Arjan Veurink, England’s ‘tactical genius’ who is Sarina Wiegman’s right-hand man
Matthew Cannon 
A bald man sits poker-faced beside the England manager Sarina Wiegman in the dugout, iPad in hand.
He was a nobody from Ommen, a small countryside town in the east of the Netherlands. But last summer the England assistant received a letter from the late Queen and had lunch with Prince William after the Lionesses won the European Championship.
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England players have described Wiegman’s right-hand man as “a tactical genius”, “the mastermind” and “unsung hero” of the team. Their nickname for him is ‘Van Gerwen’ — after the Dutch darts player — as he can often be found practising hitting the bullseye in camp.
His real name is Arjan Veurink.
“You normally say, ‘I’ll be there in one minute’,” says Anouk Dekker, who played under Veurink at the Dutch club FC Twente and for the Netherlands. “But for Arjan it is 60 seconds — not 59, not 65, it’s 60. Sometimes he even made it 30 seconds. No one says: ‘In 29 seconds we’re going to start!’.” But he did.
Veurink loves numbers, data and its role in football. The 36-year-old would count the number of touches and passes players had made in training sessions and his cones for drills would be immaculately straight as if he had used a ruler.
“Sometimes it was a bit annoying,” admits Dekker. “’Yes, Arjan, out of 50 passes, 49 can go right and the last one, just leave it!’. He doesn’t miss a thing.”
When he made a typo in his presentation, he was shocked. “We pointed it out to him,” she says. “You could see him think: ‘How could I make a mistake in this?’. From then on, Veurink would always run the wording by someone.
“It shows he is not afraid to ask for help. He wants it to be 100 per cent but it doesn’t have to be 100 per cent from him. He just wanted it to be right and clear.”
Veurink worked on the small details. When Dekker returned from the national team on a Tuesday and had club training the next day, the last thing she wanted to do was a defending drill in twos without the ball.
“We could be grumpy,” she remembers. “I’d ask, ‘What is this annoying exercise for?’ But Veurink would gently persist knowing the players would benefit. It’s about compromise and he also listens to players’ needs.”
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As a player, he was not, in Dekker’s words, a “special talent”. The two used to play against each other as teenagers, Veurink at left-back and Dekker at right midfield. Knowing he wasn’t going to make it as a player, Veurink started early with his coaching and in 2008, at the age of 21, joined FC Twente, a start-up organisation when professional women’s football did not exist in the Netherlands.
Veurink’s work ethic and eye for detail made him stand out.
“He started as an intern, but I didn’t call him an intern,” says Mary Kok-Willemsen, FC Twente’s former technical director of women’s football. “I directly made him responsible for the girls’ grassroots programme. He took it on with full ownership and didn’t hide away from responsibilities. He was very thorough in his preparations, and patient.”
Veurink was soon appointed assistant for the women’s first team.
Inspired by Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, who grew up in the same area and texts Veurink to say good luck before big games, the young coach was curious to see how he could learn from the best in a specific area. He spoke to the video analysts and studied minute details to understand the tactical aspect of the game. He focused on the players’ needs and prepared them. What does it mean to be a good right-back or midfielder at the age of 15? That was the specialism he could offer a head coach.
As an assistant, Veurink blended into the background, going about his work quietly. But Dekker recalls the first team being with Willemsen, the head coach, and the substitutes with Veurink. When they played 11 v 11, he focused on what problems the opponent could pose. If a team plays in a 4-3-3, how would the opponents change their system? Veurink was a problem-solver.
Aged 25, Veurink became one of the youngest head coaches in the professional women’s game, managing national team title-winning players who were older than him at FC Twente. Some managers may have tried to assert their authority but Veurink focussed on his player-management skills.
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“He was finding moments off the field to build relationships,” says Kok-Willemsen. “He made sure the dressing room, even if it was a mobile container, felt more like home. Being there for each other when a player lost their family member, showing up together as a team.”
He made FC Twente a dynasty. From 2012 to 2016 he won every title, beating a certain Sarina Wiegman, then head coach of ADO Den Haag.
Veurink left in the summer of 2016 to lead the data scouting team at SciSports as well as coaching his local men’s second division side, OZC Ommen. He helped clubs worldwide with data-driven analysis on scouting, recruitment and match performance.
“Innovation in sports is close to my heart,” said Veurink upon his appointment.
He honed his skills further, knowing data could provide marginal gains that could win tournaments, but missed being on the pitch and working with athletes day to day. When Wiegman was announced as the Netherlands head coach in 2017 she made a smart move: she asked her biggest competitor on the domestic stage — a man who had beaten her time and time again — to join her as an assistant.
The Dutch duo have worked together ever since — Wiegman asked Veurink to join her when she took on the England role in 2021 — and have found a winning formula. They have made four consecutive major tournament finals with two different nations: the 2017 Euros, 2019 World Cup, 2022 Euros and 2023 World Cup.
“Winning the (Euro) title was the ultimate confirmation for Sarina and I that it works, our way of working,” he told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. “We, together with the rest of the staff, were able to make a team out of those women. That Sarina and I are a good duo.”
The father of three is relaxed, down to earth and has a calming presence, much like Wiegman. When England win, she turns to embrace him straight away. Their close relationship is built on trust and loyalty. They don’t spend a lot of their free time together but they know each other’s roles very well.
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“They are different,” says Arvid Smit, who worked with Wiegman and Veurink as an assistant coach with the Netherlands team. “But they have similar qualities: process, structure, periodisation. They think about how to develop the team, they have the same values and how you work with people. That makes them strong together.”
Veurink plans the training sessions. He writes the software for video clips, designs the process on his laptop and is very clear in what he wants on the pitch.
“There are steps in every training session, every week and month,” says Smit. “How much time they want to train the attacking and defensive sides, transition moments, formation and strategy is all written down.”
Veurink evaluates the training load on players each day with the physical trainers. He brings ideas to the table and the plan is discussed by the technical staff as a group. Wiegman is involved in the planning too — she may send the group away to improve aspects and she has the final word.
“He would get the best out of you in drills,” says England forward Beth Mead, who is missing the World Cup through injury. “They (Sarina and Arjan) allow you to do what you want to do, like crossing and finishing, and then other things that they want you to do.”
When the opportunity of coaching the England national team arose, Veurink spoke to his partner, who became his wife in January. He knew travel was part of the deal. He commutes back and forth from England, leaving from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport on Sundays, staying in hotels and returning two or three days later.
From Dagenham, east London to Manchester, he attentively watches players in contention for the England squad. Then in camp the Dutchman gives them tips in training and before games.
His English has improved. Before taking on the assistant role, he signed up to the renowned intensive course at the language institute of Regina Coeli, founded by the nuns of Vught, in the Netherlands.
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“He gives me advice on how to open up my body, where to position myself in the midfield role,” says 21-year-old Jess Park, who missed out on the World Cup squad through injury.
Veurink’s delivery of the pre-match analysis meetings on the opposition are second to none.
“You were always listening because it was always clear and on point,” says Dekker. “It made sense and had information that could help you… He finds something specific about every player and system.
“He was obsessed with tactics. He would not just accept it, he would want to know why is this successful. He is a creative mind.”
Short and sharp is his style, otherwise players switch off.
“Ten to 15 minutes,” says Dekker. “If it’s longer it was because it was important. He said afterwards, ‘If you need more information, I have videos. If you have a question, I have this information for you.’
England’s Alex Greenwood often takes him up on this offer.
“He’s a tactical genius,” she said earlier this year. “He loves football as much as I do. I really love speaking to Arjan about that side of the game. I’m always trying to ask him questions. He just sees the game differently.”
England have made tactical changes in the past, like switching to a back three and sending Millie Bright up front against Spain in the Euros quarter-final last year.
But their biggest and most obvious switch came at this World Cup, changing from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 after their second group-stage game. Veurink led that decision and said: “Sarina, let’s sit down. Isn’t this the time to go to a 3-5-2?”
“Sarina thinks about the team’s way of playing,” explains Smit. “We are very good at this and that. Arjan adjusts that in little steps with her. Where can we win a little bit? Where can we hurt this opponent?
“Tactically, they’re both strong, but Sarina is thinking about the line that has always been there, and Arjan can make small adjustments like putting one full-back higher or build up a back three.”
If something isn’t working, they are frank with each other. Before one game during the Euros, for example, Wiegman and Veurink had a heated discussion about the game plan in front of the England players. In the end, Wiegman went with Veurink’s option.
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“They are both very open to being challenged, whether that’s from each other or us,” says Lucy Bronze, who told Wiegman and Veurink to change the order of penalties in the Finalissima against Brazil in April.
During a game, Veurink will be keeping an eye out for specific moments. At a click of a button, he’ll select clips on his iPad to review at half-time and give them to Wiegman to illustrate a point.
“Arjan is very strong at tactically reading a match,” says Smit. “He does not get into emotion. He’s very steady, always there but always the same.”
Wiegman is from the west of the Netherlands, Veurink from the east. That’s a big difference in Dutch culture.
“People from the west of Holland are always like: ‘Blah, blah, blah’,” says Dekker. “We are more calm from the east — we will think five minutes before we speak. Sarina may say something and then openly retract: ‘Ah, maybe that wasn’t smart to say that’.”
In public and in front of the media they have a steely gaze, but in private they are up for a laugh or a game of touch to kickstart training. “Sarina’s jokes were not really the players’ jokes,” says Dekker. “She knows that already. She would try but it’s not really the humour we had.”
Wiegman and Veurink would never shout at players. In the early years of being FC Twente head coach, the one time Veurink got angry, it backfired. His team were playing poorly and at half-time, he was not happy.
As Veurink left the dressing room, he went to slam the door but it was automatic and slowly closed with a pathetic whimper.
“You can laugh with him afterwards,” says Dekker. “He can be very strict and demanding but if you work with him, it’s fun.”
With the Netherlands team, Veurink always ran on a matchday to de-stress, maybe five or 10 kilometres (3.1 to 6.2miles) when the players were resting. He also liked to play squash or skate to keep fit and would munch on nuts with other staff in the evenings. He usually remains poker-faced, unless the song Euphoria by Loreen comes on — and then he may start to dance.
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According to England midfielder Keira Walsh, as well as being “logical” and “process-driven”, Veurink is “really funny”.
“The girls have a lot of banter with him,” she said last year. “He’s definitely a joker. He’s relaxed around the team and you’ve got to have that kind of relationship.”
It’s not a good cop, bad cop scenario, though. When The Athletic asked Wiegman about the dynamic, she replied, smiling: “Am I the good cop or bad cop?”
“It’s normal there is a bigger step to take to talk to the head coach than with an assistant,” says Dekker. “I can imagine people talk to Arjan earlier because you can be more open to him.”
With the Netherlands, Veurink was often the shoulder to cry on if players were struggling.
“He has a good sense of players’ emotion,” says Niels de Vries, who worked as a sports scientist when Veurink was the Netherlands assistant. “Good timing when a player needs to talk about a private situation, family and friends, making a transfer or a poor club performance.”
“He focussed on the person as well as the player,” adds Dekker. “That is very rare. A guy who knows the difference between women’s and men’s athletes and football. There are coaches with no idea that a woman is different to a man, with feelings. He knew exactly what people needed.
“He said: ‘Hey, what do you think the team needs?’. I haven’t had that in a long time from a coach. He brought that to an England squad to make them more of a unit.”
It is no surprise that when Wiegman had to hand over managerial duties to Veurink during the Euros last year — once when her sister died just before the tournament began and then when she tested positive for COVID-19 — her assistant and team stepped up.
“Arjan is the unsung hero of the entire team,” said Bronze in February. “All the girls say he can do everything from coaching to managing. He’s super intelligent.
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“It’s obvious why Sarina brought him with her because we all know that everyone talks about Sarina and what she is like but Arjan is the man behind it all. They work really well together. He is one of my favourite coaches that I’ve ever worked with.”
One day, Veurink may lead a side as a national head coach, but for now, alongside Wiegman, they will be plotting to make history and lead the Lionesses to victory in their first World Cup final.
(Top photo: Naomi Baker – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
