While Mohamed Ihattaren is making his revival as a professional footballer at RKC Waalwijk, the 23-year-old midfielder has still kept a close eye on PSV in recent months. The RKC manโs former club lost the lead in the Eredivisie after a dramatic series after the turn of the new year.
Ihattaren played in the PSV youth academy and broke through under Mark van Bommel, of whom the creative player has fond memories: โIn the Youth League match against Tottenham Hotspur I broke my wrist. In the hospital, I got a call from an unknown numberโ, Ihattaren recalled on Matchday van Supergaande. Mark called and asked: โMo, how are you?โ I thought maybe to wish you well or as a pat on the back. โYou were supposed to make your debut on Thursday,โ he said.
โI started crying. I was crying like a childโ, continued Ihattaren, who was just 16 at the time. โI saw my mother and thought: Iโve been doing this for her all these years. I break my wrist, itโs not meant for me. But Mark said: โI promise you one thing: recover and after the winter break youโll come with us. The training camp, thatโs your chanceโ. I was sixteen! He didnโt have to call me, that wouldnโt have been a problem. From then on, my bond with him started.โ
After a period of promise, Ihattarenโs career admittedly went slightly downhill. However, this season the midfielder is showing glimmers of his best form again.
Last month, Ihattaren played for RKC against PSV. The Eindhoven team seemed to be heading for their second national title in a row, but after the winter break, Peter Boszโs team slipped before being overtaken by Ajax. For Ihattaren, this is a familiar situation.
โWe had that at PSV too, that we lost a lot of points. With Bergwijn, Malen, Gakpo. Now you have Lang and Tillman. There is a better team than when I was there, but everyone thinks he should leave in the summer. Sometimes they deliberately donโt give each other the ball. Thatโs why PSV is going to faja (be the sucker). Too many boys think they should leave. Schouten, Lang, Tillman. If you give Lang or Tillman the ball, itโs over. Everyone wants to give that final pass.โ
GBeNeFNย |ย Max Bradfield
