A Crazy Dutch Journalist

A translated article by Hugo Camp comes to us by way of reader Jan (^5). Its worth the eye strain. Grab a cold one and read it. At the end there is an interview with Jaap Stam.

It reads as follows:

Hugo Camps looks like your highschool science teacher, talks like a 18th centuyt poet and is from Belgium. He is an author and columnist. And a huge football fan. Still, he stint as tv analyst was short. Why? He was harsh, rude and very critical about everyone and everything. But the man can write, so he is still a principal journo for Dutch opinion leading magazine Elsevier.

In their World Cup special he penned two articles: a story on Dutch character defects and an interview with Jaap Stam. This is a summary…

Camps writes:

In the summer of 2004, Dutch prime minister JP Balkenende writes an open letter to all Dutch newspapers. He thinks the ongoing criticism on then national coach Dick Advocaat is getting too harsh and too mean. Irony is fine, but this went too far… (Some Dutch football analists jokingly called for a public execution of Advocaat after getting Robben off the pitch and replacing him for a midfielder against the Czech Republic. We lost that game…).

The Dutch Team has more than once been an open wound for the whole nation. And if the national coach is hammered, the Dutch PM comes to the rescue.

The Dutch football identity was gone. The Dutch school, as it was called… Louis van Gaal tried to get the team in the winning mood using discipline, but he failed big time in qualifying for the World Cup in 2002. The internationals demanded a looser approach after van Gaal. The ideology of the driven ball circulation was replaced by tackyturn happiness…

The fans turned their backs to the team. In Holland, the fans demand success and good football. If that doesn’t work out, the ax is grinded. Or they demand public executions. Dutch fans are the champs of love-lessness. They are even too spoiled, arrogant and superior to actually sing and cheer their team on, like the Irish, British and Scots do. Dutch fans don’t care about the game and the circumstances, they just want to be able to say: of course, we won!

And all of society’s issues are magnified in the Dtuch football team. In the 90s, the word respect was vital. The black players formed something called “the rope”, (de kabel) and demanded that their multi-culturedness was respected. They wanted the freedom to hang out together (the black dinner table), to eat rice instead of potatos, to have a black captain and – at the end of the day – to get more money than they had received before.

Before that, we have known other incidents: Johan Cruyff’s fatwa over PSV players in the 70s. Van Hanegem doesn’t want to go to the 1978 World Cup if Happel doesn’t promise him a spot in the starting line up, Gullit wants Libregts out in 1990, the team wants Cruyff as coach, but the Dutch federation appoints Beenhakker (the players would strike during the 1990 World Cup and wouldn’t win a single game, only a spitting contest), in 1994 Gullit leaves the team mid-preparation…

Discussions, rows, scandals, politics, blood thirst.. It is sooo the Dutch team…

So what will it be this time, in Germany? Marco van Basten has the status of a god in Holland now. The football press lick his feet. And no one will dare to shout that San Marco will need to be publically executed. Still, his position may seem solid, but is it…? Holland won the qualification with a firm dose of luck and guts. Not with fantastic football. The fans even boo-ed the team after the last match against dwarf Macedonia, in which Holland played a very defensive game. Such a team won’t be able to beat Brasil or Argentina. And, that’s exactly what the Dutch nation expects van Basten to do!

Van Basten makes us all believe the team is unified. He presents himself as an a-sexual leader, who values the ball more than the player. It’s a white lie. The team is not as unified and happy as they want to make us believe. Yes, when the tv camera’s are present, but in the wee-hours of night, one could hear many dissident voices…

Furthermore, Van Basten is cranky. His aloofness is some sort of cult identity, and – some players whisper – he does have his little mates in the team. The manner in which he insulted van Bommel publicly shocked most internationals. Although none of them came forward to actually voice these worries.

It is certain that the Dutch team will take their typical character traits with them to Germany this summer. Our whole society can be characterised as sleepwalkers without perseverance… And really, you can’t blame some one like Arjen Robben for that…

The same Hugo Camps went to Milan to interview Jaap Stam, on the Dutch team, his future at Ajax and Marco van Basten….

Jaap Stam says the following:

I quit the Dutch team in 2004 because most fans wanted the oldies out. The way that went and the way Advocaat was treated was shocking to me. Embarrassing. I decided to quit and I won’t ever go back on those words. It’s over and done with. Let the youngster prove that they can do it. By the way, I start to resent the whole football star lifestyle. Particularly in Italy. All those trainingscamps and the autograph hunters… I am from Holland, I am a normal guy, I like to live a normal life… I am happy that I will be at home this summer with my family and that I can leave Italy behind… I do not know what I will see of Holland in the World Cup. I plan to go to the US for a holiday, and we’ll see what happens.

I’ve worked well with most managers at the Dutch team. I liked Rijkaard and his loose style. After the first training we had dinner in a restaurant and had some wine, very relaxed. Not that we all got drunk, but it was laidback. He knew we were mature pro’s and didn’t need that silly discipline thing. I didn’t like that with Van Gaal. You feel you’re treated as a kid. I liked Advocaat too. He is a warm and kind man, and he didn’t deserve that bullshit in Portugal. Dutch fans are so extreme, if we win, every one dresses up in Oranje, if we lose they want to lynch you…

I don’t know van Basten. I think he is not as open and warm as people think. I mean, some time ago he was in Milan for Albertini’s farewell match. He came in and had a good time with all the old boys, but didn’t even greet me or see me. And then, some weeks ago, he suddenly calls me because he needs me for the team… I don’t know… There’s a new culture now at Oranje. It looks fake to me.

And the way he treated van Bommel, you just don’t do that. And not selecting Seedorf… But van Nistelrooy will be the man this summer. He’s still the best. And all that Kalou stuff, trying to get him in the Oranje shirt… Why all that fuss??

Holland could become the world champs, why not? You need some luck, look at the Greeks in 2004. I’d like them to win, of course. But you have to be realistic. They were good against the B-teams of Europe, now you’ll have to beat Brasil, Argentina, England… They’re all good players, but can they handle the pressure. I know from experience that the Dutch league is just not the same as, say, the Italian serie A or the Premier League…