Website Voetbalkrant features today an exclusive interview with Yves Vanderhaeghe, who’s the current manager KV Kortrijk.
The 50-year-old recalled the good times of his career as a player, and revealed the time when he got an offer from Tottenham Hotspur.
Vanderhaeghe spent all his years playing in Belgium, and had the chance to move the Premier League at the start of the century.
“I signed with Anderlecht by the start of Euro 2000. There were still a few clubs interested, including Tottenham”, Vanderhaeghe told Voetbalkrant.
“But in that period Tottenham didn’t have the name and status they have today. Even though they were already a big club then. But my priority was Anderlecht”
“Although the fact that England is a dream for many footballers. The stadiums, the public, but also the mentality. In England, a footballer earns a lot of money, he’s treated like a star. In Belgium, footballers are seen more as spoiled children.”
Right or not, his decision to join Anderlecht was probably the most important in his career. It’s where he played the most games, with a record of 219 appearances in seven seasons. He left them in 2007, and retired one year later. During that time, he featured in Belgium’s squads for the 2000 Euro and the 2002 World Cup.
Now working as a manager since 2014, Vanderhaeghe has only plied his trade in Belgium as well, and he expects it to be even more difficult to be a coach than a player at a foreign club.
“Don’t forget that abroad there’s a difference in perception between a Belgian player and a Belgian coach. In every top club there’s now at least one Belgian football player. But how many Belgian coaches have made it to the highest level in the past few years abroad? Marc Wilmots was the national coach of Iran and Ivory Coast, that’s about it.”
