Feyenoord embraces youth…

By: Jan | September 26th, 2008

His youthful enthusiasme brought him a yellow card and a prickly comment from his coach. Feyenoord coach Gertjan Verbeek called Janota “not so smart”.

“I was happy he kept his shirt on after the second goal, so he does learn. But anyway, his first goal in De Kuip, I can sympathize with his joy.”

Just before Janota forgot himself, he scored the 2-0 in a beautiful way and the 18 year old Polish player scored the 3-0 as well. He is the umptiest youth player to break into the big team this season. And with the somewhat experienced Wijnaldum (17) and Fer (18), there’s players like Mitchell Schet (20), Norichio Nieveld (19), Kevin Wattamaleo (19), Darley (18), Manteiga (18) and Kermit Erasmus (18) eager to show their stuff. The choice for youth maybe a choice out of necessity but the surplus of talent seems to be unstoppable in Rotterdam.

Former Feyenoord player Stanley Brard - in charge of youth development - says: “Well, this is just a great generation. But Feyenoord always had a good youth system and good players. The only difference is, that now we actually use them for ourselves.”

Brard works at Feyenoord since 2004 but doesn’t want to look back into the past. “Let me just say that this technical staff shows itself on the youth fields. They look at the youth teams and discuss players with the youth coaches.”

Technical director Peter Bosz is the architect of all this. Since his assignment in 2006, things have changed. “Peter bridged the gap between De Kuip and Varkenoord, our youth center.”

Using the youthful talents is not caused by the injuries and difficulties of the first team, debates Brard. “If you invest heavily in youth, you’d be a fool not to use it. We know we have quality players, but the only thing lacking was the willingness to give them a shot.”

Verbeek has proved that he has the guts to throw the youngster before the lions, as the Dutch say. “It’s important to use Wijnaldum, Fer, De Guzman and all those chaps, because it also shows the younger talented players that when you play for Feyenoord, you’ll have a chance to play for the senior team. We are constantly scouting and being able to point at Fer and the likes will help us attract more players.”

Janota is a typical example. He was signed 2,5 years ago when he played in Poland. “He was supposed to play with the juniors this season,” says Verbeek,” but during the warm up it was clear he was up to it. I wanted to keep him with me. Michal is a lefty, can play anywhere upfront, has the right mental framework and a killer shot.”

Brard: “You always have to wait and see how that last big step will go. But if we’re create the circumstances for them to succeed, the risk of failing becomes smaller.”

New signing Al Ahmadi, who came from FC Twente last summer, won’t be seen soon. Verbeek: “He’s getting back from injury but he is in the middle of the ramadan. I respect his belief system and understand what he is doing and why, but obviously, I’m not happy with it. I feel this ramadan is taking too much energy away from him. All good when you’re top fit but he isn’t. So, this slows his process. But…we knew this when we signed him and it’s a fact of life so I won’t make too much of an issue of it.”

Verbeek also spoke about the many injuries of his team and his tendency to push the players hard. Has his methods caused the avalanche of injuries (Lucius: broken toe, De Guzman: back problems, De Cler: diarrhea): “No. We analyzed the injuries and the fitness of the players. It’s partly bad luck and partly the fact that some players weren’t fit to begin with. When you start a new season partly fit, you run more risks. But I have to get them to a certain level before the season starts. There is no time in our current season set up to work physically during the season… Landzaat is the only player I pushed to hard, maybe. He played in England, and their training sessions are very one sided. So maybe he was too weak in certain places of his body and I may have caused him some grief…”

Going to the Arsenal game? Find out how to get to North London and where to stay near Emirates Stadium.