World

Europe

Netherlands

Coaches

May 30th, 2007 | By: Jan | 15 Comments »

We’ve seen some turbulence in the last season with coaches… Marco van Basten, Ronald Koeman at PSV, his bro’ Erwin at Feyenoord. That joker at Valencia. Capello under pressure at Madrid. Mourinho… What should clubs and federations be after? Do you need a civilized politician? Do you want him to run the whole technical show at the club or do you just need someone for the first team? Is a Big Name relevant? What is charisma exactly?

But there certainly are differences. It was plain to see when Co Adriaanse took over from van Stee at AZ. Or when Gullit coached Feyenoord, after Van Marwijk. Man, they certainly did value Bert van Marwijk after he left. Do you want the players, the supporters and the sponsors to have a say?
Do you want him to live close to the stadium? Does he determine who goes and who stays? Do you want and expect him to improve players’ skills? Does he need good social skills? The problem is, the coach who can tick all the boxes does not exist. But one thing they have in common, all of them…: a coach is as good as his material. If he can position the boys on the right spot, can motivate them to the hilt and is a tactical savvy coach you should count yourself lucky, as a club.

It’s funny how mediocre players excell as coaches. More so than former superstars who parasite their own skills and have huge ego’s. Coaches like Co Adriaanse, Louis van Gaal, Guus Hiddink, Dick Advocaat, Henk ten Cate, Martin Jol, Fred Rutten, Bert van Marwijk, Aad de Mos, Ron Jans, Foeke Booy, Mario Been, Gertjan Verbeek and Huub Stevens were good club players, one a tad better than the other. But the real top players are still struggling. Ronald Koeman was saved by the bell at PSV. Frank Rijkaard is having a hard time at Barca. Marco van Basten does not convince as team manager of Oranje and Ruud Gullit should never be allowed to coach a club anymore.

Leo Beenhakker is the big excemption. He never played football at any level but had a top career as coach. Although, he acted the coach. He knows how to handle the ego’s of top players and has a good collection of one-liners and monologues. The fans love him, the media adore him but the Don Leo effect is shortlived.

It’s a shame that our top coaches work abroad and not in Holland. Hiddink, Advocaat, Jol, Rijkaard and Stevens… Most of the time, money is the motivator. When Hiddink worked at PSV he made 1 Mio Euros per year. The PSV board thought that was ridiculous. Now, Guus works in Russia for 6 Mio Euros per year. Nett! Jol never had a serious chance in Holland and is currently paid hansomely at the Spurs, that he won’t be back for a job at Feyenoord, to just name a club. (Feyenoord could’ve signed him years ago, but the Feyenoord chairman thought Jol was too fat!). Although it seems the KNVB did call Jol to ask him to take over from Van Basten after the EC2008.

Frank Rijkaard is a seperate story all together. He did alright with Oranje. He got Sparta in trouble and under his reign the proud oldest club in Rotterdam got relegated to the Eerste Divisie. Thanks to JC’s lobby he could get to work in Spain where he does well with Barca. PSV played with Stevens and allowed him to leave for Germany again. He is doing great in Hamburg now. 1 Mio Euros may seem a lot in Holland, in Europe it’s nothing and top coaches make a multitude of that amount.

Co Adriaanse is a success coach, but only in specific circumstances. Good thing - for him too - that he said no to Feyenoord. Louis van Gaal may be one of the best, and his chairman may call him “authentic” but still the man has some negatives, with his self-importance and ego-trips. He allows his team to play dominant football, but if they lose it’s everybody’s fault, the ref, the ball, the grass…. There is not a lot one can say of Henk ten Cate. He did well with Ajax this year.
He used to have an enormous temper and was called the time-bomb but at Ajax he manages to blow off steam behind closed doors.

But for all the big clubs it’s good to know that the next gen of coaches is ready. Ron Jans deserves a big club after Groningen. Fred Rutten will never attract negative attention, Foeke Booy is business-like and has a great work-ethos. Gertjan Verbeek has a mind of his own but no one talks about De Haan anymore in Heerenveen. And I see Mario Been return to De Kuip one of the days.

I wish all football managers a lot of wisdom. Coaches always know better. They always want new players and when they have the chance to make more money elsewhere, they’re gone.

Source: VI Johan Derksen

Tags: Frank Rijkaard, Henk ten Cate, Johan Derksen, The Netherlands

Netherlands World Cup RSS Feed

Comments

By Ishmael | May 30th, 2007 at 5:27 am

I think it’s stupid story (sorry Jan!) but I know WIllem van Hanegen, Johan Cruyff, Zico, Ancelotti, Capello, Beckenbauer are all very good coach. I think Marco van Basten was asked by federation to coach Oranje and I think he said he wanted to start with club but did not wanted to lose this opportunity. So I don’t think it is fair to say this. But it is true to be good coach it is not good enough to be good player in the past. You need good management skils and other skils to. I think trainer/coach is totally different than good player. Is like Adriaansen said: good horse do not make good coach.

Posted from Australia

By goose | May 30th, 2007 at 1:48 pm

@ish: he actually said: “a good horse doenst per see mean he good rider”,
i remember when he said that, all of Holland got on his back..i think that with the knowledge we now have (esp. with vanBasten as bondscoach) this lines would be treated very differently. think we all agree that the KNVB was wrong in taking the discission, cant blame vanBasten for stepping in

still think that of all the 88 boys Rijkaard is the only one who could be a real manager.. im still not convinced on the tactical side but hes a great ‘people manager’.its obvious that the manager who werent great players themselfs had to work harder to get the job and when they eventually go to a top club they have plenty of experience,

what does a club need?
Well it all depends on the status of the club…a very big clubs is so much more in the spotlight that their managers need to think about the media aswel (vanGaal - Barca), if youre a top club the players you have will be very different from the players out of the lower ranked teams..they need different handdling so they need a different manager..
as a bondscoach there is no need to learn anybody how to play football, youll need to get the best out of the best at the right moment..as with top team managers, you need to be a peoples manager aswel..national team means big ego’s..

as for vanGaal(and Adriaanse), they work best with a young ,dutch, (cause of the language barrier) team which they can built..oranje would be a very differnt setting..

my fave dutch manager has to be Jol… he looks dangerous, a bit like a maffia boss…he talks like he smokes 3 packets a day… i love this guy..(no bad results either btw)..id say:

JOL for Bondscoach!!

(or Hiddink..)

grzt

Posted from Netherlands

By Jan | May 30th, 2007 at 4:36 pm

Interesting Goose, coz apparently Derksen knows that Kessler talked to Jol to take over from Marco. I agree with your analysis. For coaches like Do and Louis it is important that they can communicate freely. And I also think that some coaches mentioned will be great for semi top but will not make it in the very top… So, every type of club needs a different profile of coach.

Posted from Australia

By Mario | May 30th, 2007 at 7:05 pm

Guys, do you really think a man like Jol is ready for the Netherlands?. I have seen Tottenham playing under him and they have a very attractive style of play but I mean, Jol has never managed a top team or won any big tournaments and the Netherlands needs to win World Cups, European Champioship, we have been very close but we need some steps to be there again and win the trophies. But I don´t see a guy like Jol achieving that, when San Marco leaves I would like to see Rijkaard, Adrianesse, Hiddink or even give van Gaal a second chance at Oranje. I think Jol is a pretty good manager but not sure if he has the skills the lead the best players from the Netherlands.

By Jan | May 30th, 2007 at 7:25 pm

I don’t agree Mario. Jol has played many many finals. With RKC, his team was always on the verge of getting kicked out of the Eredivisie and season after season he managed to coach and motivate his players to give it all in that phase and he always - against all odds - managed to do so. Sometimes it’s harder to achieve that than to win La Liga with a bunch of super players. His achievements at the Spurs are remarkable too. Twice getting that UEFA ticket in a very tough competition (and last season almost grabbing the CL ticket). Jol has it all. Tactical savvyness, motivational skills, discipline, psychology… I think Jol is better qualified that Adriaanse and Van Gaal, since they are really typical club-coaches. Jol is like Hiddink but - dare I say it - tactically much better.

Posted from Australia

By Mario | May 31st, 2007 at 12:08 am

Ok Jan, I really don´t know much about Jol but what you are saying convinced me more because I did not know about his times at RKC and that is something big. If you say he is better than them, well, then we can welcome him anytime! We want winners like him at Oranje some day. Marco is a winner but today he needs more experiencie to lead the national squad.

By Jan | May 31st, 2007 at 12:22 am

Agreed! And don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of Co and Louis, but I feel they can’t play their strength at national team level.

Posted from Australia

By goose | May 31st, 2007 at 4:08 am

my choice for Jol is mostly cause the way he looks and talks, he looks like a second hand car dealer whos not be be trusted.. like that in a manager… think he has great outbursts in the lookerroom at times..

.agree with Mario that he hasnt really proved himself decisively(?) but think hes on the good track..another fave of mine: vanMarwijk

Posted from Netherlands

By Ishmael | May 31st, 2007 at 5:42 am

Van Marwijk would get Van Bommol back to Oranje. That would be good! I think Foppo De Hahn would be good too. He is wise man. Is he German? German name. Holland has many good coaches. I think Leo Beenhakker would be very good too because he was good with all stars at Real Madrid and he does not get in panic so much. Match against Portugal I think van Basten looked like rabbit sitting on the street when car comes, you know? And Ruud Gullit? I don’t understand critisims from article on Gullit! He did good with Chelsea and Feyenoord is just a bad team, not Gullit’s foult.

Posted from Australia

By goose | May 31st, 2007 at 7:05 am

haha, well Ish. if you write his name as Hahn..hes called Foppe de Haan and he a frisian..

true what you say about vanBasten during the port. match..he looked bewildered..

Gullit is a bad coach/manager..he cares only about how he looks and only wants to go to bars etc.., he a great guy but just not a manager,,dont think he did so well at Chelsea (only FA cuo if i remember corectly)

Posted from Netherlands

By Jan | June 1st, 2007 at 5:28 am

Thank you Artorios! From India, right? How did you find us? Oranje fan? Share some more ok?

About ooaches: Ruud Krol is available again, he left Ajaccio.

Posted from Australia

By goose | June 1st, 2007 at 6:07 am

@Jan; Art. actually sends spam…

Posted from Netherlands

By stephen | June 1st, 2007 at 10:38 am

Jan-I really don’t know much about Jol. Could you explain more about how you feel he is tactically more saavy than Hiddink? Interesting. If your assessment is correct, do you think KNVB will consider Jol? How long do you think Jol wants to stay at Spurs?

Art, this is Oranje blog, take your perversions elsewhere!

Posted from United States

By stephen | June 1st, 2007 at 3:07 pm

ESPN’s soccernet on Van Gaal:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=435498&root=europe&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1&cc=5901

Posted from United States

By Jan | June 1st, 2007 at 6:10 pm

So this Art guy is a spammer?? How do you guys know? I’ll delete him from the list :-).

Jol is a know tactician, when he worked in Holland players always marvelled about his tactical findings and tricks. He re-invented a lot of players, but scouting players who were sent away at other clubs and then he’d put them in different positions and they’d excel.

Hiddink on the other hand is a great people motivater (like Don Leo a bit) but I don’t think he’s ever been snapped with illuminating tactical trick.

But that’s me