New season, new interesting host and as the first guest one of the greatest sports legends from this region...
The series (Failure) of the Champion, broadcast by Youth Sports Games, has entered its third season, and Slaven Bilić has appeared as a journalist.
The famous Croatian football player and coach had the opportunity to talk to the great Željko Obradović on his "debut" in journalism.
It is enough to recall the 64 club trophies and nine European Championship cups won by the basketball genius from Serbia, although Željko Obradović does not need much introduction - unique, born to win, a gentleman without whom basketball would not be the same.
"Simply put, I don't know how to be anyone else. I am who I am and I behave the way I think only someone who is a coach can. I want to share everything I have inside, so many people come to my training," Obradović began.
The school of the streets, but not the one that leads you to disaster
The great coach and the beginnings have been threatened.
"If we go back to those times, we lived together. Anyone who tried to stand out by buying better sneakers or T-shirts looked ridiculous. What was important during that period was that you had parents who were there for you, you had a school, real teachers and professors who taught you, above all, about life... But you also had the school of the street. Not this street that leads you to some disastrous decisions, but the street that helps you to be a real man in every sense. To respect those you should respect, to understand some who are not real, and that that street ultimately leads you to be a real man, to appreciate real values."
Bilić emphasized that the conditions at the time were not the easiest, but they were ideal.
"There's nothing better than when you go through all that, being proud of yourself for going through it. You know it wasn't easy for you. You had to fight. You fight. Life is a fight. You always fight, for anything in any segment of life. In sports, of course, that's very emphasized."
I didn't sleep for two months when I became a coach.
He made one of the most important decisions when he decided to end his playing career, even though he was still in excellent shape, and enter the coaching world.
"When you make decisions, you live with them. You don't think about what could have been different. I don't know a man who always made only good decisions. That's how it was when I ended my playing career and became the coach of Partizan. We were all getting 50 points in the preparation period, and then the guys who were scattered around the national teams came back, we made a team that looked completely different and people started laughing and saying that something was going on. And there were times when I didn't sleep for two months. I had to have a ready answer if a player asked me what some exercises were for. I stayed after the first year, even though there was no money, so I could work with Professor Nikolić and progress. When I watch the film again, I congratulate myself: Well done, you did this well," the legendary Žoc does not hide.
Obradović's statement is well-known: All I ask of you is that you do your best.
"It can't be done without that. We're getting to the point where in this number of games, I know we can't play all the games at the same motivational level, but that's what I'm trying to awaken in them now and what we have - nobody's ball, let it be ours. If the ball is here, go for it. First, the audience will reward you. You can miss and lose after that, but they'll be with you because they see that desire. So, that's the first prerequisite, but it has to be repeated."
I am a philanthropist, I love people.
He continued in a similar vein…
"I'm a philanthropist, I love people and if that's the case, I trust everyone. I don't believe there's such a thing as harsh professionalism where you're surrounded only by professionals. After all, we're more people than we are professionals. That's why trust is a prerequisite for creating chemistry in a team."
They also touched on the topic of new generations. Obradović said that the generation gap has always existed, but he focuses on what can be done to work well with new generations.
"Now I coach the sons of players I used to coach. If I want to wait for a grandchild - I should work for a few more years. I try to get down to their level, to understand what young people are going through today. Life is beautiful when someone laughs, the pleasure that laughter brings to people is something very important. I know that I look strict on the pitch. Off the pitch I'm a completely different person. And I try to talk to these young people about topics that I believe are interesting to them too. You have to knock on their door and have them open it for you. When they open it, it's much easier. Sometimes they keep it closed."
He says that he and his players will always be a team.
"And the sooner you explain it, the easier it is. The generation gap exists and will exist... Times have changed, we used to not have many options for what we could do in life. Also, these best players show that even in these times, dedication is still the most important thing."
That's not the end - Obradović will share great life lessons with Bilić in the second part of the show Un(success) champion.
Bonus video:
