Henk ten Cate and Mo Allach are enthusiastic about Louis van Gaal’s interest in Henk Fraser as assistant national coach of the Dutch national team. The intended national coach of the Dutch sees the 55-year-old head coach of Sparta Rotterdam as the ideal right hand, next to Danny Blind, although it is not yet clear whether Fraser will do this part-time, only in international matches, or full-time. “Henk is a very good coach. Wherever he works, he gets excellent results and it is quiet. There is a very good atmosphere around him”, says Ten Cate.
Allach can only agree with Ten Cate’s words. He appointed Fraser, when he was technical manager of the KNVB, as an assistant coach at the Dutch Juniors. “The craftsmanship that he displayed there was a reason to bring him to Vitesse later,” says the current technical director of RKC Waalwijk in Wednesday. The Telegraph. “He knows very well what he wants and is pleasant to deal with. I always call him a human with an exclamation mark, because he is absolutely clear.”
“It is only when he wants his players to think about something that he sometimes becomes a question mark,” says Allach, who further praises Fraser’s vision of the game, good preparation and tactical ability. According to Ten Cate, who recently indicated that he is not interested in the position, Fraser has ‘perhaps the most important quality’ of a successful trainer. “Fraser has a tremendous capacity for empathy. Thirty percent of the trainer’s profession consists of tactics and seventy percent of dealing with the players,” emphasizes the former trainer of Ajax and Chelsea, among others.
“That warm bond with the group is certainly good for Henk. Having worked with Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay in the past is a plus. Even though those were youth players at the time and that is something different than working with internationals.” There is one thing that Ten Cate has to get off of. “I really hope that Fraser was chosen on the basis of his qualities and not because he has a tan. That would be a huge disqualification, but I can’t imagine in Henk’s case.”
“I think he is potentially a really top trainer.” Allach agrees with that. “Don’t get me wrong: I also think diversity is important. But I think that the Mijnals committee, which strives for versatility within the KNVB, should not be the starting point. The quality is leading. And that is certainly the case with Henk”, he knows from personal experience. Ten Cate had made Fraser first and not second assistant. “And I understand that Fraser likes a part-time national coach. But I think that of the KNVB is rather poor.”
Fraser has had a good name in the Eredivisie for years. For example, he guided Sparta to the play-offs for European football in his third year at Het Kasteel last season. The former player of Feyenoord, among others, previously impressed ADO Den Haag and Vitesse. Van Gaal must be the successor of Frank de Boer, among whom the the Dutch has had a disappointing European Championship. The appointment is urgent, because the Netherlands will play three important qualifying matches towards the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in September.