If he'd continued playing in defence u would agreeSPL schreef:Urby ?? or is that cruel?
but hes actually doing well in the midfield
in the last cuple of games
Former Ajax Players
Moderators: ajaxusa, Kowalczyk, mods
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The Purple Cow
- Berichten: 448
- Lid geworden op: vr nov 07, 2003 11:03 am
- Locatie: Nantwich
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Van basten
- Berichten: 1764
- Lid geworden op: zo dec 17, 2006 8:24 am
Dennis Bergkamp ends two-year exile from game
Dennis Bergkamp has kept a low profile since he retired from football, but the Dutch master will return to the sport next month when he begins a coaching course. The former Arsenal forward hung up his boots after playing host to the first match at the Emirates Stadium, against an Ajax legends team, nearly two years ago. Little has been heard or seen of him since.
Bergkamp, who turns 39 next month and lives in Hertfordshire, has enrolled on a fast-track coaching diploma for former players from the Netherlands. “I'm starting to get the itch to get back into football,” he said.
The Dutchman has not cured his fear of flying, which stems back nearly 15 years, so will be allowed to study in London under Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, rather than attend lessons at the Dutch FA in Zeist, east of Utrecht. Bergkamp qualifies for the fast-track scheme - Johan Cruyff also graduated from the course - because he has the necessary requirement of more than 50 caps. He retired from international football after the 2000 European Championship, having scored a record 37 goals in 79 appearances for Holland.
When Bergkamp left Arsenal, he was emphatic that he would make a clean break from the game. “I have never thought about coaching, it has never attracted me,” he said then. Wenger offered Bergkamp the opportunity to do some scouting, but the forward chose instead to watch his former team from his box at the Emirates and travel around Britain with his wife and four children.
Dennis Bergkamp has kept a low profile since he retired from football, but the Dutch master will return to the sport next month when he begins a coaching course. The former Arsenal forward hung up his boots after playing host to the first match at the Emirates Stadium, against an Ajax legends team, nearly two years ago. Little has been heard or seen of him since.
Bergkamp, who turns 39 next month and lives in Hertfordshire, has enrolled on a fast-track coaching diploma for former players from the Netherlands. “I'm starting to get the itch to get back into football,” he said.
The Dutchman has not cured his fear of flying, which stems back nearly 15 years, so will be allowed to study in London under Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, rather than attend lessons at the Dutch FA in Zeist, east of Utrecht. Bergkamp qualifies for the fast-track scheme - Johan Cruyff also graduated from the course - because he has the necessary requirement of more than 50 caps. He retired from international football after the 2000 European Championship, having scored a record 37 goals in 79 appearances for Holland.
When Bergkamp left Arsenal, he was emphatic that he would make a clean break from the game. “I have never thought about coaching, it has never attracted me,” he said then. Wenger offered Bergkamp the opportunity to do some scouting, but the forward chose instead to watch his former team from his box at the Emirates and travel around Britain with his wife and four children.
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DanK
- Berichten: 1163
- Lid geworden op: do feb 03, 2005 11:42 pm
- Locatie: not currently Melbourne, Australia.
Bergkamp gets helping hand
http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/bergkamp ... nd-109812/
Incoming Ajax boss Marco van Basten has offered to assist Dennis Bergkamp as the former Arsenal striker embarks on a career in coaching.
Bergkamp is to take the Royal Netherlands Football Association professional coaching qualification and Van Basten feels it would be mutually beneficial for him to get some hands-on experience at the Amsterdam giants.
"I called Dennis a few weeks ago, because I wanted to know how he was doing and if he would want to do something for Ajax, in whatever capacity," Van Basten said.
"It is important to work with as much quality as possible with Ajax and it is obvious that Dennis has qualities."
"In our conversation, Dennis said that he would come to the Netherlands to take the coaching course."
"Part of that course is that the participants enter a traineeship."
"I offered him a trainee post and he was very interested. I hope and expect that this will be good for Ajax and for Dennis."
"I think he can make players better. His presence will have an impact on the team."
"For Ajax as a whole it is also good that someone of Dennis' stature is involved with the club. At Ajax, Dennis can discover whether he enjoys being on the pitch in a different role."
Bergkamp started his career at Ajax, scoring 122 goals in 239 games before leaving for Inter Milan in 1993. He joined Arsenal in 1995 and enjoyed huge success in North London, winning three Premier League titles and four FA Cups.
Van Basten is currently planning for his first season as coach of Ajax. He takes over from Adrie Koster after leading Holland at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.
http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/bergkamp ... nd-109812/
Incoming Ajax boss Marco van Basten has offered to assist Dennis Bergkamp as the former Arsenal striker embarks on a career in coaching.
Bergkamp is to take the Royal Netherlands Football Association professional coaching qualification and Van Basten feels it would be mutually beneficial for him to get some hands-on experience at the Amsterdam giants.
"I called Dennis a few weeks ago, because I wanted to know how he was doing and if he would want to do something for Ajax, in whatever capacity," Van Basten said.
"It is important to work with as much quality as possible with Ajax and it is obvious that Dennis has qualities."
"In our conversation, Dennis said that he would come to the Netherlands to take the coaching course."
"Part of that course is that the participants enter a traineeship."
"I offered him a trainee post and he was very interested. I hope and expect that this will be good for Ajax and for Dennis."
"I think he can make players better. His presence will have an impact on the team."
"For Ajax as a whole it is also good that someone of Dennis' stature is involved with the club. At Ajax, Dennis can discover whether he enjoys being on the pitch in a different role."
Bergkamp started his career at Ajax, scoring 122 goals in 239 games before leaving for Inter Milan in 1993. He joined Arsenal in 1995 and enjoyed huge success in North London, winning three Premier League titles and four FA Cups.
Van Basten is currently planning for his first season as coach of Ajax. He takes over from Adrie Koster after leading Holland at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.
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SE6Ajacied
- Berichten: 2437
- Lid geworden op: wo mar 23, 2005 1:14 pm
- Locatie: Still quite close to London SE6
Yes, I just found this article. Not sure how reliable the site is but acording to Goal.com he's already been offered a coaching jobCedric_AeF schreef:According to VI quoting his agent, Bergkamp will do his internship (? - stage in dutch and french) at Ajax.
http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=654403
Forza Haarlem. HFC Gone but not forgotten!
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SE6Ajacied
- Berichten: 2437
- Lid geworden op: wo mar 23, 2005 1:14 pm
- Locatie: Still quite close to London SE6
(time to go back to bed)-
SE6Ajacied
- Berichten: 2437
- Lid geworden op: wo mar 23, 2005 1:14 pm
- Locatie: Still quite close to London SE6
Looks like Steven Pienaar will be moving permanently to Everton at the end of the season (£2.2million)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 338325.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 338325.stm
Forza Haarlem. HFC Gone but not forgotten!
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SE6Ajacied
- Berichten: 2437
- Lid geworden op: wo mar 23, 2005 1:14 pm
- Locatie: Still quite close to London SE6
Today's Guardian has an artile about Cruijff with what he says is the real reason he missed the 1978 World Cup Finals....
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Sto ... 32,00.html
After 30 years, the truth behind Cruyff's World Cup absence
Graham Keeley in Madrid
Thursday April 17, 2008
The Guardian
For three decades, it has been one of the most enduring mysteries in world football. Why did Johan Cruyff, widely regarded as one of the three greatest players ever, decide that he would not play for Holland in the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina? The Dutch reached the final - despite being beaten by Scotland in the group stages - but lost 3-1 to the hosts, and many blamed Cruyff's absence for their failure to lift the trophy.
At the time, speculation over the reasons for his decision was rife. It was claimed he had fallen out with the Dutch football association over sponsorship. Or maybe he objected to Argentina's rightwing military junta.
Now 30 years on, Cruyff has finally broken his silence to reveal the real reason for his no-show on football's biggest stage.
The former Ajax and Barcelona player has revealed that he and his family had been the victims of a kidnap attempt a few months before the tournament.
He said several criminals entered his house in Barcelona at night and tied him and his family up at gunpoint.
The experience changed his attitude to life and was part of the reason he decided not to play in the World Cup.
In an interview with Catalunya Radio, Cruyff said: "You should know that I had problems at the end of my career as a player here and I don't know if you know that someone [put] a rifle at my head and tied me up and tied up my wife in front of the children at our flat in Barcelona."
The Dutch superstar managed to escape and the kidnap attempt was foiled. But Cruyff said it changed his outlook on life.
"The children were going to school accompanied by the police. The police slept in our house for three or four months. I was going to matches with a bodyguard," he said.
"All these things change your point of view towards many things. There are moments in life in which there are other values.
"We wanted to stop this and be a little more sensible. It was the moment to leave football and I couldn't play in the World Cup after this."
He was living at the time with his wife, Danny Coster, and their three children in Barcelona when the kidnap attempt happened at the end of 1977.
After he announced that he would not be attending the 1978 World Cup, Cruyff's wife was blamed by some fans for putting him off playing. But in the radio interview, he said he wanted to put a stop to these rumours, which have surfaced again in a recently published book by another former Barca player, Carles Rexach.
The book claimed Cruyff was influenced by his wife and their children in all his decisions.
In Holland, there is still a lingering belief that if Cruyff had played in the 1978 World Cup finals, Holland may have come home with the coveted trophy. They have never come as close since.
Marteen Wijffels, a Dutch football journalist, said: "If he had played we could have won the World Cup. He would have made us stronger. I think people were very disappointed at the time he did not go."
But last night, Archie Gemmill, whose mazy run to score the winning goal for Scotland in their pyrrhic victory over the Dutch at the group stage is the stuff of Scottish folklore, insisted Cruyff's presence would have made little difference in that match at least.
"If he had played, it would not have made a blind bit of difference. Maybe we would have beaten them 7-2 instead of 3-2. We won the game, and that is it."
Cruyff enjoyed a glittering footballing career. He was first selected to play for Ajax at the age of 17 and went on to win three European Cups with the Dutch side.
He was a star at the 1974 World Cup for Holland even though they lost the final to West Germany.
He later played for Barcelona before returning as manager, leading the club to the European Cup in 1992. He was voted European Footballer of the Year, three times during the 1970s.
Graham Hunter, a Barcelona-based football commentator, said: "As a footballer, Cruyff was elegant, visionary and skilled beyond measure. He ranks third among the best footballers ever, after Pele and Maradona."
Cruyff, 60, declined to say if the kidnap attempt was one of the reasons why he decided to leave Barcelona in 1978.
But his spokesman, Joan Patsi, confirmed Cruyff's comments. "Johan had asked police for protection for sometime before this as he had been receiving threats. It is true this happened," he said.
"Another reason he decided not to go to the World Cup was he did not feel he was at his best and you have to be 100%."
In 1981 another Barca star, the Spain forward Quini, was kidnapped and held to ransom until freed by police after a month.
Backstory
Kidnapping for ransom or political gain has become such a universal agony that it is easy to forget that 30 years ago it was the world's rich nations that suffered most. In the 1970s, the proliferation of leftwing guerrilla groups from the US to Germany, Spain and Italy determined to wage war on wealth, capitalism and the established political order left a trail of victims and instilled fear among the rich and famous that anyone was a target. Patty Hearst, an American newspaper heiress was seized in 1974 by urban guerrillas known as the Symbionese Liberation Army and went on to join her captors. Peter Lorenz, a conservative candidate for mayor of Berlin, was abducted and freed in 1975. Hanns Martin Schleyer a German industrialist, was kidnapped in 1977, held for 43 days while ransom demands were made, and ultimately murdered. The Red Army Faction behind the abduction also counted leading banker Alfred Herrhausen and Karl Heinz Beckurts among its victims. In Italy the communist Red Brigades kidnapped Christian Democrat leader Aldo Moro. He was killed after a 55-day standoff. Spain was less acutely affected, though Eta and a shadowy leftwing group known as Grapo also resorted to abductions for political gain. Sports stars and athletes were rarely targeted, though the hostage taking at the Munich Olympics in 1972, which resulted in the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes, arguably set the chilling standards for the next decade. As the tactics migrated, footballers found themselves vulnerable in South America, as family members fell prey to kidnapping for ransom.
Mark Rice-Oxley
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Sto ... 32,00.html
After 30 years, the truth behind Cruyff's World Cup absence
Graham Keeley in Madrid
Thursday April 17, 2008
The Guardian
For three decades, it has been one of the most enduring mysteries in world football. Why did Johan Cruyff, widely regarded as one of the three greatest players ever, decide that he would not play for Holland in the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina? The Dutch reached the final - despite being beaten by Scotland in the group stages - but lost 3-1 to the hosts, and many blamed Cruyff's absence for their failure to lift the trophy.
At the time, speculation over the reasons for his decision was rife. It was claimed he had fallen out with the Dutch football association over sponsorship. Or maybe he objected to Argentina's rightwing military junta.
Now 30 years on, Cruyff has finally broken his silence to reveal the real reason for his no-show on football's biggest stage.
The former Ajax and Barcelona player has revealed that he and his family had been the victims of a kidnap attempt a few months before the tournament.
He said several criminals entered his house in Barcelona at night and tied him and his family up at gunpoint.
The experience changed his attitude to life and was part of the reason he decided not to play in the World Cup.
In an interview with Catalunya Radio, Cruyff said: "You should know that I had problems at the end of my career as a player here and I don't know if you know that someone [put] a rifle at my head and tied me up and tied up my wife in front of the children at our flat in Barcelona."
The Dutch superstar managed to escape and the kidnap attempt was foiled. But Cruyff said it changed his outlook on life.
"The children were going to school accompanied by the police. The police slept in our house for three or four months. I was going to matches with a bodyguard," he said.
"All these things change your point of view towards many things. There are moments in life in which there are other values.
"We wanted to stop this and be a little more sensible. It was the moment to leave football and I couldn't play in the World Cup after this."
He was living at the time with his wife, Danny Coster, and their three children in Barcelona when the kidnap attempt happened at the end of 1977.
After he announced that he would not be attending the 1978 World Cup, Cruyff's wife was blamed by some fans for putting him off playing. But in the radio interview, he said he wanted to put a stop to these rumours, which have surfaced again in a recently published book by another former Barca player, Carles Rexach.
The book claimed Cruyff was influenced by his wife and their children in all his decisions.
In Holland, there is still a lingering belief that if Cruyff had played in the 1978 World Cup finals, Holland may have come home with the coveted trophy. They have never come as close since.
Marteen Wijffels, a Dutch football journalist, said: "If he had played we could have won the World Cup. He would have made us stronger. I think people were very disappointed at the time he did not go."
But last night, Archie Gemmill, whose mazy run to score the winning goal for Scotland in their pyrrhic victory over the Dutch at the group stage is the stuff of Scottish folklore, insisted Cruyff's presence would have made little difference in that match at least.
"If he had played, it would not have made a blind bit of difference. Maybe we would have beaten them 7-2 instead of 3-2. We won the game, and that is it."
Cruyff enjoyed a glittering footballing career. He was first selected to play for Ajax at the age of 17 and went on to win three European Cups with the Dutch side.
He was a star at the 1974 World Cup for Holland even though they lost the final to West Germany.
He later played for Barcelona before returning as manager, leading the club to the European Cup in 1992. He was voted European Footballer of the Year, three times during the 1970s.
Graham Hunter, a Barcelona-based football commentator, said: "As a footballer, Cruyff was elegant, visionary and skilled beyond measure. He ranks third among the best footballers ever, after Pele and Maradona."
Cruyff, 60, declined to say if the kidnap attempt was one of the reasons why he decided to leave Barcelona in 1978.
But his spokesman, Joan Patsi, confirmed Cruyff's comments. "Johan had asked police for protection for sometime before this as he had been receiving threats. It is true this happened," he said.
"Another reason he decided not to go to the World Cup was he did not feel he was at his best and you have to be 100%."
In 1981 another Barca star, the Spain forward Quini, was kidnapped and held to ransom until freed by police after a month.
Backstory
Kidnapping for ransom or political gain has become such a universal agony that it is easy to forget that 30 years ago it was the world's rich nations that suffered most. In the 1970s, the proliferation of leftwing guerrilla groups from the US to Germany, Spain and Italy determined to wage war on wealth, capitalism and the established political order left a trail of victims and instilled fear among the rich and famous that anyone was a target. Patty Hearst, an American newspaper heiress was seized in 1974 by urban guerrillas known as the Symbionese Liberation Army and went on to join her captors. Peter Lorenz, a conservative candidate for mayor of Berlin, was abducted and freed in 1975. Hanns Martin Schleyer a German industrialist, was kidnapped in 1977, held for 43 days while ransom demands were made, and ultimately murdered. The Red Army Faction behind the abduction also counted leading banker Alfred Herrhausen and Karl Heinz Beckurts among its victims. In Italy the communist Red Brigades kidnapped Christian Democrat leader Aldo Moro. He was killed after a 55-day standoff. Spain was less acutely affected, though Eta and a shadowy leftwing group known as Grapo also resorted to abductions for political gain. Sports stars and athletes were rarely targeted, though the hostage taking at the Munich Olympics in 1972, which resulted in the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes, arguably set the chilling standards for the next decade. As the tactics migrated, footballers found themselves vulnerable in South America, as family members fell prey to kidnapping for ransom.
Mark Rice-Oxley
Forza Haarlem. HFC Gone but not forgotten!
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Manneken Pis
- Berichten: 1331
- Lid geworden op: do feb 03, 2005 4:29 pm
- Locatie: Brussels
Hmmm... '98 elimination in the semi's due to penalties seems pretty close to me...SE6Ajacied schreef:Today's Guardian has an artile about Cruijff with what he says is the real reason he missed the 1978 World Cup Finals....
They have never come as close since.
“If I wanted you to understand it, I would have explained it better.”
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SE6Ajacied
- Berichten: 2437
- Lid geworden op: wo mar 23, 2005 1:14 pm
- Locatie: Still quite close to London SE6
Well, that's pretty close yes, but my pedantic hat says that you can't get any closer than losing in the final (and they haven't done that since).Manneken Pis schreef:Hmmm... '98 elimination in the semi's due to penalties seems pretty close to me...SE6Ajacied schreef:Today's Guardian has an artile about Cruijff with what he says is the real reason he missed the 1978 World Cup Finals....
They have never come as close since.
How much of a 'revelation' is this btw. My first thought was that he must have a book out to promote but then I saw that this was apparently to counter the story in someone elses book......(ie that it was all his wife's fault!)
Forza Haarlem. HFC Gone but not forgotten!
Rob Rensenbrink smacking the ball off a post with the final kick of the game in extra time: I don't think you can come any closer than that.SE6Ajacied schreef:Well, that's pretty close yes, but my pedantic hat says that you can't get any closer than losing in the final (and they haven't done that since).Manneken Pis schreef:Hmmm... '98 elimination in the semi's due to penalties seems pretty close to me...SE6Ajacied schreef:Today's Guardian has an artile about Cruijff with what he says is the real reason he missed the 1978 World Cup Finals....
They have never come as close since.
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Kowalczyk
- Moderator English Section
- Berichten: 13845
- Lid geworden op: vr sep 19, 2003 12:54 pm
- Locatie: AMSTERDAM
- Contacteer:
I miss him...
http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/34547/4 ... _wint.html
The poor dude is terrified...
K.
http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/34547/4 ... _wint.html
The poor dude is terrified...
K.
Still alive...
I miss him, and Escude.
Selling Escude (the guy didn't even want to leave) has to be the stupidest piece of Ajax business this century. Last, year, with a Stam-Escude defence, we would have won the league, I'm sure of it. That would have meant automatic CL qualification, and the money and ability to attract players that comes with that. This season would have been completely different.
Danny Blind was a great player for Ajax, but I don't think I'll ever forgive him for that decision.
Mind you, it worked out well for Escude, with his two UEFA Cups and villa on the Spanish costa.
Selling Escude (the guy didn't even want to leave) has to be the stupidest piece of Ajax business this century. Last, year, with a Stam-Escude defence, we would have won the league, I'm sure of it. That would have meant automatic CL qualification, and the money and ability to attract players that comes with that. This season would have been completely different.
Danny Blind was a great player for Ajax, but I don't think I'll ever forgive him for that decision.
Mind you, it worked out well for Escude, with his two UEFA Cups and villa on the Spanish costa.
....and a regular spot in the central defense of one of the best national teams in the world. Yeah it worked out well...bryan schreef:I miss him, and Escude.
Selling Escude (the guy didn't even want to leave) has to be the stupidest piece of Ajax business this century. Last, year, with a Stam-Escude defence, we would have won the league, I'm sure of it. That would have meant automatic CL qualification, and the money and ability to attract players that comes with that. This season would have been completely different.
Danny Blind was a great player for Ajax, but I don't think I'll ever forgive him for that decision.
Mind you, it worked out well for Escude, with his two UEFA Cups and villa on the Spanish costa.
meh :|
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saddlerian
- Berichten: 1234
- Lid geworden op: zo nov 20, 2005 4:56 pm
- Locatie: Saint Petersburg, Russia
is this true???
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/ov ... tinga.html
only €10 million???
What a sodding loss!!! I'm sure that he could have done better than that.... he damn well deserves it!!!
Good luck John!!
34 will always be with us
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SE6Ajacied
- Berichten: 2437
- Lid geworden op: wo mar 23, 2005 1:14 pm
- Locatie: Still quite close to London SE6
Pienaar's move to Everton is now permanent - £2 million as predicted.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 338325.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 338325.stm
Forza Haarlem. HFC Gone but not forgotten!
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DanK
- Berichten: 1163
- Lid geworden op: do feb 03, 2005 11:42 pm
- Locatie: not currently Melbourne, Australia.
Kluivert to leave Lille
http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/kluivert ... le-118994/
Looks like another move on the cards. I always had a soft spot for Kluivert. At his peak he was great to watch.
http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/kluivert ... le-118994/
Looks like another move on the cards. I always had a soft spot for Kluivert. At his peak he was great to watch.
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SE6Ajacied
- Berichten: 2437
- Lid geworden op: wo mar 23, 2005 1:14 pm
- Locatie: Still quite close to London SE6
Great free-kick goal from Sneijder this afternoon against Wales (and Robben's wasn't bad either - even against a very young Welsh side.......)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NQbo4fxy9Us
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NQbo4fxy9Us
Forza Haarlem. HFC Gone but not forgotten!
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The Purple Cow
- Berichten: 448
- Lid geworden op: vr nov 07, 2003 11:03 am
- Locatie: Nantwich
- Contacteer:
Here's a very weird O.T.F. thread about Wesley Sneijder...
http://www.wsc.co.uk/component/option,c ... 811/#47811
http://www.wsc.co.uk/component/option,c ... 811/#47811