Why Frank De Boer Is The Right Man To Lead Crystal Palace Forward
After close to a month of waiting, Crystal Palace are finally close to making an appointment for their vacant managerial position and it is former AFC Ajax and Inter Milan boss Frank de Boer. As per reports from BBC Sport, the Eagles are close to confirming the 47-year old as their new head coach in the coming week.
Palace have been without a manager for almost a month now, after former boss Sam Allardyce sensationally resigned from his job at the end of the 2016/17 Premier League campaign, having led the club to safety.
There were a lot of names speculated over the past few weeks to take over the reins at the Selhurst Park. Burnley manager Sean Dyche was one of the front-runners for the job, along with former Alaves manager Mauricio Pellegrino as well. While there is a lot that is good about the two bosses, Palace would get the right man in De Boer at the helm.
His last job at Inter Milan may have gone horrendously wrong for the Dutchman, ending only after 85 days, owing to the differences with the Chinese owners of the club. But De Boer’s work at Ajax is a true testament to his managerial abilities. In his five and a half year tenure with the Dutch giants, the 47-year old managed to turn around the fortunes of the club in a drastic manner.
When De Boer took over the reins at Ajax in 2010, the club hadn’t won a league title since 2004. Having enjoyed great glory with the club during his playing days, having been a part of the 1995 Champions League winning squad, he had an arduous task on his hands – to take them back to the pinnacle of Dutch football, and he managed to do so in style. Playing an attractive brand of football with a squad full of young and enterprising talents, De Boer led Ajax to 4 Dutch Eredivisie titles during his tenure.
What was the most pleasing aspect of his Ajax team was the number of young players that came to the fore, leading the charge for the team. Most of those youngsters have gone on to become established Premier League players. The likes of Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Christian Eriksen – major pillars of the Ajax team under De Boer, have attained cult status at Tottenham.
Daley Blind (Manchester United), Siem De Jong, Vurnon Anita (Newcastle United), and Arkadiusz Milik (Napoli) are a few more examples of the stars that he bred during his time at Ajax. Now, Eriksen’s replacement at the Dutch club, Davy Klaassen, has also moved to England in a big money switch to Everton.
Palace have a good strong squad and someone like De Boer who has proven himself to be an astute manager with a good amount of success behind him, and a strong record with young players will definitely be able to take this team to new heights. This is something that should excite the Palace fans to great extent.