An extensive look at one of the best goal-poachers the beautiful game’s ever seen: Klaas Jan Huntelaar.
Soccer is simple, but it is difficult to play simple – Johan Cruyff
The late great is truly an ambassador of the beautiful game. When you ponder Dutch football, Hendrik Johannes Cruyff is perhaps the first player who comes to mind. His anecdotes have been cast in motivational speeches, books and even on coffee mugs. Going by what he famously said, soccer is indeed not that hard to comprehend, but contrary the latter half of the extract, there are some who make it look effortless and simple. Case in point? Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
The Dutch are often known for their near-perfect technique, narcissist attitude and the distinctive trait of self-sabotage that seems to be ever present no matter what generation you’re in. For decades, the Netherlands as a country has produced some of the most prodigious talents in world football who are worshipped around the globe.
When you think of the 21st century Dutch forwards, there are some big names on the list. Patrick Kluivert, Roy Makaay, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Dennis Bergkamp are the names that stand out. They will forever remain icons for future stars anywhere on the planet for their oft unseen extraordinary technique. But one man who has gone under the radar is Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
Now 33, Huntelaar is arguably past his peak and might not be everyone’s cup of tea in the Netherlands, but he is that one player who is a bit different from the usual breed of Dutch strikers.
When he broke onto the scene and impressed at Heerenveen after banging in the goals in the second tier of Dutch football, there weren’t many willing to take the punt on him. The Hunter, as he is often called, wasn’t the fastest, tallest nor the silkiest on the ball, but here was a player who could superlatively do what you’d want from your striker – in crude terms, put the ball in the back of the net. In other words, scoring goals was Huntelaar’s “hobby”.
I don’t have time for hobbies. At the end of the day, I treat my job as a hobby. It’s something I love doing. – David Beckham
Football has given us some extraordinary goal-poachers, like Super Pippo Inzaghi and Miroslav Klose, players who you can call “pure” strikers. Huntelaar is no different. The Dutchman’s modus operandi relies a lot on adjudicating the run of events leading up to the final pass, which enables him to take up the perfect position in front of goal to deliver the coup de grâce.
Humble beginnings
It didn’t start out all rosy for Hunter. While playing for Apeldoorn in the Eerste Divisie, he had to impress the Heerenveen scouts. At the time, his parent club, PSV, had some impressive talents like Arjen Robben, Mateja Kezman and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink in their squad; players who excited the fans. The target of Huntelaar’s loan spell was simple enough – impress to get an unlikely chance back at PSV, or do well enough to get a decent top-flight club. The story ended, or began should I say, with Heerenveen getting floored and forking out the money for his signature.
Huntelaar hit the ground running in his debut season with Heerenveen and managed eight goals in the first 10 games which showed the ability the then 20-year old striker had. Watching the relative newbie plundering goals with minimal effort was almost astonishing. Be it striking the ball or making an intelligent run, the Hunter had the predatory skills which belied his age.
Huntelaar, with his unkempt hair and slightly projected upward teeth, didn’t have the looks of a top-flight striker, but he sure did his talking on the pitch. Two seasons and 34 league goals later, the giants of Dutch football, Ajax, came calling with a big offer which was too big a deal for Heerenveen and the player to turn down. PSV’s loss was Ajax’s gain as fans were treated to their amuse-bouche of goals in almost every game. He didn’t give you 90 minutes where you’d enjoy a Cruyff turn or a Bergkamp flick, skills you can only hope to muster on a PlayStation or an Xbox, but the sumptuously taken goals were a reminder of how you needn’t be a 9 out of 10 in every category to succeed in football.
His strike against PSV in the 2006 KNVB Cup final meant the Hunter had the last laugh. After being rejected by Rood-witten, he lifted the Cup with Ajax by scoring the winning goal against his former side. Huntelaar had truly arrived. Playing for his boyhood club was the cherry on top.
Oranje and the lust of Real Madrid
Huntelaar’s impact at Ajax simply couldn’t go unnoticed. His career trajectory was so good that Marco van Basten, the Netherlands national team head coach back then, gave him his first taste of international football. Whom did he replace? The iconic Ruud van Nistelrooy. Starting against the Republic of Ireland in what was the team of the future back then, the 23-year-old Hunter scored a brace and set up Robben and Van Persie for their goals in what was a five-star display. The Hunter’s prowess was at times compared to Nistelrooy, who was visibly entering the dusk of his career.
With such good performances in both club and international football, the rumour mill always had Huntelaar’s name in it – the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona and Manchester United linked with moves after scouting the number nine. However, it was Real Madrid who managed to get his signature in what was a big money move.
The Real Madrid move came after four successful seasons at Ajax, but its timing wasn’t the best. Although fully deserved, Huntelaar was in unchartered territory as Real Madrid’s motto back then was more about splashing the bucks and building a team devoid of any chemistry. The managers had little say, the players even less so.
To make things worse, he had missed nearly two months of action prior to the January move to the Spanish capital which meant he wasn’t at his fittest when he did make his debut against Villarreal. It took a month for him to start his first game which game against Sporting Gijon, but he made sure that he left the pitch with the fans wanting more, scoring his side’s second goal in a landslide win.
The goal against Gijon started a purple patch which resulted in seven goals in the subsequent five games, including an equaliser against Atletico Madrid which endeared him to the Madridistas. However, those were all he could muster as the club had a chastening experience in the final few game weeks. Real Madrid’s heavy defeat against Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona side ended their title hopes and resulted in a run that is frowned upon even now; five losses in the last five games.
The following summer saw the club spend a fortune. In came Florentino Perez with his Galactico era, and Hunter never stood a chance. After just half a season, he was on his way to Milan, but one wonders what could’ve been. Real Madrid were notorious at the time for not treating players with the respect they deserved, and the example of Huntelaar, and then Higuaín a few years later, pretty much attests to that. The move will despondently be seen as a failed one, but if a little bit of sense had prevailed at the time, Huntelaar could well have been a household name considering the players he had behind him in the famous white shirt.
The obscurity of AC Milan
The move to Milan happened when he was 25 and entering his peak years as an athlete. The failed spell at Real Madrid could only have been an incentive for succeeding at Milan, but things didn’t go well.
While Milan were still a pretty decent side, the sale of Kaka and the decline of players like Clarence Seedorf meant that they were not the same team anymore. Ronaldinho’s move promised a lot, but it petered out with the Brazilian’s inconsistencies. Even the Milan job was becoming somewhat of a poisoned chalice as the team-building process was fretful. Football in Italy is all about results. No one cares about how well you played or how much effort the players put in, chasing lost causes and closing down opposition players. Huntelaar was expected to score goals, but the team setup didn’t permit him to do so.
For the Hunter, the man playing in the number 10 role was crucial and Milan didn’t have the necessary talents for their striker to thrive. Milan’s setup was too focused down the middle, without the requisite creative punch to it. The midfield three often comprised of Pirlo, Ambrosini and Flamini as a three-man pivot. Ronaldinho mostly played as a number 10 but was arguably past his prime. Without any wingers, the creativity was very little and Huntelaar was visibly snuffed out in games despite being played in a two-striker setup at times.
“Since my youth I have played best as a central striker between two wingers, with a lot of movement around me and No. 10 close behind, so we can switch a lot and choose positions on the near and far posts when crosses come in” – Huntelaar
There was little scope for things improving as the squad didn’t have the necessary players. In other words, Huntelaar was bound to fail. The seven goals he scored was little return for the big money Milan had forked out for him. To make things worse, the Italian media was unforgiving, Huntelaar often criticised when he was given the chance and failed to deliver. Game time wasn’t consistent under Leonardo as the manager believed rotation was the way to go when the strikers weren’t performing, and Huntelaar managed just 11 starts. To add to this, he wasn’t a player open to the media rush. But the extent of his agitation at Milan was established when he spoke out to suggest that he needed more time on the pitch to show his true qualities.
All the doom and gloom in his club career was impacting Huntelaar’s goal-return on the international stage as well. With the retirement of Nistelrooy, the Netherlands had two upcoming players in Robin van Persie and Huntelaar waiting to establish themselves as the next great Oranje striker. But with the Hunter out of form, Dirk Kuyt and Robin van Persie were the preferred choices in their setup. It was all sombre for a man who once couldn’t stop scoring in front of screaming fans in the Amsterdam Arena.
A new home in Gelsenkirchen for Klaas Jan Huntelaar
Huntelaar’s career was starting to stagnate. After an average spell at Milan, he was on the move again, but this time, it was to a club who had an ambitious project in place. Schalke were somewhat of a sleeping giant in the Bundesliga and were aiming to compete with the likes of Bayern and neighbours, Borussia Dortmund. Under Felix Magath, the progress was seen, but it was all about to come crashing down.
Huntelaar was part of a period where Schalke signed some exciting and renowned players. The likes of José Manuel Jurado, Christoph Metzelder and the legendary Raúl González were all signed together, while the talented Atsuto Uchida and the Greek maniac Kyriakos Papadopoulos were brought in to represent the club in the future. Huntelaar, however, was the marquee signing as Schalke paid a club-record fee at the time for his signature.
Huntelaar’s first season at Schalke perhaps showed the after-effects of changing three clubs in the span of 20 months. He did start brightly, scoring the first goal against arch-enemy Borussia Dortmund, which resulted in five strikes in as many games, but it wasn’t all smooth-sailing in his debut season as he endured a 12-game goal-drought in the league at one point. Despite only a decent goal return, his threat was evident enough for then Bayern Munich manager, Louis van Gaal to single him out as a threat prior to the two sides’ clash.
“Huntelaar is the best striker in the world inside the penalty area” – Louis van Gaal
Despite overcoming Bayern, Schalke’s then manager, Felix Magath, was eventually sacked after pretty much losing the dressing room. Considering what happened at Real Madrid and Milan, there was a sense of déjà vu for Huntelaar. But this time, it was different. Although his goal return wasn’t awe-inspiring in his debut campaign with Die Königsblauen, Huntelaar was a player the Schalke fans quite liked. The Bundesliga, unlike the Spanish and the Italian Leagues, was more open, and fans, like in England, lauded players for their work ethic. When Huntelaar wasn’t scoring, he ensured he put in that effort to help his side. Besides, how can you not work your arse off when you had the godfather of gegenpressing in Ralf Rangnick breathing down your neck from the touchline?
The club finished a lowly 14th, which was unexpected at the start of the season, but the Cup triumph, where the Hunter scored twice in the final, coupled with the run until the Champions League semi-final beating Inter Milan on the way, sent the fans into a frenzy.
With the team settling in after some heavy spending, Schalke stepped it up a notch the following season with Huntelaar being at the heart of it.
The Torjägerkanone
The 2011-12 season truly established Huntelaar as one of the best poachers in world football. More so, it showed how deadly he can be in front of goal when used properly, something that neither Real Madrid nor Milan could do despite spending big money on the Dutchman.
Despite the departure of the idealistic Ralf Rangnick, Schalke were strong as Huub Stevens worked his magic at the club. The gaffer at the time, dubbed as the ‘coach of the century’ by the Schalke fans, had a good relationship with the Hunter. Huntelaar was given the role of leading the line and was often supported by former Real Madrid star Raúl behind him. The Spaniard, like Huntelaar, wasn’t the quickest, but struck a brilliant partnership with the Dutchman. There was a certain sense of telepathy when the two played up front. The fact that Raul wasn’t an out and out number 10 actually helped Hunter’s cause, as he himself put it. The two could switch and defenders didn’t have just only one player to mark. Jefferson Farfan, the winger with dazzlingly quick feet, was often deployed on the right and upcoming German star at the time, Julian Draxler, made the left flank his own. The setup was perfect for Huntelaar. The result? Well, he simply couldn’t stop scoring.
A hat-trick in only the second league game against FC Köln pretty much set him up for the rest of the season. He went on to score 29 goals and assisted 13 for his teammates which meant he had a say in more than half the goals Schalke scored (74) that season in the league, staggering numbers considering Schalke were no one man team at the time.
The Hunter’s exploits saw him winning the Bundesliga golden boot or the Torjägerkanone that season. He became the first Dutchman to win the accolade. The 29 goals he mustered was the same number as legendary Schalke striker Klaus Fischer who had managed it nearly four decades ago, which earned the Hunter the adulation of the fans even more.
Like his club career, Huntelaar was slowly also becoming indispensable to the Dutch national team. The 2012 Euro qualifying campaign was at times almost the Huntelaar show. He managed to score in six consecutive games with the total tally being 10 goals; unstoppable some would say.
The Hunter has managed to score 42 times for the national team till date and is only behind Robin van Persie. Just in case you’re in the mood to discredit him, let me remark that he has a better goal-per-game ratio than van Persie, Patrick Kluivert, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dennis Bergkamp and Marco van Basten. Not a bad record to have, eh?
It’s hard not to bring the whole romanticism factor into football. At Real Madrid and Milan, the Hunter was never a fan-favourite. Perhaps because he was never given the time to earn their respect, something that he went on to do at Schalke. But despite Huntelaar’s record-breaking season, Schalke failed to win silverware (the German Super Cup isn’t really something you can count), and his efforts arguably went in vain as Schalke could only get Champions League qualification. In the following four seasons, Huntelaar couldn’t reach the dizzying standards he had set, but a combination of injuries and uncertainty at the club regarding players and managers didn’t help the cause. However, 124 goals in 226 games for Schalke isn’t by any means a record to keep under the lid.
Be it Luciano Spalletti’s use of Totti in the trequartista role, or Cesc Fabregas’ false nine role for the Euro 2012 conquering Spanish national team, advancements in the game have, at times, brought in a false sense of reality which often fades away after a brief spell of success and demands normality. Every now and then, there are talents who escalate to heights not ignorable. Take the example of Harry Kane; he isn’t someone with blistering pace nor can he pull off an elastico to outwit a defender, but he has the skills which allow him to put the ball in the back of the net. The modern-day cerebral managers demand a lot from strikers, so much so that forwards these days are often a collusion of technique-extraordinaire and finishing that make goalkeepers tremble on their goal-line. The rare breed of “pure” strikers are often underappreciated.
Huntelaar is currently nursing an injury and his contract is set to expire next year. At 33, one wonders if he will be given an extension by the Schalke board, but as he did before, he can still bang in the goals if played alongside the right players. His game was never about pace or beating players with audacious footwork, but merely his incredible power of mustering the intuition of where to be in the opposition penalty box. Over the years, the game has produced a few players who defined the words ‘goal poacher’ and Huntelaar unquestionably makes that list.
