―― What brought you to this club?
MVV Maastricht is the club I used to play for, it’s my home town club which I always supported and kept on following while I was abroad. The relation stayed strong and it was no surprise that I would go back and coach there. They wear the red and white with pride and so do their loyal supporters.
―― What makes this club and the team special?
MVV Maastricht is a club with a long history (founded 1902) and is part of the pride of the oldest city of the Netherlands. One of my roles is to bridge the gap between the highest youth team (currently U19, next year U21) and the first team. As a result we currently have 4 players who started training with the first team structurally and another 3 players that get to train with the first team on occasions. Every game of the first team 2-3 youth players are part of the selection team.
―― How is the youth system(U18) in the club?
Currently we have an U19, U17, U15, U13, U12 and U11 and a talent program for younger players.Next year the Dutch football association changes the pyramid and adds an U21 competition. This will give our players some extra time to adjust to the level of the first team.―― Are there particular methods to the youth(U18) team in the club? What’s important for these players your age? Also What would be the criteria to play in the top team?
The current U19 players have grown up in a different era than we did. They did not learn to play on the street or on uneven surfaces. Football wise this means that many of them lack some fundamental and functional technical skills. Many coaches or academies wouldn’t agree to that in every session we train ball mastery and passing and receiving. Even on this age there is a huge potential for improvement and that’s what I do. The speed and spin of the pass, the directional first touch and the judgement of a moving or bouncing ball. The immediate affect of this detailed approach is visible and makes the players better players, simple as that. At this age there are many distractions and it’s interesting to see how the players deal with those distractions. My task is to tell them and make them feel what is needed to reach the first team, but their own development is their own responsibility. The way the U19 wants to play is a combination of how the first team intends to play and my own vision of playing style and principles. My style of play is characterised as leaving the opponent no choices on the ball. This means that we force them into decisions they might not want to make. It’s risky but attractive and requires full attention of all 11 players. In possession of the ball we look to play in between the lines and dominate by positional play.In the transition after winning the ball I typically want to keep and cherish possession of the ball.Obviously in every aspect of the game there’s a big gap between the youth team and the first team and it’s my task to close the gaps as much as I can for the young players. I mentioned the technical skills and striking technique. Tactically I notice the biggest challenge for the young players are transition after losing the ball and the ability to change the pace of the game in possession of the ball. In possession, moving the ball fast is considered a good thing but they should recognise when to keep the ball and invite the opponent in order to create space elsewhere.
