11 Questions with Filip Dinic

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 Filip Dinic, Head Coach of 1. Göppinger SV U-14:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

I started my coaching career in 2017, after reading an advertisement of the club where I'm still working (1. Göppinger Sportverein). The club searched for some young assistant coaches for the youth-department, so I applied for a job and became the chance to be part of the U12. I was 20 years old. Now I'm the head coach of this team in the U14.

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

After 12 years of playing football on youth level, I decided to stop my playing career. In these times I changed my focus on school and friends. Honestly, in my last year of playing football I was very disappointed about my former teammates and coaches. This was the main reason why I lost my huge passion for football. Passion is the most important attitude you need to be able to do any activity in life well. 

Unfortunately, my coaches didn't show us any passion, thus the listlessness spread to the team. As a result, there was no discipline which annoyed me. The players had great qualities but as I said, passion is very important, especially in sports. I had the opportunity to move to other clubs, but my anger was to huge and my passion was gone. Instead of playing football, I was concentrated on my school, friendship and part-time jobs. But the passion for this wonderful sport came back after a short period of absence. 

When I was 14, long before ending up my playing career, I decided to work as a coach at some point. When someone told me that a team was playing poor, I tried to recognize the reasons for their mistakes. After my playing career, I wrote a lot of analyzes for myself. I watched as many games as I could and read many coaching articles. I watched training sessions of amateur and professional teams and didn't focused only on a short number of leagues. From Mexico till China over USA and Europe, every kind of football league interested me.

In my opinion, both winning and developing are important characteristics in football. As a youth coach, the majority of my job is developing players and help them to reach the best quality they can. But good results are helpful for the mentality of players and coaches. Furthermore, good results are confirmations for hard work and positive developments. I'm not sad after a defeat, if my players took care about our principles during possession and pressing and showed great mentality and passion during desperate phases.

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

The mistakes of my coaches inspired me. I want to offer interesting training sessions. I want to offer fun, but always present the players with new challenges. They need to become the feeling of getting better and better after every week. I was a player who always questioned a lot. I discussed a lot with my coaches and I didn't always agree with them. Sometimes that brought me on the bench  but it didn't change my character.

However, it is important not only to see the mistakes of others as a warning, but also to remember the positive aspects. Life brings you in positive and negative situations. The hardest thing is to make the best of it.

What is the biggest misconception in football? Why?

Very good question. I think the knowledge of many coaches increased a lot in the last five years. We live in a period of time, where social media allows us, to keep in contact with coaches and experts all around the world. Digitalization gives us the opportunity to search information anytime and anywhere. The biggest misconception in football is the fact, that many coaches, particularly on youth level, doesn't use this huge advantage. 

Further training is mostly rejected. The internet is full of exiting and knowledgeable information for every level and age group. It is a pity, that the minority of all youth coaches are interested in it. The explanation for this misconception is, that many coaches underestimate the time and power you need to invest, to be a good coach. It takes a long time and a lot of work. 

Hopefully this negative quality changes. It would only benefit the whole child and youth.

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

I am not allowed to answer this question, because my career as a youth coach started only 2-3 years ago. Sure, I have taken big steps forward in these 2-3 years, but I will still learn a lot. My process is young and full of determination. 

But today, I am a bit sad about the "early" end of my playing career. I should have remained factual and examined the possibilities at that time and taken advantage of one of them. As I explained, my anger and disappointment was to great. 

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

Both! As a coach, you need to have creativity, empathy and passion. That's a kind of art. These factors are important for the development of players. But constantly challenging your players, always opening their eyes and improving them in the end, that's what you can call a science. Because football is changing and the training of players is becoming more and more demanding and important.

It's never a good idea to commit yourself in one direction. You need openness and determination to be successful.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

Another good question. I experienced a lot of great sporting moments, not only in football. But the most fascinating moment for me was the 7:1 win of Germany over Brazil in the WC 2014. It was just amazing. On every level. Tactically it was brilliant, the mentality and passion was outstanding and the technical executions of the german players were excellent. I'm living in Germany and I think all of the people from foreign countries were able to understand the pride also.

What coach/player/team inspires you? Why?

I'm a huge admirer of the RedBull football way. The manner they train their young players agrees with my ideas. They have a unique playing philosophy, which I try to implement to my players too. Of course, I have my own principles in every phase of the game, but the foundation is based on their philosophy. A high and aggressive pressing, quick transition after winning the ball, quick counter press after loosing possession and possession based on verticality are significant for my style of play. Both Leipzig and Salzburg follow these basics and I do it too. 

Obvious there are some coaches who inspired me also. In the past, I watched a lot of games of the teams of Thomas Tuchel. Since he was the head coach of FSV Mainz 05, I followed his career from FSV Mainz 05 over Borussia Dortmund till Paris Saint-Germain. He was one of the first modern coaches, who thought about football in a different, sometimes singular way. I like his training methods, communication with players, playing philosophy and his tactical brain. 

There are some other coaches who inspired me too like Ralf Rangnick, Roger Schmidt, Mauricio Pochettino, Josep Guardiola, Joachim Löw, Peter Bosz or Andre Villas-Boas. Many great coaches. There are also good coaches from academies, like Norbert Elgert or Nico Willig. 

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

As I said, passion is the most important attitude for everything you want to do well. Hard work and discipline are important too. Be the best you can. If you have the possibility to learn from someone with expertise, do it. Read a lot about football, watch a lot about football and it will reward your passion for it. 

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

Honestly, a pen and a paper with a football pitch on it. That's enough. 

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

I like watching basketball. I'm fascinated by the quality of the NBA. Basketball has many useful characteristics, which you can deploy in your work as a football coach. Especially the quick transition after winning the ball. Also the defending of quick transitions is interesting. 

All in all it is very useful to take information of other sports too. Learning never stops and football coaches shouldn't be afraid or to lazy to invest time for watching other sports. 

Moreover I am interested in how, for example, teachers or professors are teaching their class. How they deal with issues or how they try to awake the interest and passion of their students. 

Open your eyes, you can learn anywhere.