Dutch footballer of the year press classification 1979-1994

Thought you'd be interested in the comments Johan made when he collected his team of the century (I came to it because the wikipedia mentions Lenstra was the only deceased player to be in the XI).

ABE LENSTRA clearly did not have to do a job in the field, but this was compensated with other exceptional capacities. Where someone else would get in trouble, this responsible sportsman solved everything thanks to a super insight and super technique. Abe Lenstra was a folk hero, because enormous qualities were linked to a very appealing personality. Someone who was so immovable that he never left 'his' Heerenveen. It is also quite right that this beautiful football city still cherishes its most remarkable player.

KEES RIJVERS formed for years with Faas Wilkes and Abe Lenstra the golden inside trio of the Dutch national team. It says a lot about his talent, that during peak years of the French football he not only helped Saint Etienne with the national title, but in 1957 he was also chosen as the player of the year. Fortunately, Kees Rijvers later extended his qualities as a footballer to his coaching. He was with FC Twente, PSV and the national team who tended to chose for football and the attack. Quality went above all else and it is therefore no coincidence that top football players such as Willy van der Kuijlen, Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten have all received an important push in the right direction by Kees Rijvers.

FAAS WILKES is the elegance at its best in my view. Quality, technique and speed are bundled with him in one body. I want to admit that Faas has been my example. If I should call an idol, then Faas Wilkes is the first name that comes to mind. A player whose name is still pronounced with great respect at former clubs Inter Milan and Valencia. An incredibly good football player, a great dribbler and blessed with a fantastic overview. There is actually nothing lacking about Faas Wilkes, who is therefore also considered one of the representative footballers of this century.


I might post the whole thing if that would be interesting. What I see is that he had also commentary on some players that are here missing out (Van Heel, Hulshoff etc.). He has done some homework but when he was pundit - as incomprehensible he sometimes could be - it was clear he had a sense and antenna for the history (or at least a general feel for it).

https://sport.infonu.nl/voetbal/148642-het-nederlands-voetbalelftal-van-de-eeuw.html

 

As far as I know, there is not a full breakdown with it, as in game by game.

His biography from 2007 by Johan Mast - which is I think the best - keeps it at 684 official goals in 724 official matches.

 

Lenstra had children in his home during the war and helped to save lifes

https://www.historischnieuwsblad.nl/nl/artikel/5652/voetbal-in-de-tweede-wereldoorlog.html
(This is a semi-scientific magazine)

 

There are in that graph six players behind him though. So it is still the inside left.

The exposition in the museum about him also has this number, and 523 goals for Heerenveen.

There is also a documentary from 1963, but haven't seen yet what it says (but after a brief scroll I noticed people pointing out his playing style, which matches with what has been stated above - compare this with Rijvers where there seems somewhat less consensus about his attributes).
https://www.vpro.nl/speel~WO_VPRO_0...63-portret-van-een-sportman-abe-lenstra~.html

The documentary from 2004 uses a 'careful' estimate of 685 official goals (so one more than 684).

(note here that even with Pelé there are some 'missing' or even 'added' goals - some articles have appeared about this)

I'll do after completion. There are a few names left now. Looks quite accurate what he says and summarizes (what he says on Lenstra is quite right - but his reputation hasn't aged particularly well in the sense that he used to be top five of his country).

 

No, but that's possibly my mistake and error.

About half of his caps weren't on his favored inside-left position (25/47) and then there was also a chunk where he refused to play for (in part) that reason. He played in 47 but didn't play in 32, which is quite a high proportion (and he didn't move abroad).

 

Van Basten (2006): "I never saw him playing in person obviously, though I saw the television images of course. He was gracious and technically gifted. A tall man too, a lot taller as most other extraordinary dribblers. An important figure for the sport here. And he was the example for Cruijff, that is peculiar."
https://www.volkskrant.nl/sport/peiling-wilkes-fenomeen-~b53ffc97/

Faas Wilkes (1923, Rotterdam)





https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xzaetu

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faas_Wilkes
https://www.11freunde.de/artikel/zum-4-todestag-von-faas-wilkes
http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/..._olandese_volante_Inter_ga_10_060817012.shtml
https://staantribune.nl/faas-wilkes-is-nog-italiaanser-dan-de-italianen/
https://edwinwinkels.com/faas-wilkes/
http://www.football-oranje.com/hall-of-fame-faas-wilkes/

Nick Holt and Guy Lloyd wrote (I've the translated version, but it is also in the English version I saw with my eyes - his technique was rated with a 10/10):

An extra background profile from 1995:

Almost unanimously seen as one of the most skilled footballers his country (and the entire low countries) ever had, he was aptly nicknamed 'The Mona Lisa of Rotterdam'. Though he was not as popular as the three years older Abe Lenstra, the standard work of 1952 by Leo Pagano already named him "one of the best footballers and ball players the Netherlands had since the origins of the sport."

What helps his lasting reputation is how he was seen abroad. That is not to say Lenstra and Rijvers have an asterisk in that regard, but Wilkes his travels meant he left more traces behind. With as a result that - for example - a 1973 Placar (of Brazil) article mentioned him in the same category as Di Stefano, Kopa, Didi, Puskas, Kubala and Ben Barek as the foremost ball players that passed through the 1950s in Spanish football. At the end of the 20th century he was seen as up there with Mario Kempes as one of the very best foreigners to have played for Valencia (in internet votes, which tend to be less generous to his compatriots, he's the #2 foreigner, or alternatively the #3 or #4). Likewise, at his previous club before problems with his knee surfaced, when Internazionale existed 100 years experts (in Il Seccolo dell'Inter) rated him 17th overall and the 5th best midfielder, despite playing only three years there (once runners-up, two third places).

Despite playing deeper (for Internazionale, behind three or four forwards) and also as center forward (for Valencia, using his size and technical abilities to post up), he is most often seen as a creative inside-forward.

In that capacity he lined up against England in 1946, where he got measured by a big footballing country for the first time. Although his own team lost 8-2 (read that link), Wilkes himself looked good, resulting in starting the match to signal the return of the 'home nations' to FIFA in 1947 (where he again looked fine; Nordahl missed many chances according to the reports). As funny trivia: as preparation for that match he and the Europe XI played against the Dutch national team.

Kenneth Wolstenholme concluded after the 1946 England game: "Faas Wilkes is more than good enough to play for any top flight team [in England]." The Daily Telegraph commented Wilkes had lived up to "his reputation as best inside forward of the [close] continent", Daily Mail commented he and Raich Carter stand out, and Daily Express observed he proved his reputation as "a player whose game was characterised by great inventiveness, fine technique and a wonderful passing ability."

His major weak point is that Wilkes never won a league title, despite often being close and fairly influential for several different teams. He was the first non-Spanish player of Valencia and remained for 40 years the all-time topscorer of the national team.

------------

Also here, we might expand on this and discuss it a bit further. @annoyedbyneedoflogin and @PDG1978 In particular the comparison with Lenstra (in style and abilities, too).

Gordon Jeffery his 1963 book "European International Football" (has an endorsement in the football compendium) named him "the cream of the natural talent in Europe [...] probably the best forward the Netherlands have yet produced" and commented about the country in general: "To them 'football is [generally] only a game' [...]. That is, as playing performance and results were concerned. There has never been a time when the sound counsels of Netherlands representatives have not been of value in the organization of world football. Indeed, that same almost obstinate adherence to amateurism that retarded their development on the field of play has been valuable in the development of the world game." Brian Glanville said in his 1978 book of footballers: "Inside-left for the Rest of Europe in Glasgow against Britain in May 1947, the tall, lean Wilkes, a complete master of close control, was the inspiration of Johan Cruyff and perhaps the most accomplished of all Dutch players before him."

 

Thanks (I'll wait for what annoyedbyneedoflogin has to say before commenting on Lenstra).

I think his most famous match in Italy is this one (6-5 against AC Milan, after trailing 1-4).
http://www.magliarossonera.it/img194950/immuff/4950_10.html

You can see that he gets praise for his balanced play and "smart dribbles" by Gazzetta dello Sport. Another retrospective article summarizes it all with "Faas Servaas Wilkes authentic 'fuoriclasse', unsurpassed dribbler, good shooter, always spectacular."

This is a fine one in Italian:
https://storiedicalcio.altervista.org/blog/faas_wilkes.html

Possibly he's rated slightly higher in/for Valencia than for Internazionale I think (or remembered better). Also more recent (and 'mass market') lists have him among the 25 best, as one of the handful foreigners.
https://as.com/futbol/2016/12/22/album/1482440818_550158.html

I hope my profile is balanced in that I've mentioned the strong points and also his main weakness (despite often being close for a number of teams, no league titles).

 

This excellent resource has him down as an 'interno', thus midfielder for his Italian years.

http://www.enciclopediadelcalcio.it/Wilkes.html

That is really a good website.

(PDG, maybe you remember but I actually posted that 1995 profile before).

 

One big difference between Lenstra and Wilkes is that the former played his first full season at the age of 15 and became immediately topscorer of the 2nd regional level with 19 goals - this promoted his club to the highest level.

Wilkes on the other hand didn't play his first full season until the age of 23-24 (for obvious reasons). In the meantime, it helped Lenstra as well that he was around ~1947 production wise at his peak (in 1946-47 48 goals in 29 league games, including the 10 inter-regional matches he played for the national championship), so tall order for Wilkes to really catch up and overshadow him in fame.

Wilkes built up his standing over a period of time. It made the press he was in Italy commonly seen as the best footballer (at that time he ended 2nd in the topscorer list, behind Nordahl) and with a few Italian journalists even claiming he was the "best in the world".

https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:110585218:mpeg21:p002
https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMSAB03:000069331

That wasn't immediately uncritically accepted by everyone but it became at least clear he was quite highly rated in Italy (despite not as well paid as the major Italian stars), also at the end of his Inter stay in 1952.

 

That planned game was apparently cancelled but in Brazil they pretended it was played. Bizarre story.

https://doentesporfutebol.com.br/2013/08/o-jogo-que-nunca-existiu-milan-8-x-1-sao-paulo/


However, he had already 'beaten' (if you like) Gren a year before, november 1949.

La mista MilanInter Milano (San Siro), 27 novembre 1949 – amich. Austria Vienna-Mista Milan/Inter 4-3 (2-2) Mista Milan/Inter: Franzosi (Bardelli); Belloni, Foglia (Piani); Miglioli, Tognon, De Grandi (Basso); Burini, Wilkes, Nordhal, Campatelli (Fiorini), Nyers. Reti: 38' Nordhal, 42' Wilkes, 86' Nyers. Note: gara organizzata per il 50° del Milan.

http://www.magliarossonera.it/img194950/immamichev/4950_4a.html
http://www.magliarossonera.it/img_almanaccoamichevoli/194950.pdf
(page 7)
https://it.blastingnews.com/calcio/...a-milanese-impossibile-ma-vero-002248767.html



And he also played the 2nd time he could be called up

http://www.magliarossonera.it/img195152/immamichev/5152_17a.html
http://www.magliarossonera.it/img_almanaccoamichevoli/195152.pdf

Gren replaced him at half-time, page 7.

Milano (San Siro), 17 gennaio 1952 – amich. Mista Milan/Inter-River Plate 3-3 (1-2) Mista Milan/Inter: Buffon (46' Ghezzi); Silvestri (46' Giovannini, 55' Menegotti), Giacomazzi (46' Tognon); Grosso (46' Padulazzi), Fattori (46' Annovazzi), Neri (46' Bonomi); Armano (46' Frignani), Wilkes (46' Gren), Broccini (46' Lorenzi), Skoglund (46' Liedholm), Renosto (46' Nyers). Reti: 6' Skoglund, 71' Vernazza, 89' Lorenzi.


That are apparently the only two matches when he was there, and was included both times in the mixed team.

edit: he also played once a game for Real Madrid by the way

31 mayo de 1956. Homenaje a Luis Molowny. En Madrid (Santiago Bernabéu)
REAL MADRID - CR VASCO DE GAMA 4-2
Arbitro: Asensi
Goles: 1-0 Kopa 12´, 2-0 Kopa 22´,
3-0 Collar 40´, 4-0 Di Stéfano 62´,
4-1 Livinho 77´, 5-2 Livinho 85´.
Real Madrid:
J. González (Berasaluce 45´); Atienza II, Marquitos, Lesmes;
Muñoz, Zárraga; Molowny, Kopa (Wilkes 45´), Di Stéfano,
Kubala, Collar (Miguel 45´).
Vasco de Gama:
Helio; Paulin, Aroldo; Laerte, Orlando, Coronel, Sabara;
Walter (Yedo), Vavá (Bellini 45´), Livinho (Astolfo 45´)D'Jair.

* Participaron Kopa del Reims, Wilkes del Valencia,
Kubala del Barcelona, Collar y Miguel del Atlético Madrid


Either way, I think it is fair to say in Italy he was seen as one of the better players (possibly the best after a short while) and in Spain put in the same line as Kubala and Di Stefano (at least as one of the few best back then, 1953-1956). That this happened in two countries, and returned from knee problems, has been beneficial for his standing next to his compatriots.

 

Dennis Bergkamp (1969, Amsterdam)

Matt Le Tissier: "He’s the best technical footballer the Premier League has ever seen"

Jaap Stam: "He’s been very important for Dutch football because he stands for the football some of us want to play – you should be strong on the ball and score goals yourself, but also put someone else in the position to score goals, and sometimes show nice things on the pitch as well."

Thierry Henry (2005): "When Dennis plays, I play differently because, whatever you do, the guy seems to know where you are. I have played with a lot of players, and it's difficult for me to say this, but for me he is the best player I have played with. To play with Dennis is just a dream for a striker because as soon as he sees you he gives you the ball. As soon as you move he gives you the ball, and more often than not he gives you a good ball, and that's why you are more than happy."



Arsene Wenger: "Intelligence and class. Class is of course, most of the time linked to what you can do with the ball, but the intelligence makes you use the technique in an efficient way. It's like somebody who has a big vocabulary but he doesn't say intelligent words, and somebody who has a big vocabulary but he can talk intelligently, and that's what Dennis is all about. What he does, there's always a head and always a brain. And his technique allows him to do what he sees, and what he decides to do."

"I was very lucky to find Dennis Bergkamp already in the squad when I arrived at Arsenal. You do not find a player like that everywhere you go, It was a blessing, a gift when I arrived. A lot has been said about Dennis over the years; about his class, about his intelligence — his remarkable intelligence — about his vision. Basically you can never say enough about the player.
But the one thing which is a real example for youngsters is that Dennis Bergkamp, and I have worked with him for 10 years, don't forget, until the last minute of his final training session, he did not lose his concentration or dedication for one minute."

When Wenger described each of his 'Invincibles' XI (2014): "Dennis is the science, the intelligence, the charisma. A strong character, very determined, super professional. I have seen Dennis from the first to the last day of his career focusing on every single pass. Dennis was the intelligent perfectionist. Dennis needed to control the world through his perfection. When he missed something he was always unhappy. He had an intrinsic desire to be perfect in what he did. His ['invincible'] teammates admired him, which was very important at that time. When your big players create a good understanding, and they respect each other, it makes your team stronger."

Gary Lineker (2006): "One runs out of superlatives in describing him as a player: he has great vision, awareness, touch, finish, not to mention selflessness, which for a striker almost sounds like a contradiction in terms. But there has always been so much more to Bergkamp than just goalscoring ability and he has plenty of that as his ratio of one goal in less than two and a half games testifies. Even at Arsenal, where he has been less prolific than he was at Ajax, it is still a goal every three games, which isn't bad. A little unusually, at international level, it's even better [...]. Most strikers live and breathe goals and if they haven't scored they leave the pitch disappointed. I've never had that feeling with Bergkamp, not because he didn't care but because scoring goals just wasn't the be all and end all for him. He got his fair share every season, and if he didn't score 25 a season he certainly made 25. And if there ever was anything lacking in his goals in terms of quantity, there certainly wasn't in quality. [...] Bergkamp isn't the sort of player you look at and think, 'Oh, he reminds me of so-and-so'. He's a one-off. I suppose Peter Beardsley and Teddy Sheringham come closest to him in English football, but he scored more goals than my old co-striker Beardsley and, earlier in his career, he had more pace than Sheringham."

Patrick Vieira: "In many ways the most impressive colleague I worked with. One can say many truthful things about him."

Gianni Rivera: "Impressive is how he doesn't only do a 'Rembrandt' against Leicester, but also about as often against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Argentina. Very important piece for his teams and one of Johan's outposts I'd say."

Ruud Gullit: "At a stretch, the low-cost carrier version of Messi, and maybe an early prototype, at a time when there were more fouls each match."








https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Bergkamp
http://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/halloffame/dennis-bergkamp/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/1853534.stm
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/best-football-players-of-all-time.2011432/page-53#post-36512735
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/historical-ranking-of-arjen-robben.2087098/#post-37131654

Four Four Two their discussion of 'greatest imports':

wm442433 his good profile (not saying I agree with everything but it is a good try):

Less obvious, Christian Eriksen (of Denmark) remarked in 2017:

Indeed, as more than one persons have remarked, many different truthful or arguable (and contestable) things can be said about him - I noticed he also gets his mentions in the 'Soccerbox' episodes (for example games with long passes as this, and the assist later). I'd advise to read David Winner's book on him, which is good in the sense that it also gives the word to more critical remarks.

The 1999 standard work 'The Internationals' (which has profiles and things on alll capped players) remarked: "In the post-Van Basten era the deepest bow was reserved for Dennis Bergkamp." Leading player of his team towards three UEFA Cup finals (three different teams, three different countries) and with 10 goals (no penalties) and 8 assists (no set pieces) against teams as Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina and France one of the better national team players.

Maybe it is worthwhile to discuss here a bit the more 'unclear' and 'unknown' parts. For example why despite his obvious talent (as wm442433 says, he had already made some close-to-impressive goals) he made his national team debut aged 21; that he was more of a dribbler and faster pre-Arsenal ;or his inclusion in the 1998 'Football League 100 legends' and that a year later (May 1999) the Premiership included him among the first six names (Les Ferdinand, Peter Schmeichel, Eric Cantona, Alan Shearer, Gianfranco Zola, Dennis Bergkamp).

I'll think about these 'ambiguous' and 'unknown' things, but maybe @PDG1978 and @annoyedbyneedoflogin (and others) can help with this and provide ideas.

After that, I round it off and will also post the remarks made for 1999 Orange team of the century back then.

 

I think he had still some artistic goals for Inter and the national team wasn't it (he had a chipped goal at the 1994 World Cup), but indeed, the profile in the internationals book (of 1999) mentions Inter asked him to not be too frivolous because for Inter he would have only one or two shooting opportunities each match, rather than three, four or five at Ajax. It is literally in that profile - that the club demanded the one chance shouldn't be a chip.

I also think that retrospective looks at him are at hindsight more generous. They see his (effective) trickery against Vierchowod, Maldini, Kohler et al. and wonder whether he was really so bad and ineffective. In the 2nd season he got injured and it must be said Inter did better with him in the team over those two seasons.

PDG1978, thanks for your ideas too (perhaps you didn't directly reply to what I wondered about but indirectly it still helped me a bit). Some of mine on the 'unknown' relate to that - hope I'll have it ready tomorrow.

 

Okay, I thought about these aspects.

He was Ajax's most productive player (goals + assists) in each season between 1988 and 1993. Until 1990 he was mostly a quick-footed winger (a Belgian television profile from 1987 said "Another young player is Dennis Bergkamp. 17 years old and uses shirtnumber 16. He is a modern Stanley Matthews. Slick, nimble and gliding").

His worst seasons are arguably 1994-95 and 2000-01. Both too much troubled by injuries I'd say (2000-01 also the weakest Arsenal season by the club of this period). Was interesting leadleader came up with a few prominent games from that period. Before the partnership with Henry there was a weak season.

It seems to me some think he had always the aviophobia. But he hadn't that until the end of the 1994 World Cup. The bomb threat incident before the Brazil match (where he peculiarly played quite well and scored a nice goal) changed all that. I'd say that until that point he was a reasonably successful player at the continental level (four finals, three wins; his club Ajax was also ineligible/banned for two seasons).

He is Wenger's most used player during his entire managerial career. Also the player with the most wins - and indeed subbed out (for Arsenal). He didn't like the rotation but think he appreciated Wenger's intentions and care later (Wenger saw his team had troubles with packed, deep defenses and Pires and Bergkamp were both 'irreplaceable' pieces for that).

Strangely many (short) pieces about the famous Argentina goal don't say he broke the all-time scoring record with that. It was this goal with which he surpassed Wilkes.

There were times he had for a forward quite a few tackles made. Also, during an European game against PAOK he temporarily filled in as center back.

Maybe his outstanding Champions League performances are forgotten (Lazio, Barcelona, Dortmund etc.). I think if you add that up or do it proportionally he did better than Cantona and Zola, and possibly also better as Baggio (not always the same role/job though). A while back I went searching for the grades he received by kicker etc.

What I always found peculiar, maybe 'strange', is the difference in how his home country and England viewed his 'mentality'.

Why he made his national team debut aged 21 despite his talent and already doing well for Ajax: the difference between 4-3-3 (Ajax) and 4-4-2 (national team); he had been called up before but unused; he had an injury shortly before the 1990WC (at hindsight maybe not 'bad' for him personally since he could enter as a fresh face after the debacle); there were already too many 'Ajax/Amsterdam' players.

While many have the idea he wasn't just goals and assists (and with good reason; see things as OPTA Index, or his high number of pre-assists - can't find that website back right now but PDG knows), maybe it is nowadays thought his numbers were poor. This maybe needs a post of its own ---> will perhaps do tomorrow.

@PDG1978

 

The full video is here:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_rXaZKg2CJYbmZaMDJwYnh0Rjg/preview

I remember that I found the beginning not so great but after a while it got more interesting (with him saying that the difference between 1997-98 and his first season was his increased speed, and suchlike).

Yes I tend to agree with this. I still liked his 90th minute winner in the Champions League though and also certain games as this (where you can see him initiating pressing triggers, too).

Have you also seen this brief discussion? There they find it strange his parents were anglophiles, lol

Here are all of them:

Yes I think that looks highly generous (L'Equipe in 1999 had him also in their top 100, around 70) but would say he belongs among the five best players of the 1990s decade (1990 - 2000).

There are not many who were really elite in both halves of the decade. Other prime candidates for the top are Baggio (leaning to him for #1 of this era) and Maldini, perhaps Romario (for Batistuta and Redondo I'm tempted to say 'no' for competing with Baggio). Bergkamp was six times nominated for the Ballon d'Or those years, more than any other creative player (yes, even more than Baggio). Also the only one to be ranked top five in both halves of the decade.

Yes I think by 1999 there was appreciation for the steady contribution as a whole, rather than only 1997-98. He was nominated for PFA player of the year in 1998 and 1999, and for 1997 there was some confusion about why Wright made it to the PFA shortlist and not Bergkamp (said also Wright himself at the time, wondering whether DB10 his timid personality influenced this within the lad culture context of that time - generally it was thought DB10 played only slightly less good as Zola in 1996-97 wasn't it?). For 1996 Arsenal finished only fifth, but it was remembered he had the winner for qualification into Europe. Ian Wright said: "We told him [at arrival] to get us into Europe when he joined and that's exactly what he did."

Also, and this relates to the thing about 'production', by 1999 he had 4 EPL league seasons with 10+ non-penalty goals and 2 with 10+ assists. As of 2018 - with decreased fouls and offsides per match - there are really still not many players who can say the same. Consequently, his non-penalty goals + assists per 90 minutes is not low at all in his own era. Add to this what he did against strong teams for the national team and from time to time his European resume (even 1999-00 towards the UEFA Cup final) and it looks pretty solid in his own generation I'd think. Of course, slightly later with Henry, Ljungberg he started to play (even) deeper, as also wm442433 mentions, but was still able to rank high in Opta/Actim index type of things in that role, or get a couple 'perfect' 1/6 grades by kicker.

You might like the first video I think. Maybe you (or others) want to reply to this, but then I'll do the full overview.