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Jaap Stam: Reading benefiting from playing 'the Dutch way'

Matthew Childs / Reuters

Reading is thriving under Jaap Stam. The Royals are within touching distance of the Premier League, only needing to defeat Huddersfield Town in the final of the Championship play-offs to return to the top flight of English football. It's a remarkable turnaround for a club that finished 17th last season, and the Dutch manager attributes the success to an attacking style of play.

Speaking ahead of Monday's showdown at Wembley Stadium, Stam, who was appointed as Reading's manager on an initial two-year contract in June 2016, discussed the Royals' transformation and suggested the club reached the final by playing "the Dutch way."

"How they have been playing in the last two seasons was different to how we wanted: playing possession, going forward, controlling games and creating chances and scoring goals," Stam said, according to the Guardian's Ben Fisher. "The Dutch way, attacking football. In the UK the thoughts of playing a certain way were maybe dangerous. That's how we wanted to do it."

Before arriving at Reading, the extent of Stam's managerial experience was as an assistant at PEC Zwolle and Jong Ajax, AFC Ajax's Under-21 team.

In an exclusive published by Fisher, Chris Gunter praised Stam's talent, saying the tactician "created a philosophy" at Madejski Stadium.

"The actual knowledge and the coaching he and his staff have, you can tell there is a real career behind that in the way they have been brought up in Holland - that's obvious because some of the coaching is different," Gunter said. "He has worked at some top, top clubs with the best, so he has probably picked up things along the way but then I also think sometimes it is hard to copy, so if he had tried to be one of the manager's he's worked under, I just do not think you can do that. He obviously has a gift in managing people as well."

In 1998, Stam became the most expensive Dutch footballer and most valuable defender at the time, joining Manchester United from PSV Eindhoven for £10.6 million.

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