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Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard (born September 30 , 1962 in Amsterdam ) is a Dutch Football Manager and former player. Rijkaard has played for Ajax Amsterdam , 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 . He is of Surinamese descent. PLAYING CAREER 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 National Championship with Ajax, and went on to 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 Sporting Lisbon , 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 . 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 and the Scudetto 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 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. 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 final at the Ernst Happelstadium, Vienna. On the international stage, Rijkaard made his debut for the Netherlands in 1981. He was part of the Dutch side that won 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 World Cups and at . He made his final appearance for the Netherlands in the 3-2 defeat against eventual winners Brazil in the quarter-finals of the . 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 for the team 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 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. {Link without Title} Sparta Rotterdam (2001-2002) During the 2001-2002 season he became manager of Sparta Rotterdam in the Dutch Eredivisie . Under his leadership the club was relegated for the first time in its history. He had not had a very comfortable relationship with the club's directors, and after the relegation, Rijkaard was given a firm push. 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 2003-2004 season. After a disappointing start, Rijkaard succeeded in turning around the fortunes of the famous club, which won La Liga 2004/05 season. He is the only Barcelona coach to have won twice at the Bernabéu , an achievement which even legends like Johan Cruyff , 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. {Link without Title} He is currently the only manager of African descent in La Liga and also to manage a European national team. 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." {Link without Title} 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. {Link without Title} 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. 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
:Dutch League Championship 1982, 1983, 1994, 1995 :Dutch Supercup 1983, 1987, 1993, 1994 :Dutch Cup Winner 1986, 1987 :Champions League 1995
:Italian League Championship 1992, 1993 :Italian Cup 1989, :Italian Supercup 1989, 1992 :European Cup 1989, 1990 :European Supercup 1989, 1990 :Intercontinental Cup 1989, 1990
:European Championship 1988 MANAGERIAL RECORD
:Manager 2001-02
:Manager 2003-Present :Spanish League Championship 2004-05 :Spanish Supercup 2005
:Assistant Coach 1997 :Coach 1998-2000 REFERENCES : "Rijkaard quits after semi-final loss" BBC Sport, 29 June 2000 accessed 13 March 2006 : "Rijkaard takes acclaim" UEFA Official Website, 9 March 2006 accessed 13 March 2006 : "Interview: Frank Rijkaard by Andy Roxburgh, ''The Technician: UEFA Newsletter for Coaches'', No. 31, January 2006 accessed 13 March 2006 : "Rijkaard calls on Barcelona fans to show returning Mourinho some respect" by Jon Brodkin, ''The Guardian'', 7 March 2006 accessed 20 March 2006 EXTERNAL LINKS : Official Manager's Profile from www.fcbarcelona.com : Frank Rijkaard profiled by Soccerphile : "Big Interview: 'King of cool sits well amid frenzy of Camp Nou'" , by Donald McRae, ''The Guardian'', 19 February 2005 : Excerpt of an interview with Rijkaard , ''World Soccer'', March 2005 : |
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