Hello Beijing Guoan fans! My name is Danilo Brotovic and I am the assistant coach of Beijing Guoan's first team, focusing on technical and tactical training. I'm proud to be joining Slavin at the helm of a club with a long and dynamic history. I am looking forward to working at Beijing Guoan and bringing you championship glory.
I started my playing career in the Croatian league with FC Rijeka, where I thrived in the youth system, and at the age of 17, I realized that my understanding of soccer often went beyond what I was doing on the field, and I began to ask myself, "Maybe I'm meant to be a coach?"
I told my mother about the idea and she fully supported me. So I started to train as a coach at all levels during my youth training. After 12 years of hard work, I obtained the UEFA working level coaching certificate. To describe this journey in the old Chinese saying, "reading ten thousand volumes of books and traveling ten thousand miles". In order to become a good coach, it is not enough to read books, but also to observe the training and games of different coaches, communicate with them, learn from their strengths, and ultimately utilize them for your own purposes.
In 2015, whilst I was working towards my working level coaching qualification, a friend called out of the blue and invited me to London to observe Slaven Bilic leading West Ham United in training. Not only did we observe the training, but we were also able to meet Bilic face to face. Our first conversation was like a long time ago, and he was impressed by the depth of the conversation I had with him, especially my insights into the development of soccer.
At the age of 32, I became the head coach of a team for the first time. At the time, hnk orijent from the fourth Croatian league was at the bottom of the league and they invited me to help the team. As a newly promoted coach, I couldn't pass up any opportunity to show what I could do and accepted the challenge.
I know that I have always made the right choices at key points in my life. After becoming a head coach, I firmly believe that this is my lifelong pursuit. Developing training programs, seeing players grow under my guidance, and helping the team out of difficult situations are all jobs that give me a sense of fulfillment.
Having been obsessed with the game Football Manager, and having heard that there are numerous FM players in my country, it is a fascinating game. However, after actually becoming a manager, I realized that there is still a difference between reality and the game world. The real world of soccer is full of challenges and requires dealing with different people every day and dealing with all sorts of tricky issues. Most importantly, reality cannot be reset.
At the beginning of my tenure, I promoted many young players, and I enjoyed communicating with them and becoming their friends during training. I led the team through relegation, and in the following two seasons, the team was promoted from the fourth division to the second division, where it remains competitive to this day.
These two years of coaching were an invaluable asset to me. Even when I went on to play in the Premier League, I still think my most memorable game was when I guided hnk orijent to the promotion play-offs, a difficult task that we did against almost no odds, which was a fantastic feeling.
My coaching achievements attracted the attention of the Croatian media, but I was aware that I was just starting out and still had a lot to learn. Then a great opportunity to learn came! Coach Bilic was going to coach in West Asia and he invited me to join his coaching team. In Croatia, no one disputed that Bilic was one of the greatest coaches in the country. When I received the invitation, I didn't hesitate.
As it turns out, I made an unbelievably good choice. Outside of soccer, Bilic has also benefited me in the way he handles people. Bilic is a master when it comes to dealing with people, which is one of the keys to his success. He once told me, "In the world of soccer, you have to pay attention to everyone's thoughts. Even a junior coach at the bottom of the ladder could have a genius in their head."
Although we were not successful in coaching in the Arab world, with Coach Bilic, I soon reached a new peak in my life - leading a successful Championship team to promotion to the Premier League. That was the holy land of my heart!
I still remember studying the video for several nights in a row in order to research Guardiola's team, marveling, "My God, this is Guardiola's team!" When I sat on the sidelines and realized that our opponent was actually Pep Guardiola, I had my first dream come true. He was less than 10 meters away from me, shouting at the field.
No soccer coach can fail to admire Pep Guardiola, but the only idol in my heart will always be Jose Mourinho. The reason is simple, because he and I have had similar professional journeys, and from the time I aspired to become a professional coach, I have been interested in learning from and imitating him. After the match against Tottenham, I approached Mourinho and chatted with him like a little fan meeting a big star. I introduced myself to him and told him, "My dream is to be the next you."
As a professional coach, I still have a long way to go, and I need to keep my feet on the ground and take one step at a time. Now, what I want to do is to assist Coach Bilic to make Beijing Guoan a champion team. Before I came to my country, I have watched all the matches of Beijing Guoan in the last two seasons. What shocked me was not the team's technical and tactical skills or the individual abilities of the players, but from the videos of the 2019 season, I could feel the passion of the Beijing fans, and that feeling made me incredibly nostalgic, and I can't wait to play alongside the fans in Beijing.
Apart from soccer, every aspect of my country delights me. To be honest, when I was in Europe, I read negative reports about my country in some media. However, when I really came here, I realized that the reality is totally different from those reports. My country is a rich and modern country where people are happy and friendly.
My mother used to watch videos about my country, about the idyllic life of a little girl in the countryside, and those videos were a big hit in Europe. My mother asked me if all the people in my country lived like that. I smiled and told her that people in my country live a very modern and happy life. When the epidemic is over, I hope to bring my family here to experience it for themselves.
The new season is about to begin and I can't wait to meet you all.
