Sydney: Australian head coach Bert van Marwijk will personally pay the salaries of eight assistant coaches and analysts to help Australia prepare ahead of this month’s World Cup in Russia, local media reported Friday.
Dutchman Van Marwijk is reportedly on a short-term contract worth more than AUD 1 million to guide Australia through to the end of the World Cup and told Fairfax Media he will pay out of his own pocket to employ eight Dutch technical staff to fast track the Socceroos’ preparations.
Van Marwijk’s decision came after Football Federation Australia informed him they did not have the budget to hire a large team of new assistants, Fairfax newspapers reported.
“I need that because I don’t have the time. When you try to develop a team in such a short time I need to work with people who know me,” van Marwijk was quoted as saying. “They must look through my eyes, they must know what I mean. I cannot afford communication problems. You need time to get to know each other and I don’t have the time. I would like to work with Australian people.”
Van Marwijk’s backroom team are all people he has worked with in the past and include four assistant coaches Mark van Bommel, Roel Coumans, Jurgen Dirkx and Taco Van den Velde, two video analysts and two scouts. The two analysts are from PSV Eindhoven and FC Utrecht in the Eredevisie.
After qualifying for Russia 2018 with Saudi Arabia Van Marjwijk quitted due to personal terms and was appointed in charge of Australia’s World Cup squad.
“I want to survive the first round. That’s the pressure I gave myself and also the players. For me, the first important thing is to perform in the World Cup,” the coach said.