Former teammate Ronald Koeman looks back on their time together at PSV: ‘Was incredibly mean’
1 min readCurrent head coach Ronald Koeman, as a footballer, had a rich career in which Koeman among other things played for Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord and FC Barcelona. At PSV, the former libero won the treble in 1988 under the leadership of Guus Hiddink.
At PSV, Koeman played in his first season with, among others, Ruud Gullit and René van der Gijp. Both former footballers left PSV in the summer of 1987, and the latter tells in the segment De Krantjes of Vandaag Inside what kind of player Koeman was at that time.
According to Van der Gijp, the current national team coach was very nasty as a footballer. ''If you compare Ronald Koeman with boys who play in similar positions. Take a Jerdy Schouten, who plays as a midfielder at the back, but Koeman was incredibly nasty'', the Dordrecht analyst tells Wilfred Genee.
Even during training Koeman didn’t hold back, Gijp still remembers. ''He could really give you a massive hard tackle. Even in training. He was incredibly mean. He was also a defender who intentionally played the ball too far ahead of himself, so the striker would think: 'Hey, I can jump onto that,' but then he flew through the air'', the analyst recalls.
Despite that, Van der Gijp is praising how well Koeman could play football. ''I really thought he was a great player. Which libero scored eighteen goals in a season? Free kicks, penalties, and regular shots from outside the box. Every year. He came to us at PSV as a midfielder, but Hans Kraay turned him into a libero, who played in midfield when in possession of the ball'', concludes the former PSV player.
Comments9
tbh i kinda like hearing this, Van der Gijp describing the "doodschop" in training sounds like peak intensity. But i wonder if PSV fans remember it as leadership or just frustration 👀
I always thought Koeman was more calculated than nasty, but "Was ontzettend gemeen" fits the old-school libero vibe. Still, 18 goals in a season is absolutely wild 🔥
Ik snap wel dat Van der Gijp hem fel typeert, maar die training voorbeelden klinken echt als iemand die altijd net te scherp was. Toch blijft het bizar dat Koeman als libero zoveel liet zien, ook met vrije trappen en penalty's.
Van der Gijp over die "enorme doodschop" is wel echt PSV-mentaliteit, maar ik vraag me af of het nu nog zou passen bij onze huidige speelstijl. Schouten doet het toch anders, meer slim en positioneel. 🤬
"Was ontzettend gemeen" klinkt als echt Koeman, maar tbh als je treble wilt winnen in 1988 heb je ook die mentale hardheid nodig. 👀
Die quote over "doodschop" en expres de bal te ver weg spelen klinkt precies als Koeman op zijn scherpst. Als het waar is, dan snap ik Van der Gijp wel, maar ik vraag me af of Hiddink daar destijds niet op bijstuurde. Pure passie kan ook doorslaan, zeker in trainingen.
Die quote over Koeman als
"Was ontzettend gemeen" is echt zo'n Koeman-verhaal waar je als PSV'er meteen van begrijpt wat voor karakter het was. Maar tbh, als je op dat niveau 18 goals maakt als libero dan was die agressie gewoon onderdeel van het spel. 👀⚽
tbh beetje dubbel. ja koeman was goated als libero en goals/sets waren top, maar als je gulllit-van der gijp z'n treinverhaal klopt dan was het wel echt clowny agressief 😅💀