Michael Reiziger

Michael John Reiziger (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑikəl ˈɟɔn ˈrɛizəɣər], born 3 May 1973) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played mainly as a right back, currently the assistant manager of AFC Ajax.

Michael Reiziger
Reiziger in 2013
Personal information
Full name Michael John Reiziger
Date of birth (1973-05-03) 3 May 1973
Place of birth Amstelveen, Netherlands
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Ajax (assistant)
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 Milan 10 (0)
1997–2004 Barcelona 173 (0)
2004–2005 Middlesbrough 22 (1)
2005–2007 PSV 24 (1)
Total 356 (11)
National team
1994–2004 Netherlands 72 (1)
Teams managed
2013–2014 Sparta Rotterdam (youth)
2014–2017 Sparta Rotterdam (assistant)
2017–2019 Jong Ajax
2017 Ajax (interim)
2019– Ajax (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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 Milan, Middlesbrough and PSV Eindhoven.

Reiziger represented the Dutch 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 AFC Ajax, making his first-team debut at the age of 17 then serving two consecutive loan spells, with FC Volendam and FC 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 FC 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 Dutch 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 at Ajax.[14]

Career statistics

Club

[15]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Netherlands League KNVB Cup League Cup Europe Total
1990–91AjaxEredivisie10
1991–9210
1992–9310
1992–93Volendam102
1993–94Groningen346
1994–95Ajax340
1995–96261
Italy League Coppa Italia League Cup Europe Total
1996–97MilanSerie A10040140
Spain League Copa del Rey Supercopa de España Europe Total
1997–98BarcelonaLa Liga290402060440
1998–992600020
1999–20002904020
2000–012507000
2001–021300000
2002–032101000
2003–043004000
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
2004–05MiddlesbroughPremier League18110
2005–064000000040
Netherlands League KNVB Cup League Cup Europe Total
2005–06PSVEredivisie130
2006–07121
Total Netherlands 13210
Italy 10040140
Spain 173020060
England 221
Career total 33711

International

[16]

Netherlands
YearAppsGoals
199410
199550
199690
199770
1998111
199950
200080
200150
200260
200380
200470
Total721

International goals
Scores and results list Reiziger's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.18 November 1998Parkstadion, Gelsenkirchen, Germany Germany1–01–1Friendly[16]

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". RSSSF. 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. 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. "Michael Reiziger". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  16. "Michael Reiziger". European Football. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
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