“Benefited the most from Rangnick”
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The name Robin Peter is not yet very well known in Germany. In the Netherlands, the Saxon native is celebrated as a great coaching talent. The 38-year-old is currently having the best coaching start in the history of the Dutch second division and is undefeated at the top of the table with the Dutch second division team ADO Den Haag. At Transfermarkt he talks about his idea and the training at RB Leipzig.
The numbers so far are impressive: Robin Peter and his team won 13 out of 14 league games and have only suffered one defeat in the cup so far. In addition, Peter not only has the strongest offensive team, but also the best defense. This means that the old master is confidently leading the table in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie – and not by chance, as the coach emphasizes: “We as a coaching team were already able to see during the preparation that the processes were in place and that the victories did not come about by fraud or by chance.”
The current success is “a mixture of a clear game idea, mutual trust and a very ambitious team,” says Peter, assessing his team’s good situation. “Of course, football is also an entertainment industry, but it’s primarily about scoring points. I was recently able to have a lot of nice conversations at a fan evening. The greatest praise came from an older gentleman who said he had been going to ADO for years and had never seen a football as attractive as ours. I like it when our football inspires the spectators.”
A quarter of a year was enough for Robin Peter to win the hearts of the fans in The Hague.
Peter learned elsewhere that success cannot be taken for granted. At the beginning of this year, he and FC Emmen parted ways by mutual consent after 20 games due to different opinions. Despite this short time, there is no reason for Peter to only see the negative.
“After I left, I had no doubts about my abilities or even self-doubt. If you consider that, among other things, we had to integrate numerous new recruits into the team in a short period of time and that many things still worked out quite quickly, it shows that my way of working worked to a large extent. It was nice for me to see that my ideas, even from the youth level, can usually be transferred one-to-one to the professional level. But in the end I also had to realize that there are some factors in football that you cannot plan or influence. There are also also things that, looking back, I would have done differently. You never stop learning.”
Peter’s path into the coaching business: “Ralf Rangnick benefits the most”
Peter laid the foundation for his current coaching career early on. At the age of 22, he took on his first tasks in the youth performance center at RB Leipzig. He was particularly influenced by the then sports director Ralf Rangnick. “I was able to work with some exciting coaches. Be it Julian Nagelsmann, Sebastian Hoeneß, Robert Klauß, Alexander Blessin or Matthias Jaissle, but I benefited most from Ralf Rangnick. Helmut Groß also helped me in many areas and provided new perspectives. Ralf Rangnick’s consistency and clarity left a lasting impression on me. It was very interesting for me to see and understand what a basic structure with clear game principles looks like. How stringent and unmistakable one is at the same time “Playing philosophy can be implemented in a club.”
Peter praises RB’s youth work: “I have been able to witness the growth of this club in the youth sector from the very beginning and have to say that the conditions have become more and more professional from year to year. In the end, as a youth coach, you worked under absolutely professional conditions. The club has invested a lot in the area of innovation. The development of the academy itself, but also such use of special camera systems or the development of innovative training methods, has probably not existed in this form at many clubs. Also, the fact that video analysts worked with video analysts at an early stage in the youth sector was not that widespread at the time.”
In view of the expenses for the youth sector, the number of homegrown players who made the long-term transition to the professionals at RB was small. The current squad only includes Viggo Gebel (17), who has not been on the pitch for half an hour for the Red Bulls and recently suffered a torn cruciate ligament.
Peter about RB’s youth work and the topic of permeability
“I think this is not a specific Leipzig issue, but an issue that affects many clubs that regularly play internationally,” says Peter. “This of course creates a professional squad that has a high level, so the talents also have to have the appropriate quality in order to gain a foothold in the professional squad. You have to be honest and say that the gap between the U19 league and the Bundesliga is extremely large. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough U23 teams in Germany in which the talent can get used to the professional level.”
Peter does not want to see the word permeability, which is often used in connection with youth development, as a parameter for good youth work. “I think we should ask ourselves who evaluates or determines what permeability means. First and foremost, permeability is usually an individual decision by the respective coach. It is a conscious decision if I rely on my own player or prefer another player over him. At the same time, in my view, permeability can also mean that a club trains a player well, but the player only makes his breakthrough at the next club. Players like Tom Krauß, Eric Martel, Jeff Chabot or Ermedin Demirovic, who played for RB Leipzig in their youth, for example, are such examples.”
Peter doesn’t believe in the introduction of a mandatory quota for home-grown crops; “Rather, you should encourage players with trust, patience and one or two intermediate steps so that they can be successful in the club in the long term.”
Peter in The Hague: “Being there for the boys”
Now the ambitious football teacher has moved to the long-standing first division club ADO Den Haag, and the task and objective are very clear: the aim is to return to the Eredivise. The impressive result of an average of 2.86 points shows that Peter hits the right note. What comes into play here is that he has learned over the years to support and challenge young talent. The average age at ADO is just 23.3 years.
Peter sees the factors of fun and joy as an important tool in the implementation of knowledge. “I want the boys to be keen on training,” emphasizes Peter. “I can only do that if I make it attractive. Anyone who has played football knows that the worst thing is a boring and monotonous training session. I have to keep the players curious, the boys have to be up for dueling. But I can’t do this with the hundredth tactics session, but by focusing on playing.”
It is just as important to “be there for the boys. If a player reveals his worries or problems to me, then it is my job to be there for the player. I don’t see myself as a motivator or inspirer, but rather as a companion and supporter.”
“If we keep the squad together like this, I’m very optimistic.”
Under Peter, The Hague developed into the team of the hour. Still completely undefeated, ADO confidently leads the league. It also provides both the best offense and the most stable defense. But what’s even more convincing than the victories is the way you play. What is particularly striking is the fact that there is no single key player in the system, but rather there is great variability. Five players have already scored more than four goals, including the Austrian U21 national player Luka Reischl.
Part of Peter’s recipe for success is based on the key of rotation. “We play a constant attacking press for the entire 90 minutes, but at the same time we try to always follow our ideals in all phases of the game and to achieve great dominance both with and without the ball. This style of play can only be implemented if we give the players enough breaks. That’s why we sometimes rely on rotation. At the same time, our dominance in possession of the ball is a guarantee that we always have phases for recovery during the games. You can feel that we have a very special team spirit. We don’t just want to be successful in the short term “But over the entire season, our job is to ensure the physical and mental freshness of the team,” said the Erlabrunn native.
Even though the season is still relatively young, the signs are good that ADO Den Haag could be represented in the Eredivise again next year. But head coach Peter is still pushing the topic of promotion far away. “Our goal is to collect as many points as possible in the next few weeks and months. We want to continue to pursue our plan. If we can keep the squad together like this and avoid suspensions and injuries, then I am very optimistic that we are well on the way to a very successful season.”
Interview by Henrik Stadnischenko