Lars Unnerstall is for both VVV-Venlo as FC Twente turned out to be a bull’s eye. After his arrival to the Netherlands, the 31-year-old German was immediately one of the best goalkeepers in the Eredivisie and made the giant step from VVV to PSV after one year. Stan Valckx (VVV) and Jan Streuer (Twente) reminisce.
Valckx still remembers it like it was yesterday: he had seen Unnerstall at work at Schalke 04 and decided to put his name on a list, although he actually assumed that the goalkeeper was unattainable for VVV, Valckx said at the beginning of this. year already on TC Tubantia. When he saw Unnerstall on the bench at Fortuna Düsseldorf, he decided to take action. Valckx still had doubts about his feasibility, but nevertheless got into the car to Düsseldorf to see Unnerstall with his own eyes during training.
“We watched his training sessions and found that he had the qualities for the Eredivisie. I also had contact with Huub Stevens (Unnerstall played for Schalke, where Stevens was a trainer at the time, ed.) and he was very positive, also about his character”, Valckx tells FootballFirst. “However, he earned so much in the 2. Bundesliga that I thought it was going to be difficult.”
“The players there earn much more than they can earn with us and in Germany they also receive a premium per point. Players who come from the 2. Bundesliga know that they often have to hand in fifty percent of their salary. we had to go far for Lars. He was an expensive player, but he was more than worth it. He gave up fifty percent to be in the Eredivisie to be able to play. On the other hand, we offer them a stage on which they can show themselves.”
VVV does not swim in the money and so the club has to be creative and have a bit of luck at the same time. Valckx made some serious work of Unnerstall and stuck his neck out in front of him. “I give the agent an indication of what we could pay. If he sees opportunities and the player is also open to it, we can get there. For example, we also picked up Peniel Mlapa from Dynamo Dresden, who earned even more than Lars, and Lennart Thy at Werder Bremen. We are looking for players who want to take a step back in sport, and then take one or two forward. Lars has taken a step forward, both sportingly and financially. He ended up in the top via VVV.”
‘He suddenly stood next to us at carnival’
Valckx soon realized that VVV had hit a homerun by bringing in Unnerstall. “When it was all over, our goalkeeper coach John Roox, who played a very important role, started working with Lars. He took points for VVV from the first moment and was also popular with the supporters and the players. He played an exemplary role and came to train on days off, for example. And when things weren’t going well, he boosted the team. Danny Post was the captain, but Lars also quickly became a leader. His mentality was more than good and he was very involved. Then he at PSV he came to Venlo with his wife to celebrate carnival. On Monday afternoon he suddenly stood next to us in the pub. Dressed up and all, that was great. That says everything about his involvement and that he had a great time in Venlo,” says Valckx.
Unnerstall and Giorgos Giakoumakis are two perfect examples of players who have left VVV with a wonderful transfer. “I often say to players we are interested in that the Netherlands is a paradise, especially for young football players. Not only because of the way they play, but also because the youth get a lot of opportunities.”
VVV was able to sign Unnerstall for one year. Longer was simply not possible, especially after the German took one ball after another out of the goal and sparked the interest of many clubs. It eventually became PSV, which Unnerstall signed on a free transfer. “We have a good relationship with PSV and were lucky to be able to rent him for another year for a very reasonable price. Otherwise these constructions are not possible. We tried in October to sign Lars for longer, but he wanted to see what “It would come his way and that is logical. There was much more interest in Lars, because two sub-top players from the Eredivisie were also concrete. Lars now also shows it weekly at FC Twente. For them it is a top asset.”
Via PSV to FC Twente
At PSV, Unnerstall was mainly stand-in and he only kept fifteen Eredivisie matches. Unnerstall decided not to extend his contract with PSV, partly because he wanted to live closer to home. FC Twente eventually became his new club. “I was called by the agent if we were interested in Lars Unnerstall,” Streuer remembers. “Because it was the intention that Joël Drommel would be sold, we immediately started working on it. Ron Jans was also behind it.”
“He had a house built near his hometown (Ibbenbüren, ed.) and that coincided nicely. Of course we took a risk because Drommel was not gone yet. If we had waited until Joël had left, this would never have worked out. took the initiative and felt we should do this. If Lars had not been free of transfer, it would have become very difficult because we would have had to pay a transfer fee, while we had another keeper in the house with Drommel. We assumed that he would leave, sometimes you just have to take a risk.”
Streuer already knew the keeper Lars Unnerstall. “But we mainly got to know him at VVV. Lars is a good boy and is a great goalkeeper. People love a keeper like him. You sometimes hear people say that he doesn’t play football very well, but I don’t see him doing a lot of stupid things. “He knows exactly what he can do. You can want a keeper who is good at everything, but as a club just bring him in.”
Last summer Streuer brought important players to Twente with Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Michel Vlap, Robin Pröpper and Michal Sadílek, but Unnerstall undoubtedly also belongs in the list of top acquisitions. “It is really important for a team that there is a good keeper in the goal. You have a problem if you have a good team, but not a good keeper. We are very happy with Lars and the public is too. is a pleasant boy who fits well in the group. We were lucky and took some risks. It ended well, so it couldn’t be better.”
Drum
Opposite the arrival of Unnerstall was the departure of Drommel to PSV, which paid around three million euros. In Eindhoven, the goalkeeper is having trouble convincing, but Streuer sees it going well nonetheless. “He made some mistakes, but at PSV there is of course much more pressure.”
“At the average club you get more balls and you get into the game faster, while at PSV almost everything has to go well. At a club that plays a little lower, that is more easily accepted. If you have been bought for a lot of money, you have to He has to get through this and I have every confidence that it will be okay,” concludes Streuer.
(Tim van Duijn/VoetbalPrimeur)
