How ‘Action Type’ Won Olympic Gold and Van Gaal Now Needs World Cup Title

During his years with the Dutch hockey team, in the first decade of this century, Lammers (as now van Gaal) worked closely with Peter Murphy. Murphy, a former volleyball coach, along with psychologist John Huijbers, first researched the Americans. type of action. Athletes are grouped into a total of sixteen character classifications based on physical, emotional, and mental characteristics.

In a very short summary: by placing the right characters in the right place on a team, a balanced team can be achieved both inside and outside the lines.

“Active type is a study that analyzes your typology. It teaches you how different the players on a team are. How much diversity there is on a team,” explains Lammers.

He has benefited greatly from it. Believe him or not: “After four questions I ask using the action genre, I know what kind of player I’m dealing with. How you choose. What’s your temperament. Where does your interest come from. Ultimately you become a coach. Based on those findings.”

Sergeant: “Attackers usually rely on instinct. Midfielders are hard workers who do what they’re told. Defenders Control freaks. Each line requires its own approach.”

Action category is a useful tool for mutual understanding in the field, says Lammers. “Anger is your allergy. It’s not with you but with someone else. If I don’t like you, it’s because you’re the opposite of me. You get rid of irritation by first realizing it and then admitting it.”

Take someone like Memphis Depay, he says. “The whole team accepts him now. In the past there were always comments about the hats he wore. Today you don’t hear about that.”

“Because the acceptance has increased. He’s a cool guy, an instinctive player. He makes mistakes occasionally, but is very creative. Nowadays they see more of Depay’s talents than being angry.”

“The teams with the greatest diversity are the strongest teams. If you accept those differences in each other.”

The time for rolling up your sleeves and eating grass is over, Lammers likes to say. “To win a match, it’s no longer enough as a coach to get your tactics right. You have to get those noses in the same direction.”

Action genre is a proverb that cuts both ways, Lammers explains. “Because when you analyze your own players, you can do the same for the opposition.”

The inevitable m-word drops. Hence Messi. What kind of player is he really by action genre criteria? And, more importantly, how can he fight?

“When I analyze him, he’s very introspective. Calm. He does everything by feel and waits until the last minute to make a decision. He’s not a hard worker, not a man of structure. And ‘give me the ball, I’ll be fine.’

“He is a passive football player, but strikes at the right time. A lion sleeps all day and suddenly, Bob, catches his prey. A deadly predator.”

“A Messi-type player gets irritated when two or three people take the ball away from him quickly. When the pass line closes him at the right time. Then he gets frustrated because he has to get down to get the ball. Then the irritations. Come naturally, then the voice in the head of a player of his ability. Inevitably no longer sounds possible.”

Added benefit: “You keep it where you want it: far from your own target.”

Blocking Lionel Messi has been the talk of the town in recent days:

The key to victory in the quarter-finals, Lammers’ experience shows, is the warm-blooded national character that characterizes Argentina. In response, during his years as the national coach of hockey players, he was able to bring the Argentine women, who were considered invincible, to their knees.

“The trick is to get those Argentinians out of their flow. You can do that by responding to their temperament. Because if you get too temperamental, it turns into frustration. And when they get frustrated, they commit crimes and play cards. .”

Each game requires a different approach. Coaching, Lammers says, has become a profession of what he calls ‘situational leadership’.

“What situation am I in? Which player do I have at my disposal? You have a completely different group discussion with attackers than with defenders. Vanguard players want to see pictures, backs need a white board with lines. Midfielders are smart guys.”

Training is a matter of fit and measure. “Someone like Frenkie de Jong needs a workhorse next to him to excel. If you put a tactically strong player in there, your balance is off. That’s how you get back to action. Typology.”

“Van Gaal is really a true laptop coach,” Lammers says. “He is very advanced in processing data and putting himself at risk by relying on such experts.”

“It has been proven that most goals in football are scored by counters. So not in dead game moments or attacks on the wings. Not from creative play, but by taking the ball and changing quickly.”

“So what do you see? At Van Gaal, everything is focused on five defenders and two attackers. Because if we win the ball, we have a good chance to score, he says. The trick is to do it despite the opposition you face. . . to hold on.”

Van Gaal was right to break with the so-called Dutch school. “Everyone thinks it’s ridiculous that Orange plays with five defenders. We’ve been playing well for years in a 4-3-3 system, haven’t we? I ask: how many times have we been world champions? I understand Van Gaal’s idea behind that outfit very well.”

Here’s a recap of Netherlands v United States, where Van Gaal’s 5-3-2 formation was successful:

“I think Van Gaal was more ahead of his time than many people think. According to many, he doesn’t sell his team well to the outside world. But that’s a way to protect his selection from all outside influences.”

“Recent studies show that it’s becoming increasingly important to give players a sense of security to maximize their returns,” says Lammers. As a former gym teacher at Don Bosco School in East Amsterdam, van Gaal knows better than anyone how to make young people feel safe.

“Now by hugging them or, like Denzel Dumfries, by giving them a dramatic kiss on the cheek. This way he gives them security and shields them from the outside world.”

“Don’t forget that such people are under a magnifying glass, we in the Netherlands are all very negative. He challenges the media to throw all the arrows at him. For me, Van Gaal is that old teacher, passionate, passionate and knowledgeable. – How to get the best out of people.”