Tag: Manchester

On the road to Qatar: Nathan Ake

He grabbed a starting berth in Oranje stealthily. He combines intelligence, experience, eagerness to learn and quality in one package. “He’s a special kid, and that he is.”

When Ake played at Bournemouth, his coach would play 5 defenders at the back when playing Man City. “In this way, we will limit the space for them to play in.” This is how Ake realised that playing for a big club like City (or Chelsea) brings a different dynamic. When he made his move to Man City, he realised he had to improve in finding solutions in less time and less space. Dutchman Piet Cremers worked at City as their peformance analyst for years and can confirm that Nathan was always trying to find ways to better understand the game and use this to develop himself. Whether it was thinking about football, working in the gym or using the video footage of games to understand the game better. Cremers confirms that Ake was one of the players most often harassing him for answers and insights. “He is the perfect professional, extreme in his drive to become better every day. It’s in his personality, I don’t think anyone pushed him to do this. He deserves all the credits for what he has achieved.”‘

Piet Cremers, former performance analyst Man City

Ake left for England as a youngster. The 15 year old captained the Oranje U17 team when he was picked by Chelsea. Living in London, he was to be part of the A-squad but his guest-family’s home wasn’t connected with the training complex in Cobham via public transportation. So young Nathan walked every day, on sandy country road and then along the highway, where one of his rich team mates would stop to allow Nathan a hitch in their expensive cars. On match days, Nathan could take the subway to Stamford Bridge. He’d sit among the Chelsea fans with his sports bag. “It was always good fun,” he’d later say.

Nathan is from Voorburg, a small town outside of Den Haag/The Hague. He was scouted by ADO Den Haan and after 4 years, Feyenoord came calling, where was in teams with Tonny Vilhena, Terence Kongolo and Karik Rekik. In 2021, Frank Arnesen – TD of Chelsea – called him and toured him around the Chelsea grounds. Ake was sold and after consulting his parents he decided to move to London. 16 years old.

Two years later, Ake made his debut in the Chelsea elite squad and Frank Lampard gives him the Talent of the Year award. He moves into his own apartment, with his brother Cedric. “My parents don’t allow us to get a help in, they want us to do all our home chores ourselves, and we will.”

When confronted with stories how most young talents fail to break into the first teams, he said: “I know, I heard all the stories. But I don’t want to see those stories as my reality. I want to be the guy who does succeed. I think the biggest pitfall for players making their debut, is to think they are there. They made it. But you haven’t made it, you are just beginning!”.

Skipper Ake with amongst others Tonny Vilhena and Karim Rekik

After a lone spell at Reading he was loaned out to Watford where he played his first real season as starter in the EPL. Jong Oranje coach Fred Grim started to scout him and was delighted with what he found: “At that age, Nathan was a man. Very mature and balanced and multi functional. He really understands the game. His best skills is his intelligence as a football player. I met his parents and understood how he got to be who he is. His parents are balanced, the family life there is grounded and harmonious. Nathan is a very modest and polite lad. The thing missing in his personality is the bastard. Some times in top football you need to be a bastard and think only about yourself and your goals. Nathan doen’t have this, a model pro and a top bloke.”

Grim also allowed Ake his debut in Oranje, when he took over from Danny Blind as interim coach: “We played against Morocco and that game had it all: physicality, fouls, and tough challenges, but Nathan didn’t care. He is not your typical defender, with his 180 cm height, but his tactical smarts, his intelligence and his football skills kept him on top, easily.”

After spells with Bournemouth and a short return to Chelsea, Pep Guardiola took a shine after Ake, partly due to the fact that the former Feyenoord captain is considered an English player. Life would be different. “At Bournemouth, he played in a 5 back line and the space was limited. They play compact, and backing up your team mate is a matter of two or three strides to the side. At Man City, the defensive space is huge. You play in big spaces and in isolated one-v-ones. When you step in at the wrong moment, it’s a 100% chance for the opponent. But on the ball, you don’t get time, most opponents will park the bus and play compact. What are your options. How quick are you feet and brain? These things, you can only find out by playing in those situations. Nathan made that switch super fast,” says performance coach Cremer.

Ake’s debut versus Morocco

Cremer goes on: “Nathan also has great ball skills. He can dribble and has the forward pass. He’s a great guy to work with as he is like a sponge, he wants to know everything. And eh…. he’s talented on many levels. He is also an amazingly accomplished piano player. This last season, his dad died and he married his childhood sweetheart, but all these events would not have any impact on the quality on the pitch.”

After a shaky start in Manchester, with some injury woes, Nathan now has a starting berth under Guardiola and plays his games regularly. Also in Oranje, the modest defender can count on a trip to Qatar as starter.

“I want a left footer on the left side of defence,” Van Gaal explained. Van Gaal thinks in terms of possession. When a defender needs to push high up on the pitch and ends up in midfield, he needs to use his best foot to open the game up and pass. A left footer is the natural type of player to do this swiftly. You need someone who is good on the ball, sees the game and has positional awareness. All things Ake has in spades. He’s also a very reliable defender of course.

When Ake moved to Man City, the criticasters were doubting him. Similarly. when the back three for Oranje was discussed, not a lot of people mentioned Ake. But he’s one of the few outfield players who managed to play consistently in the English Premier League. Him, Virgil van Dijk and now Pascal Struijk are the only ones that come to mind, amongst players like Klaassen, Van de Beek, Ziyech, Vincent Janssen, Berghuis and Bergwijn…

Ake after his 29th cap. “It’s going well, I am happy with the chances I get and the confidence the coach has in me. I need to keep this going, because the competition is intens. We have some top notch defenders now and everyone wants to start. The competition is good, it means you cannot snooze off.”

And yes, he has competition in Oranje and at City too. De Vrij, De Ligt, Blind, Struijk and Botman to name a few in Orange. And of course Ruben Dias and Laporte at City.

And developing yourself at a club like Manchester City is not that easy, says Cremers: “Don’t forget, City plays games every fourth day, so there are only 2 training sessions to develop and show yourself. The sub top teams in the EPL will have 4 to 5 sessions to work on becoming a better player. At City, you need to develop and show yourself in the games. That is pretty tough. And this makes Ake’s development even more impressive.”

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.

manu cup

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.

bosz

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.”

mou lvg

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!

bosz mourinho

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.

daley

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….

veltman

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.”