Frank Rijkaard

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Frank Rijkaard
Personal information
Full name Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Manager (former Midfielder)
Team information
Current team
 FC Barcelona
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of May 30, 2006

Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard (born September 30, 1962 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch football manager and former player. Rijkaard has played for AFC Ajax, Real Zaragoza and AC Milan, and represented his national side 73 times, scoring 10 goals. Since 2003 he has been the manager of FC Barcelona. His mother is Dutch and his father is Afro-Surinamese.

Playing career

Ajax (1980-1987)

Rijkaard was just 17, when Ajax coach Leo Beenhakker gave him his senior squad debut in 1980. He made an immediate impact, scoring for his team in the 4-2 victory over Go Ahead Eagles. He would play another 23 games for Ajax in his first season, netting a total of 4 goals. In 1982 he won his first Dutch Eredivisie championship with Ajax, and went on to successfully defend that title a year later. In 1987, what would have been Rijkaard's fourth year under Dutch football legend Johan Cruijff as head coach, Rijkaard stormed off the training field and vowed never to play under him again. He was signed by Portuguese club Sporting, but too late to be eligible to play in any competition. He was immediately loaned out to Spanish team Real Zaragoza, but upon completing his first season at Zaragoza, was signed by Italian side AC Milan.

AC Milan (1988-1993)

His five seasons at Milan made him a legend. It was coach Arrigo Sacchi who saw Rijkaard as playing a pivotal role at Milan and transformed the central defender into a world class holding midfielder, where the Dutchman's aggressive style would go on to influence the likes of Patrick Vieira to replicate in future years. Playing alongside fellow country-men Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit, Rijkaard won the European Cup twice (in 1989 against Steaua Bucharest and 1990, against Benfica) and the domestic Serie A championship twice with the Italian side. He was also believed to have apologized to Cruijff while at Milan.

Rijkaard's temperament though, was still in question, as became evident when he spat multiple times on Rudi Völler during the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which Holland entered as favourites. Holland went on to lose the match, fitting for a tournament that was marred by a pre-tournament coach change and an underperforming squad. Rijkaard's spitting on Rudi Völler earned him the media nickname of "the llama".[1]

Ajax Return (1993-1995)

After five seasons in Italy, Rijkaard returned to Ajax in 1993. With Louis van Gaal at the helm, Rijkaard and Danny Blind formed the experienced defensive core of the Ajax team that won the first two of three consecutive Dutch Championships. Ajax were the unbeaten champions of the Netherlands in 1994-95 season and carried that success into Europe. In his final game, Rijkaard won the European Cup (which had been renamed as the Champions League) again, with a 1-0 victory over AC Milan in the 1995 final at the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna.

International career (1981-1994)

On the international stage, Rijkaard made his debut for the Netherlands in 1981. He was part of the Dutch side that won Euro 88 with a 2-0 win in the final over the Soviet Union, playing at center-back alongside Ronald Koeman. He won a total of 73 caps and scored 10 goals. Rijkaard also played for the Netherlands during the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups and at Euro 92.

Rijkaard was involved in an unsavoury incident with Rudi Voller when West Germany played Holland in the 1990 World Cup. Rijkaard was booked for a bad tackle on Voller, as Rijkaard took up position for the free kick he spat in Voller's hair. Voller complained to the referee and was booked as well. From the resulting free kick, Voller dived to avoid a collision with Dutch Keeper Hans Van Breukelen although it did also look as if he was diving for a penalty. Van Breukelen was angry at this but Rijkaard again confronted Voller by twisting his ear and stamping on his foot. Both Voller and Rijkaard were sent off but Rijkaard again spat in Voller's hair as they left the pitch and was rumoured to have repeated this on the touchline.

At Euro 92 Rijkaard scored a late equalizer for Holland in a 2-2 draw with Denmark at the semi final stage but the Dutch went out on penalties.

He made his final appearance for the Netherlands in the 3-2 defeat against eventual winners Brazil in the quarter-finals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Managerial career

KNVB (1998-2000)

Rijkaard's coaching career began when he was appointed manager of the Netherlands national football team in 1998. He had previously served as an assistant coach, along with Johan Neeskens and Ronald Koeman under the managerial tenure of Guus Hiddink. At the time, he was not taken seriously as a manager because of his inexperience, but he was able to guide his national side to the Euro 2000 semi-finals. The Netherlands played some of the best football of the tournament but lost their semi-final match to Italy on penalties, and Rijkaard resigned immediately.[2]

Sparta Rotterdam (2001-2002)

During the 2001-02 season, he became manager of Sparta Rotterdam in the Dutch Eredivisie, the oldest professional team in Holland. Rijkaard enjoyed the down-to-earth atmosphere, though the club were not financially strong.[3] Under his leadership, the club was relegated to the first division for the first time in its history, and he was fired as a consequence.

FC Barcelona (2003-present)

Rijkaard was not out of a coaching role for long, and less than a year after leaving Sparta Rotterdam, he was appointed manager of FC Barcelona for the 2003-04 season. The season would prove to be a watershed for the club, but not without initial instability. Rijkaard arrived at the club as it entered a new phase, having elected a new President in Joan Laporta and a new managerial board, but with fans unhappy that Laporta had let English midfielder David Beckham snub the chance to join the club. For Rijkaard, the team he inherited, with the exception of new superstar signing Ronaldinho (who was the club's second choice after Beckham), also consisted of many underachieving players from the old guard and era that failed to meet the club and its fans' demands to match arch rival Real Madrid's success in the early 2000s, having not won a trophy since 1999.

Rijkaard had a disappointing start at Barcelona that saw some sections of the club's fans call for his resignation, and he drew flak from the media when the team lost to Real Madrid in December 2003.[3] Rijkaard's resilience won through and from 2004 onwards, he achieved a massive turnaround, as the team went from strength to strength. Barcelona finished runners-up in La Liga in 2003-04, having been close to the relegation zone at one point in the earlier stages of the season. Rijkaard then took Barcelona to the next level as he phased out the old guard and rebuilt a new look side around Ronaldinho, with players like Deco, Samuel Eto'o and Edmilson. He eventually succeeded in turning around the fortunes of the club, with the strong support of Laporta, and within the next couple of years finally managed to win La Liga both in 2004-05 and in 2005-06.

He became the first Barcelona coach to have won twice at Real Madrid's stadium Santiago Bernabéu, an achievement which even successful managers like Johan Cruijff, Louis van Gaal and Luis Aragonés were unable to accomplish. His no nonsense policy on and off the field, and the sparkling football played by his team, have won him many plaudits and Rijkaard was among the five nominated coaches for UEFA's Team of the Year 2005. On 8 March 2006 he was also honoured by UEFA for his contributions to the European Cup Competition throughout his career as player and manager.[4]

On May 17, 2006, Rijkaard managed Barcelona to win the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final 2-1 against Arsenal FC, overcoming a 1-0 deficit which lasted until the final stages of the game, despite having a man advantage after an early red card for Arsenal. His late tactical substitutions during the game proved the decisive factor, as the introduction of Henrik Larsson and Juliano Belletti contributed directly to Barcelona's two goals. The win made him the only fifth individual to have won the European Cup both as a player and as a manager, alongside Miguel Muñoz, Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff, and Carlo Ancelotti.

He is currently the only black manager in La Liga, the first to manage a European national team and the only one to win the UEFA Champions League.

Coaching philosophy and style

As a coach, Frank Rijkaard's essential philosophy is to guide his team towards playing attack-minded football as a cohesive unit. In doing this, he believes a team can achieve the dual objectives of winning games and ensuring the audience's enjoyment of the spectacle. This follows in the best coaching traditions of Rijkaard's countrymen and forebears Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff. In this light, it is notable that Michels coached both Cruyff and Rijkaard during their respective participations with the Dutch national team, and that Cruyff himself went on to coach Rijkaard. Nonetheless, Rijkaard believes in working within a contemporary football context and is not out to imitate the styles and tactics of past masters. In his own words:

...you gain many impressions from the past. You still have it in your mind when you become a coach, and if something happens you can recall how it was dealt with. But I strongly believe that you cannot copy anyone. The decisions that a great coach made years ago will not necessarily work today.[5]

Rijkaard has evidently learned to curb the quick temper of his playing days and is often a portrait of calm and stability in training and along the touchline. He rarely courts controversy in the media and is more apt now to promote a positive environment and let his team's play speak for itself when faced with intense rivalry or criticism.[6]

The tactics used during his tenure as manager of FC Barcelona best exemplify Frank Rijkaard's commitment to playing stylish attacking football. During the team's 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 campaigns, the coach frequently fielded a 4-1-2-2-1 formation, a system which encouraged the creativity of the players in the front third of the field and created optimal interplay between the midfielders and forwards during attacks. Within this system the four defenders also tended to play in a relatively high position on the pitch to support the midfield which frequently advanced to participate in the attack. The team generally focuses on maintaining possession in the opponents' half of the field, applying pressure in order to force the opposition to make errors in defense and offensive counter-attacking.

With regards to man-management and motivation, Rijkaard rejects the notion of a "star system" and promotes the idea that every one of his players is a valuable member of the team.[7] He rarely praises one individual over another in the squad, although he has been known to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of a player within the context of a team performance.

Playing honours

Managerial record

Template:S-awards
Preceded by Dutch Golden Shoe Winner
1985 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Dutch Golden Shoe Winner
1987 		Succeeded by
Sporting positions
Preceded by Dutch National Coach
1998 – 2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Sparta Rotterdam Manager
2001 – 2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UEFA Champions League Winning Coach
2005 – 2006 		Succeeded by

Managerial stats

Team Nat From To Record
G W L D Win %
Barcelona Spain July 1 2003 Present 209 128 38 43 61.24

References

  1. ^ Template:Es icon ¿Más que una mera costumbre repugnante?, FIFA.com, January 16, 2001
  2. ^ "Rijkaard quits after semi-final loss" BBC Sport, 29 June 2000 accessed 13 March 2006
  3. ^ a b "Big Interview: 'King of cool sits well amid frenzy of Camp Nou'", by Donald McRae, The Guardian, 19 February 2005
  4. ^ "Rijkaard takes acclaim", UEFA Official Website, 9 March 2006 accessed 13 March 2006
  5. ^ "Interview: Frank Rijkaard by Andy Roxburgh, The Technician: UEFA Newsletter for Coaches, No. 31, January 2006 accessed 13 March 2006
  6. ^ "Rijkaard calls on Barcelona fans to show returning Mourinho some respect" by Jon Brodkin, The Guardian, 7 March 2006 accessed 20 March 2006
  7. ^ Excerpt of an interview with Rijkaard, World Soccer, March 2005

External links

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