Jimmy Thelin is a big fan of Jurgen Klopp and Hansi Flick, writes Scott Burns in the Algarve.

The German coaches are ranked highly by the Aberdeen manager as they not only know how to win but also build teams with a real identity. That is important to Thelin. He wants his Aberdeen team to eventually have a similar identity – one the Red Army and everybody connected with the Dons can be proud of.

Thelin loves watching current Barcelona boss Flick and what he has done and how he has achieved success with Bayern Munich and the German national team. It is the same with Klopp who has played his own brand of ‘heavy metal’ football with Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool. When asked what sort of football he enjoys, Thelin said: “Fast-paced teams like Salzburg, Bayern Munich under Hansi Flick, this kind of thing. Jurgen Klopp did really well at Mainz, Dortmund and Liverpool.

“I like coaches when it is clear – if you’re at a Guardiola team it is clear, if you look at a Klopp team it is clear. If you look at a Hansi Flick team you know how it is going to look more or less – although there are always different qualities in the team and there will be some changes.

“Diego Simeone is the same. It is clear and you can recognise the teams. That’s what I like more, how they can transmit their beliefs into the squad. That is always good for leadership and coaches. It is more that they feel that’s the way they want to play.”

Thelin has swapped Elfsborg and Swedish football for Aberdeen. He might like watching some of the best teams and coaches but he has arrived in Scotland with his own masterplan.

He added: “I want a team to have a lot of scoring chances. How do we arrive at that? How can we be intense in our games? You can steal some other ideas but you need to believe in it yourself so you can transmit it to the players. If you don’t believe in it then they won’t believe in you. You have to transmit it and make sure you are on the next step. The best football always has the basics. You need to have empathy and a strong team spirit.

“Football gets quicker and the players get more professional every year. From that, there is no right or wrong. Look at the Euros, different types of teams have shown they can win – some with more possession, some with transition and some with a low block and set-plays. You need to find your way, that is important.

“I know what I want to achieve. I want to overload the opposition’s penalty box. We know what we want to do but there is always an opponent. They are always going to be there.”

There has been an acceptance around everyone connected with Aberdeen that there needs to be more patience shown. There have been too many managerial changes and uncertainty at the club. They have gone for Thelin and know they must give him the time and tools to deliver. It won’t happen overnight but it is clear he is already stamping his authority and his style of play on his team in their Portuguese pre-season training camp.

Thelin said: “The only power we coaches have is how we train and how we want to play. It’s our job to make that happen and hopefully we can do it so well that we win games.

“It has to be clear what we want to do and everybody has to recognise that. That journey we are on right now, what we are trying to create, of course it is going to take some time.

But you have to start with working from day one and it has to be clear for everyone. That’s what we are starting, when they wake up they play and they are Aberdeen.

“That’s the most important thing for us, to be really good at something. You can’t be the best team at everything, that’s impossible. So if you want to have a strong overload we have to be really good on that.

“It can’t be a little bit of this, a little bit of that – then it is not clear and you cannot compete. You have to be really good at something. That’s what we want to create here.”

Thelin reckons this trip is vital for him and his new backroom team to get to know his players and what they can bring to his team. He said: “It allows us to understand the players and to get small chats with them. You learn their personalities and that is important so we can find out how to make the players grow and how they react.

“We are spending a lot of time together and they are tough sessions. We are also able to see the quality of the players on the pitch and their tactical knowledge.

“It is important for the players to have some time together as well. The weather has been hot but the players are really pushing themselves.”