Former Coach Laments Early Career End of Dutch-Moroccan Soccer Prodigy Ihattaren

Adil Ramzi discusses the reasons for the failure of the Dutch-Moroccan player’s Mohamed Ihattaren career. "He was abandoned. I helped and accompanied Mo, and I also had a good relationship with his father. He won the Euro with the Netherlands U17, then quickly arrived in the PSV first team, and in no time, the whole club was revolving around Mo Ihattaren. But after Mark van Bommel, a new coach arrived and not all coaches have as much time for Mr. Mo," he said in an interview, explaining that Mark coddled him, but Roger Schmidt did not. "[...] If I had stayed involved, I think things would have gone differently," he convinced himself.

For the former Moroccan midfielder, it’s all a matter of relationship. "If you want to reach people, the relationship is the most important thing. It’s only once it’s established that you can convey information. If Mo wanted to go left and I said we were going right, he did it. He believed in my story, with his heart." But the fact that the young player found himself in a different environment has affected his career. "Things went wrong. Unfortunately. It’s a shame, such a shame. A great talent has been lost to football," Ramzi lamented.

The PSV youth team coach says he is eaten away by the premature end of the Moroccan prodigy’s career. "[...] It eats away at me, over and over again. I know I’m the only one who can help. It’s like you have the key to something, but you can’t reach it. The door to him at PSV is closed and I respect that. The club has done everything. But deep down, because of the relationship I had with him and his father (who died in 2019, note), I want to help him."