Q:  How many years were you a professional?

A:  19 Years and I've been lucky having played all over the World.

Q:  What qualities do you need to become a professional?

A:  First you need good skills….but there are many players with good skills that don't become professional. The essential factors you need are: Focus and sacrifice: I became a pro at 17 years old and I gave up many things ,such as drinking, going out late with my friends. My focus was to take care of my body and I think that's why I had such a long career. I also think you need confidence; often in soccer there are disappointments..Your team can lose ..You can play badly…but its players who can turn negative situations into positive feelings that do well.

Q:  You played with Inamoto at Fulham, what did you think about his abilities?

A:  Inamoto is a very good professional, his attitude at training and during games was excellent. He is also a very skillful player. I was more impressed with him as an offensive midfielder because he can score goals.

Q:  I the future you told me you want to Coach, what will be your philosophy?

A:  Firstly, I want to Coach teams that can keep possession of the ball that means all 1 players have good skills. I say 11 because these days Goalkeepers should also have good foot skills, they now in fact like sweepers …I want 11 players not 10 in this system.

Q:  Who are the Best Players you have played with and against?

A:  The best player I played with was Thierry Henry at Monaco. He is the fastest player I have ever seen and can create goals for himself from nothing.
The best player I played against was Zidane when he played for Juventus and the French National team. He is the Complete player: Vision, Skill, can play with both feet and is physically very strong…..most of all he always plays for the team not himself.

Q:   We met when you were 17 years old and we worked together on the Coerver program; how did that help your career?

A:  As, I have said many times, I think the Coerver program is the best in the World at improving skills. As a small player, it gave me additional skills that I think made me a much better player. I especially practiced the Changes of Direction which I used more than any skill.

ALFRED GALUSTIAN

Interview with Coerver Coaching International Director Alfred Galustian By James Mulligan "It was pure chance. We could have easily walked past that room.” Alfred Galustian recalls the first time he met Dutch coach Wiel Coerver, the name behind Coerver Coaching. It was 1983, and Galustian and Charlie Cooke, both ex-professional football players working in the U.S. as coaches, were attending a coaching seminar in Philadelphia.

Alfred Galustian with Alex Ferguson.

“We walked into one room and saw this old guy lecturing, and then modeling these little tricks and turns. He had four or five moves, maximum.”

It was Coerver, and what he did that day was enough to move Galustian and Cooke in some way: “Charlie and I knew what Coerver was doing was everything we wanted to teach in our professional careers,” says Galustian.

Coerver was espousing the merits of a technical program of football training he had been working on since a heart attack had prompted him to quit his post as coach of Dutch club Feyenoord. In 1979, Coerver started investigated teaching methods around the world and discovered there weren’t any real technical programs. In analyzing the great players of the era — actually slowing down videotape of stars in action — Coerver concluded that many of their one-on-one and control skills could be broken down and taught to players. His philosophy was that, although team systems and tactics were important, improving individual soccer skills would develop more technically proficient players, ultimately improving team performance.
 

Galustian with Japan national team coach Zico.

“He challenged the concept that players were born skillful,” says Galustian. “He believed players could continually improve their skills.” Galustian and Cooke formed a working friendship with Coerver and, in 1984, formed Coerver Coaching. Coerver took a backseat as a consultant. Galustian and Cooke would be the international directors: promoting the brand worldwide. Since then, Coerver Coaching has expanded into a global program, the name synonymous with kids’ coaching in Asia, U.S., Europe, Australia and Africa. (Coerver Coaching’s books and videos have been translated into 11 languages.)

Galustian, with help from his fellow directors around the world, is responsible for devising the hundreds of individual and group exercises and games which form the basis of the Coerver Coaching camps, schools and coaching clinics available to kids around the world.

Galustian has stayed true to Coerver’s original vision: “We don’t work on teams, tactics or formations; what we work on is individual development. I’m glad we have stayed focused on that. What we believe is that technique is the foundation of the game. All other parts of the game can be built on that.”

As football is a team game, emphasis is placed on tactical training, systems and formations.
 

“Coaches of young players are always working towards playing games at the weekend so they concentrate on tactics, which is understandable,” says Galustian. Coerver Coaching is unique because it doesn’t run teams. “It’s one of our strong points. What we do is work with and develop individual players.” Galustian likes to draw the analogy of a jazz pianist working on their scales. Coerver Coaching teaches the basics, for the players to then go out and express themselves with all that jazz.

Galustian working at Real Madrid.

In 1997, Galustian and Cooke made a major breakthrough with their “Pyramid of Player Development,” which harnesses the drills, games and concepts within six building blocks that aim to improve a player’s technique.

Because of this focus on skills teaching, Galustian is convinced Coerver Coaching is one of the best programs to develop young players. He’s not the only one. The players and coaches lining up to endorse Coerver Coaching is a who’s who of football greats: Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer and Jurgen Klinsmann, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier, ex-Brazilian national team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazilian legend Roberto Rivelino.

Galustian is also employed as a consultant by many football federations and professional clubs, teaching coaches technical training. He uses Coerver Coaching content.
 

Galustian with Gerard Houllier.   Galustian with Carlos Alberto Parreira.

Real Madrid, Manchester United (Alex Ferguson has recently hired a Coerver coach to head up Man Utd’s technical program), Arsenal, Liverpool and Olympic Marseille have all benefited from Galustian’s technical expertise. Galustian is probably the only European coach — and an English coach at that — to teach skills for the Brazilian Football Association, at the behest of World Cup-winning national team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. “Brazilian football embodies everything that is Coerver coaching,” says Galustian. He has also worked closely with the French Football Federation. In 1993, then FFF technical director Gerard Houllier asked Galustian to work at Clairefontaine (the vast French football academy in the Rambouillet forest). Galustian’s time there coincided with players such as Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry and Lilian Thuram coming through the ranks.

While working at Clairefontaine, Galustian’s coaching sessions were videotaped and now all one-on-one teaching there is from the Coerver program. “That means all the young kids going through the academy are using some of Coerver Coaching’s ideas, “ says Galustian proudly.

Nowadays, a lot of Galustian’s commitments are in Asia, especially in Japan, where he spends around four months of the year.

Coerver Coaching has evolved quickly in Japan. The popularity of the game provides the company with hundreds of thousands of youngsters hungry to play football. The curriculum has also evolved as Galustian started to become more productive in his new surroundings. He teaches aspiring coaches at Coerver’s Urawa Academy on the outskirts of Tokyo. It is a one-year, full-time course.

Galustian says the Coerver program has strong roots in Japan. Both Galustian and Coerver Coaching Japan Director Tom Byer work closely with the Japan Football Association. Galustian writes most of the curriculum here and working at the academy gives him the opportunity to think of different ways of utilizing the Pyramid of Player Development.

When one also considers the wealth of information Galustian is exposed to through his work with other nation’s federations and professional clubs, the resulting Coerver program is an inspirational mix of the best the football world has to offer in technical coaching.

The Coerver program in Japan is a hotbed of some of the best young talent in the game, due to the combination of an underdeveloped professional system for juniors and Coerver’s first-class facilities.

In the U.S. and Europe, where professional clubs deal with the development of young players, Coerver’s programs are more recreational. Coerver Coaching USA, run by Charlie Cooke, has more than 35,000 kids in its program.

Galustian is also working closely with the Chinese Football Association on developing football. Coerver Coaching has recently made a 30-part television program, which was watched by 30 million people and the company already has a written endorsement from the CFA.

Coerver Coaching’s fundamental success is that it branded technical learning. “We’re not responsible for the concept or technique. We put a brand on it and in that way we became unique,” says Galustian.

Since 1987, Adidas has been the worldwide sponsor of Coerver Coaching, although Galustian considers it as more than that. “We see Adidas as a true partner. Adidas has a true interest in developing the game, and I think it has always thought its work with Coerver as its contribution to the grassroots of football.”

The Pyramid of Player Development.

Even with this close link, Coerver’s excellent reputation means it works with clubs and federations sponsored by Adidas’ competitors, too. If Carlos Alberto Parreira insists Galustian works in Brazil, Nike (the BFA’s sponsor) is not going to kick up a fuss because Galustian is decked out in Adidas garb. It is this football credibility of which Galustian is justifiably proud. That’s why he constantly strives to improve and evolve the content of the Coerver program. “If the content is no good, we lose our credibility,” he says. “The Coerver brand is far better enhanced if Real Madrid and others continue to use the program than it is by me telling everyone how good it is.” Coerver Coaching doesn’t have all the answers to learning soccer technique says Galustian, but it’s a body of work on offer that many national football federations and professional are dipping into and using.

Which means Galustian and other Coerver coaches are in demand. When they put on the Coerver coaching badge, they transcend cultural boundaries in football and can work anywhere in the world. But Coerver doesn’t challenge or threaten the integrity of a country’s football program. It complements it.

	Galustian in the Classroom		Galustian at an Academy

Galustian’s work means he’s recognized as one of the top technical coaches in the world. But deep down he’s still a fan. “When I meet Zico, the first thing I want to do is ask him for his autograph,” he says.

For the unassuming Galustian, one can see how much his work means to him. And how thankful he is to be part of it all.

“I had an undistinguished playing career, in a poor team. Now, with Coerver Coaching I get the wonderful opportunity to work with world champions.”

At the same time helping build Coerver Coaching’s legacy: helping millions of kids around the world become better players.