Jose Mourinho, Frank Rijkaard: Is Coaching Experience Overrated in Football?

We have heard thousands of times about experience in football. There are always questions marks coming into the season when a young and inexperienced coach takes control of a big club.

All the analysts speak about the lack of experience, and suggest that it could be the first problem for him and for the team. The most recent example of this is Pep Guardiola, new head coach of Barcelona.

It is his first job, and there were doubts about how was he going to manage the team, and how he was going to make them a winning team. The grind of the season, and the way they are currently playing the game is answering the questions.

His early success and some other examples of inexperienced although successful coaches have brought to my mind a new question:

Is coaching experience something overrated in football?

In the past, I’m sure that I would have answered this question with an "absolutely not. An experienced coach is the main key for a winning team."

Right now, my opinion is different; and yes, believe or not, coaching experience is something overrated in football. It’s not as important as motivation, preparation and finding the correct pieces and way of playing.

I think that these are real factors, the other one is a media issue. Let’s take a look to a bunch of examples:

Vicente del Bosque

Current head coach of the Spanish national team, Del Bosque had the best times in his first four seasons as Real Madrid coach.

He won two Champions Leagues, two La Liga titles, the Spanish Super Cup, the European Super Cup, and the Toyota Cup. Above this, he was able to keep joined a bunch of stars, making them play as a team. Because of his character, Del Bosque didn’t have the credit he deserved.

Later in his career, he struggled as Besiktas head coach. He had no coaching experience; yet he was able to lead Real to the top.

Jose Mourinho/ Avram Grant

It took him a couple of seasons to build his legacy. Mourinho led an underdog such as FC Porto to back-to-back European titles. The UEFA Cup and the Champions League trophies made him the most highly rated coach in football.

His way of preparing the team, and the effective game Porto practised during his era opened the future for Mou, as Roman Abramovich made him the best paid coach of the world when he was brought to Chelsea.

While he won back-to-back Premier League trophies, he wasn’t able to take the team to the Champions League final. He had billions to spend; nevertheless, he didn’t match the success he had with Porto.

He left the club in September of 2007. Avram Grant replaced him as an interim coach, and he, without any experience, finally took Chelsea to the Champions League final. Jose Who?

Frank Rijkaard

In 2003, after being selected FC Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta named Frank Rijkaard as his head coach. Barcelona was a calamitous club at that point, and a tough place to work.

Despite having a slow start, Rijkaard was able to build the best team of the millennium. No team matches the game that Barcelona played in first three seasons under Frank Rijkaard. The quickness, and the happy way of playing made them "the greatest show on  the pitch." He won back-to-back La Liga titles and the first Champions League title in 14 years later.

The next two years, the team killed itself. The egos and the lack of aggression and hunger destroyed them, and destroyed Rijkaard too. However, the game they showed and the way they got the job done must be remembered.

As we can see, coaching experience is something overrated in football. Absolutely it’s important, but not as much as many people think. These three head coaches showed that it’s possible to be successful early in a coaching career.

Definitely there are things, such as preparation or motivation, that are more important than experience.