Gertjan Verbeek makes a lot of blunder in the run-up to debut

Monday, August 9, 2021 at 7:53 PM• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 20:21

A remarkable incident in the run-up to the match between Jong AZ and Almere City FC in the Kitchen Champion Division. On Monday evening, Gertjan Verbeek met a former pupil at the AZ training complex, where he worked in the past: Maarten Martens. From the ensuing conversation, it could be concluded that there are still a few things that could be improved in Verbeek’s preparation for a match.

“Gertjan Verbeek who meets Maarten Martens and asks which team he is training now. The answer is: today’s adversary.” ESPNcommentator Mark van Rijswijk on social media on Monday evening. Martens, 37, will indeed make his official debut as a trainer of Jong AZ on Monday evening. Verbeek, who turned 59 this month, is doing the same on the couch at Almere City.

Verbeek later acknowledged in conversation with ESPN his mistake. “I did not know on which AZ team he was on. So I asked him: ‘Which team do you play? He said, ‘This team’. It is very nice that he is now facing me, in the other dugout.” On Twitter, questions are being raised about Verbeek’s preparation. “This is not about a game of the RTL star team against Bal op het dak 3, but a competition match between Almere City and Jong AZ in professional football. What a preparation,” Bart Frouws tweeted.

Martens took care of several Club Brugge youth teams in Belgium. He obtained his trainer’s diploma for professional football and was assistant coach with the promises of the Bruggelings last season. In May he returned to AZ, where he played seven and a half seasons, and signed a contract until mid-2023 as head coach of the Alkmaar promises.

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