Fred Rutten re-invents PSV Eindhoven…

November 11th, 2009 | by: Jan | Comments(19)

I’ll be blunt: I’ve never been a PSV fan.

There you have it.

I have admired them in the past, for their management, their finances, the ability to sign Romario, Ronaldo, Kieft, Timmy Simons, Gullit… But to me, they were always the rich football club from PSV where they speak with the soft “g”.

Feyenoord is my team. Mud, sweat, blood, and a lot of “could’ve/should’ve”. Ajax to me was always a worthy opponent and to me – as a Rotterdam born and bred lad – Ajax was the enemy but one to never underestimate and secretly to admire… The arrogance, the beauty of the game, the hairdo’s, Cruyff-Neeskens-Keizer-Krol-Van Basten-Bergkamp-Litmanen…

Feyenoord to me is Martin Scorcese. Ajax is Spielberg and PSV is Woody Allen…

But sometimes a man comes along that can change the way a club resonates. Boring NEC became exciting thanks to Mario Been. Elitist Sparta became “of the people” with Barry Hughes and VVV deserves a look thanks to Honda.

Fred Rutten, apparently, is the man who gives football back to PSV. If Van Gaal and Adriaanse have a successor in the category of obsessed perfectionist coaches who want to play good football, it’s Fred. Here’s an interview with Rutten and his shadow assistant Rene Eykelkamp.

Fred, how would you describe Rene?

“Rene is a very relaxed and confident man, who lives life to the max. He enjoys life with a good balance between fun and business.”

Rene, how would you describe Fred?

“Fred is someone with big ears. No seriously, Fred’s most important character trait is his honesty. He’s straight, open and honest. And highly intelligent.”

You both worked intense with Guus Hiddink and you’re all from the east. Does that create a bond, a similar way of looking at life?

Rene: “Well, we’re all pretty down to earth people. We know how to put things into perspective, I guess. And we enjoy what we do. But as a player you enjoy success in a different way. As a player, you’re more involved, as a coach you need to step back a bit. But we are who we are, in bad times and in good times.”

Would you be worry when things are going bad?

Rene: “I think so, yeah. I haven’t been there yet. People always say I can laugh things off, but I don’t. If we played bad, I sometimes sit in the car for two hours, pondering where we went wrong. I’m more driven as a coach than as a player.”

Fred, do you approach things different now as a coach than as a player.

Fred: “Yes, but since you’ve been in that position, you know what the lads go through. And sometimes you can win points with that. You know how they will respond to certain things. I’m a scenario thinker. I always work out the different scenarios. I try to be two or more steps ahead of the situation. It’s a process and sometimes you do something on Monday because you can work with that through to Tuesday and Wednesday which than result in certain behavior on the match day.”

What is your success formula?

Rene: “No idea. There’s so many factors in play.”

Fred: “We’re just a cog in the machine, you know. We make that motor run, and sometimes we grease it, sometimes we put extra pressure on… It’s all balance. I believe in team work. I can’t do it all, Rene has his qualities and we don’t always agree. I’ve learned a lot from Guus, who wants total control.”

Are you happy being a head coach, instead of being the assistant?

Fred: “I loved being the assistant, you could work and do your thing, while Guus took the attention. I’d rather have the attention on the players, more so than on me. If they celebrate a win, I can enjoy standing at a distance, just watching them.”

How ambitious are you?

Rene: “I have many ambitions, both in football as in my private life. I aim to do whatever it is I do in the best possible way. If I’m good as an assistant coach, maybe bigger things will follow. But I don’t have a plan or the objective to become head coach. It might happen one day, we’ll see.”

Fred: “I’d love to take over the catering at PSV…. Seriously, I don’t plan ahead, but I am ambitious. I love being head coach, to be able to control it all… And working with all those forces around you. Club management, players’ management, media, sponsors, you know. The big picture. The external forces either want to distort or contribute. I like that tension.”

What kind of manager are you?

Fred: “I’m not the totalitarian leader, I am a democrat.”

Rene: “Yeah, here we have a democracy, but not at home….”

Tell me a bit about yourself…

Fred: “I’m married to a lovely wife and have two girls, one is 16 and one 10 years old. I’m a minority at home. Although it’s my wife who raises the kids. I’m not home that often, but when I am I’m there for them. I spend two or three nights here in Eindhoven, depending on the programme. We are on the road a lot too, you know. But when it’s holiday time, it’s 100% family for me.”

(Fred is answering his phone)…

With Fred away, can you tell me…are you guys mates?

Rene: “Actually, we aren’t. We never ever visited each other’s house. Not that it’s only work, but I only have a small number of friends. Lads I played football with when I was ten years old. But when I’m with Fred it does feel good. I like hanging out with him, but I’m not even sure if he feels the same way…”

Is Fred more disciplined than you are?

Rene: “Oh yeah. Fred is a planner. Organizes everything. I have a diary with those little corners that you tear out on a daily basis. I’m weeks behind. Fred is a great philosopher about football. Like a professor but also very practical. He’s got the experience and he’s well organized. I’m a slob. Check out my car, it’s embarrassing, even to me!”

How do you handle being a famous face?

Fred: “My family hates being recognized.”

Rene: “We’re used to it, but I hate it when I’m having dinner and people come up to me to offer me a drink, but not my wife. I always go: “Yeah thanks, but my wife doesn’t need anything, she doesn’t drink” or something like that. I hate it.”

Fred, Rene said he needed to be more neat, what would you change about yourself?

Fred: “Me? Geez… It’s pathetic when you need time to think about that, right? I think I could open up a bit to other people. I’m a bit reserved, I guess. I can be open, once I get to know people, but I sometimes judge people too early. And I’m a bit hard-headed. When I think something about something, I usually can’t be convinced otherwise, and that’s a disadvantage sometimes.”

Fred, what to you aim for with PSV?

Fred: “I think PSV needs to be a force in football in Holland. We need to play for the title every year. PSV is a brand of consistency and professionalism. The footballing style here is clearly 4-4-2 but with attractive football, not the controlling type of game. PSV does have that name a bit, but we can play very attractive with our squad. I think our scouting and youth development are doing very well and my aim is to win games based on high paced pass and move football, but to not lose games when we play bad. In the last couple of weeks, we did play some games that were so-so, but we still won them. To me, mental strength is key in that process. I also believe we need to make players better. I’m sure we can. That will not only affect the way we play and our results, but it will also have an effect on young talents in the country wanting to play for us, instead of other clubs.”

Have you reached those goals already?

Fred: “Well, the season is still only young, but we are in the top three, we do play good football and if we don’t, we still win our games. I think certain players have made huge steps forward and I’m proud of that.”

Which players do you feel have developed?

Fred: “I don’t want to single out players, but everyone can see that Afellay has grown in his new role as holding midfielder. He gained more confidence, strength and leadership. Danko Lazovic was a typical killer in the box when I came here but we successfully transformed him into a hard working Kuyt-like right winger. In the last game he was involved in all five goals. I think Otman Bakkal has developed well and so did goalie Isaksson. It’s a process… Some players need longer to develop, others don’t need to develop but are key to the balance in the team. The invisible strongholders.”

When are you happy when crunch time comes?

Fred: “We want to do well in Europe. We do have good reputation and missing out on CL football means we need to impress in the Europa League. I remember from my career that international football is always the cream on the coffee. We want to win the National Cup and play for the title, and all that with good, attractive football. I don’t demand a lot, eh?”