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Friday, 4 January 2013
Inverview : Frank Rijkaard
Rijkaard
: There’s no magic bullet to stop Barca
Despite
his considerable achievements as player and coach, Frank Rijkaard is far from
complacent about the challenge he faces in the Saudi Arabia hot-seat. With
Barcelona;s iconic cantera as his
model, the Dutchman is aiming to lay the foundations of future success by
focusing on the Gulf Kingdom’s finest young talent.
As
2012 draws to a close, FIFA.com met with the former Netherlands and Barcelona
boss to discuss his plans for the Saudis, his memories of Catalonia and who he
thinks will win year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or.
FIFA
: Frank, it’s been almost a year since you took over as Saudi Arabia coach. How
has it been so far ?
Frank Rijkaard : It
hasn’t been easy, but we knew that from the outset. I think that our last two
matches have seen us break free of a vicious circle of bad results, with a late
win over Congo and a great performance in holding Argentina to a draw. This
means we can start looking forward.
In
a previous inverview with FIFA, you said there was plan in place for the future
of Saudi football, and that was based on youth. How is it working out ?
Like we wanted it. Lots
of people are putting a lot of hard work. We’ve got Spanish coaches who are
working on a daily basis and a lot of great stuff is being done with younger
players, starting at around age 12. It’s all excellent, but of course one
shouldn’t expect to see the benefits tomorrow. These players are only 10 or 12
years old and it will be another decade before the results come through. That
said, this has to be done. Look at Japan for instance. 10 years ago, they
started working on a similar plan and now they are enjoying success from that.
Success in built an organization, determination, and experience, not to mention
following the regulations, so of course it’s no easy matter.
Saudi
Arabia excited in the third round of Asian Zone qualifying for the 2014 FIFA
World Cup Brazil. Has the squad’s disappointment at missing out on a second
successive edition of the tournament subsided at all ?
To be perfectly honest,
I’ve no idea. We’ve recently started placing more and more responbility on the
shoulders of younger and less experienced players, like the team that faced
Australia in the last match of our qualifying campaign. We are trying to create
a blend of youth and experience, as I said before, and given the recent results
against Congo and Argentina (3-2 and 0-0 respectively) it looks like we can
create something new here.
“Messi is not simply a uniquely talented footballer. He’s also strong
mentally, very bright and exceptionally dedicated to his job. Quite simply, he’s
the best.”
Frank Rijkaard
Let’s
talk about UEFA EURO 2012. Did the Netherland’s early exit surprise you and
what is your take on their lack of form ?
No-one expected it
before the tournament, but during the competition it became clear that all was
not well with Dutch team. This is football, and if you’re not in the right
place at the right time and you don’t perform well then things like this are
going to happen. That’s the beauty of the game. Unfortunately it happened to
Netherlands this time, but it can happen to anyone.
You
spent 5 years as coach of Barcelona. What are your memories of your time at the
club ?
Of course, 5 years is a
long time. We went through some tough times and some excellent ones, and it’s
only natural to dwell on the positives. I’m happy because I had the chance to
work with a major club like Barcelona with so many star players, so I have
wonderful memories of the place.
You
managed to end a lengthy trophy drought at Barca, with your tenure featuring
victories in the UEFA Champions League, La Liga (twice), and Spanish Super Cups
(twice). Would you say you laid the foundations for Barcelona’s recent
dominations ?
Definitely not. I was
just passing through. I had a lot of success, of course, but whatever was
achieved was due to a group of effort on the part of all players. That said, I
must have had a good relationship with the players because otherwise I wouldn’t
have won 2 league titles and the Champions League. Basically, I think it comes
down to the fact that Barcelona has so many philosophy, helping them create
their own football culture. The coach’s role is to acclimatize to this way of
playing. It was easy for me because I’m Dutch and I played at Ajax, so once I
felt comfortable at the club I had a wonderful time. It’s my belief that
Barcelona are successful because they have a number of youth teams alongside
the first team. They are where it begins. This is what should happen in Saudi
Arabia for example, in terms of creating their own style of football and
philosophy. This needs to start in the youth ranks and then we might expect
some success in the future. Barcelona didn’t start getting results after just
one year. When I arrived there they hadn’t won anything for 5 years. One needs
patience and self-belief.
Barcelona
are famous for their eye-catching style of play. If you were coaching a side
against them, what tactics would you use ?
There’s no magic
bullet, but you have to adapt to their style. Most of the clubs who have had
success against Barcelona have relied on a highly organized and discipline defence.
Inter Milan and Chelsea have both sent Barcelona out of the Champions League and then you have
Real Madrid (who won La Liga 2011/12). You could call it the ‘Jose Mourinho
recipe for success’, which he began while he was at Chelsea. If you play
Barcelona that way 10 times, you might beat them once, but it certainly doesn’t
guarantee success.
After
Barcelona you went on to coach Galatasaray in Turkey. What do you think of their
Champions League achievements this year ?
I’m delighted for them,
they’re huge club with superb fans. When I was there things were different,
unfortunately. I couldn’t really achieve anything and I wasn’t able to sign
major players, even though we were in dire need of a better side. We started
out well enough but fell off by the end because we did not have a strong squad
enough. Now Galatasaray have an excellent and united management set-up and have
been able to build a strong side, I’m
happy for them. It’s really great for them.
You
are one of a number of big names tasting coaching in Asia, with Marcelo Lippi
in China PR and Diego Maradona’s time in UAE, which ended in July 2012, two
such examples. Are these personalities helping Asia close the talent gap on the
rest of the world ?
They are not really
helping because these are such short-term projects. You have coaches from major
footballing nations who come to work for a year for massive wages, and then
they turn it all over to new coaches who have to start from scratch. This doesn’t help football on the continent. What’s
needed is a new philosophy, working with
the younger age groups to lay the foundations for producing top-quality
professional players. Local coaches must receive education and training and
qualified people from South America and Europe be brought in who know how to do
this. Short-termism is no good, plans must be carried through to the end.
Next
Monday the winner of the FIFA Ballon d’Or will be announced . Who do you think
will take it ?
I’m going to Lionel
Messi, because I think he’s the best player on the three-man final shortlist
and he’s performed brilliantly this year.
You
have worked alongside Messi. What do you think of him as a man both on and off
the pitch ?
He’s an incredible
person. Messi is not simply a uniquely talented footballer. He’s also strong
mentally, very bright, and exceptionally dedicated to his job. Personally
speaking I enjoy watching him play and I’m deeply proud of him and what he has
achieved. Quite simply, he’s the best.
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