Netherlands, diminutive in size as a nation but as a footballing hotbed known for producing some of the best footballers and coaches, they’re probably equal in size to other European neighbours.
As a distributor of an intriguing football philosophy impacted by total football, the beautiful game has continuously growth from strength to strength with managers of different generations.
While the Netherlands have proven itself time and time again in the lore of the game for not only producing excellent players and managers, the question is who are the finest youngest Dutch managers in the world?
1. Dirk Kuyt – (Beerschot)
Kuyt’s managerial career has been on the ascendency since he was appointed the head coach of Beerschot FC in 2023, despite having a rough start in his first job in charge of ADO Den Haag.
He was fired after some disappointing results with ADO Den Haag which saw the team sitting in 17th after 16 matches after just one year with the club.
Kuyt did absolutely well in his first season in charge of Beerschot, clinching promotion to the top of the Belgian Pro League in his first season.
2. Robin van Persie – (Heerenveen)
Van Persie may have been a legend of the game while active as a professional footballer, but after retirement, he has been finding his feet as a manager in charge of Heerenveen in the Eredivisie.
His first managerial difficulties was a traumatised 9-1 defeat against AZ Alkmaar, which was his fourth match as a manager after being appointed head coach of the Eredivisie side in May.
Since that shocking loss, he has picked up himself really well, and swiftly turned the corner winning three of their last five games with convincing performances.
3. Johnny Heitinga – (Liverpool Assistant)
Heitinga started his managerial career as a first-team assistant at West Ham under the tutelage of David Moyes his former manager at Everton.
Upon the departure of Moyes at West Ham, he also left the club along with other coaches and backroom staff who worked with the Scot to pursue his career elsewhere.
He returns to the touch-line once again following his appointment as a first-team assistant coach at Liverpool, working side-by-side with his compatriot and newly appointed Kop boss, Arne Slot.
4. Roy Maakay – (Unattached)
The last time the legendary striker was on the touch-line was at Glasgow Rangers, as a first-team assistant coach with compatriot, Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Makaay, after his retirement was named the youth coach of Feyenoord, and also doubled-up as the forward coach of the senior team before he was moved to take charge of the U-19 team.
He is currently unattached as a coach having worked in his home country, Germany and Scotland as one of the fast-rising Dutch managers.
5. Danny Buijs – (Fortuna Sittard)
Buijs, born in Dordrecht but raised in Alblasserdam, is one of the fast-emerging young Dutch managers in the world football, currently managing one of the nation’s clubs Fortuna Sittard.
He became a coach after retirement with amateur side Kozakken Boys, where he did a fairly decent job with the club and later went on to manage Groningen and Mechelen.
For someone who spent most of his playing and coaching career in the Netherlands, he is swiftly building his resume with Fortuna Sittard even though they’re a lowly club in the Eredivisie.
6. Hedwiges Maduro – (Almere City)
Almere born Maduro after retirement as a professional footballer, started his training as a coach having worked as an analyst on ESPN prior to that time.
Beginning his managerial career in 2019, he was appointed as an assistant coach to Erwin van de Looi at Jong Orange and the following year he also worked in the same position for the Dutch U-18 team.
As a young manager who is still finding his feet in the managerial arena, he worked briefly with Ajax, Almere City U-21 where he led the team to the division title and now with the main team as head coach.
7. Paul Simonis – (Go Ahead Eagles)
Some managers are expected to have years of experience before they could be taken seriously, but in Simonis’ case, he didn’t necessarily have all the experience before he got a job as an assistant in 2020.
His second managerial job also came in the form of an assistant with Heerenveen from 2022 to 2024 despite being a young coach who can’t boost years of experience.
The Voorburg-born was appointed the head coach of Go Ahead Eagles in the Eredivisie, early this year having shown working in his first stint as an assistant under Rene Hake.
8. Rogier Meijer – (NEC Nijmegen)
Meijer was hired as De Graafschap’s U-14 manager in his last year as an active footballer, and in the summer of 2015, he became the U-19 manager of the team until 2017.
He took a bigger role at the club as an assistant manager in 2019, a role he kept to himself until the end of that season for the first team.
In June 2020 he was appointed the head coach of the club having signed a one-year contract and has since been in charge of the team in the Eredivisie till now.
9. Ruben den Uil – (Excelsior)
Ruben den Uil is absolutely one of the least-known managers featured in this article, with the 33-year-old currently in charge of Excelsior.
Despite not being a well-known manager in the Netherlands, den Uil is gradually carving a niche for himself in the Erste Divisie known as the second tier of Dutch football.
He could go on to manage in the elite leagues in the future, but right now he needs to continuously improve his tactical innovation and coaching excellence before he can be mentioned among the finest in Europe.
10. Bas Sibum – (Roda JC)
Sibum started coaching Emmen’s youth team as his first managerial assignment where he was appointed the U-19 coach and later got promoted to the first team as assistant.
Eerste Divisie club Road JC announced him as their new head coach, replacing Edwin de Graaf in a managerial move that marked his return to his former club as a professional footballer.
Since being appointed as Roda’s manager the team have been experimenting with a significant turnaround in results, propelling them into contention for promotion to the Dutch top-flight league.
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