Frank Rijkaard, reluctant superstar…

Frank Rijkaard is back in the top of European club football. After taking a rest for a year, the 46 year old Amsterdam born chose the hectic of Istanbul.

Turkey’s top club Galatasaray has seen some decay over the years and it’s up to Rijkaard to bring the club back to the top. The Turks have to make do with a coach who can handle players well, particularly hard to handle top players.

Rijkaar can handle pressure. Both with Oranje (1998 – 2000) as with Barcelona (2003-2008) the ex Ajax player created a special bond with his players. He did get relegated with Sparta Rotterdam, but he impressed in Catalonia with his offensive playing style and by keeping his stars on the rails under his management.

With Oranje he reached the semis at the EC2000 and with Barca he won two titles and the CL in 2006. In 2008, the magic between the stars and the coach was gone. Rijkaard took a break, said no to several big offers and waited in the wings, to come back to the world game in the summer of 2009.

Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard was a star himself as a player, but not because he liked it. He wasn’t out to find the spotlights, like his buddy Ruud Gullit. Rijkaard was a thinker, and liked to spend time away from the cameras and tabloids.

In 2003, Johan Cruyff surprisingly adviced Barca to sign his former player. Barcelona offered Rijkaard time, money and trust to work at success. He got the best players available and was able to strike a chord with most of them.

In his fifth season, criticism grew. It was the second year without silverware and it seemed Rijkaard lost his grip on Ronaldinho. The Brazilian was more active in the nightclubs than on the pitch and Rijkaard showed signs of fatigue.His successor Pep Guardiola brought a new vibe and new success with the treble (cup, title, CL).

Rijkaard was a year long forgotten by the media, bar his divorce. The last months, the football bug got him again. He told the media to be ready for a new challenge. The names of Ajax, AC Milan and Chelsea were mentioned, although it never resulted in more than that.

He eventually picked Turkey as his new home. Istanbul, much more hectic than Barcelona, in particular in terms of football.

Rijkaard signed a two-year deal and says it’s an “honour and a challenge to work for Turkey’s most successful club ever”.

Rijkaard: “This is such a big club with so much history. And Turkey is a tremendous football nation. We’ll show the fans beautiful football.”

The Prizes Cupboard is filled with cups, scales, plates, medals and what not. In 2000, Gala won the UEFA Cup as the first ever Turkish club, beating Arsenal in the finals. That year they also beat Real Madrid for the Super Cup.

The Lions, as they’re knows, won the Turkish title 17 times. The last was won a season back. This season they ended as number 5, highly disappointing of course.

The expectations are high. Rijkaard is the saviour of Galatasaray. In the media, he’s called “The Legend” and the “First Dutch Lion”. All his successes, with Ajax, Oranje and AC Milan, are shown ad nauseum on Turkish tv.

The last days, Rijkaard studied many dvds of his new club and discussed new signings and players leaving with manager Ustunel. Rijkaard wants to sign young Mexican Dos Santos (20) of Tottenham, an offensive midfielder he worked with in his Barca days. “The system will change” yell the media in Turkey and the expectations are that Rijkaard will play Dutch football: offensive and adventurous. One thing is sure, the physical condition of the Lions need to be improved and assistant coach Johan Neeskens (who worked with Rijkaard at Oranje and Barca) is the right man for that job.

We’ll follow the adventures of Frank and Johan in Turkey in the new season with delight. Yes…Turkish…