How do you keep yourself motivated? How do you keep your players motivated? During these ‘crazy’ times…
How do I keep myself motivated…? In two ways. One, I know that I am a lucky person; that I do a beautiful job, where there is creativity. For me, it’s the best job in the world. So, I know I’m a very lucky person, as Americans would say that I’m blessed. I feel blessed. This should be enough to be motivated, to be the best every day, the best of what you can give. If these weren’t enough, I have a very strong personal motivation: I don’t want to reach the end of my career without having tried everything I could to become the best version of myself. This means looking in the mirror, seeing the effects, improving, and being hungry. Stay hungry. I always say that we are very lucky to do the work we do.
Andrea Trinchieri: ”If you have a talent, don’t waste it”
Behind every success of a coach, of a player, there is always a big injustice. Injustice is towards oneself because to reach the top you have sacrificed family, friends, free time. So, we are very lucky, but we also have sacrificed. Without sacrifices, there can be no success, things cannot be achieved, in my opinion. But we must also remember that there are these sacrifices. Motivating my players is not easy, because it is a time of great uncertainty. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow: Can we travel? Can we play? Are fans allowed? So, I try to be very simple, straightforward: “If you have a talent, don’t waste it, try to work to be the best, and be ready when it comes to playing.”
Do you observe the mental effects of the pandemic on the players?
Absolutely yes. I see some are deniers, those who deny the fact that they are worried, but they are, some are very worried, some hope that this is a bad dream. It’s like everything else, isn’t it? The players are not aliens; they are not from Mars. They are people before they are players. And people have fears, worries, happiness, crying, tears… everything.