"AZ in 81 had bravado and guts"
Thursday 16 April 2009
In the Spelbos residence the phone
rings halfway through the morning.
"So far it's been calm, but
the party is about to begin I think," says Ronald
Spelbos, after he has told the makers of a TV-program
they'll have to call back later.
It's not so strange that he is
one of the people asked to analyze the AZ-team of 1981
and that of today.
Back then he was one of the symbols
of AZ, wearing the red-and-white jersey for eight years,
before he joined maker of champions Georg Kessler to
Club Brugge.
He got his first invitation for
the national team in the year of the league title with
AZ and a while later he grew to be one of the best center
backs at Ajax.
At present he is Head of Scouting
with the KNVB after he was coach at NAC, Vitesse and
FC Utrecht.
- Statement 1: AZ of 1981 were
a joy to watch
Spelbos: "We would dominate
an opponent when in possession and we wanted to play
in the opponents half. That could be a difference with
AZ now. The way we played took a lot of concentration.
You weren't allowed to make mistakes and you had to
keep it up 34 games, 90 minutes. I understand full well
that Louis van Gaal thinks it's necessary to sit back
from time to time though. Let the opponents take the
initiative and make a mistake. But we would be dishonest
when we say that AZ only benefit from mistakes."
"In our team we had some really
attractive players. Jan Peters was a crack in midfield.
I still feel he was underestimated. Peters could do
anything. He regained balls, he was incredibly strong,
tackled and was a great passer. I used to be annoyed
who would moan about him only playing short, lateral
passes. Ridiculous! Jan Peters could really do anything.
In fact the whole midfield was good. Next to Peters
there were Kristen Nygaard, Jos Jonker and Peter Arntz.
The latter two played out wide. If Peters would leave
a gap, Arntz would be there to fill it up. Nygaard was
more forward orientated. He could always play a dangerous
pass."
- Statement 2: AZ now has more
forwards who can score
"That is what I like about
this team: they always score. I can hardly remember
a game in which they didn't. It's perhaps because of
the fact that they have forwards who can play on several
different positions. Mounir El Hamdaoui can play center
forward or just behind, but he can also come from the
wing. Moussa Dembélé has played different
positions throughout the season. On the left Maarten
Martens has the ability to score. The fact that they
can all play in different positions has to do with the
organization. They are well organised. Every player
knows the tasks on every position and knows what to
do there. The individual qualities are also used well."
"In 1981 all eyes were on
Kees Kist
, but he didn't even play at first. Pier
Tol was our striker and Kist was in the sick bay.
When he recovered he did play immediately and scored
a number of goals."
- Statement 3: Louis van Gaal and
Dirk Scheringa talk about AZ as a provincial club. You
never did that.
"It didn't feel like that
to us and we didn't want to be. We had bravado and guts.
I dare say that. We would go around the Eredivisie with
an aura that said: we are the best. Opponents would
respect us because of it. And we had the types of players
to be like that. Kees Kist had been top scorer of the
Eredivisie of years. He wasn't a newcomer. Hugo Hovenkamp
played with a lot of flair on the overlap, and everybody
respected Nygaard, while John Metgod was eyed by Real
Madrid. I would add a little toughness."
"The name 'provincial club'
indicates the role of the underdog. I know it rarely
happens that a club other than the traditional big three
Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord, wins the league. It's all down
to money. Whoever has the biggest budget has the biggest
chance to win it. At the moment Ajax' budget is twice
that of AZ. That is why it is so special that AZ win
the league. Not so much because they are labeled 'provincial'."
- Statement 5: Van Gaal's players
have long been uncertain because of the drama two years
ago.
"They were afraid to say out
loud that they were going to be champions. The fact
that they lost the title on the last day in 2007 was
a terrible moment for the entire club. You carry such
an experience with you when you are challenging for
the league again. But the way they are dealing with
that pressure says a lot about the character of the
current players. They already know they are expected
to win it again next year. That pressure is put upon
them automatically. But will you carry it as a burden?
Or will you relish it and show it in the way you play?
On our team back then were a number of players who enjoyed
that status."
- Statement 5: Our coach George
Kessler was as extreme as Van Gaal.
"I don't know whether extreme
is the right word. He was a special coach though, as
is Van Gaal. As a coach I thought of him as a strategist.
In the years before we won the league he has had to
make some tough decisions. There were some question
marks surrounding him as a coach. In a way he was distant,
nothing like a father figure. But I thought he was charming
and he gave the players a lot of confidence. Kessler
knew an awful lot about football. And as he did Van
Gaal has also spent a lot of energy on the team building."
- Statement 6: AZ will not be able
to hold on to it's best players
"When you win the league in
Holland all big European clubs will come and look at
your players. Coaches, scouts, they all want to come
and take the biggest talents. You can not stop that.
The one advantage AZ have is that the other Dutch clubs
are not able to sign their best players. They are too
expensive for that. AZ have a large scouting team. Just
look at the names: John Bosman, Peter Arntz, Hugo Hovenkamp,
Max Huiberts, Barry van Galen. It turns out that investing
in scouting pays off. The players don't come from big
clubs."
"With El Hamdaoui AZ have
one of the best forwards in the Netherlands. He is skilled,
no too fast but two-footed and he makes a great pair
with Dembélé. De Zeeuw always thinks offensively
as a midfielder and makes sure that his first touch
is always forward. That is one of the strongest weapons
of AZ. When he pulls it back he knows it will take all
pace from the attack or the counter."
"Demy often sees the right
moments and Stijn Schaars is the holding player. He
is smart and always knows how the team is or should
be positioned. Such a player is indispensable. Let's
hope for AZ they can hold on to these guys."
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