In the late 60s, Ajax had a first stab at it, but they lost their finals, vs Internationale, 4-1. The still playful and naive Ajax players vs shrewd and ruthless Italians…
The next season, Feyenoord led the way. And Coach Ernst Happel and his key players Moulijn, Van Hanegem, Jansen and Israel created the template which Michels, Cruyff and Co would perfect in the ensuing years… Dutch football was never the same.
Coach Ernst Happel is famous in Holland for his typical quote: “Kein keloel, fussball spielen!”. Which translates as “Stop talking, just play football!”.
He was a no nonsense guy. A tremendous football player himself, for Austria and Rapid Wien and Racing Club Paris. As a coach, he immediately won the respect when at the first training, he placed several empty bottles on the cross bar, and placed balls outside of the box. And he then hit the balls which would all hit a bottle. The Feyenoord squad has just seen that their coach knows how to hit a football.
In Austria, Happel was never seen as a potential top coach. He loathed theory and was never part of the incrowd. But after he won the European Cup with Feyenoord, the Austrian federation invited him for a presentation at some seminar. “The people in the room were silent and hung onto every word. It was just fantastic. His pitch was just incredible!”.
Happel was the first coach to win the European Cup with two different clubs: Feyenoord and Hamburger SV. He did reach the finals again, with Club Brugge but lost. He won titles in four different countries and the national cup in four different countries. He reached the finals of the World Cup 1978 with the Dutch national team.
His biggest issue was his lack of language skills. He spoke German. That’s it. So he never did long tactical talks. He would observe, say something here and there and use simple commands like “Geh ma raus!”, which translated as “Move forward!”. The training and practice sessions, however, were such that the players didn’t need to hear longwinded tactical talks. “He could communicate to every single player exactly what he wanted. But he didn’t do it with words, but with practices.”
Should Happel have had the same audacity as other coaches to write a book about his methods and vision, he would have been an international guru in the same vein as Michels, Mourinho or Sacchi. But he never did. He wasn’t interested in becoming a guru. The following three topics form the foundation of Happel’s football sacraments.
The Off-side Trap
Maybe to clear this up first: Happel didn’t invent Total Football as a mathematical formula. He was a man of the pitch, not a theory guy. He would create solutions based on the players he had at his disposal. With him, it was an organic process. Former Ajax back (and part of the Feyenoord squad when they won the Cup in 1970) Theo van Duivenbode: “Michels was great in developing a tactical plan at the start of a game and he’d try to hold on to it. Happel was different. Happel was capable of seeing where things didn’t work in a match and he’d tweak it while we were playing. I think Happel read the games way better than Michels.”
The Off-side trap, a mechanism that would impress the world in 1974 when the Dutch successfully used it at the World Cup 1974 was something Happel came up with in 1949 (!). He was the main man in the Rapid Wien team, one of the best teams in Europe. Rapid went to play in Brazil vs Vasco da Gama and was played off the pitch, trailing 3-0 in a short spell. After the break, the Vasco manager told his players to take it easy. The end result: 5-0.
The 22 year old Ernst Happel couldn’t sleep and decided to analyse the game that night with his coach Pesser and technical director Franz Binder. Pesser: “We were humiliated. We had never had this before. We spent hours jotting on pieces of paper and analysing what they did. Their coach Flavio Costa was an innovator, who laid the foundation for Brazil’s flowing tactical style of play. That morning we decided to abandon the Austrian school. We needed something new. And one new thing we introduced was Ernst Happel as central defender, the playmaker from the back.”
And as central defender, Happel was able to use the off-side trap. He was the last man and could recognise the ideal moment to move forward and complete out think and out manoeuvre the opponent. He used this in all the teams he coached. German legend Gunther Netzer played for Borussia Monchengladbach and faced Feyenoord in the European Cup: “We couldn’t live with them. I saw one head after the other slumped down. We had no idea how to deal with this and I looked at the bench, I wonder who their coach was…”. Ernst Happel of copurse.
In 1981, Netzer would sign Happel as coach for Hamburger SV.
The 4-3-3 system
Feyenoord played a 4-2-4 system in 1969, with deep striker Ove Kindvall and playmaker Willem van Hanegem as two strikers and two players in midfield. All Happel did was drop Willem back to midfield and add Franz Hasil (Rapid Wien player) to the midfield (with Wim Jansen) and the rest is history.
Rinus Michels copied what Happel did. He used the 3-2-5 still, the traditional offensive football style in Holland, with one central defender, 2 back, two controlling mids and 5 attackers: 2 out and out wingers and two “inner” players and a striker. When Ajax drew 3-3- with Feyenoord in April 1970, Michels decided to go with 4-3-3 as well. His old style was simply too vulnerable against strong teams. A year later, Ajax would win the European Cup as well.
When watching the finals between Celtic and Feyenoord, it is remarkable to see how patient Feyenoord is… Celtic is constantly playing the long ball forward and hopes on some creativity from the four forwards. Feyenoord plays like a collective. Patient build up play with short passing from the back. When Feyenoord played against teams using the 4-2-4, they always had the extra man in midfield and getting a free man using the man-more concept is more an Austrian invention than a typical Dutch one…
Some of the Feyenoord legends: goalie Eddy PG, central defender Rinus Israel, Guus Haak and mercurial winger Coen Moulijn, next to Happel’s statue.
Pressing
Again, a lesson learned in a country far far away gave Happel the necessary insights. Rapiud Wien is the first team post World War 2 to travel to the USSR. The teams there played a collective style of football. In Western Europe and the UK, teams relied on the dribbles of the individual, but Russian teams worked on playing pressing football as a collective. Viktor Maslov (not the dog guy), who was the mentor of one Valeri Lobanovski, was an innovator. He was the one stating that one had to take time and space away from the opponent. In those days, it was normal to allow defenders some space so they can move forward dozens of yards. Willem van Hanegem: “I can’t remember any time where Ajax put us under pressure. It was Happel who was innovative in Holland with this concept, using fast, hardworking players on the wings. They were the first defenders. We had Henk Wery at Feyenoord and he used Rene van de Kerkhof in the 1978 Dutch team. He created the ideal circumstances this way, for a team that could grasp the opponent and never let them go.”
Again, Michels took notice and decided to let more static players like Henk Groot and Bennie Muller go for marathon men like Johan Neeskens and Nico Rijnders. Ajax never played that aggressive, actually, it was once Michels had players like Jansen, Van Hanegem and Neeskens in one midfield (World Cup 1974) when he started using the aggressive press. The label Total Football was given to Michels’ team, but it was Happel who led the way.
Rinus Michels promoted the concept, with his trusted lieutenants (Cruyff, Keizer, Krol) at his side, but if Happel would have been a better promotor and had written some books about it, he would have had more respect internationally… The off-side trap, 4-3-3 and collective pressing might have needed way more time to find Dutch football. Michels copied it smartly and deployed his tactics with a better team than Happel could…
Winning the European Cup also meant Feyenoord was going to compete for the World Cup for club teams. Argentine club Estudiantes was the opponent and it was a completely new experience for the Dutch side. Willem van Hanegem: “We didn’t know much about them. Basically, nothing. In today’s world, you can find out everything about opponents, stats and what not. We did think their football was going to rought, but how rough… We played in Argentina and we got a corner kick. When the ball was played in I felt this sharp pain in my side, some Estudiantes player had a little needle in his pocket and when the ref wasn’t paying attention, with dead ball situations, he’d prick me right when the ball was coming in… This was beyond “wanting to win” and I realised we were schoolboys compared to them!”. Feyenoord drew 2-2 in Argentina, with Van Hanegem and Kindvall on the score board. In Rotterdam, sub Joop van Daele was the unlikely match winner with a distance pile driver. The anecdote everyone remembers about this game, is that the glasses worn by goal scorer Van Daele were taken of his head by an Estudiantes player and trampled! During the match. “By accident”. Yeah right.
Van Daele wants his glasses back!
Nice.didnt know NT did have a foregin coach.
https://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=36174
Check out whom Heerenveen are linning up . I talked about this guy some time back to keep a look out on. He was a top prospect in feyenoord youth system but they let him go.
Ok any comments on Dest’s latest transfer speculation.
Yep, after the 1976 debacle, the KNVB allowed Jan Zwartkruis to do the qualifications. He was a football man, led the Dutch military team (!) and was considered a “nice guy” but not strong enough to deal with the likes of Cruyff, Van Hanegem and Krol. When we qualified for Argentina, the KNVB did what it did with the 1974 World Cup: it hired a top notch club coach to do the tournament. Barca’s Michels was the man in 1974 (I think he was called the coordinator) and in 1978 it was Feyenoord’s Happel…
By then. Happel had coached ADO Den Haag and Feyenoord and was considered “Dutch”…
This is where I have to be argumentative on the dutch persistence on totall football which imo at some stage will require engineering or modern day touch which again goes to the paragraph above ” create solution based on the players at disposal” and obviously not the system unless you have what it takes to execute it. You look city under guardiola.you could bracket him having Dutch DNA and also total football genetics but he has taken it to a whole new level at city with the double pivot system. He had to move on because he didnt have messi,inestia or xavi.instead of pesisting with same mantra he engineered a new one.
Now you compare him to van gaal when he arrived at United. What happened to him at Barce and bayern exactly happened again h to him just over year at United because of his continuous dictorial style.
dont need to be genuis here to figure out what my point here is and if you have to bring koeman in this picture I would say he is in the same boat given the trajectory of the team without key players.
Lastly I have being following Bosz at Leverkusan and I must say, he has what it takes to take NT into new or modern day direction especially with vast young dutch talents that are coming up. His intellectuality between 3-4-3 and 4-3-3 in just two seasons has propelled Leverkusan to shift another level. Also credit to the young talents they have but this is no surprise to what he did both at Ajax and vitesse. I would like to see this guy as the next coach for NT or in near feature and believe NT can win on big stage under him.
Note: my argument is more on modern day soccer compared to dutch old school style and idea that you need to have dutch genetics to become a NT coach like you said about that happel guy.
Jaap Stam has been hired to coach Cincinnati FC. https://twitter.com/fccincinnati/status/1263514893853978625?s=20
Its not looking good for dilrosun. He needs to fight his way back for a starting spot. The reshuffle by hertha coach has left him stranded.the way its looking he is not part of his plan.
Watched bayern and Monchengladbarch (replay) and I must say Moussa Diaby will be the next big name for france. He is such an exciting winger and not even just one season at Leverkusan he is already attracting big clubs. This is the sort of trajectory you wanna see for dutch talents who are coming up so that that they do not trail to the big nations in terms of the gap between them. during the course of the nation league NT looked to be at their peak and also best in the europe but by the end of the EC qualifers they hit the other side peak. This comes had no surprise given koeman stuck to the same group of players while other teams kept injecting talents who were thriving in different leagues and if things doesnt change for NT, the turn around time at peak will always be short for them and within a very short period the other big nations will continue to catch up and increase the gap by two fold
You can also take kai Harvetz as another example here and compare him to VDBeek and wijnaldum. Firstly has come out of no where and is setting the pace in bundasliga and just see how long it takes him to surpass both the dutch compatriots. Klopp is keeping a close tabs on him and this could be on the cards if he arrives at Anifield.
Even if you look at Dilrosun, super talented but still he hasnt hit the level of Diaby, Sancho etc. This is where things need to change as mentioned earlier others ways the current trend for NT will continue.
Going back to the game harvetz and diaby have become crown jewel for Bosz and are the orchestrators. Sinkgraven, not much to do as Diaby hardly requires extra cover. Leverkusan climb to third and are pushing for a strong finish.
Watched bayern and Monchengladbarch (replay) and I must say Moussa Diaby will be the next big name for france. He is such an exciting winger and not even just one season at Leverkusan he is already attracting big clubs. This is the sort of trajectory you wanna see for dutch talents who are coming up so that that they do not trail to the big nations in terms of the gap between them. during the course of the nation league NT looked to be at their peak and also best in the europe but by the end of the EC qualifers they hit the other side of the peak. This comes as no surprise given koeman stuck to the same group of players while other teams kept injecting talents who were thriving in different leagues and if things doesnt change for NT, the turn around time at peak will always be short for them and within a very short period the other big nations will catch up and again increase the gap by two fold
You can also take kai Harvetz as another example here and compare him to VDBeek and wijnaldum. Firstly has come out of no where and is setting the pace in bundasliga and just watch how long it takes him to surpass both the dutch compatriots. Klopp is keeping a close tabs on him and this could be on the cards if he arrives at Anifield.
Even if you look at Dilrosun, super talented but still he hasnt hit the level of Diaby, Sancho etc. This is where things need to change as mentioned earlier other ways the current trend for NT will continue.
Going back to the game harvetz and diaby have become crown jewel for Bosz and are the orchestrators in the attack. Sinkgraven, not much to do as Diaby hardly requires extra cover. Leverkusan climb to third and are pushing for a strong finish
Watched bayern and Monchengladbarch (replay) and I must say Moussa Diaby will be the next big name for france. He is such an exciting winger and not even just one season at Leverkusan he is already attracting big clubs. This is the sort of trajectory you wanna see for dutch talents who are coming up so that that they do not trail to the big nations in terms of the gap between them. during the course of the nation league NT looked to be at their peak and also best in the europe but by the end of the EC qualifers they hit the other side of the peak. This comes as no surprise given koeman stuck to the same group of players while other teams kept injecting talents who were thriving in different leagues and if things doesnt change for NT, the turn around time at peak will always be short for them and within a very short period the other big nations will catch up and again increase the gap by two fold
You can also take kai Harvetz as another example here and compare him to VDBeek and wijnaldum. Firstly has come out of no where and is setting the pace in bundasliga and just watch how long it takes him to surpass both the dutch compatriots. Klopp is keeping a close tabs on him and this could be on the cards if he arrives at Anifield.
Even if you look at Dilrosun, super talented but still he hasnt hit the level of Diaby, Sancho etc. This is where things need to change as mentioned earlier other ways the current trend for NT will continue.
Going back to the game harvetz and diaby have become crown jewel for Bosz and are the orchestrators in the attack. Sinkgraven, not much to do as Diaby hardly requires extra cover. Leverkusan climb to third and are pushing for a strong finish
@Jan, Are you faring okay with the storm that is hitting Western Australia?
@Wilson, yes disappointing about Dilrosun, but if he is to be good enough for the NT, he should be able to show enough with his club team in practices to play…I did see Sinkgraven play the last couple of games, he looked good at lb.
http://www.football-oranje.com/az-contact-uefa-to-get-top-champions-league-spot/
The audacity of AZ that wants to finish ahead of Ajax even though Ajax had the superior goal differential is beyond everything. Ajax needs to be crowned champions. I don’t know why the legal team of Ajax hasn’t taken the necessary measures to pressure the KNVB and UEFA so the right thing is done.
both shoulld square off for the decider in my opinon. totally legit.
Watched bayern and Monchengladbarch (replay) and I must say Moussa Diaby will be the next big name for france. He is such an exciting winger and not even just one season at Leverkusan he is already attracting big clubs. This is the sort of trajectory you wanna see for dutch talents who are coming up so that that they do not trail to the big nations in terms of the gap between them. during the course of the nation league NT looked to be at their peak and also best in the europe but by the end of the EC qualifers they hit the other side of the peak. This comes as no surprise given koeman stuck to the same group of players while other teams kept injecting talents who were thriving in different leagues and if things doesnt change for NT, the turn around time at peak will always be short for them and within a very short period the other big nations will catch up and again increase the gap by two fold
You can also take kai Harvetz as another example here and compare him to VDBeek and wijnaldum. Firstly has come out of no where and is setting the pace in bundasliga and just watch how long it takes him to surpass both the dutch compatriots. Klopp is keeping a close tabs on him and this could be on the cards if he arrives at Anifield.
Even if you look at Dilrosun, super talented but still he hasnt hit the level of Diaby, Sancho etc. This is where things need to change as mentioned earlier other ways the current trend for NT will continue.
Going back to the game harvetz and diaby have become crown jewel for Bosz and are the orchestrators in the attack. Sinkgraven, not much to do as Diaby hardly requires extra cover. Leverkusan climb to third and are pushing for a strong finish.
both shoulld square off for the decider in my opinon. totally legit.
Why? Ajax’s goal differential is better and that’s all that matters. Ajax should be the champion according to the KNVBs rules. People forget that Ajax lost a championship due to worse goal differential!
@Tomy14, nobody will be crowned this year.
As an Ajax fan I am fully aware of that and I completely disagree with that decision. Ajax finished first with the better goal differential and rightfully so they deserve the championship. Ajax has lost a league title due to goal differential in the past so with that in mind I cannot understand the decision by KNVB to not crown Ajax as champion. I had a lot of respect for AZ as a team and with what they’re doing with young players but after this extremely shady move I completely lost all the respect I had. Honestly with what logic do you do that as a club? The rules are there for a reason and they’re not gonna change for no club whether that club is Ajax or AZ! Lastly, after what happened Ajax needs to legally go to CAS and demand to be crowned as league champions just so they can rub it on AZ face.
Rules are applicable only if the championship is finished. Since it is not and KNVB have not been consistent with their decisions, then everybody will do what it works best for them. In Eredivisie rules are working only if they favor Ajax. When it comes to other clubs, it is OK not to be in compliance.
It is not that I hate Ajax, but I have lost respect to this team many years ago due to this favoritism that KNVB and pro-Ajax mafia have bred in the Netherlands for years.
if im not wrong then the eyebrows were also raised when Ajax were given dayoff prior to the CL fixture so that they could have adequate rest while PSV during their campaign were not even considered. so yeah can agree with this one.
Since the league was ended prematurely then there needs to be a champion just like they did in France and Belgium. Ajax was first and should be crowned as the league winners. With the same logic the KNVB uses to have the top 5 teams qualify for Europe with that same logic Ajax needs to be given the title. The only exception would have been if AZ had played one game less which is very similar to whats happening with Utrecht.
why all of a sudden follow Belguim and France.this is in context to your claims. did germany, italy and england follow what you are saying.why not follow Germany and complete the league without spectators.look at it from both sides.im not sure about belguim but in france points were awarded points for the remaining games. now if it was tie like in eredivisie and since the the games were dispruted, the goal differences merit shouldn’t be considered at all. it perfectly makes sense. if you haven’t crown a champions, how can go on to decide based on goals difference who qualifies for CL. this is stupidity at the highest level.this why head to head should count,if not have a decider home and away.imo UFEA should make the final decision here as its totally legit.
http://www.football-oranje.com/dilrosun-wont-rule-out-a-return-to-ajax/
well this explains everything.
Dilrosun came on as a sub today. Played well, made an impact, some really skillful dribbling and play.
Like I saw its just the preference other wise there is no doubt what so ever about his capabiiities.
Bosz also made some changes vs wolfburg including the formation and which backfired on him.were thrashed by wolfburg 4-1. Sinkgraven was not in the squad.
Watched bayern and Monchengladbarch (replay) and I must say Moussa Diaby will be the next big name for france. He is such an exciting winger and not even just one season at Leverkusan he is already attracting big clubs. This is the sort of trajectory you wanna see for dutch talents who are coming up so that that they do not trail to the big nations in terms of the gap between them. during the course of the nation league NT looked to be at their peak and also best in the europe but by the end of the EC qualifers they hit the other side of the peak. This comes as no surprise given koeman stuck to the same group of players while other teams kept injecting talents who were thriving in different leagues and if things doesnt change for NT, the turn around time at peak will always be short for them and within a very short period the other big nations will catch up and again increase the gap by two fold
You can also take kai Harvetz as another example here and compare him to VDBeek and wijnaldum. Firstly has come out of no where and is setting the pace in bundasliga and just watch how long it takes him to surpass both the dutch compatriots. Klopp is keeping a close tabs on him and this could be on the cards if he arrives at Anifield.
Even if you look at Dilrosun, super talented but still he hasnt hit the level of Diaby, Sancho etc. This is where things need to change as mentioned earlier other ways the current trend for NT will continue.
Going back to the game harvetz and diaby have become crown jewel for Bosz and are the orchestrators in the attack. Sinkgraven, not much to do as Diaby hardly requires extra cover. Leverkusan climb to third and are pushing for a strong finish.
Hi ALL,
hope everybody is doing well. Working from home is not fun at all, much more stressful IMO. With respect to AZ protesting against the decision of impotent KNVB, I fully support my team. Why not to try if there is such a mess around. Is it opportunistic, YES. Is it wrong doing, NO. KNVB decision not to resume the championship was wrong and inconsistent. The situation with corona in the NT was not any worse than in Germany. I think Jan did a great job summarizing all that mess that KNVB caused by the coward decision not to resume the Eredivisie. Everybody has their truth. AZ won twice Ajax this season and with the equal points they believed that they earned first spot. At the same time, the goal difference was by default the decisive factor to differentiate two clubs with the equal points. Anyway, I think AZ leadership knew that their protest will not yield any result but they tried. Just in case. I also disagree with this charity action to share profit between smaller clubs. Why? Why to keep all those small impotent clubs in Eredivisie if they are not capable to survive. I always hated communism and this “sharing” principles are the cornerstones of the communism. Instead of breeding all those small and useless clubs, they have to merge and create bigger clubs with sustainable budget.
Anyway, sorry about this angry message. Really missed my weekends watching AZ….
well said.
and it perfectly makes sense, the season was disrupted and not concluded. but at the end of the day its just us here making noise.
https://footballbh.net/2020/05/28/ryan-gravenberch-2019-20-vs-frenkie-de-jong-2017-18-tactical-analysis-tactics/
Kai harvetz is taking bundasliga by storm.another winning goal for him vs freiburg. Would like to see the same bench mark for some of the dutch youngsters who are ready to break out. Leverkusan back to winning ways and are chasing for that CL spot. Sinkgraven was back again in the starting lineup and bosz switched back to 3-4-3. Bit lucky not be on the receiving end as freiburg missed some clear chances which the strikers could not bury.
Dilrosun started and scored today for Hertha; lovely goal.
Exactly what he needed to do as it was his fjrst start under Bruno Labbadia. This should be the stepping stone he needed.
In between that hetha LB is also good. Now I realize why labbadia had him rotated up front.
Just needs to keep the momentum going with more goals.
Competition for a spot can be a good thing. What I also like is that though he is a left winger, he has been searching for and finding space and opportunity in the middle in these two game as well; note where the goal came from, and where he positioned himself before the opportunity fell to him. As you say, he has to keep it up, and make it difficult for the coach to keep him out of the lineup.
Do you think he should be called up in NT and how do compare him other wingers right now in NT?
He was good enough to be in the pool before his unfortunate injury, so he needs to be considered along with Bergweijn, Danjuma, Kluivert, Malen, Stengs; that group…Lets see how they all perform over the next year. Hopefully one or more separate himself…by the way, I have read stories about interest from Monaco and Dortmund in Anthony Musaba…I have never seen him play, and know almost nothing about him. You?
Read that article as well. I have been only following jong ajax and joel zwarts in particular from eerste divisie. I think he is with the NEC youth team. Hasnt made the first team yet.
There is this another guy who has been in spot ligt from eerste divisie as well. Micky van de Ven,defender from Volendam. Some prominent clubs from eredivisie are tracking him.