Holland boss insists: 'I'll do it my way'

Criticised: Holland boss Marco van Basten continues to leave out star names
14 April 2012

Steve McClaren may still be finding his way into his new role, but Marco van Basten is no stranger to the problems that confront England's head coach.

Van Basten's star has fallen following Holland's disappointing World Cup campaign and his decision to blackball Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who scored four times for Real Madrid at the weekend, has played into the hands of an increasing number of detractors.

Sound familiar?

"I don't know the situation with David Beckham, but McClaren has to build his own team and in his own way," van Basten said. "I have been here for two years and I enjoy the job more and more every day. There are new experiences and new situations to deal with.

"It is an honour for me to manage the national team and I still enjoy it.

"The expectations are high with England but it is the same with Holland. For Italy, Germany and France it is the same. For me, the most important thing is to manage in your own style."

That particular style of management may not sit easily with the Dutch, but Van Basten is determined to do the job his own way. He has earned the right after a hugely-successful playing career, but the three-times European footballer of the year admits that a sideboard swollen with medals bought him time, not friends.

"The experience I had as a player certainly helps at the beginning," he admitted. "I had experience and respect and that gave me credibility straight away, but that doesn't last and within a few months it is history.

"Experience gives you confidence in certain situations and it helped, certainly at the beginning, to have been a player."

Although he claimed he had no interest in becoming a manager when his playing career ended through an ankle injury in 1995, he ultimately succeeded Frank Rijkaard after taking an unconventional route to the top.

He spent a season coaching Ajax reserves in 2003 and was promoted to the role of national team coach a year later. His ice-cool approach, together with his wonderful playing career, won him many admirers, but that counted for little after their second round exit at the World Cup.

Van Nistelrooy has not played for Holland since their 0-0 draw with Argentina during the group stages and the Real striker joins a lengthy list of disaffected players who have been discarded by Van Basten since he took over the national team in July 2004.

Bayern Munich captain Mark van Bommel, who won a Champions League winner's medal with Barcelona last season, has publicly declared that he will never play for Holland again while Van Basten remains in charge.

It seems that the big names with big personalities have no place in Van Basten's thoughts. Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids and Roy Makaay have all been discarded by the Dutch coach and replaced by a vibrant young side that are short on experience, but rich in talent.

Van Basten's emerging side impressed during the World Cup qualifiers when they remained unbeaten throughout, but their failure to progress past the second round - coupled with his high-profile dispute with Van Nistelrooy - has raised question marks over his credentials.

Although they are top of their Euro 2008 qualifying group, the decision to drop Van Nistelrooy, who has scored 28 times for his country, grates with some of Van Basten's critics.

"The love affair with Van Basten is over," revealed one source close to the national team on Tuesday. "He can't deal with big name players and that is why the squad has so many young players in it because they are easy to manipulate.

"They don't stand up to him and they are the sort of people he would be proud to have as his son-in-law."

Van Basten is aware of the undercurrent of criticism, but there is a compassionate side to the ice-cool Dutchman. His decision to recall Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf this week after two years in international exile, surprised many but Van Basten believes he has earned his place.

"He wasn't in the squad before because we were going in a different direction," he added. "I know what he has been doing with Milan and I know he has been playing well. That is why he is back and now he will get his chance."

Chelsea's Arjen Robben and Khaled Boulahrouz, along with Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt, Blackburn's Andre Ooijer and Wigan's Denny Lendzaat, are among the more familiar names in a Dutch squad oozing with talent.

It will certainly be a severe test for McClaren after England's disastrous result in Croatia, but van Basten is expecting a backlash. "They had a bad result in Croatia, but that is normal," he added.

"They are a good team, but so are England. They will recover, but there is so much expectation about the team. It does not help, but at least they have won a World Cup."

That, as van Basten concedes, is something Holland have never done.

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