Andres Iniesta spent the defining years of his playing career at the very highest level of football.
He was at the heart of one of Barcelona’s greatest sides, won nine La Liga titles and four Uefa Champions Leagues and scored the extra-time goal against the Netherlands to help Spain win their first World Cup in 2010. Now, at the age of 42, one of the greatest midfielders of his generation has chosen to step into coaching with Gulf United FC.
The Dubai club is competing in the UAE First Division, one tier below the Pro League. Rather than begin at an established European club or wait for a more glamorous appointment, Iniesta has chosen a young club founded in 2019 whose project is built around developing players and giving them a pathway into professional football.
At his unveiling on Saturday, Iniesta explained why the UAE had become the setting for his first foray into coaching and why he had chosen Gulf United. “It’s easy for me, for us as a family. We have been living here for three years. My last year I played here in the UAE,” Iniesta said, pointing to his time playing for Emirates Club.
“When I got to know the people around the club, around the team, it was easy to decide that this is a very good place to start. The programme, the project is amazing. I love to work with young players, with talented players, and to help them improve.”
There is also an awareness that this is the beginning of his education as much as theirs.
Few players enter coaching with a playing CV as decorated as Iniesta’s, but he spoke repeatedly about the need to learn rather than assume his success on the pitch automatically translates to the dugout.
“For me, as an individual challenge, it is amazing,” he said. “I also have to learn, I have to improve with my staff, with my players. It’s an amazing challenge for me.”
The surroundings may be more modest than the stages Iniesta occupied for most of his career, but his ambitions are not. Asked what he expects from his first season, the Spaniard is keen to transmit the mentality he possessed as a player.
“Expectations are always high. All my life I worked or I played for the best position, the highest position. This has to be our mentality,” he said.
“Of course, it’s not easy. We have to work a lot because it’s the only way to be better, to improve. But I believe in our players. I believe in the mentality they have, the quality they have.”
For Iniesta, though, the pursuit of results is as essential as the development of young players. Gulf United have placed youth at the centre of their ethos, and Iniesta believes veteran experience and emerging talent can complement one another.
“Our mentality is to win, but I believe you are closer to winning when you are doing good things, the right things,” he said. “It’s not about luck. When teams win, it’s because they do many things well. Football is always about the mix. We are lucky because, speaking about the first team, we have a very good mix.”
Iniesta was equally clear about the need for UAE clubs to place greater faith in Emirati players. Having plied his craft in Spain, Japan and the UAE, Iniesta resisted making direct comparisons between the different footballing cultures and instead argued that clubs need clear projects that allow local talent to develop.
“The quality is good,” he said when asked about Emirati players. “The coaches, the teams, everyone has to trust in the players. Of course they have quality, but it is about what we want to do with our players.
“I know professional football is always about winning, but each team or each club has to have a project about the local players because also it’s nice to see our players in our national team.”
His message to the young players within Gulf United’s academy was similarly simple. Talent matters, but Iniesta believes opportunity is only useful when a player is capable of exploiting it.
“Every day you have to dream,” he said. “You want to be a professional player, you have to dream about the best thing you can do and every day is very important. Not every team believes in the same thing as Gulf United believes in. This is one thing that is very important for you to know.”
When one parent asked what single piece of advice he would give the club’s youngsters, Iniesta spoke of enjoyment of the game. “Enjoy and be ready to learn,” he said. “To be a professional player is very difficult. It’s very, very, very difficult. The only way is learn, improve and enjoy.”
For Gulf United, there is obvious prestige in having Iniesta on the touchline. For Iniesta, the appeal lies in learning a new profession while attempting to create opportunities for players striving to develop. “Football one day can change your life,” he said. “But if you are not ready, it’s impossible for your life to change.”
