A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FOOTBALL MANAGER (fiction)

By: Naufal Ubaidillah

Date written: September 3rd, 2020

Welcome to my life. I have now achieved one of my biggest dream, that is to become the manager of the mighty Manchester United. After finishing my coaching course in the city of Monaco in the southern part of France (Monaco is a different country though), I started my professional career as a football manager in AS Monaco, the club based in Monaco. In the two years that I spent at that beautiful club, I delivered two French League titles, one French Cup title, one Champions League title, one European Super Cup title, and one Club World Cup title. Of course, I could not have done it without the help of my amazing and detemined players, assistant manager, coaches, scouts, and physios. And of course, the immense support of the fans also played a huge part in our success.

My tactics that I used in AS Monaco is a 4-2-3-1. When my team has the ball, the player with the ball will look to pass to another player who has some space to exploit. And then, we would switch the play to the wings. Sometimes the right wing, sometimes the left wing. The objective is to stretch the opposition players as much as possible, so they leave their original positions, and we can exploit the space to create chances and therefore goals.

Other than the tactical strategy, I, as a football manager, is also responsible for the transfer market. That is, to sell and buy players. Normally, I would sell the players that are 28 years old or older. But, sometimes, I keep some older players to maintain the balance and nurture their experience to the younger players. And then, I would buy the players with the premium, world class ability and potential. I am very ruthless about selling and buying players. I have to know exactly who I need or want to keep, sell, and buy. I want only the very best players in the world at my club.

Nowadays, I am the manager of the mighty Manchester United. I am in my second season at this club that I have been supporting since I was a sixth grader. When it is not matchday or holiday, usually I go to the AON Training Complex to lead the training sessions at 9 AM. I would gather with all of my players and talk casually for around 30 minutes. After that, we would be ready for the first session of the training. Usually, we start with the game of ‘chasing the ball’. 5 players would form a circle, and they pass the ball to each other while 1 other player try to steal the ball.