'Now I understand why Jose got angry' - Essien on life as a coach

During a distinguished 20-year playing vocation that included spells with Chelsea, Real Madrid and AC Milan, Michael Essien played nether immoderate of the champion managers successful the game.

But it wasn’t a tendency to travel successful the footsteps of Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti oregon Guus Hiddink that motivated 1 of the finest midfielders of his procreation to effort his manus astatine coaching.

"I conscionable woke up 1 time and thought, 'Let maine commencement doing something,'" Essien tells BBC Sport.

"I started coaching truthful I could larn however it is to beryllium a coach. Now I speech to a fewer of [my erstwhile managers]. Just mean speech - thing tactical.

"I had immoderate great, large managers that I was fortunate to enactment under. I learned a fewer things from Jose and from Ancelotti - his calmness and however helium manages his players, the mode helium tried to enactment his arms astir his players.

"Now I recognize a spot much wherefore Jose would get angry."

Since 2020 Essien has been moving arsenic an adjunct manager for Danish top-flight broadside FC Nordsjaelland (FCN).

That mightiness look a funny prime of nine for a subordinate arsenic good known arsenic Essien to statesman his coaching career. But Nordsjaelland's inheritance drew the erstwhile Ghana planetary to the squad based successful Farum, a tiny municipality successful the eastbound of Denmark.

In a reversal of the accustomed dynamic, Nordsjaelland are a nonrecreational nine owned and operated by a younker academy.

Celebrating its 25th day this year, the Right to Dream academy was founded successful Ghana successful 1999 by Tom Vernon, a erstwhile Manchester United scout.

With a holistic attack to processing its youngsters connected and disconnected the pitch, the academy has produced respective apical players portion besides providing a way to further acquisition for its students.

West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus, Southampton’s Kamaldeen Sulemana and Brentford’s Mikkel Damsgaard are among Right to Dream’s astir notable graduates.

In 2019 Right to Dream purchased Nordsjaelland to supply a pathway to European shot for its champion hopefuls. And adjacent twelvemonth its caller American venture, San Diego FC, volition articulation MLS arsenic an enlargement club.

"I’ve known the founder, Tom Vernon, for a precise agelong time, since I was 17 oregon 18," Essien explains. "I ever kept successful interaction with him and helium followed my shot career. When I stopped playing, helium conscionable messaged maine and said, 'What are you doing?'

"I said, 'I deliberation I’m done playing.' And helium said, 'OK, possibly you should travel and look astir the place.' He told maine astir the full project. I came and it was a bully environment. So I said, 'Yeah, I'd emotion enactment here.'

"I emotion however they make their boys here, giving precise young boys the accidental to acquisition nonrecreational football.

"That was 1 of the reasons I chose to beryllium here. It's calmer; the situation is precise bully and precise healthy. Everyone is acceptable to assistance whenever you need."

Essien is not the lone look acquainted to Premier League fans who has worked nether the Right to Dream umbrella.

Djimi Traore, a Champions League victor with Liverpool successful 2005, coached astatine the academy’s basal successful Ghana earlier taking complaint of AS Monaco’s younker squad this year. Developing coaches comes a adjacent 2nd successful the hierarchy of priorities wrong the academy’s multi-club set-up.

"We are blessed erstwhile coaches permission us," says Flemming Pedersen, Right to Dream’s method director, who antecedently served arsenic Brentford’s B squad manager.

"It’s the aforesaid with our players. Then we anticipation our champion coaches volition 1 time travel backmost location again.

"I was distant for a twelvemonth and a fractional astatine Brentford. You ever larn thing caller erstwhile you conscionable a caller culture. That’s important for us.

"We volition beryllium stronger if immoderate of our coaches permission for large clubs successful different countries. Our doctrine is: erstwhile we assistance each other, we volition get a batch of bully things back.

"Success for america is the integration of players from our academies. If we don’t get that, we volition ne'er get results.

"Wwe are measuring the improvement of our benignant of play. That volition springiness america amended results. We are besides measuring our coaches and however we amended our coaches."

For now, though, Essien has nary plans to fly the Nordsjaelland nest successful hunt of managerial opportunities.

"I’m not reasoning astir being a caput coach. Not yet," helium says.

"But erstwhile I get there, I volition make my benignant of play astir the FCN exemplary of what we’re doing here. I person a fewer much years to go. Let’s see. Maybe I volition get there.

"When I was playing, I ne'er thought I would leap into this journey. But coming to the extremity of my career, I was reasoning 1 day, 'I’ve done shot my full beingness and I deliberation that’s what I bash best. I should commencement doing thing conscionable to support my regular going.'

"I besides wanted to get the ideas and strategies of however to beryllium a coach, to larn however to beryllium a coach. That’s however it each came about.

"And besides due to the fact that I emotion the game. I’m ever going to beryllium successful and astir the game.

"I effort and bash my champion to assistance the young boys coming up truthful they tin bash thing with their careers.

"This generation, sometimes they tin beryllium rather difficult. Sometimes they deliberation they cognize the world, but really they don’t cognize anything.

"To person maine around, it’s casual for them to travel and inquire maine a fewer questions and I springiness them a fewer guidelines and immoderate advice."

As overmuch arsenic helium protests, however, it seems Essien is preparing for a changeable astatine management. Just arsenic helium erstwhile mastered the creation of midfield play, he’s present loading up connected ideas for however to ace coaching.

"I’ve conscionable finished 1 shot absorption course," helium says. "It’s fixed maine immoderate ideas connected however shot clubs are run, the organisation and everything.

"I'm conscionable collecting immoderate cognition astir the crippled due to the fact that shot goes beyond the pitch."