Soccer Fan Blog

The Englishman Steve McLaren is very far of being a hero in his country. It has the doubtful honor of being the English seleccionador that less time it remained in the charge: little less than year and a half and 18 disputed parties, with the balance of not classification of the pross for the Euroglass of 2008. While finalzaba the continental tournament, the technician recorded like trainer of the Dutch Twente, and was a mockery object on the part of the British press after showing in an interview English with marked Dutch accent, although only it was taking in the charge approximately five weeks. From this moment, Schteve is his semiofficial name in the islands.

For this anecdote, for his showy teeth and for the showy umbrella that usually shone, McLaren has very bad press in his country. Nevertheless in the team of Enschede (approximately 155.000 inhabitants) McLaren it is doing a notable work. The past period, following the stela of a “revolution of the modest ones” headed by the AZ and propitiated by the impact of the economic crisis in the Eredivisie and his three traditional sovereigns, the Twente finished in the second position of the league and lost the final of the Cup before the Heerenveen for penalties. McLaren rehabilitated a team that had finished quarter the previous tenporada and that had lost Orlando Engelaar, his most valuable player.

This period the team of this one Dutch seems to believe seriously in his possibilities and they occupy the leadership of the Dutch league, having already been capable of defeating the champion AZ, the same day in which there were fulfilled two years of the defeat of England in Moscow that cost him the classification for the Euroglass. And that with a team that again lost to several important pieces of the past period (the forward Marko Arnautovic recorded for the Inter, the defender Braafheid for the Bayern of Munich or Eljero Elia who ended up in the Hamburg). For fortune, the arrival of the costaricense Bryan Ruiz has allowed to the technician to be provided with a solid society in the front part with the Swiss veteran Blaise N’Kufo. Between the two so many of the team already add 7 of the 11 the present period.

Thanks to his good work at the head of the team, with 4-3-3 showy and that fits well with the cravings of the Dutch soccer, McLaren has been renewed recently until 2011 with the Twente. It confirms with his good trajectory in league his poor participation in the Europe League, where it ended up after not spending the Champions qualifying round for the goals difference with the Sporting of Portugal. In the Europe League there are the Dutch team worst placed in his group, with a defeat sounded before the modest Moldavians of the FC Sheriff.

In spite of everything, much more he will need the Schteve good one to recover the respect lost in the islands.