Young strikers waiting for a chance… Cas & Cas

November 9th, 2009 | by: Jan | Comments(11)

Castillion

In the olden days, Feyenoord or Ajax delivered the top guns for Oranje. Moulijn, Swart, Keizer, Van Hanegem, Jansen, Cruyff, Krol… After a while, PSV started to mingle and around the 1980s we saw AZ, FC Twente and other clubs offering up their talents.

With Huntelaar out of form, out of fashion and out of sight and Ruud van Nistelrooy close to retirement it’s time to check if FC Utrecht really has the new Oranje striker in their midst. Or do Ajax and Feyenoord have a trump up their sleeve.

Geoffrey Castillion and Luc Castaignos fit the bill. Let’s look at the two young guns.

Castillion is only 18 years old. And he’s not happy. Ajax signed another striker last summer. Pantelic came over from Hertha while Van Basten signed Cvitanich a year before. “It’s always the same thing. Strikers leave and then new strikers are bought. I don’t get what Ajax wants? Now I heard that they’ll sign another striker in the winter break…”.

Ajax criticizes Castillion in return. They feel the player needs to show more gusto. Work harder. They want to see him hungry every day. Recently Ajax tested the South Korean striker Seok. The 18 year old came to Amsterdam on a whim and showed up at Jong Ajax’ training session with his football shoes to prove himself. He’s running the grass out of the pitch to demonstrate his hunger. Ajax also has another young striker – Darko Bodul – but he’s loaned out to Sparta.

Castillion: “Ajax does have the reputation of allowing young players to demonstrate their worth. I simply think about Kieft, Van Basten and Bosman, they’re great examples for me. But, they made their debuts when they were 17 years old. I know I have to look in the mirror, but I also believe it is a two-way street.”

Castaignos

In Rotterdam, the 16 year old Luc Castaignos is watching Sparta train. Because he loves football. An hour later, local radio station Radio Rijnmond has a scoop: “The striker who’s followed by every top club in Europe is watching Sparta train!”. The youngster hears this from his parents later that day and is flabbergasted.

This is his new world. The world of glamour and spotlights. When Casta is 17 years old he plays his first game for Feyenoord against amateur side Harkemase Boys. Feyenoord doesn’t want him to give interviews. One reporter breaks the security fence and gets a response: “It was great to make my debut, but I still have everyting to prove…”

Feyenoord wants to protect the talented striker. His coach, former Feyenoord skipper Jean Paul van Gastel, knows that Luc doesn’t want to get too much attention. He wants to be one of the lads in his team. “It’s best to leave him alone a bit. He’s not happy with all this attention. Before he played in the first team, there were forums on the internet (!!) discussing him and his future role in Oranje. He’s smart enough to know that all of this is a bit too much. He’s capable of seeing those things for what they are.”

His manager Arie Treffers might have had a hand in his current status, when during the EC Under 17 he compared Casta with Thierry Henry. “I actually never said that,” the former amateur coach says now. “Some reporter asked me to compare his style with some big player, as a reference. I said that his style resembles Henry’s. Not that he is or will be that good.”

Despite the rumors about Liverpool and Arsenal following him, there’s never been any concrete contact with Feyenoord. Van Gastel: “There’s always English scouts at Varkenoord (Feyenoord’s youth complex). They know we have an exciting generation of players coming along and they’re here every week. But we never ever spoke about Castaignos.”

Luc’s dad Jean Luc does confirm that the family spoke with Arsenal. “They contacted us and we had a short and informal meeting. We told them what we told Feyenoord. We want Luc to have a normal youth with his mates and to enjoy his football. We tried to stay calm under all this…”.

Nuchter en liefdevol waakt Jean Luc Castaignos over zijn enige zoon. De geboren Fransman tracht zijn gezonde verstand te volgen in het voetbalcircus dat junior omringt. ,,Heel verstandige mensen,” zegt Peter Bosz, voormalig technisch directeur van Feyenoord, over vader en moeder Castaignos. ,,Vanaf het eerste moment maakten ze op mij een heel kalme, nuchtere indruk.”

Mario Been has invited the part French, part Cape Verdian player to train with the big boys. “He’s a good lad,” Been smiles. “He’s had a long summer with the EC Under 17 so I won’t be putting any pressure on him. He needs to get his normal rhythm. He’s still young. When he’s settled into the season and physically fit, we will have him on our training sessions a couple of times per week.”

The last word is for the player himself. “I felt a bit awkward with my name in the papers and on telly and on the internet, without having played one minute in Feyenoord 1. But that’s behind me now and training with Feyenoord is just great. I learn so much. I can watch Makaay for hours on end, to see how he drifts away from his marker and reads the game. I hope people will let me be and do my thing. I’ve got a long way to go still….”