Co Adriaanse
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jacobson Adriaanse | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
Jacobson ("Co") Adriaanse (born on 12 July 1947 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland) is a Dutch football manager and former football player from the Netherlands. He is currently without a club after leaving FC Red Bull Salzburg at the end of a championship winning season.
Playing career
As a professional player, Adriaanse played for six seasons with De Volewijckers (from 1964 until 1970) and a further six with FC Utrecht (1970 until 1976), retiring from football at the age of 29.
Managerial career
Early career
He started his managing career with Zilvermeeuwen in 1979, and after four years he joined AZ for the first time as scout and youth trainer. After a year, for the 1984-85 season he resumed his coaching career with two four-year stints with PEC Zwolle and FC Den Haag, where he would be sacked for the first time. He was then chosen to direct the youth side of Ajax Amsterdam, a position he would occupy for five seasons.
Willem II
Willem II followed in his career, and after ending his first season fifth place, achieved a second place and the title of best Dutch team of the year. This meant that Willem II, a team better known for finishing in the bottom half of the Dutch league, would be playing in the Champions League. The Champions was a bridge too far for Willem II, and the team ended up last in the 1999-2000 UEFA Champions League group stage, and after failing to achieve a European spot, Adriaanse resigned on 20 May 2000.
Ajax
He returned to Ajax as manager, but after a third place season he was released early in the next season, on 29 November 2001, after some poor results. During his tenure he made a number of controversial statements to the press – he called the chairman of PSV a "talking lampshade", and most famously said of Marco van Basten (mooted to join the Ajax staff at the time), "A good horse does not make a good rider". New coach Ronald Koeman went on to capture Ajax's 28th Eredivisie title.
AZ
After starting the 2002-03 season without a club, he was signed to AZ in November 2002. A 10th place in the first season was followed by a fifth, which allowed the Alkmaar team to join the UEFA Cup in the 2004-05 season. There, the club upset Spanish side and top contenders Villarreal CF in the quarter finals before being knocked out on away goals in the semi-finals by Sporting CP, in the final minute of extra time. In the Eredivisie, AZ also performed above the expectations, ending third after topping the league for a week at the end of the first half and spending most of the second in second place. Adriaanse again coined a number of colourful phrases while at AZ, the best known being "Scoreboard journalism", "Cheese viewers", "Woonerf football", and "Evening footballer".
Porto
After much speculation and his stated desire to leave the club (he was succeeded by Louis van Gaal), on 24 May 2005 he was presented as the new manager of Portuguese club FC Porto (replacing José Couceiro), and became the fourth manager to sign for the Portuguese side since the departure of José Mourinho. On the first season as FC Porto coach achieved the "Dobradinha" for the first time since the departure of José Mourinho, by winning the Portuguese Liga and the Cup of Portugal.
Metalurh Donetsk
On 9 August 2006, Adriaanse resigned as manager of FC Porto. Four months later, he became coach of Ukrainian club FC Metalurh Donetsk. On 17 May 2007, Adriaanse resigned as manager of FC Metalurh Donetsk with four games to play in the Ukrainan Premier League.
Al-Sadd Sports Club
On 27 August 2007, Adriaanse signed a one year deal with Al-Sadd Sports Club. He resigned as coach on 28 January 2008.
Red Bull Salzburg
On 13 March 2008, Adriaanse signed a two year deal with the Austrian champion Red Bull Salzburg and will leave the club after end of his contract on 30 June 2009.[1]
Managerial style
Tactical approach
Adriaanse gained a lot of fame in the Netherlands after qualifying for the Champions League with the average Dutch club Willem II. It was even more impressive, because Willem II often played attacking football. Throughout his whole manager career he always stuck to play attacking football. His game approach is in many ways similar to that of Louis Van Gaal, who eventually succeeded him at AZ Alkmaar.
Training
Adriaanse is famous for his controversial training approach. At Willem II, he once ordered his whole squad to follow him by car, while they drove 13 km away from their training ground. At a remote spot, all players had to give their car keys to Adriaanse. Then he drove back to town, while the squad had to run in front of his car. Back at the training ground, the players got their car keys back. However, since their cars where still parked far from the training ground, they all had to walk back another 13 km.[2] At AZ Alkmaar he once ordered the whole squad to search for Easter eggs during a training session. They looked for an hour until Co Adriaanse finally revealed there were no eggs hidden.[3] Adriaanse already had these strange training methods at the start of his career, because when he was a youth trainer at Ajax, he sometimes ordered his players to lay on the ground. Then a teammate (with football boots on) would run over the bodies.[4] Because of all these infamous incidents, Adriaanse is sometimes nicknamed "Psycho Co".
Honours
- 1986: Promoted to the Eredivisie with PEC Zwolle;
- 1989: Promoted to the Eredivisie with FC Den Haag;
- 2004: Winner of the Rinus Michels Award (for best Dutch coach of the year) with AZ;
- 2006: Winner of the Portuguese Liga with FC Porto;
- 2006: Winner of the Portuguese Cup with FC Porto;
- 2006: Manager of the year in Portugal with FC Porto.
- 2009: Winner of the Austrian Football Bundesliga with Red Bull Salzburg.
References
- ^ Salzburg: Adriaanse-Vertrag wird nicht verlängert
- ^ Nieuwsselectie: Sport
- ^ Elsevier.nl - Artikel - 'Succes zit 'm niet in de accommodatie'
- ^ Mike Verweij, Kluivert Biography