Max Caldas and Danny Kerry have a lot in common. Notably they are both Olympic gold-medal winning coaches of women’s teams who are now seeking to achieve the rare double with men’s national teams. They are also both coaches who are happy to be creative in their coaching and push the boundaries with new ideas. In the next set of FIH Hockey Pro League matches, the two men come head to head as the Netherlands seek to inflict defeat on Great Britain.
In this interview, Caldas is full of praise for his counter-part but the telling phrase comes when the former Argentina international says: “Now, more than ever, our focus is on us, purely.” While Caldas may be happy to throw his opponents compliments ahead of the FIH Hockey Pro League encounter, once the players are on the pitch then Caldas will be employing every bit of his coaching experience to get a win over his rival.
The next series of matches will be a fresh start for the team after mixed results in the opening matches. Will there be any key changes ?
Max Caldas: “I think we are looking forward to the next games. It has been some time coming to play the next games. Our last games were in February so we are looking forward to playing against Great Britain. They are always a tough team to play against and very well coached.
“Will it bring some changes for us? Yes, I think it will because at this moment in time we should be enjoying our whole post-Covid hockey. The fact the tournament didn’t go all the way through gives us the chance to re-set and re-think some things about our game and challenge ourselves from within. So, yes, we are going to change some stuff but mainly it is about trying to get our heads out again. We are going to get a full-on game as the national team so that’s going to be our first challenge. “
The break has given many players a chance to recover from injury and re-set mentally. Is there a value that has perhaps not been appreciated in having an enforced period away?
Max Caldas: “Mainly, I think we live in a really crazy world at this point in time. We need to be very aware that what we do now is not a given and in lots of countries people are in lock-down and cannot actually go out of their house. There are a lot of deaths in the world so we are very aware of the privilege that we have to play these games. For us, for sure, it gave us a chance to re-assess our programme with an extra year.
“I think clubs in Holland had a chance to prepare themselves for a season where they had the players for four to six weeks when normally they would get them back from us for two to three weeks before the start of the next tournament. So, we are aware it brought us many more things. Having to stop the Olympic Games gave us a chance to have a fresh start as a group. That is something we really cherish and we are trying to make the most out of it.”
Where do you expect the main dangers to come from when you face Great Britain?
Max Caldas: “I think Great Britain has a lot of really good players and individuals. They are always a very well coached team. Danny [Kerry] is very smart in what he does. Running a full-time programme means they have a lot of time to train with each other.
I think what we always see and expect of them is that they are relentless and never stop. They believe in what they do and they are very thorough in following suit so they are always close games. In the women’s game, when Danny was coaching the women’s team it was the same story. Very tough, very thorough, very well-coached and they always tried to do something different to what they used to do and that is also a challenge for us. But, having said that, more than any other time of the season, the focus is going to be on ourselves, purely.”
How much time will you have had with the squad before the FIH Hockey Pro League matches?
Max Caldas: “We have had enough time I think. You always want more, that’s the character of the coach, but the clubs in Holland have been very helpful this season and we have been able to train with each other since 7 September. So, it’s been okay. This break in the Hoofdklasse now because of the pandemic gave us a chance to readjust and actually add more days. So, we should be okay, although we still don’t know as we haven’t played together since February but I am happy with our preparation.”
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