Michael Reiziger

Michael Reiziger
Reiziger with Ajax as assistant coach in 2023
Personal information
Full name Michael John Reiziger
Date of birth (1973-05-03) 3 May 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth Amstelveen, Netherlands
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Netherlands U21 (Head Coach)
Youth career
Sint Martinus
1985–1990 Ajax
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1996 Ajax 83 (1)
1992–1993 → Volendam (loan) 10 (2)
1993–1994 → Groningen (loan) 34 (6)
1996–1997 A.C. Milan 10 (0)
1997–2004 Barcelona 173 (0)
2004–2005 Middlesbrough 22 (1)
2005–2007 PSV 24 (1)
Total 356 (11)
International career
1994–2004 Netherlands 72 (1)
Managerial career
2013–2014 Sparta Rotterdam (youth)
2014–2017 Sparta Rotterdam (assistant)
2017–2019 Jong Ajax
2017 Ajax (interim)
2019–2023 Ajax (assistant)
2023– Netherlands U21
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Michael John Reiziger (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑikəl dʑɔn ˈrɛizəɣər]; born 3 May 1973) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played mainly as a right back. Reiziger currently manages the Netherlands U21 team.

After making a name for himself at Ajax, with whom he won one Champions League, he went on to represent four teams in as many countries, notably Barcelona, for which he played 249 official games in seven years, as well as spells at A.C. Milan, Middlesbrough and PSV Eindhoven.

Reiziger represented the Netherlands national team for a full decade, competing at three European Championships and the 1998 World Cup and finishing fourth in the latter tournament.

Playing career

Club

Born in Amstelveen, North Holland to Surinamese parents,[1] Reiziger started his career with hometown club Ajax, making his first-team debut at the age of 17 then serving two consecutive loan spells, with Volendam and Groningen; with the latter, in the 1993–94 season, he scored a career-best six goals while operating also as a midfielder.

Upon his return to Ajax, Reiziger established himself as a renowned defensive element, helping the side to, among other conquests, the 1994–95 edition of the UEFA Champions League. In 1996, he signed for A.C. Milan, but after a season marred by injury, he departed for Barcelona where he spent the following seven years, arriving at the same time as compatriot and former Ajax boss Louis van Gaal; though not an undisputed starter, he nonetheless featured heavily for the Catalans, making more than 200 overall appearances and helping to back-to-back La Liga titles.[2]

In 2004, Reiziger moved to Middlesbrough on a Bosman transfer. He scored once in the league for Boro, against Aston Villa in December 2004.[3] After another campaign plagued by physical problems, he left and returned to the Netherlands to see out his career at PSV Eindhoven (in his second year he won the Eredivisie, and was also reunited with Ajax, Barça and national teammate Patrick Kluivert, although the two rarely ever played).[4]

International

Reiziger (wearing No. 2) in the Dutch wall, facing a free kick against Sweden at Euro 2004

Reiziger made his debut for the Netherlands national team on 12 October 1994, against Norway. He played for his country at the UEFA Euro 1996, 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, retiring from international play after the latter.[5]

Shortly after signing for PSV, Reiziger said he would consider playing for the Netherlands again if the opportunity arose, but he was never recalled again, totalling 72 appearances in ten years.[6]

Coaching career

After retiring, Reiziger settled in Barcelona. He later went on to coach Sparta Rotterdam at youth level and, subsequently and successively, acted as assistant to Gert Kruys and Alex Pastoor.[7]

On 20 June 2017, Reiziger returned to Ajax as manager of the reserves who competed in the Eerste Divisie, replacing Marcel Keizer.[8][9] In his first season in charge he led the squad to the league title, but they were ineligible for promotion.[10] He also acted as interim for the first team during one match after the dismissal of Keizer,[11] defeating Willem II 3–1 at home.[12]

After Reiziger's contract expired, he was replaced by Mitchell van der Gaag at the helm of Ajax B. He was then offered a position as assistant coach of the first team, which he accepted.[13]

Personal life

Reiziger's son, Gabriël (born 2005), also came through the Ajax youth system.[14]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[citation needed]
Club Season League National cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Ajax 1990–91 Eredivisie 1 0 – – – 1 0
1991–92 Eredivisie 1 0 – – – 1 0
1992–93 Eredivisie 1 0 – – – 1 0
1994–95 Eredivisie 34 0 3 0 11[a] 0 1[b] 0 49 0
1995–96 Eredivisie 26 1 0 0 9[a] 0 4[c] 0 39 1
Total 63 1 3 0 20 0 5 0 91 1
Volendam (loan) 1992–93 Eredivisie 10 2 1 1 – – 11 3
Groningen (loan) 1993–94 Eredivisie 34 6 0 – – 34 6
A.C. Milan 1996–97 Serie A 10 0 4 0 3[a] 0 1[d] 0 18 0
Barcelona 1997–98 La Liga 29 0 4 0 6[a] 0 3[e] 0 42 0
1998–99 La Liga 26 0 0 0 5[a] 0 2[f] 0 33 0
1999–2000 La Liga 29 0 4 0 11[a] 0 2[f] 0 46 0
2000–01 La Liga 25 0 7 0 8[g] 0 – 40 0
2001–02 La Liga 13 0 0 0 8[a] 0 – 21 0
2002–03 La Liga 21 0 1 0 9[a] 0 – 31 0
2003–04 La Liga 30 0 4 0 6[h] 0 – 40 0
Total 173 0 20 0 53 0 7 0 253 0
Middlesbrough 2004–05 Premier League 18 1 1 0 6[h] 0 0 0 25 1
2005–06 Premier League 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Total 22 1 1 0 6 0 0 0 29 1
PSV 2005–06 Eredivisie 13 0 0 0 7[a] 0 – 20 0
2006–07 Eredivisie 11 1 2 0 3[a] 0 0 0 11 1
Total 24 1 2 0 10 0 0 0 36 1
Career total 337 11 31 1 92 0 13 0 473 12
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. ^ Appearance in Dutch Supercup
  3. ^ One appearance in Dutch Supercup, two appearances in UEFA Super Cup, one appearance in Intercontinental Cup
  4. ^ Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana
  5. ^ Two appearances in Supercopa de España, one appearance in UEFA Super Cup
  6. ^ a b Appearances in Supercopa de España
  7. ^ Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, three appearances in UEFA Cup
  8. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[15]
National team Year Apps Goals
Netherlands 1994 1 0
1995 5 0
1996 9 0
1997 7 0
1998 11 1
1999 5 0
2000 8 0
2001 5 0
2002 6 0
2003 8 0
2004 7 0
Total 72 1
Score and result list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after Reiziger's goal.
International goal scored by Michael Reiziger
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 18 November 1998 Parkstadion, Gelsenkirchen, Germany  Germany 1–0 1–1 Friendly[15]

Honours

Player

Ajax

Barcelona

PSV

Manager

Jong Ajax

References

  1. ^ McHugh, Bobby (22 May 2012). "Why Suriname would have won the 1998 World Cup". Making Plans for Nigel. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  2. ^ Roldán, Francisco Javier (3 March 2017). "El primer Barça de van Gaal (parte I): 1997, llegada y planificación" [The first Barça of van Gaal (part I): 1997, arrival and planning] (in Spanish). Sphera Sports. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Middlesbrough 3–0 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 18 December 2004. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  4. ^ "PSV release Kluivert and Reiziger". UEFA. 11 May 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  5. ^ "Reiziger retires from Dutch cause". UEFA. 2 August 2004. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  6. ^ Stokkermans, Karel. "Michael Reiziger – International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  7. ^ Tempelman, Chris (21 June 2017). "Pastoor ziet Sparta-plan in duigen vallen door vertrek Reiziger" [Pastor sees Sparta plan collapse due to departure of Reiziger] (in Dutch). Voetbal International. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  8. ^ Van Bergen, Dennis (20 June 2017). "Michael Reiziger opvolger van Marcel Keizer bij Jong Ajax" [Michael Reiziger succeeds Marcel Keizer at Young Ajax]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  9. ^ "Reiziger volgt Keizer op bij Jong Ajax" [Reiziger follows Keizer at Young Ajax] (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  10. ^ a b Kok, Nik (28 April 2018). "Jong Ajax schrijft geschiedenis met eerste titel in Jupiler League" [Jong Ajax writes history with first Jupiler League title]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Ajax sack Marcel Keizer and assistant Dennis Bergkamp after Cup exit". The Guardian. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  12. ^ "Interim-trainer Reiziger dankt Kluivert en Neres na zege Ajax" [Interim manager Reiziger thanks Kluivert and Neres after Ajax victory] (in Dutch). NU.nl. 24 December 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  13. ^ "Reiziger hails 'fantastic' step up to Ajax assistant boss role". ClubCall. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  14. ^ Porskamp, Sam (30 April 2016). "Een voetbalgen bestaat niet" [There is no such thing as a football gene] (PDF). Onze Kinder Therapeut. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Michael Reiziger". European Football. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
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