‘I’ve always been pretty chilled’: Dean Huijsen on Bournemouth, defending and his celebration
‘I’ve always been pretty chilled’: Dean Huijsen on Bournemouth, defending and his celebration
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The teenager on his calm demeanour, learning the defender’s art in Italy and his side’s European credentials. He is surely one of the most exciting prospects in the game – José Mourinho said as much around this time last year – but to many Dean Huijsen is just a Chill Guy. Last month the 19-year-old celebrated his first Bournemouth goal, against Tottenham, by mimicking the popular meme of a human-like dog smirking with paws in pockets, and then did the same a couple of weeks later after opening the scoring in a resounding win at Old Trafford.
![[Ben Fisher]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2022/11/21/Ben_Fisher.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
A TikTok clip of Huijsen imitating the image, posted by Bournemouth, has been viewed 11m times. “I’ve always been a pretty relaxed person, pretty chilled,” Huijsen says. “I think I am pretty calm on the ball, I make my decisions and I don’t get too panicked. I thought it would be a nice celebration but didn’t expect it to go so viral. I just thought it would be funny –I guess people liked it.”.
![[Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen celebrates scoring against Tottenham]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0df909067a94ffcec82f6829153dfffb17169ffb/55_266_4548_2731/master/4548.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Huijsen’s demeanour, on and off the pitch, is in keeping with that character. Last weekend, in a crushing 4-1 victory at Newcastle that extended Bournemouth’s unbeaten run to 11 matches in all competitions (a club-record 10 in the Premier League), he successfully muted Alexander Isak, and there are times where he appears so comfortable he may as well sink his hands into his pockets.
![[Dean Huijsen of AFC Bournemouth on the ball at Chelsea]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4c2e2fb94204489ae75f9304a7278a3f84a1182a/0_95_4167_2955/master/4167.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Little has flustered Huijsen on his journey to this point, whether playing up front for Costa Unida CF de Marbella as a child, making his Juventus debut at San Siro aged 18 or rejecting Real Madrid two years earlier in favour of a move to Serie A. “Italy is renowned for producing defenders and being the school of defending,” he says. “I saw that in my time there and that’s what I wanted to do, to develop myself overall as a defender. I learned a lot. Little things: how to position yourself, how to mark in the area, where to stand when a cross is coming in, how to run diagonally backwards … a bit of everything.
![[Bournemouth’s Justin Kluivert celebrates scoring their first goal with Dean Huijsen and Tyler Adams at Chelsea]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2eedd53036e868527e094dcb288b3b437410fe04/46_189_1381_829/master/1381.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
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