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Jari Litmanen: lionheart in a gazelle-body

February 14th, 2008 | By: Jan | 12 Comments »

When we ponder the successes of Dutch football, we can’t escape thinking about Ajax. And thinking about Ajax leads to thinking about the big names… Johan Cruyff, Piet Keizer, Johan Neeskens, Ruud Krol, Frank Rijkaard, De Boer Bros, Edwin van der Sar. All Dutch players… But on number 45 of players with the most Ajax-games, we see a Fin. Jari Litmanen. The man of the goals, the threats, the brain and the lungs. Every supporter, every fan knows who he is…

Jaro Olavi Litmanen was born on the 20st of February 1971 in Lahti. His two passions were hockey (on ice) and football. He first played for Reipas Lahti and moved to Mypa later. Jari was a huge talent and followed training-sessions at FC Barcelona and Leeds United. He also went to Ajax and was asked to stay. Louis van Gaal signed the fragile striker and put him in Ajax 2. In Ajax 1, one Dennis Bergkamp played shadow striker and Ron Willems and Dan Petersen were his stand-ins. When Bergkamp left for Internationale, Van Gaal decided on Petersen as Dennis’ successor. He did very well but got injured early in the season. Litmanen took his place, scored in his first matches and a star was born.

In the 93/94 season Ajax and Litmanen grabbed the title. Litmanen grew out to be Ajax’ new hero. He was the topscorer that year with 26 goals. And the fans rediscovered the song “Volare” and changed it in “Litmanen, oh ooh…Litmanen..ohohooooh”. He became Finnish and Dutch player of the year.
In the 94/95 season, Ajax grabbed the title again and the Champions League Cup. Litmanen would become the Sporter of the Year in Finland, the first time a football player won, instead of a hockey player. In 95/96, Ajax won the title again but after that Ajax slides south. Top players like Davids, Reiziger, Kanu and Kluivert leave. The Bros De Boer leave a tad later. The season after, with Morten Olsen as manager, Ajax wins the title again and Litmanen keeps scoring.

His strengths are analyzed at length. He is cool in the box, nerves stay home when Jari plays. He’s got a nose for the right position and has all the skills and techniques for scoring. He can head a ball, chip, shoot hard, use curves, whatever… He is king of the assist, works hard for the team and can play on many positions. He played several matches on the number 4 position, just in front of defense, and his vision and brain allow him to steer the team forward from that spot. Litmanen had perfect ball control. Chest, head, thigh, feet – left or right – he could do it all. Wonderful technique but only deployed in service of the team. No Richard Witschge like gallery play, but functional. Jari also knew when to come and when to stay. Litmanen was midfielder, but knew exactly when to pick his moment to join the striker (Kluivert, Kanu) in the box. Litmanen also had a Bergkamp – Jonk like rapport with Danny Blind. Both players knew exactly, without talking, when to start pressing or when to keep the ball in possession. When to pace the game and when to play opportunistic. Jari’s hockey experience in fore-checking must have helped him in football.

Most typical for Jari was his first goal against AC Milan in Milano, first leg CL game in the 94/95 season. Ronald de Boer didn’t even have the ball, when Jari took off on the edge of off-side. De Boer saw it, chipped the ball into space and Litmanen was face to face with Milan’s goalie: 0-1.

On top of that, Jari was a clean player. Despite all the challenges on his feet, he never would retaliate (Davids most of the times took care of that) and in his post-games analysis he always praised the team and thanked the fans.

In his last season, the man of glass is injured a lot. Most of his mates – Danny Blind, the Boer brothers, Rijkaard – have left already and Jari decides to leave Amsterdam. FC Barcelona wants to sign the marathon man and he is reunited with the De Boers, Bogarde, Kluivert, Reiziger and Louis van Gaal.

It wasn’t meant to be. Due to injuries, Litmanen can never impress. Litmanen left Barcelona for the love of his life: Liverpool. When a boy, Litmanen dreamt of playing for the Reds. The fans adore him, but again, the body doesn’t want to anymore. When Ajax wants him back, he decided to go back. He would play 20 matches in two season, injuries again, but when he played Ajax would be invincible. Jari left for Eintracht Frankfurt and Malmo. He didn’t play a lot though…you guessed it…injuries.

Jari would remain to be important for the Finnish team. Former Finnish team manager Roy Hodgson remembered the positive input of even an injured Litmanen and recently convinced his new bosses at Fulham to sign Litmanen. The EPL team in trouble has the Fin on loan until the end of the season. Another chapter in the life-work of the sympathetic Fin, full of high- and low-points. Until now, Jari played 493 games in pro football and scored 190 times. He played 106 internationals for the Finnish team and scored 28 times.

His star will shine forever in the hearts of millions of Dutch football fans.

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Comments

By goose | February 14th, 2008 at 3:57 am

Jari has to be one of my fav foreign players of all time … im no Ajax fan but i was a great fan of Littmanen…. one of the reasons he was loved that much is cause hes a real scandinavian guy … quiet, humble, not a shower…thats what we really like here in Holland (and he was a great, great player ofcourse), too bad his body didnt really approve of prof. football

Jari 4ever!!!

Posted from Netherlands

By Lerkot | February 14th, 2008 at 4:32 am

Litmanens time in Malmö was sort of horrific. The games he played.. he was the king. But oh lord, all the injuries. When he just came back after a long injury time, he got a bottle cap in the eye while in the dressing room, so he had to rest for another six weeks. The guy has had extremely bad luck.

Btw, Advocaat and his boys continue to surprise. Zenit won against Villarreal with 1-0, Ricksen didnt play from start, not sure if he came in.

By Jan | February 14th, 2008 at 5:16 am

Lerkot, when Jari played at Malmo, did he still have his magic? Did he play the number 10 position? Was he popular in Sweden?

Posted from Australia

By Jerome | February 14th, 2008 at 5:18 am

Until 1994/1995 I was unfortunate enough to live where the only regular football on TV was from England. When that all changed and I was able to watch European football on a weekly basis, Louis van Gaal’s Ajax were on top of the world, as was Jari Litmanen. So he, and that team will always be special to me.

He was an ideal no. 10 in that system, although funnily enough I think he was one of those players who was so specifically adapted to play a certain role (and were world class when they did), that when they moved and played in a different system their effectiveness did not seem as great.

The other player I have in mind was Ronald de Boer when he was on the right midfield. In 1998 I genuinely believe that during that WC he was one of the tournament’s best players. But when he changed clubs his impact did not seem to be as powerful.

Thanks for the memories Jari (and Ronald).

Posted from Australia

By Lerkot | February 14th, 2008 at 5:43 am

Jan: Yeah, he only played about ten games in two years, but whenever he was on the pitch, he was the king, dominating in a way that is rarely seen, and then you should remember that Malmö has had players like Afonso Alves and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in recent years. Litmanen played in the number 10 position.

Litmanen was popular, but people were also laughing at him, since he seems to get injured in every possible and impossible situation. There was also some controversy because he was always healthy when it was time to play with Finland, and during his two years in Malmö, he played more games for Finland than for Malmö.

However, in his last season, he made one last great thing. Malmö was in a bad period and to make the atmosphere in the squad a bit better, Litmanen decided to bike around the arena while the other players were training. A photo:

http://sdsmedia.sydsvenskan.se/archive/00086/384-74-heamff02_86654a.jpg

By larss | February 14th, 2008 at 12:04 pm

hey guys if anyone has footie tickets that they want to buy or sell go to this site!!

http://www.buymytickets.co.uk/

Posted from United Kingdom

By Finnster01 | February 14th, 2008 at 12:31 pm

Jari is too vulnerable for the Premier league. Although there is only 12-13 games left, I see him having a very small impact on the EPL and Fulham. I want him to succeed but I think at 37 and very fragile to injuries EPL would be the last of my places to look for a job. What is wrong with Dubai, it’s tax free as well…

Anyway, I know I am a tad late (got caught up in some unfortunate divorce proceedings in New Jersey which I wont recommend to anyone. If you want to get divorced do it in Holland or elsewhere, in the US your ex will kill you), but I wanted to post the answers to my last quiz and post a new one but somehow the site won’t let me dig that far back to copy my questions so I can answer. As my memory is fairly short, please someone repost the set so I can post the correct answers. Actually this time around there were more of a discourse which means people are taking this seriously and there is a nice set of discussion. I would appreciate if Jan/Goose or whomever is in charge could repost the questions so I can post the answers and my new set for the following week. Oranje did indeed look good though against a nasty Croatia side. Is it a one off or the future though?

Posted from United States

By nextsoccerstar.com | February 14th, 2008 at 1:05 pm

Litmanen is a legend. Pure and simple. It seems like a challenge for him going to Fulham and I hope he can make it work, but it will be tough. The Premier League has become so brutal in the last few years I wonder whether a player of his finesse can make an impact.

Good luck to him, the world needs more players like him.

http://www.nextsoccerstar.com

By Jan | February 14th, 2008 at 3:33 pm

Sorry to hear that Finn… I will repost your questions.

Thanks for the Swedish update Lerkot. I do agree that Jari thrived in the Ajax’ system and had trouble with other systems. Well, trouble…he didn’t shine as much. And it is also true for Ronald de B. And for Wim Jonk. And probably many others too.

Posted from Australia

By goose | February 14th, 2008 at 5:05 pm

yes finn; sorry to hear, just remember; you cant loose more money on this than Sir Paul!! (sorry, shouldnt joke bout it)

Posted from Netherlands

By tjeerd | February 14th, 2008 at 7:53 pm

jari was a class act, I loved watching him play.

Finnster: A buddy of mine got divorced in Canada, She came into the marriage with nil, he with $70,000. They bought a house, he supported her through engineering school. When she finally got graduated and got a job, she left him (no kids)and demanded half of the appreciated house. He fought her in court, and lost everything . The lawyers were the winners. In Canada, men get the shaft. They are bled white. “He was heelemaal kaal kuplucked.” (You are going to have to excuse my Dutch spelling)

By Genio | February 14th, 2008 at 8:27 pm

Hi all, I’m officially an Oranje fan. Been reading this blog daily and learning a LOT, thanks Jan and all posters.

Anyway, here are finnster’s questions
(found here – http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org/1/dutch-football-a-bland-flavour.html)

1) Since 1980 in the European Cup/Champions League, as the only Dutch to have done this, what has Van Basten, Rijkaard, Cluivert, Koeman and Gullit in common?
2) Who (and when for a bonus) was the FIRST English Premier League team to start 11 non-British (i.e. no English, Scots, Welsh, Irish etc) players in a full league game?
3) Who (and when for a bonus) was the first Spanish team in LA LIGA to stay undefeated at home?
4) Which soccer player said: “The person that said winning isn’t everything, never won anything”.
and finally on the more intriguing side of the sport we all love:
5) Why, even in Italy, is AC Milan not called AC Milano?
6) What did a certain Bennie Muller have to do before every Ajax game in the early 1970′ies?
7)What happened to the US trainer in the 1930 World Cup semi-final against Argentina after he ran onto the pitch to take care of an injured player?

Posted from Singapore