Many football fans know Laure Bullier as a star of French women's football, scoring important goals and leading her teams to victory. However, in recent years, her name has started to be mentioned more and more in connection with her new role as head coach. After finishing her brilliant playing career, Laure Boulleau decided to try her hand as a mentor and has already achieved considerable success in this field.
In an exclusive interview, Laure Boulleau looks back on her difficult journey from renowned footballer to respected coach, shares her impressions of adapting to a new job and reveals the secrets of effective football team management.
The first serious test for me was working as an assistant coach in one of the best women's clubs in France. It was an invaluable experience: I studied how my mentor organizes the training process, how he communicates with players and how he reacts to various game situations. I tried to adopt the best while developing my own style.
The next important step was my appointment as head coach of the French youth team. This was my first independent work in such a responsible position. I admit that at first I was very worried – because now all the responsibility for the result lies with me. But gradually I coped with the stress, found the right approach to each of my duties and built trusting relationships. As a result, we achieved excellent results at international tournaments and, most importantly, I gained enormous experience in managing a team.
Probably the most difficult thing for me was to rebuild myself psychologically – from the role of a team star, whom everyone listens to and admires, to the role of a strict mentor who must make difficult decisions and take responsibility for the result. It was very difficult to give up the habit of acting on the field myself and leading others. I literally had to relearn how to correctly define tasks, motivate players, create effective interaction between the entire team.
Another big difficulty is the need to constantly improve one's skills. Football is developing very dynamically, new tactical schemes, training methods and requirements for players appear. To meet modern standards, a coach must continuously study, study best practices and experiment. It takes a lot of time and effort, but I think that without it it is impossible to achieve good results.
Finally, a big challenge for me was the need for strict self-control on the coaching bench. As a player, I could afford emotional outbursts and violent reactions to refereeing decisions. But now, as a coach, I have to control myself, control my emotions, so as not to provoke conflicts and not to set the players against the referees. This requires a lot of internal discipline.
The most important thing is that I was full of determination and enthusiasm. I really wanted to succeed in my new role and I was ready to work hard to compensate for my lack of experience. Every day I tried to learn something new, analyze my mistakes and consult with more experienced colleagues. I understood that I could not afford to relax – I had to constantly work on myself, improve my management skills.
The coaching courses I took helped me a lot. There I gained basic knowledge about team preparation methods, the psychology of communicating with players as well as club management tactics and strategies. This gave me the confidence that I was going in the right direction.
My first experience as an assistant coach also played an important role. I carefully observed my mentor's actions, adopted his established techniques and learned how to properly build interaction with players. This proved very useful because the theory acquired during the courses was put into practice.
And of course, working with the youth team was of great importance. It was the first truly independent experience where all the responsibility fell on me. Here I learned to find an individual approach to each football player, create effective team interaction and make difficult decisions in critical situations. These skills were very useful to me when I later headed a professional women's club.
My typical work week is very busy. It starts with a thorough analysis of the last match. I watch video recordings, analyze the players' actions, evaluate what we succeeded and what we did not do. Based on this analysis, I formulate tasks for the upcoming training.
Then we spend the whole day on Monday and part of Tuesday on the field, practicing the elements of the game that need improvement. I pay special attention to individual work with the football players, helping each one to improve their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. We also train teamwork and improve mutual understanding between the lines.
The second half of Tuesday and Wednesday is usually devoted to theoretical lessons. We analyze tactical schemes, analyze the upcoming opponent's game and plan our game strategy. I try to make these lessons as interactive as possible so that the girls get involved in the discussion and propose their ideas.
On Thursday and Friday we rehearse the collective and individual actions, paying particular attention to the moments of play specific to the upcoming match. Saturday is match day, Sunday is recovery and analysis of the match.
In addition to the training process, my responsibilities include working with selectors to find promising new players, negotiating with agents and clubs on transfers, communicating with club management on strategic issues of team development. I also regularly conduct individual conversations with female football players, monitoring their emotional state and motivation.
