The
Dutch Mutiny of 1990
In
the summer of 1988, following Holland’s victory in the UEFA European
Championships, Dutch Manager Rinus Michels left his post to manage West German
club Bayer Leverkusen.
The
KNVB (Dutch Soccer Federation) chose one time Feyenoord Manager Thijs Libregts
as his successor.
The
Dutch still basking in the glory of their first ever international title were
unaware that this decision would end up destroying the team (on and off the
field) that had brilliantly won a major trophy.
 |
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Libregts between van Basten and Johnny Bosman) |
Initially
most observers were not concerned, as the team seemed to be intact with only
the international retirement of 38-year-old Arnold Muhren.
However,
from the very first match for the 1990 World Cup qualifiers, vs. Wales on
September 1988, the signs were there.
The
Dutch struggled to win one to nil in the closing minutes of a home game.
The
rest of the qualification matches also saw the Dutch give more prosaic
performances than they had in the previous few years.
A
creditable scoreless draw away in West Germany was followed by a one to one tie
against the same team in Rotterdam, in a match where they were lucky not to
lose and only tied in the closing minutes.
The
Dutch ended this first post title season, by defeating Finland at Helsinki one
to nil, once again courtesy of a late goal.
By
now it was clear that the majority of the Dutch squad were opposed to Libregts’
tactics and sought a more attacking game.
Another
source of dissention was revealed as Captain Ruud Gullit’s opposition to
Libregts dating back to their time together at Feyenoord where Libregts was
alleged to have made racially insensitive comments about Gullit.
In
the fall of 1989, the Dutch qualified for the World Cup along with West Germany
by winning their last two matches vs. Wales (at Cardiff) and Finland at home.
Some
would have thought that qualification would have eased the tensions and
everyone would be unified to prepare for the upcoming World Cup.
However,
the opposite occurred and the senior Dutch players were already laying the
ground for a mutiny to remove and replace Libregts in time for the World Cup
finals.
Former
manager Rinus Michels had been sacked from Bayer Leverkusen midway through the
previous season and was now a member of the Federation and he was involved with
resolving the matter.
The
senior players informed the Dutch Federation their refusal to play under
Libregts at the World Cup.
As
a result, on March 26, 1990, Thijs Libgrets was dismissed as Holland manager.
Libregts
had sought a legal injunction to the firing, however a Utrecht Court upheld the
Federation’s decision since Libregts had lost the confidence of his squad.
On
April 3, 1990, in a Dutch radio interview, Ronald Koeman announced that 9 out
of 15 national team players had requested Barcelona Manger Johann Cruyff to
manage the team at the World Cup.
 |
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Rinus
Michels and Marco van Basten)
|
This
included Koeman himself, Gullit, van Basten, Rijkaard and Jan Wouters.
The
Federation offered the job Ajax Manager Leo Beenhakker instead.
For
the Federation hierarchy Cruyff appeared too expensive as well as too
controversial.
This
enraged Dutch star striker Marco van Basten who wanted his former mentor to get
the job.
On
April 23, 1990, Marco van Basten blasted Rinus Michels for going against
players’ wishes and not appointing Cruyff and instead choosing Leo Beenhakker.
A
few days later van Basten apologized publicly to Rinus Michels.
 |
Photo
From: World Soccer, June 1990
(Leo Beenhakker) |
The
Dutch arrived to the World Cup with none of the confidence and winning
mentality that they had in 1988.
Ruud
Gullit had barely played all season as he was recovering from serious injury
and the mood within the camp was far from harmonious.
At
the World Cup Finals, they labored through three unconvincing First round
matches that all ended in draws, two one-all draws vs. Egypt and Republic of
Ireland and a scoreless tie with England
 |
Photo
From: World Soccer, October 1990
(Dutch Captain Ruud Gullit, June 16, 1990, World
Cup, England 0-Holland 0) |
The
Dutch nevertheless qualified for the Second Round and were paired with
archrivals and eventual Champions West Germany.
The
gulf between the teams was evident as West Germany dominated and deservedly won
2 to 1.
The
match will be remembered mostly for Frank Rijkaard’s spitting incident and
sending off after altercations with German striker Rudi Voeller.
 |
Photo
From: Chronik des deutschen fussballs, 2005
(Frank Rijkaard, Hans van Breukelen and Rudi
Voeller during the infamous incident, June 24, 1990, World Cup, West Germany
2-Holland 1) |
Gullit
and van Basten had a nightmare of a tournament with van Basten not even scoring
once.
Afterwards
Leo Beenhakker admitted that there was no chance that he could have managed any
success and unity within the team.
He
stated that he knew even before the Tournament he had no chance, but he
nevertheless hoped that with the talent at his disposal things might have
worked out.
He
went on to say, “With such great players, the coach is not so important” and
expected the big stars to take on responsibility.
He
blamed the poor relation between the players and the directors as the main
reason of the failure.
After
the Tournament Beenhakker went back to his job of managing Ajax.
Dutch
FA Director Rinus Michels offered the job to Johann Cruyff, however, Cruyff
refused due to the earlier rejection and also by his work in Barcelona.
He
did suggest that he might be interested to manage in a part time capacity at
the upcoming Euro Finals and recommended former teammate Wim Jansen to act as
caretaker Manager for the qualifying rounds.
Dutch
FA Director Rinus Michels informed board members that he had not found a
suitable replacement.
The
Board insisted on Michels taking the reins again and he accepted.
This
decision angered Gullit and van Basten still disappointed about the Cruyff
snub, but they carried on with the team.
Frank
Rijkaard retired from the National team, though he did come back on his
decision a year later.
In
a subsequent interview, Rijkaard expressed that he behaved in such a way,
during the World Cup, because he was going through a difficult time in his
personal life.
He
was also angered that Voeller’s alleged play acting earned him a yellow card
which would have suspended from Holland’s next match had they qualified.
He
also expressed that Beenhakker was a capable manager, but at that point in
time, Holland needed a manager like Cruyff who would have stamped his
authority.
In
another interview, Ruud Gullit went on to say that the World Cup occurred at
the worst possible time (physically and mentally) for Holland.
This Mutiny episode reinforced the narrative that the
Dutch players tend to sabotage themselves by having too much player power.
In
most countries, this type of incident would have led to suspensions and
banishments.
However,
Holland has a history of players with strong personalities expressing
themselves irrespective of consequences.
As
a result, Holland’s best generation since the Cruyff era was not able to excel
at the World Cup level.
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