What Product Managers can learn from Football Managers
South East Asia (SEA) may not be a global powerhouse in football, but it is a football mad region, thanks to our colonial history (at least for Malaysia and Singapore) and also the amount of marketing spend by football teams touring this region to expand their global reach in more recent memory. Ask any football crazy fan from SEA about their favourite football team, and it is very likely that one of the English Premier League (EPL) team names will be mentioned. I am no different. I’ve been a supporter of the Arsenal Football Club since as far back as I can remember, along with my local club Perak. In fact, for those who follow The Product Un(censored) Show, you would perhaps remember me throwing shade at Ridzwan Aminuddin for being a Liverpool supporter when I introduced him in Episode 1. Don’t worry, we’re still friends 😛.
Now, when talking about football, it is usually superstar players in a team like Lionel Messi, Christiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Mohamad Salah who dominate the lion’s share of air time and article space. However, for this article, I want to focus on the role of football managers and what we can learn from them as product managers, especially given that both roles have many parallels, in my personal opinion of course!
Product Managers and Football Managers
I figured this would be the best way to explain why these two roles have so much in common (yes, it’s supposed to be tongue in cheek):
On a *slightly* more serious note, the diagram does somewhat encapsulate the football manager’s role. On the pitch, the football manager needs to find the winning combination of players which will deliver results while ensuring that the experience for the fans is great. At the same time, the football manager needs to manage the expectations for the football club’s hierarchy off the pitch. What happens on the pitch will affect what happens off the pitch and vice versa. Sound familiar?
Given that I am an Arsenal / EPL fan, I will examine 3 managers from the EPL and how they have brought success for their clubs as our “case study”. Let’s go!
Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool) — Creating An Environment for Success
For the anti-Liverpool legion, 30 years of insulting them about not winning the Premier League title came to an end last season. It nearly didn’t happen because of Covid-19, but it finally happened, and perhaps the biggest catalyst for this was none other than their charismatic manager, Jürgen Klopp.
The first lesson that we as product managers can learn from Herr Klopp is how he created an environment which the Liverpool team could succeed. What did he do?
He got everyone in Liverpool to believe in his vision, from the players to the fans. In his first interview as Liverpool manager, he said this: “We must turn from doubters to believers”. He could often be seen encouraging the fans to roar their support for the team from his dugout. It took awhile, but slowly, Anfield became the foreboding fortress which visiting teams dreaded playing at.
His biggest impact has been on his players, and his biggest success story has been Jordan Henderson. Doubted by so many since being signed by his predecessor, Klopp’s belief in Henderson was unwavering despite the brickbats at both the player and manager. Henderson was Klopp’s captain who lifted both the UEFA European Cup and English Premier League title.
Enthusiasm is infectious and he not only preached it, he is the embodiment of it. His high octane energy on the sidelines when Liverpool play is common viewing during a match. A day after losing the UEFA Champions’ League Final in 2018 to Real Madrid, Klopp was recorded on video singing with a few Liverpool fans, defiantly singing that they would bring the trophy back to Liverpool. Liverpool won the UEFA Champions’ League in 2019.
Claudio Ranieri (Leicester City) — Bringing out the best through teamwork
When Leicester City won the English Premier League title in 2016, it was the first time the club had won the title in their 132-year history. They had finished the previous season in 14th place. They had started the season as 5000–1 outsiders to win. The force that pushed this team of unknowns into the folklore of footballing history? Manager Claudio Ranieri.
The second lesson we can learn as product managers is how Ranieri brought out the best in his players with an incredible level of teamwork.
By all accounts, his first stint in the English Premier League with Chelsea was a disaster. His constant changes with the starting lineup and formation changes during the game earned him the moniker “The Tinkerman” with the English media, and he left the club empty handed. So what did Ranieri do differently at Leicester?
For the most part, Ranieri realised that he had a great core of players to work with inherited and only reinforced positions where necessary, the most notable being the signing of N’Golo Kanté. He played his best 11 regularly, 87% of the time to be precise. The same was done with the management team, where he only brought three staff whilst keeping most of the management team who preceeded him.
On the pitch, the teamwork was instantly recognisable. Every team player knew exactly their role and how it would yield results. They were focused on team success above personal glory. Shinji Okazaki was a striker who compromised his striking instincts to be the link between Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy. The duo scored 60 goals between them in their title winning season. When Leicester lost the ball possession, every one would hound the opposing team and once they regain possession, they would hit their opponents on a frenzied counter attack which caught their opponents off guard. They boasted a 38% attacking conversion rate whilst the average for that season was only 31%.
And when talking about the shocking success of Leicester City when accepting his award as FIFA Coach of the Year, Ranieri remarked in typical self depreciation: “The god of football said Leicester must win.”
Arsène Wenger (Arsenal) —Bringing success through innovation
There is only one EPL trophy which is gold, and that trophy belongs to Arsenal for being the only team in the Premier League to have gone an entire season unbeaten. Arsène Wenger was the Arsenal manager that has managed that improbable feat. He was a virtual unknown when he took over at Highbury, but his strategies changed the landscape of the English Premier League forever.
The third learning we get from this manager is how Wenger transformed Arsenal (and the face of English football) by changing the ecosystem. Let’s find out what he did.
In 1996, Arsenal Football Club unveiled Arsène Wenger as their manager. The culture of many of the English clubs including Arsenal was one that was revolved around a physical style of play and a player lifestyle which was to play hard and party even harder. Wenger knew that in order to make Arsenal a team to be reckoned with, he had to work on all aspects of the the club, from the players themselves, to how the club would recruit:
- He totally revamped the team’s training methods to focus on passing and fluidity instead of just focusing on the physical aspects of training; Arsenal became revered for frighteningly quick counter attacks and intricate passing in even the tightest of spots
- Chocolates, alcohol, burgers and chips were totally removed from the players’ menu and were replaced with healthier food options. His dietary changes have been credited with extending the playing careers of club legends like Tony Adams and Lee Dixon
- Planning for the future with youth — Players such as Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry all joined as relatively unknown players and became the platform on which Arsenal’s success was built
- Wenger also revamped the way recruiting was done by creating a network of scouts all over the world. He would also be one of the first managers to use data and stats extensively to aid in player acquisition
Wenger would go on to win 3 Premier League and 7 FA Cup trophies, making him Arsenal’s most successful manager in its history.
Injury Time — Summary
If there was too much football oozing out from all that was written, please accept my apologies. My peace offering will be a short summary of the 3 points that we can learn as product managers:
- Creating An Environment for Success — before we delight our customers, we need to make sure that our teams have the ingredients to succeed and product plays a huge part in that. If we’re not sure about what problem we’re solving for our customers, if we’re not allowing the team we work with to express themselves in the process of delivery value or support them when the chips are down, the battle is already half lost.
- Bringing out the best through teamwork — a team that is working for each other will almost always deliver better than a collective of rockstars who work for themselves. Like Marty Cagan likes to say, we need missionaries, not mercenaries.
- Success through innovation — we cannot be satisfied with things the way they are. Adopting the latest tools, practices, and understanding what brings success for tomorrow must be continually what we obsess about. Otherwise, it is unlikely that we will find anything other than mediocrity.
The Final Whistle
This was a football article terribly disguised as a product article, but this is a slightly different approach to writing which I’m exploring where I try to glean product management lessons from the world around us. Please do give me feedback, because otherwise, this product loop will be incomplete!
And my final note, I am SOOOOOOO thankful that football is back.
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