Club Brugge coach Tim Wolf: “It still feels like home here”

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Born in Uden, Tim Wolf made the switch to Club Brugge last summer after sixteen years at PSV. We asked him what it’s like to be working at PSV Campus De Herdgang on behalf of another club. 'When I arrived here, it still felt like home. I realize that over the years I’ve always had a good time here. PSV played a major role in my career and youth, and I still love coming here. With the new stadium, it looks fantastic again. And it’s always nice to see the people you hold dear. The club remains very special to me.'

Fond Memories
Given his history with PSV, this certainly isn’t Wolf’s first Otten Innovation Cup. Back in 2019, for example, he was assistant to Ruud van Nistelrooij during the tournament. That year, they reached the final with PSV but lost to Internazionale in a penalty shootout. 'That was a great season,' says the coach. 'We had already won a tournament in China with the new squad and then immediately reached the final in Eindhoven.'

The Best
It’s been a while since his new club participated in the Otten Innovation Cup. 'Traditionally, Anderlecht has been the Belgian representative here. Thanks to new connections, it’s now Club Brugge, but I think it also has to do with the club’s growth. It may not have been the number one before, but it absolutely is now. The club has made great strides in recent years—growing in resources, ambition, and decisiveness.' Wolf adds that this growth is also reflected in the club’s youth academy. 'Yes, absolutely. We also have the ambition to be the best. We now project to each other that we’re the most prominent club in Belgium.'

Standing on His Own
This summer, Wolf not only moved to Belgium but also took on the role of head coach after years of contributing in various other positions. He sees both differences and similarities between Dutch and Belgian football. 'Here too, we try to develop youth players as best we can so they can join the first team. And that starts with ambition. Club Brugge has built a strong reputation in recent years, with many youth players progressing from the academy, Club Next, to the first team. This summer, several youth players were sold for good money again.' The recently turned 37-year-old coach says this influenced his decision to join Club Brugge. 'I’m someone who likes to work with the best—both in terms of talent and colleagues. I had the privilege of working with the top Dutch talents for 16 years, and then Club Brugge came along. I experienced everything at PSV and grew as a young coach. Now I saw an opportunity to take a new step, to grow as a person and as a coach. Stepping out of a familiar environment triggers you again—new surroundings, new challenges.'

Vincent Heilmann
During the PSV vs. Club Brugge match, it was noticeable that two similar coaches stood on the sidelines. Tim Wolf met an old acquaintance in Vincent Heilmann. 'I was scrolling through my own photos and came across some where the two of us were standing on the sidelines together. Vincent had a lot of injury troubles during his playing career, which meant he lost the prospect of playing top-level football early on. Like me, he started coaching young and joined my teams. It’s funny to meet again like this.' Their coaching styles are also similar. While Southern European coaches are often loud and animated on the sidelines, both young coaches operate more calmly. According to Wolf, this mainly stems from a cultural difference. 'That emotional, passionate style is part of Southern European culture. Football there is intense—life or death. Here, we tend to put things into perspective more. We focus more on content and process. We often think from a developmental perspective, while they focus more on results—even at youth level.'

Dominant
We asked whether it’s difficult for Wolf to instill his playing style in the team. 'It’s not too bad. At Brugge, they already want to play dominantly. Robin Veldman, now coach of SC Heerenveen, was my predecessor and he also played attacking football with the team. That’s something Club Brugge values. They have a philosophy of dominant play and look for profiles that fit that. That’s how they ended up with me. I hope people can see that in the matches we’ve played during the tournament.' That dominance and high possession rate were certainly visible over the past two days. According to Wolf, it’s now a matter of converting that possession into results. 'We’ve discussed that with the group. Possession allows you to control the game, and you don’t want to waste energy—so you have to finish your chances and decide the match. That’s what football is ultimately about. We can still improve in that area, but it’s a learning process—and that’s part of youth football.'

Satisfied
Wolf looks back on the first part of the tournament with satisfaction. 'We played two great matches today against Benfica and PSV. We had chances to win both, but we didn’t. So purely in terms of results, it’s not good enough yet. That’s a step we still need to take as a team.' Tomorrow, Club Brugge will play Atlético Madrid in the crossover final. 'That’s a great matchup, a strong opponent,' says Wolf. 'That’s why we’re here—we want to measure ourselves against the best in Europe. And we’re ambitious enough to say we want to reach the final.'

Wolf also reflects on the tournament’s preparation. 'It’s sometimes difficult to fit a tournament like this into the preseason, especially since our league has already started. That’s why we’re mainly here with the youngest players from our department. We also took the different rules into account during our preparation.' When asked which rule he’d most like to see introduced soon, he points to effective playing time. 'It makes the game faster, but I still enjoy how football was originally conceived. So we always need to ask ourselves whether new rules truly improve the game.'