Daniel Bolufer: ‘I’m here to help Paide become the best team in Estonia’

*by Robin Hosman

Paide assistant coach Daniel Bolufer has set his sights on challenging Flora and Levadia for the Estonian title, saying he wants to help the club take the next step after joining the first-team coaching staff following a spell working with the academy.

Bolufer, who previously coached in Spain and Finland, said he hoped to stay at Paide for several seasons and help the club compete at the top of Estonian football. He also discussed his coaching philosophy, the importance of managing players and the challenges of working in professional football.

“I don’t like being one year in one team and then moving,” Bolufer said. “I was four seasons in Finland, and for me the cycles in the teams are three, four seasons, so I hope next season we can step even forward, and in two seasons, fight for the title against Levadia or Flora, the top two teams in Estonia.”

He added: “That’s why I’m here, not to be third or fourth. I have that intention, that hungriness to be competitive against Levadia. I’m not here to be third, I’m here to help Paide become the best team in Estonia.”

Bolufer began his coaching career at the age of 30 after returning to Spain. Having played in the seventh division, he was asked to take charge for the final six matches of the season when his team needed a coach. The side won four games and drew two, convincing him to pursue coaching.

“I was seeing coaching from the football player’s side, not from the coaches’ perspective,” he said. “In that moment, I decided, OK, I’m going to become a coach, because there are things that you cannot see or reach to see from the football player’s side, and I like it a lot.”

He subsequently spent five years at Unión Imposibles-Beteró, where he said he gained valuable experience in managing dressing rooms and working with players. He later moved to Finland during the Covid-19 pandemic, initially working with under-14 and under-15 boys’ and girls’ teams before joining the first-team staff as an assistant coach.

Photo: Patric Westerlund/EIF

During four seasons in Finland, Bolufer worked his way into senior football, including a spell at Ekenäs IF. He said the differences between lower-league football in Spain and the professional game were less significant when it came to managing players.

“Finally, in the dressing room, and the way you speak to the players, it’s all completely the same,” he said. “Even in Finland, with professional players, I remember at Ekenäs we had Kofi Adu, who was playing in Champions League games for Malmö. It was easier, that kind of players with that background, than some Spanish semi-professional players are.”

Bolufer believes man-management is central to a coach’s work, placing greater emphasis on understanding players and leading a squad than on tactical knowledge alone.

“For me, football, or any other professional-level sport, is 80% mental,” he said. “Of course, you should know the football knowledge, what you want, what your principles are and what your game model is, but then you need to know how to treat the people.”

He said he continues to read books about management and the psychological side of football to understand players better. Keeping a squad motivated through difficult periods and treating players fairly are among the most important responsibilities of a coach, he added.

At Paide, Bolufer initially focused on developing academy players before moving into the first-team coaching staff. He said he had valued the time working with younger players but missed the pressure and atmosphere of senior competition.

“In professional football, the goal is next week, to win the game,” he said. “If you’re a coach and you’re not winning four games in a row, you know what’s going to happen. It’s the business, it is what it is.”

He described the emotional highs and lows of the professional game as a major part of its appeal, pointing to Michael Lilander’s late goal as an example of the excitement football can bring.

Bolufer also addressed criticism from supporters who have questioned Paide’s energy and passion, including during the recent match against FCI Levadia. He said the team had defended well before conceding late, but acknowledged the disappointment felt by the players.

He believes Paide are in good physical condition and have been defending compactly as they prepare for the final matches of the season.

“We are fighting for the second place, so I’ll say to the fans that calm down, it’s going to happen,” he said. “We are ready for the last five, six games.”