Mark Van Bommel Defends Nigel De Jong, Calls Him A ‘Sweet Guy’

Chris Wright

5th, October 2010

9 Comments

By Chris Wright

Saintly Dutch midfielder Mark Van Bommel is currently busy defending his compatriot Nigel De Jong, telling anyone that will listen that the Man City enforcer is really a ‘sweet guy’ – despite breaking two legs and kicking a Spaniard in the heart all within a six-month period.

De Jong has since been axed from the Netherlands squad by coach Bert Van Marwijk, but Van Bommel told AD Sportwereld that he is still very much a part of his father-in-law’s plans:

“Nigel is and remains one of us. We find this all very frustrating. It’s very unfortunate that he has broken the leg of an opponent twice in six months. But I know Nigel as a sweet guy.

He doesn’t want to injure anyone but wants to win every match. That is his strength. Thanks to Nigel we reached the final of the World Cup. And now I hear people calling him a criminal. What a nonsense.”

Van Bommel and De Jong were both widely condemned for dabbling in football’s dark arts at this summer’s World Cup, and the Bayern Munich man believes that he feels a certain degree of empathy with his midfield partner;

“I know exactly what Nigel is suffering. I have also had to answer for playing hard. But I didn’t want to injure anyone and I have had to think about that criticism.

Nigel should not change his game, we need him as he is. But maybe he should occasionally go into a tackle slightly differently.”

How about trying it at less than 100 mph?

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9 Comments

  1. dennis says:

    Van Bommel is his teammate and captain of the Dutch national side. Of course he defends him like this.

  2. supaphil says:

    Waaa waa waa. Not less than 100 mph, just with some control. Seriously. You want him to play slower? The whole point of football is to be faster!

  3. dnpma says:

    van bommel is just an equally brutal player. of course he defends him like this.

  4. dennis says:

    @dnpma
    equally brutal? How many legs did Van Bommel break in his career?
    I honestly don’t understand the obsession the English have with Van Bommel if you see the amount of bonecrunching tackles every week in the PL. I guess it’s jealousy, getting to a final is not reserved for everyone.

  5. The Belgian says:

    Van Bommel isn’t as brutal, in fact, I’d say he has the perfect balance between hard and controlled football. This statement also shows that he’s a hell of a captain, and a player you’d want in any team. He stands up for his teammates, and deserves nothing but respect for that.
    I’m not saying he’s right though, De Jong should have had some kind of punishment a long, long time ago.

  6. JM says:

    van Bommel isn’t as overtly brutal, but he’s still a cheating mong and responsible for more than his fair share of nasty tackles. Every time he gets a card for a blatant, flagrant foul (and there’s a reason everyone but Munich fans hate him, too) is the look of ‘what? who, me?” every time he is served with a card. Just look at his constant fouling of Iniesta during the final, and his stupid, gormless face when he gets carded as he tries to puzzle out why being a dirty cheat is frowned upon in football.

  7. Ollie Irish says:

    De Jong is brutal, VdB is dirty.

  8. Tinez says:

    @dennis

    Remind me how many World Cups the dutch have won?

    De Jong is the attack dog in their midfield. Ridiculous and unsurprising commments from van Bommel.

  9. deckard says:

    cheat?, don’t talk shit jm you mong. a cheat is cristiano ronaldo, a consistent fucking diver especially in the box. mvb can be a dirty player be is mainly a hard but fair player. ur obviously referring to the wc when it took ages before he finally got a yellow card but ur conveniently forgetting he was one of the best holding mids in europe during the 09-10 season.

    de jong seriously needs to tone it down. not his drive, against chelsea when he was fully committed too and didn’t make brutal challenges he was the m.o.m, but he does need to time his challenges better. hopefully being temporarily axed from the dutch side will give him some thinking time. we need an edgar davids type but just not with such brutality. although davids in his day broke a few shins and bones too.

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