A solution seems far away at Feyenoord

Monday 08 December 2008

After Feyenoord's sixth league defeat of the season the players have requested a meeting with management without coach Gertjan Verbeek being present.

That might be an indication that there is indeed some friction between the coach and the players or should we say: some of the players?

Anyone who observes Feyenoord play will see that there are certain players who are reluctant to pass each other the ball.

Kevin Hofland 'overlooked' his captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst several times even though it was clear for all that the ball had to go to the captain of the Dutch national team.

The same goes for goal keeper Henk Timmer, who rather kicks a long ball than play it short to his skipper.

Trying to analyze the way the Feyenoord defense communicates one quickly sees there is no communication.

Van Bronckhorst and Hofland/Timmer didn't speak a single word during 90 minutes of football, which especially yesterday was strange as Van Bronckhorst played left back in the absence of Tim de Cler.

Most puzzling: Kevin Hofland and Henk Timmer giving each other a thumbs up after they had just been beaten 1-3 at home by relegation candidate De Graafschap.

What is going on at Feyenoord?

Why is it that Giovanni van Bronckhorst is the only player making a tour around the stands after the game, thanking the fans, while his team mates slowly walk to the tunnel that takes them to the dressing rooms?

And isn't it telling that coach Gertjan Verbeek walks across the pitch to that same tunnel without talking to or even looking at one single player though passing almost all of them on the way?

Verbeek says afterwards that he can not identify any problems between him and the players and that he still enjoys working at Feyenoord.

Karim el Ahmadi says there is no problem as far as he can tell, but that perhaps "it is a good idea to have a chat without the coach so that everyone can speak his mind."

It's clear for all to see that are problems.

If we were to speculate wildly we could say there is rift within the team.

Not just between the coach and his players, but between players.

And not just any players, but between some of the older, experienced players.

Not much love is lost between Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Kevin Hofland it seems with Henk Timmer clearly in the Hofland camp.

With these three we have also identified the two extremes in the team, with Van Bronckhorst being a constant achiever and Timmer and Hofland playing poorly all season.

And then there is Theo Lucius, a player not known for his intellectual talents, about whom Verbeek said a few weeks ago that Dwight Tiendalli is better than he is.

It was only days after that remark that vicious rumors about Verbeek started coming out.

De Telegraaf yesterday wrote an article about the unhappiness of "80% of the players" with Verbeek's approach.

Now such knowledge is either a blatant lie or De Telegraaf has a source within the squad.

And could that source be Theo Lucius, getting back at his coach for publicly insulting him?

Now all this will not be news to Gertjan Verbeek.

So why is he not acting on it?

Timmer, Hofland and Lucius were all in the starting lineup yesterday, all three played an abysmal game and all three stayed on for 90 minutes.

The answer is simple: Verbeek has no options.

Yesterday there were four teenagers on the bench plus a player who is coming back from 1 year of injury trouble.

Verbeek is just hoping that his experienced players have enough pride to be willing to fight for themselves when not for their coach.

Yesterday was an indication that the players do not have such pride and that Verbeek will have to make his way through this league season with a lot of dead weight on board.

Important dead weight on top, players with a name and a loud voice within the team and the media.

The next few days will make a lot of things a bit clearer, yet knowing that Feyenoord can not afford to sack Verbeek and that the coach simply can not replace Timmer and Hofland the fans better prepare for yet another disappointing season with a lot of sorry performances like yesterday to come.