Liam Rosenior interview: Strasbourg's rapid rise & the value of diversity

Summary

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The Athletic FC Podcast – Liam Rosenior Interview: Strasbourg’s Rapid Rise & The Value of Diversity

Date: October 26, 2025
Host: Ayowale Molara (Ayo Akinwolere)
Guest: Liam Rosenior, Head Coach, RC Strasbourg
Special guest analyst: Karl Anker

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Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth interview with Liam Rosenior, head coach of RC Strasbourg, who has led the club to third place in Ligue 1 after eight games. The conversation explores Strasbourg’s rapid progress, Rosenior’s management style—especially with one of the youngest squads in Europe—and the challenges and opportunities of working within a multi-club ownership model. The discussion also highlights the importance of diversity, representation, and cultural intelligence in modern football.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Strasbourg’s Start to the Season & Tactical Philosophy

• Pride in Team Performance: Rosenior discusses the team's emotionally charged 3-3 draw against PSG, nearly achieving Strasbourg's first-ever away win at the Parc des Princes.
  • “Even if we’d lost the game, the way the players conducted themselves… I was so proud. It was one of the proudest moments of my career.” (03:41)
• Philosophy on Pressing & Playing Brave Football:
  • Rosenior prioritizes performance and bravery, encouraging his team to press high—even against bigger teams like PSG.
  • Draws from his own playing days, wanting his teams to “enjoy what they do” and express themselves.
  • “Pressing is trying to get the ball back as quickly as possible and to play with energy. That’s just the way I like to play football.” (04:33)

Managing Expectations & Young Players

• Focus on the Present:
  • Refuses to set limits or expectations; emphasizes process and daily improvement.
  • “If you go in with expectations, positive or negative, you normally end up disappointed. I don’t set limits on my players.” (09:07)
• Learning from Mistakes:
  • Rosenior embraces mistakes as vital educational opportunities and credits club leadership for creating an environment that allows for player growth.
  • “Mistakes are part of the game. If you make a mistake and you’re educated on why that happened, then it doesn’t happen again.” (10:07)

Building & Empowering the Coaching Team

• Delegation and Collaboration:
  • Rosenior underscores the importance of delegating to staff and having diverse viewpoints.
  • Highlights key staff’s roles, including long-time friend/advisor Khalifa Cissé and head analyst Ben Warner.
  • “My voice is heard less, and actually I’m more productive. All the credit has to go to those guys.” (11:27)
• Set Piece Protocol:
  • Jokingly assigns credit and blame for set pieces:
    • “When we score, it’s me; when anything goes wrong, it’s down to Ben [Warner].” (13:42)

Cultural Intelligence & Leadership Style

• Adapting to New Contexts:
  • Transition from the UK to France wasn't as tough as expected due to universal human needs and the power of good culture.
  • “People are still people, regardless of where you come from… We all need the same things.” (14:06)
• Flexibility With Team Culture:
  • Adjusts rules around timekeeping to fit the predominantly West African-French squad, fostering responsibility and unity.
  • “If you set rules and boundaries on people and they break those… you create conflict. For me, the way we work here is we don’t have set times.” (17:09)
• Working With Gen Z Players:
  • Meetings are kept engaging, short, and diverse in content—not always about football. Players are encouraged to ask “why.”
  • “If you explain the reasons why … they’ll be 100% in.” (19:52)

Representation, Diversity & Social Responsibility

• On Black Management & Diversity:
  • Rosenior discusses the impact and value of diverse leadership and staff—not just in numbers but in enriched perspectives.
  • “If you have multicultural staff … you will improve your players so much quicker because they have reference points from coaches who understand and connect with them.” (33:38)
  • Argues passionately for celebrating the value of multiculturalism.
• Preparing Players for Discrimination:
  • Stresses the importance of allowing players to be proud of their identities and giving them strength through cultural acceptance.
  • “It’s making them strong enough to be proud of where they’re from, so when those difficult times come, they can equip themselves to deal with it.” (37:32)

Managing Change in a Multi-Club Ownership Era

• Building Trust Within and Beyond the Club:
  • Recognizes fan concerns about BlueCo’s multi-club model and emphasizes the time required to build trust and a shared culture.
  • “Trust is something you build over time. It’s not something that’s just given to you.” (28:58)
• Maintaining Culture Amid High Turnover:
  • Focuses on retaining and empowering key cultural “leaders” among the players to help new arrivals integrate and uphold culture.
  • “You keep really important people within that group and you can move things forward.” (31:12)

Career Reflections & Personal Wisdom

• Learning from Wayne Rooney:
  • Credits Rooney for teaching him man management and pressure handling:
    • “Wayne taught me so many things: pressure management, man management, being intuitive.” (27:30)
  • Highlights Rooney’s unfair reputation and true intelligence.
• Leadership Influences:
  • Draws inspiration from his upbringing, including his mother's work as a foster carer and his multicultural background.
  • “My biggest thing is I want to treat my players how I wanted to be treated.” (21:48)
  • Values empathy, respect, and connection over authoritarianism.

Book and Film Recommendations for Player Growth

• Preferred Sources of Inspiration:
  • Recommends The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho), The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway), Shawshank Redemption, and Good Will Hunting.
  • “Shawshank Redemption’s been spoken about, of course… Good Will Hunting… It’s a great film about development and life development.” (40:21)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Bravery in Football:
  • “You have to love the game to make it. And normally to love the game, you have to express yourself with the ball.” (04:33)
• On Mistakes:
  • “I want my goalkeeper to take the ball again… Mistakes are a good thing because if you make a mistake and then you’re educated on why that happened, then it doesn’t happen again.” (10:07)
• On Leadership and People Skills:
  • “Coaching and management is 90% people skills, it’s 10% football.” (23:48)
• On Representation:
  • “If you do not have a diverse staff, you are going to have blind spots where you miss connections with your players.” (33:38)
• On the Future:
  • “My end goal, my end destination, I have no idea… Ambition is just to work in the moment, in the now.” (39:13)
• On Player Integration:
  • “You allow people to be themselves. The only time we really have… is a team meeting… I don’t think there’s been one player late in my 15 months here because they respect the fact I’ve given them the trust in other areas.” (17:09)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction, Strasbourg’s Season So Far & PSG Reaction: 02:15–04:10
• Tactical Philosophy & Pressing Style: 04:10–05:49
• Managing vs Luis Enrique, Maintaining Focus: 05:49–06:47
• Developing Joaquin Panacelli & Integrating Players: 06:47–08:45
• Expectations, Young Team Culture, Learning from Mistakes: 08:45–11:15
• Coaching Staff & Delegation: 11:15–13:39
• Set Pieces (Ben Warner), Transition to France: 13:39–14:51
• Cultural Intelligence & “Sierra Leone Time”: 16:18–19:31
• Gen Z Players & Meeting Style: 19:31–21:21
• Leadership, Empathy, Connecting with Players: 21:21–23:48
• Development Focus with Young Players: 23:48–25:48
• Learning from Wayne Rooney: 27:21–28:34
• Multi-Club Model & Fan Trust: 28:34–30:51
• Squad Turnover & Maintaining Club Culture: 30:51–33:12
• Black History Month & Value of Diversity: 33:12–36:56
• Preparing Players for Discrimination: 36:56–38:56
• Career Ambitions: 38:56–40:07
• Book/Film Recommendations: 40:16–40:55

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Episode Tone

The episode is candid, insightful, and driven by Rosenior’s empathetic and progressive approach to management. The hosts maintain a warm, respectful, and curious tone—probing deeper into leadership, culture, and representation while illuminating the human side of football management.

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Conclusion

This episode goes beyond Strasbourg’s remarkable rise, offering a masterclass in modern football management through the lens of representation, emotional intelligence, and adaptability. Rosenior’s openness—about mistakes, diversity, and leading young men on and off the field—makes this essential listening for those interested not just in football results, but in the people, systems, and values that drive them.

Transcript

[Liam Racinha]

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[Ayowale Molara]

You look the same.

[Liam Racinha]

But with this camera everything looks better. Especially me.

[Ayowale Molara]

You haven't changed your hair in 15 years.

[Liam Racinha]

Selfies check please.

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[Ayowale Molara]

The Athletic FC Ayo Eke Molera here and welcome to the Athletic FC. After eight games, RC Strasbourg are third in Ligue 1, two points behind league leaders Marseille and just one point behind European champions PSG. Today we're bringing you a special episode sitting down with the man at the helm, current Strasbourg head Coach Liam Racinha. Alongside me today, we've also got Karl Anker as well. We'll be discussing Arcs Dwasberg's incredible start to the season, his managing style, working in a multi club ownership model and also the importance of representation and role models. All right, let's get to it. Time to welcome our special guest on today's show, RC Strasbourg's head coach, Liam Russinior. So good to have you with us, sir. How you doing?

[Liam Racinha]

Yeah, really good. It's nice to be on with you guys. I hope it's. We have a nice conversation, enjoy it and see what happens. But now everything's really good. Thanks for having me on.

[Ayowale Molara]

Well, you're working with two of the best in the business here in me and Carl Anka, so. But you're good. You're in safe hands. You're in safe hands. Well, look at the time of recording, you're preparing for a European game. You've also got Leon this weekend away, which is massive. But we have to talk about that match against PSG 3 3. It ended. You almost won it. That would have been your first away win at PSG in the history of the club. Beyond the result, you must be so proud of your boys.

[Liam Racinha]

Yeah, I think in football it's one of those sports where you can play really, really well and you don't always win and you can play really well and you can lose. The way I gauge my team is always on performance and in terms of our performance and our bravery and the players engagement, enthusiasm, as a manager, you can't ask for any more. So even if we'd lost the game, the way that the players conducted themselves in the way that they wanted us to play now, I was so proud. It was one of the proudest moments of my career. But hopefully there's many more to come as well.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

I watched the extended highlights of that game, your second goal in particular. So you go a goal down, you go three one up and it ends in a draw. But your second goal in particular comes about from you pressing really, really high up the field. You sort of nick the ball off Desiree Due and then it's a really cool finish. How do you encourage your football team to press really, really high up against the pitch, PSG side that many clubs just decide to drop deep and stay compact?

[Liam Racinha]

Yeah, I don't think there's a right or wrong way to play football. For me. I always want to be in a team. When I played football, I always wanted to be in a team that was in the dominant team. That enjoyed playing, that could express themselves. You can dominate the game in many ways. To have the ball is great, but you can dominate space and territory. One of the biggest things from my career, I worked really hard as a young boy to be a professional footballer, to play at stages like the Parc des Prince or Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge or Anfield. And when I was playing for maybe the lesser teams in the Premier League, my life's work was to play. And then we turn up. I wouldn't touch the ball for 90 minutes and I'd come off the pitch and I'd have a feeling of maybe I could have done more, but I wasn't able to because of the tactical restrictions that were placed upon us. Now, for me, when I coach a team, I want my team to enjoy what they do. I want them to feel like they are children, because that's where your enthusiasm for football comes from. You have to love the game to make it. And normally to love the game, you have to express yourself with the ball. So pressing is an extension of that. Pressing is trying to get the ball back as quickly as possible and to play with energy. And that's just the way I like to play football. And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But I always want to see my team play with an enthusiasm and a joy for the game.

[Ayowale Molara]

How do you not get into your head so much when you're playing someone like Luis Enrique? Talk about him being a tactical genius. We talk about him being a Champions League winner, See all the stuff he's done at Barcelona. How do you maintain your level as well and go, actually, this is our game. This is how I want us to play. And translate that to your players as well.

[Liam Racinha]

I don't think about it. Obviously, Luis Enrique is incredible player. He was one of my heroes as a player. He could play every position on the pitch. And as a coach, seeing it from here last year, what he did with that team, how together they are in every aspect of the game, how hard they run, how intense they are. Incredible, incredible manager. But I think if you start thinking about all of the outside, far as Luis Enrique or as Paris Saint German, you're not doing your job properly. So my focus is on my team. My focus is on analyzing with my staff, opposition the best that we can, trying to make my team the best we can be. I don't really think about the outside noise or anything. I'm just focused on what's happening with my team.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

To talk about your team just a little bit.

[Liam Racinha]

Yeah.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

Right now you've Got a striker who's got seven goals in eight games. Joaquin Panacelli. I hope I've got that name correct. So he's just arrived in France, this is his first season and he's already hit the ground running. When you get a player like that, what's the sort of approach from your coaching team to make sure he can hit the ground running?

[Liam Racinha]

That's a great question. I would say 90% of it is down to the player. In terms of Joaquin, his mentality. I remember my first conversation with him and he'll laugh because within 10 seconds of speaking to him, I messaged the head of recruitment while I was on the call with him saying, you need to sign this kid. I love him. Just how his mentality is top and he will fit right into what we want to do, how we integrate our players. We always do a presentation to them about the way that we play before we sign them, so they know exactly what they're coming into. Not just me, my staff. We do lots of one to one meetings with Joaquin. So in the short time he's been, he's probably had five or six, 30 to 45 an hour long meetings with the staff about his position, where he needs to be on the pitch, but other than that, it's down to the players. He's a magnificent player. I'm not surprised at the start he's made and I'm hoping it continues for him because he's a great character, he's got a great mentality. He works so hard in training and normally when you work hard in training, it comes off for you in the game. And I was really delighted for his performance on Friday night.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

He's got a phenomenal leap.

[Liam Racinha]

Incredible. He's a throwback from England. We call him Jeff Horsfield or Brian McBride. He's a throwback. He's an old school centre forward. He's like an Argentinian Alan Shearer. You don't get many of those types anymore, strikers who are so good in the box. His timing on his headers are amazing. He does it all the time in training and I think in the modern day to have a throwback center forward who works so hard for the team, who's brilliant in the box, who not just in terms of attacking things, but he defends set play so well. He's brilliant in the air and he enjoys working hard, hard. So yeah, I'm delighted to have him and credit to my recruitment team for bringing them in.

[Ayowale Molara]

Yeah, huge respect. Well, last season you finished seventh Ligue 1, securing Conference League football as we said, you're preparing for that right now with the youngest team in Europe's top five leagues. And what are you expecting this season? You're currently third in Ligue 1 as well. We're second before the PSG match. I mean, this is a big season for you guys. What are you expecting from it?

[Liam Racinha]

I don't expect anything. That's not the way I see the season. I see football. If you go in with expectations, you're positive or negative, you normally end up disappointed in some way. I don't set limits on my players. I said that from day one when I came to the club. We just work as hard as we can in the moment. You can only affect the now, you can't affect the future. So in terms of my day to day, I try and make the day as productive as possible in terms of the training that we do, in terms of the meetings, in terms of the way the players train, our culture. Other than that, I don't think in the in the future at all, because it doesn't exist, only exists when you get there. So for me, my biggest expectation is to make sure tomorrow's session is really good, to make sure our preparation for the game on Thursday is really good, and just take it step by step, but never with any limits to our ambitions.

[Ayowale Molara]

Nice, nice. But also with a young team will also come mistakes, right? I mean, everyone knows that we've all played at some amateur level. You've played at the professional level. How do you manage that so their heads don't dip too low.

[Liam Racinha]

I don't mind players making mistakes. I've seen old players make mistakes. Mistakes. There's par football. Football is a game of mistakes. My attitude to football is if you make a mistake, it's not a problem. The next thing you do is the right thing. I asked my goalkeeper to play out from the back, six yards from his goal. We've conceded goals from it, but I want my goalkeeper to take the ball again. Mistakes are a part of the game. And actually mistakes are a good thing. Because if you make a mistake and then you're educated on why that happened, then it doesn't happen again. So you need mistakes to happen, to improve. If you look at football now, it's such a short term game, you see managers leaving their job after a month in the job. You have to be quite brave, I think, as a manager, to look at it as if you're accepting mistakes. But why I can be so brave here is because I'm supported so well. You know, it's a Long term project. So the people above me, Mark Keller and the guys at blueca, they give me the time to allow my players to make mistakes, which allows me to coach authentically. So I don't feel like after two games if we lose, I'm completely under pressure and we need to win the next game for me to keep my job. I think if you work in that way, you'll have long term success in the end. And I'm really, really fortunate to have people who think the same way so I can coach the way that I want to coach.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

Can you talk to us a bit more about your coaching team as well? So there's been a couple of clips of you in the, in the dressing room on social media and you're speaking in English and you're being translated by an assistant. How is that all working?

[Liam Racinha]

Amazing. Khalifa, he's not just the people call him a translator, he's my assistant. I play with Khalifa for Reddin Khalifa Sise. I've known him for 20 years and he's been incredible, not just in terms of the language, but understanding the culture of the players that we were working with, understanding the culture of the staff, the culture of the club and the country itself. He's amazing and the players absolutely love him. They go to him with their problems. They trust him. Justin Walker, my other assistant manager, is outstanding coach, what people will call a development coach because he's worked with young players and young teams, but you can develop players if they're 18, you can develop players if they're 38. And Justin is outstanding in terms of the way that he goes about his work on the training pitch. I feel like I've got the best analyst in the world and Ben Warner, who tactically understands exactly what I want. We have a very consistent process in the way we deliver games and the way we deliver meetings. He's integral to that. We have Sebastian Jimenez, the goalkeeper coach, he fits our philosophy, who understands the French way. Jean Marc Quent, who's been here since the club began, who's absolutely incredible. And we played with two academy players in Samir Almurabet and Abdul Watara and it was actually Jean Marc who knew them from the age of like 11, 12 and knew everything about them. So when they came with us to the first team, he could fill me in on all the information he's crucial to their development. I'm really, really fortunate. Felipe Coello's come from Chelsea's under 23s, is an outstanding coach as well. And for me, as a young manager, it's really, really important to have a great stuff. A lot of young managers would say in the beginning, and I'll be guilty of this, in my first couple of years, I wanted to do everything. I wanted to take every meeting, I wanted to take every session. But what happens is, if it's just you and your idea, you don't get the other perspectives of other people. You have your own blind spots. I don't know everything. So now I'm a lot more. I show a lot more delegation. My voice is heard less, and actually I'm more productive. And I think the players, their ears are more open when I'm speaking now. And that's things you learn. I'm still young now as a manager, but I'm learning as I go to trust my staff to be visible when I need to be visible. And all the credit for all of the good things that have happened has to go to. To those guys now.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

Forgive the churlish question here, but who's in charge of set pieces?

[Liam Racinha]

Ben Warner. Well, when we score as me.

[Ayowale Molara]

All right, is that how it works?

[Liam Racinha]

But if anything goes wrong, it's down to Ben. That's how it works here.

[Ayowale Molara]

Love it. Well, you talked about your early days managing. We talk about, you know, the EFL as well. And you know, Derby Hull. What has that transition been like from the UK to France?

[Liam Racinha]

Not as big as what you would probably expect. People are still people, people regardless of where you come from, what your religion is, your country, you're from, your gender. We all need the same things. And that's something that's been massive for me here. Learning that I don't speak the language. I'm learning the language, but I speak in English. But it's the same body language, the same connections. Every person who's involved, something needs to feel like they're important, that they're wanted and they need to know where they're going. It doesn't matter if you're in France, if you're in England, if you're in Brazil. You want to feel part of something. You want to feel together. And I think I'm really, really fortunate. And I've had this experience here. Nothing really changes. A good culture is a good culture anywhere. And that's something that I'll take forward for the rest of my career.

[Athletic FC Podcast Host]

This is the Athletic FC podcast with I.O. akimolera.

[Liam Racinha]

Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon. The best 5G network in America. I never looked so good.

[Ayowale Molara]

You look the same, but with this.

[Liam Racinha]

Camera Everything looks better, especially me.

[Ayowale Molara]

You haven't changed your hair in 15 years.

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Selfies check, please with Verizon. Get the new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever, plus a new iPad and Apple One. No trade in needed. Offer ends November 5th with a new line on Unlimited Ultimate Best 5G Swords, Root Metrics Data, United States, 2020 25. All rights reserved. Additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details.

[Liam Racinha]

When you're a forward thinker, you don't.

[Ayowale Molara]

Just bring your A game, you bring your AI game.

[Liam Racinha]

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[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

So in a previous interview, you mentioned a little bit about lateness. Yeah. And how you sort of your understanding around lateness. And you brought up a little bit about your family from Sierra Leone. So, like how 3 o' clock in Sierra Leone isn't necessarily 3 o'. Clock.

[Liam Racinha]

Oh, man, it's 7, 8 o' clock in the evening, man.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

Yeah. And so I had a conversation with Vincent Co. About this years ago, where he was describing situation where he had to when he was the captain at Manchester City and one of his jobs was making sure players didn't turn up late. And he recommended this book called When Teams Collide. It's a business book. So it's all about if you're an American company, you start doing work with a Japanese company. Differences in business you need to be aware of, or if you're working with those Brazilians, things you need to be aware of as well. And company said that was really, really important for him as a captain and later as a coach to understand all the cultural differences, bring the people together. And you've done a previous interview talking about this as well, and I'm fascinated to get your thoughts on it.

[Liam Racinha]

I feel very fortunate in my upbringing, I have to be honest. My dad was in the game. Dad grew up in Brixton and Clapham in South London. We have a Sierra Leone background and I have that side. My mum's white, working class from two in South London, and my upbringing was of a mixture of cultures, a mixture of heritage, a mixture of understanding, different ways of living and different ways of being. But again, through my childhood, I understand that we're all the same. So we have different ways of living, different ways of being. But sometimes things can be interpreted in a different way from what it actually is. So, for example, coming here, at first, I think we had a 25 man squad. I would say 20 of the 25 players were of West African, French backgrounds. Now if I walked into a group culture like that and said, right, you have to be in 9 o' clock in the morning, you have to eat at 9:15 and you have to be in a team meeting room at 10 o' clock in the morning. It's not going to happen. Not because they're disrespectful, it's just not the way that they've been brought up. It's not the way that they've been. And I know that because whenever there was a time for my family to get together in Brixton and we would say 2 o', clock, my aunties aren't coming till 7, 8 o' clock in the evening. It's a different culture. So you have to adapt the way that you work to the people that you work with. And what that does, it allows those people to be comfortable within the culture that you're setting. You allow people to be themselves. So the only time we really have. It's so funny, people say to me, what time do you train? I say, when we're ready, people. That's crazy. What do you mean? But what's happened here? I have a team meeting at 10:30. I don't think there's been one player late in my 15 months here because they respect the fact that I've given them the trust in other areas, but they know they have to be on time for that. But sometimes we'll come down, the players will do their preactivation in the gym. There's music playing, they're dancing, they're singing, some of the players are playing techball. They're enjoying their time in between what's a really intense meeting and then the training session. So we'll wait as coaches, we'll wait until we feel it's right and then we'll take the lads out and we'll have to go out together and then we start training. But if you set rules and boundaries on people and they break those rules and boundaries, you create conflict in your group and, and for no reason. So for me, the way we work here is we don't have set times. It might be different at a different club with a different culture, but that's what works here and that's the way that we work.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

You're now working with Gen Z players. You've got a young squad.

[Liam Racinha]

Yeah.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

So last season I was speaking to Reuben Amrum and he mentioned, he goes, this generation of players, if you do a meeting longer than 7, 8 minutes with video, forget it. That was the sound effect he made. How has this generation of players coaching them differed from how you, when you were a player, were being coached?

[Liam Racinha]

I think they're more demanding. Okay, they're more demanding. They want to know why. Especially in my early years, my coaches would tell me to run through a brick wall or jump in a cold river and you go and do it. I think times have changed. I think players demand more. They want to know why. You have to explain why to players, which I love, because you get, you get authentic buy in. If I'm authoritarian all the time, I say, right, go and do that. Maybe 80, 90% of them will go and do it, but they'll question it and they won't be fully engaged in what they're doing. If you explain the reasons why and you get buy in and belief into what you're doing, they'll be 100% in. So nothing really changes whether it's Generation Z, my generation, if you're sat in a meeting too long, it's boring, you're going to switch off. So that's the key. For me, it's not the time of the meetings, it's the content of the meetings. Now, yes, I try and keep my meeting short. And the shorter you can keep the meeting, the better. Some of my meetings gone for 30 minutes, 45 minutes, but I change. The players never know what they're coming into. And some of the things I talk about, I don't just talk about football. I might talk about life, might present things in a different way, try and make it humorous, but I think actually the players quite enjoy our meetings. And we do one every day before training. There's a meeting every day before training. It sets the tone and the culture for the, for the team, but it's not what you would think that I go in and go, right, we're going to play 4, 4, 2. And this is the shape. We talk about life, talk about books, talk about films, talk about history. And I think they enjoy it because they don't know what's coming. And you have to keep players engaged and focused in, in what you do.

[Ayowale Molara]

Yeah. Don't want to break your trumpet, but a lot of your leadership style sounds quite intuitive, 100%. We've covered a lot around cultural intelligence. We've covered a lot around connecting with people. How much work do you do on your leadership style? Is it just football or do you go beyond? Is it travel, is it food, is it music? Like, because for me, connecting and communicating with people in high pressured environments is a real skill.

[Liam Racinha]

I don't really know. I knew I wanted to do this job. I'm somebody who. My mom was a social worker and she fostered children when I was 16 years old. So you have to have empathy when you're bringing children into your family that might stay for a year who've come from broken homes or disadvantaged backgrounds. I've always been curious about life. I read, I watch films. I always want to connect with people. And my biggest thing is I want to treat my players how I wanted to be treated as a player. That's key for me. That's the most important thing. Whether you're in the team or out of the team or even in the stand, you want to feel respected, you want to feel loved. And I'm not afraid to tell my players I love them. And when you create that connection with them, you can be harder with them. You know, I'm lucky enough to have children. It's not always well done. Sometimes you have to tell them the truth, but they have to know that you're telling them the constructive criticism because you love them. And I don't like to scream and shout at my players. I'd rather sit down with them and get to know them and understand them. I don't think that's anything to do with high performance environments or football. I just think that's life. I think if you want to get the best out of people, you need to get to know them. If you want to have strong relationships with people, you want to create really good connections and they're authentic. And that's the way I hopefully always. My biggest thing is whenever a player leaves me as a manager, it doesn't matter how good of a manager they think I am, or my tactics or my sessions, they can say to whoever they know about me, do you know what? He's a good guy. He wanted the best for me. And I genuinely believe that's the best way to get the best out of people and get results in football matches.

[Ayowale Molara]

One of the things I find interesting about football in general is that and you have got not, you know, we've mentioned it one of the youngest squads in Europe is that we as fans or people watching football expect these young men to be grown men.

[Liam Racinha]

Yeah.

[Ayowale Molara]

How do you prepare them for what they are going to face? Because the things you're talking about, you are still schooling young men growing up. But realistically, if they miss that goal, if they don't perform that well, they're going to be treated as grown men with expellatives and all that kind of stuff.

[Liam Racinha]

Yeah, but I think it's education. I think I've worked with Darby, I worked with Curtis Davis who was 38 and Phil Jagielka were 41. And I'm not, I can speak for them, but they enjoyed that part of their career. Probably they said to me more than any other part because they were learning. Education is everything. If you get angry with someone for making a mistake or missing a shot, you're missing the point. You know, for me it's about giving players accountability. The beautiful thing about working with a young group is they're fearless. They've had no negative experience. So they don't go, for example to PSG year away going cool. I remember I came here three years ago, we got beat five nil. And it's not in their mind. They're fearless. So they their first experience for most of them. So they want to make it a positive experience. Having a young team has many benefits. That fearlessness, that energy, that desire, that growth mentality where they want to go and achieve great things in their careers. These are already really positive things about having a young group. And you have to tap into that and you have to use that as the motivation. You know, not just winning on a Saturday for these players is enough. They want to go on and be world class Champions League players. So the bar and the demand you set for them is you show them what that looks like. You know, I show my players clips of Bayern Munich or Paris Saint Germain, of Manchester City, Chelsea, because that's where they want to be. And then from there, if you set those demands and those targets for them, you can actually set and demand the same from them. So that's the way it works. And I really enjoy working with young players, but it's not about young or old people. Talk now about younger, old managers and modern coaching. It's not about modern coaching. Coaching and management is 90% people skills, it's 10% football. It's more about the content of the character, the connection that you have with the individuals within the group and what you can maximize out of them. And that's at any level of football in any industry. Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never looked so good.

[Ayowale Molara]

You look the same.

[Liam Racinha]

But with this camera, everything looks better. Especially me.

[Ayowale Molara]

You haven't changed your hair in 15 years.

[Liam Racinha]

Selfies check, please.

[Verizon Announcer]

With Verizon. Get the new iPhone 17 Pro. Designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever. Plus a new iPad and Apple One. No trade in needed. Offer ends November 5th with a new line on Unlimited Ultimate Best 5G Swords. Route Metrics Data United States 180 to 2025. All rights reserved Edition. Additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details.

[Rubrik Announcer]

AI agents are everywhere, automating tasks and making decisions at machine speed. But agents make mistakes. Just one rogue agent can do big damage before you even notice. Rubrik Agent Cloud is the only platform that helps you monitor agents, set guardrails and rewind mistakes so you can unleash agents, not risk. Accelerate your AI [e-mail] that's R U-B-R-I-K.com.

[Liam Racinha]

All right, remember, the machine knows if you're lying. First statement, Carvana will give you a real offer on your car. All online.

[Ayowale Molara]

False. True.

[Liam Racinha]

Actually, you sell your car in minutes. False. That's gotta be true again. Carvana will pick up your car from your door, or you can drop it off at one of their car vending machines. Sounds too good to be true.

[Verizon Announcer]

So true.

[Liam Racinha]

Finally caught on. Nice job. Honesty isn't just their policy, it's their entire model. Sell your car today, too, Carvana. Pickup fees may apply.

[Athletic FC Podcast Host]

You're listening to the Athletic FC podcast with Ayawakamilere.

[Ayowale Molara]

All right, what about Wayne Rooney? We have to talk about that Derby county legend. I mean, what was that connection like? What was that learning experience like?

[Liam Racinha]

Amazing connection. I didn't know Wayne that well. Obviously. I played against him in our careers. Wayne came in as a player, and what a player. Even towards the end of his career, some of the things he was doing in training, just like, wow, he was a genius. And then we stepped in as a management team. And it's a really strange thing, the fact we didn't know each other within, I would say, two weeks. We completely trusted each other. It was something that just happened really organically. And Wayne taught me so many things. Pressure management, man management, being intuitive. The lessons that he took from Sir Alex Ferguson and what he put into the team in terms of the way he managed the group was incredible. Without that experience with Wayne I don't think I would be the manager that I am now. So I've got a lot to thank him for. He's a great guy. I think he gets a harsh deal from the media because they don't know him. And again, we talk about prejudgment of people, where they're from, you know, or their accent or the way that they speak. Wayne is very intelligent. Wayne reads a lot. He wants to understand and connect with people. So to work with him was a real honor and a blessing and he's someone I have a real lot of time for.

[Ayowale Molara]

Well, we have to talk about multi club ownership. Strasbourg Arcy are part of the Blue Co consortium and also therefore part of this multi club model which we are now seeing in football more and more. Look, some of the supporters have been vocal about it and we've spoken about it on this podcast as well. How do you connect those dots between, you know, supporters that aren't so happy, but also a club trying to progress moving forward?

[Liam Racinha]

Yeah, for sure. I think for me, whether you're a manager, a player, anything to do with any football club, you have to build trust. Trust is something you build over time. It's not something that's just given to you. So when I first came in, I was aware it's different. I'm a young coach from England who nobody knew me here and I asked the fans to just trust what we were trying to do. I think over time and it's normal, the fans here, they absolutely love this football club. This football club is huge in Alsace, in the region. It's so important and it's, it's a very cultural thing. You know, the people in Alsace is like, there's lots of different parts of France. Alsace is unique in its own, in its own culture, in its own way of being. And the club is an extension of that. So for me now, whether it's multi club ownership or an owner from abroad, or an owner from the other side of the world, it takes time to build the trust. It takes time for fans to see that they want the best for the club. And I think for me it's natural because it's still the early stages of that. You know, I think it's only. We're only two and a half years into the project. I've been here for 15 months. It takes time to build trust. And I hope over time what I would love to see is everybody who loves this club together, you know, supporting the club, wanting the best for it, and this is just a part of that process at the moment is that.

[Ayowale Molara]

Why isn't a new contract to build trust is that important to you?

[Liam Racinha]

It's everything. Without trust you can't do anything in life. And I'm very lucky because I feel trusted by Bruco and by Mark Keller and the people here. And that enables me to do my job the best that I can and it allows my players to feel like I trust them, you know. So for me, and I say it to the players all the time, it's one of the things, one of our lines, we have certain sayings that we, that we live by is have your mates back. Have your mates back. You know, when you feel trusted and when you can be trustworthy is when you're empowered and if trust is broken, it's finished in any relationship. So for me, I'm very, very fortunate to be in this position at the moment.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

Now, 15 months in a, in a club, part of a multi club model, the player turnover is going to be high. And over the summer several players left Strasbourg. How do you prevent dressing room sentiment from going ah, back to scale one? Oh, okay, now we've got to do everything all over again. How do you keep the level high and keep them striving for more and more?

[Liam Racinha]

Good question. I think it's not just multi club ownership clubs that have high turnover. I was at Hull, I remember in January, I think we had a turnover of 15 players out and 13 players in, in January in my second season. It's football now. It's normal. The turnover of players now at every football club is huge. I think where I'm fortunate is I can be selective in the players I want to stay and we can be selective in the players who we think maybe it' time to move on. And I'm a part of that decision making. I'm not the only decision maker, but I have part of the process in terms of the culture. What we did in the last transfer window, we identified people within our squad who we felt could move things forward and educate the new players coming in. For example, Emmanuel Omega, what an outstanding season he had last year, but what an outstanding leader he is within the group. Gela Duen, Diego Moreira, Akala Johnson, who's our number two goalkeeper, they are key people of influence within our group that we know can move the culture forward and help the new players coming in. So if you identify those characters within your group, people will look at the numbers but the culture still feels exactly the same. It's crazy. We've got players from Argentina and Paraguay and Ecuador they're still doing the same dances that the lads were doing last year with each other. So the culture continues because you keep really important people within, within that group and you can move things forward. And it's not about people say, it's me doing a job, it's the staff, it's the physios, it's the masseurs, it's the kit men, it's the doctors. Everybody plays their part in the feeling around the training ground. And I have to say I'm very proud of that because it is. It's a unique place. It's not like any other football club here. You've got the coach's office, there's music on from 8 o' clock in the morning till 6 o' clock in the evening. They've had to turn it off. Me next door because I'm doing this, and then on the room next door, because the players, dressing room next door, they've got their own music on, they're singing and dancing. It's a really, really nice place to be. And that's down to everybody at the club being able to be themselves. And that's what enables the process to be sped really, really quickly.

[Ayowale Molara]

Yeah, I mean, how do you sign me and Carlot man, club journalists? We are ready to go when you are. All right, let's move on because, look, it's currently Black History Month in the uk, so we wanted to end this with a focus on representation on and off the pitch. Look, you're one of a very few black managers. How important is it for you seeing representation across football and beyond in general, everything.

[Liam Racinha]

I just want a world where nobody is judged based on the color of their skin, their background, their upbringing, their gender, the sexuality, their religion. I feel like, without going too deep, I feel like we're living in a time where extreme. There's extreme feelings, again by immigration. I think people are misjudged and miseducated on certain things. And actually what I find, I'm really lucky. I'm mixed heritage. My mom's white, my dad's black. I realized very, very early in my life that we're all the same, regardless of our small micro differences. We have our common values and our common core is exactly the same. It doesn't matter where you're from. For me, I feel like the argument on representation and, well, my job, for example, head coach, manager, it's missed. It's about. Everybody's talking about the numbers, the numbers, the numbers, the numbers, which is understandable, but nobody's talking about the value the value of it is huge. If you have multicultural staff with different backgrounds and different profiles, you will improve your players so much quicker because they have reference points from the coaches of people who understand and connect with them. So when I first came here, I'll take Omega as an example, people said to me, he's really difficult character, he's hard to get on with, he can be really emotional. But I understand his background. He's Nigerian, he has a Nigerian Dutch. He's got a different background, he's got different, we'll say, tells in the terms of his body language. He shows his emotion in a different way. Now you don't know what you don't know in life. So if you can't recognize that, you see it as a negative when this actually can be a really positive thing. So for me, the key to make this game better is to have, when you speak about numbers, more coaches, more managers from diverse backgrounds who can get best out of the players because they understand their backgrounds and they understand where they come from. I think that's the key. There is benefit to it. It's not just, oh, we need more black managers. For me, that's not the argument. The argument is understanding the value of multicultural places. Understand the value of diversity in not just football, in all communities. There's a rhetoric now, not just in England, in Europe, about immigration and the differences between people again. And it makes me really sad. It makes me really, really sad because actually nobody's talking about the values of multiculturalism or the values of diversity. And I think that's the key in football is I would love this case to be a case study in 10 years time of a young manager, regardless of my background, who understood and had empathy for his players and his players enjoy coming every day and you get the best out of them. And I have to be honest, why? Because I have Khalifa Sise, who is Malian, French, myself from Sierra Leone, English, Justin Walker's from Nottingham, England, I've got Philippe from Portugal. Have a multi diverse cultural staff who can understand the different players in our group. And I think that's where it's missed at the moment, is that you are missing. You are missing. So if you do not have a diverse staff, you are going to have blind spots where you miss connections with your players to get the best out of them. And that's something that not just in football but in life. I think we need to talk about the positives of multiculturalism rather than the negatives and not just talk about the numbers, but actually the value that it brings.

[Ayowale Molara]

I hate to go back to the age of your team because I think it's so relevant right now and simply because of social media and, you know, we don't have to think too far back to what happened to Bukaya Saka, what happened to Rashford, Jadon Sancho at the Euros and still ongoing in the Premier League. You've talked about the different makeups of players in your team. Some of these players are going to be going to football pitches in some parts of the world, some parts of Europe that aren't gonna accept them for who they are. How do you prepare them for that then, with the knowledge that you have?

[Liam Racinha]

I think some things in life you can only learn through a personal experience. I remember in pre season, my first preseason, we were in Germany, I think I was in the club for three or four days and the lads were on the bus on the way to the training pitch. They had their African music on, they had Afro beats and the piano had everything. They were dancing, singing on the bus. I was at the front. The feeling and the vibe on the coach was amazing. So we got to the training pitch, I said, lads, you can take that on the pitch, on the warm up if you want. If it's going to make you feel good, take it onto the pitch. They said, no, coach, when we're on the pitch, we're serious. But by me making that point to them, I was saying, be yourselves, be yourselves. And the most beautiful thing last season, after we won a game at home, they're putting on those songs and the lads are dancing to them after the game. And what I was seeing in Strasbourg were young kids, whether they were black, white, North African, wherever they were from, they all had the sunglasses on, they were doing the same dances. And actually these players, for the first time in their careers and their lives were being celebrated positively for where they come from. So for me, I want always, it doesn't matter if you're from West Africa, from Portugal, from Ecuador, from Argentina or from England. Be proud of where you're from, but actually understand that you can connect with people in your own way. So for me, it's not about preparing the players for the difficult times. It's making them strong enough to be proud of where they're from. So when those difficult, difficult times come, they can equip themselves to deal with it in the best way possible.

[Ayowale Molara]

Where's your end destination, do you reckon? Or next step?

[Liam Racinha]

I have no idea.

[Ayowale Molara]

Premier League. I'm sure people have been on the blow up because, I mean, look, we Talk about representation. The Premier League, of course, has had black coaches, but representation is so important in the Premier League as well. The greatest league, some might say in Europe.

[Liam Racinha]

I think one thing I've learned, this is a fantastic league here. My end goal, my end destination. I have no idea. And like I said to you at the beginning about what's the team ambition? Ambition is just to work in. In the moment, in the now. That's the key. What's to come is to come. But if I take my eye off the ball and think, oh, where am I going to be next? Or where am I going to be in five years time, I'm losing focus on this moment. That sounds like a very political answer.

[Ayowale Molara]

No.

[Liam Racinha]

Do you know what?

[Ayowale Molara]

It's not.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

It is very good.

[Liam Racinha]

It's the truth, obviously. Look, I would love to. I would love to one day work back in the Premier League one day, but when that comes, I have no idea. I'd love to manage my country, love to manage England one day. I'm not saying I'm going to, but these are all things that I would love to do and experience, but I know I won't get there if I don't do the job now. And my focus is on this group of players, on this club, on the game on Thursday, what happens takes care of itself in the future.

[Ayowale Molara]

All right, let's leave it there. Liam, really appreciate your time. Thanks for joining us and thanks for the words of wisdom. I'm leaving inspired a little bit to change my leadership techniques.

[Liam Racinha]

I want to know more about these.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

Film and book recommendations you're giving your pleasure, players.

[Liam Racinha]

Oh, man, I love the Alchemist, Paolo Koe. I've made the plays with that old man in the Sea.

[Football Analyst/Interviewer]

Great book.

[Liam Racinha]

Yeah. These books are inspiring. Shawshank Redemption's been spoken about, of course.

[Ayowale Molara]

Of course.

[Liam Racinha]

And a lot of the lads didn't know. Didn't know about sure or Goodwill Hunting. That's another great film for. For a young player. It's a great film about development and life development. And it doesn't matter where you come from. These are all things that. That are players and they enjoy it, they speak about it. Yeah, there's different ways to learn Line.

[Ayowale Molara]

I mean, that's a bonus podcast on his own. Like book. Book and film recommendations. I'm all about that. All right, let's leave it there.

[Liam Racinha]

Hamming way, man. We're talking Hammer way. Of course.

[Ayowale Molara]

Top stuff.

[Liam Racinha]

No, thank you, guys.

[Athletic FC Podcast Host]

You've been listening to the Athletic FC podcast. The producers are Guy Clark, Mike Stabro and Jay Beal. Executive producers are Abby Patterson and Admirehead. To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, including our dedicated club shows, search for the Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. You'll also find us on YouTube the Athletic FC Podcast, so make sure you subscribe. The Athletic FC Podcast is an athletic media company production.

[Liam Racinha]

Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never look so good.

[Ayowale Molara]

You look the same, but with this.

[Liam Racinha]

Camera everything looks better. Especially me.

[Ayowale Molara]

You haven't changed your hair in 15 years.

[Verizon Announcer]

Selfies check please with Verizon. Get the new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever, plus a new iPad and Apple One. No trade in needed. Offer ends November 15th 5th with a new line on unlimited ultimate best 5G tours. Route metrics the United States 2020 25. All rights reserved. Additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details.

[Liam Racinha]

When you're a forward thinker, you don't just bring your A game, you bring your AI game. Workday is the AI platform that transforms the way you manage your people, money and agents so you can transform tomorrow Workday, moving business forever forward.

[Rubrik Announcer]

AI agents are everywhere, automating tasks and making decisions at machine speed. But agents make mistakes. Just one rogue agent can do big damage before you even notice. Rubrik Agent Cloud is the only platform that helps you monitor agents, set guardrails and rewind mistakes so you can unleash agents, not risk. Accelerate your AI [e-mail] that's R U B R-I K.com.