Rossi22
Pedro Mendes
BRENDAN RODGERS spoke in faultless Spanish for the first five minutes. No wonder Swansea play like Barcelona.
In his most in-depth interview since the nation fell in love with the swashbuckling Swans, Rodgers told SunSport how he:
Spent years flying to Barcelona to study their approach from the academy to the first team.
Described how he trains the newly-promoted minnows to play like the Catalan giants.
Why he has a completely different approach to Jose Mourinho, despite working under him for three years.
Rodgers' men face Emirates Marketing Project today and even the Premier League leaders' boss Roberto Mancini admits 'Swansea play the best football in England.'
But, first of all, how did Rodgers learn Spanish?
He said: "Seven years, three lessons a week. I was told a number of years back that if I spoke another language it would give me a great opportunity at the very highest level.
"I believe the quality of your life is the quality of your communication.
"Barcelona has been my inspiration. I never run away from that. I spent many years travelling there learning about the model of Louis van Gaal and Johan Cruyff.
"When I quit playing I wanted to understand that way and structure, the relationship between the youth teams and the first team.
"Obviously the leading lights were the Spanish and the Dutch.
"The perfect day would be to fly in on a Saturday night and watch all the youth teams on a Sunday right through to the first team.
"You are talking the late 1990s and early years of the last decade.
"I would go to Sevilla and Valencia as well.
"I didn't go to Madrid. I tried to go to clubs that really brought young players through. In Holland I went to Ajax and Twente."
Rodgers, 39, speaks fondly of his time with Mourinho at Chelsea — where he was youth team coach — but admits his approach is very different to the Special One.
The Swans chief added: "With Mourinho, my football education was the equivalent of going to Harvard.
"But my philosophy on the pitch is completely different to his, yes.
"Absolutely. People don't see how there can be a difference. But the key is before I went there my philosophy was already formed.
"I had 10?¢ years of development as a coach. My principles were already in place. Going from Head of the Academy at Reading to Chelsea meant I was able to explore these ideas with top talents."
Swansea climbed to the top flight in Rodgers' first season and look set to survive comfortably.
He continued: "After two weeks here I felt we would have a great chance because of the honesty of the players.
"They were sponges for information and wanted to work. They just soaked up what I was telling them."
So how does he get them to play like that?
Rodgers added: "People categorise it to technical, tactical, physical and mental. Every day in terms of the work, everything we do is with the ball."
Spontaneously he repeats himself in Spanish: "Todo lo que hacemos es con el balon."
The very same words the head of Barca's famous La Masia academy Carles Folguera used when I interviewed him about the Catalans' training methods last year.
So, like Barcelona?
Rodgers said: "Exactamente. That is the ideology. I like players to think.
"I like their brains to be sore after every session. I want them to keep thinking. To play this way you need players with incredible intelligence.
"Keeper has the ball and smashes it up the pitch, doesn't have to think. But the quickness of the brains in our team is so important.
"People ask me 'Why don't you run through the trees and the woods and get them strong'. I say 'I never see a tree on the football field'.
"Mourinho told me 'A pianist doesn't run around the piano. He sits down and improves his touch and practices until he picks the right tune'.
"We are the same. We don't run around the field, we play inside the field."
So if midfield metronome Leon Britton is Rodgers' Xavi, who is his Andres Iniesta?
"Joe Allen is my Iniesta."
And his Messi?
"There's only one Messi."
So what will be the last thing Rodgers will tell his troops before they run out this afternoon?
He concluded: "Have no fear. We need to go out there knowing we are representing a city and a wonderful white shirt.
"The players have done it proud in the time I've been here. So continue with the journey. See where it takes us."
In his most in-depth interview since the nation fell in love with the swashbuckling Swans, Rodgers told SunSport how he:
Spent years flying to Barcelona to study their approach from the academy to the first team.
Described how he trains the newly-promoted minnows to play like the Catalan giants.
Why he has a completely different approach to Jose Mourinho, despite working under him for three years.
Rodgers' men face Emirates Marketing Project today and even the Premier League leaders' boss Roberto Mancini admits 'Swansea play the best football in England.'
But, first of all, how did Rodgers learn Spanish?
He said: "Seven years, three lessons a week. I was told a number of years back that if I spoke another language it would give me a great opportunity at the very highest level.
"I believe the quality of your life is the quality of your communication.
"Barcelona has been my inspiration. I never run away from that. I spent many years travelling there learning about the model of Louis van Gaal and Johan Cruyff.
"When I quit playing I wanted to understand that way and structure, the relationship between the youth teams and the first team.
"Obviously the leading lights were the Spanish and the Dutch.
"The perfect day would be to fly in on a Saturday night and watch all the youth teams on a Sunday right through to the first team.
"You are talking the late 1990s and early years of the last decade.
"I would go to Sevilla and Valencia as well.
"I didn't go to Madrid. I tried to go to clubs that really brought young players through. In Holland I went to Ajax and Twente."
Rodgers, 39, speaks fondly of his time with Mourinho at Chelsea — where he was youth team coach — but admits his approach is very different to the Special One.
The Swans chief added: "With Mourinho, my football education was the equivalent of going to Harvard.
"But my philosophy on the pitch is completely different to his, yes.
"Absolutely. People don't see how there can be a difference. But the key is before I went there my philosophy was already formed.
"I had 10?¢ years of development as a coach. My principles were already in place. Going from Head of the Academy at Reading to Chelsea meant I was able to explore these ideas with top talents."
Swansea climbed to the top flight in Rodgers' first season and look set to survive comfortably.
He continued: "After two weeks here I felt we would have a great chance because of the honesty of the players.
"They were sponges for information and wanted to work. They just soaked up what I was telling them."
So how does he get them to play like that?
Rodgers added: "People categorise it to technical, tactical, physical and mental. Every day in terms of the work, everything we do is with the ball."
Spontaneously he repeats himself in Spanish: "Todo lo que hacemos es con el balon."
The very same words the head of Barca's famous La Masia academy Carles Folguera used when I interviewed him about the Catalans' training methods last year.
So, like Barcelona?
Rodgers said: "Exactamente. That is the ideology. I like players to think.
"I like their brains to be sore after every session. I want them to keep thinking. To play this way you need players with incredible intelligence.
"Keeper has the ball and smashes it up the pitch, doesn't have to think. But the quickness of the brains in our team is so important.
"People ask me 'Why don't you run through the trees and the woods and get them strong'. I say 'I never see a tree on the football field'.
"Mourinho told me 'A pianist doesn't run around the piano. He sits down and improves his touch and practices until he picks the right tune'.
"We are the same. We don't run around the field, we play inside the field."
So if midfield metronome Leon Britton is Rodgers' Xavi, who is his Andres Iniesta?
"Joe Allen is my Iniesta."
And his Messi?
"There's only one Messi."
So what will be the last thing Rodgers will tell his troops before they run out this afternoon?
He concluded: "Have no fear. We need to go out there knowing we are representing a city and a wonderful white shirt.
"The players have done it proud in the time I've been here. So continue with the journey. See where it takes us."
