Liverpool’s Dutch connection led to the brink of glory.
Arne Slot is about to win the fifth manager to win the name of his first season of the Premier League. Virgil Van Dijk would make history as the first player in the Netherlands for the captain of a team to the high flight crown in England.
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Ryan Gravenbebch has been given since he was in the role of the midfielder, while Cody Gakpo is the moment in the demanding situations of score, Mohamed Salah, with 16 objectives of all competitions.
The buzz generated through the quartet’s achievements at Anfield resonates on home soil.
Athletics has traveled to the Netherlands, from Amsterdam to Zwolle, Eindhoven in Breda, to evaluate what a Dutch contingent of Liverpool has for a proud football nation, speaking with those who helped shape their development.
Mike Kolf returns to his chair and laughs to himself.
“I saw a taxer doing precisely the same before Ryan was born,” he says. “I laugh because I know the excursion: how we will be the ball on his body, how he leaves narrow regions because he knows where the area is.
“Sometimes I’m going to watch a Liverpool game on television and I will call Ryan’s father. He replied and said:” Mike, I know what you are going to say! “
“It’s like seeing a copy. His father was an old No. 10,” Give me the ball and I will do my thing. “In these days, it is not 6 what does that. I like to see Ryan play. “
The stage is Kolf’s workplace in Damsko Football Academy, a 15 -minute taxi address southeast of the Amsterdam Central Station. Above its workplace, there is a Van Basten signed and framed frame blouse with the Dutch striker in AC Milan. On the wall, it leaves the doors, the door, one of the Ajax blouses of Gravenberch is very large.
Kolf divides his time between here and the Avv Zeeburgy Fans Club, where he has been guilty of other young people since 1998. Zeeburgy has a remarkable evaluation in the progression of talents, and Gravenberg is one of his wonderful successes.
“Lately we have around 850 young people in Zeeburgy since the age of 4 children under 23,” he explains. “Since the last 90, we have had around 650 young people to register in professional clubs. We are an important Ajax supplier and many of them pass there.
“I met Ryan since the day of his birth. He was five years old when he started with us, but it seemed older. He has become bigger, more powerful and better. He stayed here until he joined Ajax at the age of eight years. “
Kolf’s father and Gravenberch, Ryan Senior, have played amateur football in combination in Amsterdam and has been close friends. The Tevenberch lived in the district of Le Feuillu near Watergraafsmer. Ryan’s older brother, Danzell, who plays for the FC Den Bosch at the time of Holland, also learned his task in Zeeburgy.
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“His father has been such a wonderful influence when they were young, not too arrogant,” Kolf said. “He assured that his young people were disciplined, trained, respectful. At the time we played together, his father was very intelligent but he kicked a lot.
“Growing here in Amsterdam East Smart for Ryan. It is a domain with many open spaces to play, so children are not sitting at home in their playstation.
“These days, there are so many distractions for children. Some say:” Yes, I need to become a footballer, “but then go to do other things. Ryan was still in love with football. Yes, after a game, you said:” Do you need to spend the game for this team? “He would play. It was very transplant!
“Even after his return to Ajax, Ryan has played with older children and that helped him harden. When he played with young people of his age, it was too simple for him. He was intelligent, comfortable like his father. Give a short pass and then require him in space. If he had two final players, he would pass the other side. “
Gravenberch has the youngest Ajax player in history to play in Eredivisia when he opposed here in the PSV in September 2018 at 16 and 130 days, breaking a record in the past through Clarence Seederf.
His ascending career stopped after signing Bayern Munich in June 2022; It began only 3 Bundesliga games the 2022-23 season. His permanence in Bavaria turned out to be shortly, while Liverpool paid 34 million pounds sterling ($ forty -five million) for him in the summer of 2023.
“Ryan has never worried me,” Kolf insists. “I visited the circle of relatives in Munich and we talked about it. I know the Germans. They like their fields to run and run. His father said:” Keep positive, when they have a possibility in a club that really plays football, so he will play and play. “Now they look at Ryan. Together with Van Dijk and Mo Salah, he was the most productive Liverpool player. “
After Liverpool failed in his search for Martin Zubimendi of the Real Sociedad last summer, Slot decided to function his religion in Tevenberch in the role of midfielder. It turned out to be an intelligent resolution when the 22-year-old has prospered, starting each of those who looks good so far in 2024-25. Earlier this season, the form of his club rewarded with a return to the Netherlands.
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“He did not ask me because when Frenkie de Jong left Ajax (in 2019), Ryan played number 6,” Kolf said. “Slot knew he could do it. Ryan do not frequently do things. It is his reading of the game that is so impressive and the way they create space. People the young is still. They can play for the Netherlands for the next 10 years and become one of the largest players that this country has produced.
“It was the Spanish who took Liverpool. Now it is the Dutchman. There are many new Liverpool enthusiasts in this country. When I was little, I supported Manchester United due to the pushes of the empanados. Then I went to Liverpool and fell in love there. Now Ryan is there, it is very special through hunting in our children, our son of Amsterdam, to the games of chance, there.
“Liverpool will win the Premier League and Ryan has made a part. “
Gravenberch returned to Zeeburgy last summer to meet the other young people who dream of following their steps.
“It meant a lot, it will be Ryan’s house,” adds Kolf. “He inspires young people so much. I tell you about Ryan. Our child arrived in Ajax, Bayern Munich and now Liverpool. All are very proud of the point that has come. “
The hundred km exercise adventure from Amsterdam to the city of Zwolle takes just over an hour. With its medieval wall of the average and ancient city, it is a global away from the hustle and bustle of the capital.
Just at the corner of the station is the Bilderberg foot and a friendly face walks in the bar.
“Then you are the Liverpool observer!” Ben Hendriks, former director of the PEC Zwolle local club said. “I hope you take care of us for us. “
This is the city where Arne Slot and finished his player’s career before going to train. Here is also where the main coach of Liverpool returns to spend time with his wife, Mirjam, and his children, JEP and ISA, when his commitments in Merseyside allow. Its lovely nineteenth century the space of the city dominates the channel.
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“I drank a coffee with Arne when he here a few months ago and we are in a normal touch on WhatsApp,” explains Hendriks. “You can walk the streets here, there is no problem. No one asks for photos. They can simply shout:” Hello Arne! “And he will indicate. I am a type of Zwolle and that is a general place.
“Everyone is very satisfied for him. “
His link dates back to 30 years for Hendriks to give adolescents a place for senior football for Zwolle in the mid -1990s. Slot had joined his academy at the age of 12 years after being noticed through the game for VV Bergentheim in the village near the Dutch border Germany, where he grew up.
“There a giant sponsor, a company of Pan Zwolle, who also sponsored Bergentheim, so we went there for a preseason game. Arne only 16 years, but with his local people, I concept that would be an intelligent concept involving him,” said Hendricks, 78, who controlled Zwolle from 1992 to 1995.
“I did it Captain during the day. Subsequently, the experienced boys, who did not know him well, everyone said:” It’s incredible for 16 “. Arne was a genuine No. 10. The idea of a stone launch.
“After this friendly match, he returned to the team of the young people before settling in the first team under the next coach. He knew that Arne would be headed. He had the right mentality. I know his father, Arend, well, and he is a wonderful influence.
“Arne’s two parents were teachers, so there was discipline. Every morning, when I was young, Arne was a bicycle from Bergentheim to Marienberg, then he did the exercise in Zwolle, where he would be collected and attended a school behind the stadium. There was a general commitment. “
His roads crossed when the niche returned to Zwolle in the twilight of his game days after the spells in Nac Breda and Sparta Rotterdam.
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“Have you noticed what Arne was kicking? The people here laughed,” Gun Hendriks. “He raised the ball and then Zuuuut! (Gests like a peeled rocket). He took him to heaven. “
He released his phone and unearthed a Clip on YouTube of 2010 from the owner of the slot of the central circle and hit him in the air while the teammates invoice after that.
“Sometimes, opponents can have the sun in their eyes and it may not be.
“Arne is still an idea. When I was sleeping, the idea of football. He had a soccer brain and was very intelligent to make other people believe in themselves.
“When he had his testimony, Arne asked me and his father to be managers when Zwolle played opposite to the stars of Arne’s career. It was transparent that Arne was a coach. He was still talking about Pep Guardiola and was reading games when Pep was coach of Barcelona.
“He trained the children under 14 in Zwolle and looked for an assistant for the first team after having finished playing. He was hunting ahead to the next step, however, the technical director said it was not possible, so he left to enroll in Cambuur’s staff. Everyone was in loop, his tactics in the education sessions he gave. It was the same. “
Hendriks, who worked as an explorer for the Udinese Italian club for 18 years before playing a similar role in Zwolle, encouraged the super agent Raiola to start representing the slot machine. Rafaela Pimenta, who took the company after Raiola’s death in 2022, negotiated his contract with Liverpool when he left Feenoord to succeed Jurgen Klopp last summer.
“Mino, a very intelligent friend of me, and I said:” You have to take Arne. “They worked in combination for a few years and now Rafaela is busy with Arne,” he said. “Everything worked well.
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“He helped Klopp be so positive about Arne’s arrival and told fans:” Believe in this type, it will be. “Arne was also very respectful of Klopp.
“Some of our Dutch coaches have succeeded in the Premier League, however, Arne is a major communicator than Erik Ten Hag or Louis Van Gaal. It is one of his greatest forces. He also has two intelligent Dutch assistants (Sipke HULSHOFF and John Heititinga).
“Arne speaks an English and explains everything so obviously that the players and the new ones and the new ones know what it means. If you make a mistake with your words, then the Newhounds kill you! He controlled to avoid this. “
Hendriks considers loyalty from the wonderful qualities of slots. Some of his WhatsApp exchanges moves.
“I sent a message to Arne to say:” You had done your Deyet at the age of 16. I am very proud of you, “he adds. “A minute later, he replied:” Thank you well, it was a long time ago, but that’s where it all started for me. “
“He hasn’t done it at all. “
Eindhoven has a different feeling.
The two -hour direction of Zwolle takes it south of the Netherlands Utrecht. It is fashionable and dynamic. The city where Cody Gakpo has grown is that of innovation and creativity. This is the birthplace of Philips Electronics. The museum that returns on the history of the company is done right in front of coffee, where Bastiaan Riemersma is sitting.
He is the existing assistant coach of FC Eindhoven at the time of Dutch football. Most of his career has been faithful to the progression of other young people. He spent more than a decade running with other young people from PSV Eindhoven before adjusting to the director of the Academy in Willem II.
Riemersma took Gakpo to the PSV less than nine to 11.
“I know Cody from the age of seven and recruit new players for children under nine,” he said. “I used to do your laces and clean my nose!” He stood out a lot because it is much bigger and more powerful than the others in their age group. Not only is he more physical, but also had tactical strategy and insight.
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“When we visited the club, they arrived here to see me when we arrived and asked:” Is Cody in the team today? “. They hoped would have gone to play with the older group.
“When he driblized with the ball, nobody can eliminate him. The parties at war were afraid. I told Cody:” Remember, when you are in the first team, you can no longer do that, you are not Lionel Messi! “He said:” Look at me, I can do it in the first team. “
“His purpose and determination were special. He sought to exercise and expand his skills. He liked to reduce his head and run with her. Sometimes we would have discussions and I remind him that there are 10 other players in the team. He believed in himself, but he was still humble and his large circle of relatives kept his feet on the ground.
“When we went to foreign tournaments and faced giant clubs in England and Spain, Cody still decided. It’s like a party that looked at Cody, many wonderful goals and assists. “
While Gakpo progressed in the PSV age teams, he went from the paper not to the left. See it shine in this position under the location brought many memories satisfied for Riemersma.
“I have many video clips of a young Cody cutting on his right foot and scoring objectives as he did for Liverpool this season,” he smiles.
“It is as if it were with (former end of the Netherlands) Arjen Robben: the defenders know what Cody will do, but he still cannot save him from falling due to his rhythm and strength. He has such a strong shot with the force he generates from his hips and is complicated for a goalkeeper because he can put him in any of which.
“I worked for Willem II when Cody made his team Deyet for PSV in adolescence (against Feyenoord in February 2018), but I in the stadium for this. How quickly showed that its importance showed the wonderful clearness.
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“It is transparent that I would end up going through the next step to a higher level. Many players capture the first possibility of earning a lot of money, but wise enough to wait for the right opportunity. Liverpool is very better for him.
“It is time to adapt to the upper intensity in England, but it adapts very well on the path of the game groove. “
Gakpo, who lived in the district of Stratum, possibly would have left the PSV in a sterling contract of 444 million pounds in January 2023, however, the reception that won on his return to Philips Stadion with Liverpool in the Champions League in January highlighted what he still means for the population of this city.
“The PSV Academy takes young players from all over the country,” Riemersma explains. “What did Cody another is that he is one of the first born in Eindhoven to pass through the formula with such quality.
“Fans have songs in Cody because they grew up here. Local rappers were looking to make music with Cody. They are enjoyed here for their character and the way they talk about the club and the city. I see their father and another circle of relatives members.
“In Holland, we have so many television screens about football and Liverpool talks a lot about that.
“It is for football in this country to see what happened in Liverpool this season with the good fortune of the Dutch. “
It feeds a broader verbal exchange on the diversity of production talents in the Netherlands. The progression of players and coaches is lately a burning issue of debate in a country with a population of around 18 million inhabitants, which has been very proud to be able to attack their weight.
“We don’t have so much in the most sensitive in Europe,” Riemersma said. “We are waiting for the next players who are at Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Robin van Persie and Robben.
“When players like Van Dijk are no longer there, worrying is that the hole is important. It is a wonderful discussion among other young people and academies here. What is the reason? What can we replace to develop the highest point? Is it a challenge with the formula or is it just waiting for the next generation?
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“It is complex. We know all the stories about young people who no longer play so much in the streets. Everyone in the global explain how the Dutch have brought many wonderful players for a small country, but in the beyond 10 years, it has a problem. That is why it means that other people see so much see Virgil, Cody and Ryan at a higher level.
“It’s for coaches. Many Dutch coaches were not successful in England, but Arne Slot.
“Look at this photo of Virgil after we have become champions,” says Rik Kleijn. “I can’t have been 23 years. It was the 2001-02 season that Virgil was only 10 years old. He was a team leader with his father, the Ron. My son Kevin played in the same team.
“We only granted a purpose in the season. Virgil was already playing as a central defender. Even at that time, it was bigger and more powerful than the others. It was a quiet presence on the floor with a wonderful conscience. I do not forget that I had progressed when we attacked.
“His personality then as if today: humble, motivated and with the mentality of a winner. “
Amateur Club Wds’19 is the position in which everything for van dijk. He grew up closely in the Haagse Beemden district in Breda, about 40 minutes in the exercise of northwest Eindhoven. With its cobbled streets and captivating channels, there is a feeling of tranquility in the city.
His time in the blue and white colors of WDS19 ended after drawing the attention of the young explorers of the professional outfit of Willem II, in the city of Tilburg, 30 km east of Breda.
However, the time that the existing harvest of the young club is going up to the field, it is remembered that the captain of Liverpool once traveled the same path.
Van Dijk’s photographs and Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, who also played for the club, are on a giant banner attached to the near the perimeter with the words: “Word Lid van Wds” Ook Wij Begonnen “(become a member of WDS’19 – also here).
“I have 3 children who played for WDS19, but everyone grew now, so I’m no longer involved,” said Kleijn, 63, who manages a floor and infrared heating companies. “The club has about 400 members and is still growing, which is to see.
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“Virgil had to be about 11 years old when Willem II saw him. They used to send explorers to our games. At home of Breda, he was hope that Virgile one day would play for Breda’s Breda. It never happened, but he would motivate other young people here. This shows what can be done.
“It still has its circle of relatives in Breda and, about a year ago, he returned to open Cruyff shorts so that young people are informed of football. This is a style for them. “
The captain of Liverpool and the Netherlands is one of the largest central defenders of the fashion age, but his was far from being simple.
Van Dijk left Willem II a loose movement at the age of 18 without making a senior appearance and joined Groningen, 250 km in northern Holland. How did you slide through the network? Riemersma, who worked for PSV and Willem II at the point of young people, is well located to answer.
“Virgil in the last component of the Willem II Academy when I Supe-16 or 17 gambling for the team for the moment,” he explains.
“He was never one of the most productive players. He was one of the boys. They didn’t believe he was intelligent enough for the first team. They were still fighting in the descent and delighted favorites than for other young people in those situations.
“It is the same with Frenkie de Jong (who left Willem II for Ajax in 2015 and then moved to Barcelona for 75 million euros (64. 2 million pounds sterling; 84. 9 million dollars) in 2019). They felt that Frenkie too small and sought to play alone.
“It is simple to communicate about errors, however, some players just want another way. Virgile was a past developer and wanted a little more time. He took small steps. Groningen arrived here and took it, and the rest is in history.
“Willem II has never noticed him as a talent. Now look at it. “
From Groningen to Celtic in Southampton, then in Liverpool, who made Van Dijk the maximum defender in the global when he was signed for 75 million pounds sterling in the mid-2017-18 season. For a long time he has reimbursed those prices with the contribution he made.
Van Dijk, an integral component of the last winning team of the name of the Premier League of Liverpool under Klopp five years ago, but this time he is also Captain Talismán. Kleijn took a wonderful emotion to see Breda’s child at that point.
“When Virgile in Celtic, I told my friends that one day he went to the most sensible and would play for the national team,” he added. “Many were skeptical, but in the end, he showed me. He has become an elite defender, but also a wonderful leader.
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“What an example is in terms of setbacks with the way he returned from such a serious injury (he broke his LCA in October 2020). He has played so many games at such a high point and has been correct.
“A long time ago, however, I am very proud to say that once Virgile’s coach. Total credits belong to him. The most important thing for me when I hear him speak is that he has remained the same character.
“Since Arne Slot has taken over, Virgile has taken another step, betting more aggressively and developing more often. Dutch men paint well in combination in Liverpool. “
(Main photos: Getty Images; Design: Eamonn Dalton)