LEAVING DUTCH football behind for the League of Ireland might be perceived as a backwards step by some, however, Koen Oostenbrink doesn’t see it that way.
The midfielder joined Dundalk last month after a spell in the Netherlands’ second-tier with FC Eindhoven.
The 24-year-old learned his trade at the academy in PSV, joining the club at the age of eight.
He grew up idolising Barcelona legend Sergio Busquets and is nowadays a big fan of Man City star Rodri — two footballers he aspires to play like — and hopes he can also pick up some tips from coach Stephen O’Donnell given his successful career in Irish football as a number six.
As a youngster, the Veldhoven native played in teams alongside Cody Gapko and Noni Madueke, who have gone on to star for Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.
Oostenbrink also encountered many top talents who couldn’t meet the great expectations associated with them, like Mohamed Ihattaren, who joined Juventus at a young age but struggled to adapt and is now at Sparta Prague.
Despite being capped by the Netherlands at U17 level, Oostenbrink himself never felt close to making a first-team breakthrough with PSV.
“I played in the second team. They play at the second level in the Netherlands,” he tells The42.
“I was injured quite a lot back then. Not heavy injuries, but just small injuries. And when I was fit, there were just other players better in my position. So I didn’t really play much on the second team.”
Ultimately, the writing was on the wall and it was no surprise when PSV did not offer him a contract extension.
Eventually, FC Eindhoven came calling and he had “two, quite good years” at the club he joined in 2021, registering 36 appearances and scoring two goals for the Dutch Eerste Divisie side.
“It was just actually a bunch of friends who were playing together. So that was a really nice time.
“I didn’t have a pro contract. I was there as an amateur. So I didn’t get paid. I was just there for free sort of. And I could have stayed longer there but I just wanted a contract somewhere.
“At first, I didn’t find a new club that wanted to give me a contract. Then after a few months, Dundalk gave me a call.”
Oostenbrink had been aware of Dundalk since their 2016-17 Europa League campaign when they came up against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the group stages.
He was consequently excited to meet with manager Stephen O’Donnell and Head of Football Operations, Brian Gartland, who see him as “an important player who can improve the team” and the club were “really excited about what they saw from the video clips”.
Oostenbrink continues: “It definitely feels like a step up for me. You have a contract, you get paid. And it’s also the experience, new competition, new country. I think it’s very good for me.
“I don’t think it’s going to take too long to adapt that much because if you just play your own style, I think you can fit in pretty soon.”
The midfielder has settled in well — he will often grab a coffee and play snooker or pool with teammates after training.
He is living in a house with fellow players Ross Munro, Jamie Walker, Archie Davies and Hayden Muller.
Nonetheless, there is one aspect of life in Dundalk that he is still getting used to despite having a good command of the English language.
“The Irish accent is a little bit harder, when they speak fast it’s sometimes difficult to understand,” he admits.
The average age of players in the League of Ireland has decreased significantly of late and teams have been more inclined to adopt a technical style of football in recent years — two other aspects of the move that were attractive to Oostenbrink.
“If I look at our team at Dundalk, we also have quite a young [squad],” he adds. “We have five players, something like that, with experience. But the rest of the team is quite young.
“We have a lot of new faces, also from abroad, like from England, Scotland, me from the Netherlands then. But most of the guys are young players who want to develop and I think the League of Ireland is a good competition for that.
“The way we want to play also. We want to have possession, when we lose the ball, we want to recover the ball with a quick transition. And I think that suits me to play from a good build-up in possession.”
Therefore, after some challenging moments earlier in his career, Oostenbrink feels he is in the right environment to thrive.
“It’s never going to be in a straight line up,” he says. “You always have to deal with setbacks, it could be an injury, sitting on a bench, being left out of the squad. So I think you have to be mentally strong.
“It’s also important to keep having fun because football is one of the best things in the world.”
