CoachTalk: The Interview with João Tralhão

In our new format “CoachTalk”, top coaches share exclusive insights into their philosophy, career paths, and visions for the future.

For the very first edition, we’re excited to have secured a true expert: João Tralhão. He spent over a decade at the legendary Benfica Youth Academy, working with talents like Bernardo Silva and Rúben Dias, and later joined forces as assistant coach with Thierry Henry and Nuri Sahin. João has also gained experience as a head coach in Portugal.

In this interview, João shares exclusive insights into his coaching philosophy, his experiences in international top-level football, and the importance of mental development in youth football.

Enjoy the first edition of CoachTalk!

At the beginning of your coaching career, you spent many years at Benfica, including a role as head coach of the U19s. During that time, you worked with future world-class players such as Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva. In your view, what is the key to successfully developing young talent? Which specific areas did you focus on to prepare them for the professional level? And what sets these future top players apart even at a young age?

João Tralhão: Promotion should result from the alignment between the club’s vision and the coach’s philosophy. Squad composition, sports policy and talent identification are key factors to enable an environment to create opportunities for youngsters to compete regularly in the first team. I consider two phases in the promotion process of a young player to the first-team level. From my perspective, a talented youngster doesn’t always fit into a certain type of project. Detailed criteria to identify & select the right talent for our project based in potential indicators is essential. That’s the first crucial phase: identifying & scouting. It's usually easier to identify technical skills. However, I value other characteristics such as quality and speed of decision-making, ability to work, and passion for the game. The second phase is the “how” we create an environment for youngsters to develop and ensure their monitoring. We must find a balance between player’s needs and to challenge them to step up to the next level. The development plan should be organized with structure and criteria based on different growth stages to ensure a solid progression. I see players’ development from a multidimensional perspective based in six dimensions: tactical, technical, cognitive, social, emotional, and physical. I consider them all from a holistic perspective. What's the point of a player having technical skills if he doesn’t have game knowledge? Or being extremely fast if he’s not quick at decision-making? We work all dimensions in an integrated way emphasising decision-making skills to develop adaptable players.

Professional football it is about performance. Timing for youngsters’ promotion into the first team must be in line with his state of development and with the collective needs of the team. It’s key to understand the concept of a young player's state of readiness as well as understanding of first team demanding. Managing expectations is a crucial point to align them into the reality of the professional environment. Misaligned expectations for varied reasons are quite common. An aligned plan between professional and youths’ departments will help us to prevent it. A clear identity, a structured plan, trust in youth talent, and patience are essential for successfully promoting youngsters to the first team.

After your time at Benfica, you became assistant coach to Thierry Henry at AS Monaco – one of the greatest strikers of his generation. How did that collaboration come about, and what was your experience working alongside him? What did you take away from that time, both professionally and personally?

João Tralhão: I had been working at Benfica for more than 18 years. At that time, I was Head Coach of the U23 team. I met Thierry during the UEFA PRO course in Wales. Our interactions were always extraordinarily rich in football & life experiences. We had a natural personal and professional empathy. When I got his call to join him at AS Monaco, I felt a natural excitement feeling. On one hand, I would have to interrupt a long-term process, but on the other hand, I had the opportunity to work with Thierry on such an exciting project. I had a mix of emotions but chose to challenge myself and assist Thierry in building a new successful project.

The relationship with Thierry has raised my knowledge about the game to a different level. His detailed knowledge and the football ideas he conveys are of a level of excellence. He was one of the best forwards of all time. Despite knowing the details of all actions in his position, he has a mastery of knowledge about all positions. From an individual perspective but also the understanding how they must synchronize collectively. Thierry demands total commitment from the players to daily actions. Whether they are technical, social, physical, … In this way, we all around him perceived a high-performance environment according to its standards. He’s an amazing person full of values and he has a football knowledge incredibly deep and detailed. His mindset is inspiring. I’m privileged to be his friend and to learned so much about the game from him!

From October 2020 to March 2021, you served as head coach at UD Vilafranquense, now known as AVS. What was most important to you at the start of your first role as a head coach in professional football? What priorities did you set in building and leading the team?

João Tralhão: The challenge was exciting. In October, the club was already struggling to escape from the relegation zone. My first talk with the new Owner was positive and the project was ambitious based in a new club’s restructure and mentality. We established four priorities: promote an environment where unity was more important than any individuality; implement a new game idea progressively; create a plan for players to grow individually to higher level and be competitive to play every match to win and stay in the league.

The first step was to create a connection with the players and guide them to play in a more dominant and balanced way. From the first day we created an environment to challenge, to inspire, and to demand from them in every single action, aiming to promote a more competitive mindset within the group. Preparing every match to win. The same mentality in all the support structures around the team. Any individual who entered the club's facilities should feel the demanding to be better every day. New periodization principles take time to implement. We had to respect the previous coaching staff methods to prevent sudden changes in the training process and thus avoid drops in performance or injuries. High-intensity based sessions with effort/pause management, and specific exercises were crucial to set our standards and optimize training time. In terms of leadership our main priority was to create solid bridges with everyone at the club. After the alignment with the sporting director, we met with the club's technical staff who would be working with us to create connections so that we would be aligned and integrated with the new ideas. We wanted to find the right balance between the relationship with the club's structure, lead the staff and the group, and dealing with the media, to keep the same energy to stay effective. At the end we left with the feeling of goals accomplished. In terms of process, the team were playing a more dominant style optimizing players qualities. Concerning results, we stayed away from the relegation positions. The most exciting challenge was to inspire players to play as a unit and with a more dominant style without preseason as well as the new methods implemented.

After that, you returned to the role of assistant coach, working with Nuri Şahin at both Antalyaspor and Borussia Dortmund. What was it like for you to step back into the assistant role? And to what extent do you and Nuri Şahin share a similar footballing philosophy?

João Tralhão: After the experience with UDV, I had decided to continue my career as a head coach in the right project and with the right people. Since leaving SL Benfica, I been clear in my mind that I wanted to have various experiences to prepare myself more solidly. I considered several honourable offers, but none met my expectations.

Through a coach I admire, Nuri Sahin and I were introduced. He was looking for a new member to his staff with a very specific role. His ambitious plans made me feel motivated and challenged to be part of the project and to experience a new league. All the meetings we had made me feel that we could be aligned in how we would prepare the new stage in Antalyaspor. It became clear that I could add value to the project and that it would be another step in growth. We both share similar ambitions in Football. We are coaches with a project-minded approach. Our plan is always to create something special and structured. We love a dominant style of play and winning mentality mindset. These were some of the bridges that connected us in the Antalyaspor and Borussia Dortmund projects. Naturally, we had our differences, backgrounds, and experiences. However, we always found a way to work together and aligned. Nuri’s experience as a top player and his outstanding human qualities, strong character and football ideas helped me to grow in knowledge and experience to a higher level of detail. He is a great person, an extraordinarily talented coach, and a hard worker. Happy and honoured to have learned so much from him.

If someone had to recognize one of your teams purely by the way they play – regardless of shirt color or crest – what characteristics and principles would stand out? What defines a João Tralhão team?

João Tralhão: I have a deep passion for the game and a clear idea of my teams' identity. Unity will always define my teams. A collective identity that ensures coordination, inspires collaboration, challenges limits, and keeps us aligned toward a common goal. Our formation structure principles - what it is, how it works, and why it matters - are clearly defined. However, our game idea is structured around specific principles that shape each dimension, moment, and phase of the game. These principles serve as the foundation to ensure cohesion and purpose.

Dominance is our mindset. Every moment, every action, full control. We’re always in “attacking mode.” Out of possession, we attack the ball; offensively, we attack the goal. Counter-pressing unites all phases of our game. It’s our fundamental rule. Our defensive approach is built on proactive pressing and a compact high block. Constantly applying pressure on opponents, preventing them to have initiative. Intense pressing speeds up ball recovery, ensuring control through possession. To find the right balance between pressing and compactness we are guided by opened/closed ball principles. Units’ compactness, covering and pressing are our key defensive principles. In low-block situations, box defending principles are essential for protecting our goal. Every detail in this phase it’s precisely defined to ensure full synchronization among all players. Our offensive approach combines a well-defined organization with the essential creativity needed to adapt effectively to the games’ dynamic nature. Ball possession is our main tool to dominate and keep the opponent in constant discomfort. Our priority is to establish controlled connections between units, making it difficult for opponents to effectively defend against us. Progress through the central channels it’s our priority. Our possession-based approach is defined to generate continuous finishing opportunities finish. We connect phases with dynamic space creation, guided by positioning, rotations, and numerical advantage. Every phase has purpose: from build-up to finishing, forward-thinking play defines our offensive moment. An obsession with scoring drives our game. We must establish the conditions for multiple finishing options while ensuring defensive balance to activate counter-pressing effectively.

Our identity is more than a concept. It’s lived through full commitment, where every action is driven at full intensity! Our game idea identity is built on these key guidelines. To implement it effectively, everyone’s total commitment and shared belief in the process are essential. Challenges will come, but a game idea built on strong foundations keeps our identity intact and our path forward clear.

What personal values do you pass on to your players – both on and off the pitch? What do you expect from them in this regard, and what kind of example do you aim to set yourself?

João Tralhão: As a football coach, I uphold the same values that guide me in life. My top priority is building trust through honest and timely communication with players. This is how we maintain mutual trust. We must understand them as individuals within a collective organization. Each one should have individualized support so that they can feel themselves special. A football player is, primarily, a human being. This is our key principle of leadership. We must foster a high-performance environment to create a successful and effective process. There are shared values and non-negotiable team rules that everyone must follow. These rules and the code of conduct must be clear from the start. We need to ensure coherence, consistency in the message, and respect so that everyone perceives unity within the group. Work ethic and discipline are essential values to support our process.

I identify myself with values of unity. To implement this mindset within the group, first, it is necessary to ensure that the staff embody this value. It is important to promote an environment of unity among the staff first. Assembling the right people in the right role. Everyone should feel themselves motivated, empowered and with adding value feeling. The emotions among the staff will positively influence everyone's behaviour, especially the players. Entering the club facilities should be an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. I am an ambitious and extremely competitive person. I have an intense passion for the game, and I am constantly looking to optimize my knowledge and coaching structure. I have experienced both success and setbacks since starting. Despite my achievements, I stayed humble and concentrated on future goals. Resilience has kept me focused and progressing despite failures. A high-performance environment requires this mindset to remain consistently competitive.

To maintain a consistent team dynamic and promote self-discipline among individuals, I regard emotional control as one of the most essential values. Leading a diverse group requires consistent, balanced, and solid daily management. Maintaining consistent emotional control enables effectiveness throughout the process. In resume we want to find everyone ‘s commitment with our core values. Grouping small commitments together will help us be prepared for any situation.

You are known for a holistic development approach in which the academy plays a central role. What is your philosophy for guiding young players from the youth setup into the professional game in a sustainable way?

João Tralhão: I started my coaching career at the academy, where I spent several years developing young players across different age groups and skill levels. After six years, I began coaching at the professional level. This experience provided insights into what young players require to succeed in high-performance senior teams. Understanding the direction to take is crucial when working with young players. What key skills should a youngster develop to succeed at a senior level? A structured and personalized plan is necessary to provide clear direction for development. There is an overemphasis on tactical and technical aspects, which I find too reductive. Becoming a professional player at high-level requires emotional, cognitive, social, and physical skills alongside tactical and technical abilities. I've seen many technically skilled players struggle to secure a spot on the first team, while some less technical but mentally strong players succeed. Concepts of attitude and mentality should be developed and translated in day-to-day actions. A young player is usually promoted to the first team due to success in youth development, aligning their expectations with their experiences. In the first team, the level of demand is higher. Actions are faster, and the game's intensity is greater. Performance is prioritized over development. It is important to manage his expectations correctly to avoid frustration. Discomfort is natural, but belief and optimism will improve youngsters' state of readiness. It is necessary to understand the state of readiness of the young player but also to have the courage to create opportunities for them to compete regularly. It is essential to cultivate an environment within the group where experienced players can mentor and support the younger ones.

You've worked at the highest level in youth football, collaborated with former top players as an assistant coach, and gained experience as a head coach. What are the next steps that excite you most? Are you looking to return to a head coaching role? Where do you see your future?

João Tralhão: I was always mindful to build my path in a structured way. For eighteen and a half years I worked in an elite club with excellent professionals and coached countless talented players of different ages. It was a progressive learning process full of fundamental experiences to underpin my development as a coach. I had the opportunity and time to develop my qualities and understand my needs to grow. Every single season was an opportunity to develop new skills and to try to be better than the previous one to progress. At a certain point, as Youths coach, after having worked with so many talents and full of honourable domestic and international achievements I had a natural feeling to make the next step.

The projects that followed challenged me and created the feeling of sustained steps. Regardless of the role, my purpose has always been to add value to the project and continue to grow as a coach. I feel privileged to have worked with elite structures, competed in such competitive environment as Champions League, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Primeira Liga, Süperlig, and specially, to worked together with human beings and professionals of excellence. These connections and experiences provided me an outstanding learning curve. I will be eternally grateful to everyone.

Return to head coaching role? The next step is clear to me. Being head coach next season is the natural progression. In the near future I see myself coaching a club with a clear vision, structured and with an ambitious project. Success will be a natural consequence. I want to share the same vision with the right people and help to develop “our own special culture.” Should be identified with a tactical culture built under clear Game Idea based in dominant style of play. Create a favourable environment to promote youngsters supported by the most experienced players to build a competitive group that brings better players, results, and good emotions to the fans.

Thank you for your time and the great conversation, João!