Clement’s journey from Irish starlets to Real’s galacticos

In June 2007, then Ireland U21 manager Don Givens hired a little known 35-year-old coach, whose previous experience was in the youth academies at Chelsea and Fulham.

Londoner Paul Clement helped Givens train the team for three seasons — overseeing the progression of now senior stars Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy and David Meyler.

In 2010, he returned to Chelsea full-time and worked under managers Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti, who was impressed enough to bring him to Paris Saint Germain in 2011.

Tonight Clement, still just 42, sits on the bench beside current Real Madrid boss Ancelotti and fellow assistant Zinedine Zidane as their side face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final.

The former PE teacher and son of 1970s QPR defender Dave Clement told the Irish Examiner this week that such a career path had not exactly been planned.

“I never thought it would go this way, but when an opportunity arose I took it,” Clement said.

“It has been really amazing. You never know quite where you are going to end up [in football]. To actually arrive here is wonderful.”

Clement had just overseen an ‘open’ training session at Madrid’s Valdebebas facility where he put World Cup winners such as Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos through their paces. As Ancelotti and Zidane observed quietly, the lesser known assistant was clearly in charge — with instructions shouted in basic Spanish tinged with his thick Cockney accent.

He said his job currently involved working out how to ensure the competition’s best attack (Madrid scored 37 goals in 12 games) could break down its best defence (Atletico have conceded just six goals so far).

“We know what we are going to get — we have played them four times this year,” Clement said.

“We know we are going to have a really tough game. They are a very compact block, very rarely out of position in the 4-4-2. They are very aggressive with it as well. [So] you try and create situations which are going to be similar, in terms of tactical positions of players that they are going to have in the game. We will put out two teams, one that is very similar to them in terms of their shape, and ask them to do things they would do against our team. Then we would do things we need to do to break that down.”

Clement said the idea of Atletico as a team who ‘park the bus’ and just hit long balls was a false one, although his side would have to engineer situations during the game to release pacy attackers Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale into space.

“They do defend deep, but when they get it they do not just punt it forward, they play those little combinations, and work their way down the field,” he said. “At times they will be space behind, but certainly not as much as when you play against Barcelona and Bayern. We expect to have to break down a compact block for the majority of the game.”

Having qualified for a first Champions League final in 12 years, Madrid lost focus on La Liga and slipped out of a title race which Atletico eventually won last weekend at Barcelona.

Clement would not say this was an advantage for his side for tonight’s final, but did admit he had enjoyed having two weeks to focus on the biggest game of the club season.

“It enabled us to really focus for the full two weeks,” he said. “The attention to detail goes to another level for a game like this. After we lost to Celta, we planned really carefully. We knew there was nothing for us in the [final La Liga] game against Espanyol, so we made sure we had two weeks prep for the Champions League final, rather than one. Whereas if you are still going for the league, that obviously was not the case.”

A key issue for Madrid’s brains trust is how to replace suspended midfielder Xabi Alonso — with each option lacking something — fitness [Sami Khedira], confidence [Asier Illarramendi] or experience [Casemiro].

“It’s a big loss, Xabi being out,” Clement admits. “But there are a number of options we are still considering. The decision will be made at the last moment. That keeps players on their toes, nice and competitive. They feel they have that opportunity to play, right up until the last moment.”

For a novice like Illarramendi or Casemiro, tonight’s final is an opportunity.

For their former Irish U21 coach preparing the biggest game of the club season is a reward for two decades spent working his way to the top.