Ruud van Gol: open to Oranje…

Ruud van Nistelrooy will be out for another six months… The 32 year old is working on his recovery, discplined and focused. “It’s not my knee deciding for me when to stop. I’ll make that decision. With my heart and mind. Not with my knee!”

On the way to lunch in his suburb La Moraleja, Ruud reflects on the tv program Holland Sport, in which Royston Drenthe last week spilled his gut. The youngster was very open about his feeling and anxieties. Van Nistelrooy: “Roy was very vulnerable in that program and that takes guts! He just honestly admitted that his challenge was huge and that he needs to up his game. That’s courageous of him. I like that. It’s a strength to be so open. He’ll go far.”

Ruud spends time in the gym at the club everyday. He watches the group train everyday through a big window. “I see it all,” he smiles…

His fellow country men don’t have an easy time a the moment. “No one has an easy time here. Even the biggest of the biggest, like Cannavaro, Raul, Sergio Ramos and Castillas need to work hard every day. This is Real Madrid. It doesn’t get bigger. Everyone who plays here has the skill level to perform top. But to do it season after season takes more than skill. When you can do that, you’re a big player. Big heart, strong mind, the physical aspects. The pressures… Skill isn’t even key. And most of the Dutchies are in their mid-twenties. They’ll come good. They’ve seen a lot already. For Royston, it’s harder. His road will be longer. You’ve got to make yourself a spot in the group and make yourself indispensable. Or at least…try to. And then you’re surrounded by top players everyday and everyday you need to earn your spot.”

“I don’t interfere with them. Not like that. We hang out. We have a bond. More a friendship than anything else. Klaas Jan came with dozens of questions… “Who is he?”, “what does he do here?”, “how does this work”, etc. It’s a tough club, here. The media are intertwined, there’s the ex-players… I know by now what links are connected to what other group… When you know, you can take it into account. Work with it. That’s the kind of stuff I share with them.”

Ruud thinks it was good of Drenthe and Sneijder earlier on to be so self-critical. “They did well. When you feel you are not able to bring what you need to, just come out and say so. Don’t hide. You don’t want to fool the club and you can’t fool yourself. I always used to do that too, and I still do. Whenever I sense something is wrong, or off-balance, I blurt it out.”

Van Gol doesn’t think it’s a good thing that there’s so many Dutch players in one club. “I’m not a fan. It’s too much. I’m not saying this in disrespect about them… It’s not about them or me. It’s about Real Madrid. We could use some more Spanish talents. You see, it’s fun to have friends here, but for a Spanish club, you want Spanish players. And our team manager wants the Dutch lads to play every week.”

Van Nistelrooy still thinks about Oranje then? “Ah, it’s still in my system. It was a crucial part of my career. Listen, I retired myself. But when I recover from this injury and I come back at my old level…who knows? If Bert van Marwijk needs me, I won’t say no to him.”

He walks around as if there’s nothing wrong with his knee. “I really want to kick a ball, but I can’t. In May I can start group training. In June I need to rest and take a holiday. I will do a normal warm up pre-season and play my first match in August. My knee doesn’t stop me from doing anything now. And that’s really weird. I don’t feel injured…”

“I felt the pain in the Juve away game. I had the best start this season. Ten goals in 13 matches. Man… I wanted to keep on going, Jezus I was in the flow. Doctor Steadman made me stop. He told me the procedure, the time I needed to invest in myself, and honest to God, I almost fainted! Couldn’t believe what he said. I was devastated. I was physically ill. Nausea… Sweating…Dizzy… I needed to lie down…”

Ruud currently lives in a totally new rhythm. “And that’s fun in a way. I’m not a football player now, but a dad and a husband. We took a week off to see Sevilla. Spend time in Holland. I’ve no pressure, there are no expectations, no worries… The club said: Ruud, no interview. I thought…hmm…cool… Fine with me… Rest!”

He also used this period to ponder his career. “I had a wonderful career, till now. But, I’m not ready yet. I won’t let my knee decide for me, yo know. I want to win the Champions League with Madrid. But, essentially, I just want to play football…”

He also looked back at his conflict with Sir Alex at Man United. “Pff, I still don’t know why that needed to happen in that way, you know? So emotional and all. He could have told me: Ruud, I want to make some money on you and get a new player in. Fine… But we had such a great relationship and when I felt he was leaving me out, I was insulted and sad. I never thought I’d be so close to a coach that he could actually hurt me… But this was so personal. I hope I can meet him someday again, and talk it through… I think we can leave it behind us.”

Was the fall out with Van Basten after the WC2006 similar? “No, not really. That was my mistake, really. I thought we were friends, you know. But that was more me wishing for that, I guess. I don’t think we were. We had a good professional relationship and I expected more. It was an illusion. He didn’t see it that way in 2006. In 2008, it did happen. We started to become close after our fall out. That was actually pretty cool, I thought.”

“I had a long talk with Van Basten and Van ‘t Schip about it after the EC. We said our farewells in a very warm way. That was good. Sometimes, relationships turn sour, but if you put some effort in you can get to a higher level. I will never look back in anger or with hatred or something. I can open up and talk through these things and move on. Some people poison themselves with all their negative thoughts and keep on holding grudges for decades. Horrible.”

“I did have a bad experience with Advocaat. He subbed me in the away game against the Czechs. We were hunting for a goal and he subbed me! I bumped into him in the hotel, later. Just me and him. I said, why would you replace me when you need a goal? And he said: “Ok Ruud, I won’t do that again…”. That was it for me! What a spineless guy I thought, and I gave him a piece of my mind. That felt good… I said: You either trust me or you don’t. When you need goals, you let me play the full game. If you don’t trust me, leave me at home. After that, Dick and I got a much better relationship. I know that all those conflicts are partly my fault. I realize that, but I also work hard to resolve it.”

“So here I am, doing my fitness on the bycicle in the gym, looking at the lads training and realizing that a long injury can make a player a wiser man…”