Mads Davidsen: How to Make it in the Far East

My guest this episode is technical director of Shanghai SIPG FC Mads Davidsen. Before being the technical director at Shanghai SIPG, Davidsen was the team’s reserve and U23 team coach and head of Recruitment.

Previously he was an assistant under legendary coach Sven Goran Ericksson at Guangzhou R&F Football Club. He also coached the U-19 team at Brondby IF, one of the biggest clubs in Denmark. And this past year he co-authored the book “When talent committed” which came out in May, however it is only in Danish for now. It is about motivating athletes in a number of different sports.

In our interview, Davidsen talks about the importance of cultural intelligence, why he sends his youth players to train abroad, what he learned from working with Sven Goran Ericksson, and his keys to motivating players. Currently Davidsen’s team, Shanghai SIPG FC is second in the Chinese Super League table.

You can follow Davidsen on Twitter here

Timeline

Talks about his childhood and playing career 2:10

How he broke into coaching 4:50

His approach to developing players 12:30

How he ended up coaching in China 15:30

The importance of cultural intelligence 18:15 (use teaser from this 19:20) and also 21:00

What he learned from Sven Goran Ericksson 23:30

What he looks for when scouting players 31:40

Why he sends his youth players to play abroad 35:05 (Great quote on 37:20)

His research in player motivation 41:35

How he motivated Emil Hojberg 43:25

His proudest accomplishment 47:15

Advice he’d give young coaches 52:26

Reference

Copenhagen B-93 Aspire Academy Ebbe Sands Goal.com article that he is quoted in Sven Goran Ericksson Guangzhou R & F Shanghai SIPG FC When Talent Committs by Mads Davidsen and Helle Hedegaard Hein

Flemming Pedersen FC Midtjylland His Website

#text