“When you arrive as the new coach of a team, you look at what you have and what is needed to get the best performance out of them. You base your philosophy on the players at your disposal. The key is how you best leverage the players and the team to win. So I have explained my philosophy to them, but I did not pick the team based on how I prefer to play. You need to look at what you have and make the most of it.
“I know the club so well, from coaching the youth team to the second team to the first team; this was a good path for me. You learn all about leading a practice session, the conversations… you learn the trade. Then you get into matches: the evaluation, the team meetings before and after. You create your own way of working with the people around you. You learn to adapt, but in essence, I am who I am and my character is something I always carry with me. I’m not someone who takes on a certain role. So I think it’s clear for everyone who that person is standing in front of the group.
“Development of the players is number one but if you play at PSV, even in the youth teams, you also need to develop a winning mentality. That is what you play for in the end: getting points, trophies. We have a lot of young players, many who I worked with in the youth teams. The more they improve, the better chance we have of winning.
“When I look back, one of my best coaches was Foppe de Haan at Heerenveen, who led all the training sessions like I do, and developed his own training format like I do. The human factor that Foppe brought in, and the way he did his job, is something that we have in common. Sir Alex Ferguson, on the other hand, was the manager who led the transfer strategy. He was sometimes present at training but he did it all on matchdays, from the pre-match meeting to the coaching. It was a different system but the way he led his team to success, motivating and inspiring them, putting a team together – he was a master at that.
“When you arrive as the new coach of a team, you look at what you have and what is needed to get the best performance out of them. You base your philosophy on the players at your disposal. The key is how you best leverage the players and the team to win. So I have explained my philosophy to them, but I did not pick the team based on how I prefer to play. You need to look at what you have and make the most of it.
“I know the club so well, from coaching the youth team to the second team to the first team; this was a good path for me. You learn all about leading a practice session, the conversations… you learn the trade. Then you get into matches: the evaluation, the team meetings before and after. You create your own way of working with the people around you. You learn to adapt, but in essence, I am who I am and my character is something I always carry with me. I’m not someone who takes on a certain role. So I think it’s clear for everyone who that person is standing in front of the group.
“Development of the players is number one but if you play at PSV, even in the youth teams, you also need to develop a winning mentality. That is what you play for in the end: getting points, trophies. We have a lot of young players, many who I worked with in the youth teams. The more they improve, the better chance we have of winning.
“When I look back, one of my best coaches was Foppe de Haan at Heerenveen, who led all the training sessions like I do, and developed his own training format like I do. The human factor that Foppe brought in, and the way he did his job, is something that we have in common. Sir Alex Ferguson, on the other hand, was the manager who led the transfer strategy. He was sometimes present at training but he did it all on matchdays, from the pre-match meeting to the coaching. It was a different system but the way he led his team to success, motivating and inspiring them, putting a team together – he was a master at that.
“Then there’s the people management of Guus Hiddink: how he managed a group as well as his tactical cleverness, his insights. Fabio Cappello at Real Madrid: how he moulded a team, his presence in front of a group, how he made choices. Manuel Pellegrini at Málaga: his programme and way of playing. You always take things from coaches you have worked with along the way.
“I used to put a lot of pressure on myself as a player to strive for perfection; I adapted my life to be the best I could be. I do that as a coach as well. My own pressure is the biggest pressure. Sir Alex dealt with it for such a long time: he was with one top club for 27 years. The successes that he had, but also how he managed to hold his own – you look at it now thinking that it’s exceptional.
“I want to become the best coach I can, but it’s clear that it is a job that requires experience. All the coaches I have worked with have told me this: you only learn what it is when you actually do it. Of course, it’s a dream come true and a great honour to be head coach of PSV. It’s a club that I hold close to my heart, so that feels even more special.
“Our goal for the years to come is to play Champions League football. We’re almost there, but it was a bit too soon this season; we have to work towards it. So that means you have to build up a team, find out which positions need strengthening. We lost Cody Gakpo during the winter break, so you always have to adapt to situations in order to improve. That’s the challenge we are now facing. Being a top club, there’s always this pressure that you have to win every match. But you are also working on something greater than the next match, which is taking PSV to a higher level structurally. And that takes time.”
“When you arrive as the new coach of a team, you look at what you have and what is needed to get the best performance out of them. You base your philosophy on the players at your disposal. The key is how you best leverage the players and the team to win. So I have explained my philosophy to them, but I did not pick the team based on how I prefer to play. You need to look at what you have and make the most of it.
“I know the club so well, from coaching the youth team to the second team to the first team; this was a good path for me. You learn all about leading a practice session, the conversations… you learn the trade. Then you get into matches: the evaluation, the team meetings before and after. You create your own way of working with the people around you. You learn to adapt, but in essence, I am who I am and my character is something I always carry with me. I’m not someone who takes on a certain role. So I think it’s clear for everyone who that person is standing in front of the group.
“Development of the players is number one but if you play at PSV, even in the youth teams, you also need to develop a winning mentality. That is what you play for in the end: getting points, trophies. We have a lot of young players, many who I worked with in the youth teams. The more they improve, the better chance we have of winning.
“When I look back, one of my best coaches was Foppe de Haan at Heerenveen, who led all the training sessions like I do, and developed his own training format like I do. The human factor that Foppe brought in, and the way he did his job, is something that we have in common. Sir Alex Ferguson, on the other hand, was the manager who led the transfer strategy. He was sometimes present at training but he did it all on matchdays, from the pre-match meeting to the coaching. It was a different system but the way he led his team to success, motivating and inspiring them, putting a team together – he was a master at that.
“When you arrive as the new coach of a team, you look at what you have and what is needed to get the best performance out of them. You base your philosophy on the players at your disposal. The key is how you best leverage the players and the team to win. So I have explained my philosophy to them, but I did not pick the team based on how I prefer to play. You need to look at what you have and make the most of it.
“I know the club so well, from coaching the youth team to the second team to the first team; this was a good path for me. You learn all about leading a practice session, the conversations… you learn the trade. Then you get into matches: the evaluation, the team meetings before and after. You create your own way of working with the people around you. You learn to adapt, but in essence, I am who I am and my character is something I always carry with me. I’m not someone who takes on a certain role. So I think it’s clear for everyone who that person is standing in front of the group.
“Development of the players is number one but if you play at PSV, even in the youth teams, you also need to develop a winning mentality. That is what you play for in the end: getting points, trophies. We have a lot of young players, many who I worked with in the youth teams. The more they improve, the better chance we have of winning.
“When I look back, one of my best coaches was Foppe de Haan at Heerenveen, who led all the training sessions like I do, and developed his own training format like I do. The human factor that Foppe brought in, and the way he did his job, is something that we have in common. Sir Alex Ferguson, on the other hand, was the manager who led the transfer strategy. He was sometimes present at training but he did it all on matchdays, from the pre-match meeting to the coaching. It was a different system but the way he led his team to success, motivating and inspiring them, putting a team together – he was a master at that.
“When you arrive as the new coach of a team, you look at what you have and what is needed to get the best performance out of them. You base your philosophy on the players at your disposal. The key is how you best leverage the players and the team to win. So I have explained my philosophy to them, but I did not pick the team based on how I prefer to play. You need to look at what you have and make the most of it.
“I know the club so well, from coaching the youth team to the second team to the first team; this was a good path for me. You learn all about leading a practice session, the conversations… you learn the trade. Then you get into matches: the evaluation, the team meetings before and after. You create your own way of working with the people around you. You learn to adapt, but in essence, I am who I am and my character is something I always carry with me. I’m not someone who takes on a certain role. So I think it’s clear for everyone who that person is standing in front of the group.
“Development of the players is number one but if you play at PSV, even in the youth teams, you also need to develop a winning mentality. That is what you play for in the end: getting points, trophies. We have a lot of young players, many who I worked with in the youth teams. The more they improve, the better chance we have of winning.
“When I look back, one of my best coaches was Foppe de Haan at Heerenveen, who led all the training sessions like I do, and developed his own training format like I do. The human factor that Foppe brought in, and the way he did his job, is something that we have in common. Sir Alex Ferguson, on the other hand, was the manager who led the transfer strategy. He was sometimes present at training but he did it all on matchdays, from the pre-match meeting to the coaching. It was a different system but the way he led his team to success, motivating and inspiring them, putting a team together – he was a master at that.
“Then there’s the people management of Guus Hiddink: how he managed a group as well as his tactical cleverness, his insights. Fabio Cappello at Real Madrid: how he moulded a team, his presence in front of a group, how he made choices. Manuel Pellegrini at Málaga: his programme and way of playing. You always take things from coaches you have worked with along the way.
“I used to put a lot of pressure on myself as a player to strive for perfection; I adapted my life to be the best I could be. I do that as a coach as well. My own pressure is the biggest pressure. Sir Alex dealt with it for such a long time: he was with one top club for 27 years. The successes that he had, but also how he managed to hold his own – you look at it now thinking that it’s exceptional.
“I want to become the best coach I can, but it’s clear that it is a job that requires experience. All the coaches I have worked with have told me this: you only learn what it is when you actually do it. Of course, it’s a dream come true and a great honour to be head coach of PSV. It’s a club that I hold close to my heart, so that feels even more special.
“Our goal for the years to come is to play Champions League football. We’re almost there, but it was a bit too soon this season; we have to work towards it. So that means you have to build up a team, find out which positions need strengthening. We lost Cody Gakpo during the winter break, so you always have to adapt to situations in order to improve. That’s the challenge we are now facing. Being a top club, there’s always this pressure that you have to win every match. But you are also working on something greater than the next match, which is taking PSV to a higher level structurally. And that takes time.”
“When you arrive as the new coach of a team, you look at what you have and what is needed to get the best performance out of them. You base your philosophy on the players at your disposal. The key is how you best leverage the players and the team to win. So I have explained my philosophy to them, but I did not pick the team based on how I prefer to play. You need to look at what you have and make the most of it.
“I know the club so well, from coaching the youth team to the second team to the first team; this was a good path for me. You learn all about leading a practice session, the conversations… you learn the trade. Then you get into matches: the evaluation, the team meetings before and after. You create your own way of working with the people around you. You learn to adapt, but in essence, I am who I am and my character is something I always carry with me. I’m not someone who takes on a certain role. So I think it’s clear for everyone who that person is standing in front of the group.
“Development of the players is number one but if you play at PSV, even in the youth teams, you also need to develop a winning mentality. That is what you play for in the end: getting points, trophies. We have a lot of young players, many who I worked with in the youth teams. The more they improve, the better chance we have of winning.
“When I look back, one of my best coaches was Foppe de Haan at Heerenveen, who led all the training sessions like I do, and developed his own training format like I do. The human factor that Foppe brought in, and the way he did his job, is something that we have in common. Sir Alex Ferguson, on the other hand, was the manager who led the transfer strategy. He was sometimes present at training but he did it all on matchdays, from the pre-match meeting to the coaching. It was a different system but the way he led his team to success, motivating and inspiring them, putting a team together – he was a master at that.
