Slovenian coach working for the Greek champions: Jurij Hostnik passes on his knowledge to young Greeks and learns by watching an Argentine legend
How many Slovenian experts earn their living abroad? To be honest – not much. But abroad is also increasingly realising that the Slovenian profession is capable of many things. That it is of good quality. Luka Elsner is celebrated in France after the Ljubljana international led Le Havre back to Ligue 1 for the first time in 14 years. But Elsner is not the only Slovenian abroad who has had good reason to be happy recently.
Jurij Hostnik
and his colleagues won the national championship in Greece. He may not be a member of the national team, but AEK is his club too. He moved to the yellow and black team quite unexpectedly a few months ago and is now working in Athens as an assistant coach of the youth team of the newly crowned Greek champions, who also won the cup trophy this season.
Before that, he made a huge impact, especially in his work with young people in
Bravo
where he worked for five long years, including winning the U15 league last year. His CV also includes experience with Olimpija, Koper and Interblock, and he was considered a talented footballer before he became a coach. Jurij Hostnik spoke to Planetnogomet.si about his move to Greece, his duties at AEK and his work with young footballers in Slovenia.
To begin with, please explain how the cooperation with the Greek giant AEK came about, as we are not exactly used to Slovenian experts going abroad. It’s all the more important because of my work in the younger categories.
My situation was really quite unusual. My wife was offered a great job opportunity in Greece, so we decided to move at short notice. Of course, the fact that Athens, where we live, is home to three big European clubs also helped me to make my decision. I was aware that the move also increased my opportunities to coach and gain experience at the highest level. I was always aware that for coaching young people in Greece it is important to know their football, culture and language, so I dedicated the first months of my stay in Athens to intensive learning of Greek, culture, football and coaching education. It was also during the training that I met the coach of the AEK youth team, who invited me to join his professional team.
What is your role in Athens, what are your main tasks and responsibilities?
I have been working as an assistant coach in the U-19 team at AEK since February. The support team that takes care of the players is very big for Slovenian conditions. The head coach is supported at all times by two assistants, a goalkeeper coach, three fitness coaches, three physiotherapists, a doctor, a video analyst, an economist, a sports psychologist and three scouts. That’s more than 15 experts in total, each with their own specific job to do. My area of expertise is mainly providing support to the head coach in training sessions. To be more specific, it means that I am leading a part of the training, leading a specific drill, leading a specific team in a drill, controlling a specific aspect of the game, monitoring a specific player, doing individual or training for a specific position. I am also involved in match analysis, scouting and individual player development.
How would you describe the Greek experience after a few initial months? We all know that Greece is a very developed country in terms of football, and AEK, after all, is one of the clubs that has been operating on perhaps the healthiest foundations of any club in the country in recent years.
To be perfectly honest, my involvement in AEK has completely exceeded expectations. When I moved to Greece, I was hoping that an opportunity would open up to work with one of the top league clubs, and I would have been happy with a more secondary role, where I would have had the chance to observe training sessions and learn passively. In the end, things worked out in such a way that I was actually thrown into the fire and overnight became an equal member of a team where I was expected to fully support the players and the coach. So practically from day one I was running the individual exercises in Greek, directing and supervising all aspects of the game and explaining the details of the game to the individuals. I think we complement each other very well with the head coach, who has a slightly different style from what I was used to in Slovenia. As he is very open and receptive to new developments in the game, he is often interested in my views. At the same time, through his approach and guidance, I am also gaining new ideas and knowledge that I have not paid much attention to before, but now I realise that they can make a significant contribution to the quality of the game in the attacking phase. I have also found that all the coaches and staff I have worked with so far are very open to sharing their own ideas and accepting others.
How would you compare coaching in Slovenia and Greece?
The biggest differences I notice are in the approach of the players. Perhaps it is also due to the fact that I am operating at a level where competition is extreme. The players work really hard, are disciplined and grateful for any new information that helps them to become better football players. I also notice that at this level, talent is no longer measured so much in terms of technique or fitness, because, for example, in our team, all players are technically and physically good. The biggest difference between the gifted and the less gifted is the speed or ability to grasp new information. The most talented can sometimes overcome a deficiency in just one training session or after one good conversation. However, there are objective differences that affect the training process itself. For example, in Greece there are fewer rainy and cold days, which makes for good training conditions even in winter. At the same time, the temperatures are higher in the summer, which makes the season end faster, and it is also my estimation that they have a longer period without training in the summer than it is usual in Slovenia. I also have the feeling that things are even better organised in Slovenia. In Greece, half of the population lives in the capital, which is extremely densely populated. As a result, there is very little space for playgrounds, parks and other areas where people can play sport.
We are sure that you can teach young Greek footballers a lot, after all, you have proven yourself in Slovenia as one of the most renowned experts in this field, but what has Greek football taught you so far?
As I mentioned before, the tactical approach of the head coach is slightly different from what I was used to in the past. There is a much greater emphasis on attacking play, which means that practically every day I am learning new solutions and ideas that I am happy to incorporate into my skill set. I also get a lot of ideas from watching the work of Argentinian coach Matias Almeyda, who won the double crown with the AEK first team this year. Some of the players from the U-19 team have already had a chance to train with the first team this year, which also served as a very good comparison between the two levels. At the same time, I got feedback on what the requirements of Greek Premier League football are and where we need to help players to reach the required level.
Looking back at your past, what are you most satisfied with, what do you consider to be the biggest successes in your career?
As I have only been involved in youth football so far, I have always focused on the development of individual young players. This means that my greatest successes are linked to their life stories. If a player I coached gets called up to the national team, signs a professional contract, returns successfully after a long absence due to injury, he has acquired a new element in the game, if only he has made good friends in football, good work habits. These are all the biggest laurels and prizes for me.
Where do you personally see the biggest gaps in the work with young people in Slovenia?
I think one of the most important and effective gains would be a greater professionalisation of the coaching profession at younger age categories. This would mean reaching a higher proportion of coaches whose primary profession is working with young people. That way, they could devote more time and energy to coaching and helping the players in their teams. The latest call for tenders by the Football Association of Slovenia, which will provide co-funding for ten coaches of younger selections, is probably a step in the right direction. It would be more difficult to comment on the work with young people in Slovenia, as the approach varies from coach to coach. Interestingly, despite all the support technology and staff we have in the AEK youth team, the basic game of football still comes first. For example, even though we receive all the GPS data live during training, we still only focus on the team and individual performance. Although Slovenia does not yet have such conditions in most cases, I am of the opinion that this is not a significant shortcoming. Of course, with all the technology or additional coaches, we can increase the impact of a workout by a few percent, but I still think the key is the work and the content of the workout. So I think that the biggest reserves in Slovenia are in the coaching, the approach and the teaching of the most important football content.
The last few years have seen some resounding successes for the younger selections. Could this be proof that Slovenia is making progress in this respect?
I am extremely pleased with the good results of the young national teams and I am convinced that this is also an indication of the good work of the club coaches, selectors and the NHS. But as I mentioned in my previous answers, we will only get the real answer in a few years’ time, when we will see if the current young players are successfully making their way to the national team.
What are your coaching ambitions for the future? Would you also be interested in proving yourself in grassroots football?
Although I had offers to manage the U-19 team in the Croatian and Greek leagues in the spring, I agreed to work with AEK for one more season, as I believe that the current situation gives me the best opportunities for personal development as a coach. I am in daily contact with great coaches and former top football players. We also have a B-team, which makes it easier for players and coaches to make the transition and get acquainted with grassroots football, which is where I would like to be in the future.
This text was automatically translated using AI.
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