Forgotten heroes pt 2: Wim Jonk

Volendam born and raised Wim Jonk was a reluctant football star. A late blossomer, as we say in Dutch… Gifted, like many many young players from the tiny village of Volendam (Muhren brothers, Pier Tol, a variety of other Tols) but also not-so ambitious. Wim played football as an artist. Style and grace over power and force. Inspiration over perspiration. When he was young, many recognized his talent, but not a lot of people predicted a huge career.
Sometimes called the Volendam dike disease…players from Volendam don’t want to leave the village. They are addicted to fishing, to the Volendam cafe’s and the music (Volendam people are great football players and great musicians… The Cats? Jan Smit? The Band Without a Name?…come on!!! Never heard of them… Well…they suck…but they sell records!!)

Anyway, Ajax saw Jonk’s talent. Ajax and Volendam have a bit of a thing together. So, Jonk made the move to Amsterdam. I believe Leo Beenhakker was responsible. He was the least impressive signing of the season and the oldest to come. Timid, humble, well-groomed… The ideal son-in-law. No wonder he and Dennis hit it off together.

But, where was Wim to play? He was the ideal number 10. The playmaker. If he was born in the 60s… Football was a men’s game already in the end of the 80s and Wim’s position was taken by more explosive players. And players with more personality and “poison” in their character. It would take some time for Wim to get higher up in the dressing-room hierarchy so to speak. So, many times Wim was brought in as a substitute, but he was too slow (in his running and with the ball) although the connoisseurs could tell he could play football. When Van Gaal took over from Beenhakker, he said Wim Jonk is my man for the number 4 position. The playmaker at the back. At that’s when it started to click.

With the game in front of him, Wim could use his long ball and when he and Dennis developed their seventh sense, football became art.

Wim also learned to work, and his ethics made him the silent leader and motor on midfield. He was shy in interviews, aloof and sometimes it seemed like he was constantly in a bad mood, but he was from Volendam… He didn’t care for glamour and glitter, interviews and model-girlfriends…

But for Oranje, he missed something. Jan Wouters was the better holding midfielder and not a shabby passer while players like Richard Witschge had more creativity. And when the team needed something from the bench, ideal number 12 Aron Winter would be the most allround guy to bring on.

So,Wim would always have a bit of a question mark behind his name. Like many other players (dare I name Denny Landzaat?), the fans didn’t always recognize his value for the team and some coaches (and Dutch team managers) didn’t know how to use them. The problem with Wim was, that he felt too good and had too much pride to raise his voice and ask for a spot in the team.

When Dennis was scouted by Inter Milan, they also recognized the added value of Jonk and in all honesty, Ajax wasn’t too sad to let him go… Frank de Boer was the man for the central position (he played left full back then) and Frank Rijkaard would make his comeback too. So, in a package deal, Jonk and Dennis went to Milan. A marriage made in hell…. What a career blunder and I still blame Rob Jansen…

Inter Milan was ( I won’t say is) a defensive, destructive team with lots of bad-ass personalities in the dressing-room. Dennis was not made for Italian football and the Italian culture. And neither was Jonk. They’d prefer to play Bridge at home or watch The Horse Whisperer on dvd instead of parading the fashion shops with two articial blondes on their arms. Jonk probably drove a used Honda while Dennis used public transport because his mum told him to… No Ferraris in the Jonk garage, no fancy haircuts. And Italian defending wasn’t something Jonk understood either. Kicking a ball in the stands? Sacrilege!

Alas, Bergkamp and Jonk would be seperated after that. Dennis became the Iceman at Arsenal.

PSV snatched him up from the Serie A and Jonk appeared to be relieved to go back home to Holland. Boerenkool, Jantje Smit, Mart Smeets, ice-skating and haring with onions…or better still…eal! Jonk also made it into the 1998 Hiddink group for the WC, but didn’t get to play much. When Rijkaard took over, Jonk’s career in Oranje came to an end.

He then took the step towards the EPL, Sheffield Utd and not long after he decided to retire. Due to injuries he didn’t get to play too often and the fans balked at his 30.000 euros a month deal. When the fans voiced their opinion, Jonk threw the towel.

His Oranje career was comparable to his club-career…he played great games, scored wonderful goals and gave it his all, but doubts would always surround him and he will not go down in history as one of Holland’s great midfielders… (Van Hanegem, Neeskens, Jansen, De Boer, Davids, Cocu…). He was famously omitted for the dreaded WC1990 squad, for instance.

After his career, he took a break but as so often happens, his roots called out to him. He first became a scout for Volendam and then he took the technical director’s job. He did it for his first love, as he said. But the public in Volendam can be harsh for their favorite sons and after Volendam kept on disappointing, Jonk decided he didn’t need the headaches. He is currently a youth trainer at Ajax.