He also earned 18 caps for the Netherlands national team, scoring one goal and appearing in the 1980 European Championship finals.

From October 1996 to June 2002, he managed German Bundesliga side Schalke 04,[3] with whom he won the UEFA Cup in 1997 and the DFB-Pokal in 2001 and 2002.

Results improved quite dramatically and led to Hamburg avoiding relegation and even finishing seventh in the league, thereby qualifying for the 2007 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Stevens took over the managing vacancy at PSV after his Hamburg contract expired at the end of the 2007–08 season.

However, on 28 January 2009, he resigned as manager,[11] after which he signed a contract with Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga on 22 April 2009.

[21][22] After his departure, Stevens was appointed manager of VfB Stuttgart on 9 March 2014, replacing Thomas Schneider.

[33] Stevens was appointed manager of TSG Hoffenheim on 26 October 2015 after the club started the season with just six points in ten matches.

[35] On 14 March 2019, he returned to Schalke as an interim until the end of the season after Domenico Tedesco was sacked by the club.