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Carlos Cuesta: The impressive rise of Arsenal’s detail-obsessed young coach

卡洛斯·奎斯塔：阿森纳痴迷细节的年轻教练令人瞩目的崛起

By James McNicholasJune 8, 2024

The walls of Carlos Cuesta’s Hertfordshire home are papered with ideas and tactical diagrams. On the shelves are books about football, psychology and sports science. Invariably, if Cuesta is home, there is a football match on television.

卡洛斯·奎斯塔位于赫特福德郡家中的墙壁上贴满了想法和战术图。书架上摆满了关于足球、心理学和运动科学的书籍。只要奎斯塔在家，电视上必定播放着足球比赛。

It is reminiscent of the scene in Mikel Arteta’s Manchester apartment, during the Arsenal manager’s apprenticeship under Pep Guardiola. For three and a half years, Arteta immersed himself in his own football university. Visiting friends were taken aback at how Arteta’s furiously scribbled workings covered almost every inch of the available wall-space.

这让人想起米克尔·阿尔特塔在曼彻斯特公寓的场景，那是他在瓜迪奥拉手下当学徒的时期。三年半的时间里，阿尔特塔沉浸在自己的足球大学里。来访的朋友们对他密密麻麻写满几乎每一寸可用墙面的疯狂笔记感到震惊。

Presumably, Arteta sees something of himself in Cuesta: a young coach hurriedly climbing the football ladder. But while the two men share a focus on self-improvement that verges on obsession, the Mallorcan has taken a very different path. Never a professional footballer, 28-year-old Cuesta has nonetheless already worked at three of Europe’s biggest clubs: Atletico Madrid, Juventus and now Arsenal.

阿尔特塔想必在奎斯塔身上看到了自己的影子：一位在足球阶梯上急速攀升的年轻教练。虽然两人都近乎痴迷地专注于自我提升，但这位马略卡人走的是一条截然不同的道路。从未成为职业球员的28岁奎斯塔，却已在欧洲三家顶级俱乐部工作过：马德里竞技、尤文图斯，以及现在的阿森纳。

When Arteta expanded his coaching staff in the summer of 2020, the addition of a then 25-year-old Cuesta was considered a surprise both outside and within the club.

2020年夏天，当阿尔特塔扩充他的教练团队时，当时年仅25岁的奎斯塔的加入，在俱乐部内外都被视为一个意外。

“Of course, you are always surprised when someone of that young age comes to a big club like Arsenal,” Granit Xhaka tells The Athletic. But it did not take long for Cuesta to win the Swiss international round.

“当然，当如此年轻的人来到像阿森纳这样的大俱乐部时，你总会感到惊讶，”格拉尼特·扎卡告诉The Athletic。但奎斯塔很快就赢得了这位瑞士国脚的心。

“My feeling from the first meeting with him was that first of all, as a person, he is very honest, very straight,” explains Xhaka. “But he also had great knowledge about football. He knows what he’s doing: he knows how to speak with the players, what the players need. It was just amazing from the beginning.”

“第一次见到他的感觉是，首先，作为一个人，他非常诚实，非常直率，”扎卡解释道。“但他也拥有丰富的足球知识。他知道自己在做什么：他知道如何与球员交谈，知道球员需要什么。从一开始就很了不起。”

“How Carlos improved — day by day, month by month, year on year — was unbelievable. The individual meetings that we had with him were always on point, very clear to understand, and I was very grateful to learn many many new things.”

“卡洛斯是如何进步的——日复一日，月复一月，年复一年——令人难以置信。我们与他进行的个人会议总是切中要害，非常清晰易懂，我非常感激能学到很多很多新东西。”

The bond that Xhaka and Cuesta forged in those one-to-one video sessions transcended a typical player-coach relationship. It became a friendship — one that helped propel Xhaka to the greatest heights of his career.

扎卡和奎斯塔在这些一对一的视频会议中建立的纽带超越了典型的球员-教练关系。它变成了一种友谊——正是这种友谊帮助扎卡达到了职业生涯的巅峰。

“The relationship between Carlos and me was very special,” admits Xhaka. “I think how we were thinking as people was exactly the same. The honesty we showed each other, and other people, was always the same.

“卡洛斯和我之间的关系非常特别，”扎卡承认。“我认为我们作为人的思维方式是完全一样的。我们彼此之间以及对他人展现的诚实始终如一。”

“And he helped me a lot. We had so many individual meetings, video sessions, and conversations. To be honest, these things helped bring me where I am today.”

“而且他帮了我很多。我们进行了无数次个人会议、视频分析和谈话。说实话，这些事情帮助我走到了今天的位置。”

Xhaka and Cuesta became close during their time together at Arsenal

扎卡和奎斯塔在阿森纳共事期间关系变得密切

Cuesta grew up in the bay of Palma, on the south coast of the Balearic Island Mallorca. As a teenager, he played for local team Santa Catalina Atletico, coaching their younger age groups on the side.

奎斯塔在巴利阿里群岛马略卡岛南海岸的帕尔马湾长大。十几岁时，他为当地球队圣卡塔利娜竞技队效力，同时兼任该俱乐部低年龄段的教练。

By the age of 18, Cuesta realised that his playing career was unlikely to satisfy his ambitions of reaching the highest level of the sport. Although he had represented the Balearics under-18 team, he knew he was unlikely to play in Spain’s top two divisions.

到了18岁，奎斯塔意识到他的球员生涯不太可能满足他达到这项运动最高水平的雄心。尽管他曾代表巴利阿里群岛U18队，但他知道自己不太可能在西班牙前两级联赛踢球。

Cuesta reasoned that if he switched focus to coaching, and pursued it aggressively, he felt he could find a pathway to the top. He made the background on his iPhone a picture of the Champions League trophy: a constant reminder of where his sights were set.

奎斯塔推断，如果他将重心转向教练工作并积极进取，他觉得自己能找到通往顶端的道路。他将iPhone的背景设为欧冠奖杯图片：时刻提醒自己目标所在。

The first step was to enrol in a sports science degree in Madrid. Naturally academic, Cuesta sought to deepen his knowledge of the game through every available avenue.

第一步是在马德里攻读运动科学学位。奎斯塔天生好学，他试图通过一切可能的途径加深对足球的理解。

He also harnessed the power of social networking to build his profile and make valuable contacts. He followed every member of staff who listed Real or Atletico Madrid in their profile on X (then Twitter). Just two members of Atletico staff followed him back, but that was enough for Cuesta — it was a chance to exchange direct messages and build a relationship. It was a way in.

他还利用社交网络的力量来建立个人形象并获取宝贵人脉。他在X（当时的Twitter）上关注了所有在个人资料中列出皇家马德里或马德里竞技的工作人员。只有两名马竞工作人员回关了他，但这足以让奎斯塔满意——这是一个直接交流信息和建立关系的机会。这是一条门路。

Cuesta volunteered himself for a role in Atletico’s academy. He wasn’t motivated by the money or the job title — he knew the value of the club badge. A position with Atletico was a significant step forward. This 19-year-old from the islands was now wearing the tracksuit of one of Spain’s most famous clubs.

奎斯塔主动申请在马竞青训营担任一个职位。他并非受金钱或职位头衔的驱使——他深知俱乐部徽章的价值。在马竞获得职位是一个重大进步。这位来自岛屿的19岁年轻人，如今穿上了西班牙最著名俱乐部之一的训练服。

Alongside completing his degree, Cuesta worked his way up to become coach of Atletico’s under-14s. He was just 22. Cuesta has always achieved things ahead of schedule: he finished his four-year sports science qualification in three years.

在完成学位的同时，奎斯塔一路晋升，成为了马竞U14队的主教练。当时他只有22岁。奎斯塔总是提前完成任务：他用三年时间完成了四年的运动科学学业。

Cuesta is described as a bridge between the staff and the changing room

奎斯塔被描述为工作人员和更衣室之间的桥梁

His next step was to embark on a gap year. The idea was to travel and watch other elite coaches at work. His mantra was simple: “Listen and improve”. Cuesta identified a list of coaches he wanted to observe up close: Massimiliano Allegri, Thomas Tuchel, Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino.

他的下一步是开始间隔年。计划是旅行并观摩其他精英教练的工作。他的座右铭很简单：“倾听与进步”。奎斯塔列出了一份他想近距离观察的教练名单：马西米利亚诺·阿莱格里、托马斯·图赫尔、尤尔根·克洛普和毛里西奥·波切蒂诺。

He attended a seminar at the University of Porto led by Vitor Frade — the coaching guru who had been a mentor to Jose Mourinho. Cuesta admired how Mourinho had broken the managerial mould, opening the door for coaches without an extensive playing background. In Porto, he studied Frade’s coaching philosophy of tactical periodisation.

他参加了波尔图大学由维托尔·弗拉德主持的研讨会——弗拉德是指导过何塞·穆里尼奥的教练大师。奎斯塔钦佩穆里尼奥如何打破主教练的模式，为没有深厚球员背景的教练打开了大门。在波尔图，他学习了弗拉德的“战术周期化”执教理念。

Pep Guardiola was an obvious name to pursue, but Cuesta also recognised the potential of his young assistant, Arteta.

佩普·瓜迪奥拉显然是一个值得追随的名字，但奎斯塔也认识到了他年轻的助手阿尔特塔的潜力。

Through a mutual friend, Cuesta sent Arteta some tactical presentations on City’s team. Arteta was sufficiently impressed to invite Cuesta to their Manchester训练基地。

通过一位共同的朋友，奎斯塔给阿尔特塔发送了一些关于曼城队的战术演示文稿。阿尔特塔印象深刻，邀请奎斯塔前往曼彻斯特的训练基地。

“On that visit, I realised how important it is to surround yourself with the right people,” Cuesta told El Pais in 2019. “Pep has a staff of great quality, both professional and human. I highlight Mikel Arteta. He is going to be a great coach. He was also able to see the importance of details in elite training and game analysis.”

“那次访问让我意识到，与正确的人为伴是多么重要，”奎斯塔在2019年告诉《国家报》。“佩普拥有一支素质极高的团队，无论是专业还是人品方面。我要特别提到米克尔·阿尔特塔。他将会成为一名伟大的教练。他也能够看到细节在精英训练和比赛分析中的重要性。”

It was the start of a relationship that would one day see Cuesta and Arteta working together at Arsenal. Before that, though, there was Juventus.

这是一段关系的开始，这段关系终有一天会让奎斯塔和阿尔特塔在阿森纳共事。不过在那之前，还有尤文图斯。

“I remember when Carlos came to Turin for the first time,” Juventus chief of staff Federico Cherubini tells The Athletic. “He came with our head of academy, Massimiliano Scaglia, to visit the training centre.

“我记得卡洛斯第一次来都灵的情景，”尤文图斯首席球探费德里科·凯鲁比尼告诉The Athletic。“他和我们的青训主管马西米利亚诺·斯卡利亚一起来参观训练中心。”

“They came into my office and the head of the academy introduced me to Carlos, and I don’t know…. You know when you feel something special? I looked at this guy. He was so young, so curious, and with an incredible passion for football.

“他们走进我的办公室，青训主管向我介绍了卡洛斯，然后我不知道怎么说……你知道当你感觉到某种特别的东西吗？我看着这个小伙子。他如此年轻，如此充满好奇心，对足球有着难以置信的热情。”

“When Carlos left, I said to the head of academy, ‘Massimiliano, please — we have to sign this guy. We need him in our group of coaches. He came from abroad, he has a different mentality, he has an amazing passion.’ So in just a few seconds, I looked at Carlos as someone with a very big potential as a coach.”

“当卡洛斯离开后，我对青训主管说，‘马西米利亚诺，拜托——我们必须签下这个小伙子。我们需要他加入我们的教练团队。他来自国外，有着不同的思维方式，有着惊人的热情。’所以仅仅几秒钟内，我就把卡洛斯看作是一位潜力巨大的教练。”

And so it was that a brief visit to Turin turned into a job with Juventus. At the time, Cuesta was the only non-Italian on the staff. He was still in his early twenties and, naturally, there were questions.

于是，一次短暂访问都灵变成了在尤文图斯的工作。当时，奎斯塔是团队中唯一的非意大利人。他当时才二十出头，自然有人心存疑虑。

“When he arrived, I’m sure the other coaches wouldn’t have come to us with their doubts, as we decided to hire him,” says Cherubini. “But I’m sure they’d say, ‘Who is this guy, he has come from Spain, he is 22’. Everyone in every country thinks that they invented football.

“他到来时，我确信其他教练不会直接向我们提出他们的疑虑，毕竟是我们决定雇用他的，”凯鲁比尼说。“但我敢肯定他们会想，‘这家伙是谁？他从西班牙来的，才22岁’。每个国家的人都觉得足球是他们发明的。”

“But Carlos — with his empathy, his character — made sure that, day by day, all the other coaches accepted him.”

“但是卡洛斯——凭借他的同理心和他的性格——确保其他所有教练日复一日地接受了他。”

Cuesta’s skill was to balance courteousness and respect with challenging the status quo. Each day, he introduced new ideas and concepts to the academy — and the players responded.

奎斯塔的技巧在于平衡礼貌尊重与挑战现状。每一天，他都向青训营引入新的想法和概念——球员们对此反响积极。

“Carlos speaks six languages fluently,” says Cherubini. “For this reason, I think he has a direct connection with all the players. I think it’s a good thing for a coach: sometimes you have a good coach with good ideas but he can’t explain it directly to the players.”

“卡洛斯能流利地说六种语言，”凯鲁比尼说。“正因为如此，我认为他与所有球员都有直接的联系。我认为这对教练来说是件好事：有时你有一个好教练，有好想法，但他无法直接向球员解释清楚。”

Cuesta is also closer in age to many players, something Cherubini believes enables him to build an easy rapport with the squad. “Carlos is the bridge between the staff and the changing room,” he says.

奎斯塔的年龄也更接近许多球员，凯鲁比尼认为这使他能轻松地与球队建立融洽关系。“卡洛斯是工作人员和更衣室之间的桥梁，”他说。

“I know some players who were in the team with Carlos who always remember him in a good way. When we played a friendly match against Arsenal in December 2022, I saw some of our young players were very, very happy to see Carlos.”

“我知道一些曾与卡洛斯共事的球员，他们总是以美好的方式记着他。当我们在2022年12月与阿森纳进行友谊赛时，我看到我们的一些年轻球员见到卡洛斯非常非常高兴。”

“He stayed one year with us, but he is a travelling man,” says Cherubini. “He wants to work in Spain, in England, in Italy; he wants to know everything, he is curious. So when he told us that at the end of the season he wanted to move for another experience, we understood it was impossible to keep him at the club.”

“他和我们一起待了一年，但他是个旅行者，”凯鲁比尼说。“他想在西班牙、英格兰、意大利工作；他想了解一切，他充满好奇心。所以当他在赛季末告诉我们，他想离开去寻求另一段经历时，我们明白不可能把他留在俱乐部了。”

In the spring of 2020, Cuesta got the call he had been waiting for: an offer to join Arteta at Arsenal.

2020年春天，奎斯塔等到了他期待已久的电话：加入阿尔特塔在阿森纳的团队。

Cuesta (right) celebrating a goal at Spurs last season

奎斯塔（右）在上赛季对阵热刺的比赛中庆祝进球

When Arteta took the job at Arsenal, he initially hired Albert Stuivenberg and Steve Round as his assistants, with Inaki Cana joining as goalkeeper coach.

当阿尔特塔接手阿森纳时，他最初聘请了阿尔伯特·斯图文伯格和史蒂夫·朗德作为助手，伊纳基·卡纳则担任守门员教练。

After his first six months as head coach, Arteta was keen to extend his coaching staff. He hired Andreas Georgson as his set-piece coach. Georgson had succeeded Nicolas Jover at Brentford, and inherited some of his methodology. Then he turned to Cuesta, who had made such a strong impression on him in Manchester.

担任主教练头六个月后，阿尔特塔渴望扩充他的教练团队。他聘请了安德烈亚斯·乔治森作为定位球教练。乔治森在布伦特福德接替了尼古拉斯·乔维尔，并继承了他的一些方法。然后他转向了奎斯塔，后者在曼彻斯特给他留下了如此深刻的印象。

Arteta also wanted an analyst to round out the group. Cuesta recommended Miguel Molina, whom he had worked alongside at Atletico Madrid.

阿尔特塔还想要一名分析师来完善团队。奎斯塔推荐了米格尔·莫利纳，他在马德里竞技时曾与其共事。

In their first week in England, Arsenal won the 2020 Community Shield. It was an auspicious start.

他们在英格兰的第一周，阿森纳就赢得了2020年社区盾杯。这是一个吉祥的开始。

Cuesta already spoke good English. Since the outset of his coaching career, he had focused on learning English, Portuguese, French and Italian. Add that to his native Mallorquin and Castilian Spanish, and he has most of western Europe covered.

奎斯塔的英语已经说得很好。从他执教生涯开始，他就专注于学习英语、葡萄牙语、法语和意大利语。再加上他的母语马略卡方言和卡斯蒂利亚西班牙语，他几乎覆盖了西欧大部分地区。

His initial title was ‘individual development coach’. Cuesta was tasked with helping players improve specific areas of their game. This meant working closely with developing talents Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe — but his responsibilities were not limited to younger players. He spent time one-on-one with most of the squad, including experienced players like Alexandre Lacazette, David Luiz and Cedric.

他最初的职位是“个体发展教练”。奎斯塔的任务是帮助球员改进比赛中特定的方面。这意味着他与布卡约·萨卡、加布里埃尔·马丁内利和埃米尔·史密斯·罗等成长中的天才密切合作——但他的职责并不仅限于年轻球员。他与球队中的大多数成员进行一对一辅导，包括亚历山大·拉卡泽特、大卫·路易斯和塞德里克等经验丰富的球员。

While staff were impressed by his work ethic — it was not unusual for Cuesta to work 12-hour days at the training ground — his one-on-one sessions soon became popular among the squad. Before long, players were seeking him out with areas of their game they wished to improve.

虽然他的工作态度给工作人员留下了深刻印象——奎斯塔在训练基地工作12小时是家常便饭——但他的一对一辅导课很快就在队内流行起来。不久之后，球员们就主动找他，希望改进自己比赛中的某些方面。

Cuesta is a firm believer in the power of self-improvement. “The players have to interpret all situations as something positive to overcome them,” he told El Pais. “No excuses, but solutions. There are no buts. The complaint or the excuse is just another lost opportunity.”

奎斯塔坚信自我提升的力量。“球员必须将所有情况都解读为需要克服的积极挑战，”他告诉《国家报》。“没有借口，只有解决方案。没有‘但是’。抱怨或借口只是另一个失去的机会。”

The focus of these video sessions is often on tiny details: body position, technique, positioning. Most elite athletes want to get better. Over time, Cuesta is able to use video to demonstrate improvement to the players. The benefit becomes self-evident.

这些视频分析课的重点通常是微小的细节：身体姿势、技术、站位。大多数精英运动员都想变得更好。随着时间的推移，奎斯塔能够利用视频向球员展示进步。其益处不言而喻。

When Round and Arsenal parted ways last summer, Cuesta was effectively promoted to Arteta’s third in command, behind Stuivenberg. It’s now common to see Arteta deep in conversation with his younger compatriot during an Arsenal game.

去年夏天朗德与阿森纳分道扬镳后，奎斯塔实际上被提升为阿尔特塔的第三副手，仅次于斯图文伯格。现在在阿森纳比赛期间，经常可以看到阿尔特塔与这位年轻的同胞深入交谈。

His responsibilities have naturally grown. Now he does a bit of everything. He prepares analysis, works with individuals, and assists Arteta as required. He takes an active role in developing the training-ground culture and has built strong relationships with many first-team players.

他的职责自然增加了。现在他什么都做一点。他准备分析报告，与球员进行个人训练，并根据需要协助阿尔特塔。他在培养训练场文化方面发挥着积极作用，并与许多一线队球员建立了牢固的关系。

In England, Cuesta’s profile has risen considerably. There has been much curiosity among the fanbase over this young coach who has swiftly won Arteta’s trust. When Cuesta was featured in Arsenal’s All or Nothing Amazon documentary, supporters were struck by his communication skills and confidence.

在英格兰，奎斯塔的知名度大大提升。球迷们对这位迅速赢得阿尔特塔信任的年轻教练充满了好奇。当奎斯塔出现在阿森纳的《孤注一掷》亚马逊纪录片中时，球迷们被他出色的沟通技巧和自信所打动。

Albert Stuivenberg and Cuesta are now effectively second and third in command of the first team (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

阿尔伯特·斯图文伯格和奎斯塔现在实际上是管理一线队的第二和第三号人物 (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Perhaps inevitably, he has begun to be linked with managerial posts.

或许不可避免地，他开始与主教练职位联系在一起。

“I am sure that one day he will be a manager for a big, big, big club,” Xhaka tells The Athletic. “I say this because he knows what he wants, he has clear ideas, and he has clear goals that he wants to achieve.

“我确信有一天他会成为一家非常非常大的俱乐部的主教练，”扎卡告诉The Athletic。“我这么说是因为他知道自己想要什么，他有清晰的想法，也有他想实现的明确目标。”

“I am certain that one day we will see him on the touchline as a manager.”

“我确信有一天我们会在场边看到他作为主教练指挥比赛。”

Right now, Cuesta’s focus is on taking the next step with Arsenal: winning silverware. Having spent years gazing at the Champions League trophy on his lock screen, he is itching to get his hands on the real thing.

目前，奎斯塔的重点是与阿森纳一起迈出下一步：赢得奖杯。多年来凝视着自己手机锁屏壁纸上的欧冠奖杯，他渴望亲手捧起真正的奖杯。