Frank Rijkaard follows his heart…

And suddenly Frank Rijkaard had time for other things. After five successful seasons in Barcelona, Rijkaard and the club decided to part ways and suddenly the former AC Milan star had no obligations anymore. “The rest was weird. When you work, you’re more settled. You seem to be more at ease, funnily enough. I was stronger mentally and physically when I worked.”

He says he was always fresh and energized despite the daily pressures at Barca. “When you’re in that rhythm everything moves on the flow. You don’t notice the hectic around you. I definitely wasn’t burned out or something. I decided to take a break for a year. I traveled, I enjoyed my time and it went like that! But I’m happy to be back at work.”

Rijkaard was ready to return and Ajax and AC Milan were the usual suspects in the rumor treadmill. But that was all bollocks. He never spoke to either. “I never expected one of those clubs to contact me. And why would I? You set yourself up for disappointment. Anytime another club calls, you’ll go “should I do this, what if Milan calls?”… I look at the opportunities I get presented. When it’s a club I like, I’m happy.”

That’s how he chose to work for Sparta in 2001, right after his Oranje adventure. “No one expected that, but I was happy there. A great club. And sad that we got relegated, but I don’t want to brush Sparta aside because of that. I highly enjoyed my time there. Great club. Part of my career.”

A bigger contrast between Sparta and Barcelona doesn’t exist. He got relegated in Rotterdam and was crowned the best of Europe with Barca. “Sometimes it’s harder to not get relegated with a club than it is to win the title with another. Really, I knew it was hard at Sparta and I didn’t make it. That happens. But I never worried about my career. Many coaches have been there. Doing great with one club and being fired at the next. It’s how it is.”

His choice to work for Galatasaray was also a decision made by the heart. “With me, it’s simple. Does it feel good? If it does, I’ll give it my 100%. I can only say after the job’s done whether it was a good decision or a lesson learned. But whatever happened, I gained another experience. Every phase in my career teaches me something.”

At Galatasaray, not the most obvious choice in a competition that’s a bit alien to Dutch fans, Rijkaard’s decision has three aspects to it. “Firstly, I wanted to work again, secondly I was ready for a new country. The football climate here is tremendous, the people are really football crazy. And thirdly, the money is very good.”

“I’ve looked at the sports element as well, obviously. Galatasaray ended fifth last season, due to injuries and other problems. This is a big challenge and I think we can be successful.”

Rijkaard doesn’t want to compare his new club with Barcelona. “That’s simply impossible. But I’ll work in the same way as I did in Spain. I want to play 4-3-3 and push up early. I need my players to make a switch in their thinking. The Turks are tremendous workers on the pitch. They sometimes want to be very busy but forget that it’s wasting energy. The organization on the pitch suffers and we experience that the left back suddenly ends up as right winger. We need to work on that.”

The Turks simply hope Rijkaard will bring beautiful football. Rijkaard does pursue that but feels that the definition hard to find. “We Dutch people have a certain idea of attractive football. We feel Barca plays beautiful and we’re happy that they won. But Manchester United didn’t play too shabby last season. And they won it the year before, and you can’t say they didn’t play good football.”