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Loovens and Van Persie: friends for life

August 20th, 2009 | By: Jan | 38 Comments »

Bob van Persie and Hans Loovens witnessed their sons grow into big stars. From Kralingen and Crooswijk to London and Glasgow. Now, they’re facing each other in the Champions League. One the striker of Arsenal, the other defending for Celtic.

Time flies… Daddy Bob van Persie still remembers how he made a double bunk bed for Robin so that his best mate Glenn Loovens could come and stay the night. “My house had two bedrooms, one big one for me, and a kids’ room for Robin. We switched rooms when Glenn started to spend more time with us.”

Artist Bob van Persie wasn’t Mr. Van Persie for Robin’s friends, but just “Bob”. “I worked in my studio when Robin was at school, but when he came home I was there for him and all his mates. I became one of the gang. It was a fun time, but also busy. I was a dad alone, did the groceries, cooking, laundry, all that.”

Two streets further down in Kralingen, the life of ex- football pro Hans Loovens wasn’t much different. “I had to sons at home, and when Robin slept with us, we put a mattress on the floor. He was always welcome.”

Both dads enjoy watching their sons play. And last Wednesday they could watch them together in their CL match. And bring back memories… Lovvens: “I’d hear them in their room late at night. When I went up to watch they were doing push ups and sit ups… That’s not normal. Other kids would watch tv and eat chips…”

Glenn Loovens was scouted by Feyenoord at a young age. Robin played at Excelsior Rotterdam till he was twelve.

Bob van Persie: “Robin was selected to go to Feyenoord, but needed to play the last game of the competition with Excelsior against Feyenoord for the title. Feyenoord was the favorite and the Feyenoord people had bought flowers already and all that. Robin came on in the second half and gave us a massive show. Excelsior won the title and the Feyenoord people gave the flowers to the Excelsior lads.”

In the C-juniors, Robin joined Glenn’s team. And that stayed that will till the first team. Bob van Persie: “Suddenly, Robin came into a made up bed. There was transport, good lunches and he could do fitness. He loved it.”

Robin didn’t have enough football with Feyenoord it seems. With Glenn Loovens, Said Bouhatar (now NEC) and Mounir El Hamdaoui (now AZ) they played street football against other suburbs. “I don’t think they lost many games,” dad van Persie says.

Bob: “Robin is very loyal to his mates. And he loved Glenn. He’s a very nice bloke. And on the pitch, he was a butcher, a killer. Whenever Robin played upfront and Glenn at the back, half of the problems were solved.”

Hans Loovens recognized Van Persie’s tremendous talent. I worked as a youth coach for a long time and can spot talent, I tell ya. But, with Robin, that wasn’t too hard. He’s probably one of the best in the world, but you could see that back then already. Everybody always say that Robin was a handful, but he wasn’t. He knew what he wanted, and he had a strong personality. Glenn was fearless, but Robin was a real winner.”

Robin and Glenn are still the biggest mates. They won the UEFA Cup together at Feyenoord. Robin went to Arsenal, Glenn to Cardiff City and later Celtic. They already versed each other in the FA Cup, at Highbury. Arsenal won that game 2-1.

Robin is a regular at Oranje, but Glenn isn’t. Bob van Persie thinks it’s time Van Marwijk selects him. “I think Oranje can use Glenn in South Africa, because our defense doesn’t look that confident.”

Hans Loovens doubted whether his son would make it to the top. But at Celtic, he is making tremendous progress. Hans watches his son via Celtic TV and flies to Glasgow regularly. “Glenn improved so much as a football player. As a defender, I don’t think he can learn that much, but his build up play has improved enormously. Glenn was so young, only seventeen years old, when he made his debut in Feyenoord 1. It’s quite something. He made a mistake in his first game against Glasgow Rangers but recovered immediately in the game. That’s quit something.”

Mario Been wanted Glenn Loovens back at Feyenoord this summer. But Glenn didn’t want to. “At Celtic he playes European football, he can win prizes and he improves. Glenn has a good head on his shoulders and he knows what he can do and can’t do. Celtic plays wonderfull pass and move football and he picked that up wonderfully.”

A year back, Glenn would play the ball in to the full backs. Today he has the confidence to play the ball straight in to the strikers and push up through the center. Defensively, dad Hans – who was a defender in the Eredivisie and Eerste divisie – doesn’t have any doubts. “If Glenn is totally focused, there’s no striker who can beat him.”

Tags: Arsenal, Celtic, Feyenoord, Group C, Loovens, Mario Been, van Persie

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 38 comments.

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By ferenc | August 21st, 2009 at 4:38 am

@Tju: i’m not sure that ibra and eto’o (who’s actually 180) will be at the world cup,so probably we don’t need anything against them. toni is not dangerous at all and he’s getting older (giuseppe rossi is far better than him). cr7’s – and portugal’s – world cup participation is not sure either. agree with Jan and Carlos – sure,we have some defensive problems and personally i’m not too convinced about huntelaar,but the main concern is our players’ regular playing time in their clubs (which is not the case of vdv,sneijder,de jong,braafheid etc.) and find the optimal clubs for them (i mean by this that you can dream about for ex. wesley playing at barca,but the reality is that inter desperately needs him and can become a big star there). there are only 10 days left before the transfer window’s closing. wesley still doesn’t know what to do.

Voflswinkel and Castaginos: who the hell are these guys??? oranje want to win a world cup not a euro under 17…

Posted from Hungary

By Tiju | August 21st, 2009 at 4:54 am

@ferenc i just said give some experimental chance to castaginos and volfswinkel and let us see how good they are now(irrespective of their experience).
if they can convince dutchfans.well and good so let them go to WC2010.i am damn sure they will not do too bad………..
Vaart can be a superhit in MANU and Ac milan,inter etc ditto with znijder.my best wishes to both of them.but diffnece case is totally different,except braphied none of them are reliable now………
Many of us will say Zuiverloon have to go long way.but i would say Zuiverloon is a trustworthy diffnder than weil and heitinga,may be little less than bula.But we need bula for Oiiger so Zuiverloon can fill the RB position.
i dont belive in these so called bigboys such as znijder,babel,afaleey,kuyt(skills),vaart(lazy),gio,OOiger,heitinga etc
but i do have belive in Vanpersie,Roban,Elia,Kuyt(mentally),Brapheid,Bula,Hunter,Schaars,de jong.i would have included znijder in this list if he was not selfish.God will punish the selfish players sure..and we will say it curse of orange.

Posted from India

By Mohamed | August 21st, 2009 at 6:59 am

Well , i have to say that i like all tiju’s posts , they all show that he is a true oranje fan .

anyway, i think that both vdv and sneijder are a must in the dutch starting line-up .

Our defense is bad , it needs to be protected by two DMFs ,
we have to accept this fact

we need drenthe in the squad , the guy started to show his worth in madrid , i can see putting arbeloa and marcello on the bench , we need him at least as sub. for gio

we have to forget about zuiverloon ,( i know he is the most talented dutch defender in the last 10 years , but we can’t select a player in west bromich albion for the dutch squad in the WC ) , van der weil and boulahrouz have to be our options for now !

brafhied can play as a CB with bayern munchen , he is very good in this position , i think we should try the duo ( heitinga and brafhied in the CB position ) and make them as our subs. , mathijsen and loovens as our starters.

i still think seedorf is important ( don’t laugh ) ,
he can be a perfect in the holding midfielder position beside v.bommel . At least better than da silva and engelaar !!

if vdv moves to liverpool , he will propably play as a lt. winger , so i can say we should play with that form :
stek
mathijsen , loovens
boulahroz , gio
bommel , seedorf
robben , sneijder , vdv
persie

subs.:
velthuzien / worm
heitinga , brafhied
v.d.weil , drenthe
de jong , schaars
castelen , kuyt ,elia
huntelaar

how about it ?

By Michel-Olivier | August 21st, 2009 at 7:34 am

Jeremain Lens is ready for orange

Posted from United States

By Jan | August 21st, 2009 at 8:01 am

Mohamed, I like your thinking bar one thing…

Seedorf as a holding mid. I don’t think Clarence can do that and I don’t think you should ask him to. Holding midfielders need to work hard, tackle, battle, jump and head… I can’t see him do it. Unless he is supposed to be the playmaker on that spot, but then I’d like to see Wes there.

My ideal eleven is:

Stekel (actually Sar)
Wiel Loovens Bommel Braafheid
Schaars Sneijder
Kuyt Vaart Robben
Van Persie

By fares | August 21st, 2009 at 9:38 am

@jan:
1-stekel has been doing very well for ajax recently but we all hope van der sar could be back for orange
2-i really doubt the defensive qualities of van der wiel ( i would select marcellis even if poor on attacking)
3-it remains to be seen if loovens would perform at an international level having not played a single game for holland
4-as i said before van bommel never played cb and will never do it so it makes me really feel angry! that we repeat this every time
5- schaars has been very very rubbish against england and must never be selected never.
6-sneijder isn’t a defensive midfielder and it would be a disaster if he played in this position
7- kyut vaart robben
van persie :
excellent and that should be the attack of orange really excellent

so my line up would be :
stekel
marcellis loovens mathijsen braafheid ( hope he plays for bayern cause he is excellent)
van bommel dejong (same for braafheid)
kuyt vaart robben
van persie

By Mohamed | August 21st, 2009 at 9:53 am

@jan , actually jan this was my favorite line-up 2 weeks ago!! and i still like it ,
but … you know , i don’t see marwijk playing with this form ( especially with putting v.bommel in the libero position ) , so i just want to be more realistic and be closer to the way that (fart ) v. marwijk thinks
About seedorf , i saw him in the last season against AS roma in the holding midfielder position (as pirlo was injured ) and he was amazing ! He was playing like viera , and i think he is experienced enough to add the depth to the dutch midfield and push the game farward , it will be fantastic to see bommel , seedorf , vaart and wesley in the midfeild , we can rock the world with this team !

By Bart | August 21st, 2009 at 11:09 am

@fares:

4- Defensive midfielder and centerback is not so different. Rijkaard and one of the Boers brothers played both positions. (I believe)

5- One bad game for Schaars doesn’t mean anything.

6- I don’t think we need two defensive mids. Keep one make the other one a creative passer that helps build up from the back and pushes forward.

Posted from Canada

By ferenc | August 21st, 2009 at 11:20 am

i would be really happy to see clarence back to oranje because he’s been my fav dutch player since the retirement of edgar davids and patrick kluivert. he’s far more intelligent than sneijder (speaks 5-6 languages,studies at a university in italy,his teammate call him “the philosopher”),but in this team sneijder is better. sometimes clarence seems to be very lazy and apperently he doesn’t lik too much to run. on the other hand,this afternoon lerby (sneijder’s agent) said that wesley would like to remain at madrid. i espect the worst scenario: he will stay there,valdano and pellegrini will declare that he’s surplus and don’t include him into the squad,he will miss his number and won’t play until the january transfer window. he should go to inter,he’s no other choice.

Posted from Hungary

By Marc | August 21st, 2009 at 11:43 am

Jan I agree with that line up. It gives us a way to play v bommel, de jong, sneijder, VdV, etc. Also it gives us an experienced player in the defense along with a player who can win headers.

Also unsure if you guys know this already but it doesn’t look good for the wes to inter deal. http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2009/08/21/1453249/wesley-sneijder-wants-real-madrid-stay-agent

Posted from United States

By ferenc | August 21st, 2009 at 1:06 pm

this is a comment there:

“Real are forcing him out and he wants to stay!??!?!?!Good luck rothing on Real’s bench or reserve team,watching the World Cup on TV and playing for Groningen next year.Inter will just find someone better to take his place.”

sadly,i have to agree with the guy who wrote this…

Posted from Hungary

By Michel-Olivier | August 21st, 2009 at 1:18 pm

————-v.d.sar————
v.d.wiel-heitinga-brouwers-braafheid
———–v.bommel———-
—–v.d.vaart—seedorf——
kuijt——————-robben
———v.persie———

best 11 for wc 2010

Posted from United States

By Marc | August 21st, 2009 at 1:24 pm

What is sneijder honestly thinking??? If they don’t want you than leave. He would have been key at Inter but now all he is going to do is sit on the bench. He needs to listen to VdV and Huntelaar. They knew they weren’t going to play so they were willing to leave. There are plenty of other good teams and Inter is one of them. Sneijder needs to stop being an idiot and realize that if he doesn’t leave than no oranje for him. And I love sneijder, I love the way he plays and he has always been my favorite player, but his judgement is certainly making me think differently.

Posted from United States

By Rami | August 21st, 2009 at 1:34 pm

yes wes seems keen on warming the bench this season

but on the other hand, i do feel theres place for him in the squad. kaka imo is an awful playmaker.
that new spanish bloke (forgot the name) that pelligrini is playing instead of sneijder wont last very long. hes young not very experienced, and no where near as complete as sneijder..

Against Dortmund,
in the second half when robben came in, although they were starting to bang in the goals, i felt they were unbalanced offensively. there were too many wingers, too many ppl who like to take the ball and just dribble, and nobody just doing a proper distribution..

if i were pelligrini id dispense of robben or higuain.. Real has one too many of their likes.

Posted from Norway

By Ruud | August 21st, 2009 at 1:35 pm

I don’t know why Sneijder thinks real madrid is a great club. He must learn from van Bommel how to hate this club. Come on Sneijder, you gonna lose you position in the national team and you gonna sit in the bench with real madrid, idiot. What are you waiting for!!!!
BTW, ManU and Bayern are also interested in him .. anywhere is better than RM.

Posted from Canada

By ferenc | August 21st, 2009 at 1:48 pm

if he’s that stupid he deserves playing in real madrid’s second team and watching the big boys’games. not even from the bench… in this case van marwijk should recall seedorf and just forget sneijder.
btw the spanish guy is called granero and he’s not that bad. as a getafe player he was – and still is – in the spanish squad. not as good as xavi or iniesta or xabi alonso – but still young (21 or 22 years old) and (what is important for perez&co and a disadvantage for sneijder) he’s spanish. it means that kaka,xabi alonso and granero are prefered to wesley…

i don’t understand him… if i’m not needed somewhere and my bosses express it quite loudly i’ll go somewhere else. end of story. doesn’t matter how talented he is.

Posted from Hungary

By Marc | August 21st, 2009 at 3:32 pm

I mean any of us can say sneijder’s way better than granero, kaka, and xabi alonso but it’s all about being realistic. How can you expect him to play when they spent 70 million on kaka and 40 million on xabi. It’s simple, HE IS NOT GOING TO PLAY. Even granero has preference over him because he is spanish and he was bought under perez and he seems to want to get rid of all players bought during claderons time: Sneijer, gago, higuain, m. diarra, Robben, van der vaart, and ruud. So at the moment sneijder has o% chance of playing. Instead of wanting to play as bench player, he should take his chance and move to inter, man utd, or bayern.

Posted from United States

By Igor | August 21st, 2009 at 3:33 pm

i’ve heard two theories on why sneijder doesn’t want to move and i’d be interested to hear which you guys think is more plausible:

1. inter is a step down not only in status but also in wages
2. sneijder is really moving to inter but is playing hardball in a effort to get Real to pay him some sort of compensation.

maybe all of this opens the door for vdv to go to inter? and then sneijder to ManU (altough as an Arsenal fan i have little desire to see ManU improve their squad). This would be great for sneijder, good league, good team, CL football and with scholes getting up there in age, hargreaves being perpetually injured and anderson not being quite ready to be the midfield general, i imagine he would be first choice, all of which is good for oranje (which is most important afterall).

Posted from Canada

By ferenc | August 21st, 2009 at 4:01 pm

@Igor: i think that all rumours about manu and bayern are just speculations. the move to inter is a real possibility – mourinho wants him,he would be the trequartista of the team. he should take his chance. both of your theories might be true,but inter is not a step down in status – actually in recent years’ champions’ league they are as bad as madrid. he might earn less than in madrid,but he should think about his career. like Marc said. he has 0% chance of being in the starting eleven or being first choice substitute. i don’t think he likes playing copa del ray football against second/third division teams.
anyway we have 10 days to see what will happen,but the italian league will start this weekend and mourinho wants to start it with a complet squad. he might change his mind as well and find someone else for ex. cassano…
why? why? why? just one year before the world cup…
about manu: sneijder’s position is totally different from scholes’ or hargreaves’position. actually in manu there is no real,classic playmaker. they play with holding midfielders and wingers.

Posted from Hungary

By Igor | August 21st, 2009 at 4:12 pm

ferenc, yes i agree that manu/bayern speculations are pretty unrealistic, i was just getting carried away hoping that sneijder would find a top club to play for already instead of stubbornly staying at madrid where like you said he’ll be facing 2nd division teams in the copa del rey.

but i also think that part of the reason that manu plays without a classic playmaker is because they do not have one, but would if they could find someone suitable. that is why giggs has played quite a few games at CM instead of on the wings in the past two seasons (can’t really consider giggs a holding midfielder and in my mind at least scholes is more of a playmaker than a holding mid…actually whenever he tackles he usually puts in a clumsy mistimed challenge and ends up getting booked, seems like SAF should almost ask him not to tackle!)

Posted from Canada

By Jan | August 21st, 2009 at 4:41 pm

@fares: I’m sorry I made you angry . I didn’t realize we couldn’t position players on different spots in the team…

Actually, Van Bommel played libero – under van Marwijk even – in Fortuna where he started his career. As a sweeper, he’d make huge runs to the other box and did very well.

Loovens won’t have a problem playing on this level. His big big weapon is focus and concentration. He always played good in big games and is sometimes sloppy in lesser games. He played in the Oranje youth teams, player European football with Feyenoord and played one of his best games ever in the FA Cup final against Portsmouth. A big game, millions of watchers and Loovens was Swansea’s best man. I don’t doubt this young man.

Sneijder is either a big baby with a huge ego or his manager and Mourinho are playing a game.

Inter Milan is not a step back from Madrid. Ajax isn’t a step back from Madrid. How can you on the one hand criticize Madrid for being so out of control and then claim that Inter is a step back? Inter has a sound structure and strategy, a smart coach, good material… I’d pick Inter over Real Madrid anyday.

I can’t imagine money is the issue for Sneijder. He should financially secure already. And if you make 6 mio p.a for Madrid and you now have to make do with 4 Mio p.a…. Well… Big deal….

By Jeroen | August 21st, 2009 at 5:22 pm

First of all, I wouldn’t put too much merit into what goal.com says. They’ve been making a big soap of this whole Sneijder affair. I don’t think Sneijder is that dumb; from his interviews he seems like a pretty clever guy, and I think this is just all marketing politics, because Real HAS to get rid of some players. At the end of the day, Ajax is making money of all these sales: they get comped for developing them in their youth haha.

I’m pretty sure we will see Sneijder at Inter by 1st of September. I’m not so sure about VDV. The liverpool story is a bit bogus IMO, since Liverpool is in a bit of money trouble right now, just confirmed another signing, and apparently only has two million to spend. I’m not sure about the credibility of the Arsenal story, but Wenger hasn’t really been buying so it could be true. Would be nice to see VDV at Arsenal, but I’m not sure if he would be in the starting 11….at least not to begin with (he could definitely prove his way in if given a chance, unlike at RM).

Posted from Netherlands

By Igor | August 21st, 2009 at 5:36 pm

babel’s new rap video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgxSlpAHNrU&feature=related

at least he’ll have something to do next summer if he’s cut from oranje before the WC…

Posted from Canada

By Igor | August 21st, 2009 at 5:49 pm

i agree with Jeroen, i don’t think that ‘pool has the cash available to make a move for vdv and as i’ve said before, wenger has more pressing holes to fill in his squad (definitely needs a Defensive Mid and maybe a centreback) and won’t be keen to splash too much money on an attacking mid like VDV who plays a position where they have plenty of depth (cesc, arshavin, rosicky, nasri, denilson, ramsey etc.)

Posted from Canada

By fares | August 21st, 2009 at 7:14 pm

@jan: loool!!

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