From title candidate number one to gray middle engine. The start of the season in the first division is not what FC Groningen expected. Trainer Dick Lukkien and director Wouter Gudde give an insight into what is going on and talk about the new standard, which is not without consequences.
Whether the club plays in the Premier League or the First Division, expectations at FC Groningen are always high. It is a tradition that many trainers in the past had the greatest difficulty with, because was it always realistic?
There could be no misunderstanding about the answer to that question this season, many thought. After one of the leanest years in club history, the loyal supporters are yearning for success. It was inevitable that this wish would be granted this football year with a premier league budget in the first division. The title was already in the offing.
Unsatisfactory on the autumn report
However, after nine games in the first division, there is no guarantee about this. So far, FC Groningen has been harshly exposed to the whims of clubs at the second highest level. Opponents such as Jong FC Utrecht, ADO Den Haag and FC Den Bosch appeared to be able to tackle the superpower from the North with successful tactics. The result was an unsatisfactory grade in the autumn report with an ugly eleventh place as an intermediate ranking.
“It’s time to sketch the real story,” Lukkien begins. “No nonsense, because I also think we should have had many more points. But it is clear that you cannot simply implement the FC Groningen playing style that we have in mind in ten weeks. Some things take more time. The product is not yet good enough, although I can see that the process is underway.”
Spanish mentality?
For FC Groningen football, the gas tap must be fully open for every player every day, that is the strict requirement. Not only during the match, also during training. That’s still a problem, Lukkien sees. The Veendammer coach calls it the Spanish mentality.
“Training is fun, but it’s about the competition, that thought. We also have a number of them in there. I look at it a little differently. We must convert FC Groningen’s way of playing from reactive football, as has been played in recent years, to proactive football, making the game ourselves. The training is intended to develop that, to get better, to develop yourself. You can only achieve that if you give everything every day.”
Ron Jans
With this knowledge in mind, a new standard has recently been introduced at the club. Those who are unable to give their maximum at all times no longer have to count on a starting spot and can even look for another club, no matter how good a football player you are.
“We are going to make clearer and tougher choices about this,” Wouter Gudde announces. “The trainer in his position and we as a club with the question: do you still fit in here?” The general manager previously indicated that he still needs one or two transfer windows to arrive at a selection where the FC Groningen DNA is actually commonplace.
“By setting this bar high, we are now well on our way in the process, even though that is a shitty word. No supporter wants to hear that. He just wants to see good football and victories. But don’t forget that everyone has been dissatisfied with football since the Ron Jans era. In Dick Lukkien we have a trainer who knows what is being asked here, but he is not Harry Potter who can bring about a complete cultural change in ten weeks. We have taken an important step by setting this limit.”
Join or drop out
The pair do not want to mention the names of players who do not (yet) meet the new standard, but they do paint a clear picture of what the new standard entails. “We have forwards who cover 1,500 sprint meters per match,” says Lukkien. “That’s what you’re looking for, that brings energy. If you also get into a duel, steal balls and occasionally throw a slide, people love that. That is what belongs to FC Groningen. You can also achieve 1400 sprint meters if you let that go hand in hand with efficiency, because that is still lacking. It’s all a matter of doing it. I believe we have it in us, although that may not be true for everyone. It is the new standard that we have been using for some time and we will monitor it.”
So it will be a matter of joining or dropping out for the players of FC Groningen in the near future. “Hunger is the magic word,” says Lukkien. “If you want to get the most out of yourself, you have to be hungry. That is difficult to measure. I can’t say anyone is throwing a hat at it, but this goes deeper. You have to want to give everything for the club.”
Forty, fifty DMs after a match
According to Gudde, it would also help if some boys felt freed from the pressure that is always on at FC Groningen. Players suffer from it when they are constantly approached negatively.
“We try to discuss this as much as possible within the club and we also have guidance available for this,” says Gudde. “Some boys appear to receive forty or fifty personal messages on their social media after a match, in which ugly things are thrown at them. Of course that does something to young people. That’s not a bad story either, unfortunately it is the world we live in. When you’re nineteen or twenty and you always have to carry that burden with you, you feel it. Euroborg should actually be the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth man. That is also possible here, but not everyone has it yet.”
‘Having something to do can also become something beautiful’
Apart from all that, Lukkien believes that his team should have been higher in the rankings even with its current qualities. “Not that I expected us to have 27 out of 9 at the moment. But driving to Euroborg expecting us to score four or five against every opponent is also too short-sighted.”
Neither has any regrets about making a big fuss at the start of the season. During Dick Lukkien’s presentation it was once again emphasized that the goal is to return to the Premier League in one year. “If we had not shouted it, others would have put that pressure on us,” Gudde thinks. “We’re not running away from it, but we had more to do here than just win games. We had to change the climate, set the new standard, make the right choices, not only on the field, but also in the technical heart. You can accuse us that we should have had five or six points more, but we are not going to upset the target because we lost the last two. We continue to work hard and are confident. Ultimately, it can also become something very beautiful.”