Pro ShotsDick Schreuder
NOS Voetbal•vandaag, 18:02
Storm Henk? It doesn’t mean much to Dick Schreuder. “No, haha. Look: I’m sitting here in the sun.”
The Spanish sun that is. Not because the football coach has settled there with his Dutch club for a training camp. No, he has been under contract with CD Castellón, which plays in the third level of Spain, since the summer of 2023.
Schreuder, whose brothers Alfred and Bart are also football coaches, unexpectedly and suddenly said goodbye to PEC Zwolle, which he had just managed to get back into the Premier League. Initially he left the reason for his departure unclear. He did not reveal much more than “I have canceled many clubs. However, I am willing to go for the opportunity that has now been offered to me.” But it turned out to be the club in the Valencia region.
The owner of Castellón, which last played at the highest level in Spain in the 1990/1991 season, had previously sounded him out. “I then thought: third division, I’m not looking forward to that now. I was in the flow of getting promoted with PEC and wanted to continue. I then put it aside.”
Schreuder: ‘I understand Bob, the owner of the club, very well’
But when ‘Bob’ tried again later, he still got the bite. And then things went very quickly: instead of Schreuder entering the Premier League with the Zwolle team, he traveled to Spain to start working there. Bob, or owner Haralabos Voulgaris, had managed to convince him.
Formulas
“In my opinion, Bob is a very special and hardworking man,” says Schreuder about the sports enthusiast who has been in charge of Castellón for a year and a half. “I immediately felt a click with him. He works with certain formulas, with data. He apparently did that in gambling, but also in basketball. He has his own vision on that.”
The 52-year-old Barnevelder doesn’t know the nice thing about it either, but it is certainly the way in which millionaire Voulgaris attracts players – “But we can really help with that” – and so is the Canadian-born son of Greek parents. ended up with the successful coach of PEC.
“That also has to do with numbers,” Schreuder knows. “To keep it simple: how many games has he won, how often does his team get into the box, how many chances are created? There is a whole package behind it.”
In the wake of Schreuder
Dick Schreuder certainly did not travel from Zwolle to Castellón de la Plana alone. He took his regular assistant Johan Plat and also video analyst Dennis van der Meulen with him, as well as three PEC players: 38-year-old midfielder Haris Medunjanin, 21-year-old defender Daijiro Chirino and 27-year-old attacker Gervane Kastaneer. The 19-year-old defender Jozhua Confident came over from (Jong) FC Utrecht.
The goal is to end up in La Liga with Castellón in the not too distant future. Voulgaris has drawn up a six-year plan for this purpose and the four-year contract that Schreuder was presented with fits in with that long-term thinking. “Yes, that says something. So far we are having a lot of fun together.”
The development of the team is experienced as sensational in Castellón de la Plana and the surrounding area. The way of playing has received a lot of praise: attacking, going forward, putting a lot of pressure, creating a lot of chances.
“We play with a lot of risk. Here in Spain they are very used to playing safe. It’s fun when you play 600 passes to each other, but if the ball is only in your own half… I find that slow “We tried to get that out.”
Schreuder: ‘600 passes is nice, but that is slow in your own half’
This required a cultural change, not only on the field but certainly off it as well. “All players are also individually supervised. From video footage every day to strength training programs. They had to get used to that a lot. But now they love it, because they feel good and are also getting better. I also often know from players how it is in private goes with them.”
Surprise
This method quickly paid off. To Schreuder’s own surprise. Castellon is already at the top and could easily win the championship. “There is certainly a chance. I am really impressed by the level. I did not expect this in advance, because we have started something new. But this is what we want.”
“When we came here, we showed everything from Zwolle, once, and we said: this is how we want to play. I could see from the players – and also the Spanish staff – that they thought: that coach is loco. But it just happened. And they like it.”
2024-01-03 17:02:45
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