Dear KNVB,

I am assuming you want our Dutch National Team to do really well…

That is the basis for this letter. If you don’t want this, please disregard.

I do believe good results by our national team can turned into euros, correct? Sponsor money? Trips? Merchandise? Ticket sales, etc?

And clearly, euros is what’s driving this. From what I understood, Mr Van Oostveen was quick to comment after our loss against Portugal that the financial ramifications for Oranje were tremendous.

So let’s put it all in perspective.

If Holland plays well, we gain standing. Opponents want to play us. And sponsors want us. If Holland plays according to the Dutch School ( you might have seen the Euros finals between Spain and Italy?), the Dutch football export product ( coaches, players, methods) will become more and more in demand.

Now, what is important is for you to accept responsibility for the fact that our football has deteriorated while a competitor has adopted our playing style and is kicking everybody’s arse.

You see, we had people like Michels, Cruyff, Van Hanegem introducing a new style of football.

We had the Gullits/Van Bastens/Rijkaards doing their magic in the 1980s, with true believers like Arrigo Sacchi following suit.

And Louis van Gaal and his Ajax and Ajax-crew ( Co Adriaanse, Blind, Mourinho, Frank de Boer) impressing even more in the 1990s.

We also had a tremendous coach like Wiel Coerver (winner of the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord) who developed a masterful method for skills-training and today one of his biggest followers is second in command at Man United (Rene Meulensteen). But like Johan Cruyff, Wiel Coerves was pushed out. “Too difficult to deal with”.

I can’t remember all the arguments and reasons you had for not allowing Johan Cruyff in the team manager’s role but it had to do with salary and the fact that Johan wanted to have his own staff… Man man, how pathetic and agricultural you guys were thinking back then. Look at today’s situation. No coach takes on a job without his own team or without at least 1 Mio euros as a yearly salary…

Shame on the KNVB, in other words!!

After Rijkaard, you gave the job to self-kicker and ego-centric Louis van Gaal. Who made a mess of things. Louis is a club coach. (And are you SERIOUSLY considering him AGAIN???).

You resorted back to easy-going Dick Advocaat, who went two steps back in time with his ugly result-football. But he didn’t bring the results. Neither did he in 1994, by the way, so why he was given the job in 2002…. no one knows.

Young, unproven Marco van Basten got the job in 2006 and he was allowed to insult and character-assassinate Seedorf, Davids, Van Nistelrooy and Van Bommel. He even told the media himself, recently: “I was much too young for that job. I didn’t know what happened to me.”

Poor Marco. Poor players. Poor fans. Poor Oranje.

Again, shame on you!

And now Bert had the job for 4 years. The results were great until the Euros 2012. But the quality of football deteriorated. The Dutch School of football evaporated. And slowly, the only aspects keeping this team together ( spirit, team, mentality, joy, desire, will) disappeared as well and as a result we were humiliated Ireland style.

Bert had nothing to fall back on. He hadn’t tested younger players. He didn’t have a Plan B ( which should have been Plan A in the first place: 4-3-3) and he simply failed.

Now the KNVB will have to make a smart move. As there is a lot at stake.

Not just “winning or losing”. But re-building our football culture.

Which means, defining our style of play. The characteristics of our football. And making sure we play like this with all our rep teams. From the 14 year olds to the pros.

Think in terms of: forward pressing, dominance, ball possession, pass & move, depth and width in possession, tight without possession, wingers and full backs using the space up front, defender with speed and build-up qualities, etc etc…

So we need a team manager for the big Oranje, that adheres to this playing style. Selects players for it.

Shouldn’t be too hard, as most players if not all can play in a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 system.

And works on getting these lads to play together as a unit. If we identify two or three young defenders that might have “it”, work with them. Talk to their club coaches. Make a development plan. Invite them for sessions.

So, our friend the team manager needs to focus on tactics, on mentality, attitude and desire.

And what he does, fits in perfectly within the football culture of the KNVB. In terms of practice material, supporting functions such as physiology, nutrition, video analysis and other supporting facilities.

I think the KNVB needs a “culture management team” of three of four wise men who protect the Dutch football culture. They oversee (like a Board of Directors) the management team: Team Coordinator ( the current Hans Jorritsma role), National Coach and the Head youth teams manager.

These wise men aren’t too hard to pick: I’d go for Cruyff, Van Hanegem (both 1974), Rijkaard, Wouters or Gullit (1988) and Frank de Boer or Philip Cocu (1998).

And instead of taking trips to South America, Asia, Australia in the off season, you forget about those $$ and you allow the coach to work on his team for a day or 10 in the peace and quiet of Hoenderloo. To build and create a winning team.

It is your job to select the best man for the challenge. Or best men for the challenges. It’s also your job to create the ideal circumstances for these men top operate in.

So, do your job!

Orange regards,

Jan of Jan’s Bleeding Orange Blog!