He is the star of the Gym's early season. A star with a rough style of play and incredible endurance. An unassuming, efficient player, Pablo Rosario has signed for Nice to be one bosses of the dressing room.  The 24-year-old former PSV player is one of the players the Dutch nickname "the hoovers", in a glorious tribute to the modern world. Before the derby against Monaco, we wanted to know what was behind the career path of the man who attracts balls and cleans them up, to make the Rouge et Noir team shine.

He is as hard-working on the pitch as he is quiet off it. So to put him completely at ease, we let the others speak for him. Those who work with him, who have played against him, who watch him and who have watched him. "The first time we played against each other, we were 10 years old," says Calvin Stengs, another Dutch international from the Gym, two years his junior. "But at the time, he played right wing or No. 10, like Ronaldinho. He dribbled and played forward. He was very different from what he is today, a very strong defensive midfielder. He is still creative, but his role is not the same. It's funny to think back to that time compared to now..."

Even then, Cristian Pablo Paulino Rosario left no one unmoved. But unlike his current team-mate, who has made it all the way to AZ Alkmaar, his career path has not been straightforward. Nor has his development been. Every step backwards is accompanied by a leap forward, with that fighting spirit. As a teenager, Pablo started out in an amateur club in Amsterdam: Swift AVV Formation. He was soon spotted by Feyenoord. He was spotted and convinced to join. The experience did not last long, because after a few months and following a problem linked to his travels, the boy stopped travelling the 60 kilometres that separate him from Rotterdam and made his life easier by joining an amateur club in Amsterdam: DWS. A choice that suited him well. So well that Ajax, Feyenoord (again) and PSV (already) soon showed interest in him. As a member of a large family - he has three brothers and four sisters - Pablo opted for Ajax, where he joined the U13s.

"HE WAS ALREADY PUTTING HIS HEART INTO THE GAME."

In one of the biggest academies in the world, the competition is immense. Especially among the 1997 crop, which includes stars such as Van de Beek (who scored two goals in a Champions League match won by Les Aiglons in 2017) and Nouri.

Michel Kreek (pictured above) managed Ajax's U13s and then U15s at the time, following that generation. And he remembers, years later, a young Pablo between two ages and between different positions. "He played more attacking football when he was young, but he could already play in all positions. In U15, there were many, many talents in the team. He was not a player who attracted attention, because he did all the simple things very well. And he was already putting his heart and soul into the field because he wanted to get there. Between the U13s and the U17s, he grew up a lot and couldn't really show his qualities because of injuries." As a result, Rosario was not retained at Ajax. And what did he do after this failure that would have knocked the wind out of more than one teenager's sails? He picks up the phone and calls me," answers Michel Kreek. The former Ajax, Padova, Perugia and Vitesse Arnhem defender had then joined Almere City, with whom Ajax work closely. He was in charge of the entire youth section and coaches the U19s.

ALMERE, A KEY STEP

Kreek was thrilled by the call. Rosario bounced back. Again. Towards a pivotal stage in his career, some twenty kilometres from the Dutch capital, in a club that is "small but very structured", explains Kévin Diaz (photo below).

A pundit for RMC Sports, the former winger played for 7 years in Rembrandt's homeland and commented on the Eredivisie between 2014 and 2019. He further said. "Almere is not a satellite of Ajax, but they work a lot with it, like ADO Den Haag, Sparta Rotterdam or Utrecht can do for example. They get the good players who are not retained to develop them, if possible, to the first team. Almere's team plays in the second division, a very competitive league with a lot of quality. Rosario followed exactly the path described. At peace with his robust body (1.88m), he made a name for himself in the U19s, making everyone happy. He used to play as a midfielder," Kreek remembers, "but sometimes I even used him as a centre-forward. That says everything about his versatility and versatility in general. When you are good, you are good everywhere. Everywhere, including the Almere first team, where the player landed like a meteorite during the 2015-16 season, at just 18 years of age. He piled up 40 games, including 34 in the league (3 goals), with impressive regularity.

He was so good that he was selected for the U19 national team, which is a very big achievement for a player from Almere," added his former coach. And with the national team, he even played in central defence!" In the summer of 2016, his performances led him to join the PSV Eindhoven reserve team. The latter was also in the second division, as is the case in many countries.

HIGHER LEVEL, DEEPER POSITION

In the second tier, PSV's B team battles with other reserves, but also with teams with experienced players. Rosario, increasingly strong, continues to rise in a box-to-box role that regularly takes him into the opposition's penalty area, where his heading game wreaked havoc. During the 2016-17 season, he scored 7 goals in the second division, played for the Dutch U20s, and then wore the captain's armband for the youth side. The machine was launched. He was to be played in the heart of the game, in a defensive role, when he discovered the Eredivisie. The coaches who gave him his first minutes in the top flight were impressed with this position change.

The first to start him, in 2017-18, was Phillip Cocu. A former monster midfielder from the 90s and 2000s, who has a hundred caps for the Dutch national team and was once a star for Barça and PSV. Under his guidance, Rosario made 14 appearances in the top flight in a season in which PSV won what is still their last league title.

NURTURED BY VAN BOMMEL

It was in the following season, when Mark Van Bommel - another iconic midfielder for the Netherlands, PSV, Bayern, Barça and Milan - took over as coach, that the Dominican-born player really took off. At 21, he has established himself as the strongest link in the midfield.

This enabled him to make a name for himself, to earn what remains his only cap for the senior national team (on 16 October 2018 against Belgium) and to build a solid reputation.

At the same time, he was named vice-captain, behind the emblematic Ibrahim Affelay, and began to make a name for himself outside the borders of his country, as he also played in a series of European matches.

In four seasons, he made 138 appearances for PSV (in all competitions, with five goals and 11 assists), including his last official appearance on 21 July against Galatasaray in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League. The only "official" appearance under Roger Schmidt, who replaced Van Bommel this summer, and who didn't have the same trust in him as his predecessor. After four years in the PSV first team, it was time for a change of scenery," says Kreek, "to discover a better league. Ligue 1 suits Pablo very well, because in France there is a good mix between physical and technical skills. In fact, we saw that in his first games. And a great pick for the Gym," adds Kévin Diaz. I'm very surprised by his arrival, because I didn't think the club would sign a player from PSV, especially not the captain. He is quiet, he's a fighter and aggressive. He' s used to the 4-4-2 and he has real leadership, otherwise he wouldn't have become one of the mainstays of PSV, who play their league to win it and the European Cups to go far."

Rosario shares this Rouge et Noir shirt with his two compatriots Justin Kluivert and Calvin Stengs. The latter reveals a trait of his friend. "He's a hard worker. He talks a lot on the pitch. He gives you a lot of confidence. When you make a good pass, he encourages you. He doesn't stop, is always in the right position, always understands everything. He's a real team player. And on a human level, he's a great guy. Everybody can talk to him, anytime. When you need anything, he's the one to see. He's always there for you."

These words were told to Michel Kreek, who ended with a big smile. "His skill is to bring everyone with him. He doesn't even do it on purpose. He is always positive with others. For every coach, he is a fundamental part, he does all the work behind the scenes, all the "dirty work", he is humble. He thinks of the team first and then of himself.

Constantin Djivas
Photos : Icon Sport

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