The Gaffer: Henk ten Cate

Henk ten Cate discusses learning from Capello, the strengths of Dutch football, and Rodgers' success.

After a relatively modest playing career as a winger was ended through injury in his early thirties, former Go Ahead Eagles, Edmonton Drillers, Telstar and Heracles man Henk ten Cate turned his attention to coaching. The Amsterdam-born Dutchman gained his necessary qualifications in the early 1990s while taking in placements with mighty hometown club Ajax and abroad at Italian giants AC Milan. At that time, Fabio Capello had just taken charge of Milan only one year after they had won the European Cup under the legendary Arrigo Sacchi. Future England boss Capello would himself not disappoint with Milan and went on to conquer Europe in 1994. Having gained his coaching badges, Ten Cate proceeded to manage at clubs around the world from his native Holland to Germany, Hungary, Greece - where he guided Panathinaikos to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League - Dubai, Qatar and China before most recently working on a caretaker basis at the end of last season back with Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam. But it was working as an assistant at Barcelona in the mid-2000s where Ten Cate achieved his greatest success. He was credited with developing the stylish tactical system which turned Frank Rijkaard's Barcelona into double La Liga winners and 2006 Champions League kings along with getting the best out of Ronaldinho. That subsequently earned him the top job as manager back at Ajax and, although his short spell in charge was not a great success, Chelsea then came calling. Ten Cate was recruited to work alongside Steve Clarke on Avram Grant's coaching staff, where current Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers was then reserve team manager. That particular era at Stamford Bridge may not be held in the highest critical acclaim but they did reach the 2008 UEFA Champions League final and Ten Cate played a key role. Here, the now-59-year-old talks Sky Sports through his thoughts on coaching and management, the differences between Dutch and Italian footballing philosophies, and explains what it was like to learn from the likes of Capello.

Did you always want to go into coaching as a manager or assistant boss?

"As a kid when I was growing up, I wanted to be a football player. But after I broke my leg and I learned I could not come back, because of the injury, I started to miss football. I asked at my former club about coaching in the youth teams and that is how it all started. I did not know whether I was going to like it but it was a good substitute for not playing anymore. It was nice to see the kids improving. At the first two teams at which I coached, we won the juvenile championships."

Who were your managerial role models in terms of their coaching principles?

"I did not really have any role models but, growing up in Holland, I was attracted by the Dutch philosophy of football. One of the biggest coaches was of course Johan Cruyff. At that time, Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello were also doing very well with AC Milan in Italy. When I did my coaching diploma, the Dutch stage was in Amsterdam with Ajax and the foreign stage was with Milan when Capello was manager just after he had taken over from Sacchi."

What did you learn from working with Capello when on your placement at Milan during your coaching diploma?

"From his point of view, the players are professional so have to take care of themselves.