Today we share with you our conversation with Milagros Martínez, current Head coach of Suzuki Unlimited in Japan. She speaks about her initial steps in football and how the option of going to Japan came up, and explains the differences and difficultes she found not only in football but also in a cultural level. We leave the complete transcription here.
Sonrisa de Gol (SdG): ¿Could you please briefly introduce yourself for our readers?
Milagros Martínez (MM): I am Mila (this is my nickname in football). Born in Fuentelespino de Haro (Cuenca) 35 years ago. My dad shared his passion for football with me. It was not until I was 20 years old that I played in the women's second division in Spain, in the Fundación Albacete.
My 'ground' has always been being able to have a professional career in sport, especially football.
SdG: How did your career as coach start? In what moment did you decide to chose it as a professional career?
MM: I started coaching kids when I was a player so I could earn a bit of money and balance studies and sport. From that moment, my passion to become a coach started increasing. Years later, when I retired, I was offered to coach the Reserves team in Fundación Albacete. Those were 4 incredible years, where I coached players who had great potential. One of them was Alba Redondo, currently playing for Levante and the Spanish National Team.
I combined this job as Head coach of the Resereves with being the Assistant coach in the First team. In 2013 I had the chance to coach teh First Team in the second divisio, with the objective to achieve promotion to the First Division. That same year we achieved the objective after being elimitaed in 5 playoffs in a raw. Once we were in the First Division, we managed to stay there for 3 consecutive seasons.
SdG: Your experience has brought you to different contexts, both in men's and wome's football. What positives do you take from each of these contexts?
MM: I think that the majority of 'problems' or 'situations' are lived in the same manner in both men's and women's football: players are unhappy if they don't play and happy if they do. We must take care of injured players and to provide more learning time to the players.
I think that from each group age and each country you can learn many new things, especially what to do and what not to do. I arrived here [in Japan] with specific ideas that I have completely changed. Living football abroad makes you change both on and off the pitch.
SdG: Apart of your experiences in men's and women's football you have the chance to live an experience in a country where the culture is very different. How has it been to adapt to the country? How do you overcome the language barrier?
MM: Adaptation was honestly very easy. They received me with their arms open and I have never had any type of problem. Even with the player, some of them coming from professional teams and environmente, I have never had any issue.
Even though Japan has a very traditional culture, I must say that I have never felt any type of discrimination in my job.
About language, it has been the biggest barrier and difficulty since I arrived. And I am not talking about life outside the pitch. It is very hard to make speeches that motivate the players properly, the message is not the same, the coaching points (especially at the start) were quite confusing... and that was a bit frustrating, but I must say that I feel we have improved a lot in that regard.
SdG: Apart of a cultural difference, there is also a different coaching and training style than what you are used to. How has it been the acceptance of your coaching style by the players, the workers, and the board of the club?
MM: The board has never quesitoned my working ways, so I have been very lucky with this. They have always respected my decisions and, it is because of that, I am very pleased. You could tell the players had doubts at the start, you could see it in their faces the first day of training.
My way of coaching is quite different to what they are used to, it is not that physical and we try to add the ball in every exercise we make. Thar is something that players always like.
SdG: Thanks to social media we can follow you from a bit closer and in your Twitter account, @milagrosmartinezdo, we can find videos of games that you propose in your pre-game sessions where we can see the players cooperating between themselves while they have a great time. What importance have the social, affective, and emotive structures in your traning proposal?
MM: Training weeks in Japan are very long. Usually, we do not have 2 free consecutive days and pre-game training sessions help us disconnect, living with the teammates, and cooperate.
For me, cooperation on and off the pitch is key. It is for this that I take care of the players, how they do in their jobs, how are their kids, etc. I believe that it is important to have that connexion.
These types of activities bring teammates together and, in a society [the japanese] where social interactions are not very common, I think this is very important.
SdG: And we can't only see you training, you also share content where you perform activities like The Day of the Fan or activities in the beach where you contribute to keeping the environment. What is the importance of values in your teams?
MM: It costs nothing helping a bit every now and then. Also, we have 30 players in the team! [she laughs], so if we manage to get a tiny bit of organisation, we can achieve massive things.
Here, like in many other countries, players have loads of fans and followes, so the image we project must be exemplay. Sport must lead us to enjoy on the pitch and, also, do everything that is in our hand to live in a better society.
SdG: Japanese players are known to be very good technically. Nevertheless, they do not blunt in European football. What do you think they are missing to become important players in the best teams in the World?
MM: I think that the main problem happens in the early stages of the player. Usually, they use a lot of analytical drills, even when the players are not that young, leaving decision making and tactical work aside. It is there where I believe that they should work in a different way in order to develop a 'complete' player.
I always say that the day the Japanese decide to get proper tactical training, they will beat us all. They are excellent both technically and physically.
SdG: And, to conclude, what would you recommend to those coaches who want to have an International experience?
MM: My advice is that, first of all, they must study the football and culture of the country they want to coach in. Then, they need to come with an open mind and ready to learn, modifiy, or change their way of understanding football. They need to adapt to the players they have and not expect the players to adapt to them.
And, especially, they must enjoy every moment.
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