ADO and John van den Brom: phenomena

March 19th, 2011 | by: Jan | Comments(51)

I wrote this post some days ago. When it was still cool to be compared to Louis van Gaal . Apologies to John van den Brom… But ADO plays Ajax at home this weekend, so it’s about time we give ADO some attention. The revelation of this domestic season.

Some quick words on the week behind us. I was gutted with Bayern’s performance and agree that this is typical Van Gaal stuff, as we saw with Oranje and Barca before. Megalomania, I’d call it.

Ajax, Twente and PSV further demonstrated in their Europa League games that being able to play football is not enough. Barcelona, Inter and Man United demonstrate this week in week out: being able to play good football is a prerequisite. What is key, is the mentality. The belief. The desire. Our Dutch teams miss that in spades. It’s too friendly. Too futsally… We need to grow hair on our chests and we need to will the win!

Like ADO Den Haag does…. Here you go Goose!

John van den Brom resembled Louis van Gaal as a player already. Like Van Gaal he had wonderful vision, leadership qualities and like Van Gaal Van den Brom was slow. Too slow for top football. He managed at Ajax and even played a number of games for Oranje but like Van Gaal he might become a worldwide name as a coach.

ADO Den Haag is the first top league team Brom coaches, after the Ajax youth and AGOVV ( with Peter van Vossen as his assistant) but he already has his name on the radar, taking the fourth spot with ADO last week in the Dutch top flight.

Van den Brom is more than merely a result-driven coach, he does get his results with fresh and attractive football. The new crown prince enjoys all the attention: “Everything here in Den Haag oozes football.”

Van den Brom adores Den Haag. “From day 1 football was the main thing. Football, football, football. But in a relaxed vibe. I’m not a screamer, I don’t run like an idiot along the lines. It’s about fun. I want players to enjoy their football and our goal is to play better football. So, we won’t be hitting long balls to the forwards, hoping for something.”

“My biggest example is Louis van Gaal, obviously” says Van den Brom. “I worked with him for two years in a tight regime, but in the good way of the term. He was clear: this is what I stand for, this is how I work and this is what I expect from you. There is nothing more liberating than clarity. And even with bad news, if you bring it fair and square, players will respect it.”

Van Gaal also taught Van den Brom how to instill confidence in players. “I use that with my reserve players. Against Heerenveen I missed Bulykin and Kubik. I had to use Immers in the point and Buijs and Vicento played. They were totally ready for it and we played our best game this season.”

Van den Brom upset his old club Ajax with a win in Amsterdam and did the same in Eindhoven, beating PSV at home. That victory was a historic one. “It was 40 year since our last win in Eindhoven. Those are the moments you play for.”

It’s too early to call Van den Brom a top coach. You need to wait for qualifications like that. Ask Frank de Boer. He was hailed as the next big thing after winning in Milan in the Champions League and before he knew it, Ajax struggled to win against De Graafschap.

De Boer has – we think – the image and charisma of a champion. The suit, the quotes, he can be tough when needed, he’s stabil, he’s played a couple of international games for Ajax and Oranje… you know? It’s a different profile than Van den Brom’s. Apparently, Heerenveen looked at him before they decided on Jans and they thought Van den Brom was too lightweight. A bit soft.

And he is. He’s a fan of football. Call him tonight and ask him to come and train third class amateur club Hoeven in Brabant on thursday evening for zilch reward and he’ll show up. He’s the type of coach that tells his players on Friday what will happen on Sunday and he’ll get it right most of the time.

He’s capable of making his players better. Bulykin thinks he will make it into the Russian national team! He’ll tell the players they will beat PSV and they enter the stadium in a conga line, dancing and singing. They win the game and they go into the bus in another conga line. Still dancing and singing.

Maybe Brom isn’t a top coach yet, but he surely is a phenomenon.

And as a result, everything in Den Haag is upside down. Up until last summer, the city’s main club side, ADO (short for Alles Door Oefeningen – ‘Everything Through Practice’) was considered the very example of everything a football club should not be. Hooliganism, dressing room bust-ups, racist abuse from supporters and financial decline. For the last few seasons, ADO have hit the headlines in Holland for all the wrong reasons and, despite being considered a sleeping giant of the Dutch game, have never advanced further than repeated Eredivisie relegation battles.

With 45 points from 26 games at the time of writing, ADO sit fourth in the league. And the side coached by John van den Brom are close to setting a new club record, with 52 goals scored so far. With eight games left, ADO need just another 13 to equal the record number they achieved in the 1975/76 season.

ADO are a competitive team, built with little money lavished on transfers. All their key performers either arrived on loan, were bought from an amateur club, or developed by their own youth system. But amidst all the superb displays, it is the heroics of a quartet of stars, who could well be known as the fantastic four, that have formed the basis for the side’s success:

Dmitri Bulykin
Bulykin has been reborn at ADO after two unimpressive and unlucky seasons with Anderlecht and Fortuna Dusseldorf. “I seriously thought about hanging up my boots”, admitted the Russian striker. Now, he is glad he didn’t. Last August, Bulykin joined ADO on a one-year loan from Anderlecht after a successful trial. It was not easy for the Russian at first however, with not all at ADO agreeing that he could reach the level of fitness required to play in the Eredivisie. “You are too fat”, the striker was told after just one training session. “Here you can see only muscles”, said Bulykin defiantly after tearing off his jersey and pointing to his chest. The Russian quickly became a regular in ADO’s 4-3-3 system, developing a good understanding with his team-mates, Wesley Verhoek, Frantisek Kubik and Charlton Vicento. 17 goals and six assists in 26 games has made Bulykin a firm fan favourite at the Kyocera Stadion, with supports singing the Russian son “Kalinka” every time he finds the back of the net.

Lex Immers
A hometown hero, Immers is Den Haag born and bred, as the ADO badge tattooed on his back would suggest. “One thing is certain”, said Immers after his Eredivisie debut on 24th August, 2007, “I will never play for Ajax”. The Den Haag native is an attacking midfielder, but can also operate effectively up front, as has been the case this season when Bulykin was sidelined with injury. A player who runs for the whole 90 minutes, the 24-year-old’s vitality and endurance are vital for ADO. Last summer, Immers was close to moving to Italy where his parents live. “Without a serious offer, none of our talent will leave ADO”, said chairman Mark van der Kallen. ADO fan number one Immers (six goals and three assists so far this season) agrees: “Only a bid bigger than the distance from Den Haag to Tokyo will make me move from here.” The ADO faithful hope even that would not be enough.

Jens Toornstra
ADO’s brains and heart, at the beginning of 2009 this left sided midfielder still turned out for amateur side Alphense Boys in the Tweede Klasse C – Dutch football’s fourth tier. Less than two years later however, and Jens Toornstra is one of the Eredivisie’s finest young talents, making his debut with Holland’s Under-21 side and scoring his first goals with both ADO and the “little Oranje”. Spotted by Holland’s press officier Kees Jansma, who was impressed by his qualities, a suggestion to the Den Haag-based side that they snap up Toornstra did not go unheeded. Following the youngster’s first few accomplished displays in the Eredivisie, Holland was gripped by the “Toornstra case”, as a nation asked how good scouts in the top flight really are if they could let Jens Toornstra’s talent go unnoticed. Since his debut on 4th December, 2009, the 22-year-old midfielder has missed just one game. This season Toornstra has three goals and three assists to his name for ADO.

Wesley Verhoek
Wesley Verhoek made his ADO debut in the 2004/05 season, however until 2010 the winger was considered a typical inconsistent, if talented, player. This season though Verhoek’s career has skyrocketed, with Eredivisie giants Ajax and PSV Eindhoven knocking loudly on ADO’s door. The 24-year-old is currently ranked the fifth best performer in the league and third best passer, with eleven assists to his name so far. Scoring has been on the agenda too, with seven goals scored, the most important of those being at the Philips Stadion against PSV, a strike which was crucial in securing ADO a famous 1-0 win, their first in Eindhoven since 1971. Verhoek also bagged the winner against Ajax at the Amsterdam ArenA. “The last time ADO won in Amsterdam was in 1986”, said Verhoek, “just five weeks before I was born.”