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AZ’s Pascal Jansen: ‘Cruyff said he’s never seen a bag of money win a game’

11-May-2023 07:00:19 | The Guardian

Manager with a pop star mum is back in his birthplace as his side face West Ham in Europa Conference League semi-final

“You have to be authentic,” Pascal Jansen says. The AZ Alkmaar manager is thinking about how to lead. There is, he says, no point in putting on a face. The Dutchman has spent years doing things his way since a knee injury ended his hopes of becoming a professional player when he was 17.

He began jotting his ideas about football down in a book and he had big dreams. He wrote about wanting to pass his Uefa pro licence before his 35th birthday – mission accomplished – and his ambition was limitless, his determination to manage in the Premier League a sign this was going to be no ordinary journey.