Frank de Boer
New Netherlands coach has a lot to prove
“In front of you is sitting a very happy person”, said Frank de Boer at the press conference for his appointment as the Netherlands’ national coach. “Even though you can’t always say that about me.”
He was referring to his often-surly facial expression, but his remarks also summarised the divided reaction to his appointment. Relief and happiness from the De Boer camp and at the Dutch FA, but vexation throughout the rest of the country.
Although he represented the Oranje 112 times, making him the third-most capped player (behind Wesley Sneijder and Edwin van der Sar), De Boer was not the obvious choice to succeed Ronald Koeman. His track record in recent years has been too poor.
The Dutch FA had a serious problem when Koeman failed to resist the lure of Barcelona. His contract contained a clause that meant he could leave for his former club if it ever came knocking. So when the Catalan giants considered him the best option to succeed the sacked Quique Setien, there was nothing the Dutch FA could do to change his mind.
But what next? The squad was happy to continue with assistant coach Dwight Lodeweges. And the Canadianborn Lodeweges, whose parents migrated after World War II, was coach during the Nations League matches against Poland and Italy. However, he did not convince, failing to have an answer to the constant Italian attacks in a 1-0 defeat in Amsterdam. And, after coaching unfashionable clubs such as Cambuur, PEC Zwolle and amateur club VVOG, he was never seen as the ideal representative of the national team but more as the perfect assistant.
The federation turned to former coach Frank Rijkaard, who has been out of football for many years, and Peter Bosz, who recently renewed his contract at Bayer Leverkusen. Both turned it down.
Then the name of Louis van Gaal was mentioned as caretaker until the European Championship. The former Manchester United manager, who led Netherlands to third spot at the 2014 World Cup, seemed to be interested. However, the squad, as skipper and spokesman Virgil van Dijk made clear in veiled terms, wasn’t particularly keen. Neither was the Dutch FA, fearing that Van Gaal would turn everything that had been built in recent years upside down, both on and off the pitch.
So finally candidate number four, Frank de Boer, had the approval of the board and the team, but others remain unconvinced – an opinion based on his three managerial spells abroad. His reign at Internazionale lasted only 85 days, at Crystal Palace just ten weeks and at Atlanta United a year and a half. He was sacked by each club.
This is in stark contrast to the start of his career. De Boer was Bert van Marwijk’s assistant when Netherlands got to the 2010 World Cup final and, once standing on his own two feet, led his boyhood club Ajax to four consecutive Eredivisie titles.
The time seemed right to go abroad, but the 50-year-old never found the perfect match. Jose Mourinho even labelled him the “worst manager in the history of the Premier League”.
However, he isn’t the only one to blame. At Inter he was confronted with mutinous players who disagreed with the board, while in London he was asked to renovate the Crystal Palace team – who then panicked when results were poor. Perhaps De Boer is better off at home. If he can relaunch his career with national team success and rediscover the magic of his early managerial spell, he won’t be the only happy person in the Netherlands.