Loans were a waste of time, I wanted to quit
SAYS PALACE’S PATRICK VAN AANHOLT
IT’S only when the conversation turns to a ‘wasted’ year at Wigan and Vitesse Arnhem that Patrick van Aanholt’s natural self confidence fades for a moment.
‘I was really thinking about quitting football,’ recalls the Dutchman solemnly. ‘I was that upset, I wanted to stop.
‘I went on holiday with my missus at the time and said, “What am I going to do now? No club is going to want me because I haven’t played for a year”. I was very close.’
It came during a period of Van Aanholt’s career when he was sent out on loan from Chelsea to five clubs over six years.
Now happily settled back in London with Crystal Palace, the 28-year-old left back is brimming with confidence again.
There is no desire to leave Selhurst Park. ‘From the moment I stepped inside the dressing room, it felt like home — a family bond,’ says Van Aanholt who is approaching the second anniversary of a £14million move from Sunderland.
Equally, there is no disguising the ambition of a player who interested Juventus last summer. Having only made three firstteam starts over seven years on Chelsea’s books, could he still play for a top European club?
‘Why not?’ he replies. ‘We all want to make a step higher up. I think I’ve got it in me to play at that level. I played a few games at Chelsea and showed it. That’s just having confidence in yourself.
‘I’ve got two-and-a-half years left at Palace and would happily end my career here, but we all have ambitions. If you don’t have ambitions then you’re not a football player.’
Van Aanholt never considered any other career. Cage football with his friends and a promising youth career with PSV Eindhoven took priority over his studies.
His father Johnny, who ran a delivery company in Den Bosch after moving to Holland with his wife Vanesa from Curacao in the Dutch Antilles, pushed the third of his four children to succeed.
‘He thought it was a gift from God that I was going to become a footballer,’ says Van Aanholt with a smile. ‘I wanted to believe it and when I really believed it was when Chelsea signed me from Eindhoven in 2007. Then the dream became very big.’
Initially a left-winger, the 16-year-old had been converted to a centre back by the time he arrived at Stamford Bridge and worked with youth-team coach Brendan Rodgers.
‘I wanted to be a centre back but I was always stepping over the ball and playing one-twos,’ admits Van Aanholt, a cousin of Swansea’s Leroy Fer. ‘Brendan converted me into a left back and said, “Now you can do what you want attacking-wise”. I think it worked out well for me.’
Ashley Cole was Van Aanholt’s role model and quickly became a mentor. They are still in touch.
‘I saw Ashley train every day and I said, “This is what I want but better”. That was my motivation. He taught me the game, how to play nicely and sometimes dirty, all those kind of things.
‘But I didn’t become Ashley Cole. I’m Patrick van Aanholt. People know me as an attacking full-back who scores goals.’
Then the loans began. First Coventry — ‘a club I’d never heard of!’ — where Clinton Morrison and Leon Best took him under their wing. At Newcastle, it was fellow Dutchman Tim Krul.
When Van Aanholt joined Roberto Martinez at Wigan in 2011, frustration set in over a lack of game time. ‘One of the worst loans of my life,’ he confirms with a shake of the head. ‘It was partly the manager, but a little bit me.
‘Obviously when you go on loan from Chelsea you expect to play. At the time my mentality was wrong, I’m not going to lie. I thought, “F*** it, I’m not going to train (properly)”. I didn’t want to play in the reserves. It was the wrong attitude.
‘I could have trained for myself, so when I got the chance I was ready. I didn’t do that. I was just training and going home. That was just a waste of time. That’s why Wigan is a closed book.’
An equally difficult spell at Vitesse was transformed by the appointment of head coach Fred Rutten and Van Aanholt became a regular in the team.
He returned to Chelsea rejuvenated but happy to finally sever his ties with the club following a discussion with Jose Mourinho. ‘We had a nice conversation and I had a good feeling about that,’ he recalls. ‘But I think I made the right move to leave Chelsea behind. They kept sending me on loan to get more experience.
‘How long does it take to become more experienced? In your head you’re thinking, “I need stability to prove myself in the Premier League”.’
Van Aanholt made a permanent move to Sunderland and played under four bosses — Gus Poyet, Dick Advocaat, Sam Allardyce and David Moyes — before rejoining Allardyce at Palace.
It was partly driven by a desire to be back in London. Van Aanholt’s wife Linsey and their two sons, Jaden and Devon, now five and two years old respectively, had left Wearside and temporarily returned to Holland.
The Dutchman helped Allardyce keep Palace up, just as he had done at Sunderland, and was an important player again for Roy Hodgson last season. Does he ever get tired of firefighting?
‘The last two years, this team has shown that it’s capable of really sticking together. It’s about to change, you know. Everything happens in a split second.’
Palace are fifth from bottom after games against Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham. It doesn’t get easier as they head to Manchester United tomorrow.
‘We approach every game with the same mentality,’ insists a player who scored against United and Chelsea last season. ‘Why change it because we’re going to Old Trafford? In the Premier League, everybody can beat everyone. We’ve proved it and we’ve not been turned over by anybody in the last three games.
‘You need to believe in yourself. If you don’t, it’s going to be tough — especially in this league.
‘If I’m not confident, I wouldn’t be sat here saying the things I’ve said.’