Mr. Leo's: Interview #2 – Walter Leonhardt on Strategy, Psychology, and the Quest to Redefine Success in Football

Walter Leonhardt is no football man, but was recently appointed as Technical Director of FC Deren. With a unique background in behavioral analysis and a deep understanding of ancient strategic principles, the German brings an unconventional approach to the football field, aiming to test the effectiveness of his theories in a competitive sports environment. In this exclusive interview, Mr. Leo dives deep into Leonhardt's vision, his insights on football as a battleground for strategy, and his ambition to prove that age-old tactics can redefine success on the modern pitch.

Mr. Leo: "Thank you, Walter, for joining us today. I read your interview with UB Post. It mentions that you’re a behavioral analyst. What exactly does that mean, and why do you think it benefits you for your football career?"

Walter Leonhardt: "Thank you for having me, Mr. Leo.

Let me address the second part first; this will answer the initial question.

Why did George Soros become so phenomenally rich? Because money wasn’t his incentive. He wanted to test the theories he developed while studying philosophy in London under Sir Karl Popper.

I’m talking about the Theory of Reflexivity: what matters isn't just information but how people perceive it and what they do with it. Subjectivity overcomes objectivity, so to speak.

That has been the core principle of Soros's career, and he sought to prove its validity. He wasn’t an academic but a practitioner, and he made reflexivity accessible to the public through stock prices.

Today, reflexivity is a standard tool in asset management. I aim to achieve the same with Deren FC: to test my theories in practical terms and demonstrate their validity through success."

Mr. Leo: "So you’re aiming to test a theory in real life. Which theory is it, and how do you intend to apply it at Deren FC?"

Walter Leonhardt: "The theory is called The 36 Stratagems. It’s a 1,500-year-old compendium of human behaviors originally developed in China.

Initially, it was designed solely for warfare and politics, but I personally apply it to everything from cleaning the oven to parenting.

Harro von Senger introduced it to the German-speaking world in the early 1990s, and I used his research as a foundation for my own. I’ve since developed the stratagems further, turning them into a versatile tool for practical application. In 2023, I finally made the breakthrough of reversing stratagems. With that, I felt ready to test the concept in real life."

Mr. Leo: "So you’re working with the 36 Stratagems and aim to prove their universal applicability through football. Can you give us a practical example of how you’ve applied them on the field?"

Walter Leonhardt: "Certainly. In the eighth round of this year's [Mongolian] Premier League, Deren FC played against the champions, Bulgan SP Falcons. Since the start of the season, we’ve had no head coach. In addition, we had no substitutes for this game: Baljinnyam Batmunkh received a red card in the previous match and the rest was injured. And to make matters worse, the Falcons had just crushed Khoromkhon 8-0 the match day before.

Instead of succumbing to these circumstances, we launched a distraction campaign on social media, framing the game as a battle of opposing philosophies. The Falcons took the bait wholeheartedly and became more fixated on their certainty of victory than on our team.

The stratagem here is number 6: Clamor in the East, strike in the West. On one side, you create a lot of theatrics while launching the actual attack elsewhere. A historical example of this would be the D-Day operations in World War II, where the Allies staged an elaborate ruse to divert German attention from the real landing site in Normandy. [Operation Fortitude South].

For the Allies—and for us—the goal was to induce a sort of tunnel vision in the opponent, so they lose reality out of sight.

Mr. Leo: "Still, you lost the game."

Walter Leonhardt: "True. But it was only 2-1, and we even led 1-0 and narrowly missed a 2-0 lead.

Realistically, the score could have been like at the Falcon's game against Khoromkhon – maybe 3-0 to 5-0. The Falcons could have put us under pressure from the beginning and then brought in fresh substitutes later on, while we had no resources left. But the obvious went under their radar because they were too caught up in their self-imposed pressure to prove we were just big talkers."

Mr. Leo: "It sounds like you successfully entangled the Falcons in a psychological match that made them forget their usual game plan. They were so focused on proving their dominance that they lost sight of the essentials. Do you think this approach could work on other teams in the long run, or does such a stratagem only work once against a particular opponent?"

Walter Leonhardt: "That’s irrelevant.

As my mother always says, 'When the door closes, a window opens elsewhere.' It’s the same with the stratagems: if you block one opportunity, another one opens up, where we can strike again. Furthermore, I don’t just use individual stratagems but also multi-layered systems that pursue multiple objectives simultaneously. This means that no matter how much an opponent may try to block a particular stratagem, we still move forward. The 36 Stratagems are the most adaptable tool I can imagine."

Mr. Leo: "Understood. Can you give an example of such a multi-layer system that you used alongside other stratagems?"

Walter Leonhardt: "Certainly. Recently, I wanted to hire a certain head coach as an assistant. He showed interest but kept me busy with excuses why he couldn’t meet with me the day after or just right now. He was using Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao, also known as Stratagem 2: a delay tactic.

My intention was genuine - reversal of Stratagem 1: Using truth as a strategic instrument. Nevertheless, I was aware that if he was stalling, he might be using my interest as leverage to negotiate a better contract with his employer. This is Stratagem 3, Kill with a Borrowed Knife. He used my interest for his purposes. I’m fine with that, because this way he raised costs for his club and may have created a rift between himself and management.

The crucial point is: my intentions are typically genuine, but I’m usually aware of what’s happening when my counterparts have other plans."

Mr. Leo: "So, do you believe that mastering the stratagems could provide a long-term advantage for you and Deren FC, particularly in an environment often focused on short-term success?"

Walter Leonhardt: "That’s the theory to prove or disprove. Personally, I’m convinced, as the example with the head coach illustrates: we’re all constantly employing stratagems. We just aren’t aware of it that a classification system exists that reveals which cog connects with which and how the mechanism is. For those who study it, a logical advantage emerges. That's my assumption based on experience, at least."

Mr. Leo: "And what does the leadership of your club think about your strategic experiment?"

Walter Leonhardt: "Our new head coach understood the concept immediately and is enthusiastic about it - he said I would have fixed him with stratagems and he wants to learn them himself now. The others are enthusiastic about his person and trust him. I would say Stratagem 3 comes into play."

Mr. Leo: "Touché. Thank you for the interview, and best of luck with the Deren experiment."