11 Questions with Albin Sheqiri

The pursuit of wisdom in any walk of life quickly reveals that what you think you know is not nearly enough to get you to where you want to go. As I'm starting out in my football scouting journey I challenged myself to reach out to those already working in various roles in football to answer a short list of questions. My goal wasn't to get answers but relevant perspectives on the game within the game.

Here is Albin Sheqiri, tactical analyst for @RedBullHub

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

I have always had an interest for coaching, even during my younger age of active playing career and coached some youth-teams while still playing. 

What attracted you to coaching? What’s more intriguing now winning or developing players?

Due to my injuries excluding me from reaching my potential as a player I wanted to continue working in football, so becoming a coach was a natural step for me.

Its always important to work with the human being and not only the player. If you as a coach create an environment where players learn, feel safe with making mistakes and give time for personal development the individual player will develop. The more players that develop the better the team will be and eventually it will lead to more positive results. It's important to want to win for sure, but the most important is that we always do our best and if that is not enough, there is not much more you can affect a result than by giving your best.

Who is the first coach/teacher that resonated with you? What stood out?

Unfortunately I don't have any specific one, and to be honest I learned the most by observing and reflecting on my past coaches mistakes and tried to understand why things did or didn't go well for the coach, my team collectively or for me personally as a player. 

What is the biggest misconception in football? Why?

That the best individual players and the most money guarantees a team success. Football is a game of interactions and collective thinking, therefore a coach can with limited possibilities create good interactions within the team, create a competitive team this if he knows how to get the best out of every player and use their strengths in proper roles that fit the player to help the team.

If you could start over what skill would you build on first?

Tactics because I have the responsibility to be able to guide the players in the right directions, but maybe a bit more focus on the psychological and social-skill.

Do you see player development as more of an art or a science? Which would you start with?

It's impossible to know for sure the players development curve and I can only speak out of experience and that is that if I as a coach create an environment where the players play a lot (are used to be in situations of constant decision making), are comfortable with making decisions and probably many mistakes  too and that you actively coach/guide your players towards new solutions, the players tend to enjoy the game more and therefore more chance to develop too.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

When an ”underdog team” win against bigger teams in big competitions. We have a few examples such as Leicester, Atletico Madrid etc. It just shows you that you don't have to have the best players in the world. You can and should always try to focus on being the very best at things you can affect which are usually free such as organization (tactically, strategically), discipline, preparation etc. 

What coach/player/team inspires you? Why?

I would say Klopp, Simeone, Marco Rose/Rene Maric with their ways of creating competitive teams and Guardiola, Nagelsmann with their tactical and in-game solutions. 

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into coaching/scouting/analytics?

Be humble and have a role model, always try to do your best and never stop being curious to learn & develop more. 

What is your favorite app/tool to use (for fun not work!)?

One I use for fun and for work is tactical pad, which is a terrific and cheap software that lets you create sessions, videos, 3d cam-view, experiment with tactics and different formations etc. 

What other sport/hobby/discipline do you feel improves your work?Why?

Outside of my time as a coach, it's important that I try to study about psychology, physiology & leadership, basically anything that can enhance you not only as a coach but as a person too. I have also gained a lot of experience of understanding how to get the best of and create motivation for a person, by working in school as a teacher.