Michel Vorm, hero of Swansea

January 16th, 2012 | by: Jan |

vorm

The first months of Michel Vorm in Swansea: “I’m impressed with that new Swansea goalie time after time” ( Michael Owen), “The other lads called him the Cat, as his reflexes are so lightning fast” (Swansea coach Brendan Rogers), “He only cost 1,5 Mio pounds, he’s the pick of the season” ( editor of the South Wales Evening Post) “And when the game is over and the victory is in sight, think of Michel Vorm in goal, you can watch him save all night” ( from songsmith Derek Davies, who wrote the song “Swansea City’s Number 1, Michel, Michel Vorm) and “He’s keeping the balls from his pants for months now”… the Dutch board member of Swansea, John van Zweden).

John van Zweden made his fortune with wallpaper. Dick Wallpaper ( Lul de Behanger) is what he calls himself. He sells all sorts, except for Ajax wallpaper. “Never!”. He loved Swansea City and when he learned in 2002 that his favorite English club was going to perish, he wire transfered 50.000 euros. And without realising it, he had just become the co-owner.

When Swansea needed a new goalie, Van Zweden convinced Rogers to look in Holland. “We have always produced good goalies. I made a short list and Cillesen was number one. But NEC asked an outrageous amount of money so we went to number 2 on the list: MIchel Vorm. I knew he was good, but he looks so nice and clean cut. I was afraid he wouldn’t make it here. Well, we all know better now. Last he clashed with Rooney against Man United. Rooney stayed down for the count, haha.”

Wayne+Rooney+Swansea+City+v+Manchester+United+HiCONtRVGBhl

Van Zweden is a little bit concerned though. Fulham and three other bigger EPL clubs already checked what Vorm’s asking price is. “The chairman told them 10 Mio Pounds, but he’s actually not for sale. The fans would kill us if we’d sell him. He is one of our fave players and we want him to stay.”

Michel Vorm plays the perfect game against Fulham. Swansea beats Martin Jol’s team 2-0 at home and after Vorm stops Ruiz and Johnson it’s time for the former Utrecht goalie to claim the spotlight. Clint Dempsey is ready to take a penalty: Vorm stops it. Again! Michel Vorm is the Man of The Match. And his name will be chanted till late in the Welsh pubs.

Michel Vorm is happy in Wales. “I didn’t know a lot about Swansea. And you somehow think of grey towns and all that, but Wales is beautiful. We train close to a national park with hills and Swansea is obviously a coastal town so my girlfriend and I live in an apartment close to the sea. It’s brilliant.”

Vorm was not desperate to leave but had an eye on another, bigger, competition. “It’s rare for a goalie to make a big jump. We knew scouts came to check players out at Utrecht and it was always for Ricky ( van Wolfswinkel) or Dries (Mertens). When Swansea called I knew I got the chance to play in the EPL and my ears started buzzing. On one day I was preparing to play VVV Venlo and a week later I played Manchester City in the EPL, haha.”

Vorm conceded four goals in that match, but stopped eleven real goal opportunities and made a name for himself. “I stopped a penalty earlier and I noticed that the fans and the media had accepted me just like that. In that Man City game, I had a delayed reaction. I stopped a Yaya Toure free kick and I realised it was a great safe at the time. Even the ref came up to me at the end of the game and complimented me on my game. But I saw it back two weeks later, that particular safe and I realised how great it actually was. Normally, I would have stomped that ball away, but this time I had it in my both hands, safe. I think that particular game made my name.”

Vorm actually forgot about his dreams, years ago. “My growth stalled. I am only 1.80 meters talls and someone had told me that English clubs won’t sign keepers under 1.90. Look at Joe Hart or Ed van der Sar. So I forgot about it. But I did train hard to compensate. I’m not tall but I’m very strong and fast. And I can hold my own in the box. Those monsters test you in the goal area. I watched how David de Gea was treated. Players bumping into him to intimidate him. I worked hard on my posture and on my looks. I go into the field with that look and some arrogance. “I’m the boss here”. It works. I am not afraid for anyone.”

Although he did had to swallow when playing Stoke City. “Man, that is an outfit. These guys are all huge! And they play kick and rush. Can’t string three passes together, but if that deep ball comes, they are like a tornado how they hit you! The keeper trainer came on to the pitch during practice before the Stoke game with those rugby puppets. And they were taking crosses from the flanks while I had to come and the keeper’s trainer would collide into me with those rugby puppets, haha. But we won! Football won against violence, haha.”

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Brendan Rogers is the architect of success at Swansea. He bases his tactics on the Dutch and Spanish school. He wants to see the ball roll, not the muscles. Vorm: “I’m telling you, if Swansea played in Holland, they’d play for the title. It may not be too good, tactically, but Swansea consists of men, while some teams in Holland are more boyish… If you’re not strong physically, you won’t make it here. Every game here is a finals. Everyone can beat everyone, you know. It’s 110% from the first till the last second! I was so ready for this: the venues, the media, the quality of the pitches….everything!”

Rogers joins in…. “We followed Michel quite some time. Van Zweden might say he came up with the list, haha, but no…. We had Dorus de Vries who left for Wolves. We wanted a similar goalie. One who could win games for us with his hands and ball stopping but who could also add to our pass and move game. Dutch keepers can do this. I worked with Hans Gillhaus at Chelsea and asked him to check around too. Everyone was positive about Michel. He’s strong, agile, fast and can make saves a goalie of two meters can’t make. Trust me, he is one of the top 3 goalkeepers in the EPL! We love him here. He is a great guy too. A family man, passionate and warm. He’s got film star looks but is a decent and normal bloke. I think he can be top for many many years.”

Vorm is happy with his progression in England and knows his status in Oranje will change too. “It’s different for players to realise you play against the likes of Rooney, Silva, Adabayor and Drogba. I think people at or around Oranje realise I’m one of the big boys now too. That was always missing. “Ah yeah Vorm is good, but it’s Utrecht isn’t it?”. I don’t think Stekelenburg needs to fear or anything. Maarten is world class and deserves to be number one, but if the team manager needs me, I’ll be ready. It’s as simple as that!”

And there is that other goalie in England? Tim Krul. Vorm laughs. “Tim is a good mate. And I really enjoy his success just like he supports me. Tim is such a relaxed bloke. We had a xmas dinner in Newcastle and I texted Tim we’d be in town. So the next thing he does is come around and spend time with the Swansea team in the restaurant. You should have seen the Newcastle fans. But yeah, Holland has a luxury problem. It’s us, it’s Cillesen, Velthuizen, Vermeer… We don’t need to worry.”

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Vorm with (then) pregnant wife Daisy

Vorm is 28 years old. What’s next? His Dutch team mates Bodde and Augustien think that Vorm will jump, sometime in the future. Kemy Augustien: “If Swansea is good, Vorm is exceptional. He will outclass us all but the question is when. I hope he will let his heart speak and not just his wallet.”

Vorm: “I won’t leave for a double salary at Stoke City for instance. But I might have 12 years to go. Look at Friedel and Van der Sar. Shay Given… They are doing well, with consistency and all. I want to do that too. It wasn’t easy getting a foot into the EPL door, but now I’m in, they won’t get me out, hahaha.”

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 52 comments.

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By Eduardo | January 17th, 2012 at 6:41 pm

“He bases his tactics on the Dutch and Spanish school”

Spanish school???? What are the Spanish School???

They copy all for us.. so, there is NO spanish school

By Demi | January 17th, 2012 at 6:47 pm

> too feel sorry we have no WC trophies , meanwhile , teams like Uruguay , Argentina , Italy and England have

at least the above are world powers somehow.. now the EC has been won by the likes of Denmark and Greece LOL. Sorry not want to come across as disrespectful but LOL

There is no more prestigious trophy in the world of sports above the WC. Just that makes it more difficult to win it.

one says “FIFA would do anything to screw Holland from the Brazil WC” other says “it’s harder to win the Euro” … I don’t think so. You guys are a little bit contradictory don’t you think?

Not that the EC is not a good trophy but nothing compares to the WC. That is the king of the trophies.

By Alex | January 17th, 2012 at 6:55 pm

I think we should always strive to win a world cup and never stop believing we can, I think it would bury a lot of football oranje fans’ trauma’s. I could die happy if we became world champions for once.. only once. TBF the team that made it to the final in 2010, wasnt even the best team we’ve ever had, far from. So shows you its possible.

Posted from Netherlands

By Demi | January 17th, 2012 at 7:00 pm

>I could die happy

my sentiments exactly. I know we will not make it to Mars in my lifetime but at least the Oranje can win a WC. I would give up all the ECs forever for just one and only WC. Preferably the next one inside Brazil!

By jake | January 17th, 2012 at 8:22 pm

In modern days only Spain, Germany, Brazil, Italy, France, Argentina won the WC, please leave England and Uruguay, it was 50 years ago, no one knows how corrupt the FIFA body compare to these days.

In the last ten WC have been 5 x (European vs European) and 5 x (European vs South America). Last time two finalists from South America was 1950.

The EC has been won by the likes of Denmark and Greece….means more competitive and no big difference between participants. Less participants with more balanced competitor means no time for warming up game like in WC. That makes harder to win EC than WC. In reality Orange do better in WC than in EC due to this fierce competition.

Winning WC is more preticious than EC and relatively easier than EC, so at the end I would prefer Orange winnng WC.

Posted from Australia

By nile | January 17th, 2012 at 8:28 pm

good sharing

Posted from Taiwan

By Carlos | January 17th, 2012 at 10:02 pm

Not too long ago many of the bloggers here were sooooo worried about Sar leaving with No one good enough(not even Steks)in the wings? What a difference a year makes. Think about this next time you predict doom n gloom for the Oranje.

Posted from Singapore

By sonneveld | January 17th, 2012 at 10:14 pm

Carlos, I remember Stekelenberg let in a very bad goal in a friendly a couple years ago. I remember the doom and gloom from it.

Here is the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSAVP5X5mt8

Parallels can be made with Forlan’s goal so even though I am happy I still am not fully confident in Stek.

By SamDC | January 17th, 2012 at 10:29 pm

We need to sort out our defense soon. Thats the only thing that stands between us and lifting a trophy. If we win the EC, it will boost the confidence of our team. We’ll be instant favorites for the WC in Brazil. Winning breeds more winning!

Posted from United States

By Carlos | January 17th, 2012 at 10:38 pm

SamDC – We were favourites in 1990 – In fact so favourite were we, that the Dutch Govt had already printed stamps (not distributed tho) as WC 90 Champs. Out of the 10 World’s best players we had 5. The Milan Trio – Koeman and Wouters. We scraped thru to round 2 by not winning ONE match, then OUT! But there’s a big story behind the coach and morale of the team. Coaches make a big difference – Look at Swansea City !

Posted from Singapore

By jake | January 17th, 2012 at 11:36 pm

Orange deserves world recognition so first priority for Orange to exceed what Spain has done winning EC and WC two years later (1WC title & 2EC titles), then winning EC 2 years after winnng WC to exceed France’s achievement (1WC & 2EC). Afterward can start chasing Germany (3WC & 3EC). Ha..ha that’s a lot of work to do.

Posted from Australia

By OranjeAussie | January 18th, 2012 at 2:43 am

Jan another awesome article!! I did not know one of the directors of Swansea was a Dutchman… Now of got even more of a softer spot for the team from Wales. All this talk of World Cups is bringing back bad memories of WC 2010. I would love to win this Euro but for me I would take a World Cup over 10 Euro’s.

Posted from Australia

By Finnster01 | January 18th, 2012 at 4:46 am

Tiju says it is all Dirk Kuyt’s fault

By Finnster01 | January 18th, 2012 at 4:47 am

Forgot to add the

By Tiju | January 18th, 2012 at 5:27 am

what was kuyt’s contribution in match vs portugal in 2006?
and against russia in 2008?
in 2010VS spain?…..if we used a better creative player we would have won all these matches before90minutes..thats a truth…he was just impotent in all those matches…But players like sneijder,Roben,persie,Ronaldo,Ronaldihno they all made difference in such scenario.

By Finnster01 | January 18th, 2012 at 5:49 am

That didn’t take long, did it?

By Jan | January 18th, 2012 at 6:52 am

Arsenal wants to sign Robin van Persie’s son.

Shaqueel van Persie has already shown talents in both football and golf and has been playing for a club near to the family home, and the Gunners have seen enough of the youngster to invite him to a couple of sessions.

However, Van Persie senior is happy for his son to stay with his current side and insists he does not need to answer Arsenal’s calls just yet.

“I honestly have to say that he [Shaqueel] has got a lot of talent for football,” Van Persie told reporters.

“I recognise a lot of stuff of myself in him. His coach is really great. Arsenal has invited him a couple of times to come and play there but he likes it at his club. He’s sensitive for a good atmosphere. Just like me.

“He loves to play golf. You’ve got some great golf courses here. He’s taking lessons and we regularly play a round. Sometimes he beats me! He’s got a great gift for where the ball has to go. My shots sometimes end up in the bush; his always go straight. He says: ‘Dad, I’m going to chip now, gimme my this or that club.’ He can do that perfectly as well.”

The Dutchman has halted talks on extending his own career at Arsenal and will continue discussions in the summer, when he will have 12 months left on his current contract.

A handful of clubs are keeping tabs on the prolific goalscorer and Van Persie himself has spoken of his admiration for Barcelona.

“I still think you can achieve most by playing beautiful football,” he told NUsport magazine.

“Look at Barcelona. Their football is something unique, beautiful to watch. We will never forget it. But sometimes, they also depend on the individual actions of [Lionel] Messi or somebody else.

“Nobody can play beautiful football all the time. That’s what I tell the boys [at Arsenal]. When it doesn’t go smoothly, just try to kill the game.

“I’m still a lover of the game and I will always be but I’ve become more realistic. It’s too romantic to think you can only win by playing beautiful football. Barcelona is the exception.”

By Balkan | January 18th, 2012 at 11:45 am

Shaqueel Van Persie?!?! Is Robin’s wife from South Bronx?

Posted from United States

By Balkan | January 18th, 2012 at 11:50 am

It will be tough to win a WC if not impossible. With 3 run-in titles Holland is the greatest underachiever. Except for goalkeeping, talent for other roles in the team is subpar compared with the likes of Sneijder or Robben. Who can fill the boots for those two? Spain and Germany are not short on anything.I will be super happy if we win an EC in the next 8 years.

Posted from United States

By Tiju | January 18th, 2012 at 3:02 pm

Everybody talks about Dejong kungfu kick…What about these portugese bastard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eal0LSSnaEc

By OranjeFan | January 18th, 2012 at 4:13 pm

@Tiju

- wow –

– the ref did not see this??? –

(Shaking my head)

OJF

By Jalepinho | January 18th, 2012 at 4:34 pm

yeah i totally agree Alex. And yet we were so close to beating Spain’s best squad in history! Imagine if Cruyff’s 1974 squad could play Spain’s 2010 squad…i’m sure Cruyff and co. would teach them a lesson on how football should be really played….

By jake | January 18th, 2012 at 7:58 pm

barcelona won, goal from puyol, I wish orange has puyol-like defender, scored important goals when the team fails to score, like in SF Spain vs Germany. In contrary Mathijsen blowed a chance of his life in front of Spain’s goal in the final WC2010.

Posted from Australia

By Aziz | February 9th, 2012 at 4:01 pm

Great post by Amby. Running truly is the most glabol, most democratic sport known to mankind.

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