Raymond Verheijen: Everything has to be football related

Raymond Verheijen is someone high profile in football. If you just look at the names (both Players and Coaches) he has worked with, you are to be in awe. And then when you get a chance to interact with him, you perhaps, won't find any better word than: 'Respect'. It's not without reason that the Cream of World Football call him up regularly to discuss at length their fitness schedule.

Raymond, over the years, has worked with the likes of Guus Hiddink, Dick Advocaat, Frank Rijkaard amongst others and has been the former Advisor of Periodisation of clubs like FC Barcelona, Chelsea FC, Manchester City, etc.

A close friend of the AIFF's Technical Director Robert Baan, Raymond was in the Capital to conduct a three-day Conditioning Conference for Football Coaches. At the end of the course, in an exclusive interview to AIFF Media, Raymond shared his 'simple' outlook apart from educating all about Periodisation and spoke about his thoughts about Coaches and Indian football as a whole, and much more.


You started off the Conference stressing on a 'football language' and being in the 'football world'. Kindly elaborate.

What I always do is before you can talk about Conditioning, you should first talk about football. Everything has to be related to football. First you have to determine the structure and language you will use. What I did was a philosophical introduction, analysing football, explaining to the people that football is a simple game.

A lot of coaches are already speaking the football language but the problem stays that a lot of experts who hail from outside from outside the football world speak a non-football language thus, polluting the football world. They are either using different words with the same meaning or using same words with different meaning!

That's confusing. The Football Language I am preaching is based on facts, and not opinions. It is objective and universal.


How did you inculcate the football language among the participants?

I showed the participants (through theory and practical sessions) how to develop a universal and objective philosophy. Very often in such a course there are too many opinions. As a coach I want to know facts -- information of which I know which if I apply in my own situation, will work rather than copying subjective opinion.

That is the problem. People boast about what they won five years ago. It's all very subjective.

My point is there must be a language without confusion and a structure without confusion. I spoke Dutch quite often with the Coaches, using it as a metaphor. You understand. If I coming in India speak my language you've got a problem.

From the fitness training point of view, you have to get rid of aerobic and anaerobic stuff, and rather speak sustaining football for ninety minutes. To do that you don’t need to speak those tough languages. Terms like maximum explosive action, and actions per minute are better off in the football world.


How was the response?

You can see it for yourself. They are all conversing in the football language now. They belong to the football world. It's really heartening to see that most of the Coaches here are Head Coaches of their concerned clubs. Generally in such seminars, you find next generation coaches. The Head Coach thinks he is too superior and knows it all. But I am overwhelmed by the response here.

Moreover, all the 35 odd participants were willing to learn. They want to move forward, that's why they are here. I am happy that Head Coaches have picked up so much and now hopefully will implement them for the betterment of Indian football.

In the last session of the final day, while conversing with them (coaches) informally, I could see that they were speaking the football language. That was so heartening to see. It's difficult to make the honchos change their practice, but at the grassroot level, where I believe India are focusing right now under the tutelage of my close friend Robert Baan, you change bring in that philosophy.


How much of an idea did you have about Indian football before coming here and how is it now after spending three days?

I was told about the number of injuries which were occurring. Injury prevention methods are not in place. In football the most important thing is decision making. Now in India, if you constantly nag about the problems, you're not moving forward and doing any good. You need to find a solution and for that to happen, you have to change – everyone. You need to have the right kind of expertise and make it happen. If you keep on saying that we don't have this and we don't have that, it will never happen.

Now, look at the positive side. Mr. Wim Koevermans sent his fitness trainer Mr. Pradeep Dutta to attend this course, that too at a time when the National Preparatory camp is going on in Pune for the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers. Now he will pass on this knowledge he has got from this course to the National Team players. That will perhaps bring the change, gradually.


(Interview & Photo courtesy AIFF Media)

Verheijen Conditioning Course ends on a high!

"I have never taken down class notes with so much interest and intensity at school. I bet, never," an animated Aaron Symons, assistant coach of Pailan Arrows – the AIFF's developmental side – quipped.

Raymond Verheijen – the renowned fitness instructor who is in the capital to conduct the three-day Conditioning Conference for Football Coaches – topic for the day was Planning a Season with the help of the Periodisation Model. And Symons was speaking on behalf of all the other 32 participants. After all planning a season stays the most important part for a coach.

"After a game on Saturday, the next day should be kept for recovery followed by a day-off on Monday. Now ideally recovery after a game is spending time in the swimming pool. It relaxes your muscles and at the same time keeps your blood circulation going,2 Verheijen, who has coached at seven consecutive major championships – from Euro 2000 with Holland to Euro 2012 with Russia, said.

Now if you have a game on Wednesday, you don't have time to do a Conditioning session. Then you do light training and not maximum explosive action as that can enhance the damage of your muscles. When you play you damage your muscles. That needs recovery time." The 41-year old Dutchman added.

The former Advisor of Periodisation of clubs like FC Barcelona and Chelsea FC, also explained the Periodisation Model.

"It's a six-week activity generally done during pre-season. In the first two weeks you play the 11 versus 11 to eight versus eight Conditioning Games. Now as you progress to the fourth and fifth week, you do small sided games like four against four to two against two. If you do reverse it, your players will perform more actions per minute from the word go and by the time they reach the fifth week, they’ll be fatigued. Chances of injury will be more. You have to think of injury prevention as well," educated Verheijen as the participants stayed glued.

Meanwhile AIFF President Praful Patel, who was at the FICCI Federation House also on Wednesday to attend a Football Business Conference, met Verheijen and offered his regards.

At the end of this short sojourn, Verheijen was presented with a shawl, a tie and a crystal memorabilia depicting the AIFF Football House.


(Report & Photo Courtesy AIFF Media)

Rob Baan: We are preaching the same religion

In the span of 24 hours, the 'Cup of Tea' – between the two morning sessions of the Conditioning Conference for Football Coaches – tasted so much better for all the 33 participating Coaches.

Till Tuesday morning - the opening day of the three-day meet being conducted by renowned Dutch fitness coach Raymond Verheijen, the participants, which include I-League Coaches, All India Football Federation contracted coaches and few other tacticians from outside, the 'football world' and its 'language' was alien to them.

"The first impression of Mr Raymond Verheijen was of a man who means serious business. We all thought this is going to be tough three days for us. But as the first day progressed, and he introduced us to the world of football where one should always speak in football language and not technicalities; it was like enlightenment of the highest order," Derrick Pereira, coach of Pune FC quipped, sipping a cup of tea.

"I feel a different person now, with a different outlook. I feel abreast and so enlightened. I have learnt a lot so far and will translate this knowledge to my boys back in Pune when we resume next month. I sincerely thank the AIFF for this endeavour. This is so enriching," he added.

Minutes earlier, Verheijen, who has the experience of working with the likes of Guus Hiddink, Dick Advocaat and Frank Rijkaard, was talking about how a coach needs to be a role model in order to preach the football language which is difficult at the outset.

"As a coach you need to be a role model. You need to be dynamic. Take decision on its merit and not by being presumptuous and predetermined. To be able to preach the football language, which is let me tell you a difficult job to do, you need to be uninhibited," Raymond had stressed.

"You are not wrong, always remember that. You are on the right side of the argument. You are here to learn the football language and not blabber aerobic and anaerobic while teaching fitness exercises or conditioning as a whole," he added, sternly.

Sporting Clube de Goa coach Oscar Bruzon who was standing next to Pereira while the latter was all praise for the Dutchman, added, "Raymond is truly World Class. You realise that in every step. His approach and the way he makes things simple is in itself a testimony to his genius. This has been an extremely educative Course for me. I will do the four against four and eight against eight training to improve my players' action per minute. That is immensely helpful. I keenly observed the practical sessions and picked up so much," Bruzon prophesied.

AIFF Technical Director Rob Baan said that it is heartening to see that the same philosophy is being taught by Verheijen over the three days to all the Coaches. "We are preaching the same religion. Like for example, static stretching is something we don't teach to our kids at the Academies," Baan opined.

"Raymond is of the same opinion that dynamic stretching is much more effective than static stretching. My thoughts are on similar lines with Raymond and I am glad to bring him here. All our (AIFF Contracted) coaches and I league coaches will learn so much from here. I am sure Pradip Dutta, fitness instructor of the Indian National Team will pass on the knowledge to our National team players as well," Baan added.

Dutta nodded with a confident smile. "Raymond makes life so simple for a Coach. These technical terms are done away with but the essence of fitness training and conditioning is never compromised, not an inch. This is just amazing. The way he teaches recovery process and actions per minute are simply world class. I will go out of the conference to the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers, a much more confident fitness trainer."

Scott O'Donnell, Director Academies and Coach Education, echoed Baan's sentiments. "This is fantastic for our Coaches of the Academies. They are now up to date with the latest conditioning methods. They’ll teach this to our colts," he maintained.

ONGC Coach Santosh Kashyap concluded by saying that, "The timing is just perfect for the Conditioning Course to take place. We have a break now in the I-league and before entering the final phase, such a novel Course will do wonders. In the long run also, such a high profile personality from the football world is coming to India and teaching us is very good. This will be go a long way in improving the standard of Coaching in India, especially their vision."

Dutchman Raymond Verheijen says in Delhi: Always speak in football language!

For Raymond Verheijen – the renowned Dutch football fitness coach who is in India to conduct a three-day Conditioning Conference for Football Coaches – the overall outlook of fitness in football should be addressed in 'football language' – which stays the most important aspect.

"It's not about endurance, rather it's about maintaining football for 90 minutes,2 he stressed several times on the first day of the Course which is being organised by All India Football Federation at the FICCI Federation House in New Delhi. The Course which kicked-off on Tuesday will continue till Thursday.

"You see you have to talk in football language. If you tell your player that you don't have enough endurance to last the entire duration of the match, his doubt will never be clear. Rather you should tell him that his actions per minute were becoming less in the dying minutes of the match," he maintained.

"The actions per minute can improve by making players play football with say four versus four. This increases action per second. After you have done that in your training sessions, you'll see the difference on the pitch, 11 versus 11," he added.

"Recovery time is also very important for a player to give his best throughout the duration of the match at that same pace," Verheijen, who has worked with the likes of Guus Hiddink, Dick Advocaat, explained.

It's not every day that someone of the stature of Raymond comes calling to India. You glance through his CV and you will find out that he has worked with FC Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City, etc.

The Dutchman, who was part of three World Cups and European Championships, maintained throughout the morning theory session that football language stays the most important thing and fitness is interrelated to the basics of football.

"If I speak Dutch with you all now, you'll walk out of this room after some time. Similarly a fitness trainer should talk about his trade in footballing terms, football language I repeat. Like for example, the four versus four exercise to increase a player’s action per minute is in itself a fitness programme explained to you in football language," he maintained.

In the practical session post lunch, Verheijen stressed on dynamic stretching rather than static stretching apart from passing and quicker recovery techniques.

Later explaining his activities on the pitch in the evening theory session, the former FC Barcelona Advisor of Periodisation said, "The reason I avoid static stretching is because it relaxes your muscles. Before a game you should always opt for dynamic stretching. Otherwise when you are not playing, you can have sessions of flexibility and static stretching."


The list of participants

Santosh Kashyap (ONGC), Caetano Pinho (ONGC), Djair de Miranda Garcia (Prayag United SC), Anjan Nath (Prayag United SC), Anthony Fernandes (Air India), Simon D'Souza (Air India), Aaron Symons (Pailan Arrows), Sujit Chakraborty (Pailan Arrows), Óscar Bruzón Barreras (Sporting Clube de Goa), Alex Alvares (Sporting Clube de Goa), Thangboi Singto (Shillong Lajong FC), Gumpe Rime (Shillong Lajong FC), Derrick Pereira (Pune FC), Tariq Sheikh (Pune FC), Henry Picardo (Mumbai FC), Vivek Rawat, Melbin Thomas (United Sikkim), Francisco Bruto da Costa, Bitan Singh, Pradip Datta, John Keneth Raj, Hilal Parray, Gautam Ghosh, Sajid Dar, Aqeel Ansari, Anadi Barua, Biby Thomas, Surinder Singh, Kundan Chandra, Vivek Nagul

(Report & Photo courtesy AIFF Media)

Raymond Verheijen - A former Barca, Chelsea fitness trainer to teach Indian Coaches!

Three World Cups and European Championships! Stints with FC Barcelona, Chelsea FC, Zenit St. Petersburg, and Manchester City! This is precisely what renowned football fitness coach Raymond Verheijen brings to the table in his maiden arrival to India for a two-day 'Conditioning Conference for Football Coaches' in the Capital from Tuesday, February 12 to Thursday, February 14.

Author of two books on Conditioning and Periodisation, namely 'Conditioning in Soccer' and 'Periodisation in Football', the 41-year old Dutchman has worked with some of the best tacticians in the business like Guus Hiddink, Dick Advocaat and Frank Rijkaard, tasting success at both international and club level.

Apart from being the deputy to Frank Rijkaard for the 2000 European Championships in Belgium/Holland, where the Oranjes reached the semifinal, losing to Italy in the tie-breaker, Verheijen was also an integral part of the famous South Korean sojourn under Guus Hiddink, when the unfancied co-hosts upset Spain and Italy to reach the last-four of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

He then joined hands with Advocaat to help the Netherlands reach the semis of the 2004 European Championships. He was also the right hand man in the latter's stints with South Korea in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Russia in 2012 European Championships in Poland/Ukraine.

As an Advisor of Periodisation, Verheijen has worked with some of the best as far as club football in concerned. Starting with arguably the best club in the World, FC Barcelona in 2003-2006 under Rijkaard, Verheijen also went on to help the Didier Drogba's and the Frank Lampard's chalk out their Yearly Training Plan (YTP) – the mainstay of Periodisation. This was in 2009, when the current UEFA Champions League holders won the prestigious FA Cup under Hiddink.

With the Catalans, Verheijen soared heights winning the elusive UEFA Champions League in 2006, apart from two La Liga titles and Spanish Super Cups/King's Cup.

With Russian heavyweights Zenit St. Petersburg too, Verheijen tasted considerable success winning by not only becoming champions of Russia in 2007, but also the UEFA Cup and also the resultant Super Cup.

Manchester City (2009) and KRC Genk (2010-11) were the other clubs he has been associated with. Verheijen was also Advisor of Individual Periodisation of Wales and former Manchester City star Craig Bellamy in the period of 2010-11.

Verheijen reinstated his partnership with Hiddink for Euro 2008 as the assistant manager of Russia. The phrase was an important one for Verheijen. Chronicling his second book, 'Periodisation in Football' in the same year, Verheijen followed it up with the Dutch Football Academy as the Founder and Director in 2009. He bettered it with the World Football Academy (WFA) two years later in the same capacity. Hiddink happened to be the Ambassador in WFA.

In 2011, he along with Gary Speed was responsible for making Wales FIFA's most improved Team in that year, an achievement that was showered with lot of praise. Verheijen was also the assistant coach of the Dutch Women’s team in Euro 2009, helping them reach the semis of the competition.

Raymond Verheijen is currently the assistant manager of the Armenian National Team.

Verheijen will be conducting the Course at the FICCI Auditorium in New Delhi and there will be both theoretical and practical sessions. Coaches from I-League Clubs, private Academies and all AIFF contracted coaches would be attending the same.

(Photo courtesy AIFF Media)