Lia Walti: "No matter what, you can do it"

Lia, what do you remember from your very early days being coached? What were the most valuable lessons you learned?

It’s funny because I’m just writing a kids’ book, so I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I only remember bits and pieces because, when we were young, my friends and I really didn’t want to be coached. We didn’t want to warm up or do passing drills – we just wanted to play football!

As soon as we could leave school, we took our bikes and headed to the training pitches. We’d often already be wearing our football kit and we’d even cycle in our football boots to get there quicker. It was just so exciting to play football with real goals and be competitive. I have so many positive memories from those days.

The shift to more tactical football came when I was about ten. Before that, I was focused on getting better at controlling the ball, trying to use both feet and learning how to be brave. When I was young, I tried so many different positions – from the keeper up to the striker – before I eventually found my place in midfield.

Who were your early influences and what players did you look up to?

When you look at famous footballers, it was always Zinedine Zidane and Andres Iniesta, but I think going to my dad’s games introduced me to the love for football. During every break we had at school we took a ball and played with our neighbours, using their car garage as the goal. There were so many moments in my daily life where I was faced with a football and it inspired me to play. It’s such an easy sport – all you need is a ball and then you can handle the rest.

Can you pinpoint a stage in your career, or a particular age group, where you made the biggest leap?

Between the ages of 13 and 15. I left home at 13 to go to boarding school and my school was made up of the most talented female footballers in the country. For the first time in my whole life I was able to train in the morning, and we had technical and position-specific training too.

At the weekends we still played with the boys, which was a good opportunity to reach our potential and push ourselves outside our comfort zones. While we were there we were observed more and more by the national team coaches, and then that’s where I was discovered.

That was also the age when I became a bit more settled on a position. I started playing in central midfield and I wasn’t immediately defensive as the roles were more flexible back then. It was as I got older that my coaches figured out that my best attributes were that of a defensive midfielder.

It can be a little sad when you get fixed in one position because naturally you focus on that and lose your ability in other areas. At the same time, that’s just how it works! If you’re good at something, coaches want you to specialise and make the most of your talent.

What were your favourite training drills then, and what are they now?

I love transition games when we have to react quickly. When we go from defending to attacking, or vice versa, it requires a lot of skill. It requires technical and tactical ability, but also quick and certain reactions, which is such a vital part of our game. The drills are always intense and competitive, and I love that kind of stuff.

Sometimes it’s hard when you play at a professional level, because we spend a lot of time on tactics and preparing for our opponents. It makes drills like these, where we can just enjoy being creative and spontaneous in our actions, so important.

“Looking back on my first year as a professional footballer, there was a massive emphasis on running and on physical ability”

How has training evolved since your first seasons in the sport?

When I first started playing football, turning professional wasn’t really an option. I had to leave Switzerland to find a professional environment. It has been almost 11 years since I first moved abroad to Germany and so much has changed since then. Looking back on my first year as a professional footballer, there was a massive emphasis on running and on physical ability.

We were training two or three times a day and I know I could never do that now! During the evening sessions, when we were already fatigued, we’d have to run ten sets of 400 metres. It did teach me that, no matter what, you can do it. There are no excuses.

In general, I think that was a good school for life because it taught me to work hard and keep pushing myself. At the same time, this training strategy would never work these days because the game is far more technical now. There is more to football than fitness and physical strength.

What were your favourite lessons aside from PE?

My parents always said I never wanted to do homework – I just wanted to go outside and play any sport that I could – but I was always interested in languages, geography and music too. I was never any good at subjects like maths or biology. They never ever made sense to me and that made it hard to put effort in.

What coaching experience do you have? And what qualifications do you have now or would like to have in future?

I’m working on my UEFA A Licence right now alongside Kim and Beth. First of all, I love kids, and that’s how this coaching journey started. I think it’s so nice how much you can teach children and how much influence you can have on them at such important ages. Knowing how much our game has increased in popularity, you can see lots of kids in the stands who look up to us, and I feel that responsibility.

I always wanted to prepare myself for a potential move after my career and coaching felt like a great avenue to explore. It’s very interesting to look at the game from the other side as you try to juggle the player and coaching mindset. You realise how many aspects of coaching you probably underestimated when you were on the pitch. This can be as simple as timekeeping at training because time always goes quicker than you think.

I want to be prepared for what’s to come, but it’s also nice when you can give back to something that brought you a lot of joy. Maybe one day I’ll become a coach, but even if I don’t I’ll still look back on this as a great experience.

What will your footballing philosophy be if you go into management?

I’m not 100% sure yet. In general, I’m quite an adaptable person so when it comes to settling on a philosophy, I don’t want to commit too soon. In an ideal world I’d love to adapt my coaching style according to the player, but I know that, traditionally, the greatest coaches have had a lot of conviction. I think it’s about finding a balance.

In terms of footballing principles, I like possession and having the ball at my feet. I’d want to give my players freedom and trust and encourage them to play with bravery. Right now, I see myself in more of an assistant coach position because that is often someone who ensures the players feel safe and motivated to perform at their best.

Individual development over wider team tactics is my current priority, but one of the reasons why I started working on my coaching badges was to discover these parts of myself and learn what works.

Do you enjoy the analysis side of the game, and is that an important aspect of your own coaching ambitions?

I really enjoy the individual analysis side. If you were to tell me to observe a player during a match and identify where they excel versus where they need to improve, I think I’d be pretty good at that. Especially when it comes to players in my position. I tend to find it easier to be involved in team tactics when I’m on the pitch rather than being on the sidelines because the in-game context is more obvious.

In a professional environment, that analysis is covered by a whole team of people with individual specialisms. During this part of our coaching training, however, we have to make decisions on our own, provide personal feedback, keep an eye on the time and the footballs, alongside tactical considerations. You have to learn the hard way first.

Who in the current squad would make the best manager in future and why?

I think we all have it in us. Kim is so humble and would probably disagree, but she observes so much. She has always had a good eye for the game. Beth is great at giving feedback to the kids in our coaching group and you can see how well she gets through to them.

We all know football, but what makes a great coach is the ability to articulate your message well. We’ve learned from our group of kids that you have to be short and clear with them, even when you’d love a few more minutes to explain.

What can football learn from other sports?

I think Arsenal is pretty good at avoiding this trap but, in football more generally, there is a tendency to put everyone in the same box. Not every player needs to focus on their speed, not every player needs as much stamina and so on. We’re all playing in different positions and we all come from different places.

What I think we can learn from individual sports is how to develop footballers as individuals. Just as our technical abilities differ, so do our physical abilities. Of course, it’s very hard to consider that when you have to train 25 people at the same time but there are ways to incorporate more tailored coaching. I’ve always found our club is solid in this area and we keep improving as well.

I’ve obviously never played another sport at a professional level so it’s hard to know exactly what they do differently. But I am always a fan of clear communication and transparent ways of working together and that remains true whether you’re a solo athlete or in a team of 20.