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How does Bert manage Robin & Wesley?

October 2nd, 2008 | By: Jan | 17 Comments »

Van Marwijk is happy that his son in law is not involved, this time around…

Amidst all the European cup news, this particular news item almost slipped my attention, but I am really euphoric about the latest shenanigans surrounding Oranje.

Just when I thought the Dutch team would become a boring team, with great talent and focus ready to win prizes and playing to win - much like Italy, Germany and France - we showed our true colors again!!

And it’s important - very important - to hold on to our true identity. Call it the Dutch School, call it Clockwork Orange, call it whatever you like. We’re back where we belong. It brings back those wonderful memories of Johan, Jan and Willy. Or Clarence, Edgar and Guus. Or Arjen, Dick and Paul.

Wesley Sneijder lambasted Robin van Persie in the media, and the Wonderboy from Arsenal hit back. Right where it hurts! Great news. We’re ready to be the runner-up at the WC2010.

Sneijder criticized Robin van Persie in Sportweek. In the interview, Sneijder looks back at that free kick against Russia at the EC and still hasn’t found a way to bury his anger. During all his fitness sessions in Madrid to come back onto the pitch, the little big man fumed about Van Persie. Pierre van Hooijdonk knows exactly what Wes meant.

It doesn’t matter who’s wrong and who’s right. We’ll never know. Marco van Basten has a role to play and obviously, if Wes had taken that free kick, we would have won the EC. Spain would have been an afterthought…

The main question is: what is Bert van Marwijk gonna do with this controversial situation. The team manager wants us to wait a day before he answers that question.

“Friday, you’ll hear more,” said van Marwijk, who did talk about this item internally. The Theft by Robin.

Van Marwijk addressed it during the prep for the friendly against Russia. He talked about respect and acceptance of each other, while the whole world witnesses your actions. He used the rowing duo of Van Eupen and Van der Kolk. The proud golden medallists of Bejing, who were literally ready to smash each others heads in.

They realized the crux of the matter. They could only achieve their mutual goal by accepting each other faults. And bundle their qualities.

Van Persie was present when Van Marwijk gave his presentation. Sneijder wasn’t there due to injury.

Sneijder told VI this week that he was still agitated about the situation. Van Persie reacted very harsh in the AD: “If Wesley thinks he is a great player, he should be man and call me up. This is stuff you don’t air via the media. That’s weak. And uncalled for. We were supposed to keep the dirty laundry inside! I’m done talking. He made his move via the media, I won’t honor that with a talk.”

Raf van der Vaart, no slouch in the hierarchy of Oranje, said: “We had a quick talk about it in the group and decided it’s better to make and keep agreements than to break them. But in all honesty, if Robin had scored, I’d probably kissed him. He’s got a tremendous free kick. And such a situation between Wes and Robin is part of football. I can’t be bothered about it too much.”

Bert van Marwijk will again address this issue in the warm up to the next qualification game and will clearly explain a code of conduct for all players.

It’s still a question whether Sneijder will actually be present for Iceland and Norway. The Madrid midfielder hopes to make his return in the squad this weekend, and that should be considered too late. Sneijder couldn’t be reached for a comment. He only said he would call Robin.

Marco van Basten decided to mingle in the discussion as well. He sort of instructed Sneijder and Van Persie to sit around the table and talk this through.

“This is bad for Dutch football. They are both extraordinary players and this situation shouldn’t grow bigger than it is now.” Van Basten explained the situation with set-pieces again. “Sneijder is the free kick man. But it is clear that Van Persie has a tremendous kick as well so they were free to change the rules during the game.”

Van Persie used an example of Van Basten’s advice when the latter visited the Gunner in London. “He visited a game and Thierry Henry took all the free kicks, without success. Marco asked me after the game why he took them all. I told him that was the deal. Marco said, that a great player who feels he can score should claim responsibility and claim that free kick. He told me to rebel against the rules.”

Tags: Background stories, Holland, Oranje, Sneijder, Van Basten, van der Vaart, Van Marwijk, van Persie, World Cup 2010

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Comments

By Carlos | October 2nd, 2008 at 8:08 am

Hmmmm just saw the Dutch report on this…Seems like Wesley had more brains and decided to call Robin…ALL SORTED OUT..it was a storm in a teacup….and as I said it was 2 reporters who asked Wesley about it in Spain to which Wesley responded that if it was brought up he would sort it out face to face with Robin which was then interpreted as that He insisted on meeting Robin to sort this mess out !!!
After calling Robin it was ALL OVER. Well guys sleep easy…Wesley has a lot of respect for Robin as a player and gets on very well on the field with him.
For those who have not played the game at a reasonable level, although penalty takers and free kick takers are often nominated. Often the guy who “feels good” at that point in time always takes the kick. If Robin had scored everyone (incl Wesley) would have given him a big hug n kiss.

Posted from Singapore

By Caleb | October 2nd, 2008 at 9:10 am

It’s probably just a case of the media blowing things out of proportion, looking for a scandal/story. Hopefully you’re right Carlos, and they did sort it out.

Posted from Canada

By goose | October 2nd, 2008 at 9:24 am

Like the article Jan; its always the same, 1 dutchman and you have an opinion, 2 dutchmen and you have a fight!

in the end vPersie needs to accept that Wesley is our main man in Oranje

Posted from Netherlands

By Michel-Olivier | October 2nd, 2008 at 9:45 am

next year i want to see ruud back in the dutch team because we need players like ruud. if hunter is suspended or injured who will step up? no one. jan v-of-h is not dutch material.
the dutch team have a lot of deeper lying forwards(babel, kuijt, v.persie…) the only fox in the box striker the dutch team have is hunter and i doubt bert will call koevermans.

players to look out for
Ruud Vormer
Rajiv van La Parra
Stefan Nijland
Daryl Janmaat
Geoffrey Castillion(dutch adebayor)

Posted from United States

By finnster01 | October 2nd, 2008 at 9:46 am

I cant see vPersie ever accepting anything other than himself. As talented as he is, I personally think he actually is poison to the team and should be dropped. At the very minimum I think he should be sent a strong message (such as not being selected for a couple of games), maybe he will learn although I doubt it.

By goose | October 2nd, 2008 at 10:50 am

i totally agree finn; im sure he wont be dropped any time soon and we all know he is an amazing player but balance in a team is very important

vMarwijk ofcourse has had his troubles with vPersie in the past…think vHooydonck and vMarwijk came out as winners from that one

Posted from Netherlands

By finnster01 | October 2nd, 2008 at 3:12 pm

Just stumpled over another nice story.

It’s about Joseba Etxeberra from Atletico Bilbao. He is 31 years old, has played for the same club, Atletico Bilbao, since he was 17. He just signed a contract extension for 1 year because he wants to retire with the club of his life. He apparently had several offers from other clubs. What is interesting is that he refuses to get paid!! He wants to give something back to his club. Great to read stuff like this still exists!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/7649109.stm

By Carlos | October 2nd, 2008 at 5:53 pm

hmmmm?? Dutch teams faired reasonably well in the UEFA cup even Feijenoord made it through.
Stekelenburg will NOT be playing for Holland n next 2 games, Boy we needed him against those big Norwegians !!

Posted from Singapore

By Jan | October 2nd, 2008 at 8:18 pm

True Carlos… Stekelenburg will be out for 6 weeks with a shoulder injury. Henk Timmer isn’t fit either, so there’s a good chance Bert will need to use Twente’s Sander Boschker (great goalie, but small) or Kenneth Vermeer (very talented but young).

As for Robin: you may remember that Marco didn’t like his attitude when he first selected him and sent him away. Marco ignored him or a couple of matches and that attitude gained him Robin’s respect.

Maybe Robin should be put in his place once again, although then he was a sub at Arsenal, now he is Arsenal’s main man upfront. A difference.

I do believe some reporter made a meal out of this and I also believe Wesley didn’t mean it like this. Robin’s reaction was maybe a bit too harsh. He should have said: I don’t respond via the media and until I’ve talked to Sneijder I won’t comment…

By 3ric | October 2nd, 2008 at 9:20 pm

I wonder if Van der Sar would be willing to temporarily come back in light of this goalie crisis. I can’t imagine Vermeer is drafted, he lacks playing time. Velthuizen is stuck with struggling Vitesse. I suppose Vorm has a chance also to get a call up.

By chatchat | October 2nd, 2008 at 9:49 pm

Van Basten saved RVP’s life when he was involved in a fight with Ajax fans, which also gained him the respect from Robin.

Posted from United States

By Miguel Rosado | October 2nd, 2008 at 11:15 pm

This issues are normal, last year Drogba and Ballack had this problem too. Both Wesley and Persie are great free kickers but it’s Bert’s resposibility to teach them to respect each other.

By jason | October 3rd, 2008 at 12:44 am

I agree with Finn - RvP should be dropped. His ego is a poison but it should be spelled out to him so he can grow from the experience.

Posted from Canada

By Jan | October 3rd, 2008 at 2:10 am

I would never drop Robin. I do feel Wes got too much responsibilities when Marco was in charge. Maybe because Robin was injured, I don’t know but Raf, Wes and Robin are equally important in my book and Wes shouldn’t be made “the boss”. I would love to see Ruud back in the squad. And something tells me he will be….

By Mario | October 3rd, 2008 at 4:36 am

If van Persie or Sneijder take a free kick we have great chances of scoring but against Russia that free kick wasn´t anything compared to the many chances Russia created…thet were better that day and although I strongly believe we are better that them in football but if you don´t play with passion then the game is over and that day Russia had more spirit, hunger and PASION than us…such a pity because we were playing great but the hunger we showed in the first round was simply gone vs Russia. Perhaps over confidence or something like that but actually they deserved to win and even that they won 3-1 our best player in that game was Edwin van der Sar…doubts? Does it matter who should have taken that shot???????

By Jan | October 3rd, 2008 at 6:59 am

Van der Sar should have taken the free kick

By Jason | October 3rd, 2008 at 10:55 am

The thing about the free kick is that because RvP was doing something sneaky, he also had to do it in haste and because of that blew it over the bar. He should have had the brains to prepare for the strike.

I would still drop him for a couple games so he gets the message that it is a team effort.

Posted from Canada

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