“I spoke with Giovanni a couple of times and I felt the right connection immediately. We share the same philosophy about how we want to play, how we want to develop the team.”
SINCE arriving at Ibrox from Ajax on the 26th of November, Dave Vos has quietly gone about his business as assistant manager to Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
The highly-rated coach has given his first interview to Rangers TV in a nicely put together video package and he comes across as an impressive figure.
This is what the 38-year-old had to say.
Arriving at Rangers
“My role and my priorities lie in developing the team but also developing the individual player by deciding the training sessions and analysing the opponent.
“The first couple of weeks were very hectic but also very special.
“I was moving from Ajax on a Tuesday and I came in Friday morning. Everything happened very fast but everyone was trying to help me settle in and make me feel at home so that was very great.
“We have so many games so the most important thing is that we won those games, that helps the process but also the way we want to play so it was a great first few weeks.”
Coaching career at Ajax
“I started at a very young age as a coach, I was 15/16 years old. The last 13 years I worked at Ajax in different kinds of roles. I started at under 12 and then from there to under 13 to the second team but also a little bit about the methodology groups, developing the youth academy.
“I’m very proud to have worked there for a long time. I think it’s one of the biggest clubs in the world, one of the biggest academies also so working with great players but also with the staff, it was an amazing experience.
“I’m very grateful for all the opportunities they gave me so it was very nice and I think that experience I can bring to the next job also.
Why Rangers?
“I was a youth coach for a long time and I wanted to make the step towards the first team. I spoke with Giovanni a couple of times and I felt the right connection immediately. We share the same philosophy about how we want to play, how we want to develop the team.
“When the moment came that he asked me, it was a very simple choice. One of my assistant coaches at Ajax was Ronald de Boer so I asked him a lot of questions about the club and he was so enthusiastic about his time here, about the fans, about the environment, about the people and the city.
“All those things came together and from there I made a decision.”
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Philosophy
“For me, as a coach, it’s always about two things. One is creating a culture and an environment where you want to work together but the other is developing each individual player but also the team.
“I think the job, as a coach, is to challenge the players to develop themselves, to be here every day to improve and reach as high as you can.
“If we can help as a coach that’s the most important thing.”
Rangers and Ajax comparisons
“My first time at Ibrox was a really wonderful experience. I’m enjoying the fans and how they live football. That’s a little bit different than Holland.
“The pressure, it sounds crazy but Ajax is a big club and they have the same kind of pressure so for Rangers, every game they play against an opponent that’s their ‘game of the year’. That’s a little bit of the same pressure. I think if we develop the team and prepare them for what they can expect from the game, that’s our job and from there the players need to do it.
“So far I really like the environment and we like the pressure also so that’s a good thing.”
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