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Patrick Kluivert: Grassroots development key to homegrown soccer talent
The new manager of the national men’s soccer team sat down to an exclusive interview with The Jakarta Post on March 28 and revealed his views on the sport’s current landscape, his coaching philosophy and cultivating homegrown talent.
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Patrick Kluivert, manager of the Indonesia men’s soccer team, gestures during an exclusive interview with ‘The Jakarta Post’ in Jakarta, in this montage of photos taken on March 28, 2025. (JP/Okky Ardya)
I
n a bold move that reverberated across Asian soccer, the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) appointed Barcelona and Dutch soccer legend Patrick Kluivert on Jan. 8 as the new manager of the national men’s team. Coming just days after the dismissal of South Korean coach Shin Tae-yong, the decision was a surprising shake-up as the team continues to navigate the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The Jakarta Post’s Aditya Hadi and Niken Prathivi sat down with Kluivert on March 28 in Jakarta to explore his views on the current soccer landscape, his coaching philosophy and the long game of nurturing local talent to develop future stars. The following is an excerpt from the interview.
Question: How has soccer evolved since your days as a player, and how does that influence your coaching approach today?
Answer: I think the game has become a bit quicker. Players today are also playing too many matches, which puts a strain on their health. That’s why [...] many changes are coming in different teams. But that’s the way it is. We have to adapt to the situation, as we can’t change it drastically at the moment.
We need to take care of the player’s health [first]. That’s why each player wears a transmitter during training, so we can closely monitor things, like how many sprints they can do and their recovery rates.
Since almost all of our players are now playing abroad, it’s even more important to track their physical condition. We can’t just assume they’re ready; we need to assess how each player is doing physically [before anything else].
Do you see yourself as a coach who sticks to a rigid system, or are you more adaptable to opponents and situations on the field?
