Tag: Neeskens

January 1, 2023 by Jan

This Blog: the Future

My friends, Happy New Year, first and foremost. I started this blog back in 2004 when I was completely devoid of any Euro 2004 coverage in Australia and I had to have people in Holland tape the games and send it via snail mail to me, allowing me to watch the games “live” one week after the fact!

And all this time, trying to keep my ears and eyes closed for any news articles or coverage while awaiting that tape.

I started to get involved in the predecessor of this blog before I was forced basically to take the blog under my wing when the original blogmasters decided to stop their national team platform.

We’ve seen ups and downs, wins and losses. From the blood bath in Nuremberg in 2006 to the rollercoaster ride of 2008’s Euros. The amazing run to the finals in 2010 and heart break in 2012. The return of LVG in 2014 followed by too many years in the desert with a series of coaches, from Hiddink and Blind, via Grim and Lodeweges to Koeman, De Boer and Van Gaal again.

We saw Sneijder come into the fold and retiring from football. We criticised Kuyt, Blind and Howard Webb. We adored Gio’s wonder strike and were in awe of Stekelenburg’s save on Kaka’s attempt. The Casillas toe, the Van Persie own goal, the madness of Van Gaal’s antics in this past World Cup and the ongoing debates about players, systems, line ups and the Blind family.

It’s been 18 years. Time to move on. I hoped I could say my farewell with a World Cup win but it’s not to be.

I had fun doing it, and I made some great friends. The blog even resulted in a partnership with 3 dear friends, at least…they were dear friends when we started. Some meanderings resulted in a bright commercial idea by one of our Singapore based regular posters and that resulted in a partnership to execute the idea, potentially catapulting the new venture into stratosphere with gazillions of dollars as revenue.

The project failed. The tech wasn’t ready. The founder decided to make some silly mistakes with the money, the investors got antsy and lost patience and it all went to shite quite fast.

One of the partners died while watching an Oranje match (no joke) while the other three (me included) never spoke again.

There were amazing loyal and supportive and generous posters here. I won’t name their names, but a few of you were always happy to support me financially and I thank you all for this!! (You know who you are).

One of the many results that came out of this blog. We laughed, we cried, we debated and argued and we celebrated.

This blog is up for grabs. Whoever wants to pick it up and run with it: let me know. Send me something in the comments and I’ll reach out. I’m not selling it. It’s for the guy/gal with the best ideas, plans to move this forward.

I have not done many things. I never wanted ads (the money they pay is lousy and I feel it ruins the experience). But I also wasn’t able to bring daily news updates, videos, funny highlights, or whatever. I focused mainly on the Dutch NT and less and less on clubs. My video library was literally non existed on the site and I failed to engage you all with polls, quizes or other interactive stuff.

I hope the next blog master will be happy to do more with it.

If you’re interested in taking the mantle, let me know and we’ll work something out.

May 13, 2022October 26, 2024 by Jan

Cruyff: no striker in the box!

H all, a personal note before I start this JC article… I will be traveling in the coming month as one of my dear family members in Europe will need support :-(. I will be posting less regularly, but will do my best to keep the good stuff coming.

May I ask you to have a look at the donation options on the site? Traveling to Europe is pretty expensive these days ;-).

JC: “You can only rotate when one position is not taken. That position needs to be the central striker.”

It was the time of Denis Law, the agile Scot who scored 237 goals for Man United. The times of the golden left of Gigi Riva, scoring one goal per match for the Italians or Der Bomber, Gerd Muller, scoring 500 goals for Bayern Munich! It was the early 70s, a great time for goal scorers. Strikers who only needed one or two touches to tap a ball in. The Dutch had a number of them: Dick van Dijk, Ruud Geels, Willy van der Kuylen, Dick Nanninga…

There were three types of strikers: the mercurial fast ones (Rene van de Kerkhof), the player with the thunder in the thighs (Willy van der Kuylen) and the tall lighthouse target man (Dick Nanninga). Ideally, you had one striker who had this all (Haaland).

And, a striker was always your most advanced man and he was judged on goals.

Cruyff came onto the field as a strange #9. He was never in the point. And he still scored goal after goal after goal. Between 1966 and 1972 he would never score less than 33 goals per season. But the real impact of JC was not as a goal getter of course. His biggest impact was the fact that as a #9, he was hardly ever to be found in that most advanced position.

Johan Cruyff led the line in a way that other players could flourish in the areas vacated by him. The two-footed dribble king was to be found everywhere else. As the playmaker, or as libero, or coming from the left. He called himself, the “playing central striker”. Cruyff’s ability to be that wandering striker made him crucial for the execution of Oranje’s Total Football. Oranje would play people off the pitch with any player able to play on any position. Right wingers became strikers, right full backs ended up as left winger and the central striker became the deep lying playmaker. It was all being done.

Finding the space was sacred. No one was playing on the position as laid out on the line up board in the dressing room! Cruyff would start in the #9 role but would immediately drift away. He went wherever he felt like it. “A little wander here, a little movement there, playing along a bit and then explode into action.”

Watching Feyenoord, Ajax and Oranje play in the early 70s is really fun. Opponents have no idea how to deal with it. Man markers would follow JC across the pitch and ended up leaving huge holes in their defence. Or they simply allowed JC the freedom of the pitch, which is never a good idea against someone with his dribbling skills.

Cruyff’s teams always dominated the ball. There were always ample players around the ball. Ajax and Oranje dominated in that middle zone, which is still sacred in football tactics. The maestro’s partnership with Rep, Rensenbrink and Neeskens in 1974 was phenomenal. These three could score at will helped by the open spaces left by Cruyff.

The legendary #14 explains it in 1977: “There are people who believe I should play in midfield. They don’t get it. The remarkable thing about our football is: everyone is on the move, always. And it starts with me. I start as a striker but leave that space, which starts the big rondo. The defenders of the opponent are now in trouble. Because we come at them from various angles. If they mark me, others will get more space. If they don’t mark me, well… bring it on. They end up always having one defender too few.”

The traditional #9 got replaced by the False 9. The traditional 9 was told: stay high up the pitch, hold on to the ball, go deep and mainly: score. The False 9 is a high playing playmaker, who is focused on the team rotation and performance.

When Cruyff quit his active career, it seemed the false 9 disappeared too. Strikers like Nanninga, of Kees Kist or Peter Houtman and later Wim Kieft brought Oranje back to the traditional 9. Only when Cruyff returned to Barcelona in 1988 was the False 9 back. The Dream Team.

In 1989, Michael Laudrup was seen as one of the most elegant players in football but it wouldn’t happen for him in Italy. He used to play left winger or #10. Stoichkov was Barca’s #9 but Cruyff put the explosive Romanian on the wing and placed Laudrup in the striker role.

Cruyff was obsessed with creating triangles, and we’re not talking about the musical version of it. With Ronald Koeman as libero, Guardiola as defensive mid, attacking midfielder Bakero and striker Laudrup he had a spine in his team which could pass themselves out of danger. Barca’s dream team resembles the Tiqui-Taca team of Guardiola decennia later.

It was Guardiola who used the best player ever ™ as the false striker in his team. The birth day of the Star of Superstar was May 9, 2009. In Pep’s first season, Barca was four points adrift from Real Madrid. On day 34, El Classico was on the program and the pressure on Guardiola was immense. Barca missed the title two seasons in a row now and the 2-2 at Valencia on the 33rd playing day added to the pressure. And so, Guardiola called Messi, the night before the game. Could Leo maybe drop in for a bit?

At 10.30 pm, the 21 year old Lionel Messi enters Pep’s office. Marti Perarnau, the author of “Pep Confidential” explains the situation as such: “The 21 year old enters and Pep shows him a video. He freezes the video and shows Messi the space on the pitch. He wants Messi to work in these spaces. He calls it “the Messi Zone”. And he tells Messi: “I want you to start from the wing, as per normal. But when I signal you, I want you to dart through the middle. And when Xavi or Iniesta have the ball, you go. Straight ahead, and you’ll be face to face with Casillas.”

Pep didn’t tell anyone about this. He only told his assistant Vilanova the day before the match. Xavi and Iniesta were told during the warming up. What followed was a master class of football, with a 2-6 win at the Bernabeu for Barca. Samuel Eto’o suddenly played on the right wing and Messi would drift in and out of the zone where the older and massive Madrid defence would be. Xavi would later comment: “Pep changed the whole plan. With Messi as false 9, with Henry and Eto’o in the half spaces, forcing the defenders to decide. Leo, Andres and I could dominate in this way. It was one of the best games in my career.”

Barca would win the the triple that year. In the CL finals v Man United, he used the same trick. Eto’o started centrally but after 10 minutes he switched with Messi, who would win the finals for Barca with a header!

For quite some time, the false 9 was ignored or even forgotten by the rest of the football world. Through the decennia we have seen amazing #9s, from Papin to Zlatan, from Van Nistelrooy to Benzema, from Lewandowski to Peter Crouch, from Raul to Shearer and from Berbatov to Henke Larsson… But in 2022, we do see shifts. The “playing central striker” would be a good moniker maybe? At Liverpool, their #9 ( Firmino) usually plays in service of the danger men on the wings (Salah and Mane). At Cheslea, Lukaku warms the bench often while wandering Havartz is often preferred. At City we see different false 9s all the time, from Phil Foden to Sterling to De Bruyne.

Cruyff was ahead of his time, as we all know. Every modern team these days, is looking for a type of Cruyff striker. A player who can let the team play better by being absent.

January 28, 2022 by Jan

Feyenoord Legend “silent” Wim Jansen passes…

Boy, what a sensational team they are developing up there… Van Beveren on goal. Now Van der Kuylen, Cruyff and Rensenbrink up front. Nico Reinders has been there for a while of course. Wim Suurbier as right back and now Wim Jansen joins in to anchor the midfield.

75 years is way too young, but Wim Jansen was struggling with Alzheimers for a while now and he was deteriorating really swiftly.

Wim Jansen is one of those unsung heroes of Dutch football. And that was mainly because he didn’t like being an “ununsung” hero…

But a hero he is. They’ll remember him fondly in Japan, in Glasgow, in Washington DC and in Amsterdam but mainly in Rotterdam (where the fans and the club will hold a memorial for him this coming Saturday in front of De Kuip Stadium).

He started his career like so many kids. But as opposed to most: Wimpie (little Wim) was not your typical rebel rousing streetwise rascal. His parents didn’t enjoy sports. And Wim was a fan of billiards and would always be in time home for supper. His personality was perfect, the ideal son-in-law. Feyenoord doctor Arbarbanel knows it for sure: “He’s a good kid but he will never make it at the top”.

Big Willem of Xerxes versus Little Wim of Feyenoord

When he is 13 years old, he is diagnosed with a knee problem. A “weak knee” is the diagnosis. And he was never to play again. Feyenoord even sent him away. And Wimpie decided to just play on the street, with his mates. Wim lives in the Old North of Rotterdam, where Feyenoord icon Coen Moulijn, the Messi like left winger of Feyenoord, lives. And Wimpie and his mates see their hero drive to the Kuip regularly, all in awe. But a year after Wim’s medical diagnosis, he returns to Feyenoord! He has grown and became stronger and his knee holds it all together well. Wimpie is captain of the C youth team and signs his first semi pro deal at 16 years old. He works the day in the office in the Rotterdam port and in the evening and in the weekend, he makes 30 guilders as a semi pro ( 12 euros). He usually goes to the match with his buddy Jan Boskamp (who would also make it to the NT squad for the 1974 World Cup) and Joop van Daele (who would become world famous for a week or so, as the match winner in the Feyenoord World Cup for teams win).

Wimpie belongs to the Feyenoord inventory, almost. He’s always there and he’s everywhere. When the president is asked in 1966 when a home grown player will make it big, he points at Wim Jansen: “There he is! That lad will be a big player one day”.

And he does make it into the first team, as so-called left inside forward ( in a 3-2-5 system). Coen Moulijn is still with the club and loves playing with Jansen: “I remembered him from the street where I lived. He was a real creative player but that disappeared when he got older. He’s the ultimate team player. A passer of the ball. I loved playing with Jansen more than with Van Hanegem. Wim was the master of one touch and would always launch me. Van Hanegem was harder to predict. And Wim is a nice guy, you know.” And Wim was in awe that he was actually playing the same team as his big idol.

Feyenoord youth team wins title, with Wim Jansen below far right. Next to him Jan Boskamp. Second from left, sitting, Joop van Daele, the later matchwinner of the World Cup match

Jansen would play for Feyenoord 1 for 15 years and he would form the core of the new Feyenoord, with Ove Kindvall from Sweden, Ruud Geels and Rinus Israel. When Willem van Hanegem is signed a year later, the perfect midfield couple is born. Jansen would become the first Feyenoord full pro and would develop what he called “blind communication” with Van Hanegem. The two acted as twins and even bought homes practically next ot each other in my home town of HI Ambacht.

Feyenoord and the players realised that now, the game was about the results. And about winning points so the players would make more. Rinus Israel became Jansen’s mentor. “Could I ask for a better one?” With De Kromme, Jansen developed this telepathic bond. Willem van Hanegem: “He was so good. Wim could play anywhere on the pitch. He couldn’t be a goalie, though… too small. But Wim would always pass the ball with intelligence, with purpose. In today’s game, you’d probably compare him to Paul Scholes, or Jorginho or Kimmel. Smart, effective… always passing and moving.”

In the 60s, Georg Kessler selects him for the Dutch NT where he plays next to Cruyff and Willy van der Kuylen. Kessler: “Wim Jansen should be the role model for today’s youths. Not Cruyff!” The 20 year old midfielder is not too comfortable in the Dutch midfield, as he is surrounded by Ajax players, such as Bennie Muller, Henk Groot, Piet Keizer and Johan Cruyff. When Oranje fails to qualify for the Euros in 1968, Jansen loses his spot. The 1970 World Cup and the 1972 Euros are also missed by the Dutch and Jansen would only play two internationals in those early 70s. The coach – Fadrhonc – usually picks a midfield with Neeskens, Van Hanegem, Gerrie Muhren or Theo de Jong.

Jansen is not happy but will focus his efforts on his club. In 1970 he wins the European Cup and the World Cup and Willem van Hanegem and Wim Jansen (big Wim and Wimpie) conquer the world.

Against his friend Johan, when Barca met Feyenoord

Ernst Happel, the Austrian former star and current Feyenoord coach, becomes his mentor in tactics. Jansen realises that the pass and move game is the key game. “Taking on players and dribbling is nice but it does result in loss of possession. The ball is always faster than the player, so by passing and moving you can outsmart any opponent.” Happel calls Jansen the accelerator in the team. Where Van Hanegem sometimes slows the game down (on purpose) or waits for the perfect timing for a cross, Jansen is a one-touch player who moves the play relentlessly.

Wim Jansen is the King of Playing Simple. As JC once said: football is a simple game, but to play simple is the hardest thing there is. He is also the King of Silence. He loves anonymity, he loathes publicity. Famously, Johan Derksen once traveled the world with him, visiting famous youth academies and Jansen would go on and on about football, share investing and The Beatles (his three passions) but when Johan needed to interview him formally, Jansen would not be able to answer more than ‘yes’ or ‘no’. A very private man.

When Feyenoord plays their semi finals against AC Milan in 1970, Jansen completely nullifies star player Gianni Rivera and scores a Ziyech type goal. Feyenoord would go on to beat Celtic for the trophy and Jansen’s name is internationally settled. In 1974 he’d win the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord, beating Spurs.

When Oranje travels to the World Cup 1974, coach (supervisor) Rinus Michels is plagued by injuries. When Drost, Israel, Laseroms, Mansveld and Hulshoff all fall away for the CB role, Michels (Cruyff?) picks Arie Haan. And this is the impetus needed for Jansen, as he is picked as the third midfielder, next to Van Hanegem and Neeskens (Gerrie Muhren is also injured). “I am grateful to be part of this and if I can make minutes, it would be awesome.” Well, Wim
Jansen played every minute and was one of the outstanding players – with Van Hanegem, Cruyff, Rensenbrink and Rep – of this magical Oranje team.

In that fatal WC 74 finals…

Through his games with the NT, Jansen struck a deep friendship with Cruyff. The late master of the game said repeatedly in interviews that Jansen was the only player he knew that shared his football insights and ideas about football tactics. Even Willem van Hanegem famously said that when JC and Wimpie start debating football, he’d go to the bar for another glass of wine, as it became hocus pocus for him!

Four years later, Jansen is also part of the squad managed by Ernst Happel winning silver again (losing gold…?) in Argentina.

Back in Holland, Feyenoord’s management is making (financial) mistake after mistake and the one richest club on the planet (!) is fading. When Jansen gets into conflict with the board and coach Jezek, Jansen decides to move away.

When his buddy Cruyff moves to Washington Diplomats, Wim Jansen decides to follow him.

The news drops like a bomb. “Shocking Farewell” is the headline of the AD newspaper. “I am maybe a bit quiet, but I have an opinion and I’m headstrong. I can’t stand for what happened. I am gone and I don’t think I’ll ever come back here.” When asked about the media mayhem that ensued, he said: “Don’t worry, in 2 weeks time, I’ll be forgotten.”

He wouldn’t last more than one season. “Life in America is wonderful, but the football here…they simply don’t get it.”

Juan Lozano, Johan Cruyff, Wim Jansen

So now what? Well, Johan Cruyff has the answer. He is now technical coordinator at Ajax and he advises the club to sign Jansen. Ajax has a number of great young talents – as per usual – but defensively, it’s like Swiss Cheese. Ajax is 8th in the table with a tremendous number of goals conceded.

Jansen made his debut for Ajax in December 1980. In De Kuip. Against Feyenoord. And the most famous ice-ball ever takes the headlines as an angry Feyenoord supporter throws the iceball towards the players when they start their warming up. The ice-ball hits Jansen in the eye and damages his cornea. He would try to play, for 15 minutes but was subbed when he wasn’t able to see what was happening too well. To put insult to injury, his future son-in-law Stanley Brard decided to take him out with a fierce tackle as well and that was it. Wimpie went from Mr Feyenoord to “dog-dick” (hondelul) in a heartbeat.

Jansen here right after being hit by the ice-ball

But Jansen is no push over. He would stay another season and mentor youngsters like Frank Rijkaard, Vanenburg, Kieft and Olsen. In that second season, the maestro himself puts his boots on again too and with Soren Lerby in midfield, Cruyff as false 9 and Jansen managing it from the back with Rijkaard, Ajax and Wim Jansen won the title.

Wimpie tried it for 15 minutes in his debut vs Feyenoord

He starts to think about life after his active career and he starts to collect information. Intelligence. He’s basically a collector. He collects shares, stamps and now he started collecting information about training practices, about nutrition, the working of the mind, and more. His database and archives become famous and more and more coaches and reporters find the way to his home to dive in Jansen’s footballing brain. When Feyenoord contacts him to come and coach the youth, the love for his club is re-kindled and Jansen would start a whole new phase in his career.

Dutch NT Managers – pt.1

As requested by some, a look at the different National Team coaches the Dutch enjoyed over the years.

I am giving you my personal opinion. You can add yours below :-).

World Cup 1974 – Rinus Michels

Rinus Michels already made a name for himself with Ajax and Barcelona and was considered a European top coach. The Dutch barely qualified for the tournament under Cech coach Fadrhonc, who had a career previously in Holland as coach of mid-tier clubs (as we discussed many times: the NT wasn’t considered that important in those early days). He originally was a fysio but managed a team in the Czechoslovakian competition to a win and after fleeing to the west, became head coach. And pretty successful too, in Holland. But the Dutch federation found him to weak to manage the team of big personalities (Cruyff, Van Hanegem, Krol, Keizer, Israel, Jansen) and decided to bring in a “supervisor” to manage the whole WC process in West Germany: Rinus Michels, who at that stage was coach at Barcelona.

Michels – a former limited Ajax defender – was a stickler for discipline but tactically limited. The Total Football tactics he was credited with, was actually developed by Ernst Happel at Feyenoord and implemented in the Dutch squad in 1974 by Cruyff, Van Hanegem and Wim Jansen. The team had an amazing impact on football, moving forward, but Michels was not as instrumental as people back then though, and as Michels himself would let on.

He returned to Ajax for a spell, then back to Barcelona for 2 seasons before embarking on an adventure to the US (LA Aztecs). He had some lesser successful attempts in the Bundesliga before returning to the Dutch FA where he would win the Euros in 1988 and reach the semis in the 1992 Euros.

He famously clashed with Johan Cruyff, Van Basten and Ruud Gullit, amongst others and was considered to be a prickly character. Stories abound how he blocked the appointment of Cruyff as NT manager many times in his role as Federation bonzo and he clashed with Gullit in 1990, when the players were forbidden to talk to the media, while Michels had a “tell-all” column in the Dutch media, undermining the team process. Gullit was the squad’s mouthpiece in a scathing response via competitive media. In 1988, Michels initially ignored Van Basten and had to make an about-face after losing his first tournament match vs the USSR.

As an NT coach, despite the WC1974 silver and 1988 gold medal, I don’t rate him high. The players were instrumental in the performances (Cruyff in 1974, Van Basten in 1988) no matter who sat on the bench.

European Championships 1976 – George Knobel

Heini Otto (middle) dropped an NT player of at the Oranje camp, and when Knobel heard he was a left footer, he said: you can stay. Otto actually made his debut in Oranje but wouldn’t be called up ever again…

A sad story for a highly respected coach. The Dutch were not mentally ready for this tournament. All the big guns were present (Cruyff, Neeskens, Rep, Rensenbrink, Van Hanegem, Krol) but the first game ended with two red cards for Neeskens and Van Hanegem, and Oranje lost dramatically. In the Third Place play off, Knobel used a number of new names trying to re-invigorate the team (Jan Peters, Peter Arntz, Ruud Geels, Adrie van Kraay) which got us bronze, beating Yugoslavia after extra time.

Knobel will always be linked to MVV Maastricht where he had his most succcesses. He also managed Ajax for a brief spell. A footnote in Dutch football history.

World Cup 1978 – Ernst Happel

Where Michels was considered a “hollow barrel” making a lot of noise, but lacking substance, Happel was the complete opposite. A quiet man, no using much words at all but tactically very astute. The Austrian had a tremendous career as a player ( Rapid Wien, RC Paris, Austrian NT) before becoming a coach at Den Haag and then Feyenoord where he won the European Cup with players like Moulijn, Van Hanegem, Jansen and Kindvall. He moved on to Sevilla and Club Brugge before being asked to manage the NT to the 1978 Argentina World Cup.

He was an introvert. Didn’t like talking to the press and spent most of his time playing cards. He was a chain smoker – like many players back then – and usually only had one sentence before a game: “Gentlemen, a win please!”. When Van Hanegem once approached him for a tactical conversation, he famously said (in his Dutch/German make believe language) “Kein geloel, Willem. Fussballen!”. Which translates as: “Cut the crap, Willem. Just play football.”

He didn’t do much in terms of tactical talks but he simply picked the right eleven and gave them the freedom to play. The respect he got from his players was partly due to his gifted skills. He would demonstrate that by placing ten balls outside of the box and hitting the cross bar every time with his shots… He famously had to tell his protege and close friend Van Hanegem that he didn’t have any use for him in the 1978 WC squad, which left De Kromme in tears on national tv. With a team lacking Cruyff and Van Hanegem but with young upstarts like Arie Haan, Piet Wildschut and Ernie Brandts, Happel reached the finals and if Rensenbrink was a tad more fortunate would have won gold in 1978.

As a coach, I rate him very high (check his CV, he won 26 trophies as a coach!!!) albeit a tad old-school for today’s game….

European Championship 1980 – Jan Zwartkruis

Former assistant to Ernst Happel at the World Cup in Argentina, Zwartkruis made a name for himself as coach of the Military Team (yes, you read it correctly). That team ended up to be a great feeder team for the National Team (yes you read it correctly, again!). Rob Rensenbrink, Jan Mulder, Jan van Beveren, Barry Hulshoff, they all played for the Military Team during their draft period and played at the the Military World Cup (wow). Which was held in Iraq (double wow). Zwartkruis was supposed to be the NT coach at the WC 1978 but a conflict with his employer (the Ministry of Defence) he wasn’t able to take the reigns (enter Happel). This was resolved after the World Cup and the amicable Zwartkruis – who was great with young talent – was given the main job for the Euros in 1980 in Italy. Again, a very short tournament this time, with only 8 nations.

Zwartkruis with goalies Joop Hiele and Hans van Breukelen

Oranje disappoints and after win vs Greece and a loss v West Germany Holland draws against the Czechs. And Holland was out. Zwartkruis did have some decent players to work with but was never able to gel a successful team. He used debutants at this tournament who never were able to perform at the required level and despite names like Krol, Schrijvers, Van de Korput, Haan, Rep, John Metgod and Rene van de Kerkhof, we never really played to our best level.

Zwartkruis was a good developer of talent and probably a great assistant coach. Lacked the charisma needed for the NT job and never able to gel a successful team. Again, a footnote.

Failed tournament attempts 1982, 1984 – Kees Rijvers

Rijvers was a gifted coach. Much loved and very successful at club level at FC Twente and PSV. Rijvers himself was a gifted technician who played in the famous golden trio (with Faas Wilkes and Abe Lenstra, two legends) for the Dutch. He was tactically strong and warm personality, loved by media and players. He took over from Zwartkruis after the latter lost the first two qualification games for the Spain World Cup 1982. Rijvers immediately planned to bring Cruyff back to the NT, which he agreed to do. However, JC was contractually obliged to wear his own brand jersey (Cruyff Sports) while the NT had a contract with Adidas. No deal, therefore. Rijvers also got other veterans back: Krol, Rep, Willy van de Kerkhof and even Johan Neeskens, in an attempt to turn things around. Still, despite this, he would be the man who allowed 9 players from the 1988 winning team to make their debut in the NT: Vanenburg, Kieft, Rijkaard, Gullit, Wouters, Koeman, Van Basten, Erwin Koeman and Adri van Tiggelen. Michel Valke and Rene van der Gijp also made their debuts under Rijvers. Rijvers missed out on the WC1982 due to a 2-0 loss vs France in a key final match. France scored their second goal (Platini) thanks to a misunderstanding between Van Breukelen and Krol. Rijvers also missed the 1984 Euros as a result of the (bought?) win of Spain over Malta, 12-1.

Little Kees with Kieft, Gullit, Rijkaard and Janssen

In the qualification round for the 1986 Mexico World Cup, Oranje lost at home vs Hungary. Rijvers resigned after that game, after coaches like Leo Beenhakker lobbied for his firing. Suspiciously, as Beenhakker would get the job soon after…

Despite his strong club career, his playing career and his eye for talent (as aforementioned), not qualifying for two tournaments means he will not be in anyone’s top 5 NT coaches :-).

Failed World Cup 1986 – Leo Beenhakker

After Rijvers’ demise and losing the first match vs Hungary, Rinus Michels took over. He lost his first match too and won his second. Michels had to give way due to health reasons (heart) and his protege Leo Beenhakker – so instrumental in getting Rijvers out – was put in as replacement. Hungary qualified quickly so Holland had to go for second spot which would result in a play-off game. With talented Robbie de Wit – who would see his career ended due to a brain aneurism – in the team, Holland did win against Hungary away, securing a play off match vs Belgium. Oranje lost the first match, 1-0 in Belgium. Wim Kieft was given a red card in the 4th minute, after some play-acting by Vercauteren. The Belgium midfielder would go on and score the winner. The Dutch – playing with Gullit, Rijkaard, Van Basten and De Wit couldn’t get back into it. The home game in Rotterdam was a terrible night for yours truly. It was super cold and my dad injured his knee during the walk to the stadium which would bother him for the rest of his life. We needed to win 2-0 to go to the World Cup and after 84 minutes, Oranje had the two goals thanks to Robbie de Wit and Peter Houtman. A defensive error in the 85th minute allowed George Grün to head the ball in, 2-1. End of fairytale for Holland. No World Cup.

Leo Beenhakker would have another stint in 1990 and wasn’t able to rouse up the troops for a good performance either. The Rotterdam born coach would enjoy successes with Ajax, Real Madrid and Feyenoord among others but was dreadful as team manager. His buffoon type alpha male machoism didn’t go down well with vocal and astute players like Gullit, Rijkaard and Van Basten. A stain on Leo’s career, this NT stuff.

European Championship 1988 – Rinus Michels

The qualifications for the 1988 Euros was not a smooth ride. JC was coach at Ajax, and he would fuel the bad blood between him and Michels by commenting on the team selection and creating a rift between the Ajax and PSV players. The NT lacked unity and the midfield was drastically out of balance. This prompted Michels to bring the experienced Arnold Muhren (35 years old) back to the team to fix it. Despite all this, Holland was too strong for the likes of Poland, Cyprus and Greece and qualified easily. The most talked about event was the bomb-incident, in the match v Cyprus. The Cyprus team walked off the pitch when a fireworks bomb was thrown close to the Cyprus goalie. They’d lose the match 8-0, but that was scratched from the books. Holland can be happy the UEFA didn’t disqualify the team. In the re-match, Holland won 4-0. Bosman’s record of scoring 5 goals in one match was also scratched from the history books.

The rest is history. Michels didn’t want to take Van Basten as a main striker, who was injured all season long but fit for the Euros. Van Basten threatened to not come in that case. Cruyff apparently talked Marco into going and he would become the tournament’s star. Michels started with a 4-3-3 but after losing the first match, reverted back to a 4-4-2. Ironically, Oranje’s first and only big trophy was won with a 4-4-2 system…

Michels’ finest moment as Dutch NT coach. He did perform well, was warm towards the players and media and seemed to have found his place and tone of voice. Sadly, in the years to come, he would show his colours again. Still, winning a trophy means you do end up in the top 5 of best Dutch NT coaches…

World Cup 1990 – Thijs Libregts / Leo Beenhakker.

So much has been written about this. One more time, now in Telegram style. Libregts won the title with Feyenoord with Cruyff in 1984 and moved to Greece to coach Aris, PAOK and Olympiakos. He returned as NT manager but had a massive falling out with Gullit, amongst other things for some racial abuse. The players demanded his resignation and the FA – led by Michels – promised the players to recruit Cruyff as coach. Once the dust settled, the players were flabbergasted to see Beenhakker as their new coach, and not the famous #14.

The rest we know. A dreadful preparation phase, in some dreary Yugoslavian castle. Bad vibe in the squad. Gullit in particular not fit. Tired of football. And more. Beenhakker had battle after battle and even showed up at a press conference with a black eye, explaining he hit his head. Some people claim Van Basten threw an ashtray to his face. We’ll never know. After the WC, Beenhakker quipped that 75% of all that happened during that campaign has never came out. He promised to share it one day, but he never has, so far. An abysmal World Cup, with what was considered one of the best squads the Oranje ever had.

I have never been a Leo Beenhakker fan. An arrogant coach, with an inflated ego. He has never had any loyalty. Escaped to bigger clubs any time he got the chance.

European Championships – Rinus Michels

Rinus decided to put his hand up to fix the Oranje problems. Frank Rijkaard immediately retired from international football. Koeman was suspended by Michels for criticising his tactics and John Van’t Schip was suspended because he preferred to witness the birth of his first child, and arrived later at the trainings camp. Michels did bring Frank de Boer and Dennis Bergkamp in the mix. Holland did qualify relatively easy, but was not without little scandals, as Wim Kieft left the camp one day, when he was treated disrespectfully by Bryan Roy, who called him “tall tree”. Gullit and Michels clashed repeatedly as the latter accused Gullit of being to injury prone and too happy to let games go.

The Tournament in Sweden would become the tournament of the holidaying Danes, who were called up as replacement for Yugoslavia. Michels’ team didn’t impress vs Scotland, although we got the win (1-0) thanks to a late Bergkamp goal. We drew vs the GOS (Russia) but beat Germany 3-1 in a great match. The knock out stages ended with the Danes having the better of us in a penalty shoot out, with Van Basten missing vs Schmeichel.

Not a bad result, but not sure how much Rinus and his assistant mini-general Dick Advocaat had to do with that. Gullit was unstoppable at times. Van Basten was instrumental without scoring and Dennis Bergkamp presented himself at the highest level. We could have gone all the way I think but again, not sure how much praise Michels deserved. I think the players wanted to set the score right after the dreadful WC1990.

World Cup 1994 – Dick Advocaat

The mini-general was always Michels’ choice. The players wanted JC again and they actually went over to see him at Barca and negotiate a deal. The deal imploded on Cruyff’s demand to pick his own assistants. The Federation, in those days, had their own coaches and insisted Johan would use them. Cruyff did not have a lot of respect for these cats and felt he wasn’t going to go anywhere without his trusted scout (Tonnie Bruins-Slot) and assistants. So it was a no go. Advocaat is known for his “un-Dutch” cautious defensive game. Sure, he did great as a club coach, but he lacked the adventurous streak we so desire and he didn’t seem too switched on with the circumstances. Gullit was aware there would be a heatwave in Florida and tried to convince Dickie to play a tactics that would work for the best players (read: Gullit and Rijkaard). Van Basten was already ruled out, basically. Advocaat belittled Gullit and the latter decided to not go.

Presser with Advocaat and a depressed Gullit, explaining why he’s abandoning Oranje

Advocaat got his team to the quarter finals were Brazil was too strong. Upon his return to Holland, Advocaat said that being amongst the best 8 teams in the world was a great result. The fans felt that it wasn’t. A great result would be a semi final spot. This was ok. We beat Morocco, Ireland and Saudi Arabia. Big deal.

Advocaat would get a second spell. Overall, a mediocre performance on both counts.

European Championships 1996 – Guus Hiddink

Poor Guus inherited the salary rift that was going around at Ajax. Some home grown talents didn’t make as much as some of the new signings and some of the white players were allegedly making more than the dark players. Hiddink didn’t get the problems ironed out. He also humiliated Seedorf by subbing him off against Switzerland after 26 minutes while Davids only got 10 minutes in that game. Hiddink tended to talk tactics with De Boer and Blind and neglect Davids and Seedorf – according to them – and Edgar let fly in an interview, saying Hiddink should take his head out of De Boer’s arse. Poetic. Davids was sent home and the tournament ended with a penalty shoot out, lost, vs France.

The infamous photo: a table with white players and a table with colour players. However, behind Huddink, not visible, blond Richard Witschge also part of the coloured table…

A tough tournament to judge Guus on. Overall a comedy of errors and a humiliation by England. Kluivert’s conciliation goal got us through, for a quarter finals vs France.

World Cup 1998 – Guus Hiddink

With the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, this is one that we could have and should have won. With one of the strongest squads (Davids was taken back in by Hiddink and played a top notch tournament), we reached the semis. The quarter finals vs Argentina is a high light in Oranje’s history, with Frank de Boer’s long range pass and Bergkamp’s outside foot winner, in the last minutes of the game! The key question still is: did Oranje deserve a penalty late in the semi finals against Brazil, when Pierre van Hooijdonk was pulled to the ground? We all think YES.

This was Guus’ golden tournament which catapulted him to the level of top coach on the planet. Real Madrid, Australia, South Korea, they’d all follow. Included a not so successful stint only recently… This tournament justifies a spot in the top 5 of best NT coaches ever, for Oranje.

This is it for now. The coaches from 2000 until now, in the next post!

My top 3 NT coaches from 1974 till 1998, shouldn’t be a big surprise:

Rinus Michels – 1974
Ernst Happel – 1978
Guus Hiddink – 1998

Gimme your views below!

May 17, 2020May 17, 2020 by Jan

50 Years ago: Ernst Happel invents Total Football

In the late 60s, Ajax had a first stab at it, but they lost their finals, vs Internationale, 4-1. The still playful and naive Ajax players vs shrewd and ruthless Italians…

The next season, Feyenoord led the way. And Coach Ernst Happel and his key players Moulijn, Van Hanegem, Jansen and Israel created the template which Michels, Cruyff and Co would perfect in the ensuing years… Dutch football was never the same.

Coach Ernst Happel is famous in Holland for his typical quote: “Kein keloel, fussball spielen!”. Which translates as “Stop talking, just play football!”.

He was a no nonsense guy. A tremendous football player himself, for Austria and Rapid Wien and Racing Club Paris. As a coach, he immediately won the respect when at the first training, he placed several empty bottles on the cross bar, and placed balls outside of the box. And he then hit the balls which would all hit a bottle. The Feyenoord squad has just seen that their coach knows how to hit a football.

In Austria, Happel was never seen as a potential top coach. He loathed theory and was never part of the incrowd. But after he won the European Cup with Feyenoord, the Austrian federation invited him for a presentation at some seminar. “The people in the room were silent and hung onto every word. It was just fantastic. His pitch was just incredible!”.

Happel was the first coach to win the European Cup with two different clubs: Feyenoord and Hamburger SV. He did reach the finals again, with Club Brugge but lost. He won titles in four different countries and the national cup in four different countries. He reached the finals of the World Cup 1978 with the Dutch national team.

His biggest issue was his lack of language skills. He spoke German. That’s it. So he never did long tactical talks. He would observe, say something here and there and use simple commands like “Geh ma raus!”, which translated as “Move forward!”. The training and practice sessions, however, were such that the players didn’t need to hear longwinded tactical talks. “He could communicate to every single player exactly what he wanted. But he didn’t do it with words, but with practices.”

Should Happel have had the same audacity as other coaches to write a book about his methods and vision, he would have been an international guru in the same vein as Michels, Mourinho or Sacchi. But he never did. He wasn’t interested in becoming a guru. The following three topics form the foundation of Happel’s football sacraments.

The Off-side Trap

Maybe to clear this up first: Happel didn’t invent Total Football as a mathematical formula. He was a man of the pitch, not a theory guy. He would create solutions based on the players he had at his disposal. With him, it was an organic process. Former Ajax back (and part of the Feyenoord squad when they won the Cup in 1970) Theo van Duivenbode: “Michels was great in developing a tactical plan at the start of a game and he’d try to hold on to it. Happel was different. Happel was capable of seeing where things didn’t work in a match and he’d tweak it while we were playing. I think Happel read the games way better than Michels.”

The Off-side trap, a mechanism that would impress the world in 1974 when the Dutch successfully used it at the World Cup 1974 was something Happel came up with in 1949 (!). He was the main man in the Rapid Wien team, one of the best teams in Europe. Rapid went to play in Brazil vs Vasco da Gama and was played off the pitch, trailing 3-0 in a short spell. After the break, the Vasco manager told his players to take it easy. The end result: 5-0.

The 22 year old Ernst Happel couldn’t sleep and decided to analyse the game that night with his coach Pesser and technical director Franz Binder. Pesser: “We were humiliated. We had never had this before. We spent hours jotting on pieces of paper and analysing what they did. Their coach Flavio Costa was an innovator, who laid the foundation for Brazil’s flowing tactical style of play. That morning we decided to abandon the Austrian school. We needed something new. And one new thing we introduced was Ernst Happel as central defender, the playmaker from the back.”

And as central defender, Happel was able to use the off-side trap. He was the last man and could recognise the ideal moment to move forward and complete out think and out manoeuvre the opponent. He used this in all the teams he coached. German legend Gunther Netzer played for Borussia Monchengladbach and faced Feyenoord in the European Cup: “We couldn’t live with them. I saw one head after the other slumped down. We had no idea how to deal with this and I looked at the bench, I wonder who their coach was…”. Ernst Happel of copurse.

In 1981, Netzer would sign Happel as coach for Hamburger SV.

The 4-3-3 system

Feyenoord played a 4-2-4 system in 1969, with deep striker Ove Kindvall and playmaker Willem van Hanegem as two strikers and two players in midfield. All Happel did was drop Willem back to midfield and add Franz Hasil (Rapid Wien player) to the midfield (with Wim Jansen) and the rest is history.

Rinus Michels copied what Happel did. He used the 3-2-5 still, the traditional offensive football style in Holland, with one central defender, 2 back, two controlling mids and 5 attackers: 2 out and out wingers and two “inner” players and a striker. When Ajax drew 3-3- with Feyenoord in April 1970, Michels decided to go with 4-3-3 as well. His old style was simply too vulnerable against strong teams. A year later, Ajax would win the European Cup as well.

When watching the finals between Celtic and Feyenoord, it is remarkable to see how patient Feyenoord is… Celtic is constantly playing the long ball forward and hopes on some creativity from the four forwards. Feyenoord plays like a collective. Patient build up play with short passing from the back. When Feyenoord played against teams using the 4-2-4, they always had the extra man in midfield and getting a free man using the man-more concept is more an Austrian invention than a typical Dutch one…

Some of the Feyenoord legends: goalie Eddy PG, central defender Rinus Israel, Guus Haak and mercurial winger Coen Moulijn, next to Happel’s statue.

Pressing

Again, a lesson learned in a country far far away gave Happel the necessary insights. Rapiud Wien is the first team post World War 2 to travel to the USSR. The teams there played a collective style of football. In Western Europe and the UK, teams relied on the dribbles of the individual, but Russian teams worked on playing pressing football as a collective. Viktor Maslov (not the dog guy), who was the mentor of one Valeri Lobanovski, was an innovator. He was the one stating that one had to take time and space away from the opponent. In those days, it was normal to allow defenders some space so they can move forward dozens of yards. Willem van Hanegem: “I can’t remember any time where Ajax put us under pressure. It was Happel who was innovative in Holland with this concept, using fast, hardworking players on the wings. They were the first defenders. We had Henk Wery at Feyenoord and he used Rene van de Kerkhof in the 1978 Dutch team. He created the ideal circumstances this way, for a team that could grasp the opponent and never let them go.”

Again, Michels took notice and decided to let more static players like Henk Groot and Bennie Muller go for marathon men like Johan Neeskens and Nico Rijnders. Ajax never played that aggressive, actually, it was once Michels had players like Jansen, Van Hanegem and Neeskens in one midfield (World Cup 1974) when he started using the aggressive press. The label Total Football was given to Michels’ team, but it was Happel who led the way.

Rinus Michels promoted the concept, with his trusted lieutenants (Cruyff, Keizer, Krol) at his side, but if Happel would have been a better promotor and had written some books about it, he would have had more respect internationally… The off-side trap, 4-3-3 and collective pressing might have needed way more time to find Dutch football. Michels copied it smartly and deployed his tactics with a better team than Happel could…

Winning the European Cup also meant Feyenoord was going to compete for the World Cup for club teams. Argentine club Estudiantes was the opponent and it was a completely new experience for the Dutch side. Willem van Hanegem: “We didn’t know much about them. Basically, nothing. In today’s world, you can find out everything about opponents, stats and what not. We did think their football was going to rought, but how rough… We played in Argentina and we got a corner kick. When the ball was played in I felt this sharp pain in my side, some Estudiantes player had a little needle in his pocket and when the ref wasn’t paying attention, with dead ball situations, he’d prick me right when the ball was coming in… This was beyond “wanting to win” and I realised we were schoolboys compared to them!”. Feyenoord drew 2-2 in Argentina, with Van Hanegem and Kindvall on the score board. In Rotterdam, sub Joop van Daele was the unlikely match winner with a distance pile driver. The anecdote everyone remembers about this game, is that the glasses worn by goal scorer Van Daele were taken of his head by an Estudiantes player and trampled! During the match. “By accident”. Yeah right.

Van Daele wants his glasses back!