Willem Van Hanegem | 1968-1974

[Fides]

Nickname: "De Kromme" ("The Crooked")

Club: Feyenoord Rotterdam



Growth type: Standard/Lasting

INFO:

He is regarded as one of the best Dutch players even. Usually named before played like Gullit, Rijkaard, Bergkamp, Koeman and Krol.

He is respected for his tactical insight. Both his way of sprinting (he had bandy legs), and his skill to give the ball a curve (achieved by striking the ball with the outside of his left foot) gave him the nickname De Kromme (The Crooked). He is also well known for his fantastic passing range and his ability with the ball at his feet.

He was part of the Dutch national team in 1974, reaching the final in Munich. Noted journalist Brian Glanville considered Van Hanegem to be the best Dutch player on the pitch, and he nearly scored twice with diving headers at Sepp Maier's goal. Van Hanegem was one of the greatest "older" Dutch free kickers of all time.

In the summer of 1944 the German 15th army was fleeing northward from Calais to Holland. On 11 September the Allies bombed the Wehrmacht near the ferry terminal at Breskens. Citizens had fled the town but Lo and Izaak van Hanegem, Willem's father and older brother, went back to get supplies. They hid in a shelter, which was hit. Both died. Van Hanegem later lost a brother and a sister to the war. His hatred was summed up after the 1974 final, "I didn't give a damn as long as we humiliated them. They murdered my father, sister and two brothers. I am full of angst. I hate them". After the game (with Germany winning 2-1) Van Hanegem left the field in tears.


VIDEOS:




ADDITIONAL LINKS:

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthre ... ost7598627

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_van_Hanegem

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_van_Hanegem

[ganzocasla]

he was who taught beckham xd

[Yourtjuh_PSV]

Mentality can go up, at least in the red. he was one of the most agressive players holland ever known. a beast IMO

BB can go up, very strong and powerfull player.

[julgui]

P08 – Pinpoint Pass
P20 – Talisman

Not know whether to assign as Classic No 10, because his game is very similar but I think it developed in that function?

[Phil]

I know he was reknowned for being very slow for a world class player, but I think he could still be on a similar level to Laurent Blanc on TS:76 ACC:74.

Also Van Hanegem was a very powerful player and I think BB could go up to 86/87 with no problems (I'd say he is similar to Lee Carsley in strength).

His dribbling looked quite awkward at times but was still very, very effective and had awesome ball control, though I'd have him on DA:92/93 (Socrates is on 93 in DA).

He was quality in the air as well and had a decent leap, I'd put him on JUMP:82 HEAD:87, scored a lot of great headers.

Mentality could be raised as well, I wouldn't put him below Neeskens (92) and would maybe even put him on 1 more than Neeskens.

I'm not sure on passing speed either, maybe LPS is about right or 1 point more, his long passes would usually float in the air. I think SPS should come up though, Baggio is on 84 and his passes seemed similarly weighted to Van Hanegem, so I'd say 84/85.

Also TW shouldn't be below Socrates (95), his tactical insight and overall vision was immense, many people even see him as being a better player than Cruyff! Not too sure on ATT/DEF or shooting though.

[Luxo0x0]

Maybe P10: Box To Box should be added....

[mcmattie]

Should he have higher Att? It seems to me he's kinda comparable to Xavi or Pirlo as a player. I'm not directly saying he should have 87 or 86 like them, but a higher Att like 82/83 wouldn't be weird in that sense. What do other people think?

[Akiak]

Agreed, but his ATT/DEF is quite balanced really, so there shouldn't be a big gap between them; it's hard to pick between his playmaking vs his dispossessing.
I would go for something like ATT 80, DEF 78, but even ATT 82, DEF 80 wouldn't be so crazy, considering the current standards for CMs and DMs.

Also, I don't think any of the shots in the online footage (which is scarce) warrant an ST on par with Messi.

[Vickingo]

Zouzinho just uploaded a great vid of him, nice style, good movements on the ball and obviously nice passing...seems to be 'worse' at sps? Not sure though, just a rough view.

[jupes]

I would go for something like ATT 80, DEF 78

Change this, and the set would be close to perfect, I'd say.

Though I would probably experiment some more with his Dribble Speed, lowering it to mid-sixties even. He had an insanely relaxed and composed style about him, as also seen in that excellent compilation by Zouzinho.