Edgar Morin, the now 104-year-old French philosopher has received much praise in recent years as the father of complex thought. His vision has crossed over into many industries, but especially left an indelible mark on football coaches across the globe. Morin’s transdisciplinary philosophy inspires a complex thought approach that pushes leaders to welcome disorder alongside order into their thinking and practices.
One of the most recognizable figures to adopt many of Morin’s lessons is Vitor Frade, a major influential force behind complex thinking in football. Through his engagement with Morin’s concepts, Frade has transformed the perspectives of many coaches, including Paco Seirul·lo, who serves as Barcelona’s physical trainer. Seirul·lo notably remarked, “Edgar Morin is the father of all this,” highlighting the profound impact of Morin’s ideas on modern coaching techniques.
Morin’s influence extends beyond Frade and Seirul·lo. Portuguese coach Acacio Santos gives Morin’s philosophy credit for influencing his own approach to the game. Understanding complexity in football Santos confesses that his understanding of complexity was massively improved by the way that Frade explained Morin’s work. He emphasized that “the common background among Portuguese coaches, this whole idea of complexity, has its roots in the ideas of Edgar Morin.” It is this common knowledge between coaches that has created a culture where deep analytical thought is not just welcomed, but rejoiced.
Many of the world’s greatest coaches have adopted Morin’s ideas within their training programs. Pep Guardiola, the illustrious manager known for his tactical innovations, often reflects on the duality of chaos and organization in football. Julian’s quote above demonstrates this idea wonderfully when he said, “Our role is great because we introduce doubt and confusion. And out of this disorder we produce the form.” These feelings resonate with Morin’s philosophy, which inspires a shape-shifting approach to creative collaboration.
In Monaco, Morin was in constant contact with Leonardo Jardim. At the time, Jardim was the team’s head coach. Jardim expressed gratitude for Morin’s influence, saying, “Morin helped me to build my methodology.” This personal engagement only deepened the imprint Morin left on coaching methods in modern football.
Morin’s concepts come to life even in the coaching schools of Portugal. The institutions in Madeira, Lisbon and Porto have adopted his philosophy. Now, they are deeply immersed in making sense of complexity, particularly in football game plans, the cornerstone of their curricula. Nelson Caldeira, Jardim’s assistant, said “thanks to Edgar Morin,” the teaching staff learned more about their impact. Understanding this allowed them to better understand their roles in the team structure.
The legacy of Edgar Morin overflowed into history’s figures in the rounded ball. Cesar Luis Menotti, who led Argentina to victory in the 1978 World Cup, gifted a book by Morin to Mauro Navas, demonstrating an intergenerational appreciation for complex thinking in coaching. Matias Manna, an analyst from Argentina, was one of many to share his admiration for Morin. The President emphasized that he was “in love” with Morin’s concepts, underscoring the philosopher’s popular allure and contemporary significance.
Alfonso Montuori, a distinguished professor, has contributed to spreading Morin’s philosophy by introducing a book of essays on complexity in coaching. Montuori’s efforts focus on helping coaches and players to think more globally, beyond the bases or court, to provide a more well-rounded perspective on training and strategy.
We hear and read the sentiment from coaches all the time, that even well-meaning traditional methods overly simplify the beautiful game. Acacio Santos articulated this concern by stating that “a lot of coaches try to simplify things.” He pointed out that previous cohorts of Portuguese coaches like Carlos Queiroz and Jesualdo Ferreira had strived to distill complicated structures. They wanted to distill these intricacies into concrete, actionable principles. Reforming this way, Santos said, is an oversimplification that fails to appreciate the nuanced interplay of team culture and individual skill.
Morin’s view is much more complex and more interesting—a place where individual identity can exist alongside team cohesion. Santos further elaborated on this concept by questioning whether a player should lose their unique style for the sake of team strategy: “Does that mean I should lose my identity for the team? Are you going to say that to Messi or Pele or Cruyff? It is team and player.” This sometimes creates a very fine line that coaches have to walk in developing individual talent while trying to develop the team unity.
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