Real Madrid great Zinedine Zidane admits that being a good player does not mean that you will be a good coach, but is working hard to learn.
The 41-year-old won the World Cup, European Championship and Champions League as a player, but knows that all of that experience will simply be a bit of a help and not ensure success.
The current Madrid sporting director admits that taking his coaching badges has been difficult but he is happy to continue the process.
"I am like everybody else. I like it like that, it's the other guys that want me to be special. I do it like everybody else. I know that being a good player doesn't make you a good coach. Even if it can help," he said.
"You have to accept that you don't know much and to accept that if you give yourself the means, you can grow and learn even at my age. I have to be modest, I ignore so many things. I'm glad I did those courses. Sometimes I went to bed with a headache. Coaching is a real job, you have to learn it.
"Tomorrow people will say I'm a good coach if I win. Only if I win. It will take time. I can’t be the coach I want to be just like that. Zidane or not Zidane, it will take time. You have to learn from other people, to pass diplomas. There is a process. And it suits me."
He continued, "I learned not to look automatically for confidence. You will of course need confidence to build a staff but also competence.
"Players will listen to me if I give them something. If you want a player to give you his competence, you have to be demanding and even manipulate him a bit. You have to threaten him and also felicitate him. The carrot and the stick. It works in football and in life."
