The Humbug - an Overview

The media jumped on van Basten in this period, seemingly happy that at last they found something they could use against him. As if his sainthood suddenly stopped protecting him. Polls were organised by serious newspapers and tv programs: should van Basten step down, yes or no?

After a few days, and after mostly all players and pundits reacted almost flabbergasted on this ridiculous situation, the humbug died down… The match against Bulgary took most vicious angles and sharp edges from the discussion. VI, the Dutch football magazine published a survey under all Eredivisie coaches, who all proclaimed their support for MvB and their understanding for his behaviour in this situation.

In earlier publications, the chairman of the Dutch Federation expressed his bewilderment on the fact that suddenly the nation turned against MvB.

A quick rundown of the situation:

MvB showed a peculiar way of selecting players for Oranje from day one. He picked young talented no-name players over big guns like Seedorf and Kluivert. The nation was pleased with this; most people had enough of the moviestars, as they were called. And MvB brought home the bacon in the qualification for WC06 so no one really cared. However, MvB did express his dissatisfaction with one player seemed to be at this peak, Mark van Bommel. After another dissapointing match, MvB declared he didn’t need van Bommel anymore. Hasta la Vista baby.

Just before the WC, Marco accepted Bommel back in the group (who had by now changed clubs, from PSV to Barcelona and would later that month win the CL) and surprised the nation by ignoring Makaay, Davids and Seedorf for the WC, although van der Vaart wasn’t fit and our other midfielders did not excell.

However, the nation expected nothing less than a title in Germany. And MvB and Oranje couldn’t deliver. 30 minutes of good play and one goal against S&M, again 30 minutes of good play (and two goals, and a lot of luck) against IC, forgettable football against Argentina (both already qualified for the 2nd group matches) and a shamefull match against Portugal (with a disgrace of a referee and some bad luck for Cocu, Kuyt and van Persie).
And in the meantime, a huge clash between Marco van Basten and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

After the WC, van Bommel left Barcelona for Bayern Munich and Van the Man left Manchester for Madrid. In that phase, MvB didn’t pick them for the friendly against Ireland and the two first Euro 08 qualifiers.

After two of our strikers got injured (Huntelaar, Vennegoor) and our midfield needed some more power (Maduro and van der Vaart out), MvB called upon Mark and Ruud again. Mark’s message was plain and clear: I won’t play for Oranje when you’re the boss! Ruud was willing to patch it up with Marco but the two got in a huge row over the phone (again) and decided it was too early… No Mark and no Ruud against Bulgary (1-1 draw after a very good match in difficult circumstances) and Albania (2-1 win after an ok first half and a dreadful second half), in other words…

And I mustn’t forget that Marco did admit that maybe it would have been a wiser thing in retrospect for him to have called Mark and Ruud after the WC and explain to them why he didn’t call on them for the first post-WC matches.

The professional analysts (ex-players, ex-team managers, coaches, etc) seem to be consistent in their conclusions:

1. Yes, it’s a shame both players are not longer part of the squad
2. Yes, MvB may have made some communication and man-management errors
3. It is MvB’s right and prerogative to select the players he feels best for the job
4. We can all have different opinions, but it is still his responsibility
5. MvB will never favour guys he likes or axe players he personally doesn’t like
6. With Mark and Ruud, Holland did not excel at the WC06
7. Apparently, Mark and Ruud feel they should be beyond criticism; MvB feels differently
8. Mark van Bommel’s timing to quit is somewhat odd, he should’ve thrown the towel after not being selected against Ireland
9. Mark and Ruud let the team and the nation down

Your turn again…