Terriers on march ...with a little help from Oscar Wilde!
Boss Corberan does it by the book
CARLOS CORBERAN names Oscar Wilde as one of his coaching inspirations and the Spaniard is looking at the stars as he tries to guide Huddersfield Town to an FA Cup quarter-final against Liverpool.
At just 38, Corberan is one of the brightest coaching prospects in the game. In his first senior role in English football, he has transformed the Terriers from relegation candidates to promotion contenders, producing an attacking, entertaining team without the luxury of a transfer budget.
His team approach this fifthround tie at Nottingham Forest fortified by a 16-match unbeaten run in the Championship that has lifted them to second in the table. In an exclusive interview with Sportsmail, it is clear Corberan does not let a single moment go to waste.
After a brief playing career as a goalkeeper, Corberan quickly turned his mind to coaching and had already worked in his native Spain, Saudi Arabia and Cyprus before spending time with Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds and taking over at Huddersfield in July 2020.
He also found time to read Wilde, the 19th-century Irish author and poet.
‘I like to understand human beings very well,’ he said. ‘It’s one of my passions, to understand all of us, our motivations, the pressure, the fears that hinder our performances.
‘I love to know how people process different things. You can read many things from many different authors that might not be specifically related to football. But football is played by humans and it’s important to understand how they react to various situations.
‘When I finished my career I did various courses about different types of knowledge, system theory and complex systems. As a coach, you can reinforce or change habits of your players, but to do that you have to understand how they live in the first place. I stay at the training ground until that day’s work is finished — I don’t care if it’s 8pm or 9pm.
‘I have been linked with football all my life. Since I was 18, I have been coaching teams, whether that is as a head coach, fitness coach or assistant coach. Ever since I was 17, I knew I wanted to be a coach and I started to study coaches.
‘Even as a player, during training sessions I would be looking for ideas I could use as a coach. It was the same if I was a substitute — I’d be watching the game thinking about tactics and different situations.’
Corberan was lucky enough to be able to learn from the best. During his time as a youth player at Valencia, he was able to watch Hector Cuper and Rafael Benitez at close quarters. Cuper led the club to consecutive Champions League finals in 2000 and 2001, while Benitez delivered league titles in 2002 and 2004 before moving to Liverpool.
At Villarreal, as part of the coaching staff, Corberan crossed paths with Arsenal ‘Invincible’ Robert Pires as well as proven players in the European game such as Marcos Senna, Giuseppe Rossi and Ariel Ibagaza.
The spells in Saudi Arabia and Cyprus took Corberan to Leeds in 2017, where he became Under 23 coach. A year later, he was joined by a great of the coaching world — Marcelo Bielsa.
Corberan was part of the Leeds delegation who flew to Buenos Aires in 2018 to discuss terms with Bielsa, and the 66-year-old remains a huge influence.
‘His level of ability is not normal, his knowledge and work ethic too,’ reflected Corberan. ‘Just to meet him was a big learning opportunity, so imagine what it was like for me to work with him.
‘He is someone I admire a lot and we have a very good professional relationship. I always try to respect people who give me so much in terms of knowledge.
‘I saw qualities in him that not everyone can have. As soon as we stop growing as coaches, constantly improving, we risk stopping our careers.’
Though Bielsa’s career at the top level may be winding down now following his recent sacking by Leeds, Corberan’s is only just beginning.
Huddersfield were relegated from the top flight in 2019 and few would have backed them for a rapid return.
But Corberan is confounding those expectations as he tries to restore this club’s glorious past, which brought three consecutive league titles from 1924-26, and the FA Cup in 1922.
‘It’s 100 years since Huddersfield won the FA Cup,’ said Corberan. ‘It makes me realise how lucky I am to be involved at a club like this. It’s a really big club and I am aware of that every single day.’