Why did the Football Association choose Jill Swarts? Arthur Vermeiren as the final epistle of nobility and the plan of modernization | Red Devils

History repeats itself.

“I didn’t expect to be an under-21 coach now. But I’m really looking forward to it.”

In the first interview after being promoted to promising Antwerp coach in 2019, Gilles Suwerts spoke almost the same words he did when he was named head coach of the Red Devils this week.

The fact that Swarts has been asked twice – without catching himself – for a new position is a sign that his potential is visible in the footballing world.

The selection of Gil Swarts represents a shift the Football Association wants to achieve.

His predecessor, Jackie Mathisen, was an experienced coach. He has really tested everything and is someone who can use his years of experience to model and prepare the greatest talents in Belgian football.

But modeling and preparation is no longer enough for the federation. There must also be a performance.

“Player development” and “performance” are two concepts central to the Under-21 Championship, sporting director Jelly Schelstright said Monday in the Jill Swarts announcement.

performance, so performance.

Mathisen didn’t do that enough at the recent European Championships. The reason for his dismissal.

The Football Association searched for a successor to Matthyssen for a month. Gilles Sowerts appeared on the Etihad’s radar with the lead-in to Antwerp’s Arthur Vermeeren, and is a perfect example of talent paired with performance.

As we have already mentioned, the composition of which the association strives for is the whole of the promising national team.

“In submitting his thesis for the Professional License, Gill emphasized giving young people opportunities to learn how to perform in a competitive environment,” says Chris van der Haegen, Head of Professional License Training.

“With the U15 team you can focus on developing, but a promising team is the last step towards the Red Devils. Then learning to perform is also important.”

Given his reputation and limited experience, the selection of Gil Swarts could be seen as a gamble by the Football Association.

It’s a big step from Arthur Vermeeren, an easy guy, to a whole squad full of top talent, many of whom are already playing abroad under famous managers.

But according to his mentor Chris van der Haegen, Gil Swerts has a number of assets to succeed.

“Gil has clearly shown his potential, is good at working together, can draw on his own experience with both the national team and the Red Devils, and has the mentality of a good coach.”

During the training course, he indicated that he learned a lot from the coaches he worked with in his football career.

And they are not the least.

Gilles Sowers played soccer continuously in the Netherlands during his best years. 13 seasons in total.

There he crosses with Louis van Gaal and Dick Advocaat at Arizona, Ronald Koeman and Mario Bean at Feyenoord and Ade Moss at Vitesse, among others. He also saw a lawyer with the Red Devils (photo).

“Every great coach steals with his eyes,” says van der Haegen. “It is often said that people get their inspiration from Pep Guardiola, but he also studies how other people do it. He really really looked at the ideas of Marcelo Bielsa and Roberto De Zerbi…”

With the arrival of Gilles Sowerts, the Football Association hopes that Arthur Vermeeren’s Antwerp history will repeat itself to fulfill as many of the promises of Belgian football as possible with the national team. Team A raid.