Season 2011-12 Fan Articles

Royston Drenthe - the next Kanchelskis or the next Andy van der Meyde?

By Erik   Dols  ::  01/09/2011   42 Comments (»Last) As I live in the Netherlands and Royston Drenthe was a spectacular prospect when coming from the youth ranks at Feyenoord, I have followed him quite closely in the last five years. He is an interesting figure to say the least...

He has bags of talent and on the right day he will give everything he has and the Goodison crowd will love him for it. He can be a wonderful player. But he also tends to fade away, some matches you wonder if he was on the pitch at all. He has a knack for big games and does not seem very interested in games of lesser stature.

For Feyenoord his best games were against Ajax and PSV Eindhoven but he made childish errors against small teams, for Hercules Alicante (who loaned him last year) he was brilliant against Barcelona but again, didn't do it against the small teams.

So far for his actions on the pitch. It can really go either way with this lad but I think he can form a brilliant pair with Baines. Drenthe has pace, physical strength, stamina and determination. And great technical skills. With the right mentalitiy he will be a sensation, it's up to Moyes to push the right buttons with this lad.

And now off the pitch... Real Madrid wanted to buy him but the offer they made did not satisfy Feyenoord. Drenthe took the club to the court to make the transfer happen, although Feyenoord and Real reached an agreement before the court case.

At Madrid he didn't impress much and looked more occupied with the newest watches and cars than with improving as a footballer.

They loaned him out to Hercules Alicante. In november he was arrested after a chase by the police where he was seen speeding in the streets of Alicante, he was driving over 100 MpH in the city centre and run 6 red lights. At 4 PM in the morning. On a positive note: the police tests did not show any signs of alcohol.

In December he did not turn up for training for over a week. He claimed he still had to receive his wages for the last four months.

The last half year of his season-long loan he hardly played a game. Hercules Alicante got relegated and the manager of Hercules said that no player was to blame for the relegation except one: Royston Drenthe for having the worst attitude possible and not understanding how a professional footballer should behave.

At the 2008 Olympics the Dutch team manager was furious with Drenthe because he joined the team clearly out of form/not fit, missed a training because he was buying a watch and did not seem interested at all.

Now that is the dark side of the moon of this lad. Of course there is always another side to the story: imagine you are a young player and Real Madrid want you, what would you do? Would you sit tight or would you try to make this deal happen?

Imagine you are a young guy who knows no one in a big city but you have money to burn in your pockets. Would you sit at home and watch the walls or go out and spend it? If I had millions in the bank I would be interested in nice cars as well.

At Madrid, they were never dissatisfied with his footballing progress. The car accident at Alicante, according to Drenthe, was because he was taking a very ill family member to the hospital as quickly as possible. And if my boss did not pay me for four months, I would not care too much to do a great job for him myself.

The Olympics 2008 by and large were a great disappointment for the Dutch and the team manager seemed to scape goat Drenthe as other team members have claimed since then that Drenthe was not out of shape and that the "watch buying incident" was a simple misunderstanding and certainly not Drenthe's fault.

So, what's going to happen with this guy? I really do not know. It could go either way. Let's hope he has matured a little and is fired up to prove the world he is the footballer he can be. Let's hope Moyes can give him the right push to become a legend.

I have a soft spot for this lad, I really hope he can come good. But if he turns out to be a new Andy Alehouse, do not say I did not warn you...

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