You may not have heard of David Webb, but many on the elite side of football have. From park pitches in Croydon to the Georgia national team, via stints in Sweden, Germany and York City, the 43-year-old south Londoner has one of English football’s most colorful stories.
The story of Webb, whose role as assistant manager to former Bayern Munich defender Willy Sagnol at Georgia is his 13th non-playing job in football, begins when he was released from Crystal Palace as a teenager.
“I was at Palace until my late teens but had a back injury and was released,” Webb told Mail Sport at his home in Surrey, between international matches with Georgia. ‘I’m from the region and noticed that there weren’t many ‘street players’ in football, despite the hustle and bustle from the Croydon area.
‘So I was doing some scouting work and one day I saw this boy playing for a team called Whitehorse Wanderers and I took him to a coach at Palace. At first during training the coach said, “He can’t do this, he can’t do that,” but I told him to trust me and play against him at the weekend.
‘And so he did. He called me and said, ‘Phwoar, where did you get this child? We just scored seven and he got six!’ That raw talent was Wilfried Zaha, who played 458 games for the Eagles and is considered perhaps their greatest ever academy graduate.
David Webb had his first taste of management at National League side York City last year
Webb is currently assistant manager to ex-Bayern Munich defender Willy Sagnol at Georgia
Zaha, who returns to England this week with new team Galatasaray, is just one name on a list of talents discovered by Webb – he was crucial in rebuilding teams at Tottenham, Bournemouth and Southampton – and many see him as someone with a natural eye for a good football player.
“I went to Tottenham to do academy coaching and tap into the south London market before moving full-time as head of academy at Millwall,” says Webb. ‘I knew the area well, so I could pick up players for fun.
‘I went on a study visit to Bayer Leverkusen and they unexpectedly sent me on a reconnaissance mission – I knew nothing about German football! – and I had a meeting with Rudi Voller, the technical director, and he let me get up and talk.
‘He was shocked by my language and said: “What are you talking about – character, psychology – this is deep for scouting… you English don’t do that!”. And so I did some consulting for them. One I saw was Arturo Vidal (who later played for Barcelona, Bayern and Juventus).
‘I mainly look at body language and delve into their backstory, family history and character profiling. Human behavior is complex. Any top professional can see a good footballer, but it’s more about looking at the details.’
Webb’s CV includes significant oeuvres at Tottenham and Bournemouth, with glowing references from Mauricio Pochettino and Eddie Howe. His office at Spurs was right next to Pochettino’s, and the two developed a solid relationship.
‘Out of the blue I was introduced to Jason Tindall, who has always been Eddie’s number 2. They wanted to innovate their recruitment and development as they moved through the divisions. Jase said we wanted to have a good scouting and analysis department, so I headed it up.
‘We had some very good successes: Callum Wilson, Dan Gosling, Josh King, etc. We only spent £4 million and in the second year we were promoted to the Premier League. From then on I was headhunted by Tottenham, I knew Paul Mitchell and Poch well from Southampton.
‘I helped build a team there around what Poch wanted, having two very good seasons with the help of my connections at Leverkusen – which gave me information about Son Heung-min – and much more for their good era. Poch is probably the best person I have worked with.
“Ed (Howe) was quiet, but a very good coach and person. Poch was infectious, he walked behind you and gave you a hug and kiss – very Latin American! He was good with all the staff, not just the players, he had a chat with the catering people and receptionists. It was a privilege.
‘After Spurs I went to Sweden with Ostersunds, after Graham Potter had done great things there. The chairman was fascinated by English football and wanted to find players “broken” from top academies across Europe who could produce them and sell them on.
‘It was such a unique place, they did this thing where you had to put on a show for the locals. Graham was in Swan Lake, we did a rock show in a big theater in the city with 3,000 people. The players received training and then we started rehearsing.
‘I thought, ‘Damn, what’s going on here?!’ Take players out of their comfort zone, do something like that, it helps them face their fears and perform under pressure, but also give back to the community.”
Webb developed a solid relationship with Mauricio Pochettino during his time at Tottenham
Webb saw Wilfried Zaha playing for a junior team and took him to a coach at Crystal Palace
Webb clearly has a wealth of experience in nurturing talent, but his true calling is coaching. He has always wanted to be on the pitch every day and got his first chance at a real job with National League York City last year, but was hampered by being hospitalized with Covid.
But now he is working in Georgia with Napoli star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, alongside the respected Sagnol. They will play against Cyprus, Scotland and Spain in the European Championship qualifiers next month.
“The culture of the country is really good,” Webb adds. “The fans are crazy fantastic. They cheer the players until the end, 55,000 in the stadium in Tbilisi. The players are very passionate. They are on an upward trajectory.
‘I really enjoyed my first camp there and I’ll be back this month. The collaboration with Willy was very good. He is a top coach, I have known him for years. The federation are really good people. Well organised, structured. The whole culture and experience is demeaning.”