Sven Botman has praised Winston Bogarde. The former Ajax player is currently making waves at Newcastle United, where he is part of the Premier League’s least passed defense. With retroactive effect, Botman owes a lot to Bogarde, he says in conversation with JayJay Boske Only the Best.
Botman went through Ajax’s youth academy, where he ended up in 2009 through his youth club RKSV Pancratius. At the age of sixteen he had to deal with Bogarde. The assistant coach, who has since left, worked for years as Erik ten Hag’s right hand by dealing with the defenders. When Botman was loaned to sc Heerenveen and later sold to OSC Lille, his collaboration with Bogarde also came to an end.
“He had a completely different approach from all trainers,” said the central defender. “That brought me a lot. At that moment I thought: he kills me. A lot is always expected of you at Ajax, but he was really looking for something else level. He was very honest, maybe too honest at times. That he said everything was bad. ‘What are you doing?’, he would shout. At some point you will realize that he is right. I also realized that I had to change something to take the next step.”
The latter has now been successful. Botman is at the heart of Newcastle’s defence, the least passed side in the Premier League. “It is a very warm club, really a family,” said the mandekker. “The new owner really surprises me, he is at the club very often. Every two weeks anyway. Then they come by, take the children and watch them. They think that is fantastic. Recently we were at a training camp in Saudi- Arabia and we visited two other owners in their palace. That is bizarre. It really is a completely different world.”