Brilliant Orange

Author:

By David Winner

Format:

Paperback

Availability:

In print, usually dispatched within 48 hours.

Price:

£7.99 £7.19 (Save 10%)

Tagged with:

Football, European Football, Holland

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Further Details

• Published: 19th Mar 2001
• ISBN: 0747553106
• Pages: 256
• Size: 197mm x 129mm

From Word of Sport:

Astute survey of the history of Dutch football. Their unique take on the game is characterised by sublime skill, spatial awareness, egomania, rebelliousness and a hint of self-destruction. This wonderful book brilliantly reflects the culture of 'total football' and those obstinate mavericks who made it possible.

From the Publisher:

The Netherlands has been one of the world's most distinctive football cultures. From the birth of Total Football in the sixties, through two decades of World Cup near misses to the exiles who remade clubs like AC Milan, Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea in their own image, the Dutch have often been dazzlingly original and influential. Brilliant Orange is an examination of the neurotic genius of the Dutch, their history and architecture, their culture and politics, and the influence of each on their football. David Winner lays bare the soul of the Dutch masters and the culture that spawned them, celebrating and exploring a style made up of exquisite skills, adventure, creativity, teamwork (and the lack of it), and self-destruction.

From the Book:

“For the World Cup in Italy in 1990, the European Champions had by some distance the most impressive collection of talents in the competition and were more experienced than ever before. Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard were world football’s biggest trio, the heart of AC Milan, the world's best club team, with whom they had just won a second successive European Cup. Ronald Koeman, Jan Wouters, Adri van Tiggelen, Berry van Aerle, goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen and the Ajax winger Johnny van't Schip were all at or close to their peaks. But instead of continuing the spirit of 1988, the team was a shambles.

TV anchor Kees Jansma recalls the poisoned atmosphere: "They were not a team at all. Every player had his own ideas, everyone was a hero by himself. Too many opinions. Too many islands. No atmosphere of togetherness, only superstardom. There was an A group in the team, a B group and a C group. I think the A group was the players from Milan. The B group might have been Ronald Koeman, Wouters and so on. The players have always denied this, but I watched them. They played a horrible game against Egypt. 1-1. Horrible! Against England, 0-0. Also horrible. With Ireland, the same, a 1-1 draw. They played quite a good match against Germany but it was too late by then. The boss was Beenhakker, but with Michels also there it was unworkable. In 1998 it was a family. In Italy it was nothing."

"Orange is a very powerful, assertive colour and Dutch supporters make a lot of noise, but there is also something dead in them. There’s no life, no spirit."

After the victorious final in 1988, Gullit had carried Michels on his shoulder in joy and triumph. By 1990 in Italy relations had soured to a barely believable degree. Journalist Dick van der Polder remembers conducting an interview with Michels after the Egypt match. Instead of using the official area reserved for press, the two men were speaking on a training pitch that no one was using. During the interview, the KNVB's senior press office, Ger Stolk, ran up bearing a message from Ruud Gullit for Michels: "I’m afraid that in this area it is forbidden to conduct interviews. I must ask you to terminate the interview now."

With three fortuitous draws, Holland scraped into the second round and faced Germany in Milan. Coach Beenhakker: Before the game, Franz Beckenbauer comes to me and he says: "Leo, I’m going to tell you something. The one who wins this game will be the champion." At this point Beenhakker mimes his poker-player face he adopted for the brief encounter with the German coach. "OK", I said. "Have a nice match. Let’s go for it." The Germans won 2-1 through second-half goals by Klinsmann and Brehme; but the lowest moment came early in the first half when Frank Rijkaard was seen to spit in the face of Germany's Rudi Voeller after they had both been sent off. Beenhakker simply shrugs at the memory: "It was just typical of the atmosphere in the whole team at that time." At the press conference after the game, Beckenbauer spoke privately to Beenhakker again. He said: "Now watch me. Now we will be the champions. And if you had won this match, you would have been World Champions." And after the final, he said it to me again: "If it wasn't us, it would have been you because you still have the best players there are. But having the best players is no guarantee to having the best team. And that's always the problem in Holland."”