De Haan hails Multichoice Diski Challenge

Respected Dutch coach Foppe de Haan has hailed the MultiChoice Diski Challenge saying South African football was headed in the right direction. 

De Haan, who is a former Ajax Cape Town coach, crisscrossed stadiums to catch a glimpse of all 16 teams in action at Tuks Stadium in Pretoria on Saturday. The veteran coach was impressed by what he saw but feels the football can improve with consistency. 

“When you start this kind of things then you make progress. It’s very good. When you have a league for this kind of boys and they have to play at this level and they have to learn to play good football is really good. It’s much better that having to just train as it’s competitive. There’s also attention from TV and from the people and that’s good,” said De Haan.  

“There are quite a few good players in this tournament. What they have to learn is to not just be good individual players but be also good team players. 

When you play in midfield, it’s important that you give the right pass at the right time, find solutions for the team and you have to make quick decisions. As a striker you have to take up good positions to take the chances being created.”

One of the ills of South African football has been scoring. The problem was all too evident on Saturday at the weekend as players from participating squandered many a chance. De Haan says concentrated and specialized training can help eliminate the problem.

“They create chances but in front of goals they miss a lot of chances. The final pass is not good enough. The last pass before a goal has to be precise and accurate. 

That requires concentration. If you are not concentrating at the moment of delivery then you miss a chance. There has to be tailored training for strikers, midfielders and defenders. In Holland, at training you will find that there are five trainers, each department has its own trainer,” explained the former Dutch youth coach. 

The Multichoice Diski Challenge’s holistic approach to development ensures that’s it’s not only the players who are developed but the coaches to. De Haan will sit down with them (coaches) and share his wisdom in a ‘coach the coach’ session after the day’s play.

“I will show them some exercises tailored for each position, an approach widely used in Holland. I’ll also share some training drills used by the Dutch national team and ways of transitioning promising academy players to first team regulars.