Jobs4football meets Pieter In’t Groen
Jobs4football was delighted to engage with Pieter In’t Groen, former Technical Director at Al-Arabi Sports Club and Red Bull Ghana. Within this Q+A interview, Pieter shares his experience and insights into the world of coaching and player development. He discusses his approach to player development and talent identification, the challenges he faced as a coach and how he overcame them, as well as his methods for integrating tactical and technical instruction with physical and mental preparation for his players.
Q: Can you tell us about your experience working as a Technical Director at Al-Arabi Sports Club and also for Red Bull organisation?
A: At all the clubs as technical director I always observe/analyze the following processes:
1) Club culture
2) Norms and values
3) Responsibilities and tasks
4) Attitude, performance level and willingness to learn & grow
Beneficial to my work was that the President and/or Management of the clubs supported me with the necessary changes that were crucial taking the development and performance to a higher level. At Red Bull the changes we made had a much quicker result, because of the enormous financial possibilities and support from the whole organization, while at Al-Arabi decisions and processes took much more time. At Al-Arabi the result of matches had always a positive or negative effect on the behavior/reactions of Management towards the changes made … they expect immediate result of the changes made. That was not always easy as development and educational processes simple take time. At Red Bull players were 24/7 in the academy, while at Al-Arabi, Triborgh and Christchurch players were not full-time, which of course has effect on the timeline for development and progress.
Q: Where did the love of coaching come from and how did the journey start in coaching?
A: My journey for coaching started during my player career. In the youth academy of Willem II
Tilburg and regional south selection of The Netherlands, I was captain and enjoyed the tasks
and responsibilities given. My playing career was only a short period due to injuries and
struggling to get fit again. After playing some years at semi-professional level, I wanted to
become a coach and help players better to achieve their potential due to my own experiences
as a player – positive and negative – and the more available quality information of physical
and psychological education for developing athletes better. I was and still am fully convinced
that talented players at young age could be trained much better without getting severe injuries
or mental complications to assure that players will reach their individual potential and have a
professional career.
Q: How do you approach player development and talent identification in your role as a coach?
A: Build a strong respectful relationship with the player based on personal wellbeing (safe
environment) and professional objectives and development/performance
Process:
1) Getting to know/understand (emotionally) the player
2) Evaluate strengths/weaknesses
3) Discuss/Design individual and team programs with and for the player
4) Follow up, listen/observe, evaluate, give feedback and adjust programs when required.
Q: Can you discuss a specific challenge you faced as a coach and how you overcame it?
A: The first challenge was working with different cultures, which made me adjust my coaching,
communication and behavior in line with the norms and values of the culture to get a good
and strong relationship with players, staff and others in and outside the club.
The second challenge was/is always to analyze the level of players and team and design
training programs that match the correct and suitable development of the players and team.
I overcame these challenges to gather as much information as possible from different angles
and to learn the customs and especially football languages as good as possible to show the
people that you are willing to adjust to their world. Furthermore, I believe you need to remain
as natural as possible to your own values, football philosophy and keep a realistic balance
between the individual/team development processes in regard to winning matches.
Q: How do you integrate tactical and technical instruction with physical and mental preparation
for your players?
A: By fitting the physical and mental objectives into (1) individual training sessions and (2) team
training sessions. You need to clearly describe the learning objective and prepare the points
that are required in your coaching in order that the player(s) are dealing with the certain
objective (problem) and are able to make better decisions that session.
In general dealing with psychological goals is letting players deal with uncomfortable or
surprising situations and observe their reaction (verbal/non-verbal), the steps they make to
overcome and the final outcome or performance.
Q: Can you share a specific example of how you have implemented a successful game plan or
strategy during a match?
A: One example: With the first team of Red Bull Ghana we started in the formation 1:4:3:3 and
were leading 1-0 till the 80 minute, when the opponent added an extra striker (9) going to play
long balls into the box in formation 1:3:3:4. We adjusted immediately to 1:5:1:3:1 to secure
our lead by closing our defensive organization and to deal better with the all-or-nothing play
of the opponent. The players knew what the tactic, tasks and responsibilities were in this more
defensive formation, because we discussed and trained it several times before … in case we
would have to deal with the situation. Due to the well-organized structure in this formation
the players were tactically and especially mentally prepared the play another more defensive
system with the willingness to prevent the opponent from scoring and make use of the counter
strategy. In the 87 minute we did and sealed a 2-0 win.
Q: How do you maintain a positive and productive team dynamic within your squad?
A: Always control the set norms and values of the team and they are for every individual the
same. Respect towards all (staff, players and all others) and involve them, give responsibility,
ask questions, ask their opinion, solve conflicts immediately and respectfully.
Be clear, honest and consistent!
Q: Can you discuss your experience working with different cultures and how you adapt your
coaching methods to best suit your players?
A: Always show respect to players, staff and others and be a role model in behavior and attitude
I wish the see in my teams. Correct behavior not in line with norms and values must be solved
asap towards an individual (separately) or in the group (when necessary). If I have to speak to
players separately, I always have 1 or 2 staff/translator present to avoid any miscommunication.
Q: How do you stay current and continue to improve as a coach?
A: See training session and matches, reading sport articles, attending/give workshops, discuss, attending additional courses (mainly new football innovations, physical and psychological aspects and tactics), design presentations, learn another language.
Q: How do you balance the needs and development of individual players with the success of the
team as a whole?
1) By maintaining the relationship and communication with the players.
2) By continuing the individual and team development processes. Always keep improving or set higher standards to challenge players and the team to enhance.
3) Create from time to time a fun and enjoyable event/program with the team, with or without family, depending on the situation and what is the best at that time.
Q: Moving forward what is next challenge for you and what do you wish to achieve in the
remainder of your career?
A: Opportunity !
1) I wish to achieve to win titles at the highest level (premier league in a country) and leavea good impressing, hopefully a legacy in way of work, coaching, organization and play.
2) Developing players to perform at international level (national team or international competitions
Thank you Pieter for your informative look at a number of key aspects to delivering results as a Coach/Technical Director. An extremely strong candidate with vast experience globally and a record of delivering. Pieter would add value to any club globally who are looking to develop strategically.