From time to time, the now 71-year-old former assistant coach grabs a few items that lie in front of him on the table: a car key, a cup of coffee, or a biscuit. With these, he demonstrates exactly how, alongside Louis van Gaal, he shaped a formidable team more than 30 years ago.
"When the opponent's full-back was positioned here," Van der Lem explains, placing his car key on the corner of the table, "we wanted Overmars to stand here, to receive a sharp pass, and then go one-on-one with his direct opponent. That's when he was at his best and could deliver a cross. We brought Patrick Kluivert and Jari Litmanen to training and added a defender. The defender would then choose a man, and Marc had to anticipate and find the free man. We kept practising, practising, practising."
Training material
The 2-0 in the match exactly 30 years ago was anything but a fluke. Litmanen's goal against the mighty AC Milan was pure training material: Overmars' cross, Litmanen's strike.
Both were players who came to Ajax largely on Van der Lem's recommendation. "We were still looking for a winger," Van der Lem continues. "I went to watch Bart Latuheru, who would have cost us 250,000 guilders. And Marc, we had to pay 700,000 for. Arie van Os, the financial director, wanted to finalise the deal for Latuheru, but I wanted Marc. A few weeks later, we sold Richard Witschge to FC Barcelona for around seven million guilders. Once that deal was done, I saw it on TV and called Louis. 'We have to get Marc now.' 'The medical check-up is tomorrow,' Louis said. So it was already in motion."
Meeting old friends
Van der Lem enjoys talking about his time in Amsterdam. It was at his own suggestion that we met at de Toekomst. Familiar ground for him. This becomes evident as Jan Wouters, Fred Grim, Dick Schoenaker, and David Endt arrive one by one. Each of them makes their way to Van der Lem, who greets them all with a warm hug. Anecdotes fly across the table, and memories take on a more prominent place once again.
Although the septuagenarian spent two periods between 2002 and 2006 working at de Toekomst, his Amsterdam adventure began on the staff of Ajax at Voorland, the club’s training complex for the Amsterdam De Meer stadium.
It was at Voorland that the foundation was laid for the victory in the Olympic Stadium against the mighty AC Milan and later the European triumph. Van der Lem had known Ajax as a youth player but returned to Amsterdam for good in 1990. The exam for his coaching diploma turned out to be a crucial moment in his career.
Van der Lem and Van Gaal
"In May 1990, I had to lead a training session for the students. It was to determine whether I could earn my diploma. I came up with a drill focused on defending compactly but playing a quick deep ball when in possession. Two or three players had to make runs, and even if it was for nothing, it didn't matter. Just try again next time."
"I had Louis [van Gaal] assigned as a player. He came up to me and said, 'You should make the field ten meters narrower on each side. Then you'll play the deep ball sooner.' I told Louis, 'On Sunday, the field won’t be ten meters narrower either. Listen, Louis, if you're not interested, you can leave. You're just saying that because you can't be bothered.' Later, he came up to me and said, 'Brilliant, Gerard.' No one ever spoke back to him. He always liked to debate."
"Eventually, I got an eight for my exam. He got a nine. That evening, I saw him again. He had a whiskey on the rocks in one hand and a Bacardi cola in the other. He set the whiskey down in front of me and said, 'Cheers, an eight. That's a nice score for you, isn't it?' At the time, Louis was assistant coach at Ajax, and I was working at Haarlem. He said to me, 'Gerard, we’re going to make Ajax a European top club.'"
Prophetic words
These words turned out to be prophetic. In the summer of 1990, Ajax came knocking for Van der Lem. "I had an offer to become head coach at NAC. The next day, Sparta called: they wanted me as their head coach. My father-in-law said: 'You can always talk, right?' That conversation never happened. A day later, Leo Beenhakker called and asked if I wanted to come to Ajax. I said: 'For what? You’re head coach, and Louis is your assistant.' Leo said, 'I’ve got the two best teams for you: the U18 and the U16.' Those teams were bursting with talent. And you’re the one who has to develop it."
Thanks to his early years in Ajax’s youth academy, Van der Lem had a good sense of the talent in Amsterdam. In the early '90s, he worked with players like Edgar Davids, Tarik Oulida, Michael Reiziger (not on the picture below), Clarence Seedorf, Martijn Reuser and Nordin Wooter – all of whom played a part in Ajax's later European success.
In 1992, Van Gaal asked his companion to join him with the first team, but also with the request to take charge of the second team as well. "We had a squad of sixteen players. You can't imagine that now. But I loved working with the youth. If Davids got injured, Oulida would step in. If Finidi George was out, Nordin Wooter came in. The style of play always remained the same."
Tipping point
Slowly, the team formed into the successful lineup of 1994/1995. Though Ajax stumbled the year before over Parma in the Cup Winners' Cup, that match was perhaps a turning point for Van Gaal and Van der Lem. They subbed off Rijkaard against Parma but immediately felt they might have made a mistake. They hadn’t quite set up the team properly.
Rijkaard almost only played one season at Ajax after his return, where he signed for two years. The midfielder-turned-defender wanted to quit. "It’s because Gerard was there; otherwise, I would have retired," Rijkaard later told Henk ten Cate when they worked together at FC Barcelona.
"When I’d enter the corridor at Voorland, I’d already hear Gerard laughing in the distance, and Sjaakie Wolfs would be chasing after him. Gerard must’ve pulled something off again. 'You scoundrel!' Wolfs would shout. Rijkaard loved it," Henk once told me."
After that season, Rijkaard was moved from the number six position to play the number four role. This change gave the team the push they needed. The squad’s level was already incredibly high in 1994, Van der Lem reflects now. The players had been together for several years, and their routines were ingrained. When Van Gaal and Van der Lem stood on the training field at Voorland in 1994, they could feel they were witnessing something special.
"It was tic-tac-tic. We asked each other, 'What is this?' It was one-touch football. It was so good. Then came that match against AC Milan. You shouldn’t really say it, but it felt like we played that game with ease. Against the Champions League winners from the year before."
Whole stadium had hope
Van Gaal also said it wasn’t a surprise that Ajax beat AC Milan in 1994, but rather a first test for the team, which they passed with flying colours. "Did he say that? Well, he said it well," laughs Van der Lem. "The whole stadium had hope after that match, not knowing it would lead to winning the Champions League."
After the victory in the Olympic Stadium, Ajax also won the away match against AC Milan. Again, it ended 0-2. "At that point, we had tougher opposition in training than in league matches. Even against Feyenoord or PSV. Ultimately, the third match against Milan, in the final, was the toughest of the three. They had fully adjusted to us."
A week before the triumph in Vienna, Ajax played Feyenoord in the league. Van Gaal wanted to scout the opponent for the final one more time, so he travelled to Italy during the weekend of the Klassieker. This meant Van der Lem took full responsibility in Rotterdam. Ajax rested a few players for the Champions League final.
After 45 minutes, Ajax was leading 0-2 in Rotterdam. Van Gaal called Van der Lem at halftime. "What’s the score, Gerard? I said: it’s 2-0. He said: Oh, that’s a shame. Have we had any other chances? So I said to Louis: about five, but only two went in.’ It ended 0-5, a masterclass. When Louis called again, I said: ‘I might as well take over from you.’ Look, we always found it very important how the last match before a big one went. You carry that good feeling with you."
That good feeling culminated in Vienna, where Ajax won the Champions League, the crowning achievement for Van Gaal and Van der Lem. "You know what it is. I’d been with Ajax for five years. I never attended a parent-teacher evening. I was away every weekend, travelling with the second team to Kerkrade on Monday evenings, but I never took a day off. We attended every celebration. Even the balcony receptions started to feel repetitive."
"But when the final whistle blew after the match against AC Milan, I saw everyone running in one direction on the pitch. As coaches, we celebrated. Then I sat down in the dugout, and suddenly I thought: I’m so tired. I felt in my breast pocket and found one cigarette left. I lit it and thought: Now I know why I did it all."
