UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND
R E PO RT O F SPO RTS L E A DE R S H IP „A GOOD HORSE, A GOO D JOCKEY‟
GEERT HOPMANS B00219141 T H U R S DAY
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I N T ROD U C T I ON
On 23 May 1990 something really special happened. The place where it all happened was at the Praterstadion in Vienna, Austria. Two teams were playing the European Cup Final, but there was only one player who made the difference. At that time this player was 27 years old, his weight was 89 kilos and his length was 1.88 meters. In the 68th minute of the match Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard scored the only goal to win the cup for Milan. Rijkaard started his professional football career as a player for Ajax. He made his debut for the first team of Ajax when he was a 17 years old youngster. At his time for Ajax he worked with world famous managers like: - Leo Beenhakker (Ajax, Feyenoord, the Dutch national team and Real Madrid) - Aad de Mos (Ajax, KV Mechelen and PSV) - Johan Cruijff After seven years of winning a lot of trophies with Ajax he left, because he had a conflict with his coach Johan Cruijff. In the middle of the season Rijkaard moved to Sporting CP, but unlucky for him he signed too late, so he was immediately loaned out for a few months to Real Zaragoza. Thanks to his amazing performance with the Dutch National team at the European Championship of 1988 he deserved a transfer to AC Milan and became a legend. It was his coach Arrigo Sacchi who transformed Rijkaard into a very important midfielder. After five seasons in Italy, he returned to Ajax in 1993. He became the key player of Louis van Gaal success team who won a lot of prices. During Rijkaard‟s International career (1981-1994) he was coached by Rinus Michels also known as „the architect of total football‟. In 1999 Rinus Michels was awarded the highest honour in world football: the FIFA Coach of the Century (Dickinson, M., 2007). Rijkaard won a lot of trophies as a player. The most important trophies are: - Uefa Cup with Ajax in 1987 - European Cup with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990 - European Super Cup with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990 - Intercontinental Cup with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990 - UEFA Champions League with Ajax in 1995 The football career of Rijkaard was really successful. Considered he is the third best Dutch player of all time, after Cruijff and Van Basten. During his career as a player, he was coached by a lot of famous managers. He learned from their philosophies and skills. The managers such as Cruijff, Michels and van Gaal has had a big influence on the managerial skills of Rijkaard. Cruijff was the one who had the biggest influence on Rijkaard. When Rijkaard was a kid he admired him a lot. It was a great moment when Cruijff became his coach at Ajax. Rijkaard learned so much under him, because Cruijff had so much knowledge and respect for the game(FIFA 2009). If you have been a good horse, it does not mean that you are a good jockey. The thesis of this report is; Rijkaard was an outstanding player and is currently one of the best managers.
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M A I N B ODY
Rijkaard became an assistant coach of Guus Hiddink, along with Johan Neeskens and Ronald Koeman. When Hiddink left the Dutch national team in 1998, Rijkaard took over as a manager without previous coaching experience. The expectations were really high during the period when Rijkaard was the coach of the Dutch national team. At the World Cup of 1998 the Dutch team under leadership of Hiddink reached almost the final, but they lost their penalty shootout against Brazil. In preparation of the Euro 2000 on home soil, Rijkaard lost most of the friendly matches. The pressure of the media began to increase, but Rijkaard rode out the storm and managed the Dutch team a way to the semi-final with attractive football (Polishchuk, n.d.). Unlucky for Rijkaard the semi-final of Euro 2000 against Italy became a disaster. Frank de Boer and Patrick Kluivert missed their penalties during the game and against ten Italians the Dutch team could not win. After extra time the Dutch players missed three out of four in the shootout. A national drama was born. After this disaster, Rijkaard burst out into tears and he resigned (Abboud, L., Colchester, M. 2008). In 2001 Rijkaard became manager of the oldest professional team in the Dutch league: Sparta Rotterdam. It was a strange move to take over such a club, because Rijkaard went from the Dutch national team with players like Van Nistelrooy, Bergkamp and Seedorf, to a club without any perspectives and good players. Sparta Rotterdam was fighting for relegation. Beside it was a strange move, it was also a wrong move to take over. The reason why is because Sparta Rotterdam had massive financial problems, so any coach could not do much to build up a team. For the players of Sparta Rotterdam it was exiting to have a former Dutch coach with a lot of experience, but for the managerial career of Rijkaard it was not that smart (Footballnl 2001). Frank Rijkaard enjoyed the down-toearth atmosphere, but at the end the club was relegated under his leadership for the first time in its history, so it was not that fun anymore. Especially when Rijkaard received a letter with bullets. It was a death threat to his family. This has had an huge impact on Rijkaard‟s life (VI 2002). When Rijkaard took over Barcelona it was a tough place to work, because Van Gaal screwed it up. Since 1999 they have not won the Spanish league and at the moment Rijkaard took over as a manager, they were in the relegation zone. There was no money and they had lost Rivaldo. It seems like Rijkaard have not learn from his period at Sparta Rotterdam, because it looks like history may be repeating itself, although with a different twist. The new elected President of Barcelona Joan Laporta believed in Frank Rijkaard, because Cruijff recommended him, although his lack of coaching experience. After a couple of appearances the club‟s fans called for his resignation, but Rijkaard achieved a turnaround (Frankrijkaard 2009). He took Barcelona to another level. First of all he replaced the old squad and rebuilt a new look. Without much money he spent his money wisely through buying Ronaldinho and Eto‟o. Secondly nobody had heard of Iniesta and Messi before. He managed to mix young players into a team with local players like Puyol and Xavi and players with experience like Larsson and Deco. Also he solved the goalie problem. For ages the goalkeeper was like a revolving door, but now there was Victor Valdes. During his 5-year stay he won 2 Spanish League, 1 Champions League and 2 Spanish Super Cup titles. He became also the first Barcelona coach who have won twice in Santiago Bernabéu. At Barça Rijkaard also showed his tactical skills. In the next example it will be clear; in the Champions League final of 2005-2006 Rijkaard 3
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did two substitutions. He introduced Larsson and Beletti. Both of the substitutions were directly involved to Barcelona‟s two goals (Frankrijkaard 2009). The reason why Rijkaard left Barcelona was because of the egos and the lack of hunger. After a sabbatical year and lots of offers, Rijkaard decided to manage Galatasaray in 2009. In preparation of the coming season he bought a couple of new players like Kewell, Baros and Elano. The team of Rijkaard started the season very well with big victories, but at the end he finished third. The second year of being head coach was really hard. He started the season with two defeats and early elimination from the European competition. Four defeats in eight games brought Rijkaard‟s era to an and. He concluded a couple of things after their defeats (Hürriyet 2010) . - “We conceded three similar goals,” “I am shocked by this. I have never seen anything like that. Losing that way made me unhappy.” (Hürriyet 2010) - “Our important players are injured,” “Arda Turan is injured, Harry Kewell is injured as well. We are negatively affected by it.” (Hürriyet 2010) Rijkaard was the sixth manager in 2 years. Rijkaard‟s contract has been determinated by mutual agreement. The board were thankful to Rijkaard, who was a big help with his work ethics, hard work, personality and experience (Galatasaray 2010). The philosophy of Rijkaard is to guide his team towards playing attack-minded football as an unit. The most important thing is that Rijkaard produced a beautiful attacking style of football that not only won tournaments but also gave enjoyment to the fans (Kishore, B. 2010). As said in the introduction Rijkaard is influenced by managers as Cruijff and Michels. Frank Rijkaard has a lot of impressions from the past, but the difference between the past and now is that football has changed. You cannot copy from the past, because decisions that for example Cruijff made years ago will not work today. In the successful years of Barcelona, Rijkaard played frequently in the same formation. The formation which Rijkaard used a lot was 4-1-2-2-1. This system encouraged the creativity of the players. In general the team is focused on maintaining ball possession and applying pressure in order to force some mistakes of the opponent. Every one of his players is a valuable member of the team and he likes free to play in a way that feels natural. It does not matter who you are, nobody is bigger than the team (FrankRijkaard 2009). Rijkaard‟s philosophy can also be seen in a business context. There are four topics which will explain the philosophy of Rijkaard. In the first place it is important to be flexible. As a manager you must not force your employees into a system. The solution is to make them feel free in the workplace. It will lead to an higher efficiency. Secondly, if there are some problems or things are not how it should be, do not react immediately. Think first before you change or say something bad. Stay positive, be there for your employees and offer them your help, knowledge and understanding. Topic number 3 is about your relation with your employees. Rijkaard has got different relations with his players, like the paternal hug of Messi, the strategic discussions with Deco and to see the happy face of Xavi back at training. Rijkaard have said; “If you are working with players of a higher quality, the more passionate you get as a coach, the less credibility you get,”. Do not waste all of your time on giving compliments to your best employees. It is also important to pay attention at those who are not that good, like the players who are not playing. The fourth topic is about your attitude. A positive attitude is infectious. Ronaldinho says he feels like he is playing in his backyard. Maxi Lopez an excellent forward has hardly played, but he always wanted to prove himself rather than leaving (The Stingy Scholar 2006). 4
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As a player Rijkaard has had a quick temper. But now, he is often a portrait of calm and stability along the touchline. He rarely courts controversy in the media (FrankRijkaard 2009). Most of the time Rijkaard had not any problems with his players. But at the end of his stay in Barcelona he dealt with some problems with Eto‟o and Ronaldinho. Before Rijkaard bought them he knew that those two players were a risk, because of their bad reputations. In the first two years everything was okay, but at the end both players showed their ego‟s and a lack of motivation. After all, Rijkaard always tried to do his best for the team. In certain ways he also protected his players when the media spread some negative rumors. In the next quotes Valdes and Messi show their relation and what they have learned from Frank Rijkaard. Xavi said something about how Rijkaard influenced him. - “Frank Rijkaard was like a father to me, and helped me a lot through difficult moments in my career. He was one of the few people that gave me confidence. He used to say „stay calm, I'm here for you‟. I‟ll be grateful to him for the rest of my life,” by Victor Valdes (Coerts 2011). - “He gave me a lot of confidence, it was fundamental for me. There were games when he did not start me and I was annoyed, but I now know that was best for me. I want to thank him a great deal for everything that he did for my career,” by Lionel Messi (Tikitakafutbol 2008-2010). - “Frank Rijkaard was the one who really won me over to do tactically speaking. Radomir Antic had already pushed me slightly further forward, positionally speaking, and even Charly Rexach had tried me in that linking role in the odd game. When Rijkaard told me I was going to play there I thought I might struggle, but the truth is it‟s my natural position,” by Xavi (FIFA 2010). In a certain way Rijkaard influenced me. To make everything clear I never managed a youth team of football or another type of sport. I have got two years of experience in working in groups at the University of Amsterdam. Sometimes I was the chairman of the group, so I could say I developed some managerial skills. If I compare my vision with the philosophy of Rijkaard I can say that we have got the same thoughts about running a team. I think it is very important to be flexible as a manager. It does not really matter in what kind of context. If I just speak about football I think it all depends of the players you have got. As a manager you must not hold on one single system like 4-3-3. Of course you can prefer a typical system, but if you do not have the players to play the system it would not be successful. I do not really agree with the point about freedom. As a manager you have to show your players/employees what is allowed and what is against the rules. It happens very often when you give a lot of freedom to people, that they will make abuse of it. The result is that they are going to take a walk with you, instead of you say where the team has to go to. For me it is very important to stay in touch with my team like what Rijkaard does. If there is a problem, I will try to do my best to solve the problem. To know what is going on at the workplace you have to show your involvement. You have to invest in your relations and at the end they will pay you back. Rijkaard is a real gentlemen and I want to be like him. The first impression is very important. I know Rijkaard only as an calm and an observing type. If I would be a manager in the future I would not jump around along the touchline like the House of Pain. No I would be calm and stable. I admire Frank Rijkaard because he is not always taking the easiest way to do things. He went from manager of the Dutch national team to the number last of the Dutch League. After that he went to Barcelona, that was a mess at that time. His last managerial job was in Turkey. In my opinion is Turkey a though place to work. There is a whole different 5
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environment, as well as language and cultural behaviour. Rijkaard was an outstanding player, but as a manager he does not really proved himself. Only at Barcelona he showed some skills. I think he is a good manager, but it looks like he want to be challenged. The risk of a challenge is that you can fail. The particular contribution in sport of Frank Rijkaard is that he rebuild a team which was almost going down. He gave Barcelona their face back again.
C ON C L U S I O N
Frank Rijkaard is considered as the third best Dutch player of all time, after Cruijff and Van Basten. So that means that he is a good horse. It is a fact that Rijkaard was coached by a lot of world famous managers. As a youngster he admired Cruijff and he still does. Frank learned from each manager during his career, but of all of the managers he learned the most of Cruijff. Because Johan Cruijff knew so much about the game and an important issue was that he respected the game. The managerial career of Rijkaard had ups, but mostly downs. However, it does not immediately mean that he is a bad jockey. The choices he made were based on adventure and challenges. With the Dutch national team he reached the semi-final of Euro 2000 in their own country. Unlucky for him some players could not handle the pressure and missed their penalties. At his time for Sparta Rotterdam he could not build up a team, because he took over in the middle of a season. The club had massive financial problems and the players were not that good enough. As a manager of Barcelona he was more successful than ever as a coach. Rijkaard built the foundation of what we can see today. He built up the team with vision and not with much money. Coaching experience is important, but not that much as many people think. Frank Rijkaard did not have much coaching experience when he started at Barcelona. But after five years he left Barcelona with amazing last words of Joan Laporta. The President of Barcelona made clear that Frank Rijkaardâ€&#x;s achievements made history. On March 8, 2006 Rijkaard was honoured by UEFA for his contributions for the European Cup Competition throughout his career as player and manager. Thanks to this statement I can say that Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard is a good horse and a good jockey.
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REFERENCES
Dickingson, M. (2007) The top 50 manager of all time, [Online], Available: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2437525.ece Fifa (2009) I still want to coach, [Online], Available: http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/confederationscup/southafrica20 09/news/newsid=1058011.html Polishchuk, S.V. (n.d.) Biographies Frank Rijkaard, [Online], Available: http://soccer-europe.com/Biographies/Rijkaard.html Abboud, L., Colchester, M. (2008) The flubbing Dutchmen, [Online], Available: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121269489872949569.html Footballnl (2001) David Mendes da Silva stays with Sparta, [Online], Available: http://www.footballnl.com/news/news01613.php Voetbal International (2002) Rijkaard vertrekt toch bij Sparta, [Online], Available: http://www.vi.nl/Nieuws-item/41140/Rijkaard-vertrekt-toch-bij-Sparta.htm?msn=true FrankRijkaard (2009) Barcelona 2003-2008, [Online], Available: http://www.frankrijkaard.org/barcelona.html Hürriyet (2010) Heavy defeat puts Galatasaray coach Rijkaard under fire, [Online], Available: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=heavy-defeat-put-galatasaray-coach rijkaard-under-fire-2010-10-18 Hürriyet (2010) Rijkaard revolution ends at Istanbul’s Galatasaray, [Online], Available: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=rijkaard-departure-leaved-revolutionoranje-undone-at-galatasaray-2010-10-20 Galatasaray (2010) Rijkaard leaves, [Online], Available: http://www.galatasaray.org/en/kulup/haber/1129.php
Kishore, B. (2010) Top ten current managers of European Club Football, [Online], Available: http://www.footballnl.com/news/news01613.php
The Stingy Scholar (2006) Frank Rijkaard’s Management style, [Online], Available:
http://stingyscholar.blogspot.com/2006/04/frank-rijkaards-management-style_20.html
Coerts, S. (2011) I’ll be grateful to Frank Rijkaard for the rest of my life, [Online], Available: http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2011/03/04/2378800/ill-be-grateful-to-frankrijkaard-for-the-rest-of-my-life
Tikitakafutbol (2008-2010) The year of Lionel Messi leaves, [Online], Available: http://tikitakafutbol.com/ThezearofLionelMessi.aspx
Fifa (2010) Xavi: winning is addictive, [Online], Available: http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=1328821.html
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