Ep. 26 | Youngest MLS Coach & D.C. United Manager - Hernán Losada

Today we welcome D.C. United's Head Coach, Hernán Losada. Hernán is currently the youngest manager in the MLS. We begin the episode by speaking about Hernàn’s beginnings and how he fell in love with the sport of football (or should I say, ‘’soccer’’). Hernán then shares with us his story of how he made it through the ranks and dropped out of university to pursue his ambitions of becoming a professional footballer. After impressing scouts in Europe, Hernán packed his bags to leave South America and quickly found himself playing professionally in Belgium. We then speak about some setbacks and challenges he experienced during his career as a player and how goal setting helped him overcome these difficult periods, particularly when going through injury spells. Hernán then takes us through his transition of becoming a coach, his coaching philosophy and what managers he currently looks up to. Having an excellent awareness of the mental side of sport, Hernán gives us his thoughts about the types of psychological qualities he looks for in academy players and footballers when scouting for new players. He also provides us insight on what happens behind the scenes in the dressing room at half time and of the importance to not overload players with information during this crucial period of the game. Hernán also shares with us the realities of working in a high pressured job, being a head coach of a professional football club and how he goes about coping with this. We finish the episode by asking Hernán the questions you had for him. It was a true privilege to speak with such a high profile professional, a truly insightful episode. Thank you for coming on Hernán, it was a pleasure to speak with you.