Leo van Veen has been working in the position of technical director of AS Trenčín for almost a year and a half. He spent most of his player’s career in Utrecht. He also played in Ajax Amsterdam, where he won the league and cup in the season of 1982/1983. In 555 league games he scored 174 times. This is a brief vita of the 64-year-old expert. His task in Trenčín has been to change football thinking and sport philosophy of the club.

Is he satisfied after the 18 months? “I was sure that the club had a perspective. I’ve seen a lot of talented players and that’s the most important thing. It was necessary however to change the overall attitude of the whole team to the games. There were nine tied games in the fall of 2009. The team mentality was set up in a way not to lose. I missed the desire to win. We’ve made big progress in this regard. We want to win each game. We combine a lot and play a lot more offensively. We score in the ends of games and that proves that we aren’t satisfied with draws,” said van Veen.

He justifies his arguments by a simple math. “When, out of five games, you win and lose once and draw three times, you have six points. The same as if you won twice and lost three times. If you add one more win, all of a sudden you have nine points. Moreover, your fans are more satisfied. The team’s goal must always be to gain all points. Lost battles can come, but the final success must be ours,“ commented the player who ended his career in Los Angeles together with the most famous Dutch footballer of all times Johan Cruijff.

Van Veen isn’t only satisfied with the progress of the whole team, but also with the development of individuals. “Progress can be observed in almost every player. There are differences, but they’re all moving ahead. We are stronger as a team. I’m also happy about the progress of our young coach who is hungry for success, said the former assistant of coach Co Andriaanse in Ajax and added immediately, “We’re still at the beginning of our way. We have to keep on developing. There’s no space for complacence. Moreover, our club isn’t only about the first team. There are difficult steps to make in front of us in the youth categories. The academy in Trenčianske Stankovce is very important in this regard,“ said van Veen and smiling added about his future in AS: “My current contract is by the end of the season. We’ll make further decisions based on the situation. I’m old enough and my wife would be happy if I returned home at last.“