Tag: Feyenoord

Johan Neeskens, El Toro, never dies…

It was impossible not to love and admire Johan Neeskens. Yes, he was an Ajax player and as a Feyenoord fan you’re not supposed to adore Ajax players, but Neeskens was Neeskens. And I know for a fact many non-Ajax fans loved to see “Nees” do his thing. He transcended club loyalty.

Feyenoord midfielder Willem van Hanegem played many a game against Neeskens (at Ajax and also when at Barcelona) and the two would have literal fights on the pitch: elbows, studs up, black eyes, bloody noses and at one point a broken jaw. Neeskens did get his revenge, though. When Van Hanegem was hospitalised for tonsils removal, Neeskens had a plan: “I would visit Willem in hospital to apologise, and I would bring him nuts and toffees just to screw with him, as he wasn’t able to swallow those,” Nees would explain. The two became the biggest mates.

Witch arch enemy and arch friend Van Hanegem

Ajax found the young Neeskens, or Johan II as he would become, in the shadow of the other Johan (at Ajax, Oranje and Barca) at Heemstede, a small village to the west of Amsterdam. Arie van Eijden, Ajax player and later board member and director, was leaving Ajax to slowly retire at a lower level. Van Eijden trained with Heemstede and immediately tipped Ajax: there is a 18 year old guy as right back here…. you need to sign him pronto.

He made his debut at 19 and everyone could see what Van Eijden had seen: speed, guts, balls, courage, skills and the iron will to win. Nees was a right back and Heemstede, and he played on that spot in the 1971 European final with Ajax, but Michels quickly turned him into a marauding midfielder.

A young Nees

He looked like an angel, when he was young, but played like a demon. The quintessential box to box midfielder: breaking up the opponents attacks in midfield with a flying block tackle and than racing like a madman into the opponent’s box to score with a diving header (his signature move).

If Total Football can be seen as one part creativity and another part high press, than Johan I was the epitome of creavity, while Johan II was the symbol of the harrassing, the pressing, the tackling.

Oh how Johan Cruyff (and Van Hanegem) loved to play with the youngster behind them, as he played for two players.

The holy trinity

But Nees was more than an enforcer. He could play football alright.

According to the stories of the time, Johan Neeskens wasn’t very educated. Came from a poor background (Arie van Eijden bought him his first boots) and when he first came to Ajax he was a bit out of sorts. Young lad in a big city, amongst the best players of Europe.

He would stay with right winger and Mr Ajax Sjaak Swart on the weekends and was basically adopted as a new family member. They would share typical Dutch meals together ( hutspot, zuurkool) and play board games. The life Neeskens loved and would dramatically miss in his future years.

The shy and soft spoken Neeskens became a monster once on the pitch and he would ease into the role of fan favorite, not just at Ajax, but for the whole nation.

Red and orange looked good on Nees

Imagine a midfield with Wim Jansen ( the Scholes-like tactician), Willem van Hanegem ( the Zidane like playmaker) and Neeskens ( a bit like Roy Keane maybe) and Johan Cruyff in front of them.

He shone so bright at the 1974 World Cup, and he is etched into the Dutch pop culture as a result of his white jersey turning red in the semi finals versus Brazil. His epic battles with the Brazilians can be viewed on youtube and despite the knocks, kicks and blows he was still able to score an amazing goal in that match, offered to him by his “older brother” JC.

Scoring the penalty in the first minute of the 1974 finals

Funny anecdote about Neeskens and penalties. He was a true specialist and he would always pick a corner. But he knew Sepp Maier studied the penalty takers and during the run up for this pen, Neeskens decided to switch corners. Maier went for the right corner, but as Johan decided to go for the other corner, Maier would fail to stop the ball. But…. the ball never made it into the other corner, it went straight to the middle. And ever since, whenever a penalty is taken hard through the middle, commentators will call it “A penalty a la Neeskens” or “a Neeskens penalty” (like the Panenka). But Nees would chuckle and say that this was in fact the only time he ever hit the ball straight through the middle.

Michels went to Barcelona and Johan I and Johan II followed not much later. Neeskens would become hugely popular in the Camp Nou as well and was nicknamed El Toro. Not sure why ;-).

He spent 6 seasons at Barca, winning one title and one European Cup ( the Cupwinners Cup) before signing for star studded New York Cosmos where he’s stay for 5 seasons. There he became the team of peers like Franz Beckenbauer, Pele, Francisco Marinho and compatriate Wim Rijsbergen.

Arsenal was keen to sign the midfielder too, but didn’t want to offer more than a 3 year deal. Cosmos offered a 5 year deal and a nice sponsoring package, as the US was the marketing wonderland of football at the time.

Tackling hard for the New York Cosmos

Sadly, Neeskens lost his way in New York (or did he find it). The high life of the jet set was a bit too much for El Toro, who got hooked on cocaine, alcohol and gambling.

Despite being shy and introverted, Neeskens didn’t suffer fools gladly and would have strong clashes with his coaches. Weisweiller was the Cosmos coach and after yet another clash, the German task master penalised El Torro and told him to come to the Cosmos stadium at 6 am in the morning to run circles around the Cosmos stadium. These types of insults contributed to Neeksens’ depressions and fall into addiction.

He was close to becoming a total wash up and when the Dutch football elite heard about his issues, a rescue mission was started by Dutch National Team manager Kees Rijvers, who’d fly to New York to check in Nees. Rijvers told him the national team needed him, as we were desperately trying to qualify for major tournaments again, but were lacking in midfield class players. Rijvers took Neeskens home and installed him at his family home where Neeskens became a member of the family and worked tirelessly to quit the addictions and become fit again. He would indeed make the key match for Oranje, against Belgium. Oranje played in De Kuip and won 3-0. I was there and saw Neeskens almost score from a sensational volley. The Belgium players had respect for Neeskens and allowed him to shine. But it was to no avail as Oranje did lose the key game away versus France, due to a Platini free kick and an on-pitch confrontation between Ruud Krol and Hans van Breukelen.

Working on his come back with legendary coach Kees Rijvers

Nees would play 7 games for FC Groningen before returning to the US to play indoor football. His private life brought him to Switzerland where he lived and played at lower levels until he really quit and went into coaching.

He was relatively successful with FC Zug, the team from his home town in Der Schweiz before Hiddink lured him to the KNVB to become assistant coach with the Dutch NT. After that stint, he became the head coach at NEC Nijmegen, where he would finish the highest in the league for the ambitious club (5th) and reach European football. After NEC he would assist Hiddink with the Australian national team. When Hiddink resigned, the Australian federation wanted Nees to take the head coach role, but the former Ajax midfielder preferred the assistant role and would go to support Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona, replacing Henk ten Cate.

Enjoying life in Barcelona again

Neeskens will go down in history as one of the best Dutch players of all time. Greats like Cruyff, Swart and Van Hanegem would laude him as one of the best allround players of all time and all the lads who had him as a coach praised his down to Earth, warm and simple but effective coaching.

The best compliment a player can get, however, is when parents name their kid after famous players. Yohan Cabaye was named after Cruyff, of course. There are numerous Jari’s in Holland and there are definitely a lot of Zinedines, Zico’s, Diegos and Marcos out there. Not sure which Johan’s will be named after the Nees, but it’s definitely so that Neeskens Kebano (Al-Jazira) from Congo was named after one of Holland’s most loyal and impressive football sons.

Neeskens Kebano at Fulham

Here he is in full flight. Enjoy.

Oranje looking forward: change!

Ronald Koeman comes across as a man who realises this is his last chance for eternal legend status. He was great as a player, he was ok as a coach, and this last (?) stint will make him either a hero or just another coach in the long list of well meaning coaches…

The semi finals at the Euros must have convinced Koeman that Oranje can go for gold and a look at the list of young talents establishing themselves ( Frimpong, Zirkzee, Hartman, Timber, Gravenberch) will have pleased him a lot.

So it’s out with the old ( Daley Blind, Wijnaldum, De Roon) and in with the new ( Hato, Timber, Gravenberch). Blind decided for himself enough was enough. Wijnaldum and De Roon were informed personally by the coach. Koeman also flew to Liverpool to discuss future with Virgil van Dijk. “I felt he wasn’t there fully, at the Euros. I had the idea he was not at his best, defensively. So I flew to see him, spend time and discuss. As I did notice how great he played under Slot, at the start of the new season. But Virgil is committed. He can see his role in Oranje moving forward.”

The “new” squad – logical as it is – does need some more tweaking as Veerman and Van der Ven pulled out due to injuries, and JP van Hecke of Brighton is called in, alongside Justin Kluivert of Bournemouth.

This weekend, the nations league games commence and Oranje is playing Bosnia Herzegowina tomorrow and arch rivals Germany on Tuesday. Asked about the short time in between the Euros semis and these matches, Koeman responded: “The loss versus England didn’t bother me very long. A couple of days, I guess. The end of such a campaign is always abrupt for the loser. You go home, players leave for their break and then you are simply left to evaluate. I think overall, it was a good Euros. We were close and we could have gone all the way. I experienced it all as very positive.”

De Roon and Wijnaldum might have accepted their fate, what about Memphis? “He doesn’t have a club, which is a bit odd. If you don’t play, I won’t select you, of course, but I do find it odd that a player of his standing, with his stats, is still without a club. But a fit Memphis will always be an option for me. He’s only 30 years old. I am in contact with Memphis and I know about his situation and what he is working on.”

Steven Bergwijn, only 26 years old, does not have to count on a new invite. “It’s different for Steven. He has options to show his ambition in Europe and decided to go for the money. That is all good, but I don’t think I will need him moving forward. And yes, Wijnaldum went there and I did select him, but Gini went there as he had no other options. PSG didn’t play him and he needed a place to play, to prepare for the Euros. Wijnaldum had not much choice, but Bergwijn clearly put money over sport ambition so I close the book on him. He could also go to the EPL which is also not bad, financially, but he selected this option.”

As for the striker role, Koeman is interested to see who steps up. “We have three candidates now, with Brobbey, Zirkzee and Weghorst. Weghorst hasn’t played much, if at all. Brobbey is not 100%. But if I had stuck to my rules of “only fit players”, I would only have 13 players. And with Wout and his energy, workrate and passion, I felt I had to select him. I can’t play him for 90 minutes, but it’s good to have him.”

Stefan de Vrij, also an older player, was not selected. “But not because of his age. He played everything at the Euros and was one of our best players. He’s simply not fit, struggled with a hamstring, but he’ll be part of the campaign once he starts playing again.”

Kluivert’s selection was a surprise. “He’s fit, he plays and he plays well too. And he can play in the 10 role, this is how he plays for Bournemouth these days. And I selected Jurrien Timber ahead of Maatsen because I was impressed with Timber’s first games for Arsenal and I felt he deserved a little positive push after his ordeal last season.”

Frenkie de Jong was mentioned as well of course: “He is slowly getting there. It’s been a long time, he had the same ankle issue now three times. There is damage and it needs time to heal. I do hope he will return at full fitness at one stage.”

Joey Veerman expressed his disappointment recently how there was no real interest in him, this summer. “Joey needs to be challenged. I think the Eredivisie is too easy for him, to be honest He wanted to make a step and I actually also felt he had to. It’s necessary for him as he simply has too much time on the ball in Holland. He needs to play under way more resistance.”

What will be different for Oranje in this campaign, compared to the Euros? “It’s a different situation. With a tournament, most players arrive rested and focused on the tournament. And you get 2 weeks usually to prep. This is different. Some players won’t be 100% fit, others might carry a knock, and again some will come in after a loss, others after a win, so it’s a mixed bag and you need days to get everyone at the same level, so to speak. We need to improve our forward press, the build up in possession and we need to bring more energy, more intensity. And once we get to that stage, that is when you can really look at the ideal starting eleven.”

The press conference ended with Koeman’s view on Gravenberch. “He has done ever so well at this season’s start. We all knew he was an exceptional ball player but it seems he also turned a corner in terms of focus and tactical understanding. We all felt he had some focus issues and seemed to be a tad lacklustre at ties. It seems he now realises what it takes to play at world top level. This experience at Liverpool might be exactly what he needed. He is definitely an option for the 6 position.

 

Rick Karsdorp should be released from Roma

Rick Karsdorp could leave AS Roma in the next few days. The 29-year-old Dutch defender has spent the last seven seasons defending the colors of the Italian club.

Apparently, the full-back should be traded by AS Roma. This new season will be the last year of Rick Karsdorp’s contract with AS Roma and the Italian board would not be interested in continuing with the player for next season.

Rick Karsdorp is no longer part of AS Roma’s plans as they seek to renew their squad for the new season. The expectation is that he can return to the Netherlands, more precisely to Feyenoord, where he was revealed.

Gijs Smal comments on his departure from FC Twente at the end of this season

Gijs Smal has not yet confirmed his move to Feyenoord, but it is clear that the 26-year-old left-back will leave FC Twente at the end of this season. After the Eredivisie match against Sparta Rotterdam, he explained why.

Dutch media have already reported that he had reached an agreement with Feyenoord about moving to Rotterdam next season. The defender himself has not yet wanted to confirm an agreement. He also hoped that the news would not leak out.

“There was contact from Feyenoord, but there was also contact from other clubs. Nothing has been signed yet” said Gijs Smal.

Even so, FC Twente fans sang for him on Saturday during the match against Sparta Rotterdam. After all, Gijs Smal’s departure didn’t yield a single cent for the Enschede club. The full-back, who joined from FC Volendam in 2020, could have extended his contract with the Tukkers, but decided to leave the club.

According to Gijs Smal, money is not the reason.

“This does not bother me. After my career I can also earn money. I came here for free, but I didn’t receive any fees either. And I still have a contract here that you can say: it’s not that special. It has never been renewed since I arrived here, but that is not the problem” commented Gijs Smal.

FC Twente waited a long time with an offer and when it arrived at the start of the season, Gijs Smal wanted to wait for the transfer window.

“This was not what it should have been. I only heard something again in December. But we also hear about other clubs that are interested, because as an almost free player, you become interesting” said Gijs Smal.

Gijs Smal held back again.

“If something good comes along, something that I think could be a step forward, then you want to see if you can reach a higher level. Not because of the money, but because I want to look back on my career later and be able to say I made the most of it. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith” concluded Gijs Smal.

Feyenoord close to announcing the signing of Gijs Smal

Feyenoord is already starting to think about forming its squad for next season and the Rotterdam club is very close to announcing the signing of Gijs Smal. The 26-year-old full-back, who belongs to FC Twente, will not renew his contract with the Tukkers and will be free at the end of this season.

Gijs Smal will arrive to replace Marcos López. The 24-year-old Peruvian will leave Feyenoord at the end of this season, after spending two seasons wearing the Stadionclub shirt.

Gijs Smal, born in De Rijp, left FC Volendam and signed for FC Twente for free at the start of the 2020/21 season. He was an important player at Enschede, especially last season. In 34 Eredivisie appearances, he scored two goals and provided ten assists. This season, he has just one assist in 16 games.

FC Twente wanted to keep Gijs Smal at the club, but were unable to reach an agreement on renewing his contract.