England beware the Altrincham Cowboy!
Memphis Depay was a flop at United but is now leading the Oranje boom
There was perhaps no more succinct personification of Dutch football losing its way than Memphis Depay in a red leather jacket and cowboy hat, arriving by rolls-royce to play for Manchester United reserves in Altrincham.
Depay was the great hope of his generation when he left PSV eindhoven for Old Trafford in the summer of 2015.
At 20, he had been to a World Cup. At 21, he was a Dutch league champion and top scorer, winner of the Johan Cruyff Trophy for holland’s finest young talent and voted by France Football the best young player in the world.
United boss Louis van Gaal fought off interest from Paris Saint- Germain to sign the winger for £25million, handed him a four-year contract on £100,000 a week and put him in the fabled No 7 shirt.
At 22, his days in Manchester were numbered. his form was awful, his attitude worse and after a mistake cost his team a goal at Stoke on Boxing Day, he was exiled to the reserves, where he ignored advice from Wayne rooney not to turn up in any of his ‘fancy stuff’.
Depay found no way back; left out of the FA Cup final squad in 2016, written off as immature and unable to take instruction, he played only 20 minutes in the Premier League for Jose Mourinho and was sold to Lyon at a £10m loss in January 2017.
With holland, there was a public bust-up with robin van Persie as the euro 2016 qualifying campaign unravelled and the national side reached their nadir when they were thrashed 4-0 in France on the way to
missing last year’s World Cup finals. Van Persie, Arjen robben and Wesley Sneijder were at the end and a nation which gave the world Total Football lurched into crisis.
Debate raged about the decline of the Dutch league, caught in a vicious circle where talented, technical young players excelled in a weak competition, were snapped up by wealthy clubs from overseas, then quickly discarded if they struggled to make the step up or adjust to the lifestyle changes.
Depay was a classic example of modern football gone wrong. This was a world where the best were being creamed off too soon, only to see their opportunities limited by competition and desire stifled by unimaginable riches.
Fundamental policy change was demanded but there was no time before the shoots of an organic revival were seen with a new wave of talent bursting through at Ajax.
A strong Ajax equals a strong holland and it was ever thus: in the 1970s with the Cruyff generation, in the 1980s with Van Basten, rijkaard and Co, in the 1990s with the De Boers and Bergkamp.
Under Peter Bosz, the club reached the europa League final and this season under erik ten hag they won the league and cup double and returned to the Champions League knockout phase, narrowly missing the final.
All with their fast, exciting brand of football and young stars such as Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt.
Beyond this generation at Ajax, there was the influence of Merseyside, where Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum were maturing into european champions. WiJNALDUM
left PSV at the same time as Depay but without the fanfare. he was three years older, a midfielder with an eye for goal rather than a flair player hailed as his country’s future, joining Newcastle not Manchester United.
The development of he and Van Dijk has been steady, stepping up to each new challenge and arriving at Anfield to work with Jurgen Klopp.
ronald Koeman, meanwhile, was sacked by everton and replaced Dick Advocaat as the holland boss. he has added his own charisma and confidence. Under Koeman, the Dutch feel they have their identity back, playing the sort of dynamic game championed by Cruyff.
Some concerns remain — a successor to robben on the flanks remains elusive — but they have accounted for France and Germany in the Nations League and Depay is thriving as a striker. As it turned out, the Altrincham Cowboy was far from finished when he left Old Trafford.
his quality has sparkled in France with 22 goals in his first full season at Lyon and, although scoring only half as many for his club this season, he has seven in his last eight games for holland.
he still invites criticism with his approach to social media and seems to be hankering for a transfer, as speculation of a big-money move begins to swirl once again.
At 25, however, Depay has grown up and will be better able to handle the attention. his football is commanding respect, too, and Koeman, who first opened a relationship with Depay when he tried to sign him for everton from United, is coaxing out his talent in an inclusive environment where he no longer shoulders all the expectation.
When there was a midseason dip in form with Lyon, the holland manager paid Depay a visit and stayed a day longer than planned.
‘i talked to him about things like the criticism he receives in France and his things on social media,’ said Koeman. ‘Maybe that’s why he feels a little better at Oranje than at this club.’
Maybe that’s why the future is bright again. For Depay and for holland. From the gloom of the 1980s, when they failed to qualify for three major tournaments in a row, the Dutch emerged to be crowned european champions in 1988.
Once again they are back from the depths of despair. england have been warned.