Karrigan explains why the ‘best’ CS:GO coach in the world isn’t getting enough recognition

Zonic, B1ad3, and Konstantin “groove” Pikiner are some of the CS:GO coaches usually in contention for being the best. FaZe Clan’s coach Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström is one a lot of people in the community seem to forget, though, despite his success with karrigan and crew.

The former Counter-Strike: 1.6 player coached FaZe from 2016 to 2019, a period in which he helped them win multiple tournaments, including ESL One New York in September 2017 and ELEAGUE Premier in October 2017. He also returned to the role in March 2021, right after karrigan rejoined FaZe. Since then, he’s helped FaZe become one of the best teams in the world.

For karrigan, what RobbaN does behind the scenes was crucial for the team’s success in 2022 and the innumerable comebacks they had last year.

“Other coaches are doing more interviews and explaining all of the things they are doing, while RobbaN is always in the background,” karrigan said in an interview with HLTV. “But when you look at our team and see how many comebacks you did and you realize that we don’t have a sports psychologist, then you should understand how important he is to help us have that mentality to never give up. The most important thing I learned from him is that even if you play badly, never make your enemies win big against you, fight for every round to make sure you don’t give an easy win away.”

The style of karrigan as an in-game leader also tends to steal the show. Many coaches became known for their strategic input, but karrigan doesn’t necessarily need a strategic coach because he’s one of the best shot callers in the scene.

Instead of contributing to the game plan during matches, RobbaN assists karrigan and the team in other aspects, according to the FaZe captain.

“He also helps to keep me on track and works on improving the team,” karrigan said. “It’s also very hard to coach an international team, I don’t think people realize how hard it is, and that’s why he is going under the radar. I feel bad for him, but I also know him well and know that he doesn’t care that much, he just cares about the team and the family around him, but I do think he is the best coach in the world.”

Unfortunately for FaZe, RobbaN is out of the 2023 BLAST Premier Spring Groups, at least for this weekend, due to personal issues. The coach could return in time for the rest of the tournament next week or for IEM Katowice at the latest.