2018 was the year of Frenkie’s international break through. A start spot at Ajax, impressive games in the Champions League, a dominant role in the new Oranje and a mega transfer to a European super power looming on the horizon. “I play in the Champions League and so does my manager Ali Dursun.”
It’s a cold December day in 2012. Ali Dursun is at the Willem II youth academy to watch his son Mike play in the D pupils. After that match finishes, the football dad decides to check out the C-team at Willem II to kill the time waiting for his son to get ready to go home. “What I saw there was unbelievable. A blond kid, with 10 on his jersey. The goalie kicked the ball out, that number 10 picked it up out of the air, made a Zidane turn and played no look pass through the eye of the needle to the striker who scored. The striker did well. But the midfielder made all of that happen. I gave my car keys to my wife and said: you go home with Mike, I need to watch this kid.”
Ali Dursun decided to follow the youngster and started a conversation with the dad John and grandpa Jan who were always at the playmaker’s games. Dursun was a local player’s agent and working part time in the courier company of his brother. There was a click. Frenkie de Jong now: “We started to build a bond. Ali became a friend of the family and my confidante. He was there when I was a kid and offered wisdom and guidance. He was never about control, or contracts or money. He really wanted me to succeed. We share everything as he completely gets me, the way I think and I get his way of thinking.”
It’s easy to see 2018 as a perfect year, but Frenkie grabs his phone and shows the interviewer a photo from February. It’s an ankle and on the angle is a knock visible, the size of a tennis ball. Ronald Koeman had plans to invite De Jong for Oranje but the Ajax player (he left Willem II for Ajax when he was 19 years old) missteps at training and does himself in. The first invite for Oranje melted like snow. “Initially I wasn’t too worried but somehow the horror stories of Van Basten and his ankle woes came into my head. I think he was 20 or so when he injured himself (Van Basten aggressively tackled Groningen midfielder Edwin Olde Riekerink but injured his ankle severely which ended his career prematurely before San Marco turned 30). It took a long time to heal. And I started to get really upset.”
Ajax wanted to use the midfielder in the title race but he wasn’t able to get fit in time. “My life revolves around football. Without it, I feel this void. Slowly however, the pain disappeared and I was really relieved that I could participate in this season’s preparation.”
Frenkie remembers the first game he played this season, against Anderlecht in the Olympic stadium. A friendly in July. “I was waiting and working for months to play again and finally I could and I was so bad. I was sooo incredibly bad. Unbelievable. I don’t think I ever played a shit game like this one. Passes went astray. I ended up moving in the wrong spaces. Dribbles were dramatically bad. I wanted to do too much. I was doing so well at practice, but I learned then and there that match fitness and rhythm are real things…”
Last season, Frenkie played 26 games in all competitions. This season, he already played 30 and we’re only half way. The high point? “Without a doubt, my debut in Oranje. It was five months after the initially planned debut but I finally got there. I got onto the pitch in the Sneijder farewell match.. In the Johan Cruyff Arena.” Frenkie got to show his exceptional skills in that match. Ali Dursun can’t control his excitement. “I know Wesley well, and I always hoped one day Sneijder and Frenkie would play together… They did, only for 15 minutes, but still.”
In the matches vs Germany and France, Frenkie demonstrated his qualities and as a rocket established himself as a super target for the big clubs. His breakthrough. Frenkie: “Yes, it feels like that. I think that last year in Holland, most football fans and pundits and media started to recognise my qualities but there was always something like “yeah, cool, fun, but can he do it on the highest level?”. I think I dealt with that question and I have shown myself.”
Frenkie talks like he plays football. Without pressure, free style, no restrictions. The Frenkie de Jong Hype has ceased to be a hype. It’s structural now. The Spanish media lead the dance. For months now, his face graces the cover of the plethora of Spanish sports publications. Frenkie: “The first time I saw it, it was very special. My picture on the Spanish newspaper front page, that was pretty cool. My grandpa was on holiday in Spain and picked up the morning paper with his grandson on the cover. That must have made him proud, hahaha.”
The tremendous media attention and the continuous questions about his future, Frenkie is still as fresh and polite and patient as in the beginning. “Oh, ye it doesn’t phase me at all. I don’t mind it. I don’t mind the attention and I don’t mind talking to the media. Why would I? It’s not hard. You just have a conversation with someone, but this time with a mic involved. You, I’m a positive guy. I try to keep things light. I also don’t want to come across as a puppet or a machine. I try to remain genuine.”
Not a lot phases him but when people started to compare him with Johan Cruyff, he started to push on the brakes. “Come on man, that is such BS. That is the only time when I thought, come on people! Now it’s going over the top. He is the football player of football players, he is God. I mean, comparisons are always ridiculous, but especially with him. Just let me be Frenkie.”
“I don’t mind criticism, and I don’t mind negative comment. Why would I? It’s someone’s opinion. Only when they are factually wrong, I can get a bit antsy. Recently on telly someone claimed I lacked speed. That is definitely not the case. I am the second fasted player in the squad, you know? You don’t seem opponents running away from me. I also recover a lot of balls, statistically. I can see that I have aspects that need improvement though. Don’t get me wrong. My shots from distance are not great. I do train a lot on this, but I still have to show it more. I also need a bit more composure in the box. My long pass needs to be more flat. More speed. And my through pass radius is too short. I need to be able to play that pass over a longer distance and take out more opponents.”
One thing that is not on his list to improve is the risk factor. He tends to take too many risks, people say. Like in the home game vs Bayern Munich. “But I don’t! I don’t ee it as taking risks. Statistically, you can see I hardly ever lose possession. I don’t see it as risks, anyway. For me, it’s normal. Risks are part of football. It’s part of my game. I see it as my role, to try and find the opening. And this is how I made it into Ajax 1 and into Oranje. Should I now play simple? This, what I do, for me is the simple and natural way of playing. When I change, I will become like so many others, what would be the use? I play the way my intuition tells me to.”
Dursun: “Before every game I app Frenkie and tell him: buddy, play your own game, do what you are good at. That is all I send.”
Frenkie: “In the youth teams, I always had coached who wanted me to keep it simple. Play simple. I always nodded and went and did my own thing, hahaha. And usually, it worked out so I never got in trouble. A lot of youth coaches take the freedom and joy out of the game. Deciding to take the non risk pass. Or touch the ball twice and play on. I was never open to that stuff, I merely went on my intuition. In Holland, the positioning / passing game is sacred but we overdo it. A pass square, a back pass, keep possession. No, I want to play forward, I want to take risks and be adventurous. That is who I am as a player.”
Marc Overmars saw Frenkie come on as a sub in an Oranje under 16 match. “I wasn’t there to scout, I was just watching some of our lads. He came on and I remember thinking: whoa, he might need to eat some more steaks for dinner. Thin, thin legs, but his first move on the ball grabbed me. And I took his name and kept following him.”
Frenkie’s girl Mikky, a pro hockey player
Dursun: “Frenkie had some team mates at Willem II who were scouted, like Sam Lammers by PSV and Ould-Chick by Twente. There were clubs for Frenkie as well, also big clubs from England, Germany, Spain, but he wasn’t keen. We decided he would take the normal route in Holland. Stay at Willem II, finish high school, make a move to a big club in Holland.”
PSV felt it had the talent already, but Ajax was simply more pro-active. Frenkie: “I wouldn’t change a thing if I had to do it again. You see, at Willem II, I was the key man in midfield. And as a result, I always received the ball. I think at Ajax in the youth, there is more competition. Also at Willem II, very important, we always were under the kosh. We always had to play stronger teams, basically. And I was a tiny lad. I had to be creative, I had to work on my technique a lot and my speed. The time at Willem II was key for me.”
The partnership between the two is remarkable. They talk rapidly, finish each others sentences and cherish their history, while dealing with the future. Dursun: “It was a busy time, these last couple of months. And Frenkie luckily made it easy for me. He said, tell me which club has interest to talk and if I’m not interested I will let you know. We don’t want to waste anyone’s time and I told those clubs a simple “No, sorry”.
Frenkie: ‘All those clubs, it is quite special and strange. As if I am in a computer game…’
Ali : ‘So we brought the list back, from 10 clubs to 3 and then suddenly another phone call from another big club with questions. And if Frenkie liked that club, well… the list grew again.”
The picture in De Telegraaf of camp De Jong, Ajax and Paris St Germain, meeting in Amsterdam early December, fueling the rumours of a move to PSG
Frenkie: ‘We can’t talk to all of them. I simply can’t make the time. All my energy and focus are with Ajax and I will give that priority always. But it’s also very important to make the right decision.’
Ali : ‘And we need to take it all in, right buddy? The whole picture needs to be right. From A to Z.’
Frenkie: ‘For sure. But still, what is a good choice? You know this in hindsight and I know now already that there are several good choices, but you can only pick one. I only look at the key thing for me: my role and development. Is it a club that plays like I want to play. Do they share my football values? Attack, dominate. And, can I play regularly.”
Ali : ‘The football technical story is leading. Frenkie needs playing time, we don’t want him to be the 5th midfielder in the squad.’
Frenkie: ‘The money involved is insane. The amounts that you hear are preposterous. It’s a lot of money, but it’s not something I can influence. This is between the clubs. It’s supply and demand. I am an Ajax player, so they can set the price. How do they determine this? I am not sure, it’s not based on goals or assists, or passes or whatever. How does this work?’
Ali: ‘Indeed, that is something the clubs sort out between them. And it’s rough. I can see that. It’s like a chess match at top level.”
Frenkie: ‘If I knew where my future was, I would tell you, but in all honesty, I don’t know yet. I still have to make the decision. All stories you read are presumptuous.’
Ali: ‘I think we will decide in the coming weeks. I think Frenkie should focus fully on Ajax in the second season half. It’s football. Winning trophies with Ajax and Oranje.’
Frenkie: ‘Seriously, it doesn’t bother me. When I am playing football, I am not thinking about any thing else. Just play ball. And if people call me about a transfer, I direct them to Ali.’
Ali: ‘A lot is happening of course. The number of agents and managers that tried to speak to Frenkie. Absurd.’
Frenkie: ‘Some people can paint beautiful pictures, haha, but I thank them all in a friendly way and direct them to Ali.”
Ali: ‘They do try to come between us. By making up shit, or tell lies. It’s sad. I don’t mind people trying to contact Frenkie, that is ok. But after he told them to talk to me, some will keep on harrassing Frenkie. That is not on and if that happens, they’ll hear from me.”
Frenkie: “I told Ali many times. We are doing this together. Wherever, whenever, we got to the top together. We are one and remain one, my friend.’
Ali: ‘Frenkie is loyal. He always was. Last year this time, we signed a new deal with Ajax and he knew: whatever happens, I will stay with Ajax for at least 1,5 season. Whatever comes.’
Frenkie: ‘I prefer to do things well, before I do things quick. I know they can go together. Last season, I made it into the first team. This season, I am the most sought after midfielder in Europe. That went really quick. But, we’ll see how it all goes.’
Frenkie orders another ice tea. “But, I want to win silverware with Ajax. This squad is so good and not just good, we are a real team you know. The bond is real. And we have demonstrated how good we are, but still haven’t won anything. We’re fighting on three fronts… Winning the CL might be hard, but we will still try and make a lasting impression. The hunger and desire is huge and the relationship between our staff and the players is top. I read and heard that people say it’s different but that is total hogwash. We are really happy with Erik ten Hag. There is literally no one that can’t work with him or deal with him. And I would have known. He’s simply put a very good coach. And when that criticism came how he was not from Amsterdam…. So what? I am not from Amsterdam! Neither is Hakim, or Tadic, or Onana… It’s so stupid. We want to make history and it will have to happen on the pitch. Go out there, play football and enjoy!”
Source: VI Pro
