Coaching tactics on the agenda

By Mark Chaplin in Noordwijk

The profile of the successful coach and the Dutch school of coaching dominated proceedings on the second day of the 15th UEFA coach education conference in Noordwijk on Tuesday.

Decisive factors
The new Olympique Lyonnais coach Gérard Houllier gave a fascinating presentation on the various personal and footballing factors that make his colleagues at the highest level into winners who are able to get the best out of teams – and themselves.

Practical session
Coach educators from UEFA's 52 member associations also attended a practical coaching session led by senior Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) coaches Ronald Spelbos and Wim Koevermans, involving young Feyenoord players, in which the young footballers were put through their paces in a series of tactical exercises aimed at showing various playing systems.

Crucial elements
Houllier, who took over at the French champions earlier this week, told delegates that the top coaches had to master a variety of elements to be able to manage talented players and bring success to the club. The successful coach, he said, had to know football inside out, and have a strong personality to be able to impose himself as a leader.

Call for courage
Courage, Houllier explained, was an important part of the coach's armoury, in that a coach had to be ready to make brave decisions for the best of his team and club. Passion is also an essential quality, as well as the ability to give time to others and care for players and people within the club environment.

Communication skills
The ability to manage people and to communicate properly is vital, the Frenchman reflected, as well as a well-developed sense of strategy, to enable him to determine the best way to reach targets. A rebound mentality in adversity helped every coach to overcome the inevitable setbacks in a career, while a professional attitude, respect for others and humility in winning were, Houllier noted, important virtues that every coach should possess. In addition, it is the task of a coach to develop players by helping them to progress - both on and off the field.

Tactical systems
In the KNVB coaching presentation, followed by the practical demonstration, Koevermans – a member of the Dutch squad that won the 1988 UEFA European Championship and now a KNVB instructor - showed the various tactical and playing systems that coaches use in their efforts to breed successful teams.

Varying circumstances
Koevermans said that there was no ideal system of play, as a team's tactics and match outlook depended on such factors as the quality of their players, the coach's philosophy and vision, the opposition's playing style and even a team's position in a competition before going into a match.

'Preparation is our duty'
"Our duty as educators is to prepare our coaches in the best way, to enable them to prepare teams in the best way, to bring results and keep the quality of football at a high level," Koevermans explained.

Van Persie hat-trick