Barry van Galen - A Tribute

joostebrood

joostebrood

Premiership
4 March 2002
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At 35 years old, playing for AZ, this man is proving the Dutch footballworld he deserves a spot in the national team. Way before Sneijder and VDV may I add. He's collected more cards than he scored goals in his career, and that's something, because he's scored more than 70 in his career. I just want to ask van Basten what he thinks of this gem I just discovered.

During his days at Roda, the Huub Stevens era, he got a selection. The problem with van Galen is/was, that he's very attached to Holland and the camping he goes on holiday to every year. Before his breakthrough at 21 he was a window- cleaner.

When he played for Roda in the mid 90's, Roda ended second in the league with a point total that would have made them champions in every other season. It was just that Ajax almost won every game that year. Van Galen had a brilliant year, but sometimes he got into an argument with his coach. I remember one time his coach told him to get up there and perform to which van Galen replied: 'I don't give a damn, if I don't feel happy here I'll easily go back to my job as a window cleaner.' (in Dutch ofcourse, don't you think it would be weird if he'd said that line in English? Come on people, focus) This was at the time the Bosman - trial was and people here were pretty convinced van Galen would go abroad, because he played so damn well.

I tell you this to show the man is not in it for the money, he just loves the game and he wants to feel happy. Right now he can go to his favorite camping every year, he lives near his friends, he still spends a lot of time in the hood he was born and he's very happy at where he is now.

One thing has always overshadowed the career of van Galen. During a fanatic heading duel with former player Richard Stricker of Telstar, Stricker got injured that bad, his life was in danger for a while. The Dutch press jumped on the bandwagon and van Galen was showed as some kind of murderer. This has always been the case for van Galen. He has his dirty tricks and he'll always receive yellow and red cards, but I see a genious play every week and he deserves a spot in the national team, although he's 35.



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The Dutch and maybe the Belgian members know him and I think they'll agree with me when I say 'This man should have played 75 caps already'
He's better than Sneijder, VDV, van Persie and all the young wannabes.No one and I repeat no one will ever have the magic left foot of Barry van Galen. Right after Marco van Basten my all time favorite Dutch player. Imagine how happy I'd be if my fav player would choose my second fav player for the Dutch team!!

Barry van Galen, I salute you

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Referee (L) van Galen (R)
 
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looks like the ref should get a call up too :D

no, but those attributes do seem like they belong on a national side

-fb
 
To be honest Joost, never heard of him...I remembered Rhoda's brilliant second place...
If the man was a Belgian, he would have been in the national team, because we like cynical players...
No chance in Holland, the Dutch national team not only has to win, but they have to conquer their opponents with style ("de Zilveren Vloot")....
We have one advantage over you: we don't have the usual pundits like Cruijff, Mulder (who i think is brilliant, but please don't take him serious), Derksen (makes me vomit), father and son Kraay (don't like him...).
That mentality is also the reason why our national team which is always less talented usually does rather well against you guys... (they always want to destroy the Belgian national team and usually they forget to win...)
 
I don't think there's a clip of this guy on thet net. I didn't find one anyway.

Footieballa, I think he really belongs in the national team, he's by far the better attacking midfielder than VDV, who can count himself lucky he's still in the Ajax squad, fucking under achiever.

Gerd, this guy has a fabulous style. My tribute doesn't really say anything about it, but he's one of the most technical players in the Dutch game.
I am not a big fan of the pundits either, Cruyff was alright during the EC 2004, but that Kraaij family and Kieft (who doesn't add a single thing) are not people I enjoy watching.

Back to van Galen, when he played for Roda, he once got sent back to the second team because of disciplinary reasons. During his match with the second team he played brilliant and he scored a fabulous goal from just over his own half. He promised his coach he'd do the same in the first team later that week. And yes, during the match for the first team he scored an identical goal from just over his own half.

That is legendary.
 
Yesterday is a well known football program on Dutch tv (Voetbal Insite) Kieft, Kraaij junior and Derksen jhave said, again, how great van Galen is. This guy deserves a selection!!! I also like the fact he can't pass a ball over 4 meters with his right foot. His crosses from the right are given with his outside left foot.

Hail to Barry van Galen!!
 
Great thread Joostebrood.. Van Galen plays in ''my'' club AZ Alkmaar. I dont have a seasoncard but sometimes I watch a game in the stadium ''de Alkmaarderhout'' Its always super to see Van Galen play.. That guy has the touch of VDV the dribbles of Van Persie and the Shots/passes of Sneijder.. That guy is a genius! I remember that Feyenoord wanted to buy him few seasons ago.. he didnt want he was happy at AZ. So its a shame he didnt had the real mentality to get to the top.. But who cares? Well I dont care at all cause he plays at ''my'' club!! That guy is amazing and deserves a thread!!

Cheers
 
Good to hear that GFK, AZ have been playing great the last year. I'd like to ask you, if you find more info on ths gem, can you post it here?

Thanks in advance
 
Rangers, Auxerre, GAK and Amica. 3 teams starting with an A. Pretty cool!!! Anyway, with van Galen this should be possible. Auxerre might be the better team, but Rangers should be easy together with the other 2. A second place is in sight.
 
Any player that has the ability too collect more cards than goals is a "gem" in my book, the Dutch side is lacking a tough ass player that will regulate against tough opposition, you only had too see how the Scotsman and outplayed us with their rough house tactics. Did Van Galen also have a brief stint at NEC?

I have seen much of the man but if he is close to how you describe him, he should be leading the Dutch to the world cup in krout land.
 
He can bring us that trophy Shady, I'm sure he can. He hasn't played for NEC, but he did play for NAC. You might have thought those were the same.



VanDerWendan
 
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Shame he hasn't played for NEC, they used to make quality televisons in the late 80's, but they have seem to have dissapeared much like the great Dutch football team.

They would be foolish not to pick barry in the Dutch national team he has such a great fighting spirit and we are going to need that when we invade Germany for the 2006 world cup, we will re-write the wrongs of the past!
 
Ok, as if he knew I'd posted this. This week 3 persons have pressed charges against van Galen. He seems to have kicked their asses together with his brother in law on a fair somewhere in Holland.

They were 2 women and a man. Police even came to arrest van Galen while he was in bed.


Hmmmm, somehow I don't think he'll play for the Dutch team in the near future.
 
I wouldn't be so sure, most footballers are criminals. I can see noyhing wrong with Van Gallen being given day release to play for the Dutch national team, if does end up serving some time for this incident.
 
He won't be serving time I think. Probably a bit of community service or something. But we don't need him in the team since the current team played such great football against Macedonia, or FYROM.
 
Your right there that was one impressive performance from the Dutch boys, they played well against a great opponent in Macedonia who I feel are one of the most underated teams in the world at the moment, them and New Zealand are great teams and I look foraward to both playing in Germany 2006.

The Dutch national team would be stupid not to give bazza a shot, I mean it couldn't hurt to let him play in one of the qualifying games he couldn't do any worse than Hasselbank could he? Give him a chance he might break someones leg and thats what the fans want to see! Come on Holland give Bazza a go, has anyone got the address for the Dutch Football Federation? I might send them a letter reminding them of the fact that they have a possible striker of the year in the Dutch league and that they should give him a crack a superstardom.
 
I 100% agree with your post, Macedonia are one of the better teams in our group and a 2-2 draw is excellent. I forgot to tell you van Galen is a OM, a real playmaker. I think he'll be the star of the WC 2006.
 
I don't think he should play in the midfield we need him upfront. A precarious talent like his should not be wasted upon the midfield, upfront is his true calling.

Jooste on the topic of emerging football countries what do you rate New Zealand? personally I think they are the 'it' country at the moment, they will definetly be at world cup 2006. Some people may laugh at this claim, but come World Cup 2006 people will look back upon this thread and say in awe that Slim was right. But enough of the Bazza for the Dutch team, come on you know you want it.
 
I think New Zealand are a very strong force. They have focused on youth for the last 2 years. They didn't qualify for WC 2002 which was a wake up call for them. They've changed their strategy since that disaster and now they're one of the better teams in the Azia / Oceania region. I think 2006 might be a little too early, but at the WC 2010 they certainly will be there. Can't wait to see more from them.

Shady, can you update us on any news about New Zealand? I think there's more people herw who'd like to know.

Thanks.
 
I'm with you there, I'm sure there are many New Zealander members on the forums and also many other users that love New Zealand football, for myself and them I will create a New Zeland - The Journey To World Cup 2010 - The Fire Is Still Buring Strong thread. A funny fact Jooste that you and other members might not be aware of is that New Zealand has more sheep than people, there are approxiamately 2 sheeps for every one person, atleast they know they will never go hungry, unless they are vegetarians in which case they could eat grass instead.
 
So in that case Holland and New Zealand are quite the same. We also have more sheep then people. In the regions Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe that is.

I think it's a great idea to start a thread about New Zealand. I'm very curious about that team and it's players. Looking forward to it.
 
What are the rules regarding Dutchmen playing for other countries? with Bazza at the helm, New Zeland would be a certainty to qualify for the 2006 world cup.
 
As long as you have never played for your country, you can always switch. That involves youth teams as well. I can't remember van Galen playing for Holland, so I think it's perfectly legal for him to play for New Zealand.
 
Sounds bloody fantastic I look forward to seeing Van Gallen playing for the all whites.
 
A good start in the UEFA cup group league for AZ beating Auxerre 2-0. AZ were the far better team and dominated Auxerre as if they were a 4th Division Conference team. Van Galen played a average game, his passing wasn't very good this time.

Next stop Amira Wronki away. I'm looking forward to the home game against Rangers. That should be 5-0 for AZ.
 
AZ will trounce Rangers, Scottish football is shithouse. I mean the UEFA cup is becoming a joke, why are they letting such shite teams into the competition? What the fuck are Hearts doing in the cup? its a fucking joke and a disgrace to the brave footballers of yesteryear who gave their lives to create the UEFA cup.

What should happen is that Celtic play in the cup and leave the champs league to teams that can actually play. Celtic have no right to be in the champions league and should be the sole representitive pf the SPL in the UEFA cup, I think I might be a bit generous insyaing they should be in the cup.
 
Van Galen finally selected for the Dutch national team for the game against Andorra. After VDV got injured against Feyenoord and Davids has back problems, van Basten decided to pick van Galen. Great choice and now let's hope he'll start. This is the team I'd play considering the injuries:

van der Sar

Boulahrouz
Ooijer
Cocu
Bronckhorst

van Bommel
Landzaat
Van Galen
Robben

Van Nistelrooij
Makaay

This won't be the team, since we're going to play 4-3-3, but it's how I would have put it. Instead of Boulahrouz I prefer Kromkamp, but he's not in the squad at all. Van Galen can be very useful against Andorra, since his freekicks and passing are the best of all the players in Holland. With Robben, Landzaat and van Bommel there's a high level passing midfield, all great at one touch passing, mostly forward as well. On top of that van Bommel and Landzaat both have a decent long distance shot, which is a very useful weapon against countries like Andorra, since they have 9 defenders in the box, which makes it pretty hard to play a through ball.
 
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This is taken from www.knvb.nl:


"Marco van Basten has surprised fans once again with the call up of highflying AZ-defender Joris Mathijsen to his squad for Wednesday's clash with Andorra. The young defender is part of a surprisingly good AZ collective, that has secured second place in the Dutch league. Another AZ-player in great form, Barry van Galen (32), also got an invitation as a replacement for Van der Vaart, who got a knock to the knee on Sunday.

PSV-defender Andre Ooijer replaced Ajax-player Nigel de Jong who was KO'ed yesterday with nasty cut to the head, after clashing with Feyenoord's Gyan.

Van Galen was only invited once ever before, when as a player of NAC Breda he was selected by Guus Hiddink in 1996 for a friendly against Brazil. Van Galen did not feature in the match.

In selecting Van Galen coach Van Basten has taken Edgar Davids' poor fitness into consideration.

The current squad:

Goal: Edwin van der Sar, Maarten Stekelenburg.
Defence: Khalid Boulahrouz, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Phillip Cocu, Joris Mathijsen, André Ooijer en Mario Melchiot.
Midfield: Mark van Bommel, Edgar Davids, Denny Landzaat, Wesley Sneijder, Barry van Galen.
Attack:Romeo Castelen, Pierre van Hooijdonk, Dirk Kuyt, Roy Makaay, Ruud van Nistelrooy en Arjen Robben.
 
the real slim shady said:
AZ will trounce Rangers, Scottish football is shithouse. I mean the UEFA cup is becoming a joke, why are they letting such shite teams into the competition? What the fuck are Hearts doing in the cup? its a fucking joke and a disgrace to the brave footballers of yesteryear who gave their lives to create the UEFA cup.

What should happen is that Celtic play in the cup and leave the champs league to teams that can actually play. Celtic have no right to be in the champions league and should be the sole representitive pf the SPL in the UEFA cup, I think I might be a bit generous insyaing they should be in the cup.
Click to expand...
Strong words there. I was very close to tears after reading this. I had to give myself 5 minutes there to collect myself and regain my composure. Luckily, I managed to hold back the tears... just.
 
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