‘There are always things to learn’ – Addicks boss Dean Holden planning Premier League visits ahead of next season

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Charlton Athletic’s League One campaign is over but that doesn’t mean Dean Holden is straight off on a summer break – with the Mancunian planning a number of trips to watch Premier League clubs train.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag had invited Holden to go to their Carrington HQ after the two clubs met in the EFL Cup.

Holden, a big Red Devils fan, is set to get a deeper insight into how some of the leading top-flight outfits are set up. He has also spoken consistently about improving his own side’s ability to defend set-pieces.

He told the South London Press: “Everyone is constantly asking me: ‘Did you go and see Ten Hag?’ It would have been a rush, because of the games programme we’ve had. Now we finished there is genuine time, other than recruitment and planning, to go and spend a day or two.

“I wouldn’t want to rush and watch a generic training session on say a Tuesday morning. I’d rather watch a match-prep session, maybe watch a training session on the Friday, if they are playing on a Saturday, and the team meeting. How they are going to approach the game on a tactical element and set-pieces is a big part of that.

“There is a trust element there because I’m getting inside information.

“We’ve done the same with other people who have came to see us. Then you watch the game the next day from a really interesting point of view, knowing what the game plan is, and then ideally you’d then try and get the debrief, whether that was Monday morning or Sunday.

“You try and encompass the pre-game, the game and then the post-game. What the plan was – did they activate it, yes or no?

“There are always things to learn, especially some of the foreign guys because they have got different methods. We’re a bit institutionalised in England but there are other methods, with the likes of Thomas Frank (at Brentford).

“It’s an invaluable opportunity to go and watch how they work. A chance to watch training methods. The environment behind the scenes, what does that look like? It sounds a big cringey but I want a winning, high-performance environment – making sure every minute the players and staff spend at the training ground is valuable.

“It is a question of ‘is my next action going to help us in getting promoted?’ There is a big decision in everything you do then. Are you going to arrive early to training? Are you going to hit the gym after training? Are you going to take care of your recovery? There are so many things that fascinate me away from the actual tactical element.”

Holden also points out that some young players might be heading back to their parent clubs now the EFL season is over.

“There’s a lot of recruitment to get into, players are being thrown at you constantly,” said the Charlton boss. “There is no shortcut, you’ve got to get out watching games and get the Wyscout on to watch players.

“There will be some good players who have been out on loan going back to their parent clubs that I’ve got an eye on. For example [Charlie] Patino, I think he’s going to Villarreal but there will be a buyback for Arsenal. If you were looking at him then you could go and watch him, training in his own backyard with Arsenal, over the next couple of weeks.

“There’s so much to take in. You make sure you take an iPad and notebook with you because there is a lot of information. Even the food players eat after training is changing all the time.”

Holden is also set to head to Cologne for a conference by a German analytics company – Impect –  set up by former Bristol City player Jens Hegeler and ex-German international Stefan Reinartz.

Austria manager Ralf Rangnick, who had a spell in interim charge of Manchester United, is set to be a guest speaker.

“Sky Sports will talk about goals, yellow cards, possession and shots on target – all interesting stuff,” said Holden. “But possession, what is it? There is no marker to say if you have more possession you are going to win.

“What they invented is that, for example, Ryan Inniss plays a pass into George Dobson and he takes out three of the opposition players, the ball has gone past all of them, so he gets a plus-three individually and so does the team. Then Dobbo turns and hits a pass in behind and takes out the other seven players.

“What they are say is that 80 per cent of the games that are won are by teams that outplay – they call it that – an opponent.

“It’s much more of an accurate way of looking at the game rather than possession or shots on target or xG. I found it quite fascinating.

“I’ve got a good connection with Jens and we’ve stayed in touch. I’ll see him for a couple of days.”

PICTURE: PAUL EDWARDS