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| Davids was capped for the Netherlands 74 times. |
After a glittering career spanning almost twenty years
playing at the highest level of world football, veteran Dutch midfielder Edgar
Davids has hit the headlines again by announcing a return to the game as player
coach at League Two side Barnet.
For me, and indeed many other football fans, Edgar Davids is a man
that epitomises that sentimental admiration we still hold deep inside for the
players that were viewed as ‘the untouchables’ throughout the footballing word
in the 1990s. Players that were plastered in every magazine, all over the
television and even on the packaging of the food we ate.
Because of course, the multi-talented midfielder was not just
famous for his skills on the pitch. His famous dreadlocks and later protective
glasses to guard against glaucoma also made him one of the most recognisable
players in the history of the game.
After leaving Ajax in 2008 following a return to the Amsterdam
club where he began his career, Davids slowly fizzled out of the limelight for
a while. And it wasn’t until 2010 when the Dutchman resurfaced, this time at
Crystal Palace on a pay-as-you-play deal that saw him feature in just six games
before announcing his retirement at the age of 37.
Two years on from that and the creative midfielder is back at his
local football club Barnet. However, it is a world away from the glitz of Ajax,
Juventus, Tottenham and AC Milan, with the Bees currently slumped bottom of the
League Two table with a mere three points from their first 11 games.
Davids has signed for the London club in a one-year deal as joint
coach with current manager Mark Robson. The club’s website revealed that the contract
could see Davids deployed to the field of play and said that Davids had ‘expressed a serious intent to become a member of the playing squad.’
With results escaping Barnet at the moment the arrival of a player
with such an illustrious career behind him can only boost morale around the
club. Davids will not only bring experience, but will also set a fine example
to what is a young Barnet side.
Some may argue that his playing days are over, but at what age
does the body decide it is too fatigued to compete professionally anymore? If
players like Alessandro Del Piero, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs
can still compete at the highest level, then surely Davids can make the
fourth-tier of English football look like a walk in the park.
In terms of management the 39-year-old is new, but he does hold an
important backlog of knowledge learnt under multiple managers, not just in this
country but abroad too. If Davids can transfer his expertise quickly then
Barnet will find they have discovered a hidden gem.
However, it may just be another tale of a player who is tired of
twiddling his thumbs after leaving the beautiful game. For Barnet’s sake at
least, let’s hope Davids is made for management.
