AZ’s Pascal Jansen: ‘Cruyff said he’s never seen a bag of money win a game’

“Y ou have to be authentic,” Pascal Jansen says. The AZ Alkmaar manager is thinking about how to lead. There is, he says, no point in putting on a face. The Dutchman has spent years doing things his way since a knee injury ended his hopes of becoming a professional player when he was 17.

He began jotting his ideas about football down in a book and he had big dreams. He wrote about wanting to pass his Uefa pro licence before his 35th birthday – mission accomplished – and his ambition was limitless, his determination to manage in the Premier League a sign this was going to be no ordinary journey.

The fascination with English football is no surprise. Jansen was born in London and his grandparents lived in Aylesbury. The 50-year-old grew up in the Netherlands, but he speaks of “coming home” when he is in the UK and he is looking forward to taking his young AZ side to West Ham for the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday evening.

“I spent major parts of my youth in Aylesbury,” he says. “I haven’t seen one of my dear friends from the time for over 40 years and we’re back in contact since last year. He’s coming to the game with his family and brother. Those are the joyful things of coming back.”

The connection is down to Jansen’s mother, Sue Chaloner, who was one half of Spooky and Sue, a British-Dutch pop duo who had three top-10 hits in the Netherlands in the 70s. She had moved to Amsterdam for work but she was born in London and wanted the same for her son. Jansen understands why there is intrigue about his pop star mum. “She’s 70 and enjoying life,” he says. “She has her own school. She teaches drama, dance and singing. She follows my career. She tells me to follow my dreams and be very