With an almost completely fit group, Kevin Hofland is working as the new trainer of Willem II towards the game against AZ. On Sunday evening, the team from Alkmaar is the opponent of the Tilburg club. Hofland doesn’t make it harder than it is, he knows what he wants to see from his players.
“It’s very simple. It’s about entering the fight, whichever opponent it is. And you have to play football from your own qualities,” says Hofland. “It doesn’t matter how you play, if you don’t have commitment, passion and struggle you won’t win games. Then you can play with six strikers, but if you don’t work for each other it becomes difficult.”
Going into battle, that seems a matter of course – certainly in the situation that Willem II is in now. Still, it doesn’t always look like everyone is giving one hundred percent. “Everyone does it in their own way. I watch a lot of football, even when I was not a coach. And I also go and watch my children. Then you see a match and I think: boy, why don’t you have a bet? But for “that player is a commitment. Take Luigi Bruins. A great football player, but to the public he looked very lame. He always put in one hundred percent, but it was not a boy who visibly went into battle and started tackling.”
Looking at the first training sessions, Hofland has nothing to complain about the commitment of his players. “They all make an eager impression on me. That is also how it should be. Often when a new trainer comes, players have the feeling that new opportunities arise. But after three training sessions I am well and positively surprised.”
Hofland already had many conversations in his first days as a Willem II trainer. The word trust was never mentioned. After such a bad run, a lack of confidence wouldn’t be a bad thing, but the new coach doesn’t want to hear about it. “They are people and people make mistakes. But the moment you make a mistake and then let your head hang, your self-confidence also goes down. You have to turn it around. If you make a mistake and then you accelerate and conquer the ball, that gives a boost.”
So it is with opportunities. In the last nine games Willem II managed to score in only one game. “Missing a chance can happen, right! The opponent has a goalkeeper in the goal. It is very important to go for it with full conviction at the next chance. We try to analyze it all, but you also just have to deal with opponents to make.”
“Sometimes the ball falls well and you see a player blossom. And then everyone says: the trainer has done well. But perhaps as a trainer you have not done anything at all. The players must have the feeling and conviction themselves, they play here because they have certain qualities and they have already shown that it is up to us to give them a kick in the ass or put an arm over their shoulder, we as staff have to make sure that we give them the right feel”, concludes Hofland.
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