Australian football has always looked to the Dutch for inspiration when it comes to changing the landscape of the sport in the country.

Rob Baan and Hans Berger were technical directors for Football Australia for consecutive years, with Berger in 2009 reshaping the much-maligned national curriculum at the grassroots level and for coaches alike.

In a coup for the A-League, Adelaide United has sprung a surprise with the highly regarded Ernest Faber signing on to become the club’s Technical Director for the foreseeable future.

A technical director is a very significant role within a football club which encompasses much more than providing support to the coaching staff.

They will also be tasked with going over the club’s football operations, developing a playing style across all age groups and implementing new trends in the sport such as data analysis and dietary components.

This is the first sign of Adelaide’s strategic partnership with Dutch talent factory PSV Eindhoven, paying out an early dividend.

Faber had a storied 10+ year playing career with PSV before holding many coaching roles with the club after his playing career ended. But it is his work in the youth development realm, that should excite Adelaide fans.

Steven Bergwijn Donyell Malen and Cody Gakpo were a trio of many players that Faber helped mould and develop in the infancy of their careers, whilst he was in charge of the PSV youth academy.

PSV’s academy has been well known for its innovation and it is a leader in biomechanical research for goalkeepers – with a focus on the correct movement in terms of standing and diving.

A heavy focus is also put on “bio banding”, which may be of some interest in Australia – it is the process of grouping athletes based on attributes associated with growth and maturation, rather than chronological age.

Another example is psychology profiling, which is very common in Europe – this would also have some merit to Australian football when it comes to the development of introverted or extroverted personalities.

Adelaide knows its relationship with PSV is a two-way street though, with the Dutch club expecting Australia’s best developer of teenage footballers to send talent to Holland.

Earlier this month Adelaide saw four of its next generation fly out to Eindhoven for training – Malual Nichola, Feyzo Kasumovic, the highly regarded Nestory Irakunda replacement, Amlani Tatu and Bailey O’Neil who is a defender that has been spoken in local circles for many years.

The last time the A-League saw a European technical director of Faber’s quality was coincidentally also in Adelaide when legendary Barcelona figurehead Guillermo Amor held that position in 2014 before being upgraded to head coach in 2015 and winning two trophies with the club.

Supporters of United are well within their rights to still have an air of trepidation about the Faber signing and the overall linkup with PSV in general, given Adelaide’s many failed dealings with the Netherlands.

Rini Coolen and Gertjan Verbeek had various bust-ups that contributed to their sackings as coaches of Adelaide United in the past.

While Adelaide fans will be hoping that if any new acquisitions arrive from PSV from this deal, they won’t be complete duds like the other Dutch players in Bobby Petta, Andwele Slory and Jordy Thomassen – who have represented the club in the past and didn’t exactly set the league alight during their time with the South Australian side.

Then there is the owner of Adelaide United, Dutch business magnate Cor Adriaanse – who has paid off all the club’s debt and has seen several million dollars from player sales in the past two years, but has not reinvested any of those funds into the actual playing squad.

In an off-season that has already seen several high-profile senior players leave the club, Ernest Faber will have his work cut out in trying to identify and bring in new bodies before the remainder of the squad assemble for preseason training in early July.