Turning the Page: Guillermo Barros Schelotto Preparing for the Next Challenge

Elite football can be an unforgiving place. The need to deliver results, short-term thinking, and high expectations mean that the threat of losing your job is a constant occupational hazard for managers, especially for those at the highest level.

However, the transition between jobs should be seen as an opportunity; a chance to reset, evaluate and start planning the next career move. 

During these periods, effective use of data and technology empowers managers and coaches to keep up to speed with the latest trends in football, analyze potential clubs and competitions, and develop their coaching philosophy and game model.

A top-level coach currently in this phase of career transition is Argentinian manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto. 

Following a glittering playing career in which he won 16 titles with Boca Juniors and helped Columbus Crew to a first ever MLS Cup, Barros Schelotto went into management and established himself as one of the top managers on the continent.

In his first job at Lanus, Barros Schelotto helped el Granate punch above their weight and regularly challenge for domestic titles and qualify for continental competition. Under his stewardship Lanus won the 2013 Copa Sudamericana - the first time in their history - and he guided them to the quarterfinals of the Libertadores.

When it comes to searching for a new club, Barros Schelotto believes it is important to have a clear vision of your coaching philosophy.  

“My philosophy is to build a team that can go out and win each weekend,” Barros Schelotto explains. “A team with an attacking outlook, looking to use width from the wings and always playing with a defined number 9.”

“It’s less about possession, more about attitude, about what we do when we have the ball and to be direct.”

Using Hudl Sportscode and Wyscout, Barros Schelloto can conduct in-depth assessments of a club's historical performance, playing style, and individual player strengths and weaknesses to weigh up the suitability of potential roles.

In essence, these tools empower managers to make strategic and well-informed choices when selecting a new club, enhancing the likelihood of a successful integration of their coaching philosophy with the team's existing framework, while also being able to pre-emptively identify targets who could strengthen the squad.

Barros Schelotto also stresses the significance of certain values to his philosophy: “The group has to have good human and sporting values: respecting the rival, the stadium, and the fans. This is also important.”

The need to strike a balance also comes through in Barros Schelotto’s use of technology too:

“Without a doubt, it impacts when building a strategy. It’s not the only weapon at your disposal to beat an opponent, but it helps to turn a general thought or idea into something more specific and detailed.”

“To these statistics you add the wealth of your own personal experience, your ability and of your coaching staff. Then you can cross reference that with Wyscout, so you can ratify the ideas and thoughts you have about the rival with the images and numbers that are available on the platform.”

“You draw positives from technology when you put these numbers in the context of how they were applied in the game, the phase of play, or the strategy. But it has to coincide with your vision. If not, something’s going wrong.”

With this clear philosophy, balanced approach and openness to technological innovation, Barros Schelotto is strategically positioning himself to thrive in his next managerial role. 

With the support of Wyscout and Sportscode, he is equipping himself for the next chapter of his illustrious career.