The Ones that Got Away

This post was suggested to me…. Players who left Holland to young and who never were able to fullfil their destiny :-).

Tarik Oulida would be the first one that comes to mind. One of Ajax’ most talented players. Midfielder, sub in the 1995 Van Gaal squad. JC called him the best talent since….well…since JC. He left to play in Spain, if I am not mistaken, only to make a move to Japan - for a lot of yen - and I think he’s back in Holland now, somewhere….retired I guess.

Another big player was Eric Regtop. Great striker. From the Ajax school as well. Couldn’t make it at Ajax, went to Heerenveen - to Foppe - and made a move to Austria!! He might well be still playing there.

Mario Melchiot maybe? He left early, but as he says in the interview I posted here some weeks ago, he actually did well and his career planning is not so bad. And he’s back with Oranje, so….

Clarence left Ajax early and he did allright. Won some cups, I believe….

Frans van Rooy was a hot and hugely skilled PSV midfielder. He couldn’t get in the team really, because at that time (end of the 80s), PSV bought and bought and bought… Little Frans as he was called got fed up with it and left for Belgium. Never heard of him since…

There was this other Ajax midfielder… Rob Reinink or something…. He was a hot talent at Ajax in the JC coaching days… With Rijkaard, Van Basten and Van ‘t Schip… He had a couple of very good games in Ajax 1, but he got in personal trouble… Left for Roda JC and got even deeper in trouble. Don’t even know if he’s alive today…

Brian Roy… Magician on the left wing…. Left for some mediocre team in Italy. Did well there though, I do believe he had a great time…

Ah…Marciano Vink… Another one of those confident players. He was supposed to be the next Danny Blind. He left for Genua when he was young. Scored on of the most beautiful goals ever there (check YouTube), but got injured and never could get back to his ol’ level… Was quite a good player.

Richard Witschge. From another planet! Great skills, very good eye… A bit of a personality maybe, he left for Barcelona at a young age (JC was crazy about him) but due to the three-foreigner rule he had to compete with Hristo, Michael and Ronald. And later Romario. Fat chance. Little Witschge went to play for Bordeaux, with one young Zizou Zidane. Who later in an interview named Richard W. the best player he ever played with… There you go.

Rich made a great comeback at Ajax but was ousted with Winter by Co Adriaanse (if memory serves me well).

Mario Been. Called the new Maradona when he played with Marco, Johnny, Gerald and Frank for Young Oranje in Argentina. The man could do it all… But he stayed faithful to his beloved Feyenoord too long. The club got in trouble, so did Mario. He decided to leave when the world had forgotten about him and he ended up playing for Pisa.

Pisa! The club Wim Kieft went to. The prolific Ajax striker won the Golden Shoe and the next season Ajax decided to sell him off because one Marco van Basten was making his way up to Ajax 1. Wim played for Pisa, then for Torino until PSV got him back. Kieft got back in Oranje and played a very important part in PSV’s and Oranje’s successes at the end of the 80s. Wim Kieft is now a highly respected tv-analyst.

By the way, I always felt Robin van Persie was in the category mentioned. Leaving Feyenoord too fast. First the flirtation with PSV and then that move to the Big Arsenal. I figured we heard the last of him….. And now look at him :-).

Do you know more players?