Month: June 2015

Oranje secures crucial points but will change coach….

The Dutch overly cricital analysts said it before the game: “If we really need to lose sleep over an away game against Latvia, than we have sunk really deep…”. And obviously they are correct… Holland needs to play all finals now, to secure enough points to reach the Euros. For the current #3 in the World, that is actually quite disappointing.

But, at least we are still in it. Guus could breath relaxed after the game, as I am 100% convinced he would have been fired with any other result.

The team did what it had to do. Put pressure on. Create opportunities. Win. The Latvians played pretty solid actually. Their positioning was excellent and their will and desire was present too. Paired with a Dutch team as opponent which wasn’t able to fire on all cylinders. Depay on the left was very active and involved in the first half, as was Wesley Sneijder. But Luciano Narsingh and Klaas Jan Huntelaar, in contrast, were sub par. Huntelaar did not get an inch in the box and didn’t get good service while Narsingh simply seems to lack form (or quality). He is particularly strong when he can explore space and against Latvia away, obviously there is not a lot of space to be found. This is where Promes or even Berghuis would have been a better option.

wijnaldumlat

The pairing of Sneijder and Blind in a 4-2-4 set up worked fairly well although Clasie with his fast passing and vision would have added a dimension to the game, I’m sure. Depay could have scored a couple in the first half (should have even?) and that would have opened the door to a strong victory for sure. But lack of sharpness, and a good goalie prevented a bigger loss for Latvia.

It was one moment of briliance from sub Wijnaldum that sealed the fate of the Latvians. A good turn, a Kluivert style toe poke and Oranje was 0-1 up. Another good moment of Blind finding space (!) for Narsingh and the winger did the only thing right in his game. Hopefully the goal will help him shrug off his burden. Interestingly enough, Narsingh jumped into the arms of his rival Promes while Wijnaldum sought assistant coach Van Nistelrooy who had instructed Wijnaldum where to look for space and how to time his run. Van Nistelrooy had told the PSV midfielder that he would be the one scoring the crucial goal. Four minutes later, he did.

devrij bmi

And so Oranje did what it had to do.

Having said that, the 67 year ol sly fox will probably make way for Danny Blind, this summer already.

Lucky Gus seems to have lost his touch. There are grave concerns within the KNVB while the players also shared their confusions in small circles about some of his decisions and communications.

Now, I think Guus deserves a respectful farewell as I don’t think there is more work for him after this. And he has had a sensational career. Quite good as a playmaker but not good enough for the big guns. He played for PSV for 1 season but preferred to be a big fish in a little pond. He coaches PSV to the European top and since that feat he has done really well for himself, coaching all over the world, with a mixed bag of success.

The team manager’s stint for Oranje from 1994 to 1998 was a highlight for sure. Rising like a Phoenix to the semi finals in France after the 1996 ashes with Davids as co-star.

Letland - Nederland

 

But this time around, Guus thought he could do it half-arsed. He figured that with 1) the top 3 progressing to the Euros and 2) a mix of talent and experience he would be able to bring the Dutch School back into existence while winging it a bit. Well, he made a mistake. For starters: the World Cup as per usual left a negative inheritance for Oranje’s Euro qualifications’ start. This seems to happen always. Players are either tired (the young ones), overly extended (the older ones) or maybe a bit complacent (the rest).

So a series of mistakes, lack of desire and absence of big star names resulted in a horrific start of the series and all through this first year, Hiddink was vague and somewhat mentally absent during press conferences. Deer in the headlights comes to mind. He wasn’t consistent and his communication was questionable. After the second loss against Iceland, the KNVB general manager immediately pulled the power card which probably didn’t help in the relationship department with Guus who normally would refuse to deal with minions like Oostveen.

And if you are in a rut, things don’t go your way. The many missed opportunities against the Czechs and Iceland, the Janmaat mistake, the defensive uncertainties, the Robben injury, it all seemed to be a logical result of the Law of Attraction.

depaylat

 

He is not longer the fearless leader. Her accepted too much and was too weak in his communications and directions. He has been changing and shifting players. De Jong in center midfield… Two months ago, he called him “my captain in midfield” and now De Jong wasn’t even needed. Clasie gets the nod. But suddenly Clasie is sacrificed for Blind. Van Persie and Huntelaar cannot play together against strong opponents. Fine. But which of the two will need to go? I think Huntelaar will know that it will most likely be him. So the Schalke striker is playing less for the team but more for himself. Janmaat in, Van der Wiel out. Van der Wiel in, Janmaat out. When the US came to play a friendly, Hiddink said quite resolutely he wouldn’t play Sneijder (who just arrived from Turkey) but the little playmaker wants to break van der Sar’s record and convinced Hiddink to allow him to come on as a sub. Or the game against Mexico. Hiddink had said Robben would be used only for half the game. But Robben enjoyed himself and decided to stay on the pitch.  These are all not too smart things to do for a coach.

blind latvia

Obviously, there is no guarantee that Danny Blind will fix this all. But at least the players highly respect him for his craftmanship. And it seemed in the run up to the Latvia game that this decision was already made. The 53 year old ex Ajax coach was coaching dominantly at the practice sessions while Hiddink kept his distance. During the game, Blind also made a passionate and driven impression, coaching actively, while during the first matches, he sat next to Hiddink, somewhat apathically. But it is his big ambition to coach this team, and he decided to not join Van Gaal at Man United after the World Cup for this reason.

Despite the lack of satisfaction concerning Hiddink’s performance, the KNVB will most likely not sack the seasoned coach. The former Real Madrid coach will probably step into a mentoring role or advising role which will lead to Blind taking the reigns and most likely a new assistant coach being added to the mix at Oranje.

rvp latvia

And while Hiddink immediately went on holidays, Blind and the KNVB will get together to find a modus to give the former success coach the ending he deserves. It will be a busy summer in Zeist, but also for a lot of the Oranje internationals. Some of whom are not yet certain where their next home will be. Depay is home and hosed at Man United. Huntelaar will remain at Schalke 04. Usually, Janmaat, De Vrij, Martins Indi and Blind will not move away (although De Vrij might be snatched up as he had a tremendous year with Lazio). But Jetro Willems has signalled he is ready for a next step. “If a good club in a big competition comes, I might be tempted.” There is rumour that Paris St Germain might be that club.

wiel hidd

Van der Wiel is most likely on his way to AC Milan. The Italian behemoth is looking at re-establishing themselves and hope to get Zlatan back to the fashion capital. Jordy Clasie is ready to move away from Feyenoord and both AS Roma and Southampton seem to be the most likely candidates for him. Sneijder has a solid contract in Istanbul, where he makes 6 Mio euros per season and lives like a movie star in a penthouse overlooking the Bosporus. He will play CL next season and any board member at Galatasaray suggesting to sell the midfielder might want to hire some bodyguards. But… it’s football. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is tempted to play in the EPL for once. Liverpool could be a candidate. Wijnaldum is another player whose name is on many scouting lists. He had a good World Cup and this last goal will definitely help his status. I think Narsingh will be happy to stay at PSV, but Promes and Lens are both in demand. Lens would love to join Advocaat at Sunderland while Promes might have different clubs to choose from. Robin van Persie is a question mark. The 31 year old is probably too old to make a big transfer although AC Milan and Juventus are mentioned through the grapevine as well. In an interview recently he said that his family’s needs will be very important in his next step. And from more recent quips it seems that the Man United striker might stay at Old Trafford and battle for his position.

hunter jetro

Steven Berghuis is almost certainly on his way from AZ to PSV which might bring more pressure on Narsingh, as Jozefzoon is also an option for Phillip Cocu on the right flank. Leroy Fer got relegated with QPR but is too expensive for the Championship and might be on his way, finally, to Everton. Karim Rekik might either be loaned by Man City to a club in France or Italy or he will be sold to PSV. Ron Vlaar is at the point in his career that any offer from a big club will be appreciated… The veteran defender is injury prone and will not yield a return from an onsell, so it is questionable whether a big name club will actually come for him. This is different for Virgil van Dijk at Celtic who actually has the clubs to pick from. Sunderland, Arsenal, Southampton… which ever it will be, it seems Van Dijk will play EPL football next season and will aim for a spot in the orange jersey.

Lastly, it seems the keepers carrousel will commence soon too, with De Gea moving to Real Madrid and Cillesen being touted as a potential successor. Interestingly enough, people close to Van Gaal say it is a nonsense story.

Sorry guys I could not find a decent video of highlights….

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Preview Latvia – Oranje

Tonight is the big night for Oranje. Another finals to play. Oranje will face Latvia in Riga with a new defence and mostly a new midfield, with Jordy Clasie a shock absentee for the game, as the Feyenoord player returned to Holland with a bowel syndrome situation. He won’t be playing against the Latvians and Daley Blind will now definitely play in the central midfielder role.

Hiddink does not seem to have many secrets. “We need to attack and score goals, so we’ll play Robin and Klaasjan together. It works well enough and with those two we will definitely keep their defence busy.”

Depay will play on the left and Narsingh on the right. The back line will consist of Depay’s team mate Jetro Willems, former partners BMI and De Vrij and Greg van der Wiel on the right. Van der Wiel is a surprise for me. I felt Janmaat was a better option, as he has played well with De Vrij for quite a while. But Janmaat and Hiddink seem to have lost it in their relationship ever since the former Feyenoord man was blamed for the loss against the Czechs and was even ignored by Hiddink for a number of games.

oranje riga

It’s quite interesting that last time around, when Oranje played two matches and Clasie was surprisingly ignored in favour of De Jong, the little Feyenoord midfielder also bailed with an injury. Now, after he played in the starting line up in the US friendly, he has to make way for Blind again and suddenly he is injured again. And returning home. Coincidence? Or is Clasie fed up with the antics of his coach?

We’ll find out some time I suppose.

Hiddink did not mention a rift at the press conference and further confirmed that in his eyes, the defence (and defensive midfielder) were not the only ones to blame for the defeat against Team USA. “Defence starts up front. If the forwards and midfielders don’t join in, any defence is helpless.” But…despite these words, all defenders and the defensive mid are being replaced.

guus letland

The only reason BMI is back in the team is because Vlaar is injured and BMI and De Vrij work well together. Hiddink wanted to focus on the offensive side of the game, as it is a must win match. “If we don’t win we will lose control and don’t have our future in our own hands. We can get 15 points in total, and if we do, we will finish second and qualify for the Euros.”

The Riga stadium wouldn’t be fit for a Jupiler match, with stands lacking behind one of the goals. That is now a parking spot. It won’t be the first time a missed goal attempt hit a car and took a side view mirror.

daryl latvia

Daryl Janmaat lost his spot in the squad after the Czech game but doesn’t want to discuss that situation. “I made a mistake. I can see now that I had to have handled that situation differently. You need to make those decisions quickly and I was doing something on impulse that belongs to the Eredivisie but not at this level. I paid my dues. But I was happy that the coach invited me back for the Spain game. I think we need to stop looking at that game now. We lost. We are in a position where we need to get our act together and make this happen. I don’t want to look back but forward.”

Daley Blind will move from left back to centrally in midfield. The former Ajax prodigy: “I get that question a lot. What spot do I prefer. I don’t mind where I play. I want to play. I’ll play wherever the coach needs me. And tonight it’s midfield.” Blind will play with RVP and Sneijder on one midfield and will need to guard the balance in the team. Against Team USA this didn’t work out too well and the Americans had a free road towards Cillesen, at times. “The US Game was tough. The space was too big, the space between the lines. We simply couldn’t play compact and we failed to keep possession. Once we can play compact, we are a tough team to play against.” Asked whether Latvia could be a banana peel for Oranje. “Well, we already slipped enough times… We played well at home against them, but this is a different game. We need to be 100% focused because these days you can lose against any team, it seems.”

Daley

One player who impressed Hiddink and his staff but who won’t start is Steven Berghuis. The lanky AZ midfielder/winger was a revelation, said Hiddink. “That is a good lad. Normally young players need some time to adjust to the pace with Oranje. But he did very well when the foreign players weren’t yet here. Usually, when the likes of Van Persie and Huntelaar join in, the pace is pushed up even more. But Berghuis didn’t seem to care. He was one of the best players at times.” The seasoned coach will not start Berghuis, but the youngster has a similar threat as Robben, playing as a lefty from the right and scoring many goals after drifting inside. We might see the former Twente and VVV player make his debut.

RVP 50

Robin van Persie could score a record 50 goals for Oranje tonight. This has never happened before. “It might help even, scoring a record goal. We are under pressure and can use a lift. But to be honest: I love it! I love the pressure. We all feel this is a key game. Bring it on.”

I think we will tear the Lats apart and prove to the world and ourselves this was all an incident. I think we’ll be 3-0 up at half time. Sneijder, Huntelaar and Van Persie scoring. We will add two more in the second half, with Depay scoring one and Huntelaar adding his second to the tally.

Iceland and Czech Republic will draw 0-0.

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Oranje Latvia dessert of the 2015 season

After having been served a sumptuous main meal last Saturday with the brilliant Iniesta, Messi and Mascherano winning another Champions League at the expense of Juve, we are prepping ourselves for Oranje’s last game this season.

It was a great game. Happy for Barca and all the Barca fans. Happy for Xavi who leaves the club as a legend and realised last Saturday that Messi is only 27 years old so we probably have another 5 years of Messi to enjoy…

But from Iniesta, we go to Klaassen, from Messi we move to Promes and from Mascherano we focus on Bruma…. And co….

Latvia is our next opponent. We played them twice before, both times we won. We scored nine against them, and conceded none.

This is what we need to do again! Score and not concede. We are currently #3 in the group. Winning vs Latvia will get us closer to #2 ( 2 points) while we still have a game to play against them (Iceland). We also have the Czechs at home, so in theory, we could and should simply get to that #2 spot without too many problems.

Hunter latpre

Guus Hiddink has basically the same squad as LVG had in Brazil. Sure, Arjen Robben is injured and RVP is not 100% fit, but still. We played the World top in Brazil (well….Costa Rica…) and I do believe we should be able to beat Latvia sans Robben as well.

So what do we have now? A new coach and partly new staff. We lack Robben. We have a new team tactics (4-3-3, with emphasis on having possesion and playing “Dutch”). We have players like De Vrij, Janmaat, Depay and Blind whom all have improved over the year (one can expect).

So there is no need to not win.

Guus Hiddink made the decision about the players who will have to make way. Groningen midfielder Chery, Vitesse midfielder Propper and Ajax defender Veltman will be packing their bags.  Ron Vlaar is still not 100% and has been training alone but Hiddink seems to believe he will be ready for the game. The Oranje Defense was seen as the culprit for the 3-4 loss against Team USA and it might be that Hiddink starts with a complete new line up in the back. Janmaat-Bruma-BMI-Blind out, and Van der Wiel – De Vrij – Vlaar – Willems in. Blind will most likely move up to midfield in the Clasie role.

sneijder clasie

I would personally use Janmaat as he has experience playing with De Vrij and Vlaar but I would certainly pick Willems as left back. The decision Clasie vs Blind will have to be made on the basis of their form and the type of opponent. If we need quick passing to take the few opportunities handed to us, we need Clasie who has very quick feet and a quick mind.  But I am biased of course :-). Hell, I’d even advise Barca to buy Clasie :-).

It does look like Hunter and RVP will start again up front, in a 4-4-2 style system which will result in a 3-3-4 in possession. Huntelaar was one of the few who could look back with some satisfaction to the US game. “Well, I did score two but that is a poor consolation because we gave the game away. I am disappointed. We didn’t defend well but at the same time should have scored more. The US is stronger than Latvia and I do believe we will do the job.”

vlaar

Huntelaar and Van Persie will both start under Hiddink, something the predecessors were not keen to do. “I am happy with this test, we did well. Robin van Persie played a lot of games behind the striker in his youth and early pro years. He can play like that and I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to play together,” says the Schalke striker.

In transfer news, Rafa van der Vaart is talking to Betis Sevilla. The second club from Sevilla promoted to La Liga this  season and wants to become a big rival of Sevilla FC. Rafa seems keen to move to Spain, as he is part Spanish and his grandparents live in the Sevilla region.

Some people claim to have seen RVP at Roma airport and a link to Lazio is easily made (RVP and De Vrij are good mates). Who knows. If I was Juve, I’d sign both Sneijder and RVP.

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Sloppy Oranje loses again in open game

I keep on repeating myself… I don’t like friendlies. Because you can lose a friendly, while the coach has a wry smile and thinks “Great! Learned a lot. I have a lot of stuff to work on with the lads.” And if Oranje beats Latvia without a problem (thanks KJ) than Hiddink could easily hint that the US game was key for him to make some changes and brief the players….

And we will all have forgotten the US friendly when Holland opens the Euro2016 tournament with a superb win over Italy….

But….

We haven’t beaten Latvia yet and we haven’t qualified for the Euros yet…

So all eyes on Hiddink….

RVP US

The comments on my earlier post already said it. Shocking defending!! And as you will agree: defending takes more than four defenders and a goalie. I literally had to stop the video (see below) at times and play it again to see what went wrong… But with the first goal of the US alone for instance, you’ll see a series of horrible decisions being made by the likes of Wijnaldum, Clasie, Blind, BMI and the not so well versed football fan will end up blaming Janmaat for the goal… In my view, the problem already was there way before Janmaat could have done anything about it….

And on it goes. The intensity wasn’t there. The only ones with something to show were Depay (on a high after winning the title, the golden boot and the ticket to Manchester) and Huntelaar (keen to topple Kluivert on the all time scoring list).

The work rate and intensity weren’t there. You can’t play the US thinking you’re better when you do not put in the work shift. Closing down players, following the runs, going into the challenge whole-arsed (as opposed to half-arsed)… Basic principles of defending and containing the opponent. And this starts up top, with RVP and the Hunter.  The first opportunity the US got should have woken the team up (but didn’t). The high light reel shows it… Huntelaar attempting to head the ball away where his right foot should have done it and then lack of coaching and communication between RVP and Bruma (RVP did have a better position to head the ball away, but how could Bruma know if RVP didn’t yell at him?)…

Sneijder benchus

The US got two opportunities with the goal framework denying them while Klaas Jan had a good chance on the other end of the pitch to make that sort of even…. The first goal was a cracker. A superb cross in by Depay with his right (it is possible for a right footed left winger to cross balls in!) and the header was a goal Hunter would have  scored while asleep. That US equaliser I already mentioned… weak defending from the forwards, the midfielders and lastly the defenders with Janmaat and Cillesen as the least culpable…

In the second half Janmaat was exchanged for Van der Wiel and his first real move was to assist Huntelaar in scoring another great goal. An outswinger this time, presented by the PSG full back and another typical KJH goal. Van Persie had a heading opportunity and a back heel blocked on the line and was a bit unlucky there. That particular move showed Blind on the overlap and a decent attack.

The 3-1 was a bit of a lucky after a good move from the right (Narsingh for Promes) and a weak header by Wijnaldum. The latter playing in the Sneijder role as the little Gala man had just joined the group after winning the double in Turkey. Huntelaar took a shot to make his hat trick but Depay flicked it into the other corner, unbeknownst to him, and made it 3-1.

Any team, in any competition, in any country, in any era, on any planet would know that with 30 odd minutes to go and one goal up, you make sure you win the game. You absorb some pressure from the US who would try and force something and you would go and counter attack your way to 4-1 and 5-1. Two late goals in the dying minutes is usually what you get. But instead of Luuk de Jong keeping his composure and scoring, he decided to go for a thunderbolt and he hit the woodwork, offering Team USA to counter… And they were the ones making us of total chaos in the Oranje ranks to score some goals. The 3-3 was a lucky (deflection via Luuk de Jong) but the other two goals were wonderfully created as the Dutch midfielders and defenders played like amateur juniors and allowed the US a way back in….

rvp propper

Cynical viewers might have thought “matchfixing?”… But we know better than that, I suppose….

Robin van Persie, captain but of the pitch when the US scored their winning goals, was a bit shocked. “I admit, I am a bit shocked by the level. But…this is merely a snapshot of our process. The US deserved this. They kept on going, when we switched off. We usually score 4-1 you’d expect. And kill the game. But we didn’t and they fought back. It’s easy to criticise our defense now, but defending starts up top. And we made this happen as a team. But we have some homework to do for Latvia. Let’s hope we can learn from it.” About his own game, he was not dissatisfied. “I am not 100% still. Match fitness takes a bit of time, but I played 70 minutes and I think I could have played on actually. I’m feeling good.”

Guus Hiddink was definitely not happy and muttered under his breath that this team cannot kill games off. “We were playing Santa Clause. When it was 0-0 we even handed them opportunities. These didn’t go in, luckily, but it was a sign. In this temperature, when you are 3-1 up you need to finish the game off. And be smart. And pace the game down. Pick your moments. We should have made it 4-2 instead we lose 3-4.”

Hiddink went on to question the side’s desire to win and the ability to put it all out there on the pitch. “The US like Australia always fights till the end. We became complacent and didn’t want to suffer to much. Well, this is the result you get. I do believe we can defend decently, normally but we were outpaced at times and that needs to improve.”

propperus

Wesley Sneijder can look back at a good season with Gala. Winning the double and back in the starting line up (normally, but not against the US) with Oranje. He is aiming for the record of Van der Sar in terms of Oranje caps and is well on his way. That is probably the only positive for him, as Hiddink allowed him 10 minutes or so, late in the US game.

Another couple of positives: Daryl Janmaat received the silver scale for playing 25 games in Oranje while Davy Propper of Vitesse (and most likely PSV next season) made his debut, after having sat on the bench twice before. He came on for Robin van Persie but failed to make an impression. A good one that is.

klinnsman

Lastly, Hunter will be happy with his two goals and his fair share in that third one (he’ll get the “assist” honour). The rest of the players won’t be too happy. In particular the defenders can expect a rest. Bruma was shaky and nervous, BMI lacked intensity and offered the US acres of space and Blind seemed uneasy with his positioning and role in the team and looked tired. Clasie, normally always decent, wasn’t able to boss midfield and he might lose his spot when Jetro Willems is fit coming Friday and might force the coaches to put Daley in the mid midfield role.

Vlaar and De Vrij are both expected to be fit coming Friday and will most certainly play alongside each other against Latvia.

 

 

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End of Season Update

After some weeks of frantically following all that happened in the Eredivisie, the EPL, the Champions League and the Oranje shenanigans it is finally time for me to write my post.

It was quite a disappointing end of the season for a Feyenoord fan, as you can imagine. In the three seasons Ronald Koeman (incl Janmaat, Clasie, De Vrij, Pelle) one would expect at least one shot at the title. But every season it was the same old song. Lack of clarity who would come to the club. CL qualifications failing due to this issue. Hardly any width in the squad and when the going got tough, the Feyenoord players let themselves down.

This season saw Rutten come to the club, because he “is so good with young players”. The poor coach had to start without a number of internationals (Martins Indi, De Vrij, Janmaat, Pelle, while Ruud Vormer – the ideal no. 12 left as well). The players who took the spots of these internationals are either very young (Nelom, Karsdorp, Kongolo, Van Beek) or transfer free gambles ( Kazim Richards, Boulahrouz, Wilshere).

gio fey

New Feyenoord coach Gio van Bronckhorst

The best deal Feyenoord did was signing Ken Vermeer. With Clasie and El Ahmadi (returning from Aston Villa), one of few top players. Richards was never able to do what Pelle did: score a lot of important goals, while his cooperation with Immers wasn’t great either. Immers scored 12 goals last season and got stuck on 4 this season. Not enough for a number 10. Add to that the fact that “talent coach” Rutten couldn’t get Vilhena and Boetius to perform and a crisis was in the making.

Rutten saw the signs when technical director Martin van Geel refused to sign midfielder Cherry from Groningen in the winter break. “Why sign Cherry when you have Vilhena??”

And Rutten didn’t see enough future in Rotterdam and decided to leave the club. This message further deflated the young group and the youngsters clearly were out of steam at the end of the season. Where the #2 spot seemed possible in March, the once famous and rich club fell back to the #4 spot and lost out against Heerenveen in the play-offs.

My 2cents: it’s probably best that this happened. Young gun Gio van Bronckhorst can now focus on the season in the league and the national cup. Make no mistake: winning the cup is the shortest route to European football and is also definitely a top trophy.

With Kuyt returning to the Kuip Stadium and hopefully some good replacements for the departing Clasie (I fear) and Immers (I hope) and Gio giving the young Vilhena and Boetius some TLC we might see Feyenoord on the way back. Next season: the national cup, then the next season: #2 and the season after that: the Title :-).

1221excelsior-ajax_deboer

De Boer disgusted when Ajax loses against relegated Dordrecht….

The issues in Amsterdam are quite different. Frank de Boer also does not have a very strong squad. Probably, the worst and most boring Ajax ever. There is definitely talent in Amsterdam but the team lacks leadership. De Boer aims to resolve this by signing Nemanji Gudelj. An impressive player. Already on the radar when at NAC but Ajax decided to let AZ develop him more and is now paying a lot more for him. But he does seem the finished product: good leadership in midfield, tremendous shot and free kick in his feet, great mentality, wonderful lungs and legs and a body equiped for midfield duels! With Fisher returning to the team and potentially Rafa van der Vaart returning as striker and Ajax might have quite an impressive line up. The ax of the team might sound thus: Cillesen, Veltman/Viergever, Gudelj, Van der Vaart. Not bad. With Klaassen and Bazour and Fisher and Kishna/El Gazi on the flanks, surely the Ajax fans should be entertained.

The problems in Amsterdam however, are more off-pitch. The lack of clarity between the youth camp (Wim Jonk) and the Ajax 1 management (De Boer, Bergkamp) and the lack of clarity in the hierarchy of the club. Marc Overmars vs the “technical triangle” as JC likes to call it. When I hear that “El Salvador” needs to fly from Barcelona to Amsterdam to help the club find its way, I can’t help but cringe. Johan Cruyff knows how to do it. But this is the problem. He is not doing it. He is merely telling the peeps in Amsterdam how he thinks it should be done, but then leaves and with that, he leaves a lot of questions. Seagull management, they call it. He comes down from high up, makes a lot of noise, and when he leaves again, he leaves a lot of shit, hahahaha.

prlando

Orlando Trustfull as Ajax’ youth coach

Orlando Trustfull left Ajax last season, when some guru there decided that youth coaches do not longer train one team. The new mantra was: a coach switches teams every 6 weeks. Trustfull immediately resigned: “I cannot instill my vision into a team for 6 weeks and then move on to the next team.” And he left to work for the Oranje youth teams. Frank de Boer got Orlando back. The former Feyenoord playmaker is seen as one of Holland’s best coaches, tactically mainly, and is brought in to support Frank de Boer in instilling a forward pressuring playing style into the first team. Timing, pace, coordination, reading the game, etc. And with Bergkamp and Spijkerman not keen to follow in Frank de Boer’s shoes, it is highly likely that Trustfull with be the successor to De Boer at Ajax once Frank leaves for greener pastures.

Congrats to PSV of course. It was about time though. Marcel Brands was capable of developing a number of strong teams over the last years and was not successful when he had the likes of Mertens, Strootman and Van Bommel in his team, under Advocaat. Depay, being the best player in the Eredivisie, supported by Luuk de Jong, Wijnaldum, Guardado and Willems made it happen. From Day 1, PSV was the team in form. Motivated, focused and professional. Not always with exciting football, but definitely with effective football.

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Jurgen Streppel, best coach of the Eredivisie?

As per usual, coaches like Rutten and Cocu were nominated for Coach of the Year (the Rinus Michels Trophy). Cocu I can relate to, he won the title. But there were other coaches in Holland doing much better than both. How ’bout John van den Brom? Winning 3rd place coming into AZ when there was trouble. The season had started. Van Basten had health issues and decided to take a step back into assistant coach role. Alex Pastoor was supposed to become the head coach but somehow was not deemed fit and was pushed out. Van den Brom played very good football with the likes of Gudelj and Berghuis and got European football. Van der Looij and Ron Jans got to the cup final. Van der Looij’s Groningen won it, but Jans got their for the second time in a row with Zwolle. Not bad! Or Marinus Dijkhuizen with Excelsior? Or Jurgen Streppel with Willem II. I think it is harder to do what Streppel did with Willem II then Mourinho with Chelsea or Pep with Bayern.

Even Ruud Brood wasn’t nominated. The NEC coach was able to promote back to the Eredivisie immediately, winning practically all his games, totalling more than 100 points… A record in The Netherlands. Brood got his promotion in the form of the assistant coach job under Philip Cocu and will assist the former Barca skipper when PSV enters the CL next season. Dijkhuizen makes a move to the English Championship, to Brentford. Fred Rutten will most likely move to his beloved but technically bankrupt FC Twente.

Speaking of Barca: there are quite some ex Barca professionals successful in the different leagues: Blanc in France with PSG, Pep in Germany of course, Philip Cocu #1 in Holland, with Frank de Boer #2, Mourinho (assistant to LVG) winning the EPL with Chelsea, Luis Enrique winning it in Spain while LVG secured CL football with ManU and Koeman secured Europa League with Southampton. Nice record.

And with the different competitions coming to an end, fittingly for all things FIFA/UEFA, Oranje has to play a qualification game some 3 weeks after the end of the season. The US is waiting for a friendly and then it’s Lithuania. Guus Hiddink took the opportunity in those weeks ahead of the games to test some young talents that made an impression earlier. Twente midfielder Ziyech, Groningen midfielder Cherry, AZ maverick Berghuis and Vitesse icon Davey Propper were part of the prelim selection. Hakim Ziyech had to leave with an ankle injury. By now, Jeroen Zoet (PSV) and Leroy Fer (lacking fitness) were sent home again. AC Milan destroyer Nigel de Jong is also not needed. Hiddink: “Nigel was a key player in Brazil but against the US and Lithuania we are looking for a different style player and we decided to let Nigel go.”

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Former Heerenveen midfielder Ziyech with former Heerenveen striker and assistant team manager Van Nistelrooy

With De Jong, you never know. If Oranje gets a group at the Euros with Germany, Spain and Italy, Hiddink might want to use the beast in midfield but I am personally happy to see Clasie or Blind play in that position. Coach Guus has used the time to play and practice behind closed doors with his limited squad. Obviously, the play off players were not yet part of the squad, just like Sneijder and Lens will come to the squad after their obligations for their clubs. Ibi Afellay, his on Hiddink’s list of fave players, will not make the squad this time. Hiddink: “What can I do? He has not played for three months. He wasn’t even part of the squad. He is 29 years old and it will be important for him to find a club and coach that understand him. Returning to PSV? It’s an option but those come-backs don’t always work well. With Cocu, it did. Van Bommel did well too. But we have seen too many examples where it doesn’t work and you don’t wish that upon any player.”

The injured Ziyech can be seen as the most valuable player of the Dutch competition. The former Heerenveen midfielder was one of the few players at FC Twente, in deep doodoo, that impressed. He scored 13 goals, as a midfielder, and had 16 assists!! Not bad. I don’t think Ziyech will stay at Twente this summer. Feyenoord had a chance to sign him last summer but passed. It is not unlikely that he’ll go to PSV, in particular if Wijnaldum follows Depay to the exit.

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At the same time, Jetro Willems told the media he is ready for a next step. This is code for “I am going”. And he is correct. He started playing for PSV at 17 years old in the Eredivisie in the 2012 season and took the left back spot in Oranje at the Euros 2012 after Pieters got injured. He has 3 seasons behind him at the highest level in Holland and had a cracker season, with a good number of assists. Willems probably has the best left foot in the land… He doesn’t mind spending another season in Eindhoven, playing Champions League football but I predict a big future for him and if Man City, PSG, Barca or Liverpool come for him, he is gone. That is the level he will end up, for sure.

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Rafa helped save Hamburg but killed the coach in the process…

Last but not least: Rafael van der Vaart retained his hero status in Hamburg, captaining HSV in their last game to keep their spot in the Bundesliga. It took penalty kicks for the Hamburgers to stay up and Rafa played his last game and did so for the full 90 minutes. The midfielder will leave Hamburg and will announce his new club soon. I am not sure Ajax will have a chance, as the Heemskerk born wizard wants to continue his adventure abroad.

This is the Season Summary for me. Soon back with Oranje news!!

 

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