New Melbourne Heart assistant Olsen: This is a great opportunity

The newly appointed assistant coach of incoming A-League club Melbourne Heart believes it is a great opportunity to finally now get into the coaching side of the game.

Jesper Olsen, the former Denmark international and Manchester United winger, was today unveiled as one of two assistants to head coach John van ‘t Schip, joining former Socceroos striker Ante Milicic, and although he has been out of the playing caper since 1992, has just stepped into his first coaching role.

“The question has been asked about myself over the years since I stopped in ’92 if I ever wanted to go into coaching,” Olsen said at a media conference today.

“I think timing is probably always the most important thing and the philosophy of how you want to play the game and so forth and the timing with John (van ‘t Schip) getting the job here and knowing me and knowing what I stand for is really important and I think that mixed together with the three of us will work really well.”

There were a few factors for Olsen, who has lived in Melbourne for several years, to take the job and he explained those when quizzed further at today’s launch.

“I’m 49 in March and I’ve tried everything that has to do with football and I think that’s the main factor along with John getting the job and a lot of changes within the football in Australia as a whole,” he added.

“The Dutch influence is one that I know well and I really like the way the game is played there. The way football is talked about is something I can add a lot to as well with my experience and who I’ve been coached by over the years.”

One of those men he has been coached by is of course the great Sir Alex Ferguson and Olsen admits he has taken plenty from him following his time at Old Trafford under Ferguson’s tutelage.

“I think you take something away from everybody you work with and certainly he is somebody that you would like to think you have learned a lot from, especially the way he is these days,” Olsen added further.

“They say the harder you work the luckier you get and I think that’s something you see with Ferguson. The successful people in this game have a plan and you follow that plan and you stick to what you believe in and that’s important, not only in football but in any walk of life and I think after speaking to John over the last couple of weeks in terms of what is expected out here and what he intends to do, that is just the way he thinks as well.

“Only the future can obviously show us that way or not but that is why this is a great opportunity for me and it’s exciting to start something from scratch.”