Why Frank’s not such a clever clogs

THE difference between the Eredivisie, where Crystal Palace manager Frank de Boer thrived, and the Premier League is that our top flight is crash, bang, wallop.

As a manager you have to be able to adapt and adapt fast.

It’s physical and unrelenting – so much so that, above the signature strip on managers’ contracts, owners and chairmen should have written: ‘You have to hit the ground running.’

I’ve worked with coaches, like De Boer, who subscribe to the Ajax ‘total football’ philosophy and for a player it’s taxing on the brain.

You have to learn different positions, other players’ positions – it’s not just about your own role.

Under a manager like Sam Allardyce, the right-back gets it and sticks it into the channel – job done.

But in the Johan Cruyff system favoured by De Boer, the same player attacks and defends. He has to know when to go, when to get into midfield, when to drop into central defence.

The Dutchman (above) has been having to pass on a lot of information to his Crystal Palace players who are used to very simple instructions.

Not only are they having to learn what he is telling them, they’re having to do so while playing in the world’s toughest league.

It’s nigh on impossible to change things so drastically and so quickly, which is why De Boer’s situation reminds me of the Wyclef Jean song ‘Gone Till November.’

The way things are looking, he might as well have left a note for family and friends back in Holland, saying: ‘I’ll be gone ‘til September.’