DERBY’S SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE Roo can learn from a master of tactics, man-management and delegation
ZENDEN BIGS UP RAMS BOSS COCU
Tom Hopkinson WAYNE ROONEY will be tapping into a fantastic footballing brain when he takes his first steps in coaching under Phillip Cocu.
That’s according to former Chelsea and Liverpool star Bolo Zenden, who roomed with the new Derby boss during their playing days at Barcelona and was later given his break in coaching by his old pal at PSV Eindhoven.
Rooney will j oin Cocu’s management t eam as a player-coach in January.
And Zenden – Rafa Benitez’s assistant at Chelsea when the Blues lifted the Europa League in 2013 – has offered him an insight into what he will learn.
Zenden said: “One of Phillip’s powers is that he is can surround himself with people who know what he wants and how he wants it.
“And, as soon as you have those people in place and all the noses are in the right direction, it’s easier to delegate.
“You have to make decisions and, as a manager, your biggest job is making 100 decisions a day.
“If you’re a player, you’re on the pitch and you don’t see everything that happens off the pitch or what happens behind closed doors. You leave the club at 1pm. But, as a manager, you hardly ever leave the job – even when you’re at home, you’re busy with everything that is involved in managing a group and a club.
“It’s definitely a different kind of job and a very consuming one, and you have to learn the tricks of the trade.”
As well as the three Dutch league titles he won in five years with PSV, Cocu also developed a reputation for blooding youngsters, most notably Memphis Depay.
Zenden added: “Phillip is also good at managing players and he has an eye for the surroundings.
Philosophy
“When he was at PSV, he used a lot of the youth players.
“Firstly, of course, you do need quality. You can’t just put in a youngster and say, ‘Here you go’.
“They still have to prove themselves and, in the Championship, it’s hard for youngsters to prove themselves every three days.”
Cocu’s football philosophy was shaped playing for AZ Alkmaar, Vitesse and PSV, as well as the Dutch national team, for whom he won 101 caps.
But it was polished in Barcelona. Zenden said: “He played for Barcelona for six years and that’s not something that is very easy, especially for a foreigner.
“And being captain of Barcelona is something you don’t become easily.
“As a player, he was very, very versatile.
“The reason he was so versatile was because he was very clever, he was a player who read the game in every position.”
Zenden (above), who also played for Middlesbrough and Sunderland during his time in England, shared dressing rooms with some of the biggest names in football management during his stellar career.
He said: “I get asked the same question if people talk about Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Jaap Stam, Frank de Boer or Pep Guardiola.
“People ask if you could see when they were players that they were destined for management.
“I always say that, at that time it was difficult to judge, but if you look back you say, ‘Yes, these were the ones who were always busy with the team performance, the team shape, tactics’.
“Obviously, they had a certain love for the game that went a bit further than just kicking the ball.”
Zenden is now assistant manager at PSV, but he admits that, like Rooney, he fancies testing himself as a manager one day.
He added: “I think about being a manager very often.
“As it stands, I’m pleased with what I’m doing, I enjoy this bit, but who knows? If not today, then maybe tomorrow.
“I’ve been there and seen it from up close and I know what kind of empowering feeling it can give, but also the stress it can bring to you and your family.
“That’s something you have to take into account.”