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The ‘Dutch Xavi’ Jordy Clasie – from 'physically too weak’ to Euro 2012 candidate within six months
The young midfielder has proved all his doubters wrong with a string of impressive performances and could be rewarded with a call-up for Oranje for Poland and Ukraine
12 Feb 2012 10:16:00
PROSHOTS
COMMENT
By Stefan Coerts | Dutch Football Editor
The general consensus at the start of the 2011-12 campaign was that Feyenoord awaited a difficult season following the departure of star players Leroy Fer, Luc Castaignos and Georginio Wijnaldum. Nevertheless, the Rotterdam giants have beaten PSV, Twente and Ajax at De Kuip, and are one of the revelations of this term. They are only five points off the pace after 20 Eredivisie games and their good performances so far make them serious title candidates.
Teenage sensation John Guidetti has taken much of the credit for the Stadionclub's resurgence following his impressive goalscoring form, already netting 14 times in the league, while head coach Ronald Koeman has received his fair share of praise, too. However, promising youngster Jordy Clasie has been at least as important for Feyenoord this season, as the 20-year-old has developed into one of the Eredivisie's best midfielders in the past six months.
Clasie was born and raised in Haarlem, and started his footballing career at local amateur side EDO. His talent was quickly spotted by bigger clubs, though, and the midfielder joined the Feyenoord youth academy at the age of nine.
Nevertheless, although there was little doubt about his immense potential, Clasie's future at the Eredivisie giants was a talking point at more than one meeting over the years. The Netherlands Under-21 star was generally the smallest player in every team he was part of, and several youth coaches at the club considered him to be physically too weak to succeed at the very top level.
Clasie never stopped believing in himself, though, and continued to work hard to improve. The youngster realised that his stature can occasionally be a disadvantage, but the performances of players such as Barcelona star Xavi and Inter playmaker Wesley Sneijder strengthened his belief that an impressive physique is not a requisite to succeed.
"I am only 1-metre-69, so I have little chance when it comes down to sheer physical strength. However, players such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sneijder prove week after week that you are never too small to become world-class," the Feyenoord star recently observed.
Indeed, his tender physique does not seem to hold the young playmaker back. After spending the 2010-11 campaign on loan at Excelsior in order to gain valuable first-team experience, Clasie returned to his beloved De Kuip at the start of the season, and has not wasted any time in making a name for himself.
Clasie hasn't missed a single Eredivisie game so far this season, and has become one of the driving forces behind Feyenoord's successful year to date.
Off the ball, he makes up for his lack of strength with his superb positioning, and wins more balls than most midfielders in his position at other clubs.
Nevertheless, it's in possession that the 20-year-old has impressed the most. Clasie is always available, and nearly every Feyenoord attack starts at the feet of the former Excelsior starlet. His accurate passing in combination with his excellent vision and creativity are at the heart of the majority of the chances that the Rotterdam giants create, and the midfielder has rapidly become indispensable for the 2002 Uefa Cup winners.
His rise to prominence has not only earned him comparisons to his idol Xavi, but Clasie has also caught the attention of national team coach Bert van Marwijk. The Oranje boss is keeping tabs on a number of players who could potentially make the squad for Euro 2012, and the Feyenoord man's good performances haven't gone unnoticed.
"I am closely following a number of players who are interesting options for Oranje ahead of Euro 2012. I have a list with about 15 players on it who could make the team. Jordy Clasie is one of those players," Van Marwijk told Voetbal International.
Although Euro 2012 might come just too soon for Clasie, Van Marwijk's comments perfectly illustrate just how much progress that the playmaker has made in the past few months.
At the start of the season, there were plenty of question marks as to whether he had what it takes to succeed at Feyenoord; right now it appears to be only a matter of time before Clasie makes his Oranje debut. A bright future undoubtedly lies in store for the midfield maestro.
Follow Stefan Coerts on
By Stefan Coerts | Dutch Football Editor
The general consensus at the start of the 2011-12 campaign was that Feyenoord awaited a difficult season following the departure of star players Leroy Fer, Luc Castaignos and Georginio Wijnaldum. Nevertheless, the Rotterdam giants have beaten PSV, Twente and Ajax at De Kuip, and are one of the revelations of this term. They are only five points off the pace after 20 Eredivisie games and their good performances so far make them serious title candidates.
| Bet: | Returns: | Netherlands £10.25 | Draw £95.00 | Northern Ireland £260.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Netherlands £10.00 | Draw £560.00 | Northern Ireland £710.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Netherlands £11.25 | Draw £80.00 | Northern Ireland £190.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Netherlands £11.10 | Draw £85.00 | Northern Ireland £210.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Netherlands £10.90 | Draw £110.00 | Northern Ireland £250.00 |
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Teenage sensation John Guidetti has taken much of the credit for the Stadionclub's resurgence following his impressive goalscoring form, already netting 14 times in the league, while head coach Ronald Koeman has received his fair share of praise, too. However, promising youngster Jordy Clasie has been at least as important for Feyenoord this season, as the 20-year-old has developed into one of the Eredivisie's best midfielders in the past six months.
Clasie was born and raised in Haarlem, and started his footballing career at local amateur side EDO. His talent was quickly spotted by bigger clubs, though, and the midfielder joined the Feyenoord youth academy at the age of nine.
Nevertheless, although there was little doubt about his immense potential, Clasie's future at the Eredivisie giants was a talking point at more than one meeting over the years. The Netherlands Under-21 star was generally the smallest player in every team he was part of, and several youth coaches at the club considered him to be physically too weak to succeed at the very top level.
| CAREER STATISTICS | Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord & Netherlands Under-21) |
 |
Attributes: Passing, positioning, creativity, vision |
| Height | Club | Weight | Place of Birth | Former clubs |
| 1.69 m |
Feyenoord | 69 kg |
Haarlem |
Edo, Excelsior |
Clasie never stopped believing in himself, though, and continued to work hard to improve. The youngster realised that his stature can occasionally be a disadvantage, but the performances of players such as Barcelona star Xavi and Inter playmaker Wesley Sneijder strengthened his belief that an impressive physique is not a requisite to succeed.
"I am only 1-metre-69, so I have little chance when it comes down to sheer physical strength. However, players such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sneijder prove week after week that you are never too small to become world-class," the Feyenoord star recently observed.
Indeed, his tender physique does not seem to hold the young playmaker back. After spending the 2010-11 campaign on loan at Excelsior in order to gain valuable first-team experience, Clasie returned to his beloved De Kuip at the start of the season, and has not wasted any time in making a name for himself.
Clasie hasn't missed a single Eredivisie game so far this season, and has become one of the driving forces behind Feyenoord's successful year to date.
Off the ball, he makes up for his lack of strength with his superb positioning, and wins more balls than most midfielders in his position at other clubs.
Nevertheless, it's in possession that the 20-year-old has impressed the most. Clasie is always available, and nearly every Feyenoord attack starts at the feet of the former Excelsior starlet. His accurate passing in combination with his excellent vision and creativity are at the heart of the majority of the chances that the Rotterdam giants create, and the midfielder has rapidly become indispensable for the 2002 Uefa Cup winners.
| I am closely following a number of players who are interesting options for Oranje ahead of Euro 2012, and Jordy Clasie is one of those players - Bert van Marwijk
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His rise to prominence has not only earned him comparisons to his idol Xavi, but Clasie has also caught the attention of national team coach Bert van Marwijk. The Oranje boss is keeping tabs on a number of players who could potentially make the squad for Euro 2012, and the Feyenoord man's good performances haven't gone unnoticed.
"I am closely following a number of players who are interesting options for Oranje ahead of Euro 2012. I have a list with about 15 players on it who could make the team. Jordy Clasie is one of those players," Van Marwijk told Voetbal International.
Although Euro 2012 might come just too soon for Clasie, Van Marwijk's comments perfectly illustrate just how much progress that the playmaker has made in the past few months.
At the start of the season, there were plenty of question marks as to whether he had what it takes to succeed at Feyenoord; right now it appears to be only a matter of time before Clasie makes his Oranje debut. A bright future undoubtedly lies in store for the midfield maestro.
Follow Stefan Coerts on
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Netherlands - Northern Ireland
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Netherlands 3-0 Northern Ireland
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Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 2-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
19:32 BST
We're getting plenty of people saying it was boring. PLENTY. But Spain scored seven goals in eight games at the World Cup and I didn't hear too many of their fans complaining. Or as Fran Stinchcombe points out on Twitter: "If we had lost but played free flowing attacking football would these people still have moaned?"
19:24 BST
No, no, no. I'll have none of that Emile Heskey shouting anymore! Hello, it's me, it's me, it's that D-O-Y-L-E. Yes, I'm Joe Doyle, and I'll be here for all the reaction to that England game. First things first, how did everyone see that game? Good performance? A touch boring? Let me know on Twitter.
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