Evert Linthorst lived and played football in Venlo all his life, except for two years in PSV’s youth academy. In the last winter transfer window, the 21-year-old midfielder decided after two and a half years with VVV-Venlo in the Eredivisie to take a big step outside his comfort zone by making the switch to Al Ittihad Kalba Sports Club in the United Arab Emirates. Linthorst tells in conversation with Football zone about his choice, getting used to a new culture and an opportunity for an international career.
By Chris Meijer
When Linthorst in Venlo pushed aside the curtains of his bedroom, he could see De Koel lying there. How different is that now. When he rubs the sleep out of his eyes and steps onto the balcony of his apartment on a luxury resort, he looks out over the beach and the Gulf of Oman nine and a half times out of ten sun-gleaming. “That’s a big difference, yes,” laughs Linthorst. He lives in Fujairah, a 15-minute drive from his club Al Ittihad in Kalba, a little further south. “Of course it feels like a holiday for a large part of the year, because you get up and the sun is shining. You can go to the pool or the beach, so life is chill. I find it very relaxing to be able to go to the pool or the beach, but I just have to see how it will be in a year. Then it is just normal. I don’t know if I will continue to like it when you have this all your life. Life is a lot slower, there is no rush. I have training and no further obligations. ”
Are you getting through your time out there a bit? I can imagine that you have a little more time left than in the Netherlands.
“I am thinking about how I am going to organize my time. At the moment I am looking for someone who can teach me Arabic. I have to have something to do besides football, I like that too. Because of Ramadan, we train every day at 10 p.m. for the coming month, so I have to fill my day well. It is nice, because it is less warm then. Today it is 35 or 36 degrees, so it is nice to train when the sun has set. ”
Your rhythm has probably turned upside down.
“In the Netherlands we train at eleven in the morning. I go to bed later, eat later and actually have to get up later. Because if I get up at nine or ten every day, I have to wait another twelve hours for the training to start. I fill the time with training, I am in a beautiful resort with a swimming pool, private beach and a gym. It’s fine in that regard. Off the field I spend a lot of time with local and foreign guys who also live here at the resort. Normally I still go to the pool with a teammate, but we don’t do that now. Because of Ramadan, those boys don’t do anything during the day. But yes, I only have to take that for granted for a month. ”
Did you quickly get used to the culture by spending a lot of time with your local teammates?
“The culture is of course different. They are all Muslim, they pray five times a day. When we train at half past six, we first have to wait fifteen minutes for them to pray on the field. Those are differences, of course. But you get used to it quickly, because you just go along with the rhythm. ”
On the other hand, it will not have been a huge culture shock either.
“No, it is. Take the food. In Dubai, but also here, you just have international restaurants, which is no different than in Europe. Dubai is simply westernized. If you are dropped blindfolded in Dubai and walk around there for an hour, you think you are just in Europe. I have also seen the TV program Paradise Footballers, then I saw boys go to Thailand or Indonesia. Seeing them, I thought: even if they offer me this or this, I will never go there. For example, you don’t have a big city nearby, you know. Dubai is just westernized, you have very good facilities because there is money and this is the safest country in the world. It is a stroke of luck that Dubai is a fifteen minute drive away. If it hadn’t been for Dubai nearby I might not have done it. I am very often in Dubai, with teammates or to look up Dutch contacts. ”
Were you immediately convinced when the offer came in in January?
“I didn’t immediately feel like I wanted to do it. If only because I didn’t even know where Kalba was. For myself I had a certain amount in mind for which I wanted to do it and it didn’t meet that at first. ”
It is also not obvious: a young player who is leaving for the Middle East after having played in the Eredivisie for two years. Has the right club simply not come by in the meantime?
“No, that’s right. There has been some interest and interest, but it has never been interesting or very concrete. Maybe it could have been this summer. Just before I left VVV, we won one after the other against FC Twente and Vitesse. I remember everyone saying after those games that VVV was pretty safe. But since I left, I’ve lost ten times. Then you are in a negative spiral and you are not doing well either. Suppose VVV relegates and I had played Kitchen Champion Division next season, I would have hit myself in the head for not doing this. On the other hand: it could also have been that VVV was already safe and was in the cup final. I wish them that wholeheartedly, except that I had some doubts about my choice. Playing a cup final increases your market value and interest. That’s football: now I feel I have made the right choice, but that could have been the other way around. ”
Linthorst, here in a duel with PSV player Ibrahim Sangaré, played a total of 52 games in the main force of VVV.
Have you had many reactions to your choice?
“It was actually not too bad. Friends, family, teammates and acquaintances all thought it was a smart choice. Actually, I personally have not had any negative reactions. Of course you see some negative reactions on football websites, such as Voetbalzone. I read that, but I also saw a lot of understanding. People who wrote: I agree with him. He will soon be 23, has earned good money, had a very nice experience and can still work in the Netherlands. ”
Maybe also because you have never ignored it yourself.
“It could, indeed. The financial aspect is the main reason, there is just a lot of money to be made. But adventure has also been a motivation. You can quickly grow to a bigger club in the league. An extra windfall is that because of my age I have a so-called resident player am. In addition to four foreigners, you may also have three foreign players under 21 in the selection. At the time I came I was under 21 and I will keep that status as long as I play in this league. So they actually managed to get an extra foreign player with me. A player like me is very interesting for the clubs here, because I have a better level than the local players and don’t count as a foreigner. ”
That must also take some pressure off for you somewhere?
“Yes, I don’t bear the pressure that Peniel (Mlapa, former VVV striker and now also teammate of Linthorst, ed.) And the other foreign guys feel. Each team may have four foreign players and you often see that they usually sign for two years, but leave after six months. Very often they do not serve out their contract, that is what happened with Kalba. I heard that last season two foreign players signed for two years and were already kicked out after the training camp. It can go very quickly here. ”
Teams rely on foreign players, of course.
“The starting eleven is often fine, only the difference with the substitutions is quite large. There are guys who just don’t play football that well, to put it mildly. The level is quite good. Football is a bit less tactical, a bit more running and flying. The level is lower than in the Eredivisie. I have never played in the Kitchen Champion Division, so it is difficult to compare. But I would say that it can be compared to the middle or the bottom of the Kitchen Champion Division. ”
Marcos Senesi knocks Linthorst in the air during the duel between VVV and Feyenoord earlier this season.
For the time being you played seven games, two of which as a basic player. Does that have to do with having the time to find your place?
“I don’t really know exactly why I don’t play in the base yet. I get along well with the trainer (the Uruguayan Jorge da Silva, former striker of, among others, Atlético Madrid and River Plate, ed.), He says that they give me the time to adapt and that I will definitely be a basic player next season. become. As far as I am concerned, I could play right away. I can just play football, so I can also play at this level. It is also nice to be able to watch the cat from the tree. ”
Have you mapped out some sort of plan for yourself for the coming years?
“In May I have another two years contract and I’m going to do my best, maybe after that it will be time for a step to an even bigger club in the league. Next season I just want to play everything and fire, then I will see what the next step will be because I have another year contract after that. If I don’t like it, I will go back to the Netherlands. Then I am 23, which is still young. It’s not that I have a clear plan to go back to the Netherlands or stay here in two years, I don’t know yet. ”
In any case, you will open some doors in Asia in the near future.
“You often see players who go to Japan, that could just be a step. Only I don’t think about that yet. Because I resident player soon they can give me a passport. Then I could play for the national team here. That offers many possibilities. And it is a bit easier than getting into the Dutch national team. It may be an option later, if I do it right. That’s a nice extra, a great opportunity for an international career. ”
You can at least speak Dutch with the national coach.
“I have already met Bert van Marwijk, yes. Coincidentally, prior to my first match against Al-Nasr, we were in the same hotel as the national team. So we have a chat, the first contacts have been made. ”