Is that the major difference between the roles of national and club coach?
The difference is the day-to-day element. I use a metaphor that’s a bit risqué but it sums up the difference between the two posts: one is your wife and the other is your mistress. It’s a simplification, but it’s definitely true. A club coach lives with his players from day-to-day and he has to make that work. He has to be continually present and never ease off because things can quickly go awry. In contrast, life with the national team gets concentrated into just a few days together. There’s more pressure because you can’t afford to fail. If you lose a match with your club, you have another chance a few days later, so there’s a perpetual challenge. With the national team, you have to wait a month at best. The scale isn’t the same either: the whole country gets behind you and everyone wants to give their opinion.
