Gertjan Verbeek would undoubtedly have imagined his first months as a trainer of Almere City very differently. The coach and his team are in eighteenth place in the Kitchen Champion Division and have only won one of the last nine games. However, that is no reason for Verbeek to resign his work as an analyst at ESPN, something that many have their question marks.
Even in his time as trainer of FC Twente, Verbeek did not hesitate to announce his opinion at ESPN about matches and colleagues in the Eredivisie. “Just as supporters comment on me, as an analyst I comment on matches based on my knowledge and skills,” Verbeek says in an extensive interview with Football International. “That there are people who question that, I really don’t care.”
According to Verbeek, ESPN is ‘happy with him’ and Almere City also has no qualms about earning a little extra on television. “And I also decide what I do myself,” continues the striking trainer. “As long as my wife is okay with me being away from home all day, it’s fine. That’s all that’s relevant to me. But I do notice that trust is fragile. You notice that in everything. All kinds of people who put things in start to doubt, for example. But internally we have excellent discussions with the management and player group.”
Verbeek does not dare to say how much credit he still has, but it is certain that the coach has a difficult program ahead of him with ADO Den Haag, FC Emmen and Excelsior. “If Football International If you get involved in it, you get less and less credit and time, that’s just the way it is,” Verbeek throws a sneer at the football weekly. “If you write about it, others will start shooting at it again. And then people on social media are going to pee about it again. It will be all right, I don’t care. Every moron can say something on his own stage these days, I’ll let that pass me by.”
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