Paul Clement prefers to keep things simple. The 42 year-old Englishman working as Real Madrid’s assistant head coach is not one to prescribe to the idea that the higher up the footballing ladder you go the more complicated the approach should be when coaching the players.
Consistency of message and approach, rather than complicated coaching innovation, has underpinned the Spanish giants’ journey to Saturday’s Champions League showdown against city rivals Atletico in Lisbon.
Speaking to The FA’s The Boot Room magazine, Clement said: “I quite like variety as a coach, but I think in variety you can lose your messages at times. So we always try and keep to a method and a philosophy of what we’re trying to work and not try and change things too much, just for the sake of changing things – not to be too inventive just for the sake of it.”
Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid
UEFA Champions League Final
Estadio da Luz, Lisbon
7.45pm Saturday 24 May 2014
Live on Sky Sports 1
The Londoner, charged with refining the skills of Madrid’s glittering list of playing staff on a daily basis, is the author of a fascinating coaching story in which he has progressed from part-time grassroots coach to working with the two most expensive players in world football.
En-route the former PE teacher has spent thousands of hours on training fields, encountering a cluster of maverick talents such as Paris St Germain talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic along the way.
The experience has led Clement to the conclusion that the art of negotiation is as crucial as any coaching syllabus when working with Madrid’s current collection of aristocratic footballing talent.
“The [coaching] approach is something for us, something for them. The players would go out and play the rondos and boxes [possession in tight areas] every day, the types of game which are really common in Spain.
“They would love to do that, but it’s not what they need, so we try and give them a balance of things that are enjoyable, stimulating and competitive for them as well as the things they need tactically. Whether that is offensive or defensive, in transition or set plays. So we try and strike a balance.”
Part of that balance is allowing the players their daily dose of head tennis. Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant reveals the small, slightly antiquated old gymnasium which is used for the highly competitive over-the-net games is the most popular at the Ciudad Real Madrid - the Spanish giants’ glistening training complex.
Clement has witnessed head tennis-victories celebrated with as much gusto as any winner at the Bernabeu.
If the insight into the preparatory aspects of life in Madrid appears to be nothing remarkable, Clement is quick to stress that simplicity and clarity is a result of meticulous attention detail and almost obsessional planning which leaves very little time for any life outside of the training ground.
“We do play a lot of games here so when we’re playing weekend and midweek and the following weekend as well, we’re in [the training ground] every day.
Carlo Ancelotti and Gareth Bale will be to the fore as Real Madrid take on Atletico
“A normal working day would begin at 9.30am with training at 11. I would get in between 8.30 and 9, have a look for the numbers that day – we’d have a good idea the day before what we’re doing that day- but it’s just about tidying up the organisation of the practices.
“The 9.30 meeting would include the technical, physical and medical staff, when we’ll get the final yes or no as to whether some of the players are available to train or not.
“Then we go out onto the grass and set everything up – usually we work on two pitches side by side, so all the exercises are prepared, so there’s no loss of time in the valuable time that we have to work, we can move from exercise to exercise – training would be from one hour to 90 minutes maximum.
“Players would do some activation and or preventative work before and after and then that’s their day if you like, in terms of the football training.
"Then the coaching staff would spend time reviewing video, looking at video for the future – hours and hours watching and analysing video and looking at statistics. Basically, that fills up all our time.”
One can only imagine that if the Englishman has found anytime to close his eyes this week he’s been seeing a lot of red and white.
Watch Paul Clement talk about his daily routine at Real Madrid in our video player at the top of the page.
FA Licensed Coaches’ can watch our full five-part coaching Masterclass interview with Paul Clement on the FA Licensed Coaches’ Club website next week.
The FA Licensed Coaches’ Club Masterclass series includes over 90 practical sessions and interviews with expert coaches from across the game.
To become an FA Licensed Coach visit www.TheFA.com/FALCC
