The head is off for Kevin Hofland. On Tuesday he stood for the first time as head coach for Willem II’s group of players. His goal with the Tilburg club is clear to everyone: “Enforcement in the Eredivisie.”
Last season Zeljko Petrovic pulled that trick with the Tricolores. Many fans therefore wanted to see Petrovic come back to save the club. It was Kevin Hofland, also because Petrovic is working in Qatar.
Hofland offered to help the club: “Last week I applied. Saturday we called, Sunday and Monday we sat around the table and Tuesday I’m here. Everything went so quickly,” says the 42-year-old ex-defender.
“There is too little time to change the way of playing football,” says Hofland after his first training, where he spoke a striking amount of 1-on-1 with his players. “I mainly discussed my expectations of the players and I heard what they expect from me as a coach.”
Willem II is working on a dramatic series and relegation threatens. What can Hofland change then? “The will to win. That’s the most important. Playing with the knife between the teeth for 90 minutes.”
That is characteristic of the playing style of the former defender himself. “Of course I prefer to see beautiful football. But we have to be realistic and sometimes you just have to play a long ball.”
With a number of difficult matches, it will be a tough job for the Limburger. While many fans hope for the best, but are not optimistic, Hofland logically is.