Roger Schmidt - The Book of a Coach (July 1, 2017) (Patreon)

Reflecting through a sort of diary, accompanied by numerous insights, this book unveils the behind-the-scenes Roger Schmidt during his two-year tenure as the head coach of Beijing Guoan in China.

The adventure in China begins:

July 1, 2017

Meeting at the airport in Frankfurt. Here we go. The three weeks leading up to this were nerve-wracking. Countless emails and WhatsApp messages went back and forth. Visa matters, contractual issues, flight and hotel reservations, clothing sizes, coaching licenses, certificates. I startle every time a new email appears in the inbox. The head of the office requests everything four or five times over the weeks. In the meantime, other people from the club are reaching out, asking for the same things.

A video analyst suddenly sends contract drafts for the assistant coaches. I ask him why the documents are coming from him. Quite simply: he had just been in the neighboring office and was asked to email them to Germany. Unbelievable chaos. But somehow always with a twinkle in the eye. Strength lies in calmness. It will be fine.

We're taking off for now. I'm sure we can sort out the contracts on-site as well. I have no idea if anyone from the club has already signed any contracts. Let's see. Off to Beijing. The training planning begins aboard LH 720.

Reference: "Das Buch eines Trainers" (Roger Schmidt mit Jörn Wolf)