Feyenoord and Adriaanse talk

A firm committee from Feyenoord flew to the Ukraine to spend some days with Co Adriaanse (ex-Ajax, FC Porto, AZ and Willem II) to discuss their potential partnership in the future. The 59-year old Xmas Tree inventor quit his Ukraine job instantly – albeit not because of Feyenoord. “I could sign a new contract, but I didn’t want to. So the chairman suggested I’d make room for their new trainer immediately. Fine with me. Now I can spend some time to assess the Feyenoord option.”

Adriaanse has been tremendously successful with Willem II and AZ, then both clubs who needed to be build up from ground zero. In those days however, Adriaanse worked in tandem with a Technical Director (current Ajax director Martin van Geel), who offered stable working conditions, had a good eye for football (Van Geel used to play for both Ajax and Feyenoord) and who did not have the ambition to coach himself. With former trainer and current Feyenoord director Peter Bosz Adriaanse does not have that connection yet. Obviously, the Amsterdam-born Adriaanse will want to know what his financial reach will be. And on that topic, the Feyenoord delegation did not have a lot of answers. Feyenoord is trying to raise 13 Mio Euro for investments, but that’s still just hot air. Other than that, Feyenoord needs to clean house. They had 68 (!!!!) contract players last year. They brought that back to 34 players for now, but still another 11 players will need to leave in the next weeks/months. And Adriaanse will only be able to get new players if Feyenoord can sell more than the 11 players mentioned.

Obviously, the big question is not: does Adriaanse fit Feyenoord’s profile? The question is more: does Feyenoord fit Adriaanse’s profile?

Adriaanse has more clubs to choose from, for one. And secondly – and Adriaanse will be well aware of this – there are some missing ingredients for Co.
For starters, on the “emotional” level… Adriaanse is from Amsterdam. He is an Ajax man. As a player he was important to FC Amsterdam but as a Youth Development Manager at Ajax he was responsible for talents like Davids, Seedorf, Kluivert, Reiziger, Oulida, van der Sar and was not that unsuccessful as Ajax coach (although he did had to leave due to his strained relationship with the Fifth Colonne in the background and he dared – as first coach in the history of Ajax – to let go of the 4-3-3 dogma). Furthermore, Adriaanse needs a solid and seamless organisation to work in and will want to build (read: invest in) his own team… The big question is, if these ingredients will be there. Adriaanse is a good coach, for sure, but also a very ambitious one.

Adriaanse’s assistant coach Jan Olde Riekerink also left the Ukraine club immediately and will become the new Youth Development Director at Ajax Amsterdam.