Piet Cremers excited by his new Cymru challenge

New Cymru Assistant Coach Piet Cremers spoke to FAW.cymru ahead of the UEFA Nations League double-header and offered plenty of insight into his role as well as his experience of working alongside Cymru Head Coach Craig Bellamy at Burnley.

“I’ve worked with Craig over the last two years where we had some good moments together,” Cremers explained. “We implemented a very attractive style of play and Craig and I share a very similar philosophy in terms of the way we want to play, the way we want to press and the intensity we want to have in the game. It’s incredibly exciting. We have a new group of staff with lots of different backgrounds and a very good group of players with a mix of young talent and experience. It’s a very exciting new chapter and I’m really looking forward to it.”

The Dutchman began his journey at a young age with Brentford, Excelsior Rotterdam and NAC Breda, and his talent was recognised in January 2018 when he joined Manchester City, progressing to the role of Head of Performance Analysis & Insights where he worked closely with Pep Guardiola. Completing his coach education with the Football Association of Wales, Cremers arrives with an appreciation of the Welsh way.

“My strengths are in the tactical side of the game and looking at the opposition and see what kind of things we can exploit, the things that we have to be aware of and how we deal with opposition strengths and weaknesses,” he added. “So I’ll be working very hard with the analysis department as well. At the same time I’m very passionate about player development and I’ve been lucky enough to work with some great talent over the last few years at Manchester City and Burnley. I’m really looking forward to sharing that experience with the players we have.

“In club football you’re together daily. Obviously, in international football we don’t have the luxury of having the players together for a long period of time. While it might feel a challenge that you’ll not have that much contact time, at the same time it can be an advantage because we have a lot of time to prepare. The key thing for us will be to get the messages across to the players in a very detailed but clear manner and we have to do that in only a short period of time.

“We’ll have some analysis meetings with the players and probably the first first camp will be an information overload, but I think after that, when the players have got their heads around it and they know what we’re looking for in terms of our style of play, then it becomes very easy, very quickly. It’s a challenge not having that much time to get it, but at the same time if we manage to really nail that aspect so it’s very clear and precise, then I’m sure the players will adapt very quickly to it.”

Cremers also offered his thoughts on the current Cymru squad from his initial analysis of the players that he will start working with ahead of the opening match of the new campaign. “I think it’s a very talented squad,” he said. “They’re all competing at a high level in leagues where the intensity is probably the highest across European football. The Premier League obviously is one of the best leagues in the world at the moment, but even players who are playing in the Championship, they are still competing in the league where not only the intensity and the physical challenge, but also the technical and tactical ability from players is pretty high compared to other leagues in in the world.”

The appointment of Craig Bellamy marks a new chapter for the former Cymru striker as he becomes Head Coach for the first time. Cremers worked alongside Bellamy at Burnley under Vincent Kompany, and explained the qualities he has seen in Bellamy that will help ensure his success in the role. “Having worked with him over the last two years, what I’ve seen is someone who’s incredibly passionate, who really works hard every single day to make himself better as a coach, and that’s why I’m not surprised that he’s made the move now,” he added.

“Every day he was developing and progressing and was really interested in the tactical detail, but also  the off the pitch stuff that we need to influence to be a better team. Coaching and working with the players on the pitch is one thing, but obviously having a really good structure around the team and making sure that all the little details in terms of nutrition and sport science are right. It’s very important that you develop as a coach in that aspect as well. I’ve seen with Craig that he’s been really intensively working to prepare himself for the role he is in now.

“We share a very similar way of of looking at the game. It’s all about being dominant, making sure that we dictate the game, that we force the opposition into mistakes when we don’t have the ball, and when we have the ball, that we’re always looking to to create that extra man anywhere on the pitch to hurt the opposition. It’s very exciting to work together again because we we share the same methodology and the same way of looking at the game.”