in consensus with the coaching staff, and valuing the legacy those players had left to football.

It is very difficult as a manager – I guess it is for all my colleagues – to make decisions about players. It is the most bitter part of our job. On a positive note, I will never forget working alongside Kelly Smith, Alex Scott, Emma Byrne and many other players who gave me so much.

In the midst of all this change, in 2015 we lifted the WSL Cup and in 2016 the FA Cup against Chelsea, at Wembley, in front of 33,000 spectators. We won two trophies; almost one a year, as was the club’s tradition.

When I reflect on my three years at Arsenal, we achieved the objectives of leading a process of change without losing our identity. We won trophies and there was a process of renewal of the squad that is the main pillar of the current one.

"I have also specialised as a high-performance sports manager"

That same working idea I carried out in the project offered to me by Bordeaux in 2019. Previously, I was director of football at London City Lionesses where, with Diane Culligan – now the previous owner – we laid the foundations for a purely women's elite club.

If I think about it, I have also specialised as a high-performance sports manager. Leading by taking care of the smallest detail so that excellence emerges, enabling each member of the team to perform at their best. That requires a lot of energy, but I like to take on that part of the job.

Bordeaux was also that dual job. “Perfect”, I told them. “I've done this before.” I learned French quickly, and the two seasons there culminated in excellent collective and performance growth.

The most important thing, with an excellent coaching staff, was to implement a working method that was clear, simple, proven. A high-performance culture based on ethical values, followed by corresponding behaviours aligned to the collective objectives. On a general level, the development of the player as the centre of the project, and a game-model adapted to the players' needs, with the search for excellence as the objective.

"My DREAM WAS ALWAYS TO COACH A NATIONAL TEAM"

The group got right down to work and the results came quickly. Again with the culture of ‘we never give up’. At Bordeaux we achieved two historic third-places in two seasons, a record number of points, and qualification for the Champions League.

The players also grew as footballers. For example, Khadija Shaw, who was the top scorer in the 2023/24 WSL with Manchester City. Or Vanessa Gilles, who won Olympic gold with Canada in Tokyo, and went on to play for Lyon. They all evolved and most of them moved on to better teams in Europe.

But since I started coaching, my dream was always to coach a national team. The Scottish FA gave me that opportunity in July 2021.

We are aiming to qualify for the European Championship or World Cup, based on a talented group of young players with a bright future, starting with captain Rachel Corsie. Caroline Weir, Erin Cuthbert, Emma Watson, Kirsty Maclean, Sam Kerr, Jenna Clark, Claire Emslie, Kirsty Hanson, Martha Thomas and many others, represent Scotland’s future at international level.

"we always talk from the grass to the board, not from the board to the grass"

As always in my career, overcoming the challenges of the present will be the successes of the future. And we do this with a working method that is based on 11 game-contexts to be mastered, which always occur cyclically in every game.

It doesn’t matter whether you coach a club or a national team. Nor does it matter the country, the competition, the level of the teams or the players you have. There are always these 11 contexts in our programme; the behaviours present when we have the ball, behaviours when we lose it and so on, up to 11.

From there on, each match is prepared with a detailed analysis of the opponent, without losing the most important element of football – playing. We understand playing as something that has to be rewarding and competitive. The focus is on providing players with the resources to be able to solve all the situations in the game by themselves, or through cooperation with their teammates. They must always feel prepared and supported both as players and as individuals.

All in a simplified language, communicating in a clear and simple way. That is why we always talk from the grass to the board, not from the board to the grass.

Remember what I said at the beginning? A football team is like a Formula 1 team. If you get the players and the coaching staff in perfect harmony, working down to the smallest detail, the performances not only add up, but multiply.

Author: The Coaches' Voice

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