In an interview with Het Nieuwsblad, Sint-Truiden head coach Thorsten Fink explained in detail how his approach to football has been shaped over the years. The German, who has received plenty of plaudits for how well his team has played and entertained this season, spoke of how his time playing for the top side in Germany has shaped who he is as a coach.
Fink said ‘My playing philosophy has always been the same. I played at Bayern Munich and there we always wanted to have the ball and give it to the opponent as little as possible. That is also my game as a trainer‘. Another hallmark of Fink’s approach this season has been to allow young players to flourish. Fink spoke of how this has been something that has always motivated him as a coach, with his time at Hamburg coinciding with given Heung-min Son more opportunities to play.
Furthermore, at the end of his career with Bayern Munich he spent time in the second team where he played alongside then young players such as Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Fink, who was at the opposite end of his career to these two at the time, explained that this gave him extra motivation to play and kept him young.
Speaking on the youngsters under his control at Sint-Truiden this season, Fink was full of praise for them. Fink said ‘The mentality of the boys here at Sint-Truiden is top notch…they ask me what they should eat, they ask me how much they should sleep‘. Players such as Mathias Delorge, Jarne Steuckers and Matte Smets have all excelled under Fink this season and been given a real chance to prove themselves.
Fink rightly points out that, due to his willingness to give youth a chance, the club are now in a very healthy position. The player values have risen dramatically, and while that does mean some will leave, as Fink points out, the money that comes in allows the side to then invest further in youth and infrastructure to keep the club progressing.
As a result of the success Fink has brought Sint-Truiden, there are likely to be plenty of potential suitors for him in the summer. However, while he is realistic that if the right offer comes he could leave, Fink would very much like to continue the work he has started. ‘To be clear: I would find it very difficult to leave this club and certainly my players, because I would like to do even better with this team next season‘.
