look back
Sunshine, Shadows, Post 90 (European) Football: Dutch Goalkeeper, Attacking from the Backfield
Sunshine, Shadows, Post-90s (European) Football: 1995 Ajax, Into the History Books
Sunshine, Shadows, Post 90 (European) Football: Ajax vs Goliath
Sunshine, Shadows, Post 90 (European) Football: Van Gaal, the coolest team in the world?
Sunshine, Shadows, Post-90s (European) Football: Van Gaal's Philosophy and Ajax Youth Training
Sunshine, Shadows, Post 90 (European) Soccer: Cruyff's Art Versus Van Gaal's Science
Sunshine, Shadows, Post 90 (European) Football: Van Gaal, Ajax
In Dutch legend Johan Cruyff's opinion, goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is almost a "finished product". Leaving aside the defensive side of the game, which is the basic of all goalkeepers, what attracted Cruyff to van der Sar was his ability to launch an attack from the back of the field. van der Sar's hands and feet, like the engine of a Sapphire Guinness, drove Like the engine of a Sapphire Guinness, van der Sar's hands and feet drove Ajax's offense. However, van der Sar didn't start as a starter right away. He first replaced another goalkeeper, Menzo, in a domestic league game in October 1992, and then played the next four games. It wasn't until Menzo made two errors against Auxerre that Edwin van der Sar was able to secure his place as the team's starting goalkeeper. The following season he would play at least 40 games a season, and of course his heart was full of joy, but it couldn't be seen in his facial expressions or body movements, he was unusually calm, like a boulder. The game of soccer offers so many opportunities to celebrate or express disappointment, but van der Sar doesn't have any emotional ups and downs, no matter if he loses or wins a game. The closest he came to an outburst, as described by renowned soccer journalist Simon Kuper, was during the qualifying round of the 2002 World Cup, when Holland lost to Ireland and were unable to travel to Japan and South Korea. Kuper noticed the anger in Edwin van der Sar's eyes, but his physical reaction was simply to flick a plastic cup away!
Edwin van der Sar won almost everything at Ajax, winning four Dutch league titles, three cups and even the iconic Champions League in five years. Throughout his career, van der Sar's name has been linked to two famous coaches under whom he has shone brightly: Louis Van Gaal of Ajax and Alex Ferguson of Manchester United! From Ajax to Manchester United, Van der Sar had stints with Juventus and Fulham in the Premier League, but it wasn't until his time at Manchester United that he returned to the top of his game, helping them to three consecutive Premier League titles at a late-career turbo level, with Edwin van der Sar himself playing an amazing 1,311 minutes without conceding a single goal, and, of course, the fans won't forget the 2008 match between United and Chelsea, played in Moscow. And of course, fans won't forget the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow between Manchester United and Chelsea!
The 12-yard box is considered to be Edwin van der Sar's weaker Achilles tendon, and he has lost a number of 12-yard battles in his career, so he sought the advice of Hans van Breukelen, a goalkeeper who specializes in 12-yard kicks and is a former member of the Dutch national team. From Hans van Breukelen's experience, van der Sar learned that the most important key to 12-yard kicks is to study the opponent's weaknesses, rather than relying on instinct and luck, as he had done in the past. In this exciting rainy, 12-yard war, we wonder if van der Sar has really mastered his opponent's weaknesses? Because we could see Nicolas was the last Chelsea kicker. Before Anelka, all Chelsea players who came on the pitch were instructed to kick van der Sar's left side (because statistically, the Dutchman always jumps to the right in the 12-yard war), and if it wasn't for Terry's deflected ball from John, Chelsea would have already won the title. But luck was finally on van der Sar's side this time. Facing Nicolas Anelka, who was the last man on the pitch, van der Sar even pointed his finger to his left side, as if telling his opponents, "Come on, you think my left side is a weak point, just kick it on the left side"! However, Anelka kicked the ball to Edwin van der Sar's right, and the Dutchman stretched his body to the right, and he saved the most important goal! Then we see another van der Sar, he raises his hands in the air, celebrates with joy and dispatches his biggest demons as his United teammates run towards him.
When discussing the content of his autobiography with his ghostwriter, Edwin van der Sar is said to have been a little worried that he wouldn't have enough material to hold a book together - after all, he's not journalistic and doesn't seem to have much to talk about that would be of interest to the general public - and said that he felt a little sorry for the ghostwriter, who wasn't very rock n roll and was the antithesis of the crazy goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, who also never turned a heel. He is the opposite of Peter Schmeichel, and he never does a heel turn. Yet van der Sar never needed to be fancy or flashy. Instead, quietness and efficiency were his essence. He is not only a role model for Dutch soccer goalkeepers, but also a reference point for modern European goalkeepers. Of course, fans who watched him in the later stages of his career might think that his mobility was not that good, and that he was more of a traditional goalkeeper who just held the ball in front of the goal (and the reason why Juventus let him go was because the Old Lady wanted van der Sar to be a traditional goalkeeper), but let's take a look at his performances at Ajax, which were truly "rock and roll"! Manuel Neuer, the goalkeeper responsible for Germany's World Cup victory, claimed that he was inspired by Edwin van der Sar's style of play and that he enjoyed Ajax's philosophy.
