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Seedorf still learns every day

May 21st, 2007 | By: Jan | 16 Comments »

Clarence laughs. He is happy, upbeat and he feels strong. And that at the end of a very tough season.

When did it all start to move well, this season?
“I don’t know how…it started in December. The team has form, and so do I”.

In which way does his return to Oranje add to that?
“Oh, that surely helped. I felt good mentally. A lot of things actually help to up your motivation. That’s what it’s about. You want to get better and keep on learning. We had a tough season, particularly mentally. We started the Serie A with points deducted. And we needed to play qualifications for the Champions League. Pretty serious, in other words. But, we proved that with some luck and a lot of pain you can come a long way. All the elements were there to keep on going forward. You had to. And the selection for Oranje was part of that, for sure!”.

His lobby paid off then?
“That was no lobby. No! I had given an interview and the journalist wanted my opinion on Oranje. And later I was invited to this tv-program for a critical interview, and I went. I answered their questions, and that’s it. I didn’t set out to lobby for myself. Why would I? I mean, history is history. I don’t ever look back in anger. I bury the past and move on.”

Seedorf is a phenomenon. Just look at his laurels. But he is only a part of the AC Milan machinery. And prices aren’t given away at random. Everybody works very hard for that. And that happens so professionaly that age is not an issue. Costacurta is 41, Maldini is 38. And they will be there, in Athens tomorrow.

The Rossoneri have a specific training- and medical-routine, keeping fatigue at bay. No one complains, if the PE coach makes the big boys do 50 meter sprints up hill at the end of the season. It’s all about discipline.

“Some people compare me with red wine,” Seedorf answers the standard and routine questions by the foreign press at Milanello. And he does so in English, Spanish, Italian, Portugues and French. Without a problem. Only his German is rusty, he laughs.

“I really don’t mind all the attention,” Clarence the goal-getter remarks with a smile. “I do make important goals now, like Kaka, but that’s because Sevtchenko is gone and we handle things differently this season. That’s all.”

Clarence Seedorf is not just a football-player. He manages a motor-racing team, owns a restaurant (“Fingers in Milan; a Japanese restaurant, it’s fun.”) and has a sports-complex in Suriname. He is also a student, he will graduate as a Master in Sportsmanagement soon. “I won’t go into that now. I want to graduate first and then we’ll talk about that.”

As if football is an afterthought. But that’s rubbish. “I am very much focussed on my job here at Milan. And now it’s time to go for the crown. I suppose you can see in the matches I play how important I think football is for me? And not for me, for all of us here. We peak at the right moments and we have faith in a great end of this season. When you put in the work, you sweat, you fight and you stay focussed the results will come.”

“It has to do with the changes we made. Till December we did okay. But not super. Then Kaka got this injury and Ancelotti placed me on the 10 position (shadow striker). That went well and Ancelotti then used one striker with two shadow-strikers (Kaka and Seedorf) behind the striker. And since then it clicked. We rolled on like a steamroller. It all worked.”

The steamroller will have his most important job to do in Athens tomorrow. Against the same opponent that humiliated AC Milan two years ago in Instanbul. Milan played out of this world football in the first half and was 3-0 up. In the second half, Liverpool came back to 3-3 in six minutes. And Milan lost in the penalty shootout. People still talk about that match today. Seedorf put it behind him.

“What can you say. It was very frustrating. Very. But, you’ve got to swallow the turd and not chew on it. You have to move on. Accept it and not lose the lesson. It is not a special motivation for tomorrow. You don’t need special motivations when you are in the CL-finals.”

“Every one wants that cup. And every one will prepare the way they do. If players find extra strength because of the 2005 finals, fine. Go ahead. Just win the game. But that match was 2 years ago… I played so many matches since… For me, there is no revenge or something like that. That’s stuff the media get into.”

“I do think it’ll be a physical match. A tough match. AC Milan is probably the better team in football-technical sense. But Liverpool is a very strong and fighting-fit team. We really can’t surprise each other anymore. I do hope we’ll all enjoy the finals and yes, that we win of course. And 1-0 is enough. It would be special. This finals, i dedicate it to my son, who still needs to be born by the way.”

“I will prepare for the finals in a relaxed way. I try not to think about it too much. I will do that on match day. You don’t want to stress yourself too much, you need to have the right amount of pressure. If it’s too much you can block yourself. And yes, I say this from experience although I can’t really elaborate too much about it. It’s a feeling. But we all have experience with playing finals here, haha…”

“But don’t get me wrong. I learn a lot, still. This is my best Champions League season ever. I am happy with all the kudos and compliments but I can’t sit down and rest and allow myself to get wrapped in that. I need to move on. I want to give it my all. It feels like the Neverending Story. I don’t look back, but forward. Every year we want to win prices, the only way to set higher standards. And believe you me, the worst – or best actually – in that aspect is Maldini. He is 38 years old and is super motivated. And he wants more. So he’ll stay another year. You know, that is not a coincidence, that that happens here at AC Milan.”

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Comments

By Rami | May 21st, 2007 at 8:50 pm

Im actually gonna be rooting for Seedorf.. Sorry Kuyt. I wouldnt mind if you score a goal, id be happy, but id like to see Seedorf lifting the cup.

By Ishmael | May 21st, 2007 at 9:03 pm

I like the interview. I like Seedorf. He does sport management, i hope he will be new Oranje coach one day. I am looking at Portugal blog too like you said but Portugal blog is not active. Last post was May I think. So your blog is better and I will stay here too.

Posted from Australia

By Mario | May 21st, 2007 at 10:00 pm

I did not know Seedorf was such a businessman, he is model as a persona. He succeeds at everything what he does, and not because of luck but hard work. Amazing person! He has to be starter for the Dutch, he is a champion, no doubt about that.

By Jan | May 21st, 2007 at 11:50 pm

Yeah, this is a typical example of a tall poppy as we say in Oz. He was a wise young man when he was 18 years old. Very philosophical and well educated. And so the Dutch hated him. Then he started to take and miss penalty kicks and the Dutch hated him even more. His excuse was: if noone wants to take them, I will. I am not afraid to try and fail. And then he struck gold in Italy and Spain, drove around in a Ferrari and then every body in Holland truly hated him… And why? Because he is a winner, he says what he feels, he is brave and as we see now: the guy has gut quality, brains and balls. Go Clarence!

Posted from Australia

By Jan | May 22nd, 2007 at 12:03 am

Remember this: “We think Nicky Hoffs and Barry van Galen are better players for the team than Clarence Seedorf.”

Pop Quiz: who said these historical words?

(There will be no prices for this one…)

AND NO ISHMAEL: IT WASN’T DICK NANNINGA!!!

Posted from Australia

By Samuel Knight (Oudegeest) | May 22nd, 2007 at 8:51 am

Wow,

Impressive guy. Boy did he mature. I remember the arrogant kid trying to be too cute on the field.

Now, what you can say? Sad that Van B didn’t bring him along to Germany last year.

Posted from United States

By ferenc | May 22nd, 2007 at 9:12 am

marco (or rather someone else) should build oranje ec 08 around clarence and ruud.

sorry for kuyt’s and bolo’s (hope he will play)fans,but for tomorrow: forza clarence,go milan!!!

he will deserve his 4th cl victory.

Posted from Hungary

By sphinx | May 22nd, 2007 at 2:25 pm

hey i’am back jan.
Seedorf always asked for no.10 jarsey and right time only come at32. He has fitted well into that position. I really want to see him with his 4th cup.
Imagine if Basten let him try the same way for orange! surely he will porve right again.
BTW I will be in Thailand to watch the friendly, Exciting.

Posted from Thailand

By goose | May 22nd, 2007 at 3:25 pm

@Jan; as a representative of one of the dutch who have for a long time ‘hated’ Seedorf i have to replay on your comment on why the dutch hate(d) him.
1. it is true that he was ‘old’at a very young age, he ofcourse not well educated at all, he was a pro at 14, never finished school..(not saying his not intelligent), ..at first people just didnt really like his attitude which was a bit distant..then he started to become to cocky, youre saying noone wanted to take these penaltys but he just demanded the ball (also with freekicks) and the thing with the Kabel didnt help the image of all the surinam players..
i my group of friend i have a lot of football (and Oranje) supporters, we take football very serious..never heared anyting about Seedorf driving Ferraris, im sure nobody cares..

your comment on winners is very interesting; its very true that in dutch society there is little room for anything outside the regular..the country is just too small for extremes (Poldermodel, gedogen etc.) its importent to keep the peace.. now a real winner sometimes need to be extreme and will therefor get alot of shit, a winner (in football at least) needs to have people around them who really believe and who are willing to sacrifie..the one person in dutch history who could achive this is ofcourse Cruijff.. the one real winner is post war dutch history..the only one who the dutch are willing to follow blindly..cause we believe in him…hes the closest thing to God in my country..
Seedorf is ofcourse a winner, he can be the first one to win the Cham.Leg. 4 times, he hade a spectacular metamorfse, he looks so at ease with himself, he plays better than never before but
hes not that kind of winner who really takes it up another lever and so really can aggitate people because of it..

Lets see what tomorrow will bring; Kuyt or Seedorf

grzt

Posted from Netherlands

By Jan | May 22nd, 2007 at 5:22 pm

Yo Goose, interesting stuff… Remember how Cruyff was not popular when he was a player? People called him money-wolf and stuff…?

Posted from Australia

By goose | May 23rd, 2007 at 1:55 am

yes, altough im too young to ever see him as a player (did you ever see him play live??)

think he was the first dutch footballer to see what a pro needs to do..make money…in a society like the dutch, wich is still a calvijn one, making money (and not being ashamed by it) is not popular: Embarrasment of riches.. thats very dutch

it always amazes me how special the cruijff position is in Holland

Posted from Netherlands

By Chris | May 23rd, 2007 at 4:19 am

“You’ve got to swallow the turd and not chew on it.”

I love his pearls of wisdom

Posted from United States

By goose | May 23rd, 2007 at 5:14 am

@Chris: is that actually one of Cruijffs???

my all time fav. Cruijff wisdom;

The italians cant win from you but you can be beaten by them anyhow (difficult to translate, help jan please!)

grtz

Posted from Netherlands

By Jan | May 23rd, 2007 at 5:17 am

That translation was spot on Goose!

That turd quote wasn’t Cruyff and neither Clarence’s. It was used by a financial consultant I once hired and we were looking at some bad news… He said: hey…don’t chew the turd…just quickly swallow it… :-). I thought that was soooo gross but also so very on the mark. Will never forget that…

I was happy to be able to use it in this blog.

Posted from Australia

By Jan | May 23rd, 2007 at 5:27 am

Welcome back Sphinx-meister :-).

Did I ever see JC play live? I surely did! I saw him play at Ajax (although I was pretty young), I saw the WC74 when I was 12 (man did that make an impact) and I saw him play for Feyenoord, my team. I was there when JC had his first training at Feyenoord. 10.000 people around the pitch. I was what, 22 years old? I was mates with Feyenoord’s 2nd goalie. When JC was signed, some players said they’d show him how they played in Rotterdam (meaning rough). The first ball for JC was followed by a flying tackle. JC jumped up and didn’t flinch. Second ball for JC, he handled the ball and then hit a Feyenoord player (can’t remember who, probably Ben Wijnnstekers) pretty hard. The crowd cheered and from that moment on, nobody tried anything anymore. His right ankle was hurt so bad in these days that he only used his right leg/foot to stand on. Did everything with his “weaker” left. I saw most Feyenoord matches live, that season. Man, was he good! Only thing I didn’t like was that he kept Andrej Jeliazkov benched - he thought the Bulgarian striker was tactically not good enough - who was one of my fave players… Anyway…long time ago :-).

I remember Willem Van Hanegem’s farewell game pretty well. That was at the end of the season before JC’s season. JC was a guestplayer at Feyenoord then, but there were rumours about JC signing for Feyenoord. Most fans were against, but Willem was pro. So during the match, it was obvious that Willem did everything to allow JC to score for Feyenoord. Which he did (header). After the match, Willem said he thought it looked good to see JC score in the Feyenoord colors. From that moment on, Rotterdam embraced JC. Stop me if I’m ranting, ok?

Posted from Australia

By goose | May 23rd, 2007 at 6:09 am

@Jan, great stories mate…heared about the vanHanegem story, he was the one person who could realise such a thing at Feyenoord (still think they need him right now!)..never really realised how bad Cruijffs ankle was..saw an item on tv when he turned 60 the other day and they interview the guy who treated him at Feyenoord, he had all these machine wich he made himself and Cruyff was at his place almost all of the time…this guy sais Cruijff never played without pain from the age of 22 and he could play without injections when he was older… imagion; a 100% fit Cruijff would even be better…
really hate it that i never saw him play

Posted from Netherlands

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