To see van't Schip unveiled...

Van 't Schip, who has spent the past two seasons at Dutch giants Ajax, arrived in Melbourne last week for discussions with the Heart consortium, led by Scott Munn and John Didiluca.

"We went into talks with Melbourne and the feeling was really, really good from the start," he said today. "We had some good talks from Australia to Holland with Scott and my manager.

"We came over and the feeling is even better. We had some nice feelings with the board, we love the city - we didn't see that much but at that point it was important for my wife.

"It was a big step to move from Europe to here. We're happy to be here and to start with my new job."

The Canadian-born 45-year-old played over 250 matches for Ajax between 1981 and 1992 before spending another four years at Italian club Genoa. He also played 41 times for the Dutch national team.

His managerial career began with the Ajax in the late 1990s, while he also spent time with FC Twente and the Dutch national side before returning to his former club, where he spent time as assistant under Marco van Basten.

Now he sees great potential ahead for the new Melbourne club and the sport as a whole Down Under, with Australia's reputation rising overseas.

Van't Schip added: "Australia, from not only my point of view but from a lot of sports minded people's point of view, is a great place to work.

"I think sport here is at a very good and high level. The country is similar to Europe, in a different way of course. It is far, far away but its mentality is European. Those things, and that Guus was here, made the attention more. Australia is on the way to get attention at a higher level and I'm glad to be helping

"It was important to meet the people I have to work with. I met Scott and John in the last few days and we had some talks and meetings about how we're going to do things. That was very good. I'm very excited to help build the club up from scratch."

Now he's promised to add a Dutch of class to the A-League with his plans for the Heart's playing style.

"They way I train, the way I see the game is in my blood and i think it's similar to the way you saw the Dutch play two days ago," he said.

"It's all about possession and attacking. It's a long way to be at that level and I hope that I can work with the boys to go to that level.'

But first he has to put together the club's debut playing squad - and a shortlist of 40 targets has already been drawn up, plus a marquee.

"The way I see it, you have to have certain qualities for the players," he said. "We already have 40 players that John has already written to and probably have talks to.

"I'll see a lot of games and have talks but I don't want to give names. We're looking for good players."

And he joked: "We're having some talks with a player called Ronaldinho a the moment...it's difficult. He's having some problems at the moment...

"It's important not to get players who are just looking for a holiday. We will have a difficult job to try to get the right players. I think that's the thing you have to look for, players with experience or young players who like to grow further."

It won't be a completely Dutch invasion at the new club, with van't Schip wanting to bring in a local deputy to help him in the quest for success.

"I would like to work with an assistant from here because I don't have all the knowledge of Australian football," he admitted. "I think it's good to have an Australian coach nearby that can advise me on things that are particular to Australia.

"I also think it's good not to have everyone from Europe. I may change my mind but it's not my first choice."

He had words of praise for the general standard of the A-League from the little he's seen so far.

"I've seen some little pieces of games I watched back in Europe," he said. "I've spoken to Pim Verbeek and Hann Berger. The mentality is good. Players want to learn, that's important.

"When I saw the game on Friday, you can maybe compare it with the lower teams in the Eredivisie or the higher teams in the lower division.

"I worked with Jason Culina in Holland and while he was a good player, he was perhaps not the star player so you can look at it a little like that."

And on the back of the FFA-approved 4-3-3 formation, van't Schip intends to use the same system as the basis for his attack.

"We have to find the players to play that game," he said. "When I say we'll play 4-3-3, we won't play that every time but my intention is to play 4-3-3 because I was brought up with that.

"It's not just Holland - Barcelona also play it but they have a lot of quality players and you can't compare it with other teams. You have to work to get there and I think we can do the same thing here."

And he denied he was taking a step back in his career to move to Australia.

"Maybe I'm a little bit strange but I love the game," he said. "I'm passionate for the football and the challenge that I see here is unique. You can help build the club and it's a stretch and that's important for me.

"The thing that is good is the challenge, is to go abroad again and our children are at the age where we can do that. I was in Italy for four years and had a great time there.

"I think it's good to have your attention around in different parts of the world. It's all about loving the game and I think you can do the same things here also."

The club had earlier approached another Dutchman, Henk van Stee, but he opted out for family reasons.

The new club will become part of the A-League in 2010, and is currently holding a competition to determine a suitable name. It is provisionally known as Melbourne Heart.

To see van't Schip unveiled...