There's an article in The Athletic about Traore's coaching journey so far, with a bit of reminiscing about his time at Liverpool.
https://theathletic.com/4492239/2023/05/14/djimi-traore-coach-manager/Djimi Traore on his move into coaching: ‘I’m still learning to be a leader’
By Sarah Shephard
May 13, 2023
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There is one dressing-room conversation that Djimi Traore will never forget.
It was January 19 2005 and the former Liverpool defender was sitting alone in the changing room at the training ground, his head awash with negative thoughts.
The previous night, Traore had scored an own goal that Liverpool fans will never forget. It came during an FA Cup third round tie against then-Championship side Burnley at Turf Moor — a game that remained goalless until the 51st minute. That was the moment when, seeing a cross played across the face of goal, Traore went to meet it at the back post. Instead of booting the ball clear, he attempted a crafty turn that went comically wrong and gave the home side what proved to be the winning goal.
He was substituted by manager Rafa Benitez 15 minutes later.
When the team trudged into the dressing room at the final whistle, Traore braced himself. But despite the team’s disappointment there were no fingers pointed his way. Even so, the weight of what he’d done felt heavy on the young defender’s shoulders.
“The one who helped me a lot to cope with that situation was Jamie Carragher,” Traore tells The Athletic. “The next day I was in the locker room and you know when you sit by yourself… different things went through my head and he just came and sat next to me and said, ‘It’s all right man, that’s nothing. I did worse than you.’
“He told me he’d scored two own goals at home against Manchester United (in 1999) and that as a defender you will score some own goals — that’s part of your career. But now it’s about how you react in the next game because people will put pressure on you and you need to respond.
“Those few words helped me to cope with it.”
Traore and the ball end up in the back of the net at Burnley (Photo: Getty)
They also showed him just how important a role senior players and leaders have in the dressing room. Some eight years later he found himself in that position after signing for Seattle Sounders in MLS, and realised how much joy he took in sharing the knowledge he’d gained during a playing career that saw him represent 10 clubs in three countries, play internationally for Mali and win numerous trophies, including the Champions League and FA Cup with Liverpool.
“When I was a player, I was very focused on myself — on my journey as a player,” says Traore, “but towards the end of my career when I was at Seattle, I was given more responsibility in the team. I was in the captain groups and my voice counted because of my own experience. That’s when I felt like I could give back and use my knowledge.”
That’s also when he decided that his future lay in coaching.
When The Athletic speaks to Traore via Zoom, he is preparing for a day at FC Nordsjaelland’s training ground where he is head coach at the Right to Dream international academy. Started in 1999 by Tom Vernon, who had been Manchester United’s head scout in Africa, Right to Dream (RTD) was once a single academy housing a handful of boys in Accra, Ghana. It now has academies in Ghana, Egypt and Denmark (where Traore has been based since 2021), and has been instrumental in developing the careers of players such as Mohammed Kudus, who moved from FC Nordsjaelland to Ajax in 2020 in a deal worth over €9 million — one of the highest ever transfer fees ever paid for a player from the Danish league, and a record-breaking fee for a Ghanaian teenager.
When Right to Dream acquired Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjaelland in 2015, it marked the first time a European club had been purchased by an African not-for-profit business. It means RTD recruits from across Africa and Europe have a pathway to European football. Indeed, 66 per cent of the current registered Superliga squad are Right to Dream Community graduates.
For Traore, the move to Denmark was a no-brainer, partly because it presented an opportunity to return to Europe after eight years in the USA, but mostly because of the RTD ethos. “I signed straight away, because it was something that talked to me, and I saw the big picture,” he says. “We share the same kind of values about playing young players and giving the opportunity to the player or student on and off the field to become a better person.”
His passion for working with young players stems from both the personal and professional areas of his life. Growing up in the suburbs of Paris as one of 10 siblings (Traore is the fourth eldest, with two older brothers and one older sister), he was part of a close-knit family where looking out for those younger than yourself was part of daily life. “We helped each other. We were kind of a team. So the oldest always help the youngest. That’s the way I grew up.”
When he moved to England as an 18-year-old in 1999, he was thankful to find a similar ethos at his new home, Liverpool — a club that proved quite a step up from second division French side Laval, where he’d started his professional career.
“It was a very challenging environment,” he says of his early time in England. “I was in a comfort zone in France — that’s where I was born, where I always had friends or family around. And then I arrived in England, straight away in a big club with a big tradition.
“I knew a little bit (about) Liverpool (before signing for them), but I didn’t know how big a club it was worldwide. After maybe a few days in the club, that’s when I found out: yes, I’m somewhere that’s a top-class club with massive tradition.”
A young Traore (right) playing against Arsenal in August 2000 (Photo: Getty)
With limited English, Traore found those early weeks and months difficult but was helped by the presence of ex-players (“legend players”) who were working in the club and would always make time to sit and talk to him. “I also had some very good team-mates, and some French-speaking team-mates who came to the club and helped me. All the players, more or less, helped me and that’s why I feel like now I can be good in that role. I feel like if I can give one or two or three per cent to any player, that’s a positive.”
When Traore reflects on his experiences playing in England (he also played for Charlton and Portsmouth after leaving Liverpool in 2006), he can see how that time has helped to shape the coach he has become.
“I see it in so many things. At Liverpool, my coach was French (Gerard Houllier was in charge for the first five years Traore was there), so I knew the tradition and the ways French coaches manage. It was nothing new, really, in terms of the way we play.
“But it was more about how you manage big players. That was something new for me.”
Traore arrived into a dressing room featuring Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Paul Ince, as well as rising stars Steven Gerrard and Carragher.
“I saw how he was managing the players, taking care of the oldest ones and making sure everyone was on the same page — driving towards the same objective. He knew how to manage a locker room with a lot of strong characters, how to deal with big egos and that helped him when he arrived in Liverpool because it was not an easy task for him. There were lots of players that he didn’t recruit and he needed to buy because he came with some new ideas.
“We all know, Gerard never played football at a high level, but he won respect in different ways. And that means yes, you can be a top manager without playing at a high level. For me, it’s more about your knowledge of football, and how you deliver your message and, with his communication, I think he was one of the best.”
By the time Houllier departed in 2004, making way for Rafa Benitez, Traore was on the brink of leaving Liverpool after making just seven league appearances during the 2003-04 season. But Benitez swiftly changed his mind.
“He had meetings with everyone when he arrived. For me, I was just going into his office to stay two minutes. To shake his hand, say ‘Hi’, and ‘I’m leaving’. In the end I think I was one of the players who he spent the longest with.”
Traore was impressed by Benitez’s knowledge of his game and career (Photo: Getty)
Benitez allowed Traore to speak first, and then proceeded to use his favoured tactics board to explain how Liverpool were going to play under him and how he saw Traore fitting into that plan.
The defender gave a wry nod. “Yes, the previous coach did the same things and it didn’t happen.”
But Benitez gave his word. He talked about how Traore played in a Champions League game against Valencia in 2002 and about his performances for the France youth national team (at senior level he represented Mali, where his parents are from).
“He is someone who has a massive database about any players and he came up with so many crazy things about me from when I used to play in the youth. I couldn’t believe it.
“I think I played my best football under him because he gave me a lot of confidence. He gave me the big picture about what he thought about me and after that it was only on me to perform in training and in the games to win the spot — and that’s what happened.”
From Benitez, Traore learned about the art of being prepared. The Spaniard’s English was not as good as (former English teacher) Houllier’s, but his attention to detail was unmatched.
“When we went into games, we knew more or less everything about the opposition. Every small detail about the players, the coach… Sometimes, we felt like we didn’t need that much information, especially if we felt like we were better than the opposition, but with Rafa it doesn’t matter the opposition, he always came up with the same details. That was his strength. Yes, he had his weaknesses too, but that’s part of any coach.”
The pair still keep in touch, with Traore able to tap into the Benitez brain on all things coaching. He is now eight years into his journey, which started with Seattle’s “second team” in 2015. Initially the club wanted him to move straight from playing into working with the first team, but Traore refused. He’d only just retired and felt it would be too challenging to move into a coaching role with players who he’d been team-mates with just months earlier. Team-mates whose wives and families he knew. “We can cut players, we can trade players. I didn’t want to be involved in that, because I know how painful it is for the family.”
Traore first joined Seattle Sounders as a player in 2013 (Photo: Getty)
Traore only spent a year working with the second team, but it was a hugely valuable 12 months for his coaching career.
“We had only a head coach, me as assistant coach on a daily basis and one physio. No goalkeeper coach, or admin people. So I was doing everything. When we went on the road, I was doing the flight tickets for the boys, checking into the hotel, taking the equipment, carrying the bags, making sure everyone had their things. I learned so much about what is needed off the field.
“I’m not saying I had a big career, but if you have a decent career and win trophies, sometimes people think we have a big head and don’t want to do those kinds of small things. But for me, it was part of my journey as a coach to learn: what’s the work of my equipment guy? How hard it is it for him? The admins, the guys who need to book the hotel, you need to supply tickets. I learned everything. And I enjoyed it.”
He’s seen some of his former team-mates and contemporaries move swiftly into high-profile management positions but is comfortable with the route he has chosen. “I have an idea about what I want to be,” he says, “but for me, it’s not a sprint. The journey of the coach is very hard, especially today, to find a club at a high level. To arrive there, I think it’s better to be prepared. And the only way to prepare yourself is to be on the field, be engaged and be there on a daily basis with the players, and staff to make all the mistakes you need to make.
“At the youth level, you can learn so much about the players but also about yourself, about the way you want to play, the philosophy and you can make the mistakes, because if you make the mistake there, you will learn from it. Then, when you’re under a spotlight on a bigger stage, you’re ready.
“So many ex-players get the opportunity to get the big job straight away. But it’s totally different because today, it’s only about results. And if you don’t get the results, you don’t have the time. And if you don’t have the time, I think it is hard to be successful.”
Traore is clear that the learning process is ongoing for him. His greatest challenge in that process? Expanding his vision from the player who mainly thought about himself, to the coach who thinks about everybody else. “For me, that was the big challenge: to take care of everyone and care about everyone.
“I’m still learning to be a leader. It’s not only the players, it’s the people around you: your coaching staff, people who work in the club. I work for a big organisation, Right to Dream and FC Nordsjaelland, so I need to navigate… I don’t know how many people. I need to know names, what they do in the club or organisation, and try to interact and be connected with them. It’s something I learn every day, but I’m a social person, so I think it’s easy for me to talk to people.”
Traore takes notes on the sidelines during a match between LAFC and the Seattle Sounders in 2021 (Photo: Getty)
There’s a very relaxed air about Traore. “It’s a facade,” he smiles. So is there anything his players do that’s guaranteed to furrow his brow?
“Of course,” he says. “We play a team sport and sometimes some players can go more like an individual. I’m not happy about that and I try to always make sure everyone understands. I know everyone has his own career, everyone has his own pathway, but when we are on the field, we need to help each other. I always put the team first and the individual after.
“When you have that kind of base and structure, that’s when you can improve as a team, and as an individual as well. And it’s part of our value as an organisation.”
It’s been 24 years since he arrived at Liverpool as a teenager with little English but big dreams driving him. He was never, he admits, the most talented player “even in the academy” but what set him apart was his mentality, his desire to become a professional, to play at the big clubs and to try to win trophies. His challenge now is perhaps an even bigger one.
“Everything I’ve done in football so far, I think I was lucky, you know, because I know where I come from. And I’ll never ever forget where I come from. That’s something that has helped me to be where I am and keeps pushing me.
“Even today, we can talk about a lot of things in terms of coaching. But the reality is, it’s not easy to be a head coach — especially when you come from the minority. And you don’t see that many examples out there to say, ‘Oh yes, I want to be like him’, because it’s not easy.
“It’s always a challenge. But I love a challenge. That’s why I want to push myself and try to be the best version possible. But for me, it’s all about players: if I make my players improve — even by 1 per cent — I will be the best coach, in my head.”