Marco van Ginkel: “The pressure I experienced at Vitesse was very different from what I had gone through at Chelsea and AC Milan.”
After 133 years, the Netherlands’ second-oldest professional football club, Vitesse, has been declared bankrupt and will lose its professional license. It means the end of Vitesse as a professional club, a heartbreaking moment for supporters, players, and everyone connected to Arnhem’s pride. As a tribute, Life After Football is spotlighting some of the Vitesse legends who have appeared in front of our cameras over the years. This time, Marco van Ginkel, captain, leader, and a player whose heart beats yellow and black.
After years at Vitesse, PSV, Chelsea, Stoke City, and AC Milan, he returned to his boyhood love Vitesse. We spoke to him after one of the most eventful seasons in the club’s history, ending in relegation from the Eredivisie.
Marco van Ginkel:“The pressure I experienced at Vitesse was very different from what I had gone through at Chelsea and AC Milan, on paper bigger clubs that I’ve played for. There it was about winning and losing on the pitch. Now it was about so many factors you couldn’t control. As captain, you try to support the guys. Everyone is very focused on themselves. The atmosphere is, of course, not good when you lose six times in a row. Then you try to take responsibility and you get a lot thrown at you. You also learn a lot from that.”
Premier League lessons
“What was also educational for me as a still inexperienced player was my time in England, where I encountered some of the biggest names the Premier League has produced. In 2013 I came into the dressing room at Chelsea. There I saw how John Terry was a real captain. He was an example in everything for the whole squad. On the pitch, he was always at the front, and before the game he gave great speeches.”
Terry was a tough, uncompromising defender. “But he was also a good teammate who, as a newcomer, told me I could sit next to him in the dressing room. He immediately made me feel comfortable. That was nice and I remembered that later when I was one of the leaders myself at PSV and Vitesse. John could also be hard and clear. If you want to win together and a player does something that doesn’t fit, it will be made clear.”
It was a team with also Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Petr Čech, and Ashley Cole. José Mourinho was coach.
Terry wasn’t the only leader in that Chelsea side. “It was a team with also Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Petr Čech, and Ashley Cole. José Mourinho was coach and sometimes said back then that he didn’t have to say much to us. The squad knew when something needed to be addressed and when not. Nobody acted crazy.”
Lampard was very different from Terry. “Frank was much calmer. He said much less than Terry but was already a leader just because of his qualities on the pitch.” Even when he was injured and unable to play for a long time at Chelsea, Terry was there for him. “He immediately sent me messages and often asked how my recovery was going. That made me feel welcome at Chelsea. They really created a family bond.”
The Stoke City mentality
Van Ginkel was loaned by Chelsea to Stoke City and ended up in a completely different dressing room. “With a lot of guys over thirty. English, Scottish, and Irish guys who all knew exactly how to win a game. Peter Crouch, Glenn Whelan, and Ryan Shawcross. They made it a close-knit group and all had a great mentality. You really fought together for it. Then you notice that leadership in a group is really important. That was different again from AC Milan, where there were better players, but no guys who managed to form a real team.”
Back home as a leader
In Arnhem at Vitesse and in Eindhoven at PSV, Van Ginkel became one of the leaders himself. “I have always been involved with the players’ group. I take things to heart and like to be there for my teammates.” As captain, he had a special connection with coach Phillip Cocu, another Vitesse legend. “That’s nice for a captain. If you’ve had success together, it creates a bond.” Later, coach Roger Schmidt at PSV had his own tradition. “Everyone comes together, including the technical staff and the kit men. I liked that, but by now I’ve been captain so often that I can’t really come up with anything original in those moments anymore, haha.”
Ready for more?
Want to read more? Check out the exclusive interview with Danilo Pereira.
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