Categorie: Coaching
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Ruud van Nistelrooij — PSV’s coaching profile
If you are a follower of Dutch football or the Champions League in general, you will have heard of it: Ruud van Nistelrooij is PSV’s new head coach. It was announced a few months ago, but for me it’s time to look at it more closely from a tactical perspective. What does Van Nistelrooij bring…
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Mitchell van der Gaag — Excelsior years
Manchester United have employed Erik ten Hag as manager of the first team. There has been said and written enough about Ten Hag, but he is not coming alone. Alongside him, Steve McClaren and Mitchell van der Gaag have joined the Manchester club. Especially the latter hasn’t been explored too much by the broader public,…
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ERIK TEN HAG AT FC UTRECHT: AN ELITE COACH IN THE MAKING
With Erik ten Hag set to be appointed the next Manchester United manager, I thought it would be a good idea to look at Ten Hag’s experience in the Eredivisie. Now, everyone has looked at his Ajax tenure – rightly so. But, I wanted to focus on his period at FC Utrecht which shaped him…
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Case study men’s football Italy: Defending with a 3-1-4-2 in the Italian Primavera
I love to make these analyses of case studies and in this piece I will look at the Italian Primavera or the U19 games of men’s football in Italy. I’ve studied 17 clubs across different levels in the Primavera. Why Primavera?Why the Primavera? This has everything to do with academy football. They are the highest…
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Case study Northern-Ireland: Roles in the 5-3-2 formation in U18’s
A few of you might know this, but I have done a year abroad in Northern-Ireland. Belfast to be more specific. While studying abroad I’ve learnt a lot about the history of the region I’ve been, the religious difficulties and violence, and about the customs of the specific area I was located. While I could…
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Mental health in football academies
I’ve been sitting on this particular topic for quite some time now. Why? Well, my experiences do tell me that the topic of mental health is a rather difficult one in the football industry. I mean, it’s very difficult to talk about, but the conservative values of the football industry can make it rather painful….