Bondscoach Andries Jonker caused a turbulent lead-up to the Orange Lionesses’ first European Championship match with his podcast appearance. He said this was deliberate to create even more unity in his team, but is that true?
Jonker caused a stir last Thursday by joining the NOS Voetbalpodcast. He said that he had considered quitting as national coach just before the European Championship. He also said that he then had the staff and players sign an Orange shirt to demand maximum effort from themselves and each other.
The striking statements, two days before the first European Championship match, dominated the press conference a day later. Jonker said that it was a preconceived plan to tell this story. He wanted to use such a trick to create more unity within the team. Later that day, he would explain this to his team in the match meeting.
After the match against Wales (0-3), Jonker hinted that his trick was not as well thought out as he had claimed a day earlier. “The question of whether I had considered quitting was thrown at me, I headed it in. When I answered, I immediately realized: I can use this. Then I tried to get my advantage out of it.”
Jonker responded evasively to several questions about what that advantage was exactly. He kept repeating that it was to create unity. He also did not want to go into the content of the meeting. “I tried to give the team a final push. That we have to go to the extreme. To every fiber.”
What was the trick then? Did Jonker want to sow unrest around himself to divert attention from the team? Did he want to create an enemy? Was the shirt the trick? Or did he talk himself into a corner?
The players in the mixed zone, in any case, denied that Jonker had a special trick up his sleeve for the match meeting. “Well, to be honest, he explained that better to you. With us, it was mainly about football,” said Lineth Beerensteyn. “He said that we have to do everything we do as a team. That we have to fight for each other, it was mainly about football.”
Kerstin Casparij confirmed that: “He mainly wanted to make it clear that he really wants to play this European Championship with us. And that he is going all out for that. He is there every day with full passion and presence for every individual. There has never been any doubt about that. He has clarified that again.”
Casparij did say that “there was some noise here and there”. “Everyone is on social media, so you sometimes see something pass by. But we try not to look at it as a group. We have stayed very well out of it. In such a press conference, you sometimes can’t avoid it. We want to focus on each other and live in a bubble. I think we have done that very well.”
Deviating explanation about Orange shirt
It could be that Jonker talked himself into a corner at the first press conference after the podcast. He then emphasized that he had something extra in store for his players, but from the players’ reading it sounds as if he only wanted to emphasize the meaning of the Orange shirt once again.
In the NOS Voetbalpodcast, Jonker explained that he presented an Orange shirt to his players and staff just before the European Championship. A signature meant “full throttle”. “We are going to do everything we can and if you think I can’t do it anymore: then you have to say so. And if you don’t sign, you go home,” he said.
If the alternative is to go home, it is logical that everyone signed the shirt. But according to Daniëlle van de Donk, Jonker’s explanation is not entirely correct. “That’s not how it was said. Not in a way of: you have to sign this, otherwise it’s yes or no. It was to emphasize that we are going for it. If you sign this, you are going for European Championship win.”
Whatever Jonker’s exact thought is, we don’t have to expect a new trick. “I’ve taken everything out of the closet. I don’t have any more things,” he said. This allows Orange to head towards Zurich in calmer waters, where they will play against England on Wednesday.