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Bert van Marwijk at home in South Africa

June 21st, 2009 | By: Jan | 56 Comments »

Bert van Marwijk is soaking up impressions at the Confederations Cup in South Africa, one year prior to the real WC. His conclusions for now…

The Climate
“Thursday I saw two games. In the afternoon I saw Brazil – USA between 4 and 6 pm. I was wearing a t-shirt, it was nice. 8.30 pm I watched Italy-Egypt with a thick winter coat. The temperature decreases rapidly, some 10 degrees, and at 6 pm it’s basically dark. But despite all that, I like the weather. In the day it’s sunny, around 22 degrees, it’s dry humidity-wise and the circumstances are perfect in the evening to play football. In CapeTown it’s a tad less so. It’s very wet on the coast. It’s a good thing we’ve decided to camp and train in Johannesburg.”

Playing football on altitude

“During the second half of Italy-Egypt I expected Italy to gear up a bit to overwhelm Egypt, but they simply coulnd’t and I think it was because of the altitude. My impression was that both teams were struggling at 1500 meters. Which was interesting. Egypt was 1-0 up and won. I’ll also watch games in J-burg and Bloemfontein and Rustenburg.”

The Confederations Cup

“South Africa – New Zealand was my first game. New Zealand played poor, but South Africa impressed me. They pressed forward, in the same way as Oranje plays: 4-2-3-1. With Steven Pienaar as their number 10. He played very well. Defensively, they didn’t impress me too much. South Africa plays like Brazil, with attacking full backs. Brazil plays like they do since a decade or so. Slow pace and waiting for the opponent to make mistakes. The USA did so and than it’s easy for Brazil to kill them off. Italy also played with dynamic forwards, with lots of pace and movement. Iaquinta was impressive. Italy playes with Pirlo, Gattuso and Rossi and I think they’re too similar, they don’t have depth but want the ball in their feet. There’s not enough support from midfield. Italy too old? I don’t know… Can’t judge that really. These lads are experienced and I can’t judge where the younger Italian talents are, really. I’m eager to see Spain play and Brazil – Italy will be a nice main course. I’m enjoying this.”

The vuvuzela (noisy horn)

“Watching at home, that thing is annoying, but when you’re in the stands it’s different. It’s part of the vibe. But when someone right behind you sticks that thing in your neck and starts blowing on it, you do think the world comes to an end. I need to find out what the players think of it and how it affects coaching.”

The Training Grounds

“Dick Voorn and myself have assessed the Wits University grounds. We’ve picked that site for our training sessions. I’ve been there three times now and had good meetings with the the people who run it. The FIFA allows all nations a budget to prepare their grounds, for instance exactly the same grass pitch as the venues have and all that, I think we can be confident. But the key is to have the Wits’ people in your camp, so to speak. Will they be motivated to do their best or is it more nuisance to them? Hans Jorritsma is our professional logistics man. He only wants perfection. We’ve been here twice before to check it all out and prepare meetings and at first I thought it was overdoing it, you know. Going to South Africa before securing the ticket… Hans wanted to see all the relevant hotels and trainings grounds and my mind was somewhere else, but he convinced me to come. Now I can see the benefits. We’ve build up a good rapport with the Wits’ staff, they almost see us as mates and it does feel like home already. We’ve done the ride from the hotel to the grounds and even in heavy traffic it’s shorter than the ride we normally take in Holland from our hotel in Noordwijk to the Katwijk grounds. That’s important for players during tournaments. If you have to drive to the training grounds every day for an hour, it’s annoying. Hans Jorritsma is the man who knows all this, and arranges everything accordingly. It’s great to be able to work like that.”

Safety

“I haven’t felt unsafe or anything, but I’m here on an official trip, with cars being arranged and I’m also very aware that the Hilton Hotel is in the upperclass parts of Johannesburg, so it’s not really representative for the whole experience fans will undergo. I think you can rule out unsafe situations by being alert and smart about it.”

Tags: De Boer, Group C, Italy, Jorritsma, Lippi, Pirlo, Rijkaard, Van Marwijk

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 56 comments.

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By Jeroen | June 23rd, 2009 at 6:05 am

@finnster

Having played at the highest youth level in the United States, in of the most competitive states (Texas), I would like to add on to what you said. Yes, coaching is a huge concern. They do not have a clue what they are talking about in the US. Now when I go to visit my parents and sister I get to see her obtain the same poor guidance I did and both my brothers did while living there. So on the side, I teach her how to ACTUALLY play. But it is not just the coaches, the entire culture does not fit into football. Football is a team sport, not a bunch of 11 individuals going for own glory.
You might think that’s strange because they play plenty of team sports. But think about it: when they go to a bball game, they go to see (or went) Michael Jordan, not so much the Bulls, or Kobe Bryant instead of the Lakers. There is too much infatuation with the individualistic culture in the US for football to succeed. In football, one man is NOT enough to make a huge difference unless he has 10 other decent players besides him, working as a unit.
From my own experience, there is such an obsession with who the “star player” is, that every type of unity just gets shattered. This plays a very important role, because the result is that in the USA youth and adults have no real sense of strategy in football.
In fact, may I point out that the soccer players in the US are probably in better physical condition than the Dutch players of equivalent level. There’s a lot of running, pushups, situps, weight room (which isn’t done properly either in the US….they use methods catered towards american football players rather than regular football). So on this level, they are very good. But they lack teamplay, and they lack coaching, and also they lack technique.
Point nr 3. The lack of technique stems simply from the fact that Americans play football only when they play competitively. In Holland, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, etc etc, everyone plays on the street in their spare time as well. This is where technique is for a great part developed. In fact, since I’ve been back in Holland (and I play about twice a week on the street here next to my normal regimen of football 3x a week) I’ve noticed that I’ve become so much more technical. And I’m a Robbenesque guy who relies on his speed on the wing mostly…
The reason I bring this point up so passionately, is because it has been a lifelong frustration of mine how the sport is treated there. The coaches don’t know anything, and the parents even less. Nothing is more annoying than those parents who yell completely retarded things which only amplify their ignorance (famous examples from own experience: asking for a yellow card when it’s a throw in, telling your kid to “boot it” instead of pass it around, and my favorite one which they yell every 60 seconds for no reason other than to say something, “score a goal”). I’ve actually considered just coaching in Texas for a year or two (maybe I should call Jan van Beveren?) so that these kids can learn properly.
As for why I want Americans to epicly fail in football: I think it’s nice to still have a sport where we don’t have to puke over their arrogance when they win (can you imagine Landon Donovan when given a reason to be a complete narcissist?), or see how poor sportsmen they are when they lose. The olympics is enough drama, let’s keep football pure please. This is also a product of that individualistic culture I was referring to btw.

/end rant (for now )

Posted from Netherlands

By dirk v.d.Berg | June 23rd, 2009 at 6:45 am

van Persie signs a new contract with Arsenal.
Drenthe goes on loan to Fiorentina.

Posted from Canada

By finnster01 | June 23rd, 2009 at 6:55 am

@Jeroen: Excellent post!!

When I was coaching in Norway we would go on a tour with the U-19. It was Norway Cup (Norway and the largest cup in the world for under age players, there are like 20000 players there), Dana Cup (Denmark) and Scandia Cup (Sweden). These are some of the largest annual tournaments in the world for age based kids.

At the initial group level draw we always hoped to get a US team. Not because they were bad, but because they were badly coached and also didn’t have a good feel for the game. In Europe, kids play soccer all day in the park when they can until it gets dark, in the US they don’t do anything unless it is an organized practice. In Europe, you learn a lot about movement without the ball, intuition where the next guy is going to be that way, and so on etc. Now the American kids were travelling teams and all stars from states and regions and they were even bigger than my Norwegian Vikings. Tough as nails too. Best athletes by far. Problem was though, they didn’t have that extra intuition, feel for the game and their coaches was actually bordering embarassing to me. They did not know how to make mid game adjustments, make strategic substitutions etc.

AS I look at my kid play now, I’m afraid I don’t see much progress to be honest on the coaching front.

By stephen | June 23rd, 2009 at 11:22 am

Jeroen and Finn: agreed, however I do think things are improving in the US, slowly but surely. My son’s 11 yr old coach was more sophisticated than “send ball forward and run” type coaches, and the parents said none of the things you mentioned above. A lot of these kids are watching international leagues and competitions and talking about them with their friends. All my son did during recess at school this year was play soccer, which would have been unheard of when I went to school. A lot of these kids wear Prem League/La Liga/Serie A kits. Now this is not to say that things are impoving fast, let’s face it, soccer is maybe the 4th most popular sport in the US and will probably forever remain so. I cannot see it supplanting the big 3 here. But it has evolved much over the last 10 yrs, even if just by the tremendous increase in exposure of international competition to the american audience. What should naturally follow is increased knowledge and better coaching. Only time will tell. I do think the US does need to outsource for their national coach. Someone with experience and success. I think this alone would impove their international perfomances a notch.

Posted from United States

By Carlos | June 23rd, 2009 at 4:19 pm

Great posts guys. jeroen especially your inside stories. how i wish someone at US soccer headquarters would read the above. well done ! maybe Bert can forward them .

Posted from Singapore

By Carlos | June 23rd, 2009 at 7:19 pm

Oh just to add to this, when I was coaching a bunch of youngsters (11yo)here, the 2 best players I had were Americans (We had Dutch, French, Aussie, Argentinians the lot). We played 4-3-3 and the only thing I drilled into them was “pass the ball around” and everyone practises “keepy uppy” juggling and when it was time for an internal kick about game it was 2-touch only(control/pass). It was amazing – We won everything !
Teach them the simple things and they understand very quickly how to play in that style. One of the US parents told me I should coach one of the Universities in the US. Ha ! I was doing it for fun

Posted from Singapore

By finnster01 | June 24th, 2009 at 12:00 am

@Carlos: Nothing more satisfying than teaching kids, brother. And winning too helps. My team got to the semis in one of the big tournaments after beating Glasgow Rangers in the quarter only to get absolutely demolished by Ajax in the semis. I wish I had paid attention to who played in that Ajax team because I am sure several of them went on to bigger and much better things. They were heads and shoulders above any other team.

By Carlos | June 24th, 2009 at 2:14 am

Finn buddy – you know the saying “Everyone loves a Winner” ? How untrue is that in real life !! I was actually asked to stop coaching as my kids were winning everything. A year later I was banned from coaching due to some opposing jealous parents. They said I was a professonal coach. I just walked away – Hate politics !
Oh btw nowhere in YOUR category Rangers Ajax etc (kneel kneel we’re not worthy !!)

Posted from Singapore

By finnster01 | June 24th, 2009 at 2:48 am

@Carlos: I know I asked you this before, but I lost my note. Could you be so kind to recommend some good Ausie Shiraz that should be reasonably priced in the US (and also available…).

I think you mentioned a Watershed not sure of the year though, and I actually wouldn’t mind a recommendation on the high end as well as I think I am going to propose to my girlfriend this summer (if the weather can stop raining over here…)

By Carlos | June 24th, 2009 at 3:27 am

Finn: If you can get a Henschke Mt Edelstone 1994 Shiraz there, it is one of the best I have had. Also try and look for the Dead Arm Shiraz from D’Arenberg. pre 2000
Watershed Shiraz 2004 is excellent – If you can get Lanz Thomson from Barossa Valley there, their 2006 Shiraz tastes fantastic.
You could actually just order a case and get it flown in. Probably cost you the same as buying a Henschke retail retail . (USD250/case ??) Dont know the duty/tax factor though.

Posted from Singapore

By Jan | June 24th, 2009 at 5:40 am

Wow Finn…. exciting man… The whole blog is enjoying this

By finnster01 | June 24th, 2009 at 7:40 am

@Carlos: Thank you mate!! Big time. I’ll have my wine guy looking for those.

@Jan: Thank you I hope my girlfriend isn’t reading this blog as well…That was a bit of a slip of the tongue…

By Jan | June 24th, 2009 at 8:46 am

Ah well…this is the best place to share that stuff, you know…?

Are you coming to Sydney too, in October? Gotta see those friendlies, man!

By Carlos | June 24th, 2009 at 8:55 am

Finn – keep us informed – if she says YES I’ll arrange for a case of either watershed or Lanz Thomson to be sent for your wedding !! Congrats !

Posted from Singapore

By Caleb | June 24th, 2009 at 9:13 am

Yeah Finn, keep us informed as the story unfolds!

Posted from Canada

By finnster01 | June 24th, 2009 at 11:08 am

Carlos, that is awfully kind of you. Maybe I can even convince her of having the honeymoon swing by Singapore. That salt and pepper crab still is bothering me.

In any event, assuming we don’t pull an Oranje and lose in the final I should be in good shape. It will also be another year before the knot is knotted so to speak, but I will remind you of that case of wine.

Actually I wouldn’t mind inviting many of the people from this blog for the reception. I know, that’s a bit sad, but you have all become very close to me.

By Carlos | June 24th, 2009 at 6:00 pm

Finn ? Why is that sad ? ferenc and I have become good buddies ? We all have one thing in common. Love oranje and good football and have a common dislike for portugal

Posted from Singapore

By Sol | June 24th, 2009 at 8:02 pm

What about Brazil, they speak Portuguese.

Not to mention they threw us out of the WC race both WC’s before Portugal and we still haven’t had our revenge on them. I think there’s room for a little more hostility towards Brazil. We’ve already taken our revenge on Argentina (WC 98), Italy (EC 08) and Germany (EC 88). Allthough we still need to beat Germany in a WC I think.

Naturally, Portugal is a different story, more to it than just a lost match in a WC.

Posted from Netherlands

By Carlos | June 24th, 2009 at 9:10 pm

Sol – Brazil are my second favourite team. They do play the beautiful game and the 1982 side was my all time favourite. Can’t hate them. They beat us fair and square (if not lucky) in 94/98, in both games we could have been luckier (Kluivert??). Only ugly game was 74. But then they were all of a sudden dethroned by a team playing more Brazilian than them, a major shock.

Posted from Singapore

By Sol | June 25th, 2009 at 6:46 am

@Carlos, I pretty much feel the same way, so I’m having a hard time seeing Brazil as our “enemy/rival” as well. But still, we should want some payback for 94/98.

Wouldn’t it be nice that this WC we got the chance to payback Brazil, Portugal, put the final nail to the Italian coffin and show Germany how a world cup SHOULD be won?

Posted from Netherlands

By sonneveld | June 25th, 2009 at 7:43 am

unless portugal don’t qualify heha

By Jeroen | June 25th, 2009 at 9:42 am

portugal not qualifying would be justice.

Posted from Netherlands

By Jess | June 25th, 2009 at 12:24 pm

Yeah finnister!! Now I get to read the blog for football and romance. Now if only I could teach my husand to mix the two! Congrats sir.

By Area Man | June 25th, 2009 at 12:24 pm

“…when they go to a bball game, they go to see (or went) Michael Jordan, not so much the Bulls, or Kobe Bryant instead of the Lakers.”

This statement might apply to casual fans, but not serious fans. When MJ was playing, sure he was the man, but I can tell you all you want to know about the Bulls from the 90s. When Detroit had their thug linueup, the Bulls would counter with a guy named Scott Williams. A guy named Hodges would come of the bench an pop ‘3s’ left and right. Tex Winter was their defensive coach/maestro. Sure MJ was the draw, true fans appreciated the entire team. Shoot, I even remember their trainers, name, Chip Schaefer.

Posted from United States

By Area Man | June 25th, 2009 at 12:26 pm

correction, i meant to type tex winter was the offenisve maestro. he created the triangle offense.

Posted from United States

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