There is one eerie similarity between United’s new coach Rini Coolen and former boss Aurelio Vidmar, they were born just a week apart with Viddy able to claim the senior title.
But how much different life will be for the Reds under Coolen is not going to be apparent anytime soon, because by his own admission, the new manager is in no hurry to thrust his blueprint on the squad.
My colleague, and one time 36ers basketball coach Phil Smyth suggested Coolen’s press conference today was 80% truth and 20% sell, in other-words a solid opening statement from the former FC Twente boss.
It didn’t inspire, didn’t seem unbelievable (Remember Gullit’s sexy football?), but didn’t underwhelm either.
When pressed with the inevitable question about the style his team’s like to play, Coolen said being Dutch he’d “prefer to play with good organisation, like to decide what happens on the field with a lot of goal scoring chances, a lot of technical moments, not too many high balls, nice football.”
But, he added there was no point in enforcing such a style until he had assessed the type of players at his disposal.
A sound approach if you look at the World Cup as a guide. Two eminent football people Fabio Capello and Diego Maradona selected their best 23 players and then tried to force them into a style they wanted to play. The result was failure.
On the other hand, Germany’s Joachim Loew decided on a style and then set about choosing the squad that would best suit his tactical master plan. Simple. Successful.
Of course, Coolen won’t have the luxury (for this season at least) of handpicking his squad, as only between one and four players can be added to the team before the A-League starts on August 6.
On top of that, Adelaide has spent most of its salary cap and has got its quota of foreigners, so there ain’t much room to move.
In reality “success” should not be hard for Coolen to achieve, as anywhere above bottom will be an improvement. But based on last season when Aurelio Vidmar alternated between 4-5-1, 4-2-3-1 and the traditional Dutch 4-3-3 formation, will we see much of a change in how Adelaide United look on the field?
Possession is without doubt a foundation of Dutch football, but last season United was often unable to keep the ball for any real period of time. The addition of Marcos Flores can somewhat rectify that and a fit Paul Reid will also be a boost. That however is about it, although IF he can rediscover the confidence he appeared to lose very quickly last campaign, Insoeb Shin could also be a factor.
Dutch coaches also like wingers. Dodd can be one, but will need to improve the consistency of his crossing. On the left, Pantelis is the only obvious choice. With Jamieson now in Sydney, unless Cassio has the legs to play both forward and back, United will lack real width.
A narrow United might be a problem for Sergio van Dijk who should be keenly anticipating the arrival of his compatriot. A proven goalscorer at the Roar, van Dijk scored in his second game for the Reds but then appeared to lose his way under Aurelio Vidmar’s rigid system. Whether he is more suited to a 4-4-2 will soon become apparent.
Under a Dutch system, United would more often play the ball out from the back. In Mullen, Fyfe, Barbiero and of course Reid, United has the players who can do this. Cornthwaite is not such a player but is injured anyway and given he won’t be fit for the start of the season, a solid start by the Reds might make it hard for him to reclaim a spot in the starting 11.
So the bare bones are there, but there is a question mark over depth, and crucially there is not much time.
Coolen is now back in Holland and won’t be back until the day of the Wellington trial game on the 16th, so between now and then it’s down to Phil Stubbins to ready the team. Stubbins will also play a big role when Coolen returns because in the boss’ eyes, Stubbins is the head coach and Coolen is the manager. And as a manager Coolen says, he like “to delegate. “
So while Coolen gets his eye in, Stubbins will have the major say in how this team plays and who plays in it from which it’s easy to assume United will start the new campaign playing in a similar way to last season.
United CEO Sam Ciccarello, admitted that Stubbins is “feeling pretty raw” at missing out on the top job, but Stubbins says he has “moved on” from that disappointment and is very excited about working under Rini. There is no doubt though, being given more responsibility has greatly helped ease Stubbins’ disappointment.
Fact is, any bruised egos could bring the whole house of cards down.
Rini Coolen may not have been a name on anyone’s lips, and another Dutch coach may not prove to be the right road to go down, but as much as Phil Stubbins deserves an A-League coaching job it would have been a shame for a pile of overseas coaches to apply for this job only for it to go to a local.
So like Rob Baan and John van t’Schip, Rini Coolen becomes the third former FC Twente coach to join the Aussie football revolution.
He has scouted for Pim Verbeek and was once in the frame for the Sydney FC job, so a job in Australia has been a dream for some time.
That dream is now Coolen’s reality but what happens from here of course is unknown. That shouldn’t be a problem here though because Australian football is very much on a voyage of discovery of its own. Whatever happens, the Rini Coolen experiment will be a fascinating one to observe from close quarters.