Month: July 2012

Our talents at Oranje: U18 and U19

I have to say, it’s not easy to keep track of all these teams. We have these two and the Prospect Team and Young Oranje too!

Kees Zwamborn used to be youth coach at the KNVB 5 years ago. The former Ajax and MSV Duisburg defender had an eclectic career in youth coaching, at many clubs and was even the national coach of Suriname’s Olympic Team. He is now back as teacher and coach for the KNVB. “At least I know that players that are invited will show up or cancel correctly if they are injured, hahaha.”

Zwamborn loves working with this age group. “When they’re 16 years old, they’re a bit undisciplined. Which has a good and a less good aspect to it. It’s playful and fresh and also naive. These lads, however, are maturing. And some if not all of them train with the first teams already.”

In some cases, these lads have already played official games for their clubs. “That is partly due to the financial situation at these clubs, but it’s all good news. These boys will turn into men quicker now. It’s good for the development.”

What is Zwamborn’s philosophy? “Simple, Dutch school football. I have an Ajax background, so I’m developed with positioning play, ball possession and attacking play. But I also need to see passion. And I need to see players doing things that they bring on intuition. You need to be willing to make the difference and to work for the team. I’m all about creativity but you can only be creative if the other 10, at that time, take care of business.”

THe current squad:

Stefano Denswil, Mitchell Dijks, Sven Nieuwpoort en Fabian Sporkslede (all Ajax), Kyle Ebecilio (Arsenal), Hobie Verhulst (AZ), Jordan Botaka (Club Brugge), Anass Achahbar, Mats van Huijgevoort, Elvis Manu en Matthew Steenvoorden (all Feyenoord Academy), Stefan van der Lei (RVO FC Groningen), Ouasim Bouy (Juventus), Karim Rekik (Manchester City), Ilan Boccara (Paris Saint German), Memphis Depay and Jurgen Locadia (both PSV) and Chris David (Voetbalacademie FC Twente). Robert Klaasen en Kevin Luckassen (both AZ), Lucas Bijker (Cambuur Leeuwarden), Moreno Rutten (Feyenoord Academy), Robin Pröpper (De Graafschap), Luciano Slagveer, Jens Jurn Streutker en Hakim Ziyech (all sc Heerenveen/Emmen), Wouter Dronkers en Joey Pelupessy (both Voetbalacademie FC Twente), Virgil Misdjan (WillemII/RKC) en Jesper Drost en Mustafa Saymak (both FC Zwolle).

Unfortunately, the under 19s did themselves a bad favour. They were on their way to qualify for the EC in Estonia this summer but a massive loss at home against France ( 0-6) ended that dream.

Coach Wim van Zwam was devastated. “We had a number of scenarios as potentials, but never this one… my my… We played a good tournament. We grew into it.”

Everything went wrong against France, though. “Our defender Bouy slipped and they got a huge chance: 0-1. The ref made a big mistake giving them a free kick not long after. He gave our defender a yellow but it was a perfect sliding on the ball. And they scored 0-2. Boccara got a second yellow minutes later for kicking the ball and we had to proceed with ten men. Something broke. Murphy’s law applied too, as Oranje did get a penalty kick but missed. A mistake by our goalie led to the 0-3 and that was it.”

Remy Reijnierse is the new coach for the Under18s and the Prospect Team, replacing Adrie Koster, who returns to Beerschot in Belgium. The former VVV playmaker will have Reinier Robbemond, the former Utrecht and AZ player as his assistant. Robbemond is currently also under19 coach at AZ and is seen by the KNVB as a highly talented trainer/coach.

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Our talents at Oranje: U17

For the second time in 2 years, the Under17s won the European cup. Something the big boys can learn from. Success coach Albert Stuivenberg: “It’s great to see that both individually and as a team we are consistent and we can bring talent to the point where we can actually win trophies. Once, it might be a one-off, but doing it twice means something.”

Stuivenberg: “And it’s about experience, isn’t it. Experience in playing big games and gaining experience in winning. In how that feels. Any prospect that reaches the big Oranje can resort back to this experience and bring that along. That is the added value. And clubs benefit too. Quite a percentage of my lads have already played in the first teams of their clubs. This might be partly due to the financial stress some clubs have, but also because these players are almost ready for that. Seedorf, Vanenburg, Kieft, Robben, Van der Vaart, Van Persie, they all made their debuts around this age…”

In this campaign, Stuivenberg found that the quality of the smaller nations is increasing. “The difference in quality and playing level is diminishing. Countries like Slovenia and Poland play really strong football. They may lack the huge talents, but their team tactics are really good. Some nations compensate their lack of class with intense team practice and these nations almost play like club teams. So consistent and with lots of cohesion.”

Holland played Georgia in the semi finals. A strong and tough team, that defeated Spain and England in the group. “We played most of the game with one man more, but still have difficulties breaking them down. We played in a too low pace. Sometimes, when the other team gets red-carded early, complacency sinks in to the team. As if it’s easy to beat ten men. Experience learns it is not.”


Coach Albert Stuivenberg

Nathan Ake, the ex-Feyenoord midfielder in Chelsea service and PSV striker Rai Vloet had the best of the game and most chances but it was PSV defender Hendrix who found the net in the last quarter of the game. When Georgia tried to break for the equaliser, Oranje got more space and Feyenoord midfielder Trindade de Vilhena offered Thom Haye the deciding goal.

Oranje U17 would play the finals against Germany again, a repeat of the 2011 game, which Holland won 5-2.

The finals ended in a draw this time, but Oranje was better in taking spot kicks. The Germans did leave the initiative to Holland in the first part of the game, playing more old-fashioned counter football.

In a tense game most opportunities were shots from distance. Germany took more initiative in the second half and scored with a header from a corner in within 5 minutes: 0-1.

Germany got the better chances and Holland was a bit shaken after this German goal. It took the Dutch a while to get back into the game. Holland pressed and pushed but it took a lucky cross in from Haye to enable sub Acolatse to score in the dying minutes of the game. Goalie Nick Olij was the Dutch hero in the penalty series. He stopped the fourth German penalty and Tonny Trindade de Vilhena scored the winning goal.

After the finals, Albert Steuivenberg said the late goal was not just luck. “We know and knew we had talent but I wanted the boys to fight for their chances too. To stick together and work when things go against you. Against Georgia, we had to already and against the Germans you saw this again. Sure, it was luck but this is luck you sort of generate yourself by believing in it. And this late goal was a tremendous boost for us in the penalty series, just like Germany will have had trouble processing the late equaliser.”


Tonny Trindade de Vilhena and Nathan Ake

Stuivenberg is seriously impressed with his squad. “As I said, some of these guys have made their debut in the Eredivisie and with Feyenoord on the way up, AZ doing really well and also Heerenveen and Vitesse doing great the future of Dutch football is rosy.”

Ajax and PSV are the main suppliers in this age group.

“It’s interesting to see that clubs in England, Spain and Italy are already scouting these lads. It’s a good confirmation for them, but not necessarily a good thing to follow up on… But Ake has a good contract for instance, at Chelsea, and he will train with the A-team and what not… It’s hard for these lads to resist that…”

Both Ajax and PSV have four players in the squad, with Heerenveen/Emmen three.

Elton Acolatse, Djavan Anderson, Branco van den Boomen and Queensy Menig (all Ajax), Thom Haye and Nick Olij (both AZ), Nathan Aké (Chelsea), Tonny Trindade de Vilhena (Feyenoord/Excelsior), Sandy Walsh (RC Genk), Pascal Huser, Wouter Marinus and Joris Voest (all sc Heerenveen/Emmen), Riechedly Bazoer, Jorrit Hendrix, Rai Vloet ,Bram van Vlerken (all PSV), Mike Havekotte (FC Utrecht) and Jeroen Lumu (Willem II/ RKC).

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Our talents at Oranje: U16

We all got smacked in the head by reality this summer. Was our team really this bad? Are our players over the hill? What are we to do, without Kuyt, Mathijsen and Van Persie? Ok, not Van Persie…but still… Is there more talent on its way?

I am starting this new series, and I’m asking Alex and others to keep an eye out for more talent.

This series starts with the Under 16s.

Ruud Dokter has been a youth coach and coordinator at the KNVB for years. All very respectable and decent. Since a year, Dokter is being assisted by a real football lad. Kees van Wonderen. Former international and one of the last European cup winners ( 2002, with Van Marwijk and Feyenoord). And Kees, was also one of the youngsters handpicked by legend Wiel Coerver when he was little (Kees) and coached according to the Coerver principles.

The former Feyenoord libero was also youth coach at FC Twente, but will soon resume his career elsewhere. Who knows, Louis van Gaal might pick him as one of the assistants.

“I will also support the Under18s. I’m really keen to do this. Working with the best prospects of the nation is a privileged job.”

Last year Autumn, the under16s played the fournations tournament in France. The youngster won their first game against Peru. Dokter: “These guys can all play. They are all developed at bigger clubs and they work with good coaches and with good material. Their inconsistency is their biggest weakness.”


Kees van Wonderen

Holland dominated the game but lacked the bite in the final third. “This is typical. We play really well, but in the final pass we make the wrong choice. But, I am not dissatisfied. We are working hard on our organisation and defensive foundations and we did really well at that level.”

Vitesse player Issa Kalon scored Hollands only goals.

The next game was against the USA and Holland lost that game surprisingly. “Some weird decisions by the referee. We got 1-0 up but when a USA forward made a foul against our defender, the ref saw it differently and awarded them a penalty.”

Team USA scored the 1-2 after the break and Holland couldn’t fight itself back into the game. “This is a disappointment. We didn’t have the physical strength to fight back and force something.”

Holland lost the third game against France as well. But Dokter was not too sad about it all. “These are great experiences for the lads. We needed to see where we stand. Well, we know. We gave away far too many chances. We need to defend as a team. In the offensive play, we did ok but we weren’t killers enough in converting our chances. We need to work as a team. Against France and the USA, we were immediately beaten when we lost that team feeling. Great lessons.”

This year, the Under16s played the fournations tournament in Portugal and started strong with a 2-0 win over Portgual. Holland dominated the game, played attractive football and deserved the win. Stokkers and Idrissi scored for Holland. Ruud Dokter: “We had two goals when we traveled to Portugal. We wanted to perform. The lads want to win this one. And the second goal is to play like a team. We practices a lot of tactics and in particular our turnarounds. We worked very hard.”

The practice made perfect indeed. Compared to last year, the Under16s played forward pressure and chased the opponent all over the pitch. Still, Holland gave opportunities away too.


Ruud Dokter, team manager….

Captain Tristan Berghuis (PSV) and right winger Idrissi got more opportunities to score but they lacked the killer instinct.

In the second game, against Israel, Holland couldn’t score. Israel played highly negative and defensively and Holland wasn’t able to break that down. Oranje was too predictable. Dokter: “This is a disappointment, but a good lesson for the boys. Israel didn’t come to play. And the lads will have to face opponents like this more in their careers. So it’s good to have this disappointment.”

That disappointment was carried into the last game against Italy. Holland needed a draw to win the tournament but despite having heaps of opportunities, Holland lost 2-1. As Cruyff said: Italy can’t win against you, but you can lose against Italy. Italy got two chances ( a corner and a counter) and scored twice. Holland dominated again, but couldn’t convert.

Ruud Dokter: “We are making great progress. In last year’s tournament we were too naive. Now, we could have won it. We were unlucky but we worked like horses. I’m proud of the guys.”

At the Under16s, Feyenoord/Excelsior’s joint development system is the main supplier, with Oussama Idrissi, Ali Ulusoy, Robbert de Vos, Caner Yalamoglu and goalie Tim van der Linden.

The squad:
Hector Hevel (ADO Den Haag), Daimy Rijnsburger (Almere City), Joël Donald and Dabney dos Santos (AZ), Randy Ababio en Sofyan Amrabat (FC Utrecht), Cihat Celik and Koen Muller (NEC / FC Oss), Chima Bosman, Bob Groenendijk and Stijn Lamers (all PSV), Oussama Idrissi, Ali Ulusoy, Robbert de Vos, Caner Yalamoglu en Tim van der Linden (all RJO Feyenoord/Excelsior), Rewan Amin, Max de Boom and Rannick Schoop (all RJO Heerenveen/Emmen), Philippe van Arnhem, Justin Mathieu, Michiel Rusch en Ralph Vos (all RJO Willem II/RKC), Roland Baas (foto) en Willem Gootjes (RVO FC Groningen/Cambuur), Suently Alberto and Finn Stokkers (Stichting Sparta Rotterdam), Tristan Berghuis (then Vitesse/AGOVV, now PSV), Vincent Schmidt (Voetbalacademie FC Twente), Jeroen Houwen (VVV-Venlo/Helmond Sport).

Stand-by:
Jordy Bruijn, James Efmorfides, Indy Groothuizen, Terry Lartey Sanniez (all Ajax), Thomas Ouwejan (AZ), Bart Ramselaar (FC Utrecht), Ryan Hiwat (PSV), Bart Nieuwkoop (RJO Feyenoord/Excelsior).

Kees van Wonderen: “The football academies all across are doing really well. All players are able to play the game we Dutch love to play. We have wingers, like Iddrissi, we have strikers, good smart midfielders and I’m also impressed with our defenders. Both in terms of their capabilities to actually defend and with their abilities to build up and play football. I won’t name names now, it’s too early to put all those expectations on their shoulders but there is no reason why Holland shouldn’t play a big part in international football in the next 10 to 15 years….”

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Looking ahead to the new season….

Well my friends, the debacle that was the Euro2012 is wearing off a little bit for me.

I actually came out of bed today and tomorrow I will definitely shave, I promised my wife. There is more to life then football, I realised and I hope to find out what exactly, soon…

So, with poor Bert trying to forget his sorrows on some far away island ( with a hefty exit fee in his bank account) and Louis van Gaal scheming and preparing the humiliation of Belgium next month, I am starting to focus on the coming football season.

And I’m not sure I like what I hear/read….

The latest rumour is that Inter and Anzhi have agreed the transfer of Wesley Sneijder to Russia. Now, I don’t care how much he gets ( 15 mio per season?? Really???), I personally want to see him ( and Yolanthe) in England, Spain, Italy or Germany. Not in Russia! Is it all about the money, Wes??

Another rumour says that Raf will have to leave Spurs. Sure, he has hinted at it himself, as Sylvie is making her moolah in Germany but it would again be a bit of setback, being sent away from Real Madrid earlier. Spurs new boss AVB apparently wants to play 4-3-3 and sees no room for Van der Vaart at White Hart Lane. Another disappointment for me.

Van Persie’s future is a bit unsure but we do know he won’t go for Chinese yuans or Russian rubels. I do hope he stays at the Emirates but he will most likely join Man City.

The EPL is getting less interesting for me. Vorm and Krul will keep me interested, but with Kuyt leaving Liverpool and Man City spending money like there is no tomorrow I’m not sure I will focus as much on England as last season. Sure, De Jong and De Guzman will interest me and Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen will be cool to follow but other than that… I do hope we invade Belgium soon… Vermaelen, Kompany, Vertonghen…aaaarrrggh… We would have had one World Cup and one more Euro Cup in our trophy cupboard for sure.

With Dost in Germany, maybe Rafa there too and Robben and Huntelaar in the Bundesliga, I might switch a bit more to the East, giving me a chance to check out Dost and Luuk de Jong too, who might sign for Monchengladbach (if Twente treats him well). Don’t forget, we have Bruma in Hamburg and Elia in Bremen, so heaps to look out for.

Portugal and France don’t offer leagues I’d be following but Ola John, Ricky Wolf and Stijn Schaars do happen to be players I love to watch, so…who knows…

The Dutch Eredivisie might well be the place to hang… Ronald Koeman at Feyenoord and Frank de Boer at Ajax play real Dutch football. Karim El Ahmadi, John Guidetti and Otman Bakkal may have left, but Feyenoord did sign former AZ talent Vormer, ADO marathon man Tim Immers and Heerenveen right back Daryl Janmaat, while the Norwegian/Indian Singh has impressed already.

Ajax will lose Vertonghen and Assaiti and who knows, Vernon Anita but Frank de Boer doesn’t panic. He refuses to pay ridiculous amounts of money for players (like Narsingh) and expect his new recruits to really want to play for the Sons of Gods. If not: see you later.


Bassie getting the Heerenveen suit measured to fit

PSV has new skipper Mark van Bommel in da house, alongside coach Dick Advocaat and is seriously eyeing Luciano Narsingh and Adam Maher. The AZ talent wants to move up a bit and doesn’t believe he’ll play for AZ again.

Gertjan Verbeek at AZ did sign Rasmus Elm brother Victor Elm from Heerenveen and seems to be comfortable with the exit of potentially Maher and Benschop, who left for France.

It’s pretty quiet in Arnhem (Vitesse presented Fred Rutten as their new coach), Groningen ( Robert Maaskant takes the helm), Utrecht ( Jan Wouters stays on board, with potentially Co Adriaanse joining in) and in other places but in Heerenveen the eyes are focused on new coach Marco van Basten, who will need some magic to replace the golden forwards Assaidi, Narsingh and Dost.

Despite another exodus of talent, it’s most likely going to be another exciting season in the Eredivisie, where coaches like Van Basten, De Boer and Koeman will stick to the Dutch school and present some open and attacking football…

And to finish this post off: interestingly our neighbours in the south ( Belgium) have decided to sign a number of Dutch coaches. Mario Been is doing really well at Genk, while former Club Brugge coach Adrie Koster will be active in Belgium as well. Ron Jans signed for Liege/FC Luik and Dutch crown prince coach John van den Brom left the snakepit Vitesse to coach the Belgium top club Anderlecht.

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Bert van Marwijk's career in 5 matches

A bit of a shocker: the Queen yawning when presented with the Dutch squad in 2010

Bert van Marwijk coached us to the WC finals in 2010. And now he’s gone… Never before did Oranje perform as well as under Bert van Marwijk. We’ll say goodbye using five historic games…

Holland – Brazil 2-1, July 2, 2010
Quarter finals of the World Cup. Holland hadn’t really shown up on many radars. Winning against Denmark and Japan is not really something “remarkable”. The Brazil game was a crazy game. Brazil was bossing Holland aound in the first half. In the second half, Oranje gets back into the game, based on mental strength. Nigel de Jong: “We outplayed them on passion and through a couple of little smart things.” Holland is a strong collective and demonstrates a winning mentality. This game is seen as the high point with Bert as big inspiration and motivator. After this game, Bert says: “There is a big difference between someone saying that he wants it, or someone actually demonstrating that he wants it. A big difference between belief and real belief!”. Bert helped the players believe in it. In 35 minutes, Oranje did everything right. Even good football returned. And playing to your strength. And having confidence. And be ballsy. After this game, Oranje was unbeaten for 24 games. A record! And the world looked up… Oranje? Again?

Holland-Spain 0-1, WC-finals, 11 July 2010
32 years after the last World Cup final Holland is at the highest level again. A tremendous performance by Van Marwijk and the team. Arjen Robben had the winner on his shoe in the 61-st minute and could have written history for the Dutch, but he didn’t. Oranje was prone to dirty play and Spain was a tad better. Holland capitulated in the 116th minute. After the hangover, pride and surprise reigned and Amsterdam filled up with a million fans. Bert van Marwijk entered the realm of Great Coaches (move over Rinus, Ernst and Guus….).

Nederland-San Marino 11-0, 2 september 2011
In September 2011, Holland takes the number one spot for national teams in the FIFA ranking for the first time ever. Despite the lost World Cup finals, Holland is the best team of the world. This honorary title is being celebrated with an 11-0 win over San Marino and Holland is the leader of its qualification group. This could well be the high point of the Van Marwijk era. The papers call it the “appetite of a insatiable team….”

Germany – Holland 3-0, 15 November 2011
Two months later, it’s all different. Some Dutch internationals are having issues. They are injured or benched or out of form. The EC qualification is no problemo, but the Clockwork Orange is starting to choke. First a loss against Sweden, than this friendly against Germany. It’s a horrible game. The national papers call it the “worst game under Van Marwijk. No passion, no quality, no discipline. No nothing, really.” There were some players absent, but the level of the Dutch defence was “shocking”. And the national papers start to focus in on the age of some players: Kuyt, Mathijsen, Van Bommel… They are all well above 30 and aren’t getting better. And apart from Strootman and Afellay, Van Marwijk failed to find new blood for his team.

Holland-Germany 1-2, EC 2012, 13 June 2012
The Denmark defeat at the EC could still be regarded as a freak loss. Two years before, Denmark didn’t get into the game, and Holland had an easy victory. Now, Denmark scored and Holland simply couldn’t convert any of the chances. The deception came against Germany. Holland had a good 10 minutes but lost stamina quickly. The Germans made the Dutch defence look like amateurs and Gomez didn’t even cheer after his second goal. The ultimate humiliation was the comments by the Germans to “do their duty to give Holland a lifeline”. The national papers: “Holland lacked chemistry, strikers, defence and midfield. The team went down under stress and impotence.” Van Marwijk’s magic was over. And it was practically the same team that reached the World Cup finals. Was this Euro performance a disaster? Or was Holland’s performance in South Africa a rarity?

We will find the answers in the coming months and years…

Stick with me and join me on this journey to follow the Orange trail. Don’t forget to check out the donation option on the homepage. Some of you have found it and some of you were really generous! Thank you :-). Please support this site…

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Long Live the Coach!!

Ok, so now we had a couple of days to get used to it. And to vent our frustration and criticism.

But… Bert has really resigned. Frank and Guus never made it clear they wanted it and Co is as controversial as Louis so…let’s simply accept the fact that King Louis the Sunking has the job.

And let’s make the best of it.

At the end of the day, it’s not Louis who will stop the shots, give the through-pass or score the goals…

Although it does look like Nigel de Jong took a page from the Louis van Gaal book of flying karate kicks… (see above).

So let’s get on with business.

If Louis is courageous enough to take on the job again. And if the KNVB is courageous enough to take on Louis again… We should start rallying behind them/him, as most of you said already.

And it is true. We do know he knows a thing or two about football. He does have some form of charisma when he walks into the dug out. And he will be able to control the egos. So let’s hope for the best and simply enjoy these press conferences.

I will however, follow his shenanigans closely and will report without prejudice.

And with Ajax-man Danny Blind as his right-handman and most likely Feyenoord-man Gio van Bronckhorst to the left, he might well have himself a strong team. Only a PSV lad to add to the mix and all blood-types will be pleased.

After a first uproar of suspended belief ( Van Basten) and mockery (Ronald Koeman: “Van Gaal first choice? He was more sixth choice, wasn’t he? They came to Frank (de Boer) and me first, then Rijkaard, Hiddink…hahaha, but please add that this was a joke, otherwise Louis gets angry again….), the nation seems to have accepted him. Even Johan Cruyff responded with lots of positive vibes to the news.

Cruyff: “I think the Federation acted very swift with the new team manager. A bit too quick, as far as I’m concerned. You need to take time to make the right decision and talk to the right people. This might end up being a gamble. But, Van Gaal has demonstrated to be a good coach and he might have feelings of revenge and lets hope he takes those feelings and turns them into a ballsy and adventurous football style. That is what Holland needs.”

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Van Gaal revisited?

So, apparently all the other candidates said no. Hiddink was number 1, supposedly and with Cruyff public plea for Rijkaard, one has to expect him to be in the top of the wishlist too. Co Adriaanse was never a real candidate, apparently, and Ruud Gullit was most likely never seen as a serious option.

Louis van Gaal has all the right ticks behind his name, according to some. Experience…? Check. Success as coach? Check. Understands Dutch school football? Check. Dutch nationality? Check!

What the experts at the KNVB overlooked, unfortunately, is Louis’ track record as national coach… No results. Not really effective as figure head. And although the players never speak negatively about him as a club coach, he definitely pissed off the media and the supporters.

His “experience” also shows that he hardly ever leaves a club the normal way. Sure, Ajax 1995 and AZ 2010 were two situations where the expectation levels were low. He was the underdog. But every time he was presented with fanfare and champagne, every time we actually expected him to perform: he imploded. He can’t handle criticism, he can’t handle a board or management looking over his shoulder and he doesn’t know how to look in the mirror.

Louis’ ego has always been the problem.

So while our Oranje team seems to buckle under the pressure of players’ egos, the KNVB decided to put some extra weight on.

Did we forget the two Portugal games, in the 2002 qualifications? Wasn’t it Louis’ ego that helped the Portuguese snatch the key points against us?

And wasn’t it his sensational ego that prompted him to organise a press conference to blame the media about his disastrous results?

And the current KNVB management feels it’s time to give Louis a second chance?

WHY??

Why not give him the U21s first?


Back in the day: Rinus Michels, Hans Kraay sr and a young but grumpy Van Gaal

“The Dutch team manager needs to be an ambassador for Dutch football.” Apparently the KNVB has reasons to believe Van Gaal has learned from his many mistakes in the past. Based on what exactly?

When Van Gaal got the job in August 2000, he actually promised the nation the World Cup. In those days, he also was the technical director at the KNVB. He basically fired himself? Or he gave himself a resignation letter…

KNVB manager Henk Kesler said: “We know who we put in power,” back then. His successor Bert van Oostveen says something similar now. “A tremendous amount of experience, very dedicated, very driven…” But, this time not a 6 year deal but merely a two year contract, until the 2014 World Cup.

With Van Gaal, we have the return of the last team manager who failed to qualify for a World Cup. Leo Beenhakker was his predecessor.

Holland played 14 internationals under Van Gaal, of which 10 in the World Cup qualification. Right after the Euro2000, Holland drew against Ireland, 2-2, and lost at home in De Kuip against Portugal, as a result of two incidents. One, the infamous line up change, with right back Reiziger as left full back. “He can do that,” Van Gaal said, who missed all his left backs as a result of injuries. Reiziger made a crucial mistake, offering the Portuguese the 0-1. When some idiot blew a whistle, some time later, Davids stopped playing, allowing Figo to steal the ball and prepare the 0-2.

Holland was able to take revenge in Portugal and was 0-2 up when Van Gaal decided to bring more attackers, with only 10 minutes to go. This lack of balance in the team resulted in Portugal equalising. A play off against Ireland was supposed to get us our ticket, but despite big opportunities for Kluivert and Zenden, Ireland won it: 1-0.

Holland didn’t qualify and Louis resigned. Louis played 14, won 8, lost 2 and drew four times.


Van Gaal forgets to win in Portugal: 2-2. The end is nigh…

Danny Blind will be Louis’ assistant. The former Ajax and Oranje libero worked with Van Gaal at Ajax and shares his football vision. When Blind supported Van Gaal’s return to Ajax, Cruyff and Co decided Blind had to leave Ajax.

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Van Bommel talks!

Mark van Bommel has officially not yet resigned from Oranje. Not officially, but the most decorated active international ( not counting Seedorf in other words) did say after the Euros that “others should pick up the mantle”… The 35 years old returns to PSV this season and his only aim internationally now is to win the Europa League.

“Yes, it has come that far now. I remember crying in 2010, after the Spain final… It all came out. I didn’t have that this time around. It was more a numbness, I guess. Anger, despair, flabbergasted… But it’s over. I think I have maybe two good seasons left in me and I will give those to PSV.”

It does seem you have tendency to cry suddenly?

“Oh you mean the press conference at Milan? Well, the weird thing is, I have felt so at home there in such a short timeframe. I only played there 1,5 season and everyone at the club was asking me to stay. They even offered me a better deal for another season. When I finally told the people I wouldn’t stay, most of the cried. The laundry ladies, the physios… And when the press officer shed a tear at my press conference, I couldn’t keep it dry either, hahaha… It’s just so emotional you know….”

There were tears amongst the fans too, after the Euros…

“Sure… I know… It was a very bad experience, for us too… Really…I don’t know…unexpected…”

Some people, analysts, say they could see this coming. And they believe Bert van Marwijk – your father in law – saw it coming too?

“No, I don’t believe that. Ridiculous. This team reached the finals two years ago and we have an awesome qualifications again. We only lost our last game against Sweden in the second half as a result of personal mistakes. People who now say they saw it are not straight. I don’t think Bert saw it. I do believe he was concerned for our last line of defense, with Gregory injured, Pieters injured and Mathijsen not 100% fit. Obviously Robben had fitness issues in the start of the season, Sneijder, Afellay, so it’s quite normal that a coach has questionmarks… But we were honest to God pretty confident going into the tournament…”

Too confident? Complacent?

“In hindsight? Maybe… But I don’t think so… Most players came out of a good season. Robin, Klaas Jan, Rafael, myself… Ibi was fit again, Gregory had his games. Johnny Heitinga was man of the season… We had reasons to feel strong. Robben had a tough season but he’s strong and we counted on him taking revenge with Oranje, you know. But that complacency might have been there in the Denmark game. When we were 1-0 down, it did feel as if we all thought “we will turn this around”… We were playing well, creating opportunities. I never expected us not to score… When we had our half time talk, we knew we had 45 minutes to score two and with Huntelaar and Rafael coming on later, we felt we were going to. It was really weird that game…”

What went wrong?

“I think the answer is not that hard. If you look at the game, you see two faces of Oranje. In the first 20 minutes, we push forward, we play our game, we create opportunities and are confident. We pressed as a unit. But somehow we lost that “tightness” and while our forwards pressed high, our defence tracked back… The gap in midfield for Nigel and myself was getting too big. And there was no way we could change it around.”

Why did that happen?

“I am guessing, but I think Johnny was getting a bit concerned with Vlaar and Willems – new lads – close to him and maybe he senses Gregory not being in top form…. There was no cohesion… But we did create opportunities so I thought – like the rest – that we would turn it around… And suddenly, the game was over… That game, we simply should have won it. Even that hand ball was not seen by the ref… pfff… It was not brilliant, but it wasn’t that bad.”

And suddenly you had to play all finals to even get close to winning it.

“Yes and that sort of broke our confidence I guess. We got all that criticism and the lads at the back felt the pressure and Robin got all those questions about him not scoring… It didn’t work for us. I think we made the right decision to stick to our gameplan against Germany. We again started well, with a couple of good opportunities… ”

You could have been the Dutch Pirlo if Robin would have scored that ball alone facing Neuer…

“Well, that’s football. I could have been the man with that pass but I ended up the loser. And yes, I let Schweinsteiger get away, but we made these mistakes as a team. Sneijder let his man go, Willems lost his, Mathijsen made the wrong decision and Gomez did everything right. Bang. Another smack in the face. And that 2-0 was not helping either…”

Again, it felt like a 2-2 was possible.

“Of course. You know people like Van Persie, Robben and Hunter only need so much to score a goal. It takes seconds. We had a number of good plays in the second half and Germany really didn’t play that good. But it wasn’t to be.

And the criticism became stronger. Van Basten and Gullit were ruthless.

“And why? As if we enjoyed it? They know what it’s like. They had that 1990 World Cup. Why would they be so cynical. And they never explained what they thought we should do. It was only “Oh this was sooo bad…” Well, we know that! They were both great players and I didn’t expect this sort of attack.”

But it wasn’t good…

“It wasn’t but in both games, Denmark and Germany, we could have had a much better result. There was no team playing great the whole tournament. Spain played a tremendous finals, but their other games weren’t that good. We lacked luck, we didn’t have “it” at the right time. We deserved more against Denmark and we could have had a second goal against Germany. I accepted the criticism on the first goal Germany scored. But I was not ok with the people saying I didn’t have the legs anymore. That is simply unfair. If I would have played 4 or 5 games bad in a row, sure. Then I would say myself: maybe time to step down. But I played well against England in the friendly, I didn’t do too shabby against the other teams in the friendlies.”

Was it hard to hear from your father in law that you were benched for the Portugal game?

“That father in law thing…that hasn’t come up in four years but when I’m benched people suddenly call the coach “my father in law”… No, it was not hard. It was good for the team. I’m not here for me, but for the team and if it’s good for the result that I sit on the bench, I will. The team needed something and I wasn’t playing great against Germany. I totally accepted that. And again, despite Portugal’s dominance: we were close. Vlaar had an amazing opportunity and Rafael hit the post. We were very unlucky.”

And then it was over…

“Yes. With all the crap that goes with it. Suddenly all sorts of talking heads knew exactly what went on. I don’t know where they got it from, seriously. The vibe in a group is always good when you win and always shite when you lose. That is a given. We don’t have a bad group. We’re all professionals. We talk about stuff and we accept that we are not all the same. We don’t need to be friends. What Robben yelled at Bert or what Huntelaar did in the hotel is all stuff that is part of top sport. In the heat of the moment, things are said. Big deal. We had stuff going on in South Africa too! But, I guess the Dutch people needed to vent their disappointment. I get that.”

But mistakes were made, correct? Willems? Afellay? The Huntelaar situation?

“Well sure, in hindsight you know everything. When Bert selected Willems, everyone though that was ok. Cool and ballsy. Willems did well in my book. Played good against Denmark, didn’t do too badly against Germany… The Portugal game, well… Playing all those offensive players put a lot of strain on the defenders, but he has speed and he was simply a better option than Schaars. Afellay played a very good warm up and seemed fit. And Huntelaar…I think he was getting frustrated and you know what, these are tough situations. If we would have won the Denmark game, everything would have been different… It just went downhill from there… Sad.”

Did Bert discuss his resignation with you?

“No, why would he? He’s strong enough to take care of himself. I expected him to stay in the job. I haven’t really spoken with him. I’m on my holidays now and I’ll return to Eindhoven soon. Looking forward to that. PSV has always been my club. I promised them in 2005 I’d return and here I am. An emotional thing for me, as they were very good for me. And since then, I played for Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AC Milan. Not bad….”

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Open Letter to the KNVB

Dear KNVB,

I am assuming you want our Dutch National Team to do really well…

That is the basis for this letter. If you don’t want this, please disregard.

I do believe good results by our national team can turned into euros, correct? Sponsor money? Trips? Merchandise? Ticket sales, etc?

And clearly, euros is what’s driving this. From what I understood, Mr Van Oostveen was quick to comment after our loss against Portugal that the financial ramifications for Oranje were tremendous.

So let’s put it all in perspective.

If Holland plays well, we gain standing. Opponents want to play us. And sponsors want us. If Holland plays according to the Dutch School ( you might have seen the Euros finals between Spain and Italy?), the Dutch football export product ( coaches, players, methods) will become more and more in demand.

Now, what is important is for you to accept responsibility for the fact that our football has deteriorated while a competitor has adopted our playing style and is kicking everybody’s arse.

You see, we had people like Michels, Cruyff, Van Hanegem introducing a new style of football.

We had the Gullits/Van Bastens/Rijkaards doing their magic in the 1980s, with true believers like Arrigo Sacchi following suit.

And Louis van Gaal and his Ajax and Ajax-crew ( Co Adriaanse, Blind, Mourinho, Frank de Boer) impressing even more in the 1990s.

We also had a tremendous coach like Wiel Coerver (winner of the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord) who developed a masterful method for skills-training and today one of his biggest followers is second in command at Man United (Rene Meulensteen). But like Johan Cruyff, Wiel Coerves was pushed out. “Too difficult to deal with”.

I can’t remember all the arguments and reasons you had for not allowing Johan Cruyff in the team manager’s role but it had to do with salary and the fact that Johan wanted to have his own staff… Man man, how pathetic and agricultural you guys were thinking back then. Look at today’s situation. No coach takes on a job without his own team or without at least 1 Mio euros as a yearly salary…

Shame on the KNVB, in other words!!

After Rijkaard, you gave the job to self-kicker and ego-centric Louis van Gaal. Who made a mess of things. Louis is a club coach. (And are you SERIOUSLY considering him AGAIN???).

You resorted back to easy-going Dick Advocaat, who went two steps back in time with his ugly result-football. But he didn’t bring the results. Neither did he in 1994, by the way, so why he was given the job in 2002…. no one knows.

Young, unproven Marco van Basten got the job in 2006 and he was allowed to insult and character-assassinate Seedorf, Davids, Van Nistelrooy and Van Bommel. He even told the media himself, recently: “I was much too young for that job. I didn’t know what happened to me.”

Poor Marco. Poor players. Poor fans. Poor Oranje.

Again, shame on you!

And now Bert had the job for 4 years. The results were great until the Euros 2012. But the quality of football deteriorated. The Dutch School of football evaporated. And slowly, the only aspects keeping this team together ( spirit, team, mentality, joy, desire, will) disappeared as well and as a result we were humiliated Ireland style.

Bert had nothing to fall back on. He hadn’t tested younger players. He didn’t have a Plan B ( which should have been Plan A in the first place: 4-3-3) and he simply failed.

Now the KNVB will have to make a smart move. As there is a lot at stake.

Not just “winning or losing”. But re-building our football culture.

Which means, defining our style of play. The characteristics of our football. And making sure we play like this with all our rep teams. From the 14 year olds to the pros.

Think in terms of: forward pressing, dominance, ball possession, pass & move, depth and width in possession, tight without possession, wingers and full backs using the space up front, defender with speed and build-up qualities, etc etc…

So we need a team manager for the big Oranje, that adheres to this playing style. Selects players for it.

Shouldn’t be too hard, as most players if not all can play in a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 system.

And works on getting these lads to play together as a unit. If we identify two or three young defenders that might have “it”, work with them. Talk to their club coaches. Make a development plan. Invite them for sessions.

So, our friend the team manager needs to focus on tactics, on mentality, attitude and desire.

And what he does, fits in perfectly within the football culture of the KNVB. In terms of practice material, supporting functions such as physiology, nutrition, video analysis and other supporting facilities.

I think the KNVB needs a “culture management team” of three of four wise men who protect the Dutch football culture. They oversee (like a Board of Directors) the management team: Team Coordinator ( the current Hans Jorritsma role), National Coach and the Head youth teams manager.

These wise men aren’t too hard to pick: I’d go for Cruyff, Van Hanegem (both 1974), Rijkaard, Wouters or Gullit (1988) and Frank de Boer or Philip Cocu (1998).

And instead of taking trips to South America, Asia, Australia in the off season, you forget about those $$ and you allow the coach to work on his team for a day or 10 in the peace and quiet of Hoenderloo. To build and create a winning team.

It is your job to select the best man for the challenge. Or best men for the challenges. It’s also your job to create the ideal circumstances for these men top operate in.

So, do your job!

Orange regards,

Jan of Jan’s Bleeding Orange Blog!

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Viva Espagna ! !

I am sorry people. I know some of you don’t like the way Spain/Barcelona plays…

And as we lost against them in 2010, we might carry a grudge, but By Golly they played sensational against Italy, didn’t they?

And if you can win three big tournaments in a row, even with not that good football ( 2010) you deserve respect…

And although I do think Barcelona is getting boring and predictable at times, this Spanish side really impressed me.

For a couple of reasons. And obviously, I look at them thinking… Hmmm, if only Oranje could play like this.

1. They can kill of a game / opponent
They know how to play good football and they know how to win games. They hardly concede goals. And they have patience. Xavi, Xabi Alonso and Pique are not only great players, they are also great tacticians.

2. They are sooo skilled
Every touch, every pass, every run…it’s all pure football. They experience joy on the pitch for sure and they are all about the game. Sure, some of them (Busquets) dive and others are a bit dirty (Ramos) but all in all, they are outrageous.

3. They work like a team and don’t demonstrate prima donna behaviour
Oh yes, we read about the Barca-Real Madrid rifts and the bust ups… But under Senor Del Bosque they operated as a team. Super player Cesc had to sit on the bench. I didn’t hear him whine. Torres got a look in and then he was benched again. Juan Mata won the CL with Chelsea and only played 5 minutes… And not a single word of protest or discontentment. And these guys all had a big season. They all had 50 games or more. But they worked and worked their arse off.

I liked this tournament. We saw a cocky and “Dutch” Germany choke when it mattered most. Again! We even read in their newspapers that success coach Low is to blame and that they want to go back to their old ways. Playing ugly but win.

We saw England playing for what’s it’s worth. Which is never that much. But there is passion and pathos in that team and lots of physical issues as well.

We saw Croatia playing a Spain-lite type of football, we saw Portugal finally throwing the chains off and play with balls and we saw France implode again.

But most importantly, we saw Italy playing somewhat Dutch ( it resembled our World Cup campaign… never great… one midfielder (Pirlo/Sneijder) important and one forward important ( Robben/Cassano) while the other one got headlines for many reasons and not always the right ones ( Van Persie/Balotelli)).

I think to track back for Holland, to get to the place were Spain is, is not that hard.

We need to go back to our roots. And we need to find some good defenders. Arbelao and Ramos have demonstrated that we don’t need world class players on all the positions. Sergio Ramos compensates a lot with his mentality and physical strength. While Arbeloa is almost a pathetic figure in this wonder team.

But somewhere down the line, this Spanish team will fail. Xavi will get too old. The desire will go. Complacency might set in. Del Bosque might retire. Etc etc…. And then we will look back at the period 2008 – 2012 as the Spanish period and we will tell our grandchildren about the legendary Spanish team. And names like Iniesta, Fabregas and Casillas will mean as much then as Puskas, Eusebio, Cruyff and Netzer mean to us now…

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