Cuesta: ‘Juventus was my master’s, Arsenal my doctorate’ as Parma coach reflects on education

Carlos Cuesta has opened up on the formative experiences that shaped him as a coach, describing Juventus as his “master’s degree” and Arsenal as his “doctorate” in a wide-ranging interview with Spanish newspaper AS.

The Parma head coach, who guided the Gialloblu to a comfortable Serie A survival this season, began coaching at the age of 15 in his home city of Mallorca after recognising early that his future in the game would not be as a player.

“I did not have the quality to play and that was the reason I started so early,” Cuesta admitted, with quotes via TuttoMercatoWeb.

“Leaving football so early to concentrate all my efforts on coaching was an unusual decision, but my passion was the game. I was not very good at playing it and I loved understanding it.”

Cuesta spent time on the coaching staffs of Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Arsenal before taking his first senior managerial post, and reflects on each stop as a distinct stage of his professional development.

“Being four years at Atletico Madrid was like university,” he said. “Then I did my master’s at Juventus. And then my doctorate at Arsenal, five incredible years.”

On his time in Turin specifically, Cuesta was effusive.

“There are so many things I learned at Juventus in a very high-level environment, with a great work culture, professionals of enormous experience and an incredible density of talent,” he said. “Not only among the coaches and the players there, but also in terms of scouting players from all over the country and a great capacity to attract a high standard.”

The combination of elite environments across three countries has clearly left its mark on a coach whose methods at Parma have drawn praise, not least for the culture and discipline he has instilled in a squad that was considered one of the division’s most vulnerable at the start of the season, although some critics have played down their style of play as ‘boring.’