The name of Pascal Jansen came to the fore for Olympiacos, with the possibility of becoming the new coach of the “red and whites” visible, and it is interesting that a shift is being attempted to the Dutch school after those of Spain and Portugal, which are mostly preferred by Piraeus many years now.
The 51-year-old coach has linked his name with Alkmaar, having sat on their bench from December 5, 2020 until recently, until January 17 to be precise, while it was the first team he worked for as a first coach at the top level.
Janssen had been an assistant coach for two years at AZ and previously worked as head coach at the U21 and U19 sides of Eindhoven, while his record at Alkmaar was 65 wins, 20 draws and 25 losses in 110 Dutch league games.
Under his guidance the Dutch club finished 5th in the 2021-22 season and 4th last season, while in the current season they left AZ in 4th place, however it seems that elimination from the Europa Conference group stage cost them so much League, finishing 3rd behind Aston Villa and Legia, as well as him in the Dutch Cup by the amateur Quick Boys on penalties, an obviously shocking elimination.
Of course, Janssen teamed up with Vangelis Pavlidis, who has scored 78 goals in the last three years, a clear sign that he had a way of exploiting the Greek international forward.
And 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1…
In terms of his philosophy, it is obvious that as a Dutchman he prefers the 4-3-3, which also becomes 4-2-3-1 as the games progress.
He wants to see the wings converge so that the full-backs get width in attack, while he also wants to see the goalkeeper participate in the building of the attacks, which means that he prefers goalkeepers who are fluent with the ball at their feet.
Finally, the Dutch coach likes to combine space coverage and man-to-man defense when his players press, with the pressure starting from the final third of the pitch.