Month: June 2012

by Jan

Post Match Shenanigans

Quite a blow for this new blog too!! And no player even mentions that post match! But…not too worry. Dutch football will carry on. Expect more interviews and analysis and in the coming weeks loads of stuff on Holland as we bounce back and we will keep on following all our heroes during the season. All of them. Like… eh…Willems… And…the others.

Seriously, we have columns from guest speakers, surveys, games, talent analysis and what not. In particular what not!

KNVB general manager Bert van Oostveen calls the humiliating exit of the Dutch national team “Oranje unworthy”. He didn’t want to comment on Bert van Marwijk’s future at the football association. “That wouldn’t be appropriate.”

“Zero points at a final tournament, I don’t think it ever got this bad…”, he mused. “This will be thoroughly evaluated, with all involved. Head coach, technical staff and team manager (Hans Jorritsma). And we will do so quickly as we have a first game on August 15. You can expect our communications before mid July and I will manage the evaluation myself.”

Van Oostveen didn’t want to speculate about an exit of the former Feyenoord coach. “We will also evaluate the fact we won silver on the World Cup and the fact that Van Marwijk cruised through the two qualification series with the team.”

Last December, Van Oostveen extended Van Marwijk’s deal till the WC2016. But there are evaluation points and specific clauses in the contract. Van Marwijk didn’t want to comment. “I am totally gutted now. The last thing I’m pondering is my career…”


Bert van Oostveen, Van Marwijk’s boss…

Van Oostveen did add that Oranje booked a positive result financially. “But only just. And with the team performing like this, the ticket sale will hurt.”

Gregory van der Wiel describes the tournament as a bitter disappointment. The right back had a tough night against C Ronaldo and the Portuguese star scored twice against Oranje.

Two years ago, he played the World Cup finals, now he goes home with zero points. “I wonder what happened. I didn’t play my own game. I love attacking, playing football, creating two-against-one situations. This Euros it feels like I had to defend constantly (sic).”

Van der Wiel: “No idea what went wrong. I was unmarked a lot but simply didn’t get the ball. Today I played a guy who didn’t track back. But still I couldn’t support the forwards.”

“We started good, like in the other games, and after 20 minutes it’s started to pivot. Portugal is deadly in the counter. It’s hard to pinpoint where the problems came.”

Ron Vlaar’s name suddenly popped up on the team sheet. The Feyenoord defender replaced John Heitinga.


Flop of the match vs Man of the match. Flop on the left.

The tall defender was disappointed. “We knew exactly what we needed to do. We scored early and we didn’t even know the scoreline at the other game. But we started to play more sloppy and Portugal was constantly threatening. But even when they scored, we felt we were in it. But when they scored again, it was game over.”

“We had to take risks. And with Ronaldo and Nani, they have to super assassins in their team. At a certain point we only had three defenders.”

Vlaar saw his starting berth approaching. “I felt I was close. I had some good weeks. But who cares now? I’m disappointed. I wanted to perform. Maybe sometime in the future I can look back at this and feel good about it. Certainly not today.”

Reality is harsh. These are words Arjen Robben uttered after the Portugal game. “We lost three times at the Euros. That is quite a message. We all need to look very long and hard into the mirror. We have all failed. And there were some incidents within the group but I won’t mention those. Those will stay internally.”

On the pitch, Robben could be heard yelling “Shut your mouth” to Bert van Marwijk a couple of times, when the coach instructed the winger to track back.

“Ir’s hard to explain it all. Some things are so hard to explain. Again, we started good but we didn’t keep on playing our game. And then we concede and we sort of disappear.”

Mark van Bommel didn’t want to speak on behalf of the team, only for himself. “I can’t look into their heads, but I do believe the vibe was different this time around. The situation was different too of course. Some players have a different status now…. But whatever, we can’t say a thing. It was simply bad. In particular the results.”


Robben on his knees…

The new PSV signing did defend his coach and father in law, Bert van Marwijk. “Bert is a fighter. He will land on his feet. I don’t think he deserves too much of the blame. And whatever he or the KNVB decide, that is for us to respect.”

Wesley Sneijder was open, as ever, after the game. “Do we need to fire Bert? What? Come on man! Chin up! We reached the finals with Bert two years ago and now he can’t do any good anymore? Do I see a future with him? I certainly do.”

Sneijder was part of the pre-game discussions with Bert on tactics, but admits he didn’t get his way. “Well, we needed to change certain things, I was with that. But I don’t feel too good on the left flank. I don’t get to see the ball enough and I can’t do all I want to do, but that’s what it is. I played there, did my best. You have to do what’s best for the team, right?”

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by Jan

And we're out…

C Ronaldo scores twice, hits the post twice, misses chances and offers team mates chances.

Huntelaar gets first shot on goal in the 86th minute. And misses the target.

End of review…

But seriously… We were simply not good enough. We scored early. And we did get more chances in the second half. Vlaar’s header, Van Persie’s run into the box, Van der Vaart’s shot on the post. But that’s it.

Portugal got at least 10 open scoring opportunities. This game could have ended 8-4.

I hate to say it, but Portugal was simply better. They outplayed Germany before. Now they outplayed us. Their midfield bossed us in the first half, which is an almost obvious result of the line up we started with.

We just didn’t click. Van Persie played an invisible first half. Van der Wiel was atrocious, yet again. Vlaar couldn’t keep up with C Ronaldo if Wiel lost him. We were simply not good enough.

Skipper Van der Vaart: “We didn’t play well enough. We lost three times. Then it’s clear where you stand. We started this game ok, but after our goal we slipped away and they got stronger. We didn’t deserve it.”

In this game it became painfully clear why Van Marwijk insisted on playing with two holding midfielders. The Oranje defense is shockingly weak.

In the first half, Sneijder was supposed to play on the left flank but he was hardly engaged, while Van Persie was simply not able to be important. Robben had his moments and in an offensive way, Van der Wiel did ok. Even had one good cross.

In the second half, Sneijder played more centrally and Van Persie took the flank but it didn’t make much of a difference. Every time Portugal took over, they looked like they could score.

Bert van Marwijk: “This was highly disappointing. I failed. And with me, the group. It’s too early to talk about my future, so quickly after the game. We’ll do that later. But I believe we had trouble overcoming the first dip against Denmark. We constantly started well but somehow insecurity came into the game. And we missed crucial chances up front while giving away too much at the back.”

He continues: “The vibe in the group was great. We had a different dynamics then during the World Cup of course, but despite the losses everyone was positive. I had to deal with some players who were dissatisfied, but that’s not something I can concern myself with. I can only play eleven players so you’re bound to disappoint a number.”

Arjen Robben: “I have no explanation for this. We constantly start well. We play well for 20 minutes. In this game, we even scored! And still we let it slip. What is that? Intend? Physical strength? Focus? You tell me… But suddenly we make silly passes. We start to lose the ball and insecurity sets in. But we need to be straight: we lost as a group. In 2010, we did it as a group, and now we lost as one group. The players and the staff. Should Bert leave? That’s not for me to say. That is for him to determine, with the KNVB.”

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by Jan

Our line up??

The picture above shows the players who got the coloured vests at practice!

This is where we will follow what our Men In Black will cook up in 8 hours time!

Live. So join in ok?

In the meantime, some thoughts…

Germany will definitely win against Denmark. Reasons? 1) they can’t play half hearted. The Germans aren’t playful. They take it all very seriously. So they will go for the win. 2) They have to, as Denmark could beat Germany and progress and Portugal could beat Oranje (not really!!) and progress too….

Bert will make changes. That might mean: to his hair. Or a different jacket. Or maybe he will change his facial expression. But most likely he will change the team. But don’t expect too much. We won’t see Kuyt as full back or Narsingh on the wings. We will most likely see Robben on the right, Sneijder on the left, Van Persie behind Hunter. And Nigel and Mark as holding midfielders.

If Bert would really go out of his way (and comfort zone) he might even replace Mark for Rafael. But that is as far as it goes.

I would love to see Strootman, as I believe we need a midfielder who can go from box to box. Strootman is the only one who can do so. But I can’t see Bert benching both Nigel and Mark so a holding duo Strootman/Van der Vaart is out of the question.

The main thing is not who plays, but how they play. Will they be able to go through the pain limit? To work for each other? To track back? Then they have a fighting chance. If Wiel and Willems will stop the threats on the wings and if Robin and Hunter will do what they’ve done all season (score, duh!!), then we might end up partying like it’s 1999.

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by Jan

Portugal Preview

Bert van Marwijk practiced behind closed doors. And with a grim look on his face attented the press conference: “We will play 100% attack! We need two goals more after 90 minutes, so that is a clear mission.” And: “I wish the vibe in our camp was as bas as it allegedly is in the Spain camp. They won 4-0, despite their internal strife.”

Van Marwijk is on edge. It’s do or die for Oranje. Not winning with 2-0 or more ( and Germany not winning vs the Danes) means Oranje will go home and Van Marwijk will most likely go home. And the next job won’t be Tottenham, Liverpool or Valencia but West Brom, Freiburg, Salzburg or Tenerife.

Skipper Mark van Bommel looked back at the Germany game: “I played a good pass onto Robin. He missed. Not much later, I missed Schweinsteiger and he allowed Gomez to score. I could have been the king, but I ended up the joker.”

“It’s football, isn’t it? I haven’t the “son-in-law” comment for many years but now things are going bad, everyone mentions it again.”

Asked if he believes that he can’t manage the midfield role anymore? “I can. But I do understand these criticisms. The first Germany goes was totally my fault. But our midfield is too stretched for anyone to cope.”


Ironic pic: Mark and Bert creating history together…

The skipper had this Euros as the last big trophy with Oranje on his wishlist. After a Champions League with Barca and titles in four countries ( PSV, Fortuna, Barca, Bayern and Milan).

“The vibe is a bit different now, that is true. Players like Van der Vaart and Huntelaar were benchwarmers at their clubs before the World Cup and are established players now. Dirk was a starter at Liverpool but a benchwarmer now. But we are still one group. We are mates and we support each other. If we would have won twice, no one would have concerned themselves with Van Persie making that phone-call, simply because he didn’t have connection in the dressing room.”

Van Bommel did see his team lose it tactically and physically. “It was like playing in a wok. It was so hot and humid. We couldn’t keep on pressing. Why we didn’t pick a hotel in Charkov? I have no idea. I believe we decided to pick good hotels before the draw and Charkov didn’t offer what we needed? But that was not my call.”

Van Bommel has a positive outlook. “Italy won the World Cup in 1982 after three dreadful group games. And in 2004, The Czechs beat Germany with their B-team. Allowing us a trip to the quarters…”

Portugal has a tremendous record against Holland. Of the last 10 games, they won 6. We won only one. And three draws.

Belgium might be historically our foe. Germany might be traditionally our arch enemy, but is Portugal then our “angstgegner”?

The last time we won was in 1991, in the qualications for the 1992 Euros. With a Richard Witschge goal.

But….

These statistics are flawed. Let’s look at the last four games.

May I remind you that we should have won twice in the World Cup 2002 qualifications when we didn’t win (lost one, drew one) because Louis van Gaal had his moments of madness against them in both games? We lost at home because Van Gaal played Reiziger as left back an some moron in the stands had a referee whistle. He blew on it, Davids stopped playing and Portugal took the ball and scored. Ouch.

In the away game, Holland was 0-2 up when Van Gaal brought more forwards to humiliate them. Within ten minutes, Davids was sent off, Figo scored from that free kick and they equalised in the dying seconds.

The 2004 Euros game we lost was a deserved loss. Portugal was better.

The 2006 World Cup in Nuremberg was a disgrace. We lost, but not because we were not good enough. We had a massive Van Persie chance he fumbled, Cocu hit the bar and Kuyt choked one on one with their goalie. With a tad more luck, that game would have been ours.

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by Jan

Support your local team!!

My dear friends, I need to ask you all to keep the positive spirit up.

Yes, we are disappointed. Yes, we believe the team should do better. Yes, Van Marwijk is too rigid and headstrong. Etc…

But… Our players bleed orange. They do. I am 1000% certain. Has to be.

Remember how Robben played with pain at the World Cup? How hard he worked to get back? How Huntelaar is swallowing his pride tournament after tournament?

Van Nistelrooy was in the studio the other day and said he had intense contact with some of his buddies in the squad (Bommel, Boulah, Mathijsen, Robben) and said with conviction “there are no cliques in the team, there are no ego clashes!”. He was convinced this team was mentally focused on this tournament but tactics and maybe physical condition are lacking.

I think it’s painful to see how heroes like Robben, Van Bommel and Van der Vaart are crucified on this blog.

Van Persie is all professional and played some good game for us this tourney. But sadly missed too many chances. I’m sure he suffers like we all do.

If you saw Arjen Robben sing the anthem while prepping himself mentally, you could have seen he wants to give his right foot (useless anyway) for a good win.

And the reason why we have Robben in the first place is because he has that skill: taking on people, coming inside, taking a shot… This is how he bailed us out many times. And now he has difficulties getting to his normal level. Support the lad!

Mark van Bommel has been our fierceless leader for years. And him being Bert’s son in law was never a problem. I don’t think it’s now either. I expect Bert to bench Mark for the Portugal game.

Stekelenburg got us into the semis two years ago. He hasn’t yet won games for us this time around, but give the guy a break, please.

At times like these, it’s the Al Pacino “inch by inch, we claw ourselves out of this hell” monologue that springs to mind! And this is where we need to support our boys.

If we suddenly burn our orange jerseys and start insulting our players, we are doing the thing we accuse them off… Our task is to support. So, maybe if we start doing our job, they will do theirs….

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by Jan

Oranje – Germany; what went wrong?

It’s 24 hours after the Germany game. The Day After.

We are not yet out of the competition. It’s a simple calculation. If Germany wins against Denmark and Holland beats Portugal with two goals difference, Oranje is through!

So, let’s first analyse the Germany game.

What happened exactly?

We needed a win. Germany would have been happy with a 0-0. So Holland starts with some intent. Indeed, the first 20 minutes were fine. Not great, but we did create opportunities. Robin van Persie on a good long Van Bommel pass, Van Persie with another opportunity and Afellay with a cross to Van Persie which he basically squandered by playing it behind Van Persie.

The pace was good, the passing was ok, but when Germany had one opportunity, they scored. 0-1.

And fear entered into the frame. The defence stayed back. The midfielders drowned, the wingers didn’t get a good ball and Van Persie was on an island.

And when Germany had another option of slicing through our defence (another Schweinsteiger pass for Gomez) it was 0-2. And Oranje was chasing the game.

In the second half, Huntelaar and Van der Vaart came on and late in the game Dirk Kuyt came on for Robben. One great one-touch attack and Robin van Persie was able to score the consolation goal. Sneijder had an opportunity to score the equaliser but Boateng risked his ribs blocking this attempt.

Let’s look at what went wrong:

Tactics
Our 4-2-3-1 doesn’t work if it’s not executed well. Our defence kept on tracking back while our forwards wanted to push forward. Space between the lines was huge and our holding midfielders drowned in that space. Our full backs didn’t do anything on the overlap. While our wingers lacked the form (Afellay!!) to make a dent.

The Goalkeeper
Stekelenburg actually had a couple of good saves. The Ozil ball on the post. The Badstuber header. The weird high ball falling almost under the bar. But he didn’t look too good with the second Gomez goal. The angle was astute. And for some reason, Stekel decided to go to ground before Gomez even hit the ball… Why?? If Stekelenburg would have stayed on his feet, he could have simply caught the ball.

Defence
Our defence is atrocious. Willems is a very young, inexperienced left back. Who did ok. He made mistakes, but that was to be expected. Where was the support for the young Sparta prospect? Heitinga and Mathijsen were both guilty for allowing Gomez all the space to score two goals and didn’t have the balls to pressure forward. Van der Wiel, like against the Danes, was invisible. Didn’t add any value to the game.

Midfield
Both Van Bommel and De Jong seemed dinosaours. Too much space for them to cover, not enough balls or dynamics to push forward and play tightly within the team. Both Bommel and De Jong did not offer any added value and with defence were the “six players tracking back” while the forwards were focused on attacking.

Forwards
The four forwards were again focused on attacking and scoring goals. But Robben and Afellay did not have the form while Sneijder had problems making his mark in the first half. He played a better game in the second half when Afellay made way for Huntelaar and Sneijder had more space on the left wing. Van Persie had a number of chances again, but he failed to convert them, while the Germans did.

Individual Form
Too many players lack the form needed to win gold. Robben, Afellay, Van der Vaart, Huntelaar, van Bommel and De Jong and the whole defence seemed to be seriously under par.

Physical Condition
It’s hard to say, watching a game, what the status is of the physical condition of the players, but it does seem like the energy oozes out of our players a bit quicker than with other teams. It could be result of being deflated due to the results… It could also simply be the result of the pitch being too long for our players to cover. But both Morten Olsen and Joachim Low stated that Holland didnt look fit. And of course this Raymond Verheijen character is yelling this in tweets as well. But then again, if you have 5 players in your line up that are not 100% fit (Willems, Van der Wiel, Mathijsen, Van Bommel, Afellay) is it possible to play this high energy game??

Mentality
In a way, the mentality seems to be fine. Players like Van Persie, Robben, Sneijder, Huntelaar and co play top football for years already and are used to pressure and playing big games week in week out. Jetro Willems also doesn’t seem to be fussed playing with the big names, on the big stage, against big opponents. One thing that does puzzle me, is the fact that we have players who said a number of times already “we don’t have the form now, but once the tournament starts we will flick the switch and be ready”…. I don’t think that actually works like that.

Dynamics
The Dutch total football school is based on dynamics. JC everywhere on the pitch. Van Hanegem placing the ball anywhere. Krol being left winger. Rep center forward. Haan playmaker and Neeskens running from box to box. Etc etc. This worked with Gullit and Vanenburg and Muhren. And Erwin Koeman ran from box to box. And with Cocu, Bergkamp and Davids ran from box to box. But where are our dynamic players and patterns? Robben and Afellay? Predictable. Van der Wiel and Willems? Limited overlaps. Two central backs. NEVER pushing forward. Holding mids? Static. Just like Sneijder… Lots of dynamics in his passing, but doesn’t pull his weight in yards covered like Iniesta/Silva/Ozil/Modric… In my view, we lack penetration. Who runs from box to box? How many times did we see a potential cross (ok, they were mostly shite) but only Van Persie in the box? Maybe time for Strootman!

Sharpness
Gomez only needs 4 chances to score 3 goals. Van Persie, Robben and even Sneijder seem to be overzealous or maybe lacking sharpness… amongst ourselves, we might have had 15 good opportunities? Only 1 converted. And with his right! Is it lack of sharpness or too much will, too much eagerness… Did you see Arjen Robben’s face and grimace when singing the national anthem? Was he impersonating Jack Nicholson as the joker (Heath Ledger for younger generations) or does he simply want to it too badly?

The Run Up to this Euro Tournament
Before we started the WorldCup 2010, most of our players came out successful seasons. This time around, Sneijder has had his problems, Afellay hasn’t seen a ball, Van der Wiel was injured, Mathijsen was injured, Robben had some dramas to process and Huntelaar now has to accept that he’s not a starter.

History
Everytime Oranje played a good tournament, the next tournament was played crap. In 1974, we were vice world champs, in 1976 we made a mess of it. In 1978 we were vice world champs, in 1980 we were sent home after the group. In 1988 we won the Euros and in 1990 we ended in shame. And now we are the vice world champs, so this tournament might be the next drama…

Available Players
Looking at Germany, one sometimes wonders what kind of squad Holland could have if our country was bigger. If we has 30 Mio in stead of 15 Mio people. I’m not saying “Let’s invade Belgium”… But if there ever was a reason to do this, this is the one!! Add Vertonghen (left back), Vermaelen (CB) and Kompany (CB) and we’re laughing all the way to shake Platini’s hand. If we need to rely on an 18 year old lad who played Emmen and Helmond Sport last year….well….

The Coach
So, summing all the above up… Our coach is obviously responsible for this all. For team selection, for fitness, for tactics, for team motivation, etc (not for history, ok….).
He might be a great guy for a focused campaign when all the players are on a high and fit (2010) but maybe the wrong guy for a campaign where we need more tactical flexibility, more balls and more empathy. Who will tell him? I am guessing that we will….

Let’s create some solutions for the Portugal game!

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by Jan

Post Match comments Nederland – Duitsland

Well my friends, if Willem van Hanegem still sees options, I am not going to be too negative.

We did start well. We again created three good chances at the start and Afellay did have a number of crossing options (which he squandered) and I was pretty upbeat.

But, Bert van Marwijk said after the 2-1 loss, our defense kept on tracking back. Our midfielders and defenders didn’t dare to play one on one and push forward. “Cocu and I don’t have a voice left so much did we have to scream to get them forward. They were afraid. At a certain point it was as if we played with 2 offensive players and the rest all walked back.”

Germany scored first, which was a practice goal. Gomez looked like Messi. Schweinie with too much time on the ball, and Mathijsen lost Gomez completely.

The second goal was even worse. Again, no one picking up Gomez and again Schweinie with all the time. And this time, a weird fall by Stekelenburg!! Why did he go to ground? If he would have stayed on his feet, he would have simply caught the ball?!?!?

A string of mistakes and that deflated the energy from the team. Afellay became invisible. Mark van Bommel is spent. Robben couldn’t pass a corner flag and poor Van Persie received poor service. And when Robben finally got a cross in from the left (second half), the Arsenal man demonstrated what he can do.

Our late goal kept things alive a bit. But we were not able to get more out of this. Van Persie had a chance, Sneijder had a blocked opportunity and Raf tried a long distance strike… And that was it… No penalty calls this time and a bloody effective German side.

Willem van Hanegem: “Seriously, this was not even that bad. Sure, the lines were drifting and some players lack form, but with a tad of luck, we would have scored first and that would have made all the difference. We started tournaments bad before. And this time we didn’t even start bad. The Denmark game should have been won and this one was started well too.”

Robben: “We worked hard, we did what we could but it wasn’t enough. I don’t think we could have done better, unfortunately. But I still believe in a good result against Portugal. I have asked my German mates to win the Denmark game and we need to hope they keep their word.”

Van der Vaart: “This is shit! But if we win 3-0 against Portugal, we should go through. We should have scored in the first 20 minutes really. But Germany is a world class side. And we came up short.”

Robben: “It’s not fair to blame our defense or midfield. The whole team is lacking consistency. We are simply not as good as two years ago. Yet.”

Van Marwijk: “You always learn and I did learn something this game. I won’t go into the Portugal line up but I do believe Germany will not let Denmark win it. It doesn’t work like that.”

The AD reports their rates for the players and are devastating for Mathijsen, Willems and Van Bommel.

Wesley Sneijder apologised to the Dutch fans on television. “We started good but after 20 minutes we were suddenly chasing the game. We are not consistent enough, the patterns aren’t there. But we still have a chance and we should grab that last chance. But I do want to apologise to the Oranje legion. They are immense and deserve much better.”

Van Marwijk: “Against Germany, you need to be top. Our system wasn’t executed right. Our holding mids played to frightened. While our wingers couldn’t get a break. The communication and interplay between the lines was poor. I think Van Persie played really well actually but as a whole we were not good enough against this strong Germany.”

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