Tag: Man United

November 15, 2022 by Jan

The Road to Qatar: Jurrien Timber (and bro)

It’s virtually impossible to do a story on Jurrien Timber without also covering twin bro Quinten. If the expression “two peas in a pod” had a face, it would be theirs. Even their brothers have had trouble identifying who is who. Brother Chris: “It happened often in a game where I would say “wow top pass by Quinten” and then mum would say “it’s Jurrien!”… Now, their heads are a bit different and their hairdo as well but back in the day, when they played together it was hard. Thanks God for squad numbers.”

Mum Timber came to the Netherlands as a professional dancer and ended up staying in Holland after she met the dad of the boys. She raised her 5 sons alone though and has done a marvelous job indeed! The oldest apparently had the most talent, according to Quinten. He lacked the ambition though and plays at amateur level now. The second oldest is the manager of his pro brothers. The youngest of the brothers is in the FC Utrecht academy.

The two Timbers in the youth system

Jurrien and Quinten, true identical twins, were selected in their first amateur team at 4 years old! Their youth coach at amateur club DVSU: “It is not really possible to have 4 year olds as club members, but their two brothers were members and playing together in a team. Jurrien and Quinten were always around and they were so gifted, we couldn’t refuse them. We allowed them both to play in the same team as their brothers but I always made use two of them were on the bench. Unless for games which really mattered, hahaha. If we could win the title, I did play them all four. I always told the boys to pass the ball, but when we were behind in a title deciding game, I did say to them: whatever you can do, win this game for us. And there they’d go, taking on and passing 4 or 5 players and scoring. Jurrien was more the organiser, the thinker. Quinten was the artist. Dribbling past 5 players and lobbing the ball over the goalie. Typical Quinten.”

“They looked adorable and they were so small. I heard many parents from visiting clubs comment on how cute they were but within 10 minutes all of the Timbers would be on the score sheet and the parents didn’t think they were so cute, hahaha.”

Brother Chris: “Justin and Quinten are indeed adorable and cute. Off the pitch. When mum was busy she’d put on the Lion King for us. My younger brother Dylan would walk off within 30 minutes, bored. Justin and Quinten were so easy, if the movie had ended, they would just sit there. Waiting for mum to spot them and offer them something else.”

When they turned 7, Feyenoord scouted them and brother Dylan. The contrast was enormous. The twins would be sitting close to the bus driver, polite and quiet, whereas Dylan was always getting in trouble.

Timber bros with mum

On a typical day in their amateur club, the Feyenoord, Ajax and Utrecht scout were watching together. Ajax offered the twins a move to Amsterdam, but Feyenoord also wanted Dylan. When Ajax told the family that they wouldn’t be able to pick up the boys for training and matches, while Feyenoord offered a bus service, it became Feyenoord for the three brothers.

The twins had to let their social life go. It was sleep, school, travel, train, travel, sleep. Dylan couldn’t do it, he missed the social life. “But they had each other. They were a unit, they ate the same, they would sleep in the same room (and still do!!) and they’d watch the same stuff. They were both Messi fans and this would have helped them to enjoy their life at Feyenoord.”

At a young age, the two were disciplined. If there was a movie on but the clock said 9.30 pm, they’d get up to go to bed.

Life was good and Feyenoord did ever so well with the Timbers, who played in a team with Wouter Burger (Basel) and Summerville (Leeds United). But when Feyenoord claimed they wanted to turn Quinten into a central defender, the family started to have doubts. “We saw players like Sergio Ramos, John Terry and Vince Kompany as central defenders but Quinten was of a different build. When Feyenoord also couldn’t assist us financially with transport costs when the boys went to high school we decided to have a look around. Ajax had the best pitch, so the boys decided to move to Amsterdam,” says their mum.

Timber family with their first trophy

The move to Ajax was highly publicized. As if the family had gone for the money. And Timber Traitors and all that jazz. But mum is adamant: “Ajax was always the first club to come around for them and every season I got a call from the Ajax youth academy. They were truly interested in the development of the boys and money was never a reason for us to switch.”

In the first seasons, the Timbers had it tough in Amsterdam. Not in terms of football. They were simply the best of their generation, but mostly due to their growth spurts and injuries. Eventually, they managed to learn to deal with the physical side of the game and they even were able to organise a gym at their home.

When Jurrien broke through into the first team, coach Ten Hag suggested a loan for Quinten, as it would be key for him too to play under pressure, week in week out. FC Utrecht was the candidate, but they were also keen to simply sign the midfielder. Ajax allowed Quinten to go and the rest is history. The midfielder is now back at Feyenoord as one of the key players in Arne Slot’s set up.

Jurrien Timber developed into a fine central defender who already had to brush off interest from Italy, Spain and England and seems to have taken the RCB spot from De Ligt and De Vrij. Quite an achievement. Not the top defenders of Bayern or Inter but that kid from Ajax will most likely take that spot.

His team mate Nathan Ake: “It’s amazing right? He is a super talent. He plays with a maturity I haven’t seen in a kid his age. I mean, it took me a while. And he’s also that type of guy off the pitch. A quiet guy, with focus on getting better and living like a pro. I can also see him deal with all the media stuff and he’s simply unfazed.”

Last summer, the Eredivisie Ltd and ESPN picked him as Holland’s Best Player AND Greatest Talent. Quite unique. Even Van Dijk was surprised: “When I look back at where I was at that age, wow… I only have good things to say about him. His potential is just mindboggling. I am sure he will not get derailed. He won’t allow it.”

Frank de Boer used Timber as a stand in for De Ligt, when he suffered a groin injury, but used the Bayern man when he was fit. Not Van Gaal. The veteran coach recognised the quality of Timber and placed both De Ligt and De Vrij solidly on the bench. Timber solidified his spot in the Nations League matches.

Daley Blind: “Wow, it goes so fast with Jurrien. We saw him develop last year in our CL campaign and he keeps on going. He works hard and truly a sponge, with his ears and eyes open to learn. He is always himself, a very steady guy.”

Skipper Van Dijk: “Everyone knows his role in this squad. When you play, you play and the ones who don’t play will be the support act, so to speak. I know it’s not easy for Mathijs and Stefan, but they deal so well with it. They will always be ready to help Jurrien or any other player. They are key too and it’s great to see these dynamics in the team.”

Lewandowski defeated

Jurrien Timber himself: “Yes, it’s true, we are a tight unit and I feel supported, also by my direct rivals, so to speak. It’s not easy to get into this team, everyone gives 100% to get in and we all deal with this professionally.”

His faith is important for him. On match days, he will post Bible verses. “Faith is my grounding. I study the Bible every day and it strengthens and grounds me. I notice that people respond to the posts I make on the Bible verses and I love that I can bring that message across.”

Against Poland away, he played against arguably one of the best strikers of the world. Lewandowski got 1 touch in the Dutch box and had zero shots on target. Timber had the most contacts of all Dutch players (97) and the most passes (82) and the highest pass accuracy ( 96%). He had the most interceptions (3) and the least number of possession losses (3).

When he was complimented on this after the game, he was very cool about it: “I don’t do this by myself. It’s a team performance. I love the challenge to play against Lewandowski, but he wasn’t the only one with quality. We dealt with Zielinski, who knows how to play and later Milik also came on. Also a monster of a striker.”

Hazard defeated

He also dealt with Eden Hazard and is looking forward to the World Cup. “When I played my matches at the Euros, I really noticed the difference in intensity. I remember thinking “Pfff this is tough”. It was a surprise that I played there and it was amazing. This World Cup will even be bigger. I will do what I can to be part of it.”

Time to reflect is not available yet. “I don’t have time, I need to go on. Another match soon! I am not ready yet.”

And Nathan Ake summarised it all very well: “He is a top talent and a great guy. He deserves everything coming his way.”

February 9, 2022 by Jan

Daley Blind mystery finally solved!

For some, this has been a mystery. For others, it was always crystal clear.

Everyone can see Daley Blind’s weaknesses. You don’t need to be a football expert for this. He lacks pace. He can’t head the ball. He hardly scores or assists. He’s actually too slow for a left back and lacks the duelling power for midfield.

Why is it that all coaches he worked with, all football analysts and ex-players rate him so high? Why won’t Van Gaal or Ten Hag bench him for quicker players? Younger players?

Finally, there is a new statistical model being used which clearly shows in stats why Daley Blind is one of the best players in Europe. (Thanks to VI Pro)

The opening goal of Ajax vs FC Utrecht demonstrates Blind’s value vis a vis this new statistical model. And Blind’s role is key. The Ajax left back gets the ball after a turnaround of possession and his action allows for the pass to Steven Berghuis. He dribbles forward and passes to Tadic. The Serb finds Gravenberch who finds Antony. The little Brazilian scores. In traditional statistics, this goal will be summarized as “assist Gravenberch and goal Antony”. Expected goals and Expected Assists do add some context. These stats show you how likely that Antony goal was. But the role of Blind and Tadic in this move can’t be found in the traditional stats. There would not be a pre-assist even for Daley Blind.

This has “Final third” on the Y and “half opponent” on the X -axis. Name of graph: Successful passes

Daley launches his team mates forward like this an absurd number of times, allowing them to penetrate the box. This visualisation above demonstrates the combi of passes on the opponent’s half into the final third. Blind is a category in itself! Only Feyenoord playmaker Orkun Kökçü comes close.

The traditional stats say something alright, but they miss any context. For instance, a through ball getting a player face to face with the goalie is in these stats comparable with a horizontal pass at the middle line. Expected Assists helps to show which player actually create opportunities. The pass before the final pass was also not really on the radar, until the Expected Threat comes into play.

The aim of the Expected Threat is to add value to players who actually start the attacking move. This idea was launched by Sarah Rudd, who worked for Arsenal in 2011. Karun Singh took this model later and created a popular blog post to demonstrate this and the Athletic took the idea and popularised it.

The Expect Threat Zones. The lighter the block, the better the odds to score.

The idea behind Expected Threat is simple. The closer to the goal of the opponent, the high the chance that a goal is scored in the next 5 moves. Historical data helps to give values to these areas. So they divided the pitch into 192 zones (12 in the width and 16 length-wise). The players who get the ball in those high-value zones are scoring the most points, obviously.

Expected Threat identifies the players who are the most successful in finding the quickest route to a goal. And the scores are basically a compounded score of progression made on the pitch, through passing and dribbling (carry). Crosses are not part of this analysis, because the odds to score from a cross are way lower than playing the ball via pass and move into the box.

This sounds like higher math to some, but this video below will show what is meant. The Blind pass which results in the first Ajax goal.

Expected Threat will compare the starting point of possession, with Blind, to the final stage of this move, which is Tadic taking the ball in the box.

Statistically, the chance that a team scores within 5 moves at the spot where Blind gets the ball first, is 1,4%. This means, that only once in 67 times that the ball gets to that starting point, a goal will follow within 5 moves.

However, when Tadic takes the ball in box, the chance of Ajax scoring went up to 12.6%, which means that when a team gets the ball here, 1 out of 8 times, a team scores within the next 5 moves.

So, Blind’s pass has increased Ajax’ scoring changes with 11,1% points. And this gives Blind a value in the Expected Threat stat: 0,111 points.

Another example: the first Ajax goal against PSV. Again, Blind starts the move. This time he has a pass in the left channel towards Gravenberch. He brings the ball from a 0,5% zone to a 3,7% zone. With this pass, Blind collects another set of points to his name in the Expected Threat score. The score is lower than in the Utrecht example, because the zone where Gravenberch gets the ball has a lesser value (as it is further from the opponent’s goal).

The winning goal Ajax scored versus PSV also has Daley as a key component. With two trademark passes: he first plays Tadic in, hard and low. Then another pass towards Danilo. These types of passes demonstrate his value for Ajax.

Analysis the matches vs Utrecht and PSV show that Blind has numerous passes with which he accelerates the play. “I want to make every single pass count. In the match, at practice, always. I try to send a message with my pass, to the player I play the ball too. My pass should inform him what my idea is for his next move. When I play in to Dusan Tadic’s right, I want him to turn that way. It doesn’t always work out, but it’s always my intention.”

Recently, Blind spoke in the Cor Podcast about this: “Delaying the pass is the most important thing. When I get the ball, or anyone gets the ball, the opponent is usually in a particular position. They usually are comfortable. When I pass too quick, I am not doing anything about that positioning. But when I delay my pass, I force the opponent to do something. If they don’t come to block me, I can dribble forward. But if a players steps in, another one of my team mates will become free. I actually force the opponent to tell me what my best next move is.”

The facts show that Blind’s words are more than theory. He usually gets the ball in areas where he is not going to be a threat. Usually, on the left flank. The next step is for him to bring the ball there where a threat can develop. His hard, low pass to Tadic is his trademark, these days. Blind plays a cat and mouse game with his opponent. You act as if you don’t know where to go, you look around, maybe turn towards a less risky team mate in midfield, only to suddenly play the fast ball, skipping midfield, into Tadic or Berghuis.

Animation of Ajax’ build up patterns

Erik Ten Hag actually amended his tactics to fully benefit from Blind’s qualities. He is the first build up station. He usually drops back next to central defenders Martinez and Timber, or he moves way to the left, allowing Gravenberch to confuse the opponent by him dropping back. In both situations, the aim is to trick the opponent into making a press on one of these two. When they do start the press, the space around Tadic becomes wider and this is when Blind will play the ball.

Expected Threat captures this quality in statistics. Blind is the leader of this stat in the Eredivisie, as he was last season too. Last season, in the big competition, the stat leads were Neymar in France, Messi in Spain, Jaden Sancho in Germany and Jack Grealish in England. It’s no surprise that these four players are considered the top and three of the four made a big money move last summer.

This year, Blind shares the #1 position with Leo Messi again (France), Vinicius Junior for La Liga and Trent Alexander-Arnold in England.

This list shows the Expected Threat in passing. Different types of players can do well with this stat. Another Ajax player (Tadic) is second on the list, as a left winger. Ajax’ Timber is on the list as a central defender, while Veerman (these are his Heerenveen stats) and Kökçü are more playmakers.

There is a separate stat Expected Threats in Dribbles. Cody Gakpo does really well in that overview and that will also play a role regarding the interest from Liverpool, Man City and Bayern Munich in signing the lanky PSV star.

Stats do not tell the full story of course. One aspect that is not taken into account in the Expected Threat stat is the position of the opponent. Only the start and end position of the move are used and not how many opponent players are taken out of the game by the pass. In this way, teams that dominate on the opponent’s half will always score higher in this stat than counter-attacking teams.

But, this does give us a very objective and measurable reason why Daley Blind is revered by the football experts and that he fully deserves the title of the King of the Pass before the Pass….

I’m sure some of you will start to comment like crazy now….

April 17, 2017 by Jan

The Fosu-Mensah bros in England

Timothy Fosu-Mensah (18) gets paid well. He’s a raw diamond with everything to dream for. His brother Alfons (22) struggless at North Ferriby United and isn’t understood. Two brothers, together but also apart… From the Xmas special of VI.

Sale, the southern satelite town of Manchester. A typical street. It’s getting dark and in this particular home, the only light illuminating the living room is coming from the TV. Tim and Alfons Fosu-Mensah are on the couch, watching football. Don’t think it’s a coincidence. Fons: “This TV only broadcasts football, hahaha. Go and switch channels, I dare you: South American, Australian, Italian, the sandy desert. Whenever a ball rolls somewhere, Tim and I are watching. That’s how it was when we were young and it’s still like that.”

When you and pimpled, the brothers watched football on TV whenever they weren’t out playing themselves. Watching Ajax (they lived in De Bijlmer, a poor area in Amsterdam East, watching the Dutch team and all European games they could find. Dreaming of a life as pro player themselves. That fantasy became reality for both. But that’s where the comparison stops.

Timothy has played Europa Cup football for Manchester United on Old Trafford. Tim has been seen hanging off Zlatan’s shoulders after a goal. On the way to that game, he was reading Zlatan’s biography. Again. He played with team mate Daley Blind. The guy who gave him his first football boots years ago when Timothy was but a ball boy, and Daley played in Ajax 1. “They were a size too small already,” Timothy smiles, “but I kept them. They were my first real boots!”

And now, Paul Pogba, the world’s most expensive player, is his friend. And only yesterday, he showered next to Wayne Rooney, David de Gea and Juan Mata. Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho only have positive things to say about him. Meanwhile, Alfons was playing on a rough surface in East Yorkshire, watching all the balls flying over his head, apparently aimed at the river Humber.

Alfons plays for United as well. North Ferriby United, to be precise. Hij plays with two bricklayers, a car mechanic and a couple of students.

The Daily Mail hails Fosu-Mensah: “He’s strong as an ox and highly skilled. A player with everything he needs to become a Man United icon!”. Asked about Alfons, the North Ferriby United PR man says: “Alfons. We haven’t seen a lot of him, to be honest.”

Two worlds come together in that house in Sale. In front of the house: a second hand Peugeot and a slick black Mercedes. Alfons: “I sometimes get to take the Merc. So cool, driving it to the club. Tim? No, he won’t take the Peugeot, he than grabs his grey Mercedes.”

They played together for years on the street. “There were always amazing young players, the brother tz were always there. Queensy Menig (Ajax player on loan at PEC Zwolle) and Brandley Kuwas too (Heracles). Tim is younger than us, but I’d take him with me, as this level would teach him to man up,” smiles Alfons. “But I didn’t want him in my team. He never tracked back, he was only up front with the ball, dribbling. I always said: man, you gotta put in the work too.” They played a lot together too, just the two of them. Practicing. “I was his first coach. There were always dads doing this and criticising and yelling. Not my style. I taught Tim to use both feet. We did this for hours, playing the pass with his weaker foot. And long and longer distances. I had him dribble, sprint, do shimmies and tricks, finishing, everything.”

Timothy smiles, remembering it all. “He was the best coach, always positive. Whenever I made a mistake, he made me do it again and again, just to help me develop. But things went quick.” Alfons: “I just wanted to help him, as he was my little brother, but I also saw he had that knack. He was special already. He can make it big. So we put the time and effort in.”

And before they knew it, the student was better than the master. Timothy: “Hahaha, I know right? I was 12 years old, we did a 2 v 2 match and I was up against Alfons, and I nutmegged him, Perfect, in between the sticks, hahaha.” Alfons: “Yeah well, I was wrongfooted, just for a second. Pretty bad, but this was the moment where I thought: hmmm, my little brother has the best of me….”

And now Alfons watches his little brother from the stands at Old Trafford. “And I still see him do things we practiced in Amsterdam, on the streets. And I think: well done brother! We spent hours working on this and that basic skills, that ball technique, he got that from the street. The foundation was laid there.”

The door opens and another young Dutch player enters. Rodney Kongolo, younger brother of Terence Kongolo of Feyenoord. He’s a player for Man City. The two played against each other since they were 6 years old. Rodney for Feyenoord, Timothy for Ajax. The two rivals have become firm friends. Kongolo’s impressive technique allow him to walk through the room, eyes on his iPhone, while avoiding all the obstacles on the floor. It’s a bit messy, there’s train tickets, cups, football trophies, coins, unopened bills and pizza folders. It looks like a shared student accomodation. “Ah no, usually it is nicely managed. My dad lives with us, and cooks and does our washing etc. But he’s back in Holland for a couple of weeks so… I now pick up food from Man United at times or I go and cook myself.” Alfons: “But if Tim goes to the supermarket I need to watch him. He throws everything he likes in his trolley, but most of it is not good for him, cookies, icecream…. I we cook here, it’s usually chicken rice or we eat pasta. No fastfood.”

The mum of the family lives in Amsterdam still. Their younger brother, a football talent as well, Paul is still in Holland, playing for Ajax (C1). Alfons: “Paul is a good player, more a traditional defender. Strong, tall, good header. Paul is a bit like Rio Ferdinand, whereas Timothy can play anywhere. Holding midfielder, full back, centre back… Me? I think I’m a striker Benzema style. Our styles are similar. A bit. I mean, I’m not that good but I am not focused on scoring alone, I wish to support the team and create. I’m a team player, skilled and very quick.”

Alfons

He’s playing in the National League, and makes gets he calls a Jupiler League level pay-check (between 50 and 100k euro per annum). Alfons: “I was unlucky. Everything that can go wrong, went wrong. I played for Zeeburgia (top amateur class) and I apparently was offered several test options from big clubs. They never told me. Finally, Almere City approached me directly. A step up, so I went. And then it started: knee was crook. Everything crashed. But FC Oss came along and after recovering there were issues with my transfer. Finally, I played a number of games for them and the Oss technical staff was amazing for me. The coach wanted to keep me, said he was very positive but he needed to work on my consistency. But I didn’t sign an extension. I wanted to go with Timothy and try my luck here. I got a chance with Southport and in my first game vs Oldham Athletic I got injured. The coach said: I do like you but can’t use you now. We gotta move on, so he signed another player.”

The “Old Trafford” of Alfons….

He did all sorts of tests for clubs he can’t even remember anymore. “Then there was a chance with Colwyn Bay. And another kid I knew got a test too, so I drove with him. Guess what? It was in Wales! We drove for hours, over hills, through valleys…endless. And when I got there, I got a 5 minutes sub run. And after the match the coach said: I haven’t seen enough of you. Yes of course not! 5 minutes and then we drove back. I was glad they didn’t want me. I couldn’t be driving there all the time…”

In the meantime Rodney Kongolo and Tim Fosu-Mensah discuss Tim’s big chance to score a Man United goal. “If Zlatan would have passed the ball late in the game, I was in on goal. Goalie was out of position. I had run a mile, but I was still fresh you know. And he saw me! But he decided to score himself. He said: I haven’t been plodding in the cold here for 85 minutes for nothing you know, hahahaha.”

Alfons smiles. He knows the anecdote well. His United anecdote makes him grimace. So North Ferriby. I never saw that before. It’s a tiny town, with a tiny football club. And all those old, fat creepy guys eating their pies and yelling “Fucking hell!” all the time, hahaha. We are fighting relegation. They were supposed to play football, the coach said, but now it’s all long hail marys forward. He told me: don’t ask the ball in your feet, run run run! And that just isn’t my game…”

But Alfons is a fighter. “I do everything I can, I enlisted a personal trainer and he trains with me three times a week. I need to become stronger. We got some new players in and they are quite good. So we might make it. And then I hope to be able to make a step up. When the chance comes, I need to be ready.” Timothy: “I have the utmost respect for Alfons, he is a hard worker and a good player. If all goes well he can easily play in the Championship. He had bad luck but keeps on getting up. My trajectory was quite simple. Ajax signed me from Zeeburgia at young age and the guidance I got from Ajax and then Louis van Gaal signing me for Man United at this young age. I am so fortunate. Trust me, I have to work super hard as well, but it’s different. He is working hard and hoping and I do not know, if I would be that strong.”

Alfons: “You would have said “Fok it!” hahaha. I just need the right club, and a coach who gets it. I actually need my Louis van Gaal but…I don’t think I’ll find him at the level where I am at, hahaha.”

Timothy: “It’s not always easy for him, sometimes he does get down and then I pick him up. I believe in him and I tell him: it will work out… You need a buddy like this. He is there for me, whenever he is here, life is pleasant, it’s positive. Memphis took a good friend with him to Manchester for the same reason. Someone who’s real to you. Who you can trust. Our whole family is like that. We’re strong together.”

There was always love in the Fosu-Mensah family, but not a lot of money. “My dad worked two jobs to pay for everything. He worked at the flower-auction and had a night job as taxi driver. My mother took care of us. They couldn’t see us play all the time, simply no money to travel to the games. They sometimes took the train illegally, without a ticket, just to come to a match. All my team mates wore the newest clothes while I had hand-me-downs from Alfons. I owe it all to my family and now as a Manchester United player I can repay them. My family and The Lord. They made it happen.”

Alfons laughs and pokes his brother, who by now is lying flat on the sofa: “Hey we have visitors. Sit up!”. Timothy: “Just tired man, had a massive session at the club today.” Alfons starts to organise the house. “He always was trouble. We would keep the house clean and sit up when visitors came in, but he would be exactly how he is now. But I’m proud of him. He is doing well and hanging with some of the best players on the planet. And I get to know his team mates now too. Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford come on down for a chat and Jesse Lingard came by last week to hang. That’s cool, they’re all cool guys…”

Timothy Fosu-Mensah of The Netherlands U19 during the EURO 2016 U19 qualifying match between Netherlands U19 and Northern Ireland U19 on March 26, 2016 at Sportpark Parkzicht in Uden, The Netherlands.(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images)

Are you ever jealous, if you see what Timothy has and where you are? “No not jealous, but I do have…you know I wanna play football. Focus on football. And where I’m at is different. There’s always something. But that is something all of us on this level have to deal with. And yes, sometimes people can’t stop talking about Tim. Even my team mates are constantly fishing for tickets or jerseys….”

What are the plans for the coming years? Timothy knows it by heart. “I want to be important for Man United. Focus on a starting spot, reach Champions League football, develop myself, stay on the radar for Oranje…” Van Gaal gave him his chance, but he feels the support of Mourinho too. “Well yes, I’m part of the squad more and more and I did renew my deal with Man United and obviously Mourinho will have agreed to that. But I don’t see myself as a talent anymore. I’ve arrived. Whenever there is a spot in midfield or in defence, I’m ready.”

Alfons’ answer is clear as well: “Play football in the Football League. That is my aim for this year. But I don’t wanna go lower. I’m almost 25 now so it’s time. And if that doesn’t work, well… I have finished my marketing degree. I will assist Tim for when he launches his fashion label.”

Timothy: “Done deal brother. But I’m starving now. Let’s get some food. Pasta time!”

July 4, 2013 by Jan

Why Robin van Persie will ROCK this coming summer

There is and always has been debate around Robin van Persie in Holland.

It seems like we – Dutch – don’t understand players like him. We like two types of players: players that perform (and we don’t care if they’re arrogant or annoying) and players that are humble and work their arse off.

In category one, we have Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp, Willem van Hanegem, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart…. Cruyff was very egotistical, Willem cynical, Marco aloof, Dennis didn’t fly, Wesley is cocky, Rafa overweight, etc etc. We don’t care. Actually, we love them all for it.

Three characters: RVP, JC and The Iceman

The humble ones? Jaap Stam, Jan Wouters, Phillip Cocu, Wim Jansen, Johan Neeskens, Gio van Bronckhorst, Edwin van der Sar, Aron Winter.

And there is a huge category we do not really warm too. The ones that think they’re better than they are. And the ones who rap. Although this second category is basically a subgroup of the first one :-). Drenthe, Babel, Elia, Kuyt, you know who you are.

In that category players who over-estimate themselves are the ones that leave for greener pastures early in their career. Again, Drenthe, Babel, De Ridder…all those players who disappear.

Robin van Persie was one of those lads, almost.

Terribly annoying at Feyenoord (sure, very gifted too), headstrong, streetwise (talking with a Moroccan accent as a result of hanging out mostly with Moroccan kids… Robin ended up marrying a Moroccan wife and according to some converted to Islam).

Bert van Marwijk (and his staff and senior players) couldn’t contain the young prodigy. He was amazingly talented, although Bert didn’t really know how to use the youngster best. Was he a winger? Was he a playmaker? A striker? Whatever he was, the playmaker role didn’t exist in Feyenoord ( Bosvelt played from deep, with runner Tomasson upfront behind Van Hooijdonk). Pi-Air was untouchable of course so left wing was to Robin’s spot.

When he moved to Arsenal, it still took some time for Robin to make it in the first team, as a starter. Sure, he had his games in his first seasons, but also his fair share of run ins with team mates and coach Wenger and even got a red card for a lunge, which resulted in Wenger yelling obscenities at Van Persie from the side line. Van Persie played a wide role for Arsenal for quite a while and had a number of goes as midfielder behind Adabayor. In the 2008/09 season, he took the role of Henry as main striker, when the Frenchman left for Barca.

It would take a bit of time for Van Persie to shine in that role due to injuries.

Robin has quite a reputation from his early days in Holland. He was known to be a misbehaved streetkid who was sent away from school many times. Later on, after a Dutch World Cup qualification game in 2005, he was arrested on suspicion of rape. He was held in custody for 14 days and circumstances were so bad in the little holding cell that RVP passed out at a certain point. The case was dropped as there was no proof that sexual contact with coercion happened and the “victim” – a former Miss Nigeria/Holland – admitted she claimed to be rape to “gain publicity”. RVP did have sex with her and cheated on his wife, in other words, which didn’t help his public reputation. It later emerged that over 200 police officers had had access to the case file, most of them not authorised to do so.

RVP was always seen as a tremendous talent but his personality and his vulnerable physique made it hard for him to be the dominant player he wanted to be. In 2008/09 he reached the 20 goals per season at Arsenal for the first time, but the season after, he dropped back to 10 (in 19 games) as as result of injuries. In 2010/11, his last season for the Gunners he produced a whopping 22 goals in 33 games, a feat he’d better last season for ManU when he scored 37 out 48 games. This is basically 0,8 goals per game!

Here’s a tip for you: don’t sub me!

In the Dutch team, he scores once every second game (this year, he is on 4 goals in 5 games, which is as good as his ManU stat, by the way). This is certainly not bad for a striker. But somehow, the perception is, that RVP doesn’t deliver in Orange.

The reason being, of course, that he scores easily and prolifically against smaller nations (qualifications and friendlies) but hardly in big games or big tournaments.

In 2006, the World Cup in Germany, he scored one goal at group stage.

In 2008, RVP didn’t start until Romania and he scored two goals before Russia ousted Holland. Robin played as a winger, supporting Van Nistelrooy.

In 2010, RVP played as central striker, but only scored one goal (Cameroon) in a successful campaign.

Sadly, RVP’s performance stood out like a sore nail during that campaign. Sneijder and Robben were the heroes of the World Cup, with Kuyt, Elia, Van der Vaart and Stekelenburg getting headlines as well.

In 2012, the world expected more from him at the Euros, but a disastrous game against Denmark (in which he missed a number of good chances) resulted in a downward spiral. RVP only scored one goal, with his right, against Germany. A game in which he could have had a second one (and maybe saving Holland from disgrace).

The widely heralded striker can not look back on an international career like Ruud van Gol, San Marco, Patrick Kluivert or Johan Cruyff can in a similar position.

But…is it because he is not good enough? Is it because he chokes in big games?

I don’t believe that. To be able to play at this high level for so long (EPL, ManU, CL, etc) your mental state is totally fine. You will NOT survive one week at ManU if you are not mentally strong.

I would call that evidence #1.

Not good enough? There are many YouTube clips demonstrating how good Van Persie really is. His athleticism, his speed (both with his feet and his brain/vision), his ability in his left foot, his ability as a header of the ball, his ever improving right foot, his finishing ability, his ability to set a goal up…. There is nothing he can not do. I believe he’d even make a good goalkeeper.

Messi is probably faster with the ball and a better dribbler, C Ronaldo might be stronger, but other than that, RVP is the complete package.

So what is it then, that held the former Excelsior player back?

I believe it has to do with team-dynamics and hierarchy on the one hand, and team tactics on the other.

I believe Robin and Bert did not have the best of working relationship. I believe Robin may have genuinely liked Bert as a person, but I believe Robin thrives with a coach who really emerges into the team… Someone like Wenger, Mourinho, Guardiola, Ferguson and Van Gaal.

Van Marwijk is more distant. More like Mancini, Benitez, Capello, I’d say. Van Marwijk was very laissez-fair.

Let the alpha dogs sort it out.

We all remember how the Sneijder clan ( Robben, Van der Vaart, Mathijsen, Heitinga, Stekelenburg, Kuyt) knotted together while the RVP clan ( Van Persie, Afellay, Boulahrouz) had their own little circle.

Bert made Wes the man. Kuyt was his #2. And in the team, despite RVP’s role as central striker, it was Sneijder who dominated the game and would always look for Robben as an outlet, as these two complement each other so well.

I am not saying Sneijder did it on purpose to spite Robin. Playing the ball deep to Robben in space behind the defence of the opponent was simply how Sneijder could contribute best. RVP prefers the ball in his feet and Sneijder and RVP would frequently block each other’s space.

But Bert didn’t care about whether Robin shone or not. He cared about winning. When Bert started the WC2010 campaign he did so wanting to play attractive and attacking football. Like Holland did in the qualifications. He was happy to go with the Fab Four (Wes, Raf, Robben, Robin) but Robben’s injury changed those plans. The way we started at the WC (Denmark and Japan both parking numerous busses) determined how we proceeded.

“No, that is where the problem is, Louis….”

Louis van Gaal is also all about results but more so about execution and using the weapons you have at your disposal best. Van Gaal knows that results are the result of something. You focus on execution and the results will come.

The system we played in 2010 was not suited for any center striker. Our 4-2-3-1 was executed from a counter football perspective. You can play 4-2-3-1 in a forward pressing mode, which would definitely result in many opportunities for the center striker. But the way we played, sitting deep, allowing space behind the opponents back line, results immediately in a difficult role for the striker. In our case: Robin van Persie.

His tasks, in that set-up, are putting pressure on the opposing defender with the ball and making himself available once they lose the ball. The first pass would go to Sneijder or RVP, the most forward man, who holds the ball up and redistributes towards the midfielders coming forward who then pass to the fast wingers exploiting space. The Robbens, Narsinghs, Lenses and Elias…

It is no coincidence that Elia, Kuyt, Robben and Sneijder were the goal scorers, as rthe wingers would move inwards towards the center position. Robin hardly got a real chance at the World Cup.

Again, playing 4-2-3-1 in an attacking mode would change this significantly, but in 2010 we were not able to do so, unfortunately.

Now, LVG will not play 4-2-3-1.

His 4-3-3 is set up in a very strict, almost rigid way.

People execute 4-3-3 in several ways. With two sitting midfielders (Bayern) and one forward midfielder, or with two creative forwards and one holder ( Barcelona)…

Louis has distinct roles for his players. One holding mid (De Jong, Clasie, De Guzman, Strootman, Fer), one box-to-box runner (Strootman, Fer, Van Ginkel) and one creative forward, playing as a false striker close to the striker (RVP, Lens, Huntelaar). For this role Louis thinks Wesley, Rafael, Maher and Siem de Jong are his candidates.

As long as Robben and the right winger keep it wide, or allow the full backs to overlap, the field will be wide.

It will allow space for Robin and the playmaker to play off each other.

At the same time, we do need to realise that the time the oft scoring striker are over, in modern football.

“Trust me Robin, in the next game I will pass the ball to you…”

Adabayor at Spurs, Benzema at Real Madrid, Torres at Chelsea, Carrol when at Liverpool, the French dude at Arsenal (forgot his name)…. It is less and less their role to be the final stage of the attack. These lads are all key in allowing the runners around them to take position (the coming man vs the player who is already there) and become the most forward playmakers in the box.

Against lesser teams, sure, these guys will score their goals. But against tougher opponents, even in this 4-3-3 I do expect the Sneijder role, the Van Ginkel role and the wingers to be scoring more. Simply because the central striker already is in position (and easier to mark) while the others will jack-in-the-box into the box…

But whether RVP scores or not, I am convinced that (if he is fit etc etc) he will be of the utmost importance to us.

And I do hope Arjen Robben will finally with the Ballon D’Or this year, allowing Robin to snatch it up next year, after winning the EPL title again and the World Cup with Holland. ( He won’t win the CL, as Frank de Boer will claim it this time around….)

May 12, 2013 by Jan

Memories of Sir Alex, the Dutch angle

On the pic, ManU icons Solksjaer, Cantona, York, Cole, Van the Man, Van der Sar

Sir Alex’ retirement can be scrutinised in detail in all international media. There is not much we can cover here that you haven’t already read about the 71 year old. Still, I believe it is fitting for us to acknowledge the man who can be seen as one of the Best Managers of the World Ever.

There is a number of extraordinary aspects to mention about Sir Alex. The fact that he was in charge of the same club for 26 years is definitely unique. At the same time, this says a lot about the actual board of Man United and their long term (football) vision.

There are already many analyses done on his long reign and I’m sure more will follow in the months or even years to come. Louis van Gaal and Co Adriaanse have both ordered their copy :-). In a world where the average football manager is in charge not much longer than two seasons (Man United is pushing the average up, as does Arsenal, while Chelsea keeps it nice and low) at the same club, Sir Alex can be seen as a unique role model. Such, that Frank de Boer already talks about himself potentially, as the SAF of Ajax…

Our little write up will be from the Dutch angle. To start with former goalie legend, Peter Schmeichel: “How can Sir Alex time his retirement now? Only one season with Robin van Persie???”.

Jordie Cruyff was the first Dutch player to work with Sir Alex (Arnold Muhren left the season before the Scotsman got the job). The young Cruyff was used to working with brilliant, yet dominant coaches (he played for Barcelona, where on Johan Cruyff was his coach….). “Ferguson has something special in his personality. He is definitely the boss. You don’t want to cross him, or be on the wrong side of his temper. But at the same time, he is very warm. Really like a father figure for most if not all of us.”

Raymond van der Gouw was the sub goalie at Man United for 6 seasons. His impact at Man United was seen as huge, as some people (incl Sir Alex) commented on his “binding” skills in the dressing room. The former Vitesse goalie even coached the goalies in the youth system for a year. Van der Gouw: “Ferguson is not known to be the analyst coach, like Wenger or Van Gaal but he definitely knew everything he had to know about opponents. I don’t think he actually studied them consciously, like others do. He would simply see it really fast and was always able to make small changes in the team make-up and he would win games like that. A sixth sense….”

Jaap Stam would be the third Dutchie under Alex Ferguson and despite having played only 3 seasons at Old Trafford, the former Zwolle defender became a club icon. Stam was pushed out of the club by Sir Alex after some indiscrete comments about his coach in his biography. Something both men regretted. When the ManU coach was asked which decision he wished he could turn around, he said he wished he didn’t let Stam go that easily. While Stam (who would go on to play for AC Milan and Ajax) later admitted he would never disclose what he did if he had the chance to do it again.”

But Stam doesn’t believe his book was the real reason to leave. “It will have been a part of it, but at the time, Man United needed the cash too. Lazio made a big offer (20 mio pounds) and I believe Sir Alex needed that money to rebuild the team. At a certain point, we had a big clash again. I left the club, angry, and Ferguson’s PA called me to check where I was. I was at a petrol station and she asked me to wait. Sir Alex showed up and asked me to take the Lazio offer. I decided to go then and there. At the petrol station. I look back at it and believe I shouldn’t have been so pleasing to go. I left a huge club after an emotional spat at a petrol station, hahaha. But I don’t look back in anger. I love the club, love the fans and hope to be able to coach in England sometime soon myself.”

Sir Alex has the name of being able to spot huge talents where others are slumbering and signing them for a low fee. Stam is definitely seen as one of them, as were Schmeichel, Solksjear, even Van der Sar and Cantona. Van Nistelrooy definitely was not a cheap signing. And it took Ferguson two seasons to finally land him, due to Ruud’s injury dramas.

The Dutch striker scored 150 goals for the Red Devils in 219 games ( 5 seasons). “Working with Sir Alex as a huge and unique privilege.”

Van Nistelrooy saw his manager as a second father. Their relationship has always been very warm. Not unlike Beckham and C Ronaldo, the former Den Bosch striker had intense contact with his coach for all sorts of topics. Until the magic was suddenly gone and the ruthless Scottish coach decided to offload the goal machine.

Ruud van Nistelrooy believes his own brutal departure from Manchester United underlines why Sir Alex Ferguson has spent so long at the top.

Ruud’s staggering return counted for nothing when Ferguson decided Van Nistelrooy had outlived his usefulness.
As the summer of 2006 approached, Ferguson decided to pick Giuseppe Rossi ahead of Van Nistelrooy for the final game of the season against Charlton. The Dutchman drove away from Old Trafford in disgust and – until Friday’s unveiling of a Ferguson statue – had not been back since. ‘When he is building new teams he is willing to do things like that,’ said Van Nistelrooy. ‘That is all credit to him. In his mind, the club is the most important thing. That is what he always said. It is his most-repeated sentence.’

At the time, Van Nistelrooy was incredulous, as were many fans.
Yet United came back to win three successive Premier League titles and a Champions League triumph in 2008, in a period when they never did worse than a semi-final.
‘What he did was fair enough,’ said Van Nistelrooy. ‘I didn’t find it hard to deal with. I accepted it.I moved on to Madrid and had four great years there. He moved the club further onwards. Of course, we had our things with the way it ended but he is man who gets the best out of people. He did that with me as well.’

Edwin van der Sar was seen by many (incl Sir Alex himself) as the ideal candidate to replace Peter Schmeichel. It still took a long time for the Ajax goalie to find his way to Old Trafford via Juventus and Fulham. Like Van Nistelrooy, he developed a very strong relationship with his coach and speaks very highly of the man. Sar was at Man U from
2005 and 2011 and believe no one will be able to replicate what the great man did.
“It didn’t surprise me. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago by chance and I remember thinking that this would be his last season, based on what he told me. And lets face it, he is way past normal retirement age, haha. We were kidding about this years ago already. But he is more than just a manager right? He is the club ambassador and he moulded and created the club as it is now, with Rene Meulensteen as a very important pawn in the game. Rene does all the field coaching. Can you imagine, someone like Ryan Giggs, never worked with another manager at this club. Unreal.”

Van der Sar can’t say enough. “I have gotten to know him as a warm man. You could discuss everything with him. He once went on to me about his grandson who goes to the same school as my son. They both were in this play together. It was at practice. Whenever I had to perform a save, he would stop talking. And once the ball was on the other side of the pitch, he would talk about that acting performance of these kids. He would always protect you too. Unless you did something really foolish. He was always very busy with all sorts of things. He has many interests. I think he doesn’t sleep at night… And yes, he had his clashes with big name players (Beckham, Keane, Stam, Van Nistelrooy) but only if these lads damaged the club. And all these players still have a warm bond with Sir Alex.”

Rene Meulensteen knew it had to happen one day. But the announcement that it would be this season was a surprise. “It’s probably the right time for him. He will not make decisions like this lightly, of course. And he announced it in his own special way. Typical for him. He asked us all to visit him in his office. We came in, we sat down, and he told us. Just like that. No frills, no emotion. Just another message to relay.”

January 29, 2013 by Jan

Lets build Oranje around Van Persie

We are on an interesting T-junction. I am not talking the economic crisis. Or the situation in the Middle East and Iran. Neither the GMO foods that are invading our supermarkets, nor am I referring to the recent floods in my hometown.

I’m talking Oranje. Of course.

We have Sneijder yet to show his level after months being sidelined. Will Raf van der Vaart be able to catch on to our pace? Is Robben ever match fit for a longer period? Do we really need Nigel de Jong now we also have Fer, Clasie, Van Ginkel and Anita?

But we still have at least one Superstar. The 29 year old Robin van Persie is one of the best players on the planet and according to recent statistics, the most lethal striker in the world. Even more lethal than one Leo Messi.

Sir Alex Ferguson never forks out big money for players older than 25 years old. He signs them young (C Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Phil Jones). Or he gets them cheap (Henke Larsson, Michael Owen). Only once in a Blue Moon (pardon the pun), he takes out his check book for a special player. He did it for Eric Cantona. And he has done it for Robin. 26 Mio euros for a player who will most likely not be sold with a profit.

And while signing him, Sir Alex mused about that Eric Cantona era, saying Robin van Persie would most likely do for his team what Cantona did for the team back then.

When the enigmatic French player joined United in 1992, he did give Man United a lot. Goals, sure. Intelligence. But most importantly: personality, charisma and class. This turned the Red Devils from a very good team into an unbeatable side.

Cantona was the cherry on the cake and became one of the first superstars in the EPL.

Just like Cantona, Van Persie is a mature, balanced player. Not a lot Sir Alex or Meulensteen will be able to add to him. And both players are heralded for their impact in the dressing room. Van Persie is complimented on his “glue-factor” off the pitch. Both Cantona and Van Persie will always give attention and energy to the club people behind the scenes. The material manager, the cleaning staff, the kitchen people, the secretaries… And Van Persie comes in, with a focus. To win trophies. Many trophies. A total pro.

Ryan Giggs: “Whenever a finished product, a world class finished product, comes into the team, it lifts everything and everyone. With Robin, that is so clear.”

Van Persie said the same, but vice versa. “Arsenal is a fantastic club. But I needed a new challenge. When I came to Arsenal, I was in awe. I looked at Henry, at Bergkamp, I followed them, watched them to their thing and it was addictive. I wanted to do what they did. They set the standard and showed me what it is to be a pro player. At Arsenal, I missed that inspiration, at a certain point. I needed a new environment. At Man United, I see that again. I see players focusing to the max and doing everything they can to be world class. Giggs, Scholes, Rooney, Vidic, Evra… Highly inspiring. I feel like a kid in the candy store again…”

And this kid needs an Oranje candy store around him soon. The man who can score whenever he wants doesn’t seem to be able to do so with the Dutch lion on his chest.

I still wake up screaming with images of RVP missing the ball vs Denmark if I had too much red meat at dinner….

He never really delivered for Oranje. But it can’t be his fault.

Watch the high lights of his first season at Man United and it’s clear. RVP can score from any angle, with both feet, head, backheel, chest, arse, it doesn’t matter. But he needs to be the focus of the team.

Even with 10 mediocre players playing in service of him, we should be able to beat at least 98% of all opponents.

So, mr Van Gaal. This is the time.

We have one of the best players in the world, in top form, in our squad.

Build.The.Team.Around.Him.

Talk to him. Ask him how he would play. Forget systems, forget 4-3-3. How does Man United play? Is it 4-5-1? Is it 4-2-4? Who cares?

If fit, Robben and Afellay should be names to select. Van der Vaart and Sneijder will have to prove themselves again (in my book). With all due respect.

Other than that, we have some players who could do the job on the wing. Narsingh, Lens, Elia, Schaken, Boerrigter, Boetius…. (who cares, really).

We have Maher, Fer, De Guzman, Siem de Jong, Anita, Theo Janssen, Clasie, Strootman, Vilhena, Van Ginkel in midfield….

And Blind, Janmaat, BMI, De Vrij, Willems, Van Rhijn, Vlaar etc at the back.

And wonderful goal talent in Vorm, Krul, Vermeer, Zoet, Mulder…. Really…

Van Gaal’s job is not that hard….

( Used some insights from the great Willem van Hanegem)