How to deal with the players´ entourage. By the Spanish National Team Coach.

I´ve read this post by Sergio Scariolo, It reminds me of many interesting debates we have had here. I´ve got a google translation that I´ve improved (I hope so) a little bit. 

Family and partner are part of the first circle, the closest to player, with affection as a 

dominant value, and obviously their influence can be positive or negative, depending on 

common sense and sports education possessed or showed by each person close to a player. 

You can create a positive effect when the members of his family support a player and try to 

keep him with his feet on the ground. However, the effect is negative when people within that 

group feed player´s frustration, mistaking ambition for dissatisfaction. 

Having open communication with first player´s environment is very useful and productive. On 

more than one occasion keeping this contact with them has helped me to find a line of 

collaboration to improve the mentality or even correct the wrong direction of the player. There 

have been times when, aware of an incorrect behavior of a family in the stands, talking to the 

person has served to change attitudes and redirect them to the benefit of the player and the 

group itself. 

Sometimes words are faced with an impenetrable wall, and the answer you get is more  

claiming a greater role for the player, and I even remember years ago that my managers had 

to change seats for a family too "expressive" in the stands ... 

The second circle around a player, where the dominant value is the economic and commercial 

interest, consists of agents and representatives, adding in some cases the professionals who 

advise and care for the commercial aspects related to their business. 

In general, I think that this kind of people have been professionalized and has evolved in a 

positive direction. For example, there is increasing preparation and participation of former 

athletes in this work of representation, leading to a better understanding of what is the best 

way to help the young athlete. 

It is logical that this people work to improve the players´ professional contracts, but it is also 

important that they talk to them honestly, pointing out any behavior that might be negative for 

their development and their professional image. 

It is also clear that there is another kind of representatives who only care about economics, for 

the sole purpose of increasing the salary of the players and, consequently, raise their 

commission for their services... 

The last circle is formed by the fans and the media. This environment is physically farther from 

the player, but it has a motivation sometimes even more passionate than that of the first two 

circles´ ones. 

Here also the stimulus provided by public and press can be a positive motivation towards 

maximum performance and commitment by the player. However, it is not uncommon for fans 

to become attached to a particular player, to the point of ignoring that there is at least one 

teammate who plays the same position as their favorite, inadvertently harming the chemistry 

around the team. 

It also often happens that some media especially close to a player, regardless of their natural-

reporting function, promotes him, because of their sports personal taste or personal 

friendship. 

I think in these cases is correct that coach speaks out about the danger that these situations 

can create, but with the sole aim of making fans and journalists think carefully about it. It is 

likely that they maintain their opinions though. 

My experience in these cases has taught me to devote my energies not so much in looking for 

a change of attitudes or behaviors of people who, after all, are foreign to the team, but to work 

within the group, specifically and directly with the players concerned, to avoid unnecessary 

damage and interpersonal pressures. At the end of the day, let's not forget that the team 

"makes" performance and results, while fans and media only react to them ...