The secret of Holland's success

By Paul Fletcher

Another major tournament and another highly fancied Holland squad packed with talent.

While England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson scratches his head trying to find a solution to his left-sided problem, Dutch boss Dick Advocaat can boast an embarrassment of riches.

But how does Holland, with a population of just 16 million and a domestic league outside Europe's elite, continue to produce so many world-class players?

Arnold Muhren was a member of the Dutch team that won the 1988 European Championships.

The midfielder supplied the cross from which Marco van Basten scored THAT volley against Russia in the final.

Now retired, his knowledge and experience is deployed to nurture future stars.

"I am working for the Ajax academy and the main thing is that we can't compete with England, Italy and Spain financially so what we have to do is work very hard with the younger players," Muhren told BBC Sport.

"We do ball skills all the time because I think technique is a very important part of football.

"If you don't have a basic technique I think you will struggle because you can't look further ahead in a move if you cannot control the ball properly.

There are too many foreigners in England - young English players need more of a chance Arnold Muhren

"The youngsters come in from seven or eight years of age and at Ajax what we do is working with the ball day-in, day-out, repeating things daily."

Of the current Dutch squad there are almost two generations of players brought through the system at Ajax.

Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Frank de Boer, Marc Overmars, Michael Reiziger and Edwin van der Sar were all members of the Ajax team that won the European Cup in 1995 and all are expected to make the Holland squad this summer.

None remain at Ajax but a new breed boasting Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Andy van der Mede have all come through the ranks since then to catch the attention of Europe's big spenders.

And Muhren is now predicting a new set of players are ready to establish themselves, among them Johnny Heitinga, who scored in Holland's recent friendly against Greece, and goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

Clubs from Europe's big leagues studied the Ajax system after the successes of the team in the mid-90s and there are now youth academies all over Europe.

But Muhren is adamant the system in Holland still has its unique features.

"The youngsters will be given the chance to play in the first team because we can't afford to pay 15-20m Euros to buy players from abroad.

"In my opinion there are too many foreigners in England. The Arsenals and the Chelseas are very good sides but I don't think it is good for English football, they should give English players more chances."

The quality of coaches used to teach the youngsters in Holland is also remarkably high.

"At Ajax all the coaches who teach the children are former internationals and that pays off in the end," said Muhren.

"You have to have the right coaches to make sure you teach them the basics correctly.

"The youngsters that come in are reasonable players already because of the skills they have learnt playing on the street and this is a big advantage if you compare it with other countries."

And when the finals start in Portugal, Muhren is hoping the effort put into producing quality footballers will pay dividends.

"The thing is, the 1988 championship is the only tournament we ever won - and whenever a big championship comes about everybody is talking about it.

"I look back on 1988 with great memories but it is about time that another Dutch team won a major tournament."

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport2/hi/football/euro_2004/holland/3703871.stm

Published: 2004/05/24 10:37:01 GMT

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