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Is Bert van Marwijk a good coach?

February 29th, 2008 | By: Jan | 9 Comments »

Feyenoord played the quarter finals of the National Cup yesterday, against Jupiler league leaders FC Zwolle. Van Marwijk implored his players to put everything on the line, since the Cup is the only prize Feyenoord realistically can still win. The other three semi-finalists are NAC Breda, Heracles and Roda JC.
So, Van Marwijk decided, we should be able to win the cup again for the first time in many years! But Feyenoord played dreadful against Zwolle. Makaay scored a quick 1-0 and after that Feyenoord allowed Zwolle to dominate, leaning back. It wasn’t a surprisde for the fans that Zwolle even equalized right before half time. Sub Michael Mols, 37 years old, was the one to break the equilibrium minutes before stoppage time! He headed a De Guzman cross in at a time when the fans already accepted extra time… A shameful performance.

And that, paired with the fact that Feyenoord -with all the new big names- has not improved results-wise compared to last season, brings us to the big question: how good is our new Oranje team manager, really??

Now, it’s always hard to judge a coach when you’re not at the training, or in the dressing room listening to his tactical talks. You also don’t know the dynamics in the group, the club specific circumstances… So how can you judge a coach, other than on results?

His first pro job at Fortuna (with a young Van Bommel, Bouma and Hofland) got him in the spotlights. His no nonsense media approach made him the crown prince of coaches and Feyenoord snatched him up. He had a good run in Rotterdam, with a great squad (Bosvelt, Van Wonderen, Van Hooijdonk, Ono, Tomassen, Van Persie, Bona Kalou) but was never able to win the title in Holland. He did win the UEFA cup though. Some people say Van Marwijk had trouble working with dominant personalities like Pierre, Bosvelt and the rifts with Van Persie are infamous in Rotterdam. Makes you wonder if he could work with dominant son-in-law Van Bommel now… Still, one wonders why he never was able to win the title with that team.

In Germany Van Marwijk had a great first season with Borussia Dortmund. He was highly respected in Germany and did well with a new and young team in difficult circumstances (no money in Dortmund). After returning to Feyenoord, he was personally responsible for the signing of Makaay, Hofland, Safin (where is he?) and Landzaat and he made De Guzman fit better in the team, but again…the results say a lot…

With Feyenoord trailing behind rivals Ajax and PSV and lacklustre performances in the National Cup, if Bert leaves for Oranje, he won’t be remembered too well in Rotterdam.

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Comments

By goose | February 29th, 2008 at 3:45 am

im actually not sure … but i really hope so!! haha …

Posted from Netherlands

By ferenc | February 29th, 2008 at 4:14 am

i hope too… my opinion is,that he’s better than marco but not as good as frankie or luis. he’s approximately at the level of ronald koeman (who’s not that bad – actually it seems that bvalencia is slowly getting better and better). and hopefully he’s a good person-manager with the required psychological skills.

Posted from Hungary

By Lerkot | February 29th, 2008 at 5:39 am

“And that, paired with the fact that Feyenoord -with all the new big names- has not improved results-wise compared to last season, brings us to the big question: how good is our new Oranje team manager, really??”

Haha, what?

Feyenoord came 7 last year with an -10 goal difference. At the moment they are on the third spot with only three wins needed to reach the same number of points as last year, and they got eight games to do that… the goal difference is now +21. So i’d say theyre definitely better than last year.

By goose | February 29th, 2008 at 7:52 am

@lerkot; yes they are better (and they invested pretty heavy) but the style of play isnt good.(yesterday Michel Mols had to score minutes before end in a quaterfinal of the dutch Cup against Fc Zwolle!!)..

guess my vision is kinda blurred when it comes to Bert, i just think hes a real nice guy, i like the way he hadles himself…even tough he had problems with big names in the past (vHooijdonk, vPersie) i still bet hes a better peoples-manager than Marco is (i know; no competition!haha)

Posted from Netherlands

By Jan | March 1st, 2008 at 4:32 am

@Lerkot, you may be right. My information is a couple of weeks old, but then they had this analysis comparing Feyenoord with last year around the same time (end of January) and Koeman’s Feyenoord had the same number of points then.

But I can see too that Feyenoord is in much better shape. Still… today the AD newspaper had an article on Bert’s tactical choices. Like Oranje, Feyenoord last line has limited build up skills. And Luigi Bruins is mis-used as a winger (he is actually a great play-maker and passer). So, the idea they posed was: bring Landzaat one line back to take care of the build-up, let Bruins take care of the direction on midfield and move Hofs or Slory closer to Makaay (who seems to be on an island). But that takes guts, and the AD claimed Bert is maybe not a coward but he surely is ultra conservative…

I’m with Goose though, I have a softspot for Van Marwijk too, the way he presents himself. Realistic, open and sincere. Let’s hope with better players (Oranje) he is capable of achieving more.

Posted from Australia

By tiju | March 2nd, 2008 at 5:44 am

hay guys
do u remmember the game agaisnt Eugoslavia * holland 2000 ec quarter final.
after 59 minute cluivert got substituted nad makkay played and sucked like dirk kuyt.ha ha wat a difference.
wat is happening with faynoord is they are having mediocre players at the moment like makkay.
if any body expecting gold from such kind of average skilled players that means they are the biggest fools.
@goose wat he(marwijk) will be a better people manager than marco that is the only assured thing.

By dirk v.d berg | March 2nd, 2008 at 2:18 pm

Makaay is definitely not a mediocre player. He’s playing with average players, who supply average passes, yet he is still scoring at an above average rate. Makaay is still one of the best finishers, the difference between this year and last year are the quality of passes he’s recieving. Don’t get me wrong the Feyenoord midfielders have a lot of potential, but the Bayern players were just a lot better, more experienced if you will.

Posted from Canada

By goose | March 3rd, 2008 at 11:51 am

The KNVB just made it official, vMarwijk is Oranjes new Bondcoach

Posted from Netherlands

By Bert van Marwijk Puts Pen to Paper to Replace Marco van Basten - World Cup Blog - African Cup of Nations 2008 | March 3rd, 2008 at 3:01 pm

[...] He’s been back at Feyenoord this season and the team currently sit fourth in the Eredivisie. Opinion of Dutch fans seems divided on how good an appointment Van Marwijk [...]

Posted from United States