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...
Reader Comments (42)
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer
2 Posted 01/09/2011 at 12:48:47
Everton's PR machine in overdrive describing him as pacy, creative player
3 Posted 01/09/2011 at 12:57:22
4 Posted 01/09/2011 at 13:00:13
5 Posted 01/09/2011 at 13:15:50
6 Posted 01/09/2011 at 13:17:26
Either that or we'll play him out of position and his abilities will therefore be irrelelvant.
(god that sounds very negative, must be last night catching up with me)
7 Posted 01/09/2011 at 13:18:12
He's also playing for his future as he is out of contact next summer.
Fingers crossed!
8 Posted 01/09/2011 at 13:24:05
9 Posted 01/09/2011 at 13:50:54
10 Posted 01/09/2011 at 13:50:47
11 Posted 01/09/2011 at 14:21:38
12 Posted 01/09/2011 at 14:36:56
13 Posted 01/09/2011 at 14:36:56
14 Posted 01/09/2011 at 15:13:48
He doesnt look a happy chappy, and I for one have took an instant dislike to him after reading the above.
Add to that our new striker was on trial at Leicester in the summer, so I have been told and they said NO so that looks good business all round.
The only plus point I can take from all this, is when are backs are against the wall we come out fighting, lets hope so our we are in the shite big style!!!!!
15 Posted 01/09/2011 at 16:05:01
This is a guy that will run at and just plain annoy the opposing fullback all day, we don't have one of them at the moment.
Even if he is like Van Der Meyde, as long as he remains fit then it isn't a problem; at the very end Shandy could still take the ball round his man, he was just so slow that he couldn't get the next touch on the ball.... because the man he just beat would turn and - from that standing start - beat him to it! ;)
16 Posted 01/09/2011 at 16:18:37
El Pais, the Spanish newspaper, says he was the best player in Europe when he was an Under 21 and compared him to Clarence Seedorf and Roberto Carlos, but said his fatal flaw is his immaturity. He is a bit of a playboy and a wannabe rap star. He is a also big mate of Ryan Babel.
Drenthe?s career almost came to a halt over some disciplinary incident on a Swiss tour with Feyenoord?s junior side the coach wanted him out but he managed to persuade the Director of Football to let him stay. However, he was left out of the side so often he eventually moved to a smaller club, Excelsior.
He did so well there Feyenoord re-signed him, in 2007, after only one full season of first team football; Chelsea showed some interest. Real Madrid stepped in with a £12M offer and he actually threatened to sue Feyenoord in the civil courts if they turned it down. He started his career with Real Madrid with a bang ? a 40 yarder against Seville in the Spanish Super Cup. There was another bang when he crashed his sports car into a police car.
After two seasons as a winger for Real he was edged out of contention by Marcelo. When he discovered he wasn?t even on the bench against Valencia, he stormed out of the training ground.
When he did get back into the side, he had a howler against Coruna and was mercilessly heckled by the Real supporters. His confidence was so shot he asked not to be picked for the next several games and he was eventually loaned to Hercules.
He was arrested in Alicante after driving the wrong way down a motorway... he claimed he was driving a sick friend to the hospital. The police claimed he was drunk. After a period of good form, he fell out with the club management after returning from winter break a week late.
Now he is at Goodison. Strange signing in some ways. Moyes doesn?t like rebels and Drenthe is a rebel. Maybe Everton will be good for him and he will be good for us. I hope so...
18 Posted 01/09/2011 at 17:31:34
19 Posted 01/09/2011 at 17:53:37
20 Posted 01/09/2011 at 18:27:34
21 Posted 01/09/2011 at 19:02:41
22 Posted 01/09/2011 at 19:06:12
23 Posted 01/09/2011 at 19:26:52
hes very talented, and most would be pissed off if our talent was being wasted not even getting a place on the bench,but its only a loan(with a option to buy?)DM wont put up with any shit,maybe DM told him lol maybe thats why he didnt look happy afterwards.
24 Posted 01/09/2011 at 20:08:42
25 Posted 01/09/2011 at 22:45:08
26 Posted 01/09/2011 at 23:00:40
Whether it's going to be a positive or a negative impact, I'm not quite sure, but it will be big either way!
My money is on positive though. I just have a sneaky suspicion he's destined to become a bit of a legend!
27 Posted 01/09/2011 at 23:02:10
Agree re Heitinga - his twitter comments have been encouraging of late. Regarding our players and Twitter - Distin and Saha seemed taken a back by last night. Funny how the players welcomed the new lads tho' - "Drenthe and Denis", but then when you only have 140 characters available and the vast majority are gonna get used in Drac's surname...
28 Posted 01/09/2011 at 23:25:24
29 Posted 01/09/2011 at 23:57:08
In short, if Denthe doesn't make it now at Everton he never will, as everything is in his favour. He knows he's got a year to prove himself, or he's on the scrapheap like so many others. Hopefully that'll be the kick up the back side that's required, just like Pienaar, Arteta, Yobo, et al.
30 Posted 02/09/2011 at 03:01:47
31 Posted 02/09/2011 at 03:06:05
32 Posted 02/09/2011 at 05:42:48
Unlike Andy Shandy
33 Posted 02/09/2011 at 05:43:25
34 Posted 02/09/2011 at 08:28:55
I think this squad needs a few character's as they all seem to be the type who cross old ladies over the road and go to scout meetings, dib dib dib an all that!
Were a bit of a shelter for the talented lost souls of european football's forgotten men and Drenthe is the latest in quite a long line. It's the only way a club like Everton will get players of genuine quality, for that reason I'm happy with the signing, also having a bit of pace either side of the pitch will help break sides down.
35 Posted 02/09/2011 at 09:35:51
I'm willing to give this lad a chance, we can't really do anything else, he has potential and ability and fingers crossed we get to see it.
36 Posted 02/09/2011 at 10:22:01
Really hope I'm being paranoid, and this signing isn't pre-empting the sale of Baines in the not too distant future.
37 Posted 02/09/2011 at 10:55:20
38 Posted 02/09/2011 at 12:52:19
I hope Moyes actually plays him and doesn't do the usual 4 months on the bench to bed him in crap. We really have been starved of Pacey wingers, or even wingers since the days of Kanchelskis.
40 Posted 02/09/2011 at 13:54:28
41 Posted 02/09/2011 at 15:04:24
Denis on the other hand im not to sure about. South American strikers coming straight from the continent historically take time to settle in the England. If the story is true that he got rejected on trial at Leicester, then it doesn't bode well for him. A question you have to ask is why is the leading scorer in Argentinian football being touted around English teams and allowed to leave on loan again?
42 Posted 02/09/2011 at 20:26:27
Royston joins us on loan in the last season of his contract with RM and I for one hope he is more Anders Limpar than Andy van der Meyde.
43 Posted 02/09/2011 at 18:18:12
Here's hoping I'm wrong.
44 Posted 05/09/2011 at 05:54:57
What a goal! And he had no compunction to let fly at that distance? Wow!!!!
Add Your Comments
In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.
Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.
1 Posted 01/09/2011 at 12:44:50