Tag: Rep

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.

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.

More in part 2…

Two deaths, one sad…

We had to major incidents to discuss, in the past week…

The so-called Super League (often debated as a future concept in football) was conceived! A brilliant plan. But only from the perspective of greedy money grabbers. Definitely not from the perspective of the fans, the existing competitions and …. sports in general.

It’s wonderful that it happened. It has quickly demonstrated who are in charge of football (and rightly so)… in case you are wondering: the fans! And yes, royalty, politicians and ex-players are also fans…

And if it also leads to the demise of eh certain Mr Woodward who has been mismanaging Manchester United for years now, being their Technical Director without having any football understanding and cultural context understanding… Good riddance!

Yes, there will be changes in the future, but never a concept in which teams have to leave their domestic competition for a money based super -league. We like seeing Liverpool – AC Milan, but we adore watching Liverpool – Everton. Or Ajax – FC Utrecht. Or Barca – Espagnol. These derbies should never die.

We will also always demand a structure in which teams that earn it can move up, and teams that fail get relegated. That is what sports is about.

Some of the clubs that did commit quickly backtracked their way out of it. Chelsea, Man City, United and Liverpool were quick to apologise, with City coach Guardiola and Liverpool coach and captain vehemently criticising this move. In earlier stages, Bayern Munich, PSG and Ajax already said they wouldn’t want to join in.

The whole air castle collapsed before it was actually made and I hope we can put this cockamamy idea to rest for good.

The sad death this week was the passing of PSV and Oranje legend Willy van der Kuylen. The PSV playmaker from the 1970s. A midfielder, a classic #10, but also one who would easily score 20 goals every season. A true class act.

The Brabant born player with the canon in both legs had ample opportunities to play in Italy or Spain but preferred to stay in Brabant forever, close to his beloved PSV. After his active career, he would stick with PSV in all sorts of roles. He’d become Mr PSV and was assistant coach, scout, team leader, analyst, strikers coach, ambassador and PSV’s photo model whenever a new player was signed. One of the few players to hit a penalty kick with full force with the laces. One of the few players who actually kicked a ball (a free kick) straight through the net. Literally.

He started his career as central striker and netted prolifically but in those days in the mid 60s, it was all Ajax and Feyenoord. Willy was as good as they come, but the rest of PSV wasn’t. Yet.

He had vision, was shrewd, saw the pass and had a strong physique. But his biggest weapon, his shot. And he was perfectly two-footed. And he could hit them with real power. Cruyff and Van Hanegem often spoke about his ability to hit a ball in awe. The next player to impress with both feet would be Wesley Sneijder. Willy would score 308 goals for PSV, in 528 matches. Not bad for a midfielder!

He only played 22 matches for Oranje (scoring 7 goals). That is truly a disgrace. His PSV was the key team in Holland in 1974 and Willy was the top scorer again that season. But Willy van der Kuijlen (and Jan van Beveren) would not join Oranje to West Germany’s World Cup. The core of Oranje consisted of Ajax and Feyenoord players. Cruyff, Keizer, Van Hanegem and Israel were boss. The PSV players were seen as inferior and both Willy and goalie van Beveren were disgusted by their cameo roles and decided to leave the camp. Despite this, Van der Kuijlen never blamed Cruyff and never openly discussed this situation in a negative way. He would simply say that Johan Cruyff was the best ever and there are times when the best players don’t necessarily make the best team.

And don’t forget, this is a time where the NT coach had Cruyff, Neeskens, Krol, Van Hanegem, Wim Jansen, Jan Mulder, Rob Rensenbrink, Van der Kuijlen, Rep, Piet Keizer and Sjaak Swart. Out of these 12, only 6 could play. Cruyff, Van Hanegem and Van der Kuijlen could have made a unique trio, but it was not to be. They would hang out together, go to carnival with the wives and respect one another but they would never play together. JC would later name Van der Kuijlen in his “Team of the Century” in 1999.

In 1978, they played against each other in the semi finals of the UEFA Cup. Both skippers shaking, Willy for PSV, JC for Barca. PSV won that match and would go on to win the title.

Players like Luc Nilis and Ruud van Nistelrooy still rave about the personal coaching they got from the legend, who would be gifted a job for life, by then PSV technical director Marcel Brands. PSV would financially take care of Willy until his death. Alzheimer’s stopped Mr PSV, where hundreds of defenders and goalies couldn’t…

Oranje matches for your Lockdown! Pt. 1

I think Andrew from California made the comment about classic matches?

I am happy he did. It was on my mind too (and to be honest: I already watched Spain – Holland 1-5 from 2014 again, last night)… What to do in a world without football? Revisit classic matches.

I will list some classic matches below.  I don’t have the links to these games, but I do believe YouTube will have them. Also this site here has some incredible info!

From my memory, the following matches are worth it.

1970s Club football

Feyenoord vs AC Milan and Feyenoord vs Celtic, when the Rotterdam club became the first to win the Europa Cup for The Netherlands!

Ajax won it three time in a row, after Feyenoord, with finals vs Panathinaikos, Inter Milan and Juve.

I don’t remember much of the games leading up to the finals for Ajax, but YouTube is your friend…

1970s Oranje at the World Cup

I am assuming we all know and have seen the Great Games Oranje played in 1974 and 1978. For students and scholars, it’s cool to watch all the matches of course and I know there are DVDs for sale and YouTube offers a lot too.

The three games to watch of the WC1974 are Oranje’s first match vs Uruguay. This is interesting, as this was the first time Oranje demonstrated their Total Football and even the Dutch fans and media were flabbergasted! We never saw Oranje play this well.

Don’t forget: The Netherlands shouldn’t have been there!! We played a qualifier to Belgium and we only qualified for the World Cup 1974 because of a real goal by Belgium was disqualified for off side.

The match vs Argentina is really good too, with Van Hanegem and Cruyff in superb form.

Lastly, the semi finals vs Brazil is an absolute cracker! Top goals, wonderful performances and gladiator style battles in midfield (Neeskens!!).

In 1977, Oranje played a famous match vs England at Wembley! The English loved to see Johan Cruyff, who was facing off with Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking. The Dutch had indeed Cruyff, Rep, Neeskens, Rensenbrink and Krol but it was young upstart from NEC Nijmegen Jan Peters (playing in the playmaker role deserted by an injured Van Hanegem) and Peters got the English all ecstatic with his perfect game and two goals (0-2). Peters would move to AZ Alkmaar and won the title there and reached the finals in the European Cup. He would later make a big move to Italy.

In 1978, without Cruyff and Van Hanegem, the Dutch started slowly but got to the finals anyway. With some outrageous long distance goals by Arie Haan and Ernie Brandts. Totally worth checking all these games, as it shows Oranje’s progress in the tournament.

Other Oranje Games from the 1980s

In the early 80s, we didn’t really play for the trophies! We had a dreadful 1980s Euros, we didn’t get to the Spain 1982 WC, or the 1986 WC in Mexico. We also missed the 1984 France Euros (both the 1982 and 1984 tournaments do stand out in my memory as top notch tournaments!).

In 1983, Holland played a famous qualification game vs Ireland (mentioned in the comments) in Dublin for the 1984 Euros. We didn’t end up going, but we had a massive break through in that match. We were 0-2 down. By then coach Rijvers was begged by fans to give the young guns of Ajax and Feyenoord a shot! There were the likes of Vanenburg, Rijkaard, Koeman and most particularly: Gullit and Van Basten. Rijkaard didn’t play this game, and Ruud Gullit played central defender! A role he played at PSV as well, later on, and he did so ever so well. Great strength, incredible long range passing and big runs over the axis of the field. This game was the rise of the youngsters! And finally Rijvers was confident enough to drop the like of Wijnstekers, Hovenkamp and Cees van Kooten for the young upstarts. The 2-0 half time score became a 2-3 win on a terrible pitch in Dublin.

In November of 1983, Holland played Spain at home and thanks to a Gullit winner, Holland had 1 leg into the 1984 Euros! Spain had one more home game vs Malta and needed to win 11-0 to qualify at the expense of Holland! That would never happen, right?

Holland won 5-0 vs Malta themselves and expected Spain to win with a similar score.

Only Cruyff and Van Hanegem, interviewed together, claimed that it wasn’t over yet and Spain would be able to score 11  goals vs Malta…

Infamously, the game was won (by Spain): 12-1!! And Malta had the first goal even! At half time, I think it was 1-1. Later on, it seemed Malta’s goalie was bribed and if you can stomach watching that game, you can tell why that story developed… Oranje was out!

This affected the qualification matches for the World Cup 1986 as well, with two early losses in qualification vs Hungary and Austria. Say what?

In November 1985, we played Belgium at home in Rotterdam. We would go to Mexico if we won 2-0 or more. I was there and remember the match also because my dad did his knee at walking to the stadium, which would be an injury right up to his death… We scored first, we scored the second… Houtman and Robbie de Wit. But only 5 mins left to go and right before us, Belgium defender George Grun slipped away from his marker and headed in the 2-1, meaning Belgium went to Mexico.

The next big memory re: Oranje would be the 1988 Euros. I’m sure you’ve seen the games?

All matches are worthwhile. The first match, Oranje lost vs the USSR but we played our best football of the whole tournament. But we lost. Coach Michels went from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 and took Bosman and Van’t Schip off, for Van Basten and Erwin Koeman. The rest is history. Memorable games: the 2-3 vs England. The 2-1 versus West Germany and the finals of course. The 1-0 win over Ireland is also special due to Kieft’s freak goal and the tremendous fortune of not conceding a penalty for a blocked header by Ireland, with a hand. We rode our luck that tournament, as Van Basten scored an off side goal vs England and England was denied a 100% penalty.

 

 

 

 

Farewell Snake Man Rensenbrink

He was one of my heroes. Robbie Rensenbrink. And he went on to join that tremendous Dutch team up in the heavens, alongside the likes of Cruyff, Keizer, Moulijn and Van Beveren. He was 72 years old. A terrible disease took his life.

He wasn’t a player that is named often in the same vein as Cruyff, Van Hanegem, Swart, Keizer, Neeskens… But a legend he was, for sure!

The reason he was a bit overlooked, was because he left DWS in Amsterdam at a young age, to play in Belgium! Feyenoord was about to sign the dribble king on the left wing, but Club Brugge was a tad more aggressive (and in those days, Belgium was fueled with laundered money and the Belgium clubs paid very well!). So Robbie left for Belgium and in those days, we hardly got to see any games on telly… Only when Club (or later Anderlecht) would play in Europe, would we get to see highlights.

So, when I was 12 years old and in front of the tv to watch Holland play the World Cup in 1974, I was puzzled as to why Piet Keizer didn’t play as left winger?? Keizer, Cruyff, Neeskens, Krol, those top Ajax lads all together, with the hot shots of Feyenoord (Van Hanegem, Jansen, Rijsbergen). Where was Keizer? And who the F was Rensenbrink?

Well, he demonstrated who he was quite immediately in the tournament. And when the commentator called him The Snake Man it was clear. This was a tremendous player. He looked like Cruyff (from a distance on telly) and he could dribble like Cruyff. I was gobsmacked!

The first match vs Uruguay was an easy win, with two Rep goals (the second on a Rensenbrink assist). Neeskens, Jansen and Van Hanegem ruled the midfield, while the fast Rep from the right took the striker role whenever Cruyff was wandering about on the pitch. Rensenbrink played as a real left winger, with chalk on his boots as we said.

I knew JC was the best in the world. Neeskens was the favorite of many, due to his relentless working, tackling, battling and harassing while Jansen was the unsung hero, reading the game, interjecting passes and presenting the ball straight to playmaker Van Hanegem or super star Cruyff.

Rob Rensenbrink, Ruud Krol, Jan Mulder

Cruyff was the eye catcher, the symbol of this Oranje. Rep the pretty boy with the goals while Van Hanegem was the brain of the team. When you rewatch the games they played, you’ll agree with me that Van Hanegem played a faultless masterful tournament, doing everything right. The highlight of his career and in the eyes of many an expert, the man of the tournament. But I knew all this. I knew Jansen and Van Hanegem personally (they lived around the corner from me in my hometown). I knew Cruyff and Rep like every kid knew them. But Rensenbrink was the unknown factor and he blew me away.

And I saw in that Uruguay match why Michels (and Cruyff) picked him over Keizer!

The snake man.

And I developed a keen interest in the man. It appeared he played in Belgium from 1969 onwards. First two seasons at Club Brugge, but he got signed by Anderlecht and that is where is rise to fame really began. He got his nickname Snake Man there, due to his tremendous dribbles. He won a plethora of silverware… Belgium titles, two European Cups, two Super Cups and in 1976 he was crowned best player of the year. He actually got voted the best player of the Belgium League Ever.

In 1974, he was instrumental in the Oranje team but not as prolific as Rep or Cruyff…

Training with Willem van Hanegem

When the 1978 World Cup commenced, Cruyff and Van Hanegem opted not to go. Long story, maybe for some other time. So we knew, as fans, that we had to rely on the old hands Rensenbrink, Neeskens and Krol to pull us through, and boy did they deliver!

Rensenbrink got injured in the 1974 finals and couldn’t finish the game.

In 1978 however, it was his last attempt on goal in the 90st minute, at 1-1, which would end up being the most talked about football event in Dutch football history!

Holland played Argentina, in a finals that should have been between Holland and Brazil. In hindsight, Argentina’s win over Peru might not have legit. But anyway, Argentina dominated the game. They played with pizzazz and felt the support of almost 100,000 crazy fans on the stands, and 3 fans on the pitch, wearing black referee outfits.

But Kempes’ 1-0 and Dick Nanninga’s 1-1 made for a spectacular finish.

With Ruud Krol playing a signature pass over 40+ yards in the path of Rensenbrink who hit the post with his final ditch attempt… It remained 1-1 and Argentina would clinch it in the extra time: 3-1.

The Famous Shot on the Post

Rensenbrink’s career was a series of high lights of course, but that one particular shot on the upright would almost define his career. Every day. Every single fukcing day, someone would ask him about it. Remind him of it. He would get really agitated with it.

After his playing career, he immediately retired from football. He didn’t become a coach, or a youth coach, or a scout or an agent or even a tv pundit. He spent his last 40 odd years focusing on his second passion: fishing!

When JC died in 2016, the Guardian placed an action photo of Rob Rensenbrink on the sports pages, by accident. Sitting in his garden, with a cigaret in his hand, Robbie said: “I’m still here guys. But hey, Moulijn died, Keizer is gone, Cruyff…I’ll be next probably.”

In 2012, he was diagnosed with PSMA, a muscle disease. “I never had issues with my muscles during my career, but now I can’t even hold a fork in my hand… I heard that this disease has struck a lot of Italian football players… Maybe it has something to do with stuff we were given by the doctors…”. In one of his last interview, that final shot on the post has to be mentioned. The long pass by Krol, Bertoni defends weakly and Fillol misses the ball. But the post didn’t miss. “The moment of my life, I suppoe. But I keep saying, it wasn’t even a real chance. The pass almost bounced passed me, I stuck my foot out. Closed my eyes, so to speak and the ball hit the post. I couldn’t do more than that. It ‘s not like I missed for open goal or I missed a penalty. Just like Robben in 2010, he did everything right, but was unlucky. It happens.”

From another angle…

He went back one, after that 25th of June match. “With Johnny Rep, for some tv program. We were standing there, next to that post. But I had a better memory of 1978 than I had of 1974. In ’74, it was all about Cruyff, Michels and Total Football. When Cruyff decided to drift to the left, I had to make way. I played better in 1978. I took the penalties and scored 5 goals. It was all good. I don’t see any of the old players anymore, except for Rep, Jongbloed and Rinus Israel. Rinus went to Feyenoord from DWS and they wanted me too. DWS wanted 450,000 guilders. Feyenoord balked and Club Brugge came with a cheque. I signed for Anderlecht for 7 seasons. Boy did I regret that! Real Madrid and Inter Milan wanted me. Faas Wilkes came to negotiate on Inter’s behalf… But Anderlecht refused to let me go. I did go to the KNVB coaching course, but I couldn’t stand it. Some no-name educator who never played football was going to instruct me how to take a corner… I don’t go to the matches in the stadiums, I don’t even stay home for most matches.”

“They made a book for me in Holland, for my 70th birthday. But I already had a biography in Belgium. That tells the story.”