Tag: Van Marwijk

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.

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by Jan

Where are the Dutch top coaches?

It’s been another eventful week for the Dutch football fans. We are smashing the coefficiency ratios with our tremendous results in Europe (Ajax, Feyenoord, AZ, Vitesse, PSV) and we might see all teams surviving the usually devastating winter break!

Ajax got a bit lucky, Feyenoord was able to adapt to the muddy pitch best, PSV had to do without creative influx from Gotze, Propper and Gakpo while Vitesse was close to getting another result vs Spurs. AZ has found their mojo again and has been playing some excellent football (again). This weekend, it’s Arne Slot vs his old club…

And our master coach Louis van Gaal announced his definitive squad for this last World Cup qualification block, leaving Krul out (wouldn’t it be better to get an experienced goalie in, alongside young Bijlow and Drommel? Cillesen even?). Owen Wijndal loses out against Malacia and Luuk de Jong is not longer needed as pinch hitter as Louis has decided on Memphis as #9, knowing that Gakpo, Malen, Danjuma, Lang are excellent options on the left. Berghuis is still the only real right winger, (“real”) with Bergwijn also dropping out.

When van Gaal was announced as the new NT manager, his third stint, he said the following during a press conference: “Who else would there be to take this job?”. Telling words. And add to that the oft heard criticism here, by the Dutch Bleeders: “Why always a Dutch coach??” , “Blind and De Boer are useless, headless chickens who don’t deserve to be alive” and more of that :-).

Stam quit his job at Feyenoord when he realised he couldn’t play how he wanted…

This is inspired by a VI article by Pieter Zwart about the lack of Dutch coaches breaking through to the absolute top.

We used to have Beenhakker (Ajax, Feyenoord, Real Madrid), Hiddink (PSV, Valencia, Real Madrid), Advocaat (PSV, Zenit), Van Gaal (Barca, Bayern, Man U), Van Marwijk (Feyenoord, Borussia Dortmund), Ten Cate (Ajax, Chelsea, Barca) to name a few, while Cruyff and Van Hanegem and Wim Jansen at a certain point felt “enough was enough”.

I think it is fair enough to have a critical look at the Dutch trainers course. Very expensive, and very ineffective. The vision of this course by the KNVB has shifted through time and it has been further tainted by privileges for ex players.

Jaap Stam had enough. The class room lessons didn’t work for Jaap. He started to complain in interviews and the media pressure was such that the KNVB decided to offer him and other ex-players a custom course. And it’s probably “typically Dutch” to feel above and beyond these courses. When Van Hanegem was asked what he had picked up from the course, his typical sardonic response was “my cigarette butts after the course”. Cruyff even completely refused to take any course, saying that spending 20 years in a dressing room is worth more thn 2,000 diplomas. He was Ajax’ head coach but decided to call himself Technical Director so he could bypass the Dutch KNVB regulations.

Based on that feedback, the KNVB decided to offer short track courses to ex players, with 50 caps or more. Marco van Basten retired from football at 29. He took many years off and when he returned in 2002, he wanted to become a coach. The KNVB offered him a short course and within the year he had the highest diploma in Dutch coaching. After one season as coach of Ajax 2, with friend Van ‘t Schip, the KNVB appointed them both as NT managers.

Two national team managers

Now, Van Basten says: “And there I was. Boom. National Team manager. I wasn’t ready for that. I simply lacked the experience to be comfortable as a head coach.” In his autobiography he admits he missed hours and hours of sleep, purely from stress. In Sweden 2004, when he made his debut, he had completely forgotten to bring his analysis notes of the opponent. He was not particularly strong in communications with his players and decided in 2014 that coaching was really not his thing.

Frank Rijkaard won the Champions League with Barca, but got relegated with Sparta. Ronald Koeman had good (Ajax, Feyenoord, Southampton, Oranje) and bad spells (Valencia, Barcelona, Everton, AZ) while Cocu and Frank de Boer saw their reputations tarnished abroad. Jan Wouters, Ruud Gullit, Ruud Krol, Johan Neeskens, Clarence Seedorf, Jaap Stam and Edgar Davids all took blows in their careers. As Co Adriaanse said: “A good horse doesn’t make a good jockey!”

Bergkamp, Cocu and Kluivert with their diplomas

The KNVB created a kartel. Ex players were short tracked through the course while non-players had an extremely difficult time trying to get through to the course. Someone like Julian Nagelsmann or Jose Mourinho would have struggled to get their diploma in The Netherlands. Even Arne Slot and Danny Buijs struggled to get in, in 2017! In that year, the rules were re-considered, which als gave Sjors Ultee (Fortuna Sittard coach) the opportunity to snug in.

Our last biggest club success in the highest competition was Ajax’ Van Gaal in 1995. Now we look back and know that a change in rules in 1992 was key to Ajax’ success. The goalie was no longer allowed to pick up a back pass. Ajax was known to press high and that tactics resulted in a high number of goal keeper kicking errors, which Ajax could use to turn around possession. But that benefit has long dissipated into thin air.

The first coaching course, with Rijsbergen, Stafleu and Willem van Hanegem

Van Gaal was the last Dutch coach to be in a Champions League final, and to win a foreign title with Bayern. After Mark van Bommel and Ronald Koeman’s sacking, Peter Bosz is the only Dutch coach abroad, in a major competition.

Today’s Dutch School flag bearers are non Dutch. Like Pep Guardiola. Where his Dutch colleagues were short-tracked, Pep took the long way. He went to play in Mexico, to get a chance to work with Juanma Lillo, a Spanish coach with particular views on football. He also visiting football professor Bielsa in Argentina, to take his lessons. Bielsa was so obsessed with Van Gaal’s Ajax, that he would watch the games and he would stop the match when Van Gaal would make changes. And he would then try to second guess what the Ajax coach would do, assisted by his wife.

According to the Dutch coaching candidates, we have four issues with our coaching program. Firstly, the cost. A Dutch diploma costs twice as much as the equivalent in other European countries. These high rates are a stumbling block for many ex players to have a go. Secondly, the contents of the course is outdated. It’s talk, show, do. The coaching objective must be articulated in 5 Ws: What do we want? Where on the pitch? Who are the key players? When do we execute? What is the role of the opponent? Situational coaching, it is called. The Dutch coaches first explain the situation, then show it and then go and practice it, with the Dutch coach constantly stopping the play to go through the solution and practice that, almost in slow motion.

Rijkaard, Neeskens, Hiddink (NT coach in 1998), Gullit and Koeman (who received their diplomas)

This method doesn’t work in combination with the current standard of international football. Dutch coaches stop the play when a ball is turned over. Those are the moments to get the players attention in order to work on the situation. But subconsciously, that “stopping” at turn overs becomes part of the players’ behaviour!

Thirdly, the teachers at the coaching course. There has not been any new fresh blood. The coaches are theoretically strong but lack any real world consciousness around coaching and managing. The fourth issues, is that every student will graduate. You cannot fail. You pay, you get the diploma.

Marcel Lucassen is the new director football development at the KNVB and he will take his experience with the German DFB, Al-Nasr and Arsenal and inject his ideas into our coaching curriculum.

With the successful exploits of young coaches like Arne Slot, Danny Buijs (Groningen), Sjors Ultee, Kees van Wonderen (Go Ahead), Rogier Meijer (NEC), Johnny Jansen (Heerenveen), Pascal Jansen (AZ), Erik ten Hag, Wim Jonk (Volendam), Reinier Robbemond (De Graafschap), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Young PSV), John Heitinga (Young Ajax), we might see a new generation of “top coaches” emerge.

Success coach Sjors Ultee would not have been admitted in the old regime

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by Jan

Rusty Oranje gets solid win

The circumstances were a tad less than perfect.

No fans to cheer us on. A successful coach who bailed two weeks before the games. Four defenders (three starters) missing. A mixed bag of fitness and rhythm. Veltman hadn’t played for weeks. Memphis returning from injury. Cillisen lacking rhythm. Untested pairings.

But, the boys came through. The team tactics worked. Particularly in the second half. And clearly the players were highly motivated. Working hard. Eager to find openings. Good pressure on the ball and disciplined execution (Ake, De Roon, Veltman, De Jong).

Poland came to not lose. They were compact. Defended deep. And hoped for a counter attack. Oranje dominated but couldn’t create a lot. In the first half, we had trouble breaking them down, partly because the forward pass (behind their defense) was played too late. We saw runs by Bergwijn, Memphis, Ake and Hateboer but the back four didn’t want to play the ball. First they wanted to find their rhythm.

The first shot (not on target) was by a Polish player and the first shot on target (saved by Cillesen) was by Poland as well.

Dwight started with Ake on the LB spot, playing like his disciplined and absent colleague Blind. The more experienced Veltman took the De Ligt role and Hateboer played on the right, in an interesting combi with De Roon. Particularly in the second half, Hateboer was the false right winger while De Roon played the right back holding role. Like they do at Bergamo.

Memphis seemed to have a good chance – stopped by the goalie – but in an offside position. The second chance was for Promes, who missed the target and it was late in the first half when Oranje finally had it’s first real creative opportunity, with Frenkie’s run into the box, who got served by Memphis in perfect manner. Memphis vision, his ability to chip the ball, Frenkie’s chest control and half-volley…all perfect. But the upright thought differently.

It was clear what Dwight would want to see in the second half. That forward pass must be played quicker. Find the space behind their defence. Don’t make it too easy for Poland to defend.

Van Dijk used his deep ball to good use and even Marten de Roon started to spray some long balls. Ake was able to push up higher too, while Frenkie was taking more risks as well and took on players more and more.

For me, the outstanding player was Memphis. Everything we did in an offensive way, was through him. He hunted, he pressed, he hassled and prodded… He tricked players, went for the 1-2 combination, and was continously threatening, even if his set pieces didn’t really connect and he missed a big shooting opportunity with a complete un-Memphis like mishit. But, he might not be 100% yet, he is well on his way to get there.

He did get a massive chance to score on a great Bergwijn cross but it felt like Memphis didn’t expect the ball to pass through the first defender and as a result he mis controlled the ball.

Holland was the dominating party and after an hour we broke through their defences. Promes moved back inside from the left wing and found Frenkie. He spotted Hateboer’s run and put the ball on a plate. The former Groningen man flicked the ball back across goal, where Bergwijn was ready to tap in his first Oranje goal!

Poland brought Milik and wanted to hunt for a goal but it was Oranje that came closest to a second, it feels. Wijnaldum and Van de Beek were close to a second but it wasn’t to be. Still, the new adventure started well, after 290 days of not being together and this performance definitely gave us a good foundation for the future.

Memphis was limping in front of the camera, after the game. The startled interviewer asked him about it and he laughed: “Sore muscles man, my first full match in a long time. How great  to be back and play 90 minutes!”

Memphis was already quite successful for Lyon in the league 1, but he failed to score this time, even though he was involved in everything. He had six shots, created three opportunities and was involved in nine out of the 14 attempts on goal. He had 4 successful dribbles and was fouled 8 times. No one had better stats on the night.

The eight free kicks he won were actually a record. Since 2013, no other Oranje player was fouled as often in one match. “They were petulant, they stepped on my heel, they tried to provoke and the ref seemingly didn’t see it.”

He was not 100% satisfied. “We can play much better. But i have to say, joy is the overbearing emotion for me after such a long time. Some things went automatic, with some players you have that invisible click, but we can do better and must do better. Me as well of course, but I don’t want to be overly critical now. I was away for months and I am just grateful to be back.”

Interim coach Lodeweges was confronted with the fact that he is the first Oranje coach since Rijkaard to win his first match. “Oh, I didn’t even know that. That was a while back then? It was a tough match. Poland was here at full strength, except for Lewandowski of course. They play this way, and it was on us to break them down and we did. When you score earlier in the game, you might get a couple more, but I think we can happy with this, as the team did look rusty at times.”

Captain Virgil van Dijk spoke of a mature win. “It was not easy to predict how our form would be. One players had hardly had any minutes, other players have been full on in pre-season mode. But we managed a professional win. We let the ball go, also under pressure. And we kept a clean sheet. I think we can be pleased, even if we had to reward ourselves with a goal or two more.”

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by Jan

The New Oranje Coach

No no! It won’t be Advocaat or Blind :-).

As we discussed earlier, Koeman is not to be denied at Barcelona. How different will it be for his successor at the KNVB. With Malen and Memphis fit and ready, as we hope, when the Euros 2021 start (or IF), there will be known issues for the new coach.

Koeman did an excellent job revitalising Oranje, getting the fans to love the team again and bring new talent to the fore. Hiddink, Blind and Advocaat might not have had the results we craved but during that time, some incredible talents broke through and our new coach will be salivating by the thought.

The biggest problem our new coach will have, is to find the best team out of the talents we have or to find a way to start a game with 15 players, instead of 11.

With Stekelenburg back at Ajax, it’s fair to say we will not have a keeper problem either!

So you have the key players from the past couple of seasons (Memphis, Blind, Van Dijk, Wijnaldum, De Ligt, Frenkie) and now the coach can pencil in some new names like Schuurs, Ihatarren, Gakpo, Gravenberch, Malen, Stengs, Wijndal, etc etc…

There is a debate going on in the country, as to who should be the new coach, of course. The KNVB will give Dwight Lodeweges – Ronald’s assistant – the nod for the coming games but will most likely name a bigger name coach for the job sometime soon.

The first question is: does it need to be a Dutchie, or should we go for a foreign coach?

The answer, as far as I am concerned, is: A Dutch Coach. Always.

I know it’s conservative, but I also think you don’t experiment with these things.

We did have foreign coaches before and they were quite the success too (well, Ernst Happel is the only one that comes to mind… Georg Kessler was less successful and part Dutch). But Happel worked in The Netherlands (ADO Den Haag and Feyenoord) and knew the Dutch football culture well. Even more so: Happel was more responsible for our Total Football than Michels… (see a couple of blog post earlier).

But with the typical Dutch style, the typical Dutch culture (direct in communications) and the need to finally get success at a big tournament, I would want a coach who understands all these things well… This shouldn’t be a “job” for some foreign coach to take just to up his image. This should be a mission, a real purpose of a job for a Dutch coach, who shares the football vision, gets the subtleties and dynamics of the language and customs and who can pick up on Koeman’s work and progress it.

Dwight Lodeweges

Unless, we really don’t have a single candidate who could do it. But I doubt that.

So, for me, no Klinsmann, or Rangnick, or Jardem or whoever. For starters, do we know these guys can play national team manager? Being a club coach is completely different. Pochettino is a good club coach, but does that make him a good national team manager? Who knows?

It will be easier for us Dutchies to assess this with coaches / ex-players we know. I think it’s fair to say that a guy like Cocu could do the job. He’s assisted Van Marwijk, he played for Oranje and he would know what it takes. This can be said of Henk ten Cate as well. Frank de Boer, another name mentioned, is maybe less fit for the job. He seems to need time with his players, make his hands dirty and use a highly disciplined management style (which cost him some jobs already, of course). I think Frank might fail in the football vision department (at Ajax he was criticised for playing negative, boring football) and he seems to miss the flair and people management style to make Oranje a nice place to be at… It’s my way or the high way with Frank.

Cocu won’t come back from England now, for the job, I don’t think. He might be a candidate later.

Louis van Gaal is mentioned too. I really don’t think that is wise. He got the best of the team in 2014. When we were the massive underdog. Since then, his relationship with the likes of Van Persie and Memphis deteriorated. I think the Van Gaal effect is gone now and the players matured and won’t fall for the Van Gaal antics this time around, I don’t think.

We saw this with his players in 2000, when his methods were considered “been there, done that” by the experienced players and the magic was gone.

Peter Bosz could be a good candidate, but he won’t be leaving Leverkusen now, I don’t think. Again, a candidate for later?

At this point, I would go for an experienced Dutch coach. Keep Lodeweges for the friendlies, if you must. And get a coach like Henk ten Cate in for the tournament.

Henk has worked at the top level of (international) football, with Barca, Chelsea, Ajax. He is financially independent. He is great with young talents and knows everything there is to know about football and about Dutch players. He will not get overwhelmed in a big occasion and he will have the discipline and management style that is befitting a Dutch group of players.

And don’t forget: he was team manager before. For 1 day. When Hans van Breukelen really screwed up the process of hiring a new manager. He told Henk in his interview, he was the man for the job (witnesses present). Only to go to Dick Advocaat and being pressured into signing Dick. What a mess. Henk was fuming. I hope he’ll do it now.

For me, Henk it is.

 

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by Jan

Koeman Barca dream come true!

We didn’t know this would happen. But we knew Koeman really wanted this to happen. For years, Koeman shared his big dream to one day coach his favorite Barcelona. In the footsteps and on the shoulders of his mentor, Johan Cruyff.

And finally it happened. He was one of the few Barca fans with a huge smile on his face, when football machine Bayern took the Catalonians apart in the CL quarter finals…

Koeman ideally wanted to finish this years Euros with Oranje, before he’d jump to Barcelona but due to Covid, that tournament has been postponed and could in theory even be completely cancelled (nothing is sacred anymore).

So when Setien couldn’t find the answer to the problem(s), it became clear a new strong man was needed.

In the words of Barca watcher Edwin Swinkels: “Barca needs a strong coach, who will have the balls to complete renovate the squad and has the socios’ respect and support.” Xavi has been on the wishlist for quite a while, and the favorite in the eyes of some of the candidates to win the presidency at the club but for the inexperienced Xavi, it would be ideal if someone like Koeman would clean house first, and leave a new and flash Barca team to Xavi to enjoy.

Barcelona initially wanted Koeman for 1 year. But in the flash negotiations between him and the club (and manager Rob Janssen), the camp Koeman made it clear that he’ll need a bit more.

Koeman’s job will be a tough one. For starters, La Liga will start within the next 4 weeks already. And secondly, Barca declared only four (4!) players to be essential for the next Dream Team: Ter Steeghe, Messi (of course), Frenkie and French defender Lenglet. Yes, you read it correctly: Alba, Busquets, Griezmann, Suarez, Pique, Vidal, Dembele…anyone interested in them? Barca will wrap ‘m in gift paper.

And all this in a time when Barca doesn’t seem to have a lot of money to invest in new blood. A tough assignment. Typically an assignment only someone with a big huge hard-on for the club would accept. Koeman just did.

Lets look at that history between the two football phenomena…

It’s 1988. Koeman won the Euros with the NT and the European Cup with PSV. Real Madrid calls. Koeman answers the phone and checks in with mentor and ex-coach Johan Cruyff (at Barca), what he thinks. Cruyff: “Don’t sign. I want you here.”  Koeman signs in January 1989, for 6 million euros. A club record for PSV. He flies to Barca with his wife and goes through the motions with press, fans, and more press. On his flight back, he mutters: “Ooh, I can’t wait till I can hit a rocket into the top corner in Camp Nou!”. He did not lack confidence.

But his first months are dramatic. Barca can’t find the flow. They lose against Anderlecht in the first round of the European Cup and Koeman is used as midfielder, right and centre and fairly quickly named as the worst signing of the season…. When he also ends up losing against Mallorca on a pitch not even fit for cows, he doubts his move: “Is this what it is? Playing for Barcelona?”.

Koeman doesn’t believe his eyes. The socios adore players who run and work like crazy. Koeman is the type that doesn’t run, but prefers to walk, while letting the ball do the work. The forwards don’t press. The midfield is not strong enough. The defenders are constantly up against a majority of opponents. “I played nine years in the Eredivisie, I won everything you could win and then this??”

Koeman improves that season but would get seriously injured in his second season. Barca wins the title, though, the first since 1985. In his third year, Barca wins the title again and this time Koeman is impressive. He scored 26 goals from distance in six seasons and he would earn the nickname “the canon”.

Koeman and Cruyff had a difficult time together at Ajax. The midfielder went nuts over Cruyff’s continuous hammering on details and when Koeman could jump to PSV, Cruyff let him go. Only to buy him back for Barca, paying 13 times more. In Barcelona, they’d become neighbours and friends.

Koeman always played, until the 1993/94 season. Barca signs Romario. And extra foreigner, as JC had Koeman, Laudrup and Stoichkov. The media started to bet on “which player will be left out”. The bookies placed Koeman as the least likely. The Dutch man was so important now, Cruyff would never bench him!

But JC did. Koeman: “I was so angry! We had coffee earlier on the day as mates. I yelled at him: WHY DIDNT YOU INFORM ME?? And he just shrugged his shoulders.” Later, the press asked him about it and he said: “I decided to put my best man on the bench, as he is the strongest, mentally. He will get over it and it won’t affect him.”

After the press conference, he called Koeman and said “lets get the wives and go out for a bite” as if nothing had happened.

It’s May 1992 and Barca was finally able to get out of the shadow of Real Madrid. At Wembley, Barcelona Superstar Koeman scores the winner in the CL finals and will end up a club legend as a result. Koeman plays a top match and emphasizes his worth for the team. Every attack starts with him. The players always try to find him. He is the natural leader of this Dream Team.

Koeman reflects back onto his goal: “There was only one angle to score. One trajectory and I had to shoot the ball straight between a couple of players. When I take that free kick 100 times, 95 times I will hit a body part. This time, it went clean through.” Immortality for Koeman, as this goal will be shown in the Barcelona museum for decades to come…

In 1995, Cruyff wants to extend Ronald’s deal but it seems Koeman doubts. The Dream Team is not longer that dreamy. Stoichkov has placed bombs in the squad by saying that “this team isn’t good enough for me to want to play with” and “Koeman is in the team because he is friends with the coach”….The stress of playing in Spain becomes too much. Flying to away games, constant police protection, women hoping for a glimpse or more…. Whenever Ronald visits his family in Holland, he feels he is in paradise.

Koeman returns to Holland and signs for Feyenoord where he’ll play for 2 seasons. After that, he returns to Barca, as right hand man for Louis van Gaal while he also assists Guus Hiddink at the 1998 World Cup. He also coaches Barcelona B until Vitesse lures him to the main chair, in Arnhem. Even back then, he stated his ambition: one day I will coach Barcelona, I hope. He will coach Ajax and when in Amsterdam, Barca comes by to lure him to the job. But Ajax refuses to let him go.

They come again for him. This time it’s January 2020 and Koeman thinks he will play the Euros with the NT that summer… He couldn’t predict Covid-19, of course. He told Marca “Of course, I would have signed immediately if I was without a job. Everyone loves Barca. I don’t care what the circumstances are. When Barca calls, you listen. I love the city and I had my best years there.” Typical for Koeman: he seems to be able to make all his dreams come true.

The big question now is: who will follow him up as NT coach?

We will look at that in depth, in the coming days.

Dutch candidates: Louis van Gaal, Peter Bosz, Henk ten Cate, Phillip Cocu, Frank de Boer….

International candidates: Ralf Rangnick, Jurgen Klinksmann, Mauricio Pochettino, Leonardo Jardim, Hein Vanhaezenbrouck

Your thoughts?

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by Jan

Listen to the Man: soccernostalgia

Hi all, I realised I am becoming a bit of fossil. The whole world is podcasting, infuencing, selling shit via instagram etc etc. And I am just sticking to the typed word. Putting a video in my posts is a real hi-tech feat for me.

But, you can now listen to the man, as the Soccernostalgia Podcast invited me to talk them through the year 1983, for The Netherlands National Team.

An interesting year indeed. Ajax won the double with Cruyff. Feyenoord with Van Hanegem (57 years old or something) just finished second. The season after this one, Cruyff signed with Feyenoord and won the double there :-). And Oranje was prepping for the amazing 1984 Euros in France. We will do another one of these for that season too, I hope. As this was the period in which the 1988 Champions were moulded…So host Shahan Petrossian and co-host Paul Whittle will also blow your minds, as these two afficionados have incredible knowledge of international football… In general. I mean, minds blown.

Just click here if you want to have listen of what we discussed…

Your fearless writer in the podcast…

I will work on a nice piece on Jerdie Schouten of Bologna, who was under the radar of most, for a spell. But Christian Eriksen and Lukaku will tell you that they know who he is now.

But more importantly, I will post a cool article on another 1974 hero who died recently: Wim Suurbier.

He wasn’t the best player in the team. He didn’t get the accolades that Rep, Cruyff, Nees or De Kromme would get. But he is by far the guy who led the most interesting life… And I hope to get that article out to you soon.

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by Jan

Oranje candidates – Part 1

Well, taking a break from blogging about football didn’t result in any good outcomes for the Dutch clubs in Europe! Oranje is still asleep – friendlies coming soon! – and despite Memphis posts positive messages on his return to fitness, we needed more than that to keep us happy. And AZ and Ajax weren’t able to deliver in Europe. Feyenoord’s incredible ressurrection is fun to watch, but at the same time just scraps to feed on…

Cillesen benched. Frenkie not used in the right way. Injuries for Danjuma, Malen and Memphis.

Still there is hope. Ajax might lose on an off-day vs Getafe. AZ might run out of steam. PSV might still be in slight trouble (they could beat Feyenoord this weekend and get back in the heat of things). But we still have some exciting prospects to look out for.

De Ligt for instance, is increasingly becoming important at Juve. Hateboer, De Roon and Gosens impress in Italy. Weghorst keeps on being a key player in the Bundesliga. Kluivert scored in Europe. Propper and Ake are revered in the EPL and youngsters Chong, Zirkzee, Ihattaren and others keep on knocking on the door.

Lets look at some potentials for Oranje…

Bobby Adekanye – Lazio Roma

The 20 year old globetrotting striker scored his first goal for Lazio some while back. He’s been playing two handful of games for the Romans and his coach Inzaghi is a fan: “Bobby is a true professional, he deserved his chance.” It’s not easy for young prospects in the Serie A. Bobby sits on the bench a lot, but he’s one of the youngest benchwarmers, which does say something. And by now, he’s got one goal and one assist. Bobby was born in Nigeria and moved to Holland as a kid. In 2007, Ajax signed him and he left Amsterdam for Barcelona as a D-junior. He excelled with Ajax at a youth tournament and the Catalonians couldn’t resist, something they’d regret a lot. Bobby was part of the bunch of players signed “illegally” resulting in a transfer ban for Barca and a playing ban for Bobby in Spain. Adekanye was loaned to PSV but when he returned to Spain he still couldn’t play for 2 more seasons. He left Spain and went for Liverpool. Another big club on his resume. Initially, Liverpool sees in him a potential first team player and presents him with a good plan. Four years later, it’s still but a plan and Bobby decides to leave England for Italy. Lots of his Oranje rep mates already started to play minutes in the first team. This prompted Bobby to find his fortune elsewhere. Arjen Robben is his big idol and he has that classic Robben move in his repertoire ( threatening to go outside, cutting inside and finishing in the top corner).

Oranje Potential?

Bobby is on the radar of the KNVB of course, but a ticket to the coming Euros seems far fetched. He can still play for Young Oranje for which he played one friendly. Competition is killing at the moment for him, with Bergwijn, Promes, Babel, Berghuis, Stengs, Kluivert, Danjuma and Dilrosun all battling for a spot. Should Oranje never need him, he still can select Nigeria as his country of choice and become an international there.

Daley Sinkgraven – Bayern Leverkusen

Daley – son of Harry Sinkgraven, former FC Groningen forward – started life as a skilled winger / forward for Heerenveen. He made his debut at 16 and was destined for great things. Ajax picked him up and cherished the young talent who struggled with many injuries as he wasn’t fully grown yet when he was playing senior football and his body protested regularly. Peter Bosz transformed the creative player to an all round full back in 2017 and it seemed he found his role in the successfully marauding team Bosz moulded. But another injury was the end of his career at Ajax, who decided to buy this young, aggressive Argentinian left back. It was time for Daley to move on. Bosz, in 2019: “I think he could grow out to become the best left back on the planet! He has everythng for that role. I would not go back to midfield, if I was him.” And Bosz got a hand in that by signing him from Ajax, where he was surplus. At Bayern Leverkusen, he plays as a wingback, or a real left full back or at times as a third centre back. Bosz: “What makes him special is his intelligence, his vision, passing range and his ball control.” Bosz didn’t pick up those skills in relation to the full back spot himself. Former Cruyff assistant and super scout Tonnie Bruins Slot saw Sinkgraven in his youth already and later told Bosz: “He is the ideal full back. Put him there.”

Oranje Potential?

Hell yes! As long as he stays fit (which he has been now). The left back position is not an easy one in Oranje (not as bad as the right back one). Daley Blind is the obvious choice, but Wijndal might not be ready yet, while Pat van Aanholt hasn’t been overly convincing in Oranje. The 24 year old Sinkgraven might well be the ideal stand in for Blind.

Jairo Riedewald- Crystal Palace

Some young players gel into the first team without a hitch… Sergio Dest, for instance. Or Kokcu at Feyenoord. Ihattaren at PSV. Riedewald is not one of them. His problem is his ability to play at so many different positions. His coach at Ajax, Frank de Boer, used him as a stop gap. His debut was like a rocket and reads like a teenage book. Ajax was trailing against Roda JC and needed goals. With only minutes to go, De Boer selected him to go and make war in the box of the opponent. Minutes later, Ajax wins 1-2 with two Riedewald goals! That was his debut. But he never got a firm starting spot. He never could settle in. He played as central defender, as midfielder and left full back and when he got injured, he’d never play for Ajax again. Bad luck followed him to England, where he signed to play for De Boer’s new club: Crystal Palace. But the management lost patience after only 4 games and axed Frank de Boer. Riedewald was his signing and initially new coach Hodgson ignored the Haarlem born player. In the first 15 games this season, Jairo doesn’t get a look in but when Van Aanholt gets injured, the former Ajax player is used as his stand in and gets plaudits and praise for is games. His stats tell the story. Riedewald is the fourth in passing accuracy as a back, just behind the Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal full backs. Not bad! Which has all to do with his education at Ajax. Riedewald never gets nervous on the ball, even under pressure.

Oranje Potential?

Well, he did play 3 caps in 2015, as left full back and he did ever so well. It’s going to be tough to get a look in for central defender or midfielder, but as said above as well, we don’t have too many good options for left back. Obviously, he will need to keep on making minutes and with Van Aanholt back at full fitness, that might be an issue.

 

Tim Krul – Norwich City

It’s 2015 when Cillesen gets injured and Tim Krul takes the #1 jersey for Oranje. The Newcastle goalie is knocking on the door for some time but his dream match in Kazachstan becomes a nightmare! His injury means the end of his Newcastle career and when Ajax gets him in as a loanie, his lack of fitness sends him to the bench, where he can watch the emergence of a new goalie, a certain Andre Onana. He would play half a season for AZ and would move back to England to be second goalie at Brighton & Hove Albion. The Canaries were able to sign Krul on a free and it’s with Norwich City where Krul finds his joy and successes again, winning the promotion back to the EPL. And even though Norwich is hard on it’s way back to the Championship, Krul made headlines with glorious saves and stopped penalties. Should Norwich indeed get relegated, it might well mean that Krul will return to the highest level.

Oranje Potential?

Of course! He used to be a mainstay in the squad and achieved hero status in the WC2014 when Van Gaal brought him on, just to stop some penalties and get us into the semi finals. Koeman is following him but up until now, Ken Vermeer and Jeroen Zoet were the ideal second goalie, with Bizot the young turk third in line. But with Cillesen benched, Vermeer in LA and Zoet at Utrecht, I believe Krul deserves a spot in the squad!

Davy Klaassen – Werder Bremen

Klaassen had his best season under Peter Bosz at Ajax, as a number 10. He has the technique to play out of difficult situations and the nose for space, the legs to get into that space and ice in his veins to be a goal scorer. Koeman signs him for Everton but he never settles there and leaves the club via the backdoor. At Werder Bremen, he reinvented himself as a leader and in a new role. Forget the number 10.

Werder Bremen moved mountains to lure Klaassen to the Bundesliga. They really courted him, sent him videos and pushed a strong delegation on the case. Finally, Klaassen caved and left Everton. He is immediately made part of the players’ council and is promised a starting spot. His role changed though. The attacking box-to-box player is no more, he is now more the holding mid and the leader on the pitch. But he still runs. He is the player just behind Joshua Kimmich with the most kilometers in the Bundesliga. Last season, many clubs from different competition enquired about Klaassen’s future, but he stayed loyal to Werder.

Oranje potential?

Yes, in principle yes. I believe as a holding mid, with the experience he has now, he could well be an Oranje player. Sadly for him, it’s crowded in midfield. Wijnaldum, Frenkie and Donny van de Beek will be certainties. Davy Propper and De Roon will be as well. It won’t be easy for Davy Klaassen to wiggle his way in between them and Strootman, Vilhena and Ihattaren… But who knows. There is also that possibility that Koeman and Klaassen had a bit of a falling out.

In Part 2, we will look at more potential candidates!

In the meantime, gimme your names in the comments below!

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by Jan

Mino Raiola: The Greatest

I got the request to write a piece on Mino Raiola, the Super Agent. I had this piece in preparation so the timing is perfect. Raiola on money, De Ligt, Ajax, Restaurant Napoli and transfers…

Last transfer window, it was mostly Raiola in the news. In particular his buddy-ship with Mark van Bommel and their coupe in Eindhoven… That topic is reserved for later…

A VI reporter visited Raiola in his office in Monte Carlo. “I don’t mean to be arrogant but I think I created this whole industry. Calcio Mercato, it’s an industry now. It’s like the entertainment world. I gave this new world colour as I am a stand up guy, who always speaks his truth and stand up for my players. In Italy, the day starts with football. That is culturally like this for many decades. The morning starts with a cappuccino and the sports papers. The Dutch are more down to Earth but at the end of the day, just as football crazy as the Italians.”

“The opening of the transfer window is like the premiere of a new musical. Curtains up and we need to perform. And the spotlights are on us agents, for a couple of weeks. We need to do the business in this small time frame, but make no mistake. I have guided Haaland now, but that job took a year. And his dad Ale Haaland, an ex pro player, was closely involved. We talked with the clubs, we listened to their plans, we assessed their offers…”

With adopted son Van Bommel

The phone rings. As it constantly does. This time, two women. Two old friends. The mothers of Calvin Stengs and Myron Boadu. They know each other for years now as they met when the two players started their friendship, in kindergarten. “I always work with the families. I include them in everything. And top players always have top parents. I am completely transparant. I’m taking Doynell Malen to Pittsburgh for instance and discuss the whole process with his family. Everyone is focused on “Can Malen reach the Euros?”. I’m not. It’s not about the Euros, it’s about his career and health. He’s going to be out for 4 months at least. Boadu and Zlatan spent time together in Pittsburgh last year. One day after Zlatan’s operations, Boadu saw him work out. Doing his excercises. Zlatan is the ideal warrior. He’s a beast. And I think it triggered Myron. He’s 38 years old now and went to AC Milan to win silverware. It says everything!”

Haaland, Malen, Stengs, Boadu, Wijndal, they’re all in Raiola’s portfolio. The future of Oranje according to him is Justin Kluivert, however. “When he decided to go to Rome, everyone in Holland was upset. How can Raiola do this to Kluivert, etc etc. This is bad for Dutch football, etc. But…where were they all when Sepp van den Berg went to Liverpool? I didn’t hear anyone! And Redan and Chong? And Zirkzee? If it was me who guided them, the nation would have been too small. But now? Nothing. And when Ajax signs a 16 year old kid from Norway, you also don’t hear anyone. It’s ridiculous!”

Stengs, Wijndal, Boadu

“Stengs, Boadu, Malen, Wijndal and even Gravenberch could have signed with huge clubs with huge paychecks. All of them. But they’re still in Holland. You don’t hear people about that, do you? I get calls about them on a daily basis. And we decided in conjunction with the family that another year in Holland was best. And when Ajax comes with a good plan for Boadu and Stengs, we’ll definitely listen.”

“And I get the question: Mino, who do I go for? Malen or Boadu? And I’m like: what kind of question is that. What do you need? A Ferrari or a Lambo? And the smart club will sign them all! But I am not saying they should reach for the top as yet. An intermediate step is probably best. But… we all know step-by-step is best, but… Consider this. Assume Barca or Madrid comes for one of them. With a big offer. Do we need to say no? Do we need to consider his career? Or his life? Can you stand in the player’s shoes? Is it not hard to resist that offer? It’s easy for the supporter or analyst to judge, but those are dilemmas. And I have to deal with that. Players can get injured and lose it all. We’re dealing with someone’s life and the life of his family. Boadu and Stengs both suffered severe injuries before, remember. That can happen. They were lucky to get back to the top. There is no guarantee. And Klaassen, he went when he was 24 years old already. To an EPL mid-tier club. And look how that went.”

In his office in Monaco, the entrance has a serious series of amazing jerseys framed on the wall. An impressive list. With personalised messages on the shirts. Pogba, Lozano, Matuidi, Donnarumma, Balotelli, Kean, De Ligt… “People like to see this. It’s important but not to boast for me. I am not interested in what I have done, only what I will be doing.”

And in his personal office, there is nothing that points towards football. The second big passion of Mino is represented here. Posters of 007 movies are on the wall. “When I die, I want to reincarnate as James Bond. I am a big fan. He only needs to say his name and the ladies undress, hahaha. Daniel Craig is my fave. He’s more human. More layers. He suffers at times.”

Raiola is open and hospitable. On his desk are books, like Thinking Fast and Slow, The School of Life and We are our brain by Dick Swaab. There is also a book by PSV general manager Toon Gerbrands. Raiola spoke with him only recently to discuss Van Bommel’s sacking. “Mark is family for me. When Mark is sad, I am sad. Mark is paying the price for the fact that last season PSV has a better team than this season. That is all I will say about it.”

“Mark is a perfectionist. And I appreciate that, but his strength is his weakness. He is world class in everything but not everyone is like that. Marcel Brands was too. John de Jong is not experienced enough. A guy like De Jong should work with a seasoned coach like Cocu. I don’t worry about Mark though, he will at some point become one of the best in the business. And he’s not arrogant. He wants to learn. He has a good name and many clubs, internationally, have already contacted me. He will take a break but he’ll be back.”

Squeezing the last dollars from Zlatan’s body!

Business cards are not present in Mino’s office. “My work are my player. I don’t do websites either. I work on trust. On a handshake. When I don’t feel it with a player, I won’t work with him. Players are like artists. Take Pogba. He’s a Basquiat. Expressive. Rebellious. De Ligt is a Rembrandt. The drawing you see now, already great, will end up being an amazing masterpiece like the Nightwatch. Unique. He had a tough time at Juve in the beginning but that’s normal. He is taking it in his stride and is taking it in like a sponge.”

De Ligt’s move to Juve was one of the most talked about topic last summer. Juve paid $75M for the Ajax defender and it took a long time for the pen to hit paper. According to Mino, that was all Ajax’ doing. “I don’t want to say too much about it, because the main thing is that Matthijs is happy. But Ajax made promises to Matthijs and broke them. It’s that simple. He could have signed for Juve a season before and Ajax pleaded with him to stay for one more season. And he did. There were verbal agreements made. But that season, the transfer market exploded for Ajax players, due to their CL campaign. And when Frenkie signed for Barca for a record fee, Ajax wanted more for De Ligt, suddenly.  What frustrates me, is that it was at the expense of Matthijs. I identify with my players, so when Matthijs is done wrong, it’s done to me as well. I am De Ligt.”

But, didn’t Overmars and Van de Sar do what Raiola does as well? Play hardball? “Yes, I’m tough. But I never promise something and then break my promise. Ever. I don’t have an issue with Marc or Edwin but I believe in handshake deals and trust and loyalty. Because I guarantee results to my players. And when Ajax or anyone else does this sorta thing, a player can look at me and say: what about your guarantee? I work with many top clubs in Europe like this, and I hope with Ajax too, in the future. Is the anger gone? My anger? It should be… It simply wasn’t the way it should be. And any case you are involved in, influences the next. Next time Ajax promises something, I want it on paper. I am happy to lose out on something but I don’t want my player to take the brunt of it.”

A lot of people felt De Ligt should have gone to Barcelona. “A lot of people say Barca is a Dutch club. And therefore it was sacrilege to bring Mat to Juve. I don’t work in my emotion. Barca for me is like NAC Breda or Watford. A club. I think about what is good for the player. They really believed at Barca that they could get De Ligt because Frenkie went there too. But do you think Pique will step aside for De Ligt? Just like that? And Matthijs actually always wanted to go to Juventus. He wants to be the best defender in the land of best defending. The interest from PSG and Barca and other clubs was intriguing, for him. But he went for Juve. And not for the money. Money doesn’t interest him. If Juve would require him to pay contribution, he would.  am here to make sure no one takes advantage of him. I have a good relationship with Pavel Nedved, technical director of Juventus. He’s like a son to me. Pavel says: “This kid is even more crazy than I was in his sports mentality. He himself is a Ballon d’Or!” When you tell Matthijs that by shaving his head he will win 1,2% speed or tackle verocity he will immediately shave his head.”

Raiola speaks seven languages. He studied Law and knows everyone in football. But the restaurant in Haarlem, operated by his parents, was his real university. “Ristorante Napoli was my university. My dad worked day and night. and I always went to assist him. What a man. Sweet for the family, tough at work. At 14 years old, I did the accounting and tax stuff for him. We had a lot of famous people come here. Shell top brass, but also Tonnie Bruins Slot, Michael van Praag, lots of politicians and artists. And also the boys from the bad neighbourhoods. It was like the Sopranos at times, hahaha.” Raiola does have that mafia image a bit. Sunglasses, overweight and swimming in money. The deal he made for Pogba at Man United paid Raiola $49 million euros over 5 years, according to the internet. “I never put a gun on anyone’s head at Man United. They wanted him and I made a good deal. But don’t tell anyone this: I kinda lime my image. And I really don’t care what people think of me. I believe in Holland I’m considered the worst man, after all the pedofiles. But in Italy, I’m a star. I can’t walk the streets there. People want to be on a selfie with me, or thanks me. When I finalised the De Ligt transfer to Juve, the Juventus tifosi sang for me, hahahaha.”

With Mkhitaryan and Pogba

“What drives me? Money not so much anymore. That is just a result of what you do. What drives me is the ability to help players and make their dreams come true. The hug I get from Boadu. That is my real pay. When Wijndal calls me and says “tell Real Madrid I’ll be coming soon!” that is what I love. And he means it! And I tell him: yep, I’ll be there, helping you to get there! You see, money follows dreams. And I can do this job for 50 years. But a player only has 15 years max to make his money. You can’t buy groceries with trophies, you know? And I do what is best for them. And when I do well, I get paid too. Simple. And when I don’t have a click with a player, I won’t represent him. And I don’t sign contracts with them. When they want to go better elsewhere, please do. Same with me. I want to be able to say: mate, I’m letting you go. Sorry. De Ligt, Haaland, Malen, Stengs, Kean, Donnarumma, Zlatan, Gravenberch, they give me energy. My wife always says: you have two official kids and than a whole bunch of non-official kids, hahaha.”

Not long ago, Raiola entered the dressing room of PSV, after a match vs Heerenveen. That was not done, everyone said. “Typical Dutch. What does it matter. I enter the dressing room at AC Milan often. You know what I want, I want to find a women player who is so good that Ajax signs her up and uses her. To break all these conventions. The football world needs innovation. In the US they do everything in the dressing room after a game. Interviews, eat, drink, sleep. PSV was in a tough phase and I have a couple of them under contract and I wanted to support them and congratulate them after their win. That was all it was.”

Source: VI Pro

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by Jan

PSV: Holland Horror Story

We all love train wrecks. There is a whole category of movies in that vein: disaster movies! We can’t get our eyes to turn away. Or when there is a crash on the highway, we all slow down to watch…

What happened at PSV in the past months is exactly like that. Like a burning high rise crashing down, despite the efforts of Paul Newman or Steve McQueen…

Us Feyenoord fans thought we had it tough… But what’s playing out in Eindhoven is highly Shakespearian in magnitude and pathos.

Here are your main characters:

Toon Gerbrands – former Volley ball coach and author of motivational books. Prides himself of keeping calm in a crisis and keeping the peace. Won the title with AZ as a managing director, with Louis van Gaal as coach.

Gerbrands, John de Jong and Van Bommel in happier (?) times…

Marcel Brands – lauded and experienced technical director. Produced miracles at AZ Alkmaar and gave the likes of Dick Advocaat and Phillip Cocu players they could work with. He pushed his assistant John de Jong forward as his replacement.

Mark van Bommel -former top player for PSV, Oranje, AC Milan, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Leadership in spades, like he has experience and football smarts. But also a tough cookie to deal with: arrogant, manipulative, headstrong. Son-in-law and best mate of Bert van Marwijk.

Bert van Marwijk – former top player and top coach (Feyenoord, Oranje, Borussia Dortmund). Currently taking well paid jobs in secondary football nations. Father in law of Mark and his best mate. Enjoys mentoring Van Bommel.

John de Jong – former player for FC Utrecht and PSV. Saw his career cut short by injuries. Introverted, humble and kind man. Thrown in the deep end as technical manager without any real experience.

Steven Bergwijn – top talent for PSV and Oranje. Headstrong and outspoken. Symbol for the PSV youth coming through (Gakpo, Sadilek, Ihattaren, Malen, Doan). Left PSV via backdoor to play for Spurs, partly due to Van Bommel exit.

Van Bommel and John de Jong in happier times…

Some supporting characters:

Mino Raiola, Ernest Faber, Ronald Waterreus, Huub Stevens….

In the Beginning

The first seed was planted back when Cocu was still coach at PSV and Mark van Bommel was knocking on the door, loudly. Marcel Brands was in strong command of the club, he could find players that could raise the level (Angelino, Dumfries, Lozano) and kept everyone in check. Even the board of directors (with among others: Hans van Breukelen!). But it was time for Brands to move on after so many successful years. And the EPL lured him to the big money side of the game, at Everton.

Mark coached Young PSV and did so very well. The young talents there had a great rapport with their coach and Toon Gerbrands felt he couldn’t really ignore Mark, a club icon.

Immediately it was clear to all that it wouldn’t be an easy ride. Yes, Van Bommel is a starting inexperienced coach, but humility is not in his dictionary. He started out demanding to fill his own backroom staff, against the will of Gerbrands, and eventually Mark van Bommel won the argument. And he picked inexperienced Yes Men Jurgen Dirckx and Reinier Robbemond as his right hand men.

Mart van den Heuvel, Ruud Hesp, Reinier Robbemond, Jurgen Dirckx and Mark

Early on in Mark’s first season, more issues came to the fore. Debutant John de Jong, technically Mark’s boss, was not capable of standing up to the former Bayern skipper. When Lozano was in the spotlight for a big money move to Italy, Mark simply benched the Mexican forward, as he “wasn’t with his head at PSV and didn’t train well”. De Jong begged for Mark to use him as his value would diminish if he was benched for too long. Mark: “That is not my problem. I’m responsible for the results and I want to play my best eleven.”

Internally, more problems arose. Mark didn’t like the old-fashioned methods of the medical staff and waged war with the older medical pros in the club, with slamming doors and voices raised. Bert van Marwijk wasn’t so much Mark’s mentor, willing and able to tone him down, but more his biggest cheerleader and consiglieri.

He also had eyebrows frowned when he declared injured and veteran player Ibi Afellay as his skipper. Even if the former Barca star hadn’t played for two years!

As Mark almost got the title last season and reached into the CL with his young team, Gerbrands wasn’t in a position to put a mouth guard onto Van Bommel. He had to bide his time.

When PSV allowed some of their key players to leave the club (Lozano, Luuk de Jong, Angelin0), Van Bommel didn’t get the replacements he desperately needed. Sam Lammers was Luuk’s replacement and due to no one’s fault, the talented striker got heavily injured in the first games of the new season.

Lozana was to be replaced by Doynell Malen who also got some injury woes… And Angelino, well for him, John de Jong got two new players in: Boscagli and Neto. Neither of whom managed to convince the coach, who used midfielder Sadilek on the LB spot, maybe just to spite Gerbrands and John de Jong.

When Malen and Bergwijn had injuries and Lammers’ replacement (some older Greek fella) couldn’t fill their boots, PSV started to drop points. When Ihattaren also had to skip games due to the illness and death of his dead, all creativity was seeped out of the team and more games were lost. PSV didn’t make it into the European competition post the winter break and dropped to a disappointing third place in the league.

Van Bommel didn’t think a crisis was looming. He analysed the games they lost and his conclusions were simple: we don’t play bad, but we don’t finish our chances. And that has everything to do with the absence of his key goal scorers. He also pointed out that he still was waiting for a proper left back (John de Jong!) and was adamant his team would finish second this season if he got the players he asked for.

But the crisis was there. The build up of irritation around Van Bommel’s attitude and management style resulted in Gerbrand’s sharpening the knives. On top of that, some board member spotted the squad having lunch together at some stage and he saw – allegedly – fatty chips and kebabs and pizzas on the table!

According to some insiders, this was the final straw for Gerbrands to fire Van Bommel and his staff (and his father in law). Not a loss on the pitch. But a so-called hairdress-salon (the nickname of the most unhealthy dish in Holland- see photo).

What Gebrands and Co didn’t realise, was the tremendous support Van Bommel has amongst the players. Not unimportant. Some players didn’t like Mark due to his biting cynicism and toughness, but the youngsters all adored him. Gaston Pereiro, Gutierez and the likes of Boscagli and Neto probably hated him and it’s no surprise that these guys never played. But Malen, Ihattaren, Gakpo, Bergwijn, Rosario, Dumfries, Viergever… they wanted to stick with Bommeltje.

And the support of the fans. Mark is a club icon. Symbol of invincibility. The fans wanted to keep Van Bommel and oust John de Jong, blaming him for the mediocre squad Mark had to work with.

And then there are the pundits, analysts, coaches and ex-football players. They all concur that Mark can be difficult, but they also believe he has a reason to be difficult, like Van Gaal (also difficult) and Mourinho (also difficult) rub many people the wrong way, but they do deliver too.

Van Bommel – Van Gaal bust up

And no one understands how this weird season for PSV started with them staying on Ajax’ tail but at Christmas time, the club is in disarray, the coach is sacked and the riot police was called in to keep the crowd quiet.

When Van Bommel was kicked out, Gerbrands didn’t have the ideal candidate to take over ready and waiting and turned to Ernest Faber. A seasoned coach in the mid tier of the Dutch leagues (NEC, FC Groningen). Lacking in charisma, Faber is your typical “come on guys, work work work!”. No real tactical innovation, no special approach… Ten Hag, Slot, Schreuder, Bosz have their tactical approach to fall back on, Advocaat, Hiddink and Van Gaal add their personality to the mix, but Faber is a bit bland and probably at his best as the PSV Academy manager.

Faber reluctantly took the job and saw his team spiral even further down. No desire, no work rate, no joy, no confidence, to sum it all up. They dropped more points and were also kicked out of the national cup competition, meaning that there is nothing to play for this season anymore.

Ernest Faber

Word is, that the players still speak to Van Bommel. They go to him for advice and support and it’s not secret that Bergwijn’s exit has everything to do with Mark’s demise. And who knows, more could follow. Ihattaren can sign anyware, Malen was on the Barca hit list, Dumfries can go to Germany, England and Italy and once these guys leave the club this coming summer, PSV might well drop further down and spiral totally out of control.

It would be typical for Van Bommel to direct this disaster movie remotely, with the connections he still has in the club (sponsors) and with his seasoned father in law. Raiola, the master agent, who has a number of PSV players in his portfolio is also a good friend and the agent of Van Bommel. I’m sure games are being played and I’m also sure that Mark is out for revenge. He probably won’t rest until John de Jong and Toon Gerbrands are out as well.

John de Jong already alluded to his potential exit, saying he wanted to stay until deadline day weekend and then he’ll see what he wants to do.

In the meantime, PSV old hands like Waterreus and Huub Stevens all seem to have a open account to kick Van Bommel in the gut, as they went on national tv with support for the current management and words of criticism towards Van Bommel and Van Marwijk. The game is on.

But some will do well, out of all this. Super Agent Raiola has managed to further expand his influence. He has Van Bommel in his portfolio, Rosario, Malen and now Dumfries, as well.

Latest in: Marco van Ginkel might return to PSV

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by Jan

Horror week for Dutch football!

And just when we started to feel really good about ourselves…what with Oranje performing well and reaching the Euros, Frenkie impressing in Spain, Dutch coaches on the up and up (US, Bundesliga, Ajax) and Ajax and AZ impressing, fate took a hit at us. As if to say “Nope! You’re not there yet!”.

And while the Dutch handball women won the gold at the World Cup, it was bad news after bad news for Dutch football.

For starters, Ajax getting ousted from the CL. So unjust. So unfair. Yes, Ajax played bad vs Valencia. Didn’t create a lot. Gave away that goal due to a series of errors. True. But we should have had Promes’ goal allowed vs Chelsea at home. That was at least one point, if not three points more in this group. And I don’t believe Ajax should have received 2 red cards in that away game vs Chelsea! Simply bad officiating, from my perspective. Ajax was cheated out of the Champions League!

Ajax lost two Eredivisie games on the trot as well and where the Amsterdam giants were thinking of easily repeating their title winning shenanigans from last year, AZ Alkmaar is now joint leaders of the competition. And rightfully so. AZ is dazzling, and should have had a 0-2 lead vs Man United in the EL. Feyenoord got ousted out of that competition, while PSV already was.

Their loss vs Feyenoord last Sunday was cause for the PSV board to sack Van Bommel. And even though I’m not a PSV fan (I am a Van Bommel fan though), I believe his sacking was very harsh.

Yes, he lost many points. Too many. But…he was the coming man. They knew he was inexperienced, he also had to deal with a new and inexperienced technical director (John de Jong) who didn’t bath himself in glory re: the players he got Van Bommel. I mean, Angelino left for Man City, and what did they get back?

They bought two left backs and they were so disappointing that Van Bommel had to play Sadilek ( a midfielder) on that spot. And Luuk de Jong (20+ goals) left and they got Sam Lammers back, who got injured straight away. Next thing, they bring a 40+ year old Greek striker…

Jeroen Zoet was dealing with a form crisis and on top of that Bergwijn and Malen got injured (Malen again!!) and they had to do without Ihattaren for a spell due to a private matter (loss of his dad). A topsy turvy season for Van Bommel and the board decided to sacrifice him (and keep De Jong in his role as TD). I think it’s weird and at least De Jong should have been loyal and leave as well.

The national cup competition hasn’t even started yet and obviously, PSV was never going to win the Europa League so the PSV board sacked Mark because he was supposed to win the title. But does PSV really believe you can win the title with a defence consisting of Viergever? Baumgartle? Schwaab? Sadilek? PSV’s midfield consists of youngsters (Rosario, Thomas, Ihattaren) or mediocre players like Hendrix and Guti. The forwards, ah…yes. They can play. If they’re not injured. I believe PSV should have supported Mark like Feyenoord did with Gio. He won the title after a season in which he lost 8 on the trot!

And top top it all of, as if it wasn’t enough, both Malen and Memphis got seriously injured. It seems Malen too would be out for half a year or more with tore ligaments but luckily for all of us, Malen’s injury is not that bad. He’ll be “only” 3 months out. Memphis however…. I think we won’t see him at the Euros…

And Daley Blind! During the Valencia game he went down (without ball or opponent close) and was groggy for a couple of seconds/minutes. Was he unconscious? Fact is, Ajax is up in arms after the Abdelhak Nouri drama and sent Blind to the hospital in Amsterdam where he spent two days/nights in their cardiology department under watch. He didn’t play last weekend vs AZ and news has yet to come out.

Isn’t there any good news??

Well, as mentioned, the handball ladies did win the World Cup… Otherwise, Atalanta is through in the CL… Zirkzee made his debut for Bayern. Berghuis got the hattrick vs PSV. But that’s it.

Oh, before I forget… AZ Alkmaar… They did pretty good this week. Joint leaders. Beating Ajax. Scaring Man United. And their golden boys keep on growing and developing. Our straw to hold on to….

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