The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic’s daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox.
Hello and welcome! Today we’re looking into the guts of coaching — why football management is bad for your health.
Coming up…
🤒 The dangers of being a football manager
💪 Leverkusen’s invincible treble. Could they?
🏴 Tierney exclusive: Arsenal future discussed
🏆 Test your knowledge — question of the week
How dangerous can management be?
Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Frank, Emma Hayes (Getty Images)
When Jurgen Klopp delivered the shock news he would leave Liverpool this summer after nine years, the reason he gave was mental and physical, not footballing. “I cannot do it again and again and again,” the 56-year-old said.
Incoming USWNT boss Emma Hayes has highlighted the demands of the job and how managers are treated like “pieces of meat”.
Football management is stressful and demanding, and it has visible effects. You will have seen the before and after pictures, the stark contrast between managers at their club unveilings and their departures.
Richie Wellens, manager of Leyton Orient in England’s third tier, told The Athletic’s Sarah Shephard and Jay Harris he could no longer grow a beard and has put on weight. When Leicester City’s Dave Bassett was wired up to a cardiac monitor during a match in 2001, it found he developed an irregular heartbeat towards the end of matches.
All too often, managers focus on results on the pitch at the expense of their health.
‘I wake up with bleeding gums’
“I clench my jaw a lot at night,” Wellens says. “And sometimes I wake up in the morning with bleeding gums. That’s down to stress.” The experts agree.
“When I watch the highlights on TV, it’s like watching stress evolving in front of me,” says Dr Sally Harris, who has looked after managers’ health through the (League Managers Association) LMA for six years.
Ultimately, the solution is perspective — and a manager can ask for help to provide it. Wellens has hired a psychologist.
“It’s about being consistent,” says Brentford head coach Thomas Frank. “When I go home I need to exercise and switch off. Sometimes you are dragged into the hamster wheel and your thoughts are only about selection, injuries, preparing — you need to take yourself out of that.”
So how do managers cope?
The answer, sadly, is that many barely do.
Physical exercise is one method to deal with the stress. Klopp and Frank have installed padel courts at their clubs’ training grounds to play on. Frank goes for walks with Brentford’s sports psychologist and the latter’s greyhound, Paisley.
The LMA offer health screenings, although managers’ attendance is not mandatory. Many clubs also carry out cardiac assessments in pre-season for coaches and players.
Some have said going on holiday is “key” to feeling refreshed — but with football’s calendar increasingly squashed, even a small break can be difficult. The best many managers can do is a round of golf, a hot bath, and back to work.
News Round-Up 🗞️
Leverkusen, it’s getting ridiculous now 🏆
Never write off Leverkusen! 👊
The Bundesliga champions always find a way and now have the aggregate lead once again! #UEL 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/4mOpVRBvN6
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 9, 2024
Roma fans look away now 🫣
Bayer Leverkusen regain the lead in the tie 😳 pic.twitter.com/OupDAVLFfw
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) May 9, 2024
Neverkusen no more. Bayer Leverkusen were mocked after several late-season collapses — now they’re the kid in the school playground repaying their bullies in kind.
Xabi Alonso’s side are four games away from an unprecedented unbeaten treble. It would be one of the greatest seasons in the sport’s history.
On Thursday, they reached the Europa League final after beating Roma 4-2 on aggregate. But that’s only half the story — at 2-0 down on the night with 10 minutes left, they needed a miracle to stay undefeated.
Sometimes, fate is on your side (see above). Their comedy first goal came in the 82nd minute, and the equaliser — deep in stoppage time — felt inevitable after that.
Leverkusen have scored 12 goals in stoppage time to keep their record alive — it’s now the longest unbeaten record since European continental competition began.
Aston Villa did not have the same joy in the Europa Conference League, losing 6-2 to Olympiacos in their semi-final.
‘Chances are, I’m leaving Arsenal’ 🗣️
Tierney is on loan at Real Sociedad (Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)
Kieran Tierney is a throwback — a tough-tackling defender who plays in short sleeves in the snow and prefers a supermarket carrier bag to Yves Saint-Laurent.
The Scotland left-back is absent from Arsenal’s title charge. Instead, he is on loan at Real Sociedad in San Sebastian, one of Europe’s most chic cities — but the football is not luxurious, as he told The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell. “On my first day, I was like, ‘Ooft!’. I was blowing. People think about Spain and tiki-taka but this group is about winning through hard work.”
The pressing question, however, is whether the 26-year-old has played his last game for Arsenal. “There are no hard feelings or spite,” Tierney says. “But look at the squad depth at left-back — I’m not silly, I know the chances are I’ll be leaving.”
It’s an honest assessment — but it must be difficult to be away from his parent club, with Arsenal potentially nine days and two matches from Premier League glory.
Around The Athletic 🌎
⚠️ It could be the endgame for Manchester United’s Erik ten Hag and the footballing reasons are myriad. Michael Cox has drawn up a list — injuries in defence, huge spaces in midfield, set-piece disasters, a lack of identity in attack…
🎙 Talk of the Devils podcast: Is this the end for Ten Hag?
⌛ Quiz time: Arjen Robben, Ilkay Gundogan, Cristiano Ronaldo, ??????? and Mohamed Salah.
Who is the missing player from the list above?
Get the answer here or in Monday’s newsletter.
Catch A Match 📺
Saturday
🏴 Premier League: Fulham vs Manchester City, 7.30am ET / 12.30pm UK. USA Network, TNT Sports 1. Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea, 12.30pm / 5.30pm. NBC, Peacock, Sky Sports Main Event
🇺🇸 MLS: Montreal vs Inter Miami, 7.30pm / 12.30am (Sunday). Apple TV
Sunday
🏴 Premier League: Manchester United vs Arsenal, 11.30am / 4.30pm. Peacock, Sky Sports Main Event
(Top photo: Getty Images)
Read the full article here