Month: April 2014

WHAT a great season it was….Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV, Oranje…..

Dear friends, Johan Cruyff again agrees with me. It is becoming a bit predictable and boring, I know… But this 2013-2014 season is a very positive season for us. I will tell you why right now: because it can only get better!!

We have had many “Champions of the Poor” before (the name given to the team that plays the least bad football and wins the title) but this season I think is the worst.

Vitesse, Twente, PSV and in particular Feyenoord decided not to want the title this year. And poor Frank de Boer and his Eriksen-less team of bland players found themselves the best of the lowly….

I do congratulate Ajax of course and Frank de Boer. He is a top class bloke and an excellent coach. I cannot see him not coach Oranje one day.

Ajax was not the best this season, but they surely were the most consistent.

PSV played very sexy football this season, but only at the start of the season and way too brief….

Feyenoord should won it this season but too many late goals conceded resulted in a losing too many points…. Feyenoord lost one-third of the points it could win…. And with that stat, they became second AND may dream of CL football next season. Ouch. Feyenoord will probably end with 4 points difference with Ajax. And Feyenoord lost the two games against Ajax. If those were drawn, Ajax and Feyenoord would have finished even… Goes to show what a close call it was and how Feyenoord should have won it this season. If there ever was a season with a solid chance, it was now.

ajax kampioen

Vitesse played the most Dutch in particular in the first half of the season. Very good football, lots of possession and many good results. The second season half, however, something happened in Arnhem and they spilled way too many points.

Twente was the other candidate and with a real killer upfront they might have done better. Gutierrez in particular was a highly consistent factor and this player might win the Best Player of the Season Award just before Jordy Clasie and ex-Feyenoord playmaker Mokotjo (PEC Zwolle).

The good thing about our competition that whenever clubs sell players, young Dutch developed lads make their way into the team. Ajax and Feyenoord have been vanguards of this in Dutch football but Heerenveen, AZ and other clubs are following suit. This is why we can now see exciting lads like Vilhena. Boetius, Klaassen, Veltman, Rekik, Depay and Sinkgrave play regularly. And they do make mistakes. But they have to. As long as they learn from it…

Cruyff says the football IQ needs to be raised. And he has a point. Skill itself is not enough. Knowing when to use what skills is key. Decision making. When to play the deep pass, when to pace it down, when to apply pressure, when to back off. When to play the direct ball, when to dribble…

Ajax was not the best, but the most consistent team. Phillip Cocu is still in development, as is his team. Peter Bosz at Vitesse would like some peace and quiet and less weird comments ( “Vitesse is not allowed to win the title in Holland” ) and Twente might get a slap on the financial wrist by the Dutch Federation.

As for next season, we see some changes happening… Frank de Boer claims he wants to stay and I do believe him, but if Barcelona comes calling he will probably go. Ronald Koeman, however, is being named as a strong candidate by a Spanish paper. He is leaving Feyenoord and making way for Fred Rutten. Koeman was applauded and cheered during Feyenoord’s last home game this weekend. He was told he would leave the club on the shoulders of many and via the front door. He will always be welcome. Koeman admitted to regret to have to leave Feyenoord. “I have played for all three top clubs in Holland and I coached them all. I have sympathy for all of them but Feyenoord is special. My whole family feels very at home here. And in particular the home games have given me goosebumps. Feyenoord will always be special to me.”

A nice touch after the debacle exits of Mario Been and Gertjan Verbeek (who got fired this week in the Bundesliga).

Marco van Basten remains in Holland, moving to AZ Alkmaar while AZ CEO Toon Gerbrands is moving to PSV to assume the General Manager role there. Jan Wouters will leave FC Utrecht as the head coach but has already suggested he would consider an assistant role under another head coach. Jan has always felt more at ease in that role (Rangers, FC Utrecht).

koeman

The best we keep for last.

Louis van Gaal. He has said no to Spurs (probably wasn’t going to gel with Levy) and Wenger himself stated he would stay at Arsenal so a move to London was also irrelevant from that angle. Man United however, is in need of a strong coach who would be able to build up the club again. Give new input to the scouting, the analysis, youth development… in other words…renovate Manchester United.

LVG’s signing also means RVP will most likely stay in Manchester. One of the conditions the ManU owners have, is that the 1992 generation (Scholes, Giggs) are being utilised. Van Gaal has suggested he might take Pat Kluivert with him as assistant, as will Frank Hoeks and the video analysis team.

He will be paid a handsome 10 mio euros per year and can count on a 100 mio pound war chest!

I will be tuned in for all the Man U games. I wanna see how and if he can make it work (he is a good coach) but I also want to see him in the English media :-). The tabloids are quite….hectic… Actually, Sjoerd Mossou wrote a great little piece in the AD. I will use that for this post:

Dear Louis here are some tips for you, to work in the UK.

1. Don’t read the tabloids

It is bad for your heart. You will miss us, the Dutch press, as we will appear to be very friendly compared to our UK colleagues… Don’t expect an article on your tactical views or on the running patterns but expect a picture of your left full back naked in a strip club.

2. Watch our for Sir Alex

Sir Alex is angry. David Moyes was his mate and his choice. And Sir Alex was against firing Moyes. So watch it, because he will look over your shoulder. Make little noises. Will blow his nose suddenly. Or whine and mumble. And you don’t like that. Remember battling the ghost of Cruyff at Barca or your clashes with Hoeness in Munich? It’s no fun fighting club legends. You can’t win. So have a glass of red with Sir Alex quickly.

3. Yell a bit less

The English don’t appreciate yelling. You can tell them anything, they have a great sense of humour but mind your tone of voice. Be polite. Your buddy the Special One has the urge to say whatever he wants, but he hardly ever yells in interviews. He is smart like that.

4. Sell Rooney

It sounds weird because he is one of the few really good players you have, but he is not a typical Van Gaal player. He will turn 30 next year. His lifestyle will inform you that he won’t be playing like this for much longer. I don’t think there will be a personal connection between the two of you. Because Wayne is from Croxteth in Liverpool. Google the suburb. Your total Human Being Principle….words like “interpretation divergence”….. Don’t use them with Wayne. The Rooneys won’t be able to follow you.

5. Get a gauge on the Glazers…

But don’t trust them. They’re Americans. They gave Man U debt that will make you hallucinate. And they don’t know jack shit of football. Now they need you but don’t give them your loyalty. They might be selling everything in two years. And the ManU fans despise them.

6. Explain it all very quietly and patiently 4 times

RVP will be able to follow you. You already gained his trust. Robin is a football philosopher like you. But don’t make the mistake that the English players understand tactics because they don’t. It’s almost non existent. Take. It. Slow. The English don’t see football as a thinking game. They prefer to kick the ball up the park and then chase it like Braveheart, with foam  on the lips and blood on the legs. That is deeply ingrained in their genes.

Which brings us to Oranje.

I have not a lot of additional things to share…. Dirk Kuyt won the title. Jeremain Lens is not doing too well and neither is his club. The Debate re: Sneijder is still being entertained in the media. With Arjen Robben claiming his buddy and mate should definitely go to Brazil.

It’s not a big debate for me. Our suggested alternatives to Wes and Raf were Siem de Jong and Adam Maher? Wijnaldum could have played there too. Or Van Ginkel. Or Affelay. But the latter two have not played a serious game and should not be considered. Maher and Wijnaldum have not played enough to give them any position (although Wijnaldum might be able to convince LVG in the coming weeks and Siem de Jong is still injured.

LVG

So with all these lads not in the picture, of course you take Wesley Sneijder, playmaker of Galatasaray.

It might not be Real Madrid but he is still playing at a big club which played at the highest level in Europe this year.

And even if he is 80% of his 2010 version, he is still better than the 100% Maher, Van Ginkel or Fer on that position.

Rafael van der Vaart is another story. Is he fit enough? To me, form is never an issue for Raf. He can be out form at Hamburg and score a brace for Oranje. He is an artist. More so than Sneijder. So Van der Vaart could be of use, but I see him only as a second striker (in a 4-4-2 for instance). Not as a midfielder.

I do believe LVG will change his 4-3-3. Maybe not “publicly” but in the execution we will see a departure from 4-3-3. Feyenoord was successful this season with the 5-3-2 and I can see Van Gaal play this formation too.

Depending on his fitness, Krul might not make Brazil, which will probably mean Ken Vermeer will come as third goalie. But he might end up as the first one. This will allow LVG to play with a goalie as sweeper. Than he might use Kongolo as left back and Janmaat as right back to work the flanks. And with three relatively fast centre backs (De Vrij, Bruma, BMI for instance). Three man midfield with Nigel de Jong, Leroy Fer and Wesley Sneijder and up front RVP and Arjen Robben…

Or something like that :-).

 

 

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Frank de Boer, Holland's finest….

Over the years, Holland produced a number of fine coaches. Wiel Coerver should most likely be named as the first one to establish a real method to the madness, even if Michels, Cruyff, Van Gaal and Hiddink are the best known names amongst the Dutch coaches. We had a number of so-called “school teachers” as coaches ( the more analytical of the bunch, such as Van Gaal and Adriaanse, although both had a long career as players in The Netherlands) and the so-called practice coaches…. The ones who applied their trade as a result of being top players. Cruyff, Van Hanegem, Rijkaard and Frank de Boer come to mind. There is also quite a large category of Dutch coach who work more anonymously than the former… Wim Koevermans, in India. John van ‘t Schip in Australia, Jos Luhukai in Berlin and Rene Meulensteen (ex Man United) are typical examples.

Every couple of years, a new “crown prince” emerges. Some stay on top, some vanish as a result of disappointing results ( Alex Pastoor, Robert Maaskant, Fred Rutten) and some simply choose to work in the background (Jan Wouters, Rob Alflen, Jean Paul van Gastel).

This season, in the Eredivisie, we saw a number of good stories emerge. Edwin van der Looij at Groningen, Marco van Basten’s resurrection at Heerenveen, Peter Bosz at title contender Vitesse, Ron Jans at PEC Zwolle and even much criticised Phillip Cocu at PSV has reasons to be proud.

marco-van-basten

Future coach of AZ Alkmaar?

Dick Advocaat did very well with AZ, particular in Europe, while Erwin Koeman might have had the best season performance at RKC with very limited resources. Little brother Ronald Koeman really should have snatched up the title this season with Feyenoord but failed at crucial times.

A name that has been mentioned a lot in recent weeks is that of Henk Fraser. The former Feyenoord and Oranje defender made his way to the top as a player via Sparta, FC Utrecht and Roda JC. The lanky player started as a striker but was quickly transformed to central defender. The shy and soft spoken player was a ruthless and hardworking defender. His killer mentality on pitch and his shyness off pitch earned him the nickname “the ghost” by Marco van Basten, who played with Fraser in Oranje at the ill-fated World Cup 1990 in Italy. Fraser played 6 caps for Oranje and scored once. The defender played nine successful seasons for Feyenoord winning the title, several national cups and reaching the semis of the Europa Cup II in 91/92.

Fraser took over at ADO Den Haag, 10 games ago, when the club was in serious trouble of being relegated. Under Fraser, they didn’t lose nine until they met Ajax last weekend.

fraser

Future coach of Feyenoord?

It looked like Den Haag, playing with typical Fraser grit, would be able to get a draw in the Arena but Ajax stepped on the gas in time to win the game 3-2.

And with Ajax, we have mentioned the club with the Coach of the Season, yet again. 43 year old Frank de Boer will win the title for a record fourth time in a row and will most likely also win the National Cup, this coming weekend versus PEC Zwolle.

Only 6 months ago, De Boer claimed he’d like to stay at Ajax for years to come, but only a couple of weeks a go he said he would entertain offers of “really interesting clubs”. And I think it would be a safe bet to say that Barcelona is most likely “a really interesting club”.

After four years Ajax, with good results, are you losing motivation?

“Certainly not. I am very intense in my approach to work. Fanatical almost and pretty demanding. But I am not blind. It’s not like I don’t see what is really valuable in life. Family and health are really key. Football is a very important hobby. But I am not an easy to guy to be with. I have daughters in their teens now and I want to make sure they live by the right values. Treat older people with respect, introduce yourself properly, thanking people when appropriate. I can be pretty tough on them, in that sense.”

Do you see a similar role towards players?

“I do expect normal conduct, in that sense, of course. I believe in dependability and accountability. On the pitch, but also off the pitch. Towards supporters, sponsors, stewards, etc… And on the pitch, dependability is key. You need to be able to rely on one another. Ninety minutes long. We make agreements, on how we play and we all need to be part of that game plan. We have strict rules regarding regaining possession. This only works when all players engage. I speak about this a lot with young players coming into the fold of Ajax 1. Recently, I spent a lot of time with Riedewald on this. All these lads know how to work the ball, to control the ball or to score a goal. No problem. But this aspect of taking your responsibility, that is something they need to learn around their 17th or 18th year…”

Frank+de+Boer

Is this why Davy Klaassen made such an easy entrance into Ajax 1.

“Yes. I had him in the B Junior group and you could see that he saw it all and that he had those leadership skills. He is not just a top talent, he is also a player who can read the game and take responsibility. And I am cool with young players making mistakes. A wrong through ball or a failed dribble. Players need to take risks and make mistakes to get better. But once they lose possession, they do need to turn around and try and win the ball back. Davy did not need any motivation to do this. He had that naturally in him.”

Klaassen has had some serious injuries and you decided to bring him slowly.

“I believed that to be best for him and for Ajax. We wanted Davy to be ready to be valuable in a big way for the team, as he is capable of doing. He needed time to regain his ball feeling and his strength. He played a lot of games for Young Ajax and when we needed Davy to be ready, due to Siem de Jong’s injury, he was ready.”

In this season, the big turnaround came when you moved Daley Blind to the midfielder’s role. This happened with Vurnon Anita as well, two seasons ago. That shift got Ajax the title then. Is it important for Ajax to have a real football player on that spot?

“It is a position which demands a lot from a player. First and foremost, you need to be capable of defending and of reading the game. So you need to be able to look over the ball, see what is going on around you and make the right decisions accordingly. You need to be able to defend and to make that first build up action. You need to be able to make the pace in the team and to play that essential deep ball. Daley is capable of all this. And he is still getting used to the role but he has so much football in him. More than he can display as defender. His strong suit as defender is his ability to forward press. He can do this in his current role as well. Serero is also a good example of a player who came with lots of individual skills but who needed to learn to be dependable for the team. He took some time getting adjusted, from the life in South Africa to living and playing in The Netherlands and he has really made great progress. I had to explain to him many times that as a player he will only have the ball for two or three minutes max. It’s what you do with the other 88 minutes that determine your value for the team.”

The right winger role is a difficult one for Ajax now. I guess you really wanted Narsingh? He would have been ideal.

“Well, he didn’t come. He went to PSV and we are now doing it our own way. I tried to get Eljero Elia as well. I worked with him with Oranje in 2010 and I think he is great. He will not have forgotten how to play and I thought I could get him to perform well again. Elia is having some good moments now at Bremen again. He is a on his way back. Ola John was also on my list. A real winger. But Lasse Schone is doing it his way and he has a lot of value for the team.”

staf ajax

Spijkerman, De Boer, Bergkamp

Co Adriaanse wonders why Ajax can’t deliver good wingers and strikers anymore?

“I get that comment of course, but hardly any big club in Europe uses wingers in the traditional sense. At Munchen, Ribery on the left and Robben on the right… Neymar is playing from the left at Barca. And the list goes on and on. It’s all about their contribution. I rather have a Robben style winger who comes inside then a classic winger who hugs the line. That is too limiting in today’s game. Marc Overmars could play both roles, he could come inside and he could go on the overlap outside. But those players are rare.”

Ajax wanted to do better in the CL this year but again, a tough draw made it hard this season. Again.

“You know what, I didn’t think our draw was that hard. To be honest, AC Milan is not the Milan we know of the 1980s and 90s. And Celtic is truly not as good as Ajax. I believe we should have finished second in the group. We dominated five games of the six we played. And we should be proud of that! We played to bad halves. Once against Barca and once against 10 men of Milan. That was hugely disappointing but we shot ourselves in the foot. The draw against Milan at home was unnecessary and we should have beaten Celtic twice. Simple. And we cannot play like Milan does. It’s not in our DNA. I don’t blame Balotelli for what he did. He is a pro, he wants to win. Fine. The referee determines where the line is drawn. We should not be drawn into all that drama. I believe we have the best chances if we play our own style of football. Combination play, pass and move, putting forward pressure on the opponent. We won three titles in a row with this and most likely a fourth.”

Is Ajax maybe too sweet, too kind for international success? Aren’t the current Ajax players more like the ideal son-in-law?

“I don’t think so. My number one priority is the football qualities of a player. Their personality is key too but not in the sense of screwing over an opponent or diving. I do miss some verbal aggression in the team. The coaching and the wake up calls, if you want. I need to hear that, even in a full Arena. And I don’t. We played a dreadful game against Cambuur and I couldn’t hear one single player having a go. I used to be different and more recently Luis Suarez was good at it too. He would be in your face if you were weak in the challenges.”

Is this why you are so pro-actively coaching all the time?

“Yes indeed! I feel like I still need to be coaching actively. Telling them if there is time or whether there is a player in their back.I want players to make it their second nature. Some lads try it but it is as if they’re whispering… I need to hear it loud and clear.”

bert frank

How far reaching is your influence, as a coach?

“We can offer our players a lot. But it doesn’t mean they all process it in the same way. I believe the player himself has the most influence on his career. When I was young, I would practice free kicks every practice session. Day and night almost. My dad told me to do this and I took it on. A coach can help with details, but the mentality of the player is key. And the way a coach approaches a player or motivates a player is probably also something one has to learn by doing. Typical example, Stefano Denswil was unlucky last season as I had to leave him out of the match squad often. He would train really well and he is a tremendous talent but he had to take a seat in the stands a lot. I needed a second left back as I had good central defender options already. So he was the sacrificial lamb so to speak. I never explained this to him. I expected him to see that. So after a while, he came to me and quite distraught asked me why he wasn’t given a seat on the bench. I learned from Denswil because I should have explained this and kept him motivated, instead of making him doubt himself.”

Your good friend Phillip Cocu is going through a lot at PSV. How do you see him?

“Phillip… I wish him all the best, except for the title with PSV, hahaha. Knowing him, he will simply work on the basis of his vision and he will definitely come good. They played really really well those first weeks. The whole nation was saying oh and ah. It’s hard for him, to have to handle this all in his first season, but with a young squad this is what you can get. But I am sure he will come out of this much stronger. Don’t worry about him….”

Guus Hiddink will be Van Gaal’s successor. Didn’t the KNVB call you?

“No, and I am happy that they didn’t. One day, sure… I want to do it. It’s a great honour. But I am happy here. I have much work to do still. I took over from Martin Jol and since Jol only Siem de Jong and Ken Vermeer are the only players left from those days. I say this to explain how dynamic the work is at Ajax. I have said it before, if a really really interesting club would come….who knows. But if I would have to work here another ten years I would be grateful as I am working with utmost pleasure.”

Frank-de-Boer-FC-Barcelona

Barcelona?

“Hahaha, I will not go into those questions. There is someone working as a coach now at Barca and it is simply not done to talk about someone else’s job, I think. But it will be quite clear for everyone that obviously Barcelona is my second club. I had a great time there and it would be the biggest job in club football, I think. For anyone.”

Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart might want to return to Ajax. Could you use them?

“I don’t know you know…. I have all the respect for both. They are outstanding players and two of the best Ajax has ever produced. But I have seen players return to Ajax… Total legends… Litmanen, Winter, Witschge and it is hard. Everyone remembers the fit, young player. But you always return in your autumn days…. And it almost always ends up being a disappointment. Look at Van Bommel even. He didn’t have a bad season, so much,  but it also was not a great success. I am sure he will agree with me. So, can I use Wes and Raf as midfielders? I am not sure? Will they be able to pull it off? I can see Raf as shadow striker or even striker. And I can see Sneijder as a false winger, as Mancini uses him now. But I would be careful in asking them back, to be honest. I think only Cruyff, Rijkaard and Cocu had a good return to their old club…”

And lastly…the World Cup 2014… You were assistant in 2010 and you worked intensely with Van Gaal. What do you see?

“Hard to say. It’s still a way to go for Van Gaal. A couple of question marks I suppose. But Louis is smart enough to play to the strength of the team. Which means, typical Dutch style football, with flair and offensive intentions. Van Gaal will probably come up with one or two smart ideas and maybe pick some players which will surprise the general public. But all in all, it is not very likely we will have an easy road to the finals. Our group is tough and we do have some inexperienced players in our squad now. If Sneijder or Van der Vaart are fit and Robben and Van Persie can hold form, I think Holland can surprise. Spain is not that good anymore so there are chances. A World Cup is always special. There is always that outsider that does well and there are always favourites that disappoint and are sent home early. But I’m glad Louis has to make the decision instead of me, hahaha.”

sneijd raf

Potential return?

What is your ideal Oranje Eleven?

“No. I won’t go there. Won’t sit on Louis’ chair. We have a number of good goalies. We have a number of good, but young defenders. We have good midfielders and we might need to take a risk there as Strootman is out and we have pretty good forwards… I am sure Louis will come up with a solid team.”

 

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Louis van Gaal starts preparing… and questions system….

Louis van Gaal doesn’t doubt stuff. He doesn’t doubt, full stop! And in particular not himself.

But… Lately, with Strootman taking a big injury hit and half of the Dutch internationals under performing at their clubs, he would be a fool not to doubt stuff. Like: “who will I take along”, “what kind of midfield will I use”, “will I go for 4-3-3 for real?”, “Can I find an honourable way to get out of this job NOW?”…. ( Btw: rumours go that Man United wants to talk to LVG for a role at Old Trafford…)

In a recent interview, Van Gaal – for the first time in a long while – said he was reconsidering the set up of his midfield. He decided earlier on, on using a three man midfield with “the point aiming back”. Or one central defensive mid and two offensive players. These two would have been Sneijder and Strootman. With the latter being able to support the former. With Stroot out of the picture, the make up of the midfield might need a change, is what Louis said.

The options he has are clear. Play with two holding mids and one central offensive midfielder. Playing De Guzman and De Jong or Blind and De Jong with a more agile and moving number 10. I don’t think Siem de Jong would be the man for that, but Wijnaldum or Klaassen could be that player. Even Robben and Van Persie have played there. As has Rafael van der Vaart but he will first get back to fitness before even thinking about Brazil.

Sneijder (and Van der Vaart) might be too static for the Van Gaal midfield Mark II, mind you…. Adam Maher in form would be the ideal player, by the way…

wes

Or LVG resorts back to 4-1-4-1. Or 4-2-3-1. With RVP the lone striker. Or even a solution with Hunter as lone striker… but I doubt that Louis will venture there.

Anyway, big question marks. Van Gaal clearly says he doesn’t see a replacement for Strootman in the Strootman style. Van Ginkel, Afellay, Klaassen, Fer…all possibilities. But none of them has what Stroot has. Some have no rhythm, some lack the skills and qualities.

Wesley Sneijder doesn’t seem to have impressed Van Gaal. Not sure what this means though…. In personal meetings? In his role as playmaker in the games he played? At Galatasaray? And is a 100% fit Immers better than a 80% fit Sneijder? Does this comment mean that Wes is not yet on the list of 23?

Van Gaal voiced concerns over Sneijder’s level of performance in Turkey and declared that only in-form players will be on the plane to Brazil.

Van Gaal told Dutch media source NRC, “You should be able to deliver at club level every week. If you can’t deliver at your club, then you most definitely can’t deliver at the national team.

“He [Sneijder] will play in Turkey until the middle of May, so I will wait and see. There is no need to decide before then.”

Sneijder’s contribution to the Netherlands team over the years has been immense. His performances at Euro 2008 saw him named in the UEFATeam of the Tournament, and two years later he appeared in the All-Star World Cup Team—with his displays in South Africa being a major reason behind his nation’s route to the final, where they lost to Spain in extra time.

In addition to his impressive international achievements, Sneijder has enjoyed a trophy-laden club career. The Dutch No. 10’s CV boasts titles in Holland, Spain, Italy and Turkey, as well as five domestic cups.

However, his crowning achievement came in 2010, when he won the Champions League with Inter Milan. Sneijder, who has previously scored a crucial goal in the semi-final, provided the assist for Diego Milito’s opener in the 2-0 triumph over Bayern Munich.

Sneijder is widely regarded as one of the greatest attacking midfielders in Europe and has returned 12 goals in all competitions for Galatasaray this term, and his omission from the Netherlands setup would be a huge shock to all.

What does this all mean?

I know Frank de Boer knows what to do. “Sneijder? I would always take him along. I don’t want to sit on Louis’ chair but I think that whatever solution you pick for the midfield, three or four in diamond or 4-2-3-1….that is determined by the quality of the players I think, but whatever system you use, you need players with that extra creative spark. That uniqueness. Sneijder has the ability to win a game for you. The venom, the will to win, the class, the persistence. He can score from a dead ball or create a chance out of nothing or play the through ball no one saw…. I would take him always.”

De Boer

This is where I think a coach has a big call to make: either the Team is the most important or you mould your team around a couple of aces. Van Gaal would normally go for the former. Make the team key. So rather three hardworking and dependable midfielders (like PSV changed its midfield and like De Boer still uses Poulsen) then one artist that doesn’t always perform and two players in his service. The teams that excel are the teams were everyone battles and fights and works their arse off. Liverpool, Bayern, Atletico Madrid, Everton…. This is where Spain will be vulnerable… Anyway, Sneijder….one needs to change the team around so Sneijder can deliver. I see him in the Cabaye/Pirlo role. Deeplying, next to Nigel de Jong. With Robben, Klaassen/Wijnaldum and Lens in front of them and RVP deep centrally.

Although I would love to use Robben as the number 10. Centrally. With Depay on the left and Lens on the right.

This does look like a very offensive line up but why not. If you go down, go in flames!!

It seems like Oranje is in a spot of bother.

Johan Cruyff spoke about Oranje recently. And was quite clear. “Listen, I don’t want to interfere with the work of Van Gaal and I don’t want to say things that people can then use to put pressure on him. But….fact of the matter: it will be very tough in Brazil. Surviving the group will be quite an achievement. Spain and Chile in the draw, aaargh…. Just two very good sides. And attacking sides too. Our problem is not that we lack quality. We have a lot of great talents. But this is the problem: most are just talents. They need a couple of seasons extra to be ready for the World Cup. In 1974, we had one talent in the team, in Rijsbergen. Our goalie was already experienced and so was the rest. Both Ajax and Feyenoord had just won the European Cup 4 times in a row, amongst them. De Kromme, Jansen, Nees, Rensenbrink, Krol, Rep…all experienced lads. World Class. Now it’s different. Our key players are the forwards. When midfield or defence can’t play themselves out of pressure, it will not help too much who we have upfront. We could have Messi and C Ronaldo as well, but if they don’t get the ball, we won’t score.”

LVG training

When the interviewer suggested we need to play ultra defensive football, JC exploded. “No! Wrong! I hear people say this. It’s the dumbest thing you can do. If your defence is your weakest link, don’t play defence!! It’s simple. We want the ball to be with RVP and Robben and those lads. Also, play your strength. If our lads are young and quick, play unpredictable football. Put the pressure on them. Sure, we’ll concede, but we need to make sure we score more than they do and it’s all good.”

May 7 is the day LVG will start with his formal prep work. A big group of Eredivisie players will join in and he will most likely also invite players of Young Oranje, to keep the numbers interesting.  Van Gaal has three periods of three days planned. He will announce his first squad list on May 2. Van Gaal will go for short but intensive sessions. After three days, the lads can go home for a bit. The second session will be with the players from the English and German competitions.

After returning from Portugal, Holland will prepare for a friendly against Ghana on May 31 in Rotterdam. Holland will play a last friendly in Holland in De Arena against Wales. On June 2, Van Gaal will announce the 23 players who’ll take the flight on June 5 to Rio.

In Brazil, Oranje will training on the Flamengo facility, on walking distance from the players hotel at Ipanema beach. The facilities are authentic. Maybe old fashioned. But the pitch got priority and is exactly the same in terms of blade length as the official venues: 1,8 to 2,0 mm.

Oranje will fly from Rio to the venues where it has to play in Salvador, Porto Alegre and Sao Paulo.
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Memory Lane: Oranje's 1990 World Cup campaign….

It’s a tradition I suppose. In the year of the World Cup, we do revisit the World Cups we have been to before…

I realise I have started with the 1974 one, in this series… And I actually should have started with the pre WWII campaign we had… Later I suppose….

I’ll stick to the “modern times” for now.

So here goes, by popular demand… What happened at (or rather: before) the WC1990.

Well, it all started in 1988 of course. Van Basten & Co stunned the world. With Michels moving up from manager to federation official, former Feyenoord coach Thijs Libregts took the reigns. The ex-Excelsior and Feyenoord player had quite a reputation as a coach. Arrogant and authoritarian, he had a title to his name, but no one thought he actually won it… He was Feyenoord’s coach when Cruyff decided to avenge his departure at Ajax and JC (and Gullit, Houtman, Hoekstra and Jeliazkov) won Feyenoord the title. Libregts was a suave operator, wearing the right suits and hairdo. But he was also a bit crass, with careless slip of the tongues… Like “Gullit is lazy, that’s what you get with those blacks…”.

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Thijs Libregts being fired. The manipulator Michels in the background.

Gullit, Rijkaard and Van Basten were a force in these days. The Milan trio ruled. But so did one Ronald Koeman, Jan Wouters and Ajax captain John van ‘t Schip. And positivo Hans van Breukelen was a voice to be reckoned with as well. The big guns decided they didn’t want cold Libregts. They wanted to win the title and they pleaded with the KNVB to replace the unpopular Thijs by a coach they respected. Someone like JC for instance.

At some point during qualifying for the WC1990 (which we intended to win) revolted. Gullit led the players to a vote of no confidence and Libregts was told to go. But who would have to lead Oranje to the title? The players got to vote.

KNVB honcho Rinus Michels chose the side of his players and a ballot was made. All players voted and the top three was: on number 3: Aad de Mos. The former Ajax and KV Mechelen coach is a tactical wizard and a kid from the street, who spoke the players’ language. Wim Kieft and Ronald Koeman (having had some negative experiences with Cruyff who made them leave Ajax) picked De Mos. Leo Beenhakker came in at number 2, with a tad more votes than Haagse Aadsje. Leo is well liked by most. He can work on players’ confidence and seemed ideal for a short stint. Although everyone remembered how Beenhakker failed to coach Oranje to a big tournament in the mid 1980s (Mexico WC 1986, with the dreaded late header by George Grun). JC topped the list, of course. The Milan and Ajax clan in particular (Witschge, Winter, Schip, Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard (despite Frank’s falling out with JC at Ajax). And JC was game. Or so it seemed.

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Body language Gullit tells the whole story. Leo “Ok, Ruud… So you’re balls are this big. Fine.”

But Rinus Michels showed his true colors. He looked at the list and thought…hmmm…Johan…Can’t have him winning the WC and putting my EC trophy in the shadows… And Rinus vetoed JC’s appointment, giving the job to Don Leo in the meantime.

Can’t remember what Rinus said to justify this, but it was along the lines of “Leo is more experienced, Johan is an inexperienced coach. He never did the course. And Johan will cause problems with the KNVB, because Johan is expensive and he wants to pick his own staff. It’s not good to pick Johan.”

Later, off the record, he even called Johan Cruyff a psychopath…

The players were livid. The one-time schmooch-fest between Gullit and Michels was over. And before the WC a true trench-guerilla war began. Michels wrote columns in the Telegraaf (Amsterdam-based newspaper) and he leaked inside stuff to the press. Gullit wrote columns in the AD, the Rotterdam based rival of Michel’s on-the-side employer. A war began, resulting in the KNVB forbidding players to write columns.

So, the scene was set. Beenhakker – the fool – accepted the job and should have known he couldn’t win. And then, as they have done many many many times before, the KNVB in all their wisdom came up with their tournament preparation scheme… How they fucked up, again! In 1994 they would highly, dramatically underestimate the weather in the US for the WC (Gullit was adamant that the summer would be too much for a normal prep and – influenced by the Milan scientists – begged for a special approach… When people told him he should stick to kicking footballs, the dreadlocked one decided to withdraw from the Dutch team… We all know the result of that group phase…).

Anyway, the KNVB decided to book a monastery type castle in the middle of nowhere in Yugoslavia…

These top players, who had tough seasons with their clubs, were looking forward to fun and chilling out. To clear the heads for this WC. Some beach volley ball, a nice town nearby for the wives and girlfriends, maybe some golf-resort…. But they got medieval circumstances… Isolation and a full on training scheme…

Something broke in that period. The players were miserable, and some players started to rebel (again), breaking out of their prison and going haywire.

gullit michels

Now this picture tells a story. Gullit had a column deal with the AD newspaper (he is reading) and Michels had a deal with rival newspaper De Telegraaf (see Michels in the back with reporter). Both columns clashed tremendously and Gullit was forbidden to write columns while a national squad player. Something broke alright….

The performances were abysmal in this WC. Gullit and Van Basten weren’t able to deliver. Was it fatigue? Injuries (Van Basten’s right ankle was already in shambles)? Was it the Beenhakker thing? Van ‘t Schip and Wouters were the danger men for Holland, Kieft had a good spell, Rijkaard was solid, but it wasn’t enough. At one point, Leo Beenhakker left the dressing room with what seemed to be a black eye. Rumors started how Van Basten punched him out, but Don Leo said  “he’d bumped into to something”… Marco’s fist? Other stories related how Van Basten had thrown an ashtray to Leo’s head. Whatever it was, we’ll never know.

Don Leo sighed that “75% of what happened behind closed doors will never be revealed” but when asked about this much later, he claims he never said it. Players now balk at that quote, saying they can’t imagine what Leo had been smoking…

“We just didn’t have it. It didn’t gel. Gullit, Van Basten, Koeman…they all seemed tired. It’s one of those things…”

The first knock out game against Germany was a classic. Oranje could have won that, there were some good chances (Wouters, Winter, Schip) but the Germans scored twice and we only once. That sums it up. Although Rijkaard scored twice against Rudi Voller of course :-). But that didn’t result in us winning, it only resulted in both men being sent off.

Rinus shouldn’t have screwed the players over. And maybe the players should have gone on strike.

Maybe, they should have said: look, we’re the 3 from Milan. We won European cups, we won the EC in 1988, we have tremendously skilled players and we’re eager. We only need one thing: a coach we respect. Give us JC! If not, we won’t go.

That never happened. They went with Don Leo and stayed too long isolated from the world in some horrible camp. The spirit was broken. The mind wasn’t fresh. The legs refused to listen.

No gold and glory, only humiliation and mysterious insinuations of mythical proportions…

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Feyenoord 1970, the start of the Golden Oranje Era

Thanks for the link, JB!

As a Feyenoord man, I love this piece.

In the late 1960s, Feyenoord was considered to be one of the strongest and richest clubs in Europe. The Feyenoord Kuip Stadium was (and soon will be again) the most impressive venue in Europe and under master coach Ernst Happel, Feyenoord was the first Dutch club to win significant silverware with top notch players like Ove Kindvall, Wim Jansen, Coen Moulijn, Rinus Israel and Willem van Hanegem.

Here is the article by  of The Hard Tackle (.com).

When one talks of Dutch football in the early 70′s, many people unleash a sonnet, announcing the perfection and innovation and dominance of Ajax, Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff. Most people would dismiss of it as an ‘April Fool’s Day joke’ , when they are told that the first Dutch team to win the European Cup is surprisingly, not Ajax – which is a very common and very wide misconception. It was actually the club Ajax would’ve liked least to have taken this honour, their fiercest rivals in an enmity that runs deep into both clubs’ history and has taken root in the very identity of both cities: Feyenoord Rotterdam.

With the win juxtaposed between Ajax’s loss to Milan and Ajax’s win over Panathinaikos, this Feyenoord team has hardly ever been given its due credit for the 1970 triumph, en route to which, they emerged victorious against the team that had brushed Ajax aside the previous year – Milan and in the finals, a Celtic team that had 7 of the ‘Lisbon Lions’.

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Ove Kindvall just scored the winner in the EC1 finals…

If Ajax had their talisman and stand-out player in Johan Cruyff, Feyenoord had theirs in the mercurial Wim van Hanegem; many Feyenoord fans would still contest and argue for hours on end that van Hanegem was a better player than Cruyff! Considered one of the best passers that the game has seen, van Hanegem was a central midfielder, with nowhere near as much flashiness or speed that Cruyff had, but if anything in footballing context could be perceived as being mellifluous, it would’ve been van Hanegem’s ability to control the tempo of the game, as if he held a metaphorical metronome. When a youth footballer at Velox SC (a club which was merged into FC Utrecht in 1970), Wim was described as being ‘too fat, too slow’ and it did show a bit, with the Breskens-born midfielder always carrying himself in a bent posture and having a penchant for passes that seemed like they were overplayed for his teammate but would curve or ‘bend’ into them, making a mockery out of the defender. While a young Ajax team were starting to announce themselves on the European stage with the fog match in 1966, van Hanegem was progressing at new club Xerxes and interestingly, caught the eye of the Ajax chairman at the time, van Praag who recommended the young midfielder to Michels. The manager dismissed van Hanegem, calling him one-dimensional and too old-fashioned a player. Michels would go on to eat his words, and would later mould his Netherlands team around the seemingly one-dimensional midfielder, even though he was 30 at the time. Meanwhile, van Hanegem did not leave the Persian-named club for the Greek-named one and Feyenoord pounced on him.

Adding to the trivia, it was also actually a Rinus (with a very Jewish surname) who played a crucial role in handing Feyenoord European glory, – Rinus Israel. Forming a solid partnership with Theo Laseroms, IJzeren Rinus (Iron Rinus) was sweeper and captain and was described by one of his opponents as being ‘the most intimidating, imposing presence you had ever felt in defence.’ At leftback was Theo van Duivenbode, a former Ajax player who had been forced to their arch rivals as Michels had persisted with the much younger Ruud Krol.

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Coentje with the Cup

And up on the left wing, was Coen Moulijn – Feyenoord’s answer to both Ajax’s Piet Keizer and Sjaak Swart. Moulijn was Mr Feyenoord, a boy who had grown up kicking balls against a factory wall in the streets of Rotterdam, a boy whose playing style as a man embodied the spirit of Rotterdam and its manual and experential spirit, especially post-World War II. In Feyenoord’s 2-1 win over the indomitable Real Madrid side of the 60′s, Moulijn was the game-changer and the Madrid defence had to resort to tackling him from behind as the only means to stop the left winger from blazing down his flank, putting in crosses with accuracy like an experienced hunstman, wielding his archery equipment and splitting his own arrows on the bull’s eye. When he passed on in 2011, Feyenoord’s all-time top scorer, Cor van der Gijp described him as Overmars and Van t’ Schip put together, or more relatably, ‘..like Robben and Beckham in one body.’

But the man who put it all together, was the man that is remembered now as one of the best coaches of all-time, Austrian Ernst Happel. His team typified him as a person and a former player, strong-willed, physical, big but technically adept. In the final, Celtic went with a 4-2-4 and Happel implemented his 4-3-3. Having always believed that, ‘the games always unfolds from the midfield’, Happel’s 3-man linchpin of Jansen, fellow Austrian Hasil and van Hanegem proved to be the key element in overcoming a much more experienced Celtic side. The 3v2 situation in midfield while Feyenoord defended meant that Jansen could always clean up and retrieve the loose ball, having been relieved of man-marking duties. Moreover, Moulijn would drop back to cover the space between Celtic fullback David Hay and arguably their most influential player, Jimmy Johnstone, such that the balls played to the right winger would be intercepted to distributed to van Hanegem who would look up to try and find Swede Kindvall, who would eventually score the winner for Feyenoord in extra time, after a long ball from Israel was fumbled by Celtic’s greatest ever captain Billy ‘Cesar’ McNeill (on watching replays, he seemed to have handled the ball) and it rebounded right onto Kindvall’s face, but the Swede held his composure and quickly lifted it over the advancing keeper, making it 2-1 to Feyenoord.

Fey1970

Feyenoord would go on to lift both the Eredivisie and the Intercontinental Cup the next season, but were the victims of a shock elimination in the first round of the European Cup, which saw Ajax ensure that the Cup would remain in the waterlogged, low-lying Netherlands. Most of the Feyenoord players from the European champion team of 1970 spent almost the entirety of their careers in the Netherlands and were unlucky to be playing in the same era as perhaps arguably, the greatest club side of the 20th century. Cruyff walked away with the Best Player award in 1974, but he would have not been as good as he was without van Hanegem – even when pushing 31 – was providing him with world-class service, without Jansen winning the ball back in tight positions to be distributed to the likes of Cruyff and Rep. And perhaps, that offers the Feyenoord paradox of the 70′s – they were very good, but Ajax simply had more poetic fluidity, begging to be written about in them, as well as the tactical intuition to revolutionise the sport, like never before. Since 1964-65 til 1973-74, Feyenoord won the Eredivisie 4 times, and finished only 2 points behind Ajax at their very peak in 1972-73.

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The inevitability of legacy means that when asked about Dutch football in the 70′s, people will still hold on to the cynosural holy trinity of Ajax, Michels and Cruyff as well as the concept of Total Football. But hopefully, from now, the name of Feyenoord will float upstream from the river of Lethe, and it will peek into the minds of a few – just a small, shy glance, reminding them that they were indeed the Dutch team that set the ball rolling, claiming the highest honour in European football in fashion worth admiration, in fashion worth remembering.

 

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Cruyff and Van Hanegem: "Mental strength and "gogme" lacking…."

Cruyff is widely considered to be one of the best football players ever. When assessed on his impact on football tactics as a coach and player, Cruyff might well be the Greatest Ever. For some, Willem van Hanegem was as important and as impressive as a player. His coaching career was a bit more tupsy turvy and Willem never won an international title with any of his teams, like JC.

Both impressed as players during the World Cup 1974. Cruyff was the face of the team, if you want. The talking point. The leader. The man with the spotlights on him. Behind him, Willem van Hanegem was the dreh-und-angelpunkt of the team. The time keeper. The game accelerator. The Sneijder/Zidane/Pirlo of the team. And according to some, Willem was even better than JC at that tournament.

Cruyff made quite an impression in Spain and the US as well. Willem never played for another European team outside of The Netherlands ( he played for AZ and FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie, apart from being a Feyenoord icon). Willem did play for Chicago Sting (with Dick Advocaat) in the US. Despite Willem’s limited exposure to other European countries, he has quite a reputation in South America and in England as a Dutch Master. The games Feyenoord played for the UEFA Cup III finals vs Spurs and the World Cup games Feyenoord played against South American opponents like Estudiantes made sure of this.

Cruyff and Van Hanegem are not the biggest mates off pitch. They were fierce rivals in their Ajax – Feyenoord active careers. And wonderful partners wearing the orange jersey. They have tremendous respect for one another. But JC was always too bossy and dominant for Willem’s liking and Willem was always too unpredictable and contrarian and untouchable for Johan’s liking.

So they never really kicked each other’s doors in with cake and coffee the way Wim Jansen and Cruyff were buddies, and the way Dick Advocaat and Willem van Hanegem were buddies.

willem johan gerald

But their football vision is scarily similar. I have had the prvilege of watching an interview with both ex-players in 1983. Holland was qualified (or so we thought) for the France 1984 Euro tournament. Spain only needed to play Malta and they needed eleven goals difference in order to beat Holland to it. The whole nation was convinced even Spain was not able to do so.

Not so, Willem and Johan. In an interview that got them to be ridiculed for a short span, they both declared that 1) Oranje would not go to the Euros as 2) Spain would find a way to score 11 times.

As we all know now: they were right. Whether the game was bribed or not, Spain scored enough goals to qualify. And both players who seemed cynical at the time of the interview appeared to be some sort of oracle.

Yesterday, both ex players were in the media again. And as if they rehearsed it: their message was quite clear.

Holland is struggling massively on the mental aspects of the game.

Willem van Hanegem was clearly disgusted with the lack of fight, passion and belief Twente started the game against Ajax. “If you have your last chance against the number one, and you come to work with this attitude, Ajax will butcher you.” He saw a couple of other games in the Eredivisie (Roda – RKC, a relegation match) and saw the same thing: players who appear to not being in the mood to play a game of football. Van Hanegem even made a point Tiju will like. Apparently Schaken is on his way out of De Kuip, hoping for bigger and better things. Willem believes Feyenoord schould immediately sign Romeo Castelen. The former Feyenoord and HSV Hamburg man impresses every weekend and at least demonstrates the will to battle and fight.

Van Hanegem also stressed that it is possible for coaches to take an existing team and raise their level. By working with focus and clear goals and a consistent vision. He praises Frank de Boer, but more so Pellegrini at Man City, Guardiola at Bayern and Simeone at Atletico. He – rightfully – claims that Guardiola took a team that was at its peak under Heynckes and made that team improve and perfect their game even more… So Willem basically challenged the Dutch coaches and asked them to analyse and consider the approach of these coaches and see if there is something there to learn from.

Cruyff went a step further, by saying we lack mental strength and shrewdness. Or “gogme” in good Amsterdam-yiddish speak. As soon as a club feels the pressure of “having to perform”, they succumb under the pressure. It happened to Feyenoord a number of times, PSV had it big time in the first season half. Vitesse and Twente have it now while Ajax even drew twice in a row after they saw their rivals switch off. There does not seem to be that killing mentality. Cruyff feels that whenever a club “would like to win” things are going alright but when that is changed into “having to win” the players show their weaknesses. “The players also lack a shrewdness. I call it the ability to read the game”, Cruyff lectures. “I saw a team playing an opponent with tall players. The opponent loves corner kicks. So you first try to do what you can to not give corners away. But if you do, make sure you keep 3 players up front, at least! This will put pressure on their defence and for sure, their coach will instruct to keep one or two big defenders at the back. Those are little tactical things players can do in order to outsmart the opponent.” In another example, Cruyff saw a goalie constantly using the long ball to connect with the tall center forward. “The defenders tracked back, every time the ball went to the goalie. Almost inviting him to kick the ball long! Wrong! What you need to do is go up field. Play higher. Make your defensive line around the mid way point. And play offside.” Cruyff believes logical thinking can only happen in an aware mind. Being sharp.

All this talk about our weaknesses…. happening after a weekend in which Ajax made their claim to the title pretty firmly. And it seems that Twente, Feyenoord and maybe PSV will battle for the second spot.

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Zivkovic

Another big talking point in The Netherlands is the Oranje selection. Van Gaal has told the media he is considering a Wild Card for a player who has not yet made an appearance in Oranje. Was Van Gaal taunting the media? Is he serious? Could it be Douglas? Or Virgil van Dijk? Or is it maybe Terence Kolongo, of Feyenoord? Or Zivkovic? The Groningen forward who recently signed for Ajax?

Who knows…. Only Van Gaal knows at this stage….

In the meantime, PSV coach Phillip Cocu has been treated for a benevolent tumor in his back. The debutant coach of PSV was suffering some back pain and scans pointed out there was a tumor. Frank de Boer will claim a lot of the headlines re: coaching in Holland. Clearly Advocaat, Erwin van der Looy, Peter Bosz and Marco van Basten can consider themselves to have performed well this season, while Lodeweges, Booij and Jans have done pretty good too with their smaller clubs. And Erwin Koeman might well be the best coach of them all, keeping RKC safe (for now, that is).

But Cocu also deserves a special mention. The former creative left winger turned into all round marathon man in midfield for PSV, Barca and Oranje has had a massive career as a player and was always seen as a potential top coach.

He did the PSV senior team for a spell and decided to go back to the youth system until he felt he was ready. This season was supposed to be his season. He did a lot of things right: he signed some pretty good players (Maher!) and he allowed some exciting youngsters to progress to the senior side. He made one big mistake – or two actually… He omitted to pick a more experienced and seasoned assistant coach ( like Rijkaard > Ten Cate and De Boer > Spijkerman) but instead gave his confidence to equally young and inexperienced Ernst Faber. Second mistake was that Ola Toivonen was allowed back into the squad. The Swede was a poisoned apple and was first banned from the dressing room but bad results forced Cocu (?) to take him back into the fold. That never works.

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His start with PSV this season was quite extraordinary. The youngster played with two offensive midfielders ( Maher and Wijnaldum) and with Bakkali as winger on the right. PSV hit a drought however and this situation forced Cocu to abandon his Barca-vision for PSV. The two creative midfielders had to make way (Wijnaldum injured, Maher lost form) for more balanced options in midfield. And the midfield became Schaars, Park and Hiljemark. Park is still exceptional and Hiljemark will be a better Schaars for sure, but to play these three in midfield did bring some much needed consistency to the team but it also hurt the attractiveness of the game. Is this a needed step back for PSV? Or is this move away from Cocu’s vision basically a defeat and therefore a bad strategic decision?

Cocu was able to sign Ruiz – for a lot of money – in the winter break and with the Costa Rican, PSV has had a sensational series, bringing them back into the top 4 and most likely resulting in European football for PSV. A must, for sure.

But, there is another but… This move cost quite a lot of money and has blocked the development of a talent (Bakkali, Jozefzoon, Narsingh) by a player (Ruiz) who will not stay in Eindhoven this summer.

The former AZ and Vitesse winger did make a good decision in bringing back Hiddink to Eindhoven in a consultant role. A mentor. That was seen by a lot of people in Holland as a weak move by Cocu, but I think it was very strong of him to do so. It was probably Cocu admitting that he needed a more seasoned assistant coach to support him in his work. Hiddink is the ideal man of course as Guus and Phillip have a warm relationship and Cocu talked to Hiddink already before he was formally installed.

Ask Cocu what he would have changed in the first half of the season, looking back and he will answer with “not much”. He continues: “I wouldn’t have made other decisions or used another player. I made those decisison with reasons and these still stand. It’s more that I might try and change my approach. I do believe I have tried too much maybe. Tried to analyse too much, and fill the heads of the players with too much information. I might have overdone it at times.”

There is a lot of faith in Cocu, but did he ever lose sleep over losing his job? “No, never. I have lost sleep over the results, yes. That does work under your skin. But all that stuff about my job or about my future and all that… I can’t do a thing with that.”

How does Cocu explain the bad series in the first season’s half? “It’s like with anything. There are always multiple forces at work. We started really well. People started to call us title candidates! Ridiculous. We have such a young team. We also had to integrate a number of new lads. Then we lost Park, who is quite important for us, and Wijnaldum followed and we had key players dropping out at key moments. That never helps. And once the pressure is on and you end up in a losing streak, you know all can go against you. But we were never as bad as people tended to think. And now, in our winning ways, we are not even that good as people now claim… The learning curve was steep for most players and I am convinced all players will learn a lot from this particular period. And I think all in all, the supporters can be proud of their team. We have turned it around pretty good and I have seen certain players develop really well. Mind you, we have almost a totally new back four, goalie, midfield and half our attack is new. This is a new team that normally needs time to gel together. I am actually very proud of the lads.”

Hiddink will assume National Coach duties in July 2014. Cocu will have to find another mentor to support him. “We’ll see how we go with that. We don’t want to make hasty decisions. We want to finish this season in style. Securing European Football will be top priority.”

Cocu agreed with Cruyff and Van Hanegem and their criticism. “It’s funny, I was talking about that with Frank de Boer some time back… In 1998, we were close to winning the World Cup. We lost the semis. But we were already pleased to be in the semis. We didn’t really feel like we were supposed to win it… We were mentally not as strong as the 2010 squad. I can see this at PSV too. Some lads think – or thought – they had it made by simply reaching PSV 1. I have to make them see that it only starts now….”

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