Cristiano Ronaldo, Roger Federer and Michael Jordan: Coach Kees van Wonderen uses this trick to motivate the Schalke 04 professionals.
Gelsenkirchen – Kees van Wonderen presents superstars from the world of sports as role models to his professionals at FC Schalke 04. The new S04 coach expects more from this than from tough guidelines or the threat of penalties.
Schalke players like Ronaldo and Federer: Kees van Wonderen uses psychological tricks
“I don’t want to present a collection with rules,” said the 55-year-old in an interview with Sports picture. “I only showed the team one slide in my presentation that featured Michael Jordan, Cristiano Ronaldo and Roger Federer. I wrote what I expected: ‘Be a professor!’ That you try to become a better player every day – like Jordan, Ronaldo and Federer.”
The players should therefore not sit in the back row in a video analysis and be told something: “No, they should stand up, go forward, ask questions, make suggestions.”
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Kees van Wonderen sees the unstable situation in the coaching bench at FC Schalke 04 as an incentive. “I don’t want to come to a club where everything is perfect. I want to design. And I’m not afraid of it, it motivates me even more,” explained the Dutchman when asked about the many S04 coaching changes in recent years.
He recently took over the Schalke team from Karel Geraerts. Before moving to the “Royal Blues”, he also sought a conversation with honorary coach Huub Stevens. “He also said to me: ‘Good luck! It’s not easy!’” reported Kees van Wonderen. He added: “It’s a challenge that I like.”
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View photo seriesSchalke 04 wants to play for promotion soon – now focus on Greuther Fürth
However, his start as a new coach last weekend did not go as hoped. Schalke lost 0-1 in Hanover. Gelsenkirchen’s start to the season with just eight points from nine games suggests that the fight to stay in the league will once again be in the foreground.
Kees van Wonderen nevertheless made it clear that the long-term focus is on getting promoted back to the Bundesliga. For the coming year, Schalke 04 and its new coach have the goal of forming a team that can compete at the top of the 2nd Bundesliga.
“Our motto is: We want to have a team that is at the top next year. But currently our focus is on the here and now, on the game against Fürth,” explained van Wonderen with regard to his first home game next Saturday (October 26th, 1 p.m.). Greuther Fürth released both his coach and the managing director before the game against Schalke.
2024-10-23 16:45:00