Tag: Mourinho

August 9, 2020August 9, 2020 by Jan

Big Move for Nathan Ake

Nathan Ake deserves to be a symbol. In The Netherlands, there has been a lot of criticism on players who left Holland before they made a name for themselves in the first team of their club, and signed for big money clubs abroad… Royston Drenthe, Karim Rekik, Ebicilio, Nazarite, Jeffrey Bruma, we have seen it with so many players who end up being ignored, being loaned out, losing momentum and ending up with mid tier clubs in Greece or warming the bench at Wolfsburg or decided to go back to the amateurs in Holland…

Nathan Ake is the big exception to the rule. He too left Holland when he was 15 years old. The skipper of the Netherlands rep team that made a name for themselves (with some of the players mentioned above) and was considered Feyenoord’s next big thing.

But Chelsea swooped in and sign the introverted Ake for the future… The best thing for Nathan, was the fact that he was with Chelsea for 3 seasons at least, before he turned 21 making him a home grown player, in England. That will have helped his transfer tremendously, as any club needs to have 8 home grown players in their squad.

Last summer, Guardiola was eyeing Ake already, but the transfer didn’t happen, for different reasons. This season, City has been struggling defensively and needed to get some fresh blood in quick. And City was also limited due to the number of home grown players needed in their squad. Ake was the ideal candidate.

Ake is not just a good fit due to his “English status”, but also because he fits like a glove in Pep’s tactical plans.

He’s not the tallest (180 cm) but he’s a great header of the ball (timing and powerful jumps), both defensively and offensively. He has great feel for space and positioning. He’s very good on the ball and finds footballing solutions easily. He’s quick and has the balls to defend high up the pitch, with space behind him.

A good example below of what Ake can do. In the away match vs Man United, there is pressure on the ball but a confident and composed Nathan Ake dribbles his way to safety.

Recognising when it’s a good moment to push forward is a key strength for players in Guardiola’s teams. John Stones is hailed for this quality, but his defensive work is highly criticised. Those qualities are better balanced out with Ake. See below.

On top of that, Bournemouth got relegated, meaning that the club will most likely be happy to off load Ake for a good price. Bournemouth’s former coach – and the man who signed Ake – can fully understand Pep’s crush: “Nathan is a symbol of consistency. He has performed really well for us over a long period of time. And not just on the pitch, he is just a top notch professional. He can play on different positions. We have seen him play left full back, defensive mid and centre back. He needed to get used to it a bit, but he’s really brilliant in that role.”

Ake is seen as one of the best CBs in the EPL but in the Dutch NT, he’s fourth choice, behind Van Dijk, De Vrij and De Ligt. Potentially also because Ake never played Eredivisie football and isn’t that well known in Holland. He started with ADO Den Haag, where Feyenoord picked him up really early on. He never made the first team but enjoyed playing in a team with his mates and a move to England wasn’t part of the plan. Chelsea came and Nathan said no. His dad changed his mind, by saying: “If you wanted to study somewhere, and Harvard accepts you, you’d take it! You learn a lot and should you fail you can always go to a lesser school.” Nathan decided to go and check it out and loved it.

He won’t be able to get a starting birth though, but he did develop well in London, playing with the likes of Terry and Lampard. Frank Arnesen is Chelsea’s TD and loves for the youngster to move to the first team squad, but Mourinho is the Chelsea coach and he is not the guy to help young talents. He’s about winning, like most coaches in the EPL. Ake still enjoyed working with Mourinho: ” I liked him a lot. I worked with him for two years and he can really touch you, motivate you. You’ll go to war for him, and he demands 100% every training again. He wants to see that fighting spirit. At that age, it was really important for me to work with him and experience that.”

Later, Ake was less positive about Mourinho, claiming he was dropped by Mourinho after having had a good spell of starting berths under Benitez. “At one point he humiliated me in training, when I made a mistake. He threw his pad on the ground and yelled: “do you want me to buy a real defender for 50 million euros”. He dropped me from the squad and left me broken. I never understood why, as I was voted young player of the year and had some good games for Chelsea.”

Chelsea’s Rafael Benitez, Nathan Ake during a training session at the Cobham Training Ground on 15th March 2013 in Cobham, England. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Chelsea agrees to do a loan deal with Watford for Ake and here he gets the first heads being turned. He plays left back, he scores important goals and keeps Watford in the EPL and reaches the semi finals of the FA Cup with Watford. When Chelsea wants to loan him out again in the next season, Ake prefers to go to Bournemouth. “I played against them a couple of times and they play good football. Pass and move, careful build up… Their coach Eddie Howe wanted me and I felt like he had a plan with me. He initially wanted me to play defensive mid, as I played there under Benitez at Chelsea for a bit. But the manager already told me he also saw a centre back in me.” Ake impresses in the role and becomes a key player. When he returns to Chelsea, it is because new coach Antonio Conte really wants him back. But Conte doesn’t use Ake that much and he has to watch the FA Cup finals from the stands, while he was in the team in the semi finals against Spurs to deal with Harry Kane. Successfully. When Bournemouth returns to Chelsea to get Ake permanently, the The Hague born mini Gullit jumps to the opportunity. Chelsea sells him for 20 mio euros and negotiates a buy-back clause for 40 million euros.

After a couple of good seasons, Bournemouth ends up being too small to withstand the onslaught from more ambitious clubs, and gets relegated.

Nathan’s rise to the top has gone via a long(er) and winding road, but he does prove that you can reach the summit when you leave the Netherlands so young. It’s a matter of working hard and keeping your head down and prove it week in week out.

At the NT, Ake has the bad luck that he has De Ligt and Van Dijk in front of him, same as Stefan de Vrij. The former Feyenoord defender was voted the best defender in the Serie A recently. What a feat for a lad from Rotterdam.

Ake, the silent power, the unsung hero, might well be Oranje’s secret weapon at next year’s Euros. He keeps on surprising people and seems to be making his way into one of the best footballing teams of the world.

Some Statistics:

Of all the defenders in the EPL today younger than 25, he only has to allow Luke Shaw and Hector Bellerin above him. The 11 times capped Ake played 146 EPL matches

Ake is not a safety before anything player, but his passing accuracy is 87.6%. Only 14 defenders with more than 1000 minutes of EPL football do it better than him.

Ake is only 180 cm tall but scored 6 headers this season in the EPL. Only 12 EPL defenders headed the ball more, defensively.

With Ake, Bournemouth won 29.5% of their games. Without him, it’s a lowly 12,5%.

Ake was taken on successfully in a one v one situation only nine times. Kurt Zouma (Chelsea) and Virgil van Dijk are the only two defenders whom experienced this less times (7 times only).

Like Virgil, Nathan hardly goes to ground. When he did do this, he won the ball 21 times out of 31 attempts.

September 5, 2018September 6, 2018 by Jan

Farewell to Wesley Sneijder

The next international game vs Peru has Sneijder’s farewell as the main theme. The new qualification series for the Euros is starting too, but all eyes and focus are on the little captain first. 34 year old and with 133 caps to his name, the former skipper looks back and looks forward from Qatar, his current home.

“I decided to go to Qatar also because of the World Cup coming here. Football is alive here and I enjoy exploring these types of countries. We loved living in Turkey, and we love it here. And when the World Cup comes, who knows, I hope to play some part. Maybe for Qatar, for the FIFA or maybe for Oranje. And until that time, I want to be an active player. Playing football is the best thing there is.”

Sneijder lives like a prince in Qatar. He describes his day. “In the morning, I am busy with my non football activities. I have a building company in Turkey, and we’re building apartments in Istanbul. In China I have SPort8, a youth academy company and I also have SportChain which is a crypto company. On Ibiza I own a restaurant and since this week I’m also ambassador for the Johan Cruyff Foundation. So, busy enough. Then it’s time for lunch and an afternoon nap and in the evening we have training. And when Yolanthe is here with our son we do fun things as a family. And hey, I know the stories, the big paychecks and what not, but I could have made more, much more, in China. But quality of life is important too. I don’t think I would have been happy in China. Life here is comfortable, hardly any crime, and I met a lot of cool new friends, locals and Dutch expats, all sorts. And Nigel de Jong and family lives here too of course.”

Last weekend, they played against each other, again. “We had our derbies in Milan and now here, hahaha. We beat him 4-0 but I decided to float a bit on the pitch as I didn’t want to get to near to him. I still have an Oranje match to play, hahaha.”

The matches in Doha are played before 100s of people, instead of 1000s. “It took some time to get used to, but like anything, you do get used to it. Playing before a full Bernabeu becomes normal and this becomes normal too. I think I prepared well mentally for this step and I enjoy myself. Just the training sessions alone and making fun with my team mates. I’m now at an age where I can support the coaching staff and I enjoy that.”

Wesley’s Favorite Coaches. “You won’t find Louis van Gaal in my top 3. Yes, he’s a great coach, just not my great coach, hahaha.”

#3 Danny Blind

“I worked with him at Ajax and Oranje, and I think the success we had in 2014 was partly his work. Van Gaal got the credits, but Danny was important with analysis, training sessions and he was a wonderful guy to work with. A special coach.”

#2 Henk ten Cate

“He’s also a friend. But objectively, he is a very tough task master. He’s tough, he’s disciplined, he sees the game. I had my best season under him at Ajax. I scored 18 goals. And I was a bit complacent but he got me really going. And when I was unfit in 2013, he came to Ibiza to work with me to get me fit. Henk was also the one to motivate me to work on my fitness. He called me Billy Bigmans (Big = Pig). Told me I was too fat for the top. He challenged me and I needed that.”

#1 Jose Mourinho

“We didn’t work together that long. My most successful period. He is the special one, but you need to work with him to understand this. He has skills no one else has. His management skills, with 23 egos, that process. He can manage that so well. To get everyone focused for the big objective. Tactically, he is also super strong.”

After his failed Nice adventure, Ajax or FC Utrecht could have been Wes’ new club. But it didn’t happen. “I get that. Utrecht was actually more interested than Ajax but I decided to stay longer abroad. I enjoy this life. I do follow the Eredivisie by the way. Every match. And Nigel and I were cheering last week when we watched Ajax play Dynamo Kiev. We’re on the coach, and cheering Ajax on. That was fun. And I think Ajax will be doing so well, with the likes of De Ligt and De Jong. These two will be key for Dutch football. Everything they do has a forward focus and purpose. This is a natural thing for them. And I love that, which Is why I love watching Man City and Barcelona too. And with Memphis in good form and Van Dijk and Wijnaldum at Liverpool I really think Oranje has turned a corner. And particularly with Ronald Koeman as coach. He’s pragmatic, he demands a lot but he also has that Barca / Cruyff DNA. He’s good in his communication too.”

Talking about Oranje, the high point of his career needs to mentioned. “I have had many. I personally think our football at the 2008 Euros, in the group stages, was the best we played. Van Basten and Van’t Schip just said: go out there and play! We didn’t do much in a tactical sense. And we played ever so well, until that terrible thing with Boulahrouz. My first match vs Scotland was special too of course. I scored my first goal in the first 15 minutes or so. But the real high point was the Brazil quarter finals in 2010. When we were 1-0 down. And it wasn’t so much my two goals in the second half. It was what happened in the dressing room. I surprised myself. I came in latest and the whole team was staring at the floor. And I was like: Hey! We can go home a bunch of losers, or we go back out there and play. And take the game to them. And hurt them. And that did something. The heads came up, other players chimed in and we went out and turned the game around.”

In 2014, Sneijder again plays a main part in the World Cup story but differently, with his love-hate relationship with Van Gaal. “I frequently thought, is this guy a genius or is he insane?”. I think he’s both now. Hahaha. When Van Gaal first started I told him: you’ll need me there. And he did. But he decided to push me and pester me to get me to react. One example. During the tournament, we were on our day off and some of us went to this lounge bar for some drinks. Nothing spectacular. We returned, precisely at 10pm as instructed. Who is in the hotel lobby? Van Gaal. And we walk past him and he starts barking at me. Only at me: “So, why did Sneijder have to go to that lounge bar?” And I was like: “We all went, why are you not asking them?”. And he said: “Because I want to know from you!!”. And I just said “goodnight” and walked off. The next day, I was really pissed off and I played another good game. And I think now he did it to get me worked up. We did well with him, but I won’t pick him as my favorite coach. My top 3: Jose Mourinho, Henk ten Cate and Danny Blind.”

“After the WC in Brazil I realised we were not fully focused. We lost away vs Iceland, 2-0 and I knew we were in trouble. Not because we lost. But the manner in which we lost. We were without a chance. I even considered quitting but that’s not me. I wanted to fight back. But we were going downhill. My biggest low point was the 4-0 loss vs France under Advocaat. He put me in a 3 man’s midfield as the playmaker vs Kante. And I thought… oh… that is not smart… But what do you do? I should have said “Dick, please put me on the bench, that is not ending well” but I didn’t. The coach needed me and I wanted to deliver. But I don’t blame Guus Hiddink and Danny Blind. I blame the many players who decided to skip qualification games, only to play for their club 3 days later! No I won’t mention names, the players know exactly who they are. They let the team down. Fuck off. Should I ever become part of the Oranje staff, those types will have a problem with me, that is not on. You need to be proud to play for your country! Danny Blind’s sacking really hurt me. He was a perfect coach. As assistant to Van Gaal he was so important and his influence was huge. A real expert and he didn’t deserve that mentality.”

“The last years, it felt like some internationals needed to be pushed to play for Oranje. I think now these changes, the new Zeist centre instead of the players’ hotel in Noordwijk…all good measures. When players can’t deal with the freedom you need to create a situation where the focus is fully on the game. And it’s really a big trap, players thinking they are the Man because they are big at their club… You have to demonstrate that in the national team!”

“Another key concept is sacrifice. In 2010, we all were focusing on getting the best out of it. And the benchwarmers did their job. Huntelaar, Elia, Van der Vaart, no one was negative. How this changed in 2012. We had more players with big reputations and they couldn’t accept that bench role anymore. And I realised vs Denmark, if we lose this match, it will be all over. And it is such a shame. Players simply don’t realise how special it is to play one great tournament. Just one already is amazing…”

“My future, well… I can say this: I would not be able to think of anything better to do than be involved with the national team. I would love to be an assistant coach for Oranje. Being with the lads, parting my knowledge, setting up training, just sharing my experiences, you know? I spoke about it with Koeman. We’ll see. For now, I’m still playing and I will most likely keep on playing for a while still. But I love that whole group process of having a goal and working towards it. Preparing for a World Cup for instance. It’s amazing. And I paid attention with all the coaches I had. And I realised, you can be the best tactician but if you can’t communicate, if you can’t motivate your players to do something, it doesn’t matter. Mourinho was the maestro. He was able to let you do things you thought you couldn’t. He had the backroom staff for the practices, and the physiological stuff and tactical analysis. He simply asked you to do things for him and you did. Eto’o, a super striker, he was a flank player under Mourinho, running up and down and defending and attacking… Incredible. But now, my future is the Peru game. One more time part of the group. Having fun, kicking a ball, goosebumps with the national anthem. And then I will be watching Oranje on the coach, with a Heineken! Enjoying myself.

Below, Wesley’s favorite team of players he once played with:

Ok guys: tell me your best Wesley Sneijder memory below!

January 13, 2018January 13, 2018 by Jan

Mourinho and Excelsior

The football city of Holland is obviously Rotterdam. The port city has three Eredivisie clubs and a tremendous history. The best stadium of the country, the best pitch of Europe, the most popular club of the country, and with Sparta a club that plays its home games in a castle.

Excelsior is the ugly duckling in Rotterdam. The grounds look like a mediocre amateur club venue. The club is situated in the posh area of Rotterdam, next to the Erasmus University where football competes with cricket, rugby and golf. Their biggest claim to fame is and will always be the fact that their budget used to be made “whole” by collecting old papers from households in the area, which would then be sold to a paper-disposal plant for mere cents… An urban legend, I’m sure.

But, it’s also the most decent club in the country and has and probably always will have the lowest budget in the Eredivisie.

Despite their relative poor stature, Excelsior plays very decent football, pass & move, technically skilled and they even were 7th (!!) in the Eredivisie for a spell. Currently the lowly club is 12th in the league and actually the second club in Rotterdam (with Sparta in relegation land for now).

Excelsior always had a knack of finding good coaches, who would bring something extra to the club. The likes of Mario Been, Fons Groenendijk and Alex Pastoor all did wonderful things here and currently it’s Mitchell van der Gaag who impresses.

Van der Gaag was a promising central defender when he came through the ranks at PSV Eindhoven. He found it tough to compete with PSV peers in the heydays and was out on loan to NEC and Sparta, before he left for Scotland. After Motherwell he returned to play for FC Utrecht and then made his move to Portugal where he became a cult hero for Maritimo. A short spell with Al Nassr followed and after his career (stopped short by injuries) he went on to coach in Portugal before returning to Holland, where he coached FC Eindhoven for one season and is now writing headlines with Excelsior.

Jose Mourinho: “There are many poets in football, but poets don’t win trophies!”. It’s how they think in Portugal. That’s all.

Most Dutch people will remember the way his team Man United won the EL finals against the young Ajax of Peter Bosz. I’m sure Bosz is considered one of the poets, by the Special One and he had his fair share of shenanigans with Dutch coaches before. Like when he was able to run a coaching session for his boss, Louis van Gaal, at Barcelona. And how his boss Van Gaal inspired Mourinho to become a head coach himself. Or how he beat Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona after he won the CL a season earlier with FC Porto. And how Mourinho inspired Ajax’ and Cruyff’s Velvet Revolution, after Real Madrid simply brushed Martin Jol’s Ajax aside in two matches in the CL. How he played the Ajax of Frank de Boer and had his players get a yellow card to avoid a suspension in the knock-out stages. And mostly, how he beat his old master Van Gaal in the CL finals of 2010.

All this was symbolic for the changes in international football and the changes in the coaching hierarchy. Since the spring of 2015, it were the Portuguese coaches who won trophies, in England (Mourinho himself), Greece (Pereira), Russia (Villas-Boas), Ukraine (Fonseca) and France (Jardim). And it was Santos who won the EC with the Selecao das Quinas in 2016.

The Dutch coaches? Well, Ten Cate won the title in the United Arab Emirates and Van Gaal won the FA Cup with Man United. That’s it, really.

When Van der Gaag arrives in Portugal in 2001, the roles are reversed still. His coaches ask him constantly about the Dutch School. Whenever Mitchell flies to his family in Holland, his coaches would ask him to bring home video tapes of Ajax coaching sessions. “Typical for the Portuguese,” Van der Gaag smiles. “They are followers, it’s in their culture.”

His family resides in Portugal for 16 years now. His oldest son just won a first pro contract with Benfica, where another son also plays in the youth system. He won the title on the second level with Belensenses and had to quit his job due to heart issues. He resumed work on Cyprus and came to Excelsior at the Eredivisie level via FC Eindhoven.

Van der Gaag witnessed how the Portuguese changed their football culture. All thanks to a headstrong student physiology, who went from being Bobby Robson’s translator to one of the most successful coaches of the 21st century. “Mourinho has a different mentality than most Portuguese people. When he won the CL with FC Porto, he made some wholesale changes in the country. The coaches now are more self confident and simply are viewed differently now.”

Van der Gaag at Motherwell

Van der Gaag mentions Leonardo Jardim, who led AS Monaco to the title and the semi finals of the CL. “He is from Madeira, where I worked for nine years at Maritimo. He did not have a huge playing career, and neither did Mourinho. These guys are all university students, physiology, or sports-science, mostly in Lisbon. And they start their coaching careers early. Jardim was 27 years old when he started as assistant coach. And they move their way up the ladder step by step.”

Van der Gaag is still a player when Porto wins the CL. Around that time, the coaching virus grasps him and he finishes his initial Dutch studies in Portugal. “The course in Portugal is so different. In Holland, it’s all about the Verheijen method of not putting too much physical pressure on the players. You need to work with match situations and see how you can find a problem and make it trainable. In Portugal, you go into an intern for 3 weeks and you are being fed all this know-how, from 9 am till 9 pm. You get a fist thick book with all sorts of practices. After that you need to work on a thesis using 75 of these practices and on the exam day you pick a number and use this practice on the training pitch.

Mourinho in his Porto days

Van der Gaag doesn’t believe this is good enough and starts to invest in himself. He saves an amount per month which he uses to buy all sorts of football training books. He studies the Danish physical condition coach Bangsbo’s work, he delves into the work of Professor Castelo and Jose Oliveira teaches Mitchell about tactical period-planning.

“In Portugal, universities play a major role in football development, both in Porto and Lisbon. All the methodologies are being taught. In Lisbon, it’s Castelo and in the North they use the Vitor Frade method, who works for FC Porto and for the university. He is seen as the mentor of Mourinho.”

The quintesses of this tactical period training is that it ignores systems and tasks and roles and running lines, but works with principles. “Tactics is extremely important in Portugal, but systems aren’t. The difference between certain systems is only a few yards, right. The systems actually only exist on paper. And more and more teams seem to be positioned compact, defensively. The Portuguese work more on principles, concepts that assist the players in decision making in particular in the turn-around situations.”

And this is exactly the thing where the Dutch can learn from the Portuguese! “After Ajax’ finals against Man United, I heard a lot of criticism about how Man United played anti-football. I heard the same criticism when Portugal won the EC2016. We want to entertain the crowd, in Portugal, only a victory counts. The word “counter” has a negative connotation in Holland, but a well executed counter is the result of practice and perfectioning moments. In Portugal, all we did was train the turn around moment. (Current Ajax assistant coach) Alfred Schreuder told me that Nagelsmann does the exact same thing at Hoffenheim.”

Alfred Schreuder at Hoffenheim

Van der Gaag uses this at Excelsior. “I basically see four key moments in a match and for each, we use one key principle. They are attack, defense and the two turn-around moments between these two moments. This always comes back in training. Defensively, we have a compact positioning model in the zone. In the turn around, we go for depth as fast as we can. We focus on movement and overlap. All forms of practices are focused on the turn around moments. We practice 3 v 2 and 2 v 1 moments, because this is exactly what happens in a game.”

The ultimate confirmation comes in what Feyenoord thought would be their title-winning match, last season. Feyenoord centre back Botteghin collects the ball, when Feyenoord is 1-0 behind. He dribbles into midfield. And now, the many hours of practice pay off. Excelsior repossesses the ball in the midfield area, and as a result, three attacking minded midfield runners and the striker are in perfect position to counter-attack. They find depth fast, the running patterns are diagonal to confuse the defenders. An overlapping run on the wing and the low early cross across the goal mouth. “That was a wonderful explosion of joy, this is what we train on the whole year,” Van der Gaal smiles.

Physical condition is the most important thing in the turn around, more so than tactics. “The ability and willingness to run 60 meters at full speed, that is the difference. We worked on that with our wingers all season. I showed him videos of Eden Hazard, who constantly makes those runs at Chelsea.”

Apart from book study, Van der Gaag also does his work in Youtube. “I sometimes take a full day to watch videos of top coaches. I love watching Marcelo Bielsa. He’s fantastic. Sometimes I have to rewatch his stuff three times to see what he actually is doing. I learned defensive practices from him. He lets defenders head balls away all the time. Diego Simeone does that too. Players are constantly jumping, tumbling, tackling. We have tend to not to the dirty work at training in Holland. I watch those clips and it inspires me to do similar things here at Excelsior.”

Bielsa

Other coaches I follow are Sampaoli, Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho. This summer, Maurizio Sarri of Napoli is also on my watchlist. The way Napoli builds up and attacks is incredibly interesting. Sarri is a special guy. He basically watches with a cigaret and every 10 minutes an assistant brings him another espresso. Amazing. And I think, how would people respond to this if I would do that at Excelsior, hahaha.”

Dutch players tend to “get” the turnaround practices quickly, but zonal defending tends to be a problem. “In Portugal, no team playes one on one at the back. If a defenders presses forward and steps out of defense, he’ll get the death penalty. In Portugal, defending is all about guarding the zone. In Holland, in particular in the Jupiler League, it’s all about one v one defending. When my defenders get nervous at Excelsior, they tend to push up. They want to “feel” a direct opponent. This is how we conceded too many goals. And due to my Portuguese DNA now, it’s not what I like to see.”

Van der Gaag wants to put the Excelsior results in perspective. “I can be the smart-ass now, but I can not explain everything. We had a bad spell last season and suddenly, we win four games in a row. And we didn’t do anything different. We just kept the focus on what we did and were doing. I can talk with a deep voice about systems, or methods or principles, but sometimes it just falls into place. And it’s mostly a psychological thing. And I’m focusing on the mental side too. We added a mental coach to the backroom staff this season.”

Tactical periodisation is a key idea in getting teams to perform well. “Books, anyone can read them. But how do you process the info, how do you make it workable in practice and how do you communicate with the players… Guilherme wrote the bible on tactical periodisation but as a coach he simply failed. I’m sure this was not due to the quality of his practices.”

Sarri

“I can see these ideas being used now in Holland by many coaches. Ten Hag, Van Bronckhorst, Groenendijk, Van ‘t Schip, but it’s more than a fad, a hype. Slowly, we see changes coming in Holland.”

So what does Van der Gaag think Dutch football needs to do. “I do follow the discussion of course. We are a bit set in our ways. But it’s not all that bad. I mean, Ajax did reach the EL finals! And the new coaching course is much better and the KNVB has definitely looked at the German way of doing things. Now it’s almost as if the ex footballer can not be the ideal coach. I think we’re now going too far in the other direction.”

Last season Excelsior played seven games in which it had more possession than the opponent. And in all those games, Excelsior ended up losing. “I think consistency is the key to our success but it can also be a reason for failure. I would love to use a Plan B to surprise opponents. But I usually start the pre-season with only 13 players. How am I ever going to get a Plan B in the team?”

May 26, 2017 by Jan

Why Mourinho hates everything Ajax

Ok, so Ajax didn’t win it. Too bad. But Ajax won anyway. Is my view. Man United have been poor all season, despite massive signings. They won this trophy, sure, but usually Man United would be competing to win the CL! Mourinho has shown the world more of his bad side (placing finger in Barca assistant’s coach eye, calling Chelsea doctor “a whore” and this season several attempts to win an Oscar for Overacting).

They have the trophy, but young Ajax got the sympathy. The boys from Amsterdam tried, the men from Manchester did everything to stop them.

An ugly finals, physical strength and long balls by Manchester United, keeping 6 men behind the ball. It was always going to be tough if the Mancunians would score first, and they got their lucky goal when Pogba was offered too much space and a ricochet caused Onana to be without a chance.

Ajax didn’t start the second half too well with a corner conceded and an unlucky bounce, delivering Mhkataryan a chance to do something more than foul Veltman.

Ajax never looked to score. Too much through the middle, not decisive enough in the passing, too many nervous stray balls and obviously allowing Sanchez the ball to build up… Mourinho did it smartly, and Ajax simply wasn’t good enough.

And boy, is Mourinho getting drunk the coming days, coz not delivering CL football to the Red Devils would have been a tremendous upset and humiliation.

And Mourinho must have revelled in the fact that he could get a win over his much hated Ajax! You all saw his comments in the press about the Sons of Gods? Jose Mourinho was extra motivated to get one over Ajax, partly due to a deep historic scar. This article below appeared before the Europa League finals. I wasn’t able to bring you it earlier… Still a good read.

Lets go back to the spring of 1996. Barcelona chair Nunez was going to fire Johan Cruyff, after eight successful years. He was negotiating with Bobby Robson in a hotel suite in secret. In the room next door, a 33 year old young Portuguese chap was waiting. Robson said: “I need him at my side!”. Nunez: “No way. I will not pay for a translator.”

But the worldwise Brit didn’t give in. He needed the young man. Robson worked in Portugal as coach at Sporting and Porto and used Mourinho as his translator. Eventually, Nunez conceded but would not pay more than 10,000 pts per month for the upstart. Which is 60 euros. Per month. Robson and Mourinho agreed. Vice-chair Gaspart, who would make this anecdote public years later, offered the Portuguese translator a free room in one of his hotels, because “he was dirt poor.”

But Mourinho was more than a translator. Rufete, former Barca player: “We didn’t understand Robson. He was able to motivate us and inspire us with his expression, with his gestures. But if he spoke for half an hour, Moutinho would summarize it all in 2 minutes in Spanish.”

Laurent Blanc, Barca player in that season. “After a month, it was clear that Robson couldn’t reach the group. They were used to Cruyff, Robson was so different. So Robson let Mourinho do the tactical talks. He spoke Spanish. That is where his career started. He was clearly intelligent and he was clear in his messages.”

The Portugues was popular amongst the players and he smartly made pacts with the media. He was young, good looking and had humour. He was offered a raise and he was offered an apartment in Sitges. Not much later, new Barca coach Louis van Gaal would be his neighbour. Mourinho would work with Van Gaal and was a well respected part of the Barca backroom staff for years. When he took on Porto and Chelsea as head coach, he was convinced he would be appointed Barca head coach after Frank Rijkaard departed the Camp Nou.

But Barca’s board was divided. The one half felt the hard hand of Mourinho was needed, the other half wanted to move more towards the Barca way of working. Mourinho was told: “We will confer with Johan Cruyff about your appointment”. Cruyff was close with then chair Joan Laporte and Cruyff suggested Barca appointed youth coach Pep Guardiola.

Mourinho would never forget that. And he would never forgive Barca nor Cruyff. So when Real Madrid was looking for a coach to stand up to Barcelona’s reign and Guardiola’s successes, they smartly appointed Mourinho. And never before were the Clasicos so unfriendly, full volcanic eruptions and hotheaded playees as in the years under Mourinho, who preached aggression and hostility. This even spilled over into the Spain National Team!

Mourinho by then already had his revenge on Barca and Guardiola, by exiting them in the Champions League with Inter Milan. After the 3-1 loss in Milan, Barca could not destroy the defensive wall Inter put up in the Camp Nou. Catenaccio was given another dimension by Mourinho. But by doing so, he proved that Cruyff was right and the Barca board actually made the correct choice. With Mourinho, Cruyff’s legacy would have been trampled and the frivolous DNA of Barca destroyed.

Winning, is all that counts for Jose. Beauty is for the museum. He told his players at Inter, Chelsea and Real Madrid that ball possession was for naive puritans. He can’t deal with idealists, like Guardiola and Wenger. And he probably couldn’t deal with Peter Bosz either, who is probably the most Cruyffian coaches Holland has at the moment (sorry Koeman and De Boer!). Even worse, he doesn’t even know who Peter Bosz is he said last week at a press conference.

But of course he does! And he knows the Ajax game too. He has always been obsessed with the opponent. He would make thorough analysis of the opponents for Robson and Van Gaal. It is his strength. To find the weaknesses of the opponent and to destabilise them. Humiliate them. Which he usually does with Arsene Wenger. Dominating Guardiola is too hard for Mourinho though. Pep leads the confrontations 8-4 with seven draws.

So now Peter Bosz is his dog to kick. A nobody, Mourinho suggests. And to be condescending is Mourinho’s weapon of choice. “This is the most important game in the history of Man United,” he said before the return game vs Celta de Vigo. “Because United never won the Europa League.”

Ajax wants to win, wants to attack, score goals and dazzle. Mourinho will send his team onto the pitch with one big message: to prove Cruyff wrong. To tell the world his vision is outdated, naive and utopian. United will most likely have less than 45% possession in the game, but Mourinho doesn’t care. He wants to win. Always. But especially against Ajax, Bosz and Cruyff….

July 1, 2016 by Jan

Memphis, from love to loathing

Euros Schmeuros…. I’m watching a lot of games, keen to see a moment of brilliance of Modric, Bale, Ozil or Dembele. So far, it was not great. Some good stuff here and there. Shaqiri’s goal, Ozil little flicks, Bale’s runs, Iniesta’s allround game. But also dreadful football at times. Wales – Northern Ireland… what a drama. Never seen such a bad game of football ever at this level… And then to think we are not there…. Aaaarggh…

But, we’ll need to drink the poisonous chalice all the way, I guess.

And with all that, we also have to face the fact that the hope of the Nation – Memphis Depay – has reached a big low and we are all keen to see that he will come out of it…

Benched for Oranje, on the stands in Manchester, ridiculed by the fans… Once touted as the biggest talent of the country since a long time, he has now lived through a year of self doubt, criticism and disappointments… Where did it go wrong? Will it ever come good?

London

The loud music is blaring from the big speakers. On the big screen, we see amazing footage of the biggest athletes on the planet. Awesome coverage of sports heroes, all winning and sweating in sports apparel by Under Armour. Lindsey Vonn, Michael Phelps, Andy Murray, Jordan Spieth…

Adrienne Lofton is the CEO of this massive American brand and she flew to London to personally introduce the special guest to the audience. The guest of honour is The New Face of international football, she says, proudly… She is talking about someone who “perfectly represents the brand”. A young super star and the face of the new marketing campaign. “Ladies and gentlemen, here he is… MEMPHIS!”…

The player walks onto the state in The Bike Shed, a glorious venue in East London, capital of hipsters, slick ad execs and filthy rich creatives… It is late February 2016 and Man United won that night in a match 0-3 versus Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup.

Memphis actually played the full 90 minutes again. The million dollar signing became a bench warmer at Old Trafford. The words “disappointment” and “failure” have been used a couple of times already in the English media. The Dutchman struggles. With himself, and with the ball, for months already and his credit with Van Gaal seems to have dissipated.

At the end of the evening, Memphis muses about his situation. “This is a tough phase to be in. Making mistakes is terrible. But… I just have to remain confident and believe it will make me a better player. This is the only thing I can do: work hard, keep focus and believe in myself.”

Memphis is sipping on a bottle of water, leaning against a table. You don’t need a PhD in psychology to know he is not comfortable. He signed the Under Armour contract in his last season with PSV, when it was clear he was going to go far. Under Armour saw him as the perfect face for years to come. The new C Ronaldo, Beckham, Ljungberg… Memphis was honoured and saw this line of fashion befitting to him. It matched his personality. Kees Ploegsma, former PSV manager and his agent, expected that this partnership would work and advised the youngster to commit. Memphis, a lad of extremes. A player who wants to become the best on the planet. A super star in the making.

Ploegsma: “We manage the affairs of Cillesen and Strootman too… But we make different decisions for them, scout different options for them. They’re different than Memphis. Or maybe, Memphis is different to them… Memphis is an all or nothing kinda guy. He loves that.”

But, these sort of things will work against you if it becomes nothing. There is no way Memphis can duck out. He signed a contract with a billion dollar company. The brand is key. Contract is contract.

Dublin

Nothing works. Every action he starts ends in clumsy loss of possession. A stray pass? It can happen. A dribble being stopped. Sure. But at some stage, Memphis is wrestling with the ball, trying to keep it under control. A typical sign the player is lacking all confidence. He looks lacklustre. Without inspiration. His season seems to end in style, in a way, in a dramatic friendly between Oranje and Ireland. The cocky youngster seems to come to grips with this phase in his career and is vulnerable and open in an interview just some days before. “Oh yes, I had periods I doubted myself. But, those are now behind me.”

Memphis’ problem is that no one seems to have an eye for his vulnerability. He is the big summer signing of Man United. He accepted the legendary jersey #7. He is the lad buying the Rolls Royce. The arrogant star who refused to speak to the media. And…he also wears a hat at times! A hat!! How dare he? And he taunts and debates with the 101 times capped international Robin van Persie. He created his own reputation of course, but no one seems to care for the young player who struggles with self doubt and expectations. A player, desperately looking for some confidence.

ROTTERDAM

Memphis is looking for words. And when he does, he tends to look into the distance. He is looking for words. And uses hip hop terms and streetjive, such as “ya know?” and “crib” and “positive vibes”. He speaks the language of the big cities in Holland. Robin van Persie, ironically, was one of the first to show of his street lingo, when he was a young player. The masses watching tv don’t like it. The papa mamas in Hierden, the kids in Loenen or the labourers in Enschede… it makes him distant and otherwordly. But Van Persie survived this stage. Hopefully Memphis will too. Memphis is in Rotterdam, he’s been given a couple of days off and he decides to go for a big interview with Algemeen Dagblad. The interview is like pulling teeth for him. A good friend says: “Memphis is very open, very outspoken and generous… But you need to win his trust first. He will always assess the situation before he allows people a look in. From when he was young, he had to deal with this. He is hurt a lot, as a kid. Damaged. That makes him a bit detached… ” But, after a while, he starts to open up. And speaks with detail and in a calm fashiong about his motivations and the contradictions in his personality. And he tries to find the reason for his insatiable appetite for fame and success. He talks about his love-hate relationship with the spotlights…. sometimes loathing the attention and sometimes actively looking for it.

It becomes a long interview, a fascinating talk, and mainly due to the somewhat scruffy portrait Memphis paints of himself. “I demand of myself that I am 100% there from the get go. I think that is the street in me… Don’t fail! Failure is NOT an option!” Another soundbite: “I don’t know what it is but I loathe being mediocre. I cannot be mainstream. The middle of the road is not my thing. You get hit by a car in the middle of the road…”

About his extraverted hobbies. “Some people collect stamps. Some people are fanatical about WW2. Others have pigeons. I like fashion. I like new things, art, beauty. This is what makes me feel good. If I would have to wear what others want me to wear, I’d be unhappy. I wouldn’t be me.”

London

Memphis is walking on the pitch of Wembley. No football boots. Normal shoes. He congratulates and cuddles with his team mates who just won the FA Cup. After he saw all the players, he crosses paths with Louis van Gaal. The coach who didn’t pick him for the match squad. Van Gaal puts his arm around Memphis’ shoulder. A clumsy hug follows. It is the last episode of a relationship gone wrong. Van Gaal was the coach who allowed Depay to make his debut in Oranje, he paid millions for him to get him into a ManU jersey and he put him in the starting line up for months. An insider: “Louis van Gaal has a narcissistic trait. People with this disorder will support people who do what they say, support what they say and play along with the tricks. Once a player talks back or shows his lack of commitment to the behaviour of the narcist, things can unravel really quickly.” This seems to have happened with Memphis and Louis. Something happened. And as a result, Memphis was out of grace. He does have some decent turns as a sub but almost the same number of sub-turns amount to nothing. With crucial loss of possession even. He does play a sensational game against Midtjylland and the hope returns to Old Trafford… Would it start now?

But, Van Gaal doesn’t use Memphis in big games anymore. Once Louis’ love is gone, it won’t ever return, it seems. Some people say Van Gaal doesn’t like all the off-pitch shenanigans of Memphis. The cars, the sponsor deals, the hats… But insiders say it’s not like that. Van Gaal couldn’t care less if Memphis would perform, he can wear the suit of Big Bird on his days off. Insiders claim that Memphis wants to play his own game. And isn’t coachable as Van Gaal wants to see it. Interestingly, most ManU players seem to have difficulties with Van Gaal’s tight straightjacket approach. Fellaini, Rooney, Carrick, Januzaj, Herreira… most players want to have some more freedom on the pitch. Memphis probably first in the line to need this…

But there were no complaints at Man United – from Van Gaal, Giggs or anyone else – about his work ethic and focus. The player has his own nutritionist, his own mental coach, he asked for more hours on the practice field and selected a very quiet suburb in Manchester to live. Away from the spotlights.

Memphis and Van Gaal did not have a break up due to his (Memphis’ or Louis’) antics. Louis knew what he was dealing with. But Louis left Memphis out because Martial simply was better on his position. And the more the pressure mounted, the more Memphis tried to make every single ball contact count. He became too focused on doing something special. A trick, a dribble, a shot in the top corner, a shimmy… He wanted to give the fans what they needed and craved for. And obviously, whenever he failed, it meant loss of possession. The risk in his game would become too high. Van Gaal needed wins over performance and went with players who played simple. Ashley Young became a relief striker because he only does what he does well. Memphis succumbed under the pressure of the expectations, the transfer fee and his obsession to be special.

But, at the same time, Memphis started to become more and more frustrated with the philosophy of his coach. And with him, other players as well. Rooney, De Gea, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Herreira… Control and discipline were key. The Dutch coach constantly focused on keep possession, no risk, tactical tasks and as a result the creativity and intuition and impulse disappeared from Man United’s game.

So, add all this to the fact that any player needs to adjust to the English league, and the causes for his disappointing first season are there. “It wasn’t a great season, but it also wasn’t a terrible one,” he said himself.

MANCHESTER

Incoming ManU coach has his own ideas. He also is not a figure-head of beautiful football (although Van Gaal used to be). The Overrated One believes in winning. The centre back type that is Daley Blind doesn’t fit in his philosophy. In his teams, he always used to “destroyers” in the center defence. He doesn’t want tactically strong but physically light players with good ball and passing skills.

He will get millions to throw around, but there is a fair chance that most players will still be at Old Trafford once Jose starts. The rumours that Memphis will have to go are simply just rumours for now. Because Mourinho does like “characters”. He will play compact and will need speed up front. Memphis is a perfect player for a more counter-attacking game plan.Memphis is not the greatest in confined space. He needs space to use his skills and his golden right foot.

Memphis will have a couple of weeks to fight for his future at Manchester United. The fans and the media are done with him. It will be all or nothing. Exactly like Memphis wants it….