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Bouma: This was my best season ever!

May 30th, 2008 | By: Jan | 21 Comments »

Wilfred Bouma’s hands are folded on the table. He looks me straight in the eye and a sly smile emerges. And than he says it. “I should actually give my opponents a serious cookie early in the game. So they’ll know: shit, I am up against a roughneck.”

We kind of saw this coming, this season. The former PSV player has changed. Years ago, he was always described as introverted, shy, full of self doubt. Always troubled with little pains and injuries.

But here we are, face to face with a pro, a player who is self-aware. Who played all matches for his club Aston Villa. Bouma has woken up.

“My first season in England was horrible. I was bad. Then, you can do two things: either hide in your shell or work like a dog and get your spot back. I’ve done the latter and this was my best season ever.”

His 30est birthday is approaching and finally Bouma is taken seriously as a player. And he can also understand how people looked at him in the past. “If people would say stuff about me on tv, I would take that in. I would worry about. I can handle that much better now. I’ve learned that other people’s opinions are just that: other people’s opinions.”

“I underestimated the step to England. I am much fitter, my condition is fantastic, I feel good. Then it’s also easier to stay fit. My image has changed, and that is only positive, of course.”

He has the names of his kids, Nina and Gino, tattooed on his arm. “My kids are very important to me. Whenever whatever happens, they’re there for me. Their love is unconditional. That has helped me in my life and therefore on the pitch.”

His goal is to get a starting position at the EC. He will battle with Joris Mathijsen for a spot in the center of defense. It seems like Van Basten has a preference for Bouma.

“Iknow Van Basten is very alert at training sessions. So, I made a pledge. To be 100% committed at every training and to avoid injuries. I want to play the games against Italy, France and Romania.”

The fact that Bouma played against Ukraine is a sign. The team manager is constantly looking for the optimal solution at the back, which is seen as Oranje’s Achilles heel.

The former PSV player sees it differently. “We may have strikers and midfielders who all play at top clubs and the defenders may not, but that doesn’t mean we can’t perform top. We conceded the least goals during qualification. We may not play at top clubs, but we play against top strikers all the time. In England, every week, it’s a 90 minute battle. And you don’t play Cristiano Ronaldo or Drogba every week, but all strikers in England are top notch and challenge you for the full 90 minutes.”

Wilfred Bouma is optimistic. “I am a football fan myself, and at training sessions I sometimes look at the players we have and think: wow! It’s incredible the way some players have developed over the last year. And they already were outstanding last year. At the top, it’s a game of little details, but if they click Oranje can really impress.”

Tags: Bouma, Euro 2008, Mathijsen, Oranje, Persie, Sar

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Comments

By sphinx | May 30th, 2008 at 7:06 pm

Yea he is right to say .close encounter with top strikers every week.
That would relly help.
not many defenders can play for both central and left back like him.
I always remember his header against Czechs during Eu2004 too

Posted from Australia

By toni | May 31st, 2008 at 4:31 am

lets hope he kppes it up, so they finish second in the group, behind Italy and relegate france to third =)

Posted from Australia

By Rob | May 31st, 2008 at 5:06 am

He certainly used to be dodgy and error-prone. I haven’t seen that much of Villa this season, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and hope he’s improved. Mentally, he always seemed a complete choker.

Posted from Japan

By Ramy | May 31st, 2008 at 10:31 am

Babel Injued.. I hope this is not a start of a nightmare run of luck for us…

Posted from Canada

By ferenc | May 31st, 2008 at 10:35 am

bad news… he’s one of my favourite dutch players. if i were marco i would take a risk and call drenthe instead of babel…

Posted from Hungary

By sphinx | May 31st, 2008 at 10:35 am

yes..he is..who should be his repalcement?
link: http://en.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=703652.html#oranje+jolted+babel+breakdown
And how’s going on with De Cler?

Posted from Australia

By Michel-Olivier | May 31st, 2008 at 10:52 am

Ryan Babel has been ruled out

Posted from United States

By goose | May 31st, 2008 at 10:58 am

@sfinx; deCler is fine..he trained today, all is well

shit that Babel is out..not yet known with whom vBasten will replace him ( a replacement is allowed)

saw Italy-Belgium yesterday…was not impressed but im sure the italians will do better once the EC has started

looking at Germany-Serbia; the germans are 1-0 behind, theur defense dont look too strong

Posted from Netherlands

By Bart | May 31st, 2008 at 10:59 am

I found the past articles and the codes. It is too bad though that the codes are invalid. Any reason why that is, I don’t know what happened I was in the league and then all of the sudden when the group predictions started I can no longer see a link to the league. Anyone know what happened?

Posted from Canada

By Rob | May 31st, 2008 at 11:08 am

Damn – Babel was the perfect supersub to bring on to change a match – now Oranje has no-one who can do that

What’s up with Castelen? He’s the guy I’d bring in to replace Babel.

Posted from Japan

By Michel-Olivier | May 31st, 2008 at 11:18 am

i hope marco call clarence seedorf as a replacement. clarence wouldn’t mind helping the orange since it’s an emergency right. or maybe drenthe should get a call up.

Posted from United States

By goose | May 31st, 2008 at 11:48 am

btw; is that a coca-cola tattoo on Bouma’s arm??

Posted from Netherlands

By goose | May 31st, 2008 at 1:54 pm

Boula in for Babel (official)

Posted from Netherlands

By dirk v.d.berg | May 31st, 2008 at 2:37 pm

Well Italy won 3-1 against Belgium, Romania’s up 4-0 against Montenegro, France is playing Paraguay and we’re playing Wales. I guess after this weekend we’ll have a good look at how the teams r playing.

Posted from Canada

By Mario Rosado (Dutch admirer) | May 31st, 2008 at 4:10 pm

Shit!!!. I am so sad for Babel he’s been doing great lately and we really needed him, he’ll be missed.

By ferenc | May 31st, 2008 at 4:50 pm

boulah is great. i have a dream. in the final we’ll lead 1-0 against portugal. 89. minute, ronaldo has the ball,boulah arrives,tackles. ronaldo will cry,he has to abandon the game. oranje win 1-0 and crowned european champion. boulah will be our saviour:-)

Posted from Hungary

By Jan | May 31st, 2008 at 5:51 pm

That is bad news! Sjite! I saw Babel as an important weapon at this EC.

Boulah for Babel is understandable, but who will be our deep penetrating danger man when we need one??? Afellay? Hunter and Jan Vennegoor are too slow… I think I would have called Drenthe… Totally left of field of course, but still…

Posted from Australia

By finnster01 | May 31st, 2008 at 5:53 pm

Anyone know exactly the extend of the injury to Babel? I see some places speculate in a ruptured achilles, which is a major f-ing problem, surgery required, and could potentially not have him back until after EPL season starts.

Anything in Dutch papers Goose?

Posted from United States

By sphinx | May 31st, 2008 at 8:16 pm

Goose..so relief to hear del cler is fine.
Buola is perfect replacement, although my heart looked for Dranthe.

Posted from Australia

By goose | June 1st, 2008 at 3:27 am

@finnster; thats correct, he wont be playing for at least 2 months

Posted from Netherlands

By JH | June 1st, 2008 at 6:27 am

Freddie has been absolutely superb this past season – so, so underrated at left-back it is unbelieveable. If you are talking about consistency, he was probably our best player this season, a million miles away from his performances in his debut season.

Posted from United Kingdom