After the departure of Philippe Clement, Club started looking for a new coach. The requirement at the top of the board’s checklist: international experience.
Alfred Schreuder already received a bold check next to those conditions. The Dutch coach worked at Barcelona with Ronald Koeman, at Ajax with Erik Ten Hag and at Hoffenheim with Julian Nagelsmann. Club Brugge also benefited from this. For example, Schreuder integrated many training methods from Bayern Munich coach, Julian Nagelsmann.
“Nagelsmann is quite extreme in his training methods. He came up with new exercises every week to challenge the players cognitively.”
“At the beginning of the week he always gives extremely difficult exercises”, Youri Mulder also knows. “Then the players didn’t really care. But as the week goes on, he decreases the difficulty again.”
“The players thought they were getting better, but actually the exercises just got easier.”
The people of Bruges often broke their brains at the Belfius Basecamp as well. “I have adopted many of his methods. But less extreme. It was very hard for him for new players. Definitely mentally. It takes a lot of adaptability to train like this.”
“So I try to make my players think actively. And to present them with many adapted exercises. Each time in its context, tailored to my team.”
“With Club, for example, we often played football in the opponent’s half. Then you look for new forms where you are often at the ball in small spaces. And vice versa, make sure that there is a switchover moment in that exercise with larger spaces in the back. This way you mirror a competition situation in your training.”
