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In Frank’s and Henk’s smoking room….

June 29th, 2009 | By: Jan | 6 Comments »

Column in VI

Eleven years ago, Louis van Gaal showed me around in the Camp Nou. The new Barca coached had revamped the old-fashioned chambers in the football temple and was proud at the result. Everything was shiny, it smelled new and the dressing rooms and massage rooms blinked. And at last, the coach of the most exciting club of the world had it’s own decent office.

Seven years later I entered the same space. It was blue with smoke. The office was now the home of Frank Rijkaard and Henk ten Cate. And on the space where Van Gaal neatly put a pile of Spanish newspapers, Frankie and Henkie now positioned a huge ashtray.

Rijkaard’s first question to me was: did I have any smokes. He was out and Henk’s stock was minimals. “This is a huge worry to me,” Frank said with a wry smile. My at the airport acquired Lucky Strikes were the solution. After we all lighted one up, there was a knock on the door: Carles Puyol entered the office.

There were no windows in the room, so the smoke lingered. Coughing, Puyol asked what time morning training would commence. Smiling he blew away some smoke when Frank answered him. He kinda liked, he’d tell the media later, two coaches who sat smoking in that office, talking football all day long. Because that’s exactly what both coaches did after training.

And so they did this afternoon. And there was a lot to talk about, that May 2005. That night, a full Camp Nou saw a new hero. He had played a couple of matches already, but in the home game against Albacete, the youngster showed what would follow in the near future.He scored a brilliant chip after a tremendous lob from Ronaldinho. His goal was celebrated with a long dance of joy, on the pitch and on the stands.

A day later, I asked Rijkaard and Ten Cate about that lad, that Lionel Messi. Whoever scores his first goal when 17 years old in Barcelona 1 has golden feet. Rijkaard seemed to want to dampen my enthusiasm. “Lio is an incredibly talented chap. But I don’t want you to publish that. It will be all over the Spanish papers the next day and that’s not good for such a young kid.”

From that moment on, I never lost track of Messi. I had the same with Andres Iniesta. A year before Messi’s first goal, there was a rumor that Van der Vaart might go to Barca. I checked it with Ten Cate. He said: “Nah…Great player, Rafael. Don’t get me wrong, but we don’t need anyone on that position. We have Iniesta. Mark my words, he’ll play the roof of the stadium here in the next years.”

Ten Cate said something similar after their first title in Barcelona. It was about Xavi this time, like Iniesta he made his debut under Van Gaal. “They all want to talk about Ronaldinho,” Ten Cate said, smoking another cigarette. “But to me, the title is Xavi’s. That kid is so important for the team.”

So, looking back at the CL finals, last May, those words rung through my head. Lionel Messi, Xavi and Iniesta played the big Man United into smithereens.

It may have been very smoggy in that room in Camp Nou, but both Frank and Henk saw it well in those days….

Tags: Group C, Iniesta, Messi, Rijkaard, Ten Cate, Vaart, Xavi

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Comments

By Mario | June 29th, 2009 at 12:23 pm

Rijkaard is a great coach and still very young. He still has a great future.

About the 1998 team you can´t compare it to today´s team because that team had many years playing together. Most of the players from that generation came from the great Ajax of 1995…van der Sar, Reiziger, Bogarde, Davids, Seedorf, Overmars, Kluivert, Ronald and Frank de Boer. So they knew each other pretty well and what Hiddink did in 1998 was a failure in my opinion because with those players van Gaal ruled Europe and the world with his Ajax. Perhaps that was van Gaal moment for the National team, he knew the players and they had just won the Champions League 3 years before with him. Hiddink should have beaten Brazil and then France in the final.

Today´s team is just starting to play as a team and I don´t think that they lack mentality because most of them have won trophies either in Holland or in Europe. What they need is to be consistent, something that at Euro 2008 they showed that they aren´t for the reasons we all know. The team has played a great qualification campaign but that doesn´t count for nothing if they don´t win the World Cup. As for my opinion Holland should not be satisfied achieving a quarfinals place or a second or third position in the World Cup. When you have been so close to win that tournament, have won a European Championships and when Holland´s clubs like Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord have been able to win the Champions League they how come you can be pleased by achieving a second or third spot???.

What Holland has achieved in the past Euro and in the last World Cup was a complete failure. Except WC 2002 in which Holland didn´t go, the results were way better. In 1998, 2000, 2004 we reached the semifinals and although I think that we could have done better then in 2006 and 2008 with van Basten the team failed miserably. Now those players like Robben, Sneijder, Rafa, Huntelaar, Persie and the rest have to show what they are made of. This is not their first tournament with Holland and for me they are ready to go for gold.

Can they achieve it???. I am positive they can, but team spirit, concentration, passion, mentalisy, team play and hunger have to be there every second because if you sleep for a second you are out. Ask Spain…

Posted from Mexico

By Carlos | June 29th, 2009 at 9:22 pm

Good post Mario – but dont forget the one ingredient that every team needs on the way to winning the WC – Luck ! They need that too.

Posted from Singapore

By finnster01 | June 29th, 2009 at 9:38 pm

@Carlos: You also need homefield advantage, a military junta in charge, and a big fat wallet. Like in 1978 in a country that shall remind nameless.

By Mario | June 29th, 2009 at 9:41 pm

Yes Carlos…luck is a factor. And Holland has had bad luck at times…penalties, bad refereeing, playing finals against the hosts, among other things that we all must remember.

Hopefully in 2010 lady luck will be in our side!!!

By Tiju | June 29th, 2009 at 11:07 pm

@mario 75% is in the hands of BVM ,hope he will select the right players for the right game.i dont belive in luck now (previously i belived)coz if you want to win the WC ,you should be able to beat anyteam.
OUr last generation player dont know hoe to take penalty kicks thats why they lost in several penalties and VDS is not so good as a penaltystopper.
we need the follow ingardient
A coach who is opened to all current best dutch players irrespective of realtionships,definitly in attacking positions he does not need to look in to experience.(Still i belive with hunter & castelen in WC2006 we would have won the title)
Avoid selfish players(irrespective of their skills).
Avoid uncontrollable players.
Give the captain band to the most the rightman.
in our case we need to take some toughnailed diffenders such as brapheid,zuiverloon,marcelis etc instead of ooiger,Gio,heitinga.
Dont think i am negative i am always positive and optimistic,but i know the reality,Maximum may be quarterfinal we will reach thats it.
But at the same time i am sad coz we are going to waste the goldenchance of winning a WC with this much talents in our pocket.

Posted from India

By Mario | June 30th, 2009 at 12:30 am

Why so pesimistic Tiju?. I think we can go further. But you are right, the coach plays an important role. But I don´t think he has that much influence if the players don´t put their best.

My line up today for 2010:

1- Steks
2- van der Wiel
3- Heitinga
4- Mathijsen
5- Braafheid
6- van Bommel
7- Kuyt
8- De Jong
9- van Persie
10- Sneijder
11- Robben

Right now Huntelaar and van der Vaart have to win their places because they had a pretty bad season but if they move to another team things can change because they can easily be in the starting line up.

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