Foppe de Haan looks back at Bejing

That particular evening, Foppe de Haan asked Evander Sno to come by in his room. The Olympic’s coach had made an overview on video of all Sno’s ball contacts and decisions of the last match. The current Ajax player was supposed to soak it all up and learn from his actions. De Haan allowed Sno to watch the compilation and asked Sno afterwards: “well, what do you think?”. And Sno replied: “Well, that’s just how I play…”

De Haan now: “As a coach, there’s nothing more you can say.”

And thus, we don’t see Sno or Drenthe for that matter in the current U21 selection for the EC qualification. De Haan was clearly not happy with the two talented youngsters.

The Games are history now, but it still seems to be a tough reality for De Haan, who worked four years towards his goal: winning a medal.

“It was my major goal and not all players supported me in this. Their preparation was unsufficient. Or maybe I should say, non-existent. Not all of them, but some.”

“We had 22 players in the pre-selection and at least 10 of these players overestimated themselves and underestimated the circumstances in China. You’ll crash into a brick wall if that’s the case. I could see it during our warm up in Hong Kong already. I always enjoy watching football and the training sessions are usually a treat. This time, I found myself cursing at some of them! You asshole, I thought… It startled me. I never had that before.”

How is it possible that well-paid pro’s – playing for some oof the biggest clubs in Europe – prepare so badly for an Olympic Games. De Haan thinks it has to do with the Dutch football mentality. “We organize everything for them. We think for them. We don’t give them any responsibilities anymore. Beckham had to clean Keane’s shoes at Man United. Our players are pampered at a very young age. At the clubs, they have a whole network of minions taking care of their stuff. It’s sick.”

In Bejing, some players basically hid. They refused to stand up and take responsibility. An athlete like Theo Bos, who disappointed in Bejing, can’t blame anyone else but himself. Some of my players weren’t there with their hearts. Some people warned me for this, they said I was too positive about my group. I didn’t want to listen, but they were right. It was a tough and hard lesson for me.”

“When Gertjan Verbeek (current Feyenoord coach) played at Heerenveen, I had to stop him from working too hard, from trying too hard. I literally had to tell him to leave the trainings pitch. I missed players like him. Roy Makaay has it. He sticked to his program and he stepped up to the plate. And Dirk Marcellis. He is a real pro too. He knew he had to work hard to survive.”

Two tough characters, Marcellis and Makaay. Comparable with players like Verbeek. “The ones that invest in themselves are usually the lesser talented players. They know they need the work to make it big. Marcellis, and Calvin Jong-A-Pin aren’t top talents, but they’ll come far on their character and work ethics.”

Players who count on their talent to pull them through will fail, in the end, is what De Haan thinks.

“I told my players this. But to them, it’s a story. Some blokes see the light at a later stage in their career. Sibon. Santi Kolk. Romano Denneboom. These boys talk to me now and say, “trainer, you were right back then. I wish I’d listened.” It’s too late, in most cases. Too bad.”

U21 Jong Oranje plays Norway this Friday.

Aissati is still not selected by De Haan. “I think Aissati will have to prove himself at Ajax first. He was a tremendous player when he was 17 years old. We all know that. But something stagnated in his development and I don’t know what caused it. But the fact that several coaches in the past years haven’t used him as much is a signal you can’t ignore.”