Johan Cruyff’s vision alive at FC Volendam: Ruben Jongkind reveals how his spirit lives on in their success | Football News

While Ajax’s stadium bears his name and Barcelona seek to return to his principles, if there is one club currently constructed in the image of Johan Cruyff, the game’s footballing philosopher, it can be found in a fishing village just north of Amsterdam.

It is here, at FC Volendam, that some of Cruyff’s closest associates are implementing the ideas that the man himself once envisaged for Ajax. It is working. Volendam are top of the Eerste Divisie, unbeaten since August, and aspiring for so much more.

No club in Holland has featured a greater proportion of academy talent in the past two seasons. Cruyff’s vision for football endures here under their head coach Wim Jonk, director of football Jasper van Leeuwen and the club’s academy chief Ruben Jongkind.

These men were part of the so-called Velvet Revolution at Ajax, when Cruyff tried to take Ajax’s academy in another direction with the emphasis on developing individual talent. The politics there saw the Cruyff plan curtailed just months before his passing in 2016.

Now those who sought to realise his ambitions – Jongkind wrote the Cruyff plan, transcribed from conversations with him – are showing what is possible at Volendam instead. “The vision remains the same, the ideas remain the same,” Jongkind tells Sky Sports.

In some ways, it is easier now. “At Ajax, even with Cruyff’s backing, it was difficult because of the interests and the politics. Here, it is easier. The structure is flatter. We know the board. They want to do this and have given us the keys to take this challenge on.”

In others, the challenge is far greater. “It is a club that, when we got here, we found it at the bottom of the table. It had problems with everything, financially, organisationally and commercially. We don’t really have a lot of resources so we have to be creative.”

Jonk soon changed the team’s playing style, abandoning the functional football that had pushed some of the supporters away. “They were more turned towards the beer taps than the field. We had to change the culture of how we educate the players.”

The former Ajax and Inter midfielder was born in Volendam, leaving him ideally placed to instigate the change. Jonk’s connection with the place helped because Volendam perceives itself to be different. There is pride that he is one of their five Netherlands internationals.

“There is a different dialect here. A different culture, actually,” says Jongkind. “The people in this village want to have villagers in the first team. That is the culture here and they are proud of that culture. It is a little bit like Athletic Bilbao with their Basque-policy.”

That is not easy when there are only 25,000 people in the immediate vicinity and the best talent is hoovered up by Ajax anyway. But time and again Jongkind returns to the words of Cruyff himself. “The academy is always the cornerstone,” he explains.

“Cruyff always said that if you want to improve a club you have to start in the academy. That is logical. He would always add that phrase. That is logical.” Warming to his theme, he continues. “Talent is in everybody, we just need to explore it and develop it.”

The problem is finding the ones that others miss. Volendam rely on nurture more than nature, player potential rather than player ability. While the data analyses what is there, they must use their instincts to work out what could be, what might be.

“We had to scout the grassroots. We found players in amateur clubs who were overlooked but are now doing very well and have a lot of potential. We are looking in different ponds to find the fish that has not been found by others. Talent is there but you have to find it.”

There is some science behind it. Relative age effect means that children born in the second half of the year are often ignored because they take longer to develop. “They might not perform now but they will later. With good scouting, we can spot them.”

But the really important part is what Volendam do with them once they are in the building. “We are focusing on the individual just as we did at Ajax, creating an environment where there are chances and challenges,” explains Jongkind. Forget about the results.

“In youth teams, there are clubs that are way too focused on the results and this was one of them. We know that results are not a predictor of the quality of the youth players who make it through the system. It is sometimes even inversely related.”

Finally, there is the matter of opportunity. Volendam provide it. Last season, they cut the average age of their players in the first team from 25 to 21. This season, 15 players trained at the club before the age of 21 have featured in the team under Jonk.

“We were playing with 16 and 17-year-olds in the first team because you have to give them the oxygen, you have to give them the chance.” The poster boy for change is a player who has already left, the beneficiary of this new approach at Volendam.

Micky van de Ven’s move to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg for a fee in the millions was a record sale. His rise was swift. “He had been overlooked. He was not earmarked for the first team, but we saw that this boy was a big talent. We gave him the platform.

“Within three months he was in the first team. Within six months he was talent of the year in the second team. Within two years he was sold to Wolfsburg. A better example you cannot find but there are more in the first team with the potential to go to a higher level.”

Now other big clubs are taking note. A relationship with Italian giants Inter has been formed. Their young striker scored 19 goals for Volendam last season, exceeding Inter’s expectations. They have sent two more players over this time around.

“Gaetano Oristanio is a natural striker,” says Jongkind, “but we have put him in as a No 10 now to develop the skills of a midfielder so we are also open to developing players. It is adding value for us and for Inter so we are hoping to continue that collaboration.”

Promotion is the next step. Clear at the top of the table, it looks likely. Victory over Jong Utrecht on Friday would extend the unbeaten league run to 22 games, breaking a club record that has stood for half a century. There are plans for the stadium and beyond.

Once in the top division, the appeal increases and opportunities open up for a club focused on talent development. “Selling a player to a top club is easier when you are in the Eredivisie and the prices are higher so that will also give us a head-start,” he adds.

“The ambition is to take this club up to the Eredivisie again and to stay there.” With local players in the team? “It would be really amazing if we could do that. But, if we do the right things, we think it is possible. We will see the fruits of this only in five to 10 years.”

The thought occurs that, albeit on a smaller scale, this is exactly the vision that Cruyff had hoped would become reality. If Volendam make it to the Eredivisie, it would mean matches against Ajax. Would that be a moment to reflect that they had proven their point?

“If we can do it then, yes, maybe we can prove a point,” says Jongkind, smiling. “I think that is a question for my ego, though. I am thinking more in terms of us honouring the spirit of Cruyff. We are just happy that the vision he inspired is working.”

The legendary figure himself – a man, remember, who once left Ajax for Feyenoord after a contract dispute and promptly won them the Eredivisie title – would surely approve.