'The Boss': Marco van Basten

[Ayman]

Venezuelan Ajacied said:

I sure hope he has grown and might still have a lot growing to do...that was one of his drawbacks as a defender.

I wouldnt bank on him growing several more inches...since he is 19/20

[Orange14]

Venezuelan Ajacied said:

I sure hope he has grown and might still have a lot growing to do...that was one of his drawbacks as a defender.

I wouldnt bank on him growing several more inches...since he is 19/20

Remember that Cannavaro is the same height maybe a cm or two smaller and he's been one of the great defenders of the last 10 years. It's not all about height and muscle (although those help) but postioning is even more important. Most of the lousy goals we gave up last season were a result of players out of position.

[SPL]

Four Four Two magazine, on sale most places in Uk , has a very good 3 page article on the great man. A good read.

[DanK]

Four Four Two magazine, on sale most places in Uk , has a very good 3 page article on the great man. A good read.

Thanks for the heads up...will go see if I can find a copy out here somewhere.

[Blind3]

Thanks from me as well.

[Kowalczyk]

Sportweek reports that Marco van Basten bought a nice little house in Amsterdam's Old-South, with a back yard that runs right into the Vondelpark. Price: 6.5 million euros...

K.

[Philippe]

lucky guy !

[Blind3]

Sure hope that Marco gets to live in it as Ajax gaffer for sometime to come.

[Orange14]

Sportweek reports that Marco van Basten bought a nice little house in Amsterdam's Old-South, with a back yard that runs right into the Vondelpark. Price: 6.5 million euros...

K.

Clearly the whole mortgage mess has not affected Amsterdam properties!

We are seeing devaluations on the order of 20-30% in some parts of the US.

[GangstaRiB]

Sportweek reports that Marco van Basten bought a nice little house in Amsterdam's Old-South, with a back yard that runs right into the Vondelpark. Price: 6.5 million euros...

K.

Clearly the whole mortgage mess has not affected Amsterdam properties!

We are seeing devaluations on the order of 20-30% in some parts of the US.

Don't get me started on the impossible real estate market in the Netherlands (where the prizes are going trough the roof, even in this crisis)!

But on-topic, Van Basten had some 'illegal money' from Berlusconi stacked somewhere.

[Kowalczyk]

http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news ... &att=index

K.

[bryan]

Sportweek reports that Marco van Basten bought a nice little house in Amsterdam's Old-South, with a back yard that runs right into the Vondelpark. Price: 6.5 million euros...

K.

Clearly the whole mortgage mess has not affected Amsterdam properties!

We are seeing devaluations on the order of 20-30% in some parts of the US.

Don't get me started on the impossible real estate market in the Netherlands (where the prizes are going trough the roof, even in this crisis)!

But on-topic, Van Basten had some 'illegal money' from Berlusconi stacked somewhere.

Yeah, even if you have a fulltime job with a career prospect, it's still not possible to live in Amsterdam, unless:

a) You have very rich and generous relations
b) Have been on a waiting list for a house since 15 years before you were born
c) You know somebody

I've seen people get places that way, but it's not possible to get a place to live any other way. It's disheartening.

But I'll stop now, otherwise Herr K will tell us we're all going off-topic.

[martinkohout]

Four Four Two magazine, on sale most places in Uk , has a very good 3 page article on the great man. A good read.

Due to the vagaries of the magazine's distribution on this side of the pond, or perhaps my own inattention, I just this week tracked down the November issue (with a fairly frightening photo of a bearded Eric Cantona on the cover). The piece, by Simon Kuper (Football Against the Enemy and Ajax, the Dutch, the War), is pretty interesting, though a sidebar (written by someone else?) about MVB's coaching career is fairly snarky; the last sentence reads, "Van Basten, now the manager of Ajax, is no longer regarded as the Messiah." Guess it was written before the current streak!

[aveslacker]

I read that piece when at Barnes & Noble last week. I thought it was good, but agree that the sidebar was a bit snarky.

Besides, if Marco wins the eredivisie and Ajax make a splash in Europe, Marco's role as messiah will be confirmed. At least in my eyes.

[DanK]

I read that piece when at Barnes & Noble last week. I thought it was good, but agree that the sidebar was a bit snarky.

Besides, if Marco wins the eredivisie and Ajax make a splash in Europe, Marco's role as messiah will be confirmed. At least in my eyes.

I agree. I got a copy, thought the article was good but then got a little harsh with the extra piece about his coaching. His few years in charge of the Oranje, while not always playing attractive football, still bought decent results. And of course, we will never forget those games at Euro 2008.

[Kowalczyk]

Marco van Basten was sent to the stands by referee Jan Wegereef in yesterday's FC Groningen game, because he stormed onto the pitch, protesting against Jan Vertonghen's second yellow card.

The KNVB decided to hand Van Basten a fine of 500 euros, and leave it at that. He will not be suspended.

500 euros' fine... He'll survive that, I think...

K.

[aveslacker]

Marco van Basten was sent to the stands by referee Jan Wegereef in yesterday's FC Groningen game, because he stormed onto the pitch, protesting against Jan Vertonghen's second yellow card.

The KNVB decided to hand Van Basten a fine of 500 euros, and leave it at that. He will not be suspended.

500 euros' fine... He'll survive that, I think...

K.

Funny thing is, I thought Wegereef was having a decent game up until that point.

Nonetheless, I still blame him for us losing the eredivisie a couple years ago.

[Orange14]

I pose the following provocative question to all, what do you think of the job Van Basten has done so far this season?

I have my own thoughts but would like to see others first.

[gordonvandekamp]

I pose the following provocative question to all, what do you think of the job Van Basten has done so far this season?

I have my own thoughts but would like to see others first.

I actually think he's done better than I thought he would.

Coming into the season, I thought it was troubling that he had devoted much of the summer to Oranje in Euro 2008 and Ajax took a backseat. I think that's partly why we didn't purchase a proper defender until just recently. I think it's also hurt the collectiveness of the team, all of which I hope will be rectified this summer where he can devote his full attention to Ajax.

Regardless of this, I'm actually pretty pleased with our performance and standing. I thought it was most important to win the Eredivisie this year (more important than the cup or Europe) and that seems to be the case. 2nd place and only 3 points back from the leaders is a good position to be in half way through the season and while some of that is due to individual performance, a lot of it is Marco's doing.

My one gripe would be with player selection as I would like to see more youths getting time rather than the players we want to sell. The reality is he's put us in a better position at this point in the season than the last few coaches.

I didn't expect huge steps in only one season, but the progress that has been made is encouraging and the team is still working towards its goals. All in all I'm still optimistic about him and hope he is given a few more years to really develop his ideas (which I think is difficult with it being Ajax) and I think we'll see a bigger payoff.

[aveslacker]

I pose the following provocative question to all, what do you think of the job Van Basten has done so far this season?

I have my own thoughts but would like to see others first.

I actually think he's done better than I thought he would.

Coming into the season, I thought it was troubling that he had devoted much of the summer to Oranje in Euro 2008 and Ajax took a backseat. I think that's partly why we didn't purchase a proper defender until just recently. I think it's also hurt the collectiveness of the team, all of which I hope will be rectified this summer where he can devote his full attention to Ajax.

Regardless of this, I'm actually pretty pleased with our performance and standing. I thought it was most important to win the Eredivisie this year (more important than the cup or Europe) and that seems to be the case. 2nd place and only 3 points back from the leaders is a good position to be in half way through the season and while some of that is due to individual performance, a lot of it is Marco's doing.

My one gripe would be with player selection as I would like to see more youths getting time rather than the players we want to sell. The reality is he's put us in a better position at this point in the season than the last few coaches.

I didn't expect huge steps in only one season, but the progress that has been made is encouraging and the team is still working towards its goals. All in all I'm still optimistic about him and hope he is given a few more years to really develop his ideas (which I think is difficult with it being Ajax) and I think we'll see a bigger payoff.

This is pretty much how I feel. The one thing I have to add is that, under Marco, Ajax have gotten a lot tougher. You could use the Groningen or NEC games as examples. In the past, Ajax would have folded at the first sign of adversity, but now they battle, even if the results don't always end up in their favor. That has to be attributed to Marco.

Furthermore, I think Marco is still learning the ropes as a manager. I was skeptical of him before, but throughout his tenure as the coach of Oranje and with Ajax, it looks like he's learned a bit about coaching. I would hope this would improve.

Bottom line is that I feel better about our chances under Marco than at any point since Koeman imploded.

[Kowalczyk]

Yeah, I think he's doing alright so far.

We're slowly getting better, rather than slowly getting worse.

I'm with Aveslacker on this one.

K.

[martinkohout]

Agreed. Frankly, I'm always a little skeptical of superstars becoming managers - the argument is always that they won't be able to relate to anyone who's less talented than they were - but I think the results have been encouraging so far. Realistically, given the injuries, departure of KJH, etc., I think he's done pretty well. Sure, it's frustrating to have PSV fall so far and still not be top of the table, but as others have noted there's still time.

[DanK]

I was hoping before the start of the season Marco would bring something we have been lacking for a lot of years. Some spirit back to Ajax. He seems to have done that. We are tougher.

I was happy with the appointment before the season, and continue to be happy with it. He hasn't been perfect, but he is heading us in the right direction. Hopefully he can stay for a few more years. I am really interested to see what can develop under his leadership.

I didn't mind seeing him crack it a little either on the weekend. I know coaches should know better, yadda-yadda. But this shows he is passionate about the club winning. Brought me back to Louis, and his (in)famous karate kick in the '95 CL final

[saddlerian]

I was hoping before the start of the season Marco would bring something we have been lacking for a lot of years. Some spirit back to Ajax. He seems to have done that. We are tougher.

...we are tougher if certain players aren't injured..but I feel that MVB ought to have the courage to select "Junior" players to play at least some of each match in their correct positions. Gone are the days when a player can play "anywhere"....and MVB is still trying to fill gaps with his first team squad.
Would he have played KJH in goal if all the keepers were injured??? Would he play Stekelenburg in attack if there were no forwards?
Come on MVB....use your players where they are strong...even if it means using the "kids" occasionally.....it's the only way they'll learn!!!

[Orange14]

Thanks for all your replies, it's pretty much where I come from as well. the team is really much tougher and we have only been blown out once, the match at Heerenveen (and Marco gave them hell after that one if you recall). In addition, this is a real young team (I think only two or three players are over 26 years old). Sure we need more depth up front and we never have found someone to replace Sneijder as an attacking midfielder. I agree with what Ian wrote, MVB does need to start giving some of the youth players more experience. I'm very optimistic at this point in time. We have a much better defense than in years past; we just need to figure out how to score some goals.