Kuyt rejected Feyenoord’s proposal: “Dirk didn’t want that”

Frank Arnesen looks into an extensive interview with Football International back to his period at Feyenoord. The former technical director of the club remembers, among other things, the many conversations with Dirk Kuyt.

Conversations with Kuyt

In the past, the coach was promised at Feyenoord that he would succeed Dick Advocaat, but Arnesen did not think that was a good idea. He therefore decided to talk to Kuyt and talk to him about alternatives, which he ultimately turned out not to be open to.

“I had long conversations with Dirk, sometimes intense,” says Arnesen. “He had trained Feyenoord Under-19. I said: ‘Dirk, don’t do it, go and gain experience first.’ Do I know how it works? Coaching is an experiential profession. If it goes wrong, your career is over before it has even started. Dirk understood that, but still found it very difficult.”

“Ultimately, the supervisory board also instructed us to look for a trainer with more experience. For Dirk we had Feyenoord Under-21 in mind, a team that had to win and develop. Ideal for a trainer who strives for the same. But Dirk did not want that”, says Arnesen. Kuyt was a trainer of ADO Den Haag this season, but was fired.

Scouting and youth academy Feyenoord

Arnesen says in the same conversation that in addition to looking for an experienced trainer, he has also worked on a stronger Feyenoord in other areas. For example, he had to make hard decisions in the youth academy to promote the flow and he worked on a better functioning scouting.