Daley Blind reported to the Dutch team in Zeist this week with a good feeling. The 33-year-old left-footer is at the top of LaLiga with his club Girona and he likes life in Spain very much. In conversation with Football International the manger looks back on his first months with his new employer.
“The move to Girona enriches my life as a footballer and as a person,” says Blind. “Not only do you learn a new way of playing, you also get to know new people and a new language. Just like me, my wife and children are thoroughly enjoying our life in Spain.” The ex-Ajax player calls his club ‘a good project from a sporting perspective, with good people behind it’.
“There is a clear plan, a nice playing style and a good selection. This surprises us. It would be great if we could continue to do that.” Blind left Ajax almost a year ago to sign for Bayern Munich, but the adventure in Germany was not what he expected. The left-footed player only played 157 minutes over five games and left for Girona on a free transfer in the summer.
Blind has thought carefully about this step, as he himself admits. For example, he asked Frenkie de Jong what he thought of the club. “He indicated that it is a team that likes to play football, with many technically gifted players and a nice approach to the game. That confirmed the picture that the trainer had already painted for me. That was nice feedback,” the mandekker says about De Jong’s words.
“I have certainly thought carefully about my next step. I am 33 years old. Then you have to carefully weigh your choices so that you end up at a club that suits you well in terms of playing style,” continues the 103-time international. “The conversations we had immediately felt very good. Their way of thinking about football really appealed to me, in terms of the team and me personally. That was nice. Ultimately you take the leap of faith and go for it. That it turns out like this… I’d be lying if I said I expected this in advance. No one expected this.”
Blind is contracted to Girona until mid-2025, but already knows what he wants to do after his active playing career. “I want to get my coaching diploma. I think it would be fun to join Ajax’s youth academy after my career to see how everything works. Then we’ll see what comes out of it. I love Ajax, it is my club forever. The fact that the bond with the people who were there when I left was somewhat less has nothing to do with the club for me.”
Compliments
Blind received compliments from Maarten Wijffels earlier on Wednesday. “Let’s just say it like it is. He plays for the leaders in LaLiga and they play great football. And he just plays a leading role there,” was the Dutch follower of the Algemeen Dagblad complimentary about the ex-Ajax player. “He always stands in the center back. I watch those matches and I sometimes see him go forward.”
“That coach (Míchel, ed.) recently told him: ‘Listen, I have a football team and I need someone who takes care of the passing from the back and who takes other players with him in setting up.’ Yes, and Blind does that really well. There is currently no reason to drop him in his thirties (in the Dutch national team, ed.).”