At around 9 a.m. on Monday morning, Dutch youth coach Robin Veldman (36) was in a schoolyard to pick up his two children. Two hours later he was head coach of the first team at the Anderlecht training ground.
It was pretty quick, but he didn’t hesitate. Veldman has been a youth coach for fifteen years at sc Heerenveen, Ajax and Anderlecht, but the desire to become head coach was big.
So he comes to Brussels from Anderlecht, which is currently going through one of the deepest crises in its history. Under coach Felice Mazzù they lost seven times in thirteen league games and the game was sad.
The low point followed on Sunday with a canceled duel with Standard Liège – Anderlecht fans misbehaved. Mazzù was fired.
Veldman was happy to follow him at least for a while. “Most of all, I want to bring smiles back to the group. From there we can win back the support of the fans.”
Veldman earned his spurs at a young age as a youth coach at sc Heerenveen, where he started working full-time at the age of 19. In the run-up to Anderlecht’s Conference League game against Romanian FSCB, he tells the Belgian press about it.
“I’m proud of a championship, but even more proud of the development of individual players. At Heerenveen I’ve worked with the likes of Hakim Ziyech, Jeremiah St Juste and Daley Sinkgraven.”
This work led to a move to Ajax. “I ended up in one of the best courses in Europe. As a U14 coach, I learned how to really build an organisation.”
After four years in Amsterdam, Peter Verbeke, sporting director of Anderlecht, found his way. With Vincent Kompany as head coach with an eye for young talent, he had a good history and Veldman went to Brussels.
He worked relatively sheltered in the Anderlecht academy, which is highly regarded and has produced many talents in recent years. Certainly Kompany gave chances to young players. Sometimes it was successful, sometimes not.
Veldman himself immediately brought top talent Theo Leoni into the first team. He hopes supporters won’t expect miracles from him so close to the European clash with SCFB, which must be won to keep any chance of hibernating.
“I hope we regain confidence on the ball, that we control and get confidence from there. Then we get the smile back and we can start growing. We have been working on this for 48 hours now.”
Becoming the coach of a big club in times of deep crisis: Veldman recognizes that the risk of failure is high. The club’s management has already indicated that it will not drop him, even if things don’t go that way.
“I feel confidence, not pressure,” Veldman said. “The only thing I can control is what I can influence: that’s the selection and the coaching staff. We’re on top and I hope this can be a turning point.”
Veldman does not rule out staying longer as head coach in the event of a successful interim spell. “I have ambitions to become head coach, but other than that I mainly want to see what’s good for the club.”
Source:NOS
I’m Maxine Reitz, a journalist and news writer at 24 Instant News. I specialize in health-related topics and have written hundreds of articles on the subject. My work has been featured in leading publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and Healthline. As an experienced professional in the industry, I have consistently demonstrated an ability to develop compelling stories that engage readers.
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