Ben Olsen recently stepped away from a decorated MLS career to join the coaching staff of his DC United.
Olsen talks about learning a new craft.
"There's an ego adjustment for sure. To go from being a big fish to being a student again, almost, learning things. It's a new trade. As close as it is -- it's all the sport of soccer, right? It's what I've done my whole career. But I haven't done this. This is a whole new animal," Olsen said with a wry grin this week.
"My schedule has changed -- that's a big transition in this whole thing, your daily routine. But it's good. It's about time I put in a hard day's work after all these years of living the dream."
A player's workday is typically no more than four hours long, while a coach's runs two or three times that -- the first of many new realities for someone in Olsen's position. Countless pros have made the leap into management after hanging up their boots, but each one negotiates the move from pampered performer to workaholic leader on their own terms, and Olsen is characteristically frank about his own learning curve.
"A lot of the things that you're concerned with as a player don't necessarily translate when you go to the other side, to the dark side, I suppose," he said, again cracking wise. "I think players in general are very selfish -- I know I was. You're pretty selfish and it's not a bad thing. You're thinking about you and how to keep your body tuned up and how to get the most out of yourself throughout the season.
"Of course you're worried about your team and everything, but I think your main focus as a player is making sure you are doing the best job possible. And you have control of that. As you go to the other side, you're now managing a group of guys and I think that's one of the obvious and major differences between the two."
Olsen talks about learning a new craft.
"There's an ego adjustment for sure. To go from being a big fish to being a student again, almost, learning things. It's a new trade. As close as it is -- it's all the sport of soccer, right? It's what I've done my whole career. But I haven't done this. This is a whole new animal," Olsen said with a wry grin this week.
"My schedule has changed -- that's a big transition in this whole thing, your daily routine. But it's good. It's about time I put in a hard day's work after all these years of living the dream."
A player's workday is typically no more than four hours long, while a coach's runs two or three times that -- the first of many new realities for someone in Olsen's position. Countless pros have made the leap into management after hanging up their boots, but each one negotiates the move from pampered performer to workaholic leader on their own terms, and Olsen is characteristically frank about his own learning curve.
"A lot of the things that you're concerned with as a player don't necessarily translate when you go to the other side, to the dark side, I suppose," he said, again cracking wise. "I think players in general are very selfish -- I know I was. You're pretty selfish and it's not a bad thing. You're thinking about you and how to keep your body tuned up and how to get the most out of yourself throughout the season.
"Of course you're worried about your team and everything, but I think your main focus as a player is making sure you are doing the best job possible. And you have control of that. As you go to the other side, you're now managing a group of guys and I think that's one of the obvious and major differences between the two."
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