Daughter Mark van Bommel looks back on the father’s transfer: “That was our home”
1 min readAfter six years at PSV, Mark van Bommel left in 2005 for FC Barcelona, and then in 2006, following the World Cup, ended up at FC Bayern Munich. There, Van Bommel was appointed the new captain in the summer of 2008 after goalkeeper Oliver Kahn had ended his career.
With FC Bayern, the former PSV captain won the national title twice and the DFB-Pokal twice. In 2010, under Louis van Gaal, the final of the Champions League was reached as well, in which Internazionale was too strong with a 0-2 score.
A clash with the same Van Gaal midway through the 2010/2011 season caused a rift between Van Bommel and Der Rekordmeister. After that, the former midfielder decided to leave for AC Milan and then returned to PSV in the summer of 2012.
The transfer to AC Milan initially caused a lot of pain for the entire Van Bommel family. ''We were really very happy in Munich; everyone was in the right place. And we left there actually very quickly and somewhat vaguely. Suddenly we were in Milan. My parents said: 'We are moving to Milan.' We all thought something like: it will probably be fine; we'll come back again,'' says daughter Renée in conversation with Mixed Zone.
Because social media was absent at the time, the family also couldn’t keep in touch with the friends and acquaintances they had met in Munich. Nevertheless, they quickly adapted in Milan and made new friendships.
Still, Munich was always their home. ''In Milan we built friendships again, and after a year and a half we left there too. At the time we thought we would go to Munich, because that was home. Then my parents said that we were going to the Netherlands to live there. My father then went to PSV; that was a bit of a final stop. It's very strange, but it also brings with it beautiful moments and things,'' said Renée.
Comments7
"We verhuizen naar Milaan." bruh, imagine one day you are in Munich, then suddenly Italy. Honestly respect to Renée for saying it straight, that move must have hurt hard 💀.
Not gonna lie, the Bayern-van Gaal situation sounds like peak football drama. Still, Van Bommel as captain and then winning the league twice and Pokals twice, you cant ignore that resume.
Tbh it says a lot that they basically had no social media to stay in touch and still adjusted in Milan. Different era, different pain, but they found new people fast.
Tactisch gezien was Mark in die tijd echt meer dan alleen een kapitein. Hij kon tempo breken en direct schakelen, en dat Louis van Gaal frictie gaf later maakt het verhaal ook wat extra scherp. Toch jammer van die breuk.
That quote about "dat was ons thuis" hits. Milan felt like a detour, but getting back to PSV was the real comfort zone for their family.
Renee zegt dat ze eerst in Milaan alles "heel erg naar ons zin" in München hadden. Ik snap die pijn wel, maar eerlijk, terug naar PSV is natuurlijk ook een soort storybook einde. 👀
Dat "dat was ons thuis" stukje raakt wel tbh. Mark kan vertrekken zijn, maar die PSV DNA blijft bij de familie hangen. 🔥