Month: September 2015

Do the Dutch still have Clockwork Orange material?

All sorts of things race through my mind and many new posts are being formed in my head while we still process those dreadful two games.

A question I got on the blog is “What do I think of the players we have coming through the system…”…. Well let me go into that a bit.

Lets start with some key comments:

In my view, having to have great world class players is not everything. Greece 2004 did not have world class players. Yet they won the Euros. In 1990, Holland had amazing individual players and the end result was horrific. The key is, to have a strong team. Probably with a number of world class players, but we don’t need eleven or sixteen world beaters.

Another comment I need to make is: what do we want? Do we want to play Total Football. Dutch School? If yes, what is that exactly? And if that is our objective, is qualifying or winning trophies important as well? If so, what is more important? Or…do we want to be say “forget Dutch School” and let’s just play to win. Like Van Gaal did in 2014. Realistic football, based on the quality at hand.

Van Oostveen is not looking too confident here…

Zeist - "Guus Hiddink unveiled as new Netherlands manager"

I believe Bert van Oostveen made a mistake in giving Hiddink/Blind the charter to “return to Total Football”. Return to 4-3-3. We don’t have the players for this and most teams these days do not play 4-3-3. They play 5-3-2 (which makes 3-5-2 or 3-4-3) or 4-2-3-1…  Somehow, Hiddink and co. wanted to move away from Van Gaal’s “anti-football”. It was the purists complaining (Cruyff, Van Hanegem) but maybe it is important to be realists. I didn’t complain when LVG went 5-3-2. I didn’t complain when we almost made it to the World Cup finals.

If we want to play at top level, competing for trophies, we need to create a system that fits our players. Louis did this…

keep calm

As for talent, I also want to point out the typical categories we have seen in the past (and present) and what we can expect in the future…. And let’s not forget: we don’t need eleven super world class players to win trophies. We need a healthy mix….

1. Super talents and became real consistent quality players

2. Super talents who never really converted their talent at the top level

3. Overlooked players who became world beaters

So lets look at some players we know today and see what can happen…

1. Super talents who became real consistent quality players

In my book, players like Frank Rijkaard, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp, Frank & Ronald de Boer, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben spring to mind. Players who were spotted as young talents, both by their coaches, the media, the public and the KNVB.  Usually, these kids have the spotlights on them at a young age and manage to work and develop their way to greatness. At this stage, we are looking at lads like Vilhena, Bazoer, Stef van Beek, Jairo Riedewald, Jetro Willems, Memphis Depay, Nathan Ake and Davy Klaassen… I think Daley Blind, Willems, Memphis and Bazoer will make it. From what I have seen…

The jury is still out of course. Memphis played approx 6 serious games for Man United and only impressed against Brugge, which is sort of the level Memphis was used to at PSV… I haven’t seen him dazzle against the EPL opposition as yet. Willems had his little setback season already but from what I have seen since, I think he is the real deal. Bazoer impresses me every week but with all these talents it is a matter of 1) will their bodies be able to withstand the pressure, 2) will their mentality be strong enough, 3) will their management do what is best for them and 4) will they make the right choices in stepping up from their current level… Royston Drenthe comes to mind… A huge prospect, who left too early, to the wrong club and Royston probably also did not have the mental strength to deal with all that stuff.

When all worked….

Spain v Netherlands: Group B - 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

In the past, Rijkaard was almost led astray (PSV, Sporting Lisbon) and Dennis Bergkamp had trouble at Inter…. Robben suffered physically and Wes also got lost in the desert for a spell.

Ricardo Kishna and El Ghazi are also seen as “sensational talents” but Kishna didn’t really prove to be one at Ajax while El Ghazi is just starting to deliver on the promise.

2. Super talents who never really converted their talent at the top level

Here we get to the level of Cedric van der Gun, Frans van Rooij, Mario Been, Jantje Peters, Marcel Peeper, John van ‘t Schip, Gerald Vanenburg, Edwin Gorter, Ryan Babel, Hedwiges Maduro, Royston Drenthe, Kyle Ebicilio, Quincy, Peter Hoekstra, Bryan Roy, Ibi Afellay, Richard Witschge. All these guys had super reputations when they were playing for the youth teams. Most of them played rep football for the Dutch from a young age and most were compared with the great Johan Cruyff, the great Willem van Hanegem or the great Ruud Krol (depending on their role in the team). They were all brought carefully into the first teams at their clubs and most of them made their way into the Dutch team… But somehow, they never delivered on their promise. Some had the bad luck of physical problems (Van der Gun, Pepper, Peter Hoekstra, Afellay), others made the decision to leave their club too soon or go to the wrong club (Royston Drenthe, Richard Witschge) while others simply lacked the mentality to make it big…

Johnny Rep, Ruud Krol and Jantje Peters

peters2

They seemed uncoachable ( Quincy) or lacked discipline or simply couldn’t be bothered to be team players. Some players excelled at youth level but couldn’t make it work for them at senior level (Vanenburg, Babel, Gorter, Been). At this stage, Holland has a number of these lads. I think Adam Maher currently is in this category. I think Boetius might be the same and players like Fer, Wijnaldum, Davy Klaassen, Siem de Jong, Luuk de Jong and Martins Indi might end up in this basket. Exciting players when they’re young. Highly impressive in the Dutch league when they first make their appearance. But when the surprise factor wears off, they appear to be mediocre… Not that there is anything wrong here… Players like Vanenburg, Van ‘t Schip, Roy and Afellay have had good runs at their clubs and country but they simply never made it to the level that was expected of them when they were young… At this stage, Bruma, Klaassen, Wijnaldum, Narsingh, Promes, Lens could all end up in this category.

3. Overlooked players who became world beaters

This is an exciting category. Philip Cocu, Arthur Numan, Jaap Stam, Jan Wouters, Dirk Kuyt, Roy Makaay come to mind. This is the category of players that suddenly catch your eye. I saw Jaap Stam coming. I remember him at Cambuur and Willem II. And after a couple of weeks, you hear this name more often in highlight reels and you realise that this unknown lad is a powerhouse. Cocu, similar story. Brought as flegmatic talent at AZ. Went to Vitesse as a left winger and mixed good games with invisible games. PSV took a gamble, he ended up playing in midfield and became one of Holland’s best midfielders ever. And the somewhat complacent left winger became a mentally strong leader, who captained Barcelona! Jan Wouters is another example. Overlooked by many clubs and brought to Ajax by Cruyff when he was already a tad older… Marco van Basten highly criticized this signing until he realised that with Wouters behind him, his job was easier… And in West Germany, in 1988, it was Wouter’s pass in the semi finals that led to Bassie’s winner… Arthur Numan was a big fish in a little club (Haarlem) until he became a smaller fish in a big team (Oranje!). Dirk Kuyt made steps from Katwijk, to Utrecht, to Feyenoord, to Oranje, to Liverpool. And with every step, people said “he’s not going to survive that level” and everytime he did! Kevin Strootman is in this category as well, as is Jordy Clasie. The latter was told time and time again by his youth coaches at Feyenoord: “laddie, give it up. It won’t work for you. You’re too small for top football.” In the past, the Dutch team saw players like Winston Bogarde, Michael Reiziger, Peter van Vossen, Adrie van Tiggelen, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Nigel de Jong become important, on the basis of their mentality, grit and personality. In today’s team, I rate Strootman and Clasie of this level but also Dost and Ron Vlaar.

Jan Wouters, FC Utrecht, vs Lerby Ajax. Both would become midfield captains at Bayern Munich

wouters lerby

My point with all of this, is that in every successful team in the past, we had players that were known to be bright stars and we had players that came from nowhere. We had players that were essential to the team but they weren’t considered great talents.

The 1974 team won silver in West Germany and had usual suspects such as Cruyff, Van Hanegem and Rensenbrink, but Wim Rijsbergen was a nobody. Slow and definitely an ugly player. But tough as nails. Young upstart Arie Haan played as center back. And Johan Neeskens was quite an unknown playing for HFC before someone tipped Ajax to sign him.

Top dogs Piet Keizer and Sjaak Swart didn’t get a look in. And Michels only found the winning line up days before the Tournament started. Oh, and did I mention that Oranje actually had a terrible qualification series? And actually shouldn’t have qualified as they scored an offside goal against Belgium, which when disallowed would have meant the exit for The Netherlands? Freaky, no?

Fußball-WM, BRD - Niederlande 2:1

The 1978 team got silver in Argentina. Big name players like Cruyff and Van Hanegem were not present. Young upstarts Brands, Poortvliet and Wildschut impressed, with Haan and Krol as the leading players. The three PSV youngsters were not rated as hot talents but they fitted perfectly in the team.

In 1988, in West Germany, Holland won it’s first and only trophy. Playing 4-4-2. With under rated Erwin Koeman in the team to cover for Arnold Muhren. Limited players like Berry van Aerle and Adri van Tiggelen completed the team, while wonderboy Gerald Vanenburg was working his ass off for Gullit and Van Basten.

The 1998 Oranje was very close to playing the finals. Looking back on that performance, players like Bergkamp and Cocu admitted that they never really considered themselves good enough for the finals. They didn’t play like they had a chance to win it. In hindsight, they can kick themselves.

My point being…the whole debate about 4-3-3 being the “Dutch School” is silly. The whole point about talent and skill and experience is silly. It is about Team. With capital T.

Team. Tactics. Tenacity. Skill and talent and experience are very handy. But without team, without desire and without a clear idea as to how to play, we will never win anything. This is what made the Greeks win 2004. And what fuels the Germans always!

So sure, our lads can all play. Outside foot passing, pannas, dribbles, cool step overs… all nice and dandy. But the Mark van Bommel / Edgar Davids / Johan Neeskens will to win, is essential. Because at a Euros or at a World Cup, every player can play football.

Piet_Wildschut_1978c

Piet Wildschut in 1978

With the players we have, I think we should be able to 1) qualify and 2) win trophies.

As the past has demonstrated: a team full of super players doesn’t necessarily mean you win trophies. And vice versa, many mediocre teams have won trophies over the years. From Greece to Germany (1996) to Atletico Madrid and FC Porto.

If we, for the sake of discussion, simply accept that all the Dutch players are capable in handling the ball. And we accept that they all are fit enough to play top football, then the aspects we need to focus on are: 1. tactical strength, 2. mental strength and 3. desire.

If I have to judge our current players on this, then for me the jury is not too positive on the following players:  Klaassen, Promes, Narsingh, Martins Indi, Lens, Van der Wiel, Afellay, Boetius, Maher.

Players that get the benefit of the doubt are: Wijnaldum, Van Ginkel, Fer, Bruma, Riedewald, Tete, Berghuis, De Guzman, Bacuna, Van Dijk, Van Beek, Vilhena.

Players that I believe have what it takes in this particular department are Daley Blind, Luuk de Jong, Clasie, Bas Dost, Pieters, Janmaat, Willems, De Vrij,

The good thing is, that the question marks are all playing in the EPL or at top level in Holland (so we can spot them well). Playing in Holland is not necessarily a good thing. I am certain Bruma developed well with Terry and Lampard and Drogba as training buddies while at PSV it is all bit more laissez-fair. The ones that make it in the EPL will most likely have what it takes in the work rate department…

barca witschge

The ones that demonstrate the right development path – such as Blind, De Jong and Willems – will definitely be the backbone of future Oranje squads. I just wish some of them would lose that “lets play some nice football” attitude and develop a “over my dead body” mentality…

All in all, I am not negative about our potential futute. We certainly have the quality. We now need to pair the quality with the grit and pick a coach who will use what he have in a tactical system that works…

Danny Blind can still be that guy, if he leans more to Van Gaal and less to Cruyff. If not him, the likes of Ronald Koeman, Frank de Boer, John van den Brom or Ron Jans come to mind as future national team coaches.

Danny Blind with son Daley Blind

danny daely

 

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Oranje: where to from here….?

It could be worse right? Eh… well… can it? We are now in the same league as Andorra, Slovenia, Kazachstan, Albania and Finland.

The thing I had to think of (a lot!) was the comment by the media when the draw for this Euro qualification was published. The top 3 go through. We are in a group with Turkey, Czech Republic, Iceland… The media went “It will be harder for Oranje to NOT qualify, hahahahaha!”. Well…we never shy away from a challenge and we did it! We did it!! We are failing to qualify… Reaching the last four in the World Cup 2014 was easier….

Well, I needed a break of a couple of days after the Turkey game. And not because I had to watch it at 2 am with Spanish commentary and delay… :-(.

I am not going to spend a lot of time on the game.

riedewaldturk

I mean, you saw it. First 10 minutes. Oranje has 6 men before the ball. Turn around comes. Turkey whacks ball foreward. Quite blind, really. De Vrij wins the essential header. But Turkish midfielder is there before Klaassen. More desire. De Vrij is out of position. Bruma doesn’t step up. 1-0.

Narsingh gets similar opportunity. Misses.

Blind looks up while ball is coming his way (Dutch throw in). He needs to shift his weight as ball comes on right foot. Bad touch. Bad throw too. Bruma was facing the open pitch as last man and Narsingh was available too. Turkish playmaker picks ball up and defeats Cillesen near post. Three big mistakes in a row. Throw of ball to Blind, Blind’s touch. Cillesen. No coaching going on. Just bad, weak, sloppy defending.

Third goal I don’t even rate. Was a foul on Van der Wiel. But everyone had stopped playing by then.

Sneijder gets a shooting opportunity on the edge of the box. He, in particular HE, should bury that ball.

Wijnaldum scores crazy header for Newcastle only weeks back. Now he has a free header and mishits the ball totally. Ball bounces of his shoulder.

If this is the way you play, it doesn’t matter who the coach is or who you field… It was a total shocker.

No confidence, no speed, no automatisms, no desire. Midfield was outplayed. We have too many “nice guys” in midfield. Blind, Klaassen, it was all too soft.

blind daley turk

Danny Blind, again, made some weird subs. At a certain stage, it was Sneijder playing on the right wing, crossing balls in with Promes (?) playing behind Van Persie/De Jong. Why not use Huntelaar? The Schalke 04 striker was Thursday good enough to be #1 striker and on Sunday, he isn’t even good enough to play pinchhitter…

I think the final conclusion, even though we still have a small chance to make it, is that Holland simply doesn’t have “it” at the moment and doesn’t deserve to go to France…

Sad but true. We lose twice against Iceland! ICELAND!!

In Holland, one can easily speak of a crisis. The fans are devastated, the media disgusted and the sponsors and retailers see 50 bio euros disappear. The only ones who don’t see the crisis, is the KNVB. A poll under Dutch football fans says that more than half of the people believe KNVB CEO Bert van Oostveen is the one to blame. Him, and the players. Both Hiddink and Blind seem to have the sympathy of the people.

But the KNVB has positioned itself into a difficult position. CEO Van Oostveen has publically and loudly stated that he supports Blind and Staf unconditionally. He is not going to send Blind away after two games, and also not after 4 games. The CEO has signed Blind until 2018 and has previously sacrificed Hiddink to allow Blind the reigns. No way that Blind will be fired by Van Oostveen. But should the board of directors sack Van Oostveen, then Blind and co. will most likely follow suit.

oostveen

Which leaves the question: if this happens (and it might, as Bert van Oostveen was also responsible for the unelegant exit of Bert van Marwijk), who will be the ideal team manager? Most candidates have committed to their clubs.

Hiddink’s demise was inavoidable. And it left Blind with a difficult inheritance. Only four games to sort things out. Four finales, with only one practice session before the first game. And Blind will have had his plan, but Martins Indi and Arjen Robben destroyed that plan. A cheap penalty made it even worse and that first game was lost in a freaky way. But there is no excuse for the dramatic loss against a mediocre Turkey. As Ruud Gullit said in an emoti0nal analysis after the game. “There was nothing, no desire, no cursing, no yelling, no dirty challenges, no provocations, there was nothing you would expect from a team that does not want to lose. It feels as if these guys can’t give all they have. It’s all too soft.”

The crisis is complex. Danny Blind might become the man to bring Oranje into the biggest qualification shame in the history of Dutch football while also being the man who is to lead Oranje into a new future, with a transformed team as the big guns (Sneijder, Robben, De Jong, Huntelaar, Van Persie) are getting slowly too old for Oranje.

blind schiphol

What went wrong?

In my view, the first mistake was made by Bert van Oostveen by selecting Guus Hiddink as successor to Van Gaal. The second mistake was Hiddink proclaiming that he would restore the Dutch school, with 4-3-3. Louis van Gaal did very well with Oranje. Why not build on these foundations and use a coach who thinks and works like Van Gaal: Danny Blind! And instead of wanting the Dutch School, the KNVB should have realised that the 5-3-2 is currently the best tactical set up for Oranje. As it can become 3-4-3 in a turn around situation just like that. Hiddink and Van Gaal aren’t friends. Hiddink is a totally different coach. What a change of protocol and work approach for the players. Why would Van Oostveen want this??

The next big thing that went wrong was the post-WC disease that most successful teams have after long stint in the World Cup. The players had a ahort holiday, they want to focus on their spot at their clubs and the first qualification games do come very quickly in the new season. The Dutch see games vs the Czechs and Iceland as necessary stumbling blocks on the road to new Euro success. The Czechs and the Icelanders however, see the game against us as the biggest game of the year! They weren’t at the WC and finally have the chance to play against a big team. Their motivation is 110%, ours is 90%. And suddenly, we have a game on our hand… Individual mistakes (concentration, arrogance?) and lack of sharpness resulted in losses in the start of the series. The Iceland game away was a big one. We lost 5 points already and needed a result. Two moments of lack of concentration and we lost that match, which prompted the KNVB to put the pressure on Hiddink which undermined his authority and led to his demise. By then, Arjen Robben was not available for half of the games and Hiddink stuck with old hands like Van der Wiel, Nigel de Jong and Ibi Afellay… He even mentioned Nigel as his “captain of midfield” only to snub the captain months later, saying he needed more football in midfield.

staf turk

Guus was on a losing streak. He got into a rift with the KNVB CEO, the media jumped on him, pundits started to wonder what was happening and it all got into the heads of the players who seemed to be playing without any confidence, adding mistake to misfortune.

Certainly, a trend to take heed of is the fact that our players might not be that good anymore… Dutch football in general seems to losing it’s way. In 1988, the Dutch clubs battled for top European trophies. In 1998, Ajax had just played two CL finals. In 2010, most of our top players played at big clubs (Inter Milan, Arsenal, Tottenham, Man City, Bayern Munich)… Today, our big guns are getting more tired and less fit (RVP, Robben and Huntelaar battled with injuries while Rafa van der Vaart is no longer on the radar). And the young guns we have are all playing for mediocre teams (on a European level) like Watford, Newcastle, Basel, Ajax, Feyenoord and Sunderland with Memphis and Daley Blind as the main exceptions. But… consider this… Would Blind and Memphis play at Man United if Louis wasn’t managing there? Probably not!

So, post World Cup blues in combination with bad management (Van Oostveen/Hiddink) in combination with lesser quality.

The perfect storm.

Some people think Danny Blind is also a problem and not fit to manage Oranje. I used to believe he was good enough. Simply due to the way he presents himself. He is a good communicator. He knows all the talents on the fields in Holland as he keeps track of all that is going on. He used to be a very tactically savvy player who has demonstrated to know what it takes to win trophies. He has worked on all levels in football. From assistant coach to technical director. From head coach to youth coordinator. And on top of that, he worked with Louis van Gaal for many many years. Doubts have arisen though, with his two games at the helm. Losing against Iceland in the way we did can happen to any coach. A quick loss of Robben, a Martins Indi red card. A silly penalty. No coach can stop that, most likely. But why did he play BMI and Van der Wiel in the first place? Why did he put so much emphasis on Robben as leader? Why was RVP on the bench “unfit” while starting three days later? Why subbing Huntelaar so early in the piece? Why using Blind as left back and not centrally in midfield? So many questions.

sneijdturk

The Turkey game offered up even more questions… Why Riedewald? The youngster, over Pieters? Why Klaassen in midfield who proved to be too light vs Iceland? Why sticking to Narsingh who didn’t dazzle vs Iceland? Why keeping Huntelaar benched? And Blind has one Marco van Basten and one Ruud van Nistelrooy next to him on the bench? Would they have agreed to sub Narsingh for Promes, moving the youngster centrally and letting Sneijder play right wing??? Is Luuk de Jong (PSV and failed at Borussia) really a better pinchitter than Schalke 04 striker KJ Huntelaar? Really?

But most importantly… His master Louis van Gaal decided more than a year ago now, that 4-3-3 was not working for Holland. We do not have the quality (yet) to do this. Hiddink proved the point with his abysmal campaign. Why didn’t Blind immediately go back to 5-3-2? He had four games to grind out a result. We didn’t need to entertain the world. We just needed points. Why not use Janmaat and Pieters out wide. With De Vrij, Blind and Bruma centrally. Blind moving into midfield whenever possible… We could have had work horses Van Ginkel and Wijnaldum in midfield with Sneijder and Memphis and Robben up front, using Hunter as pinch hitter!

In possession, Janmaat would always move up and be the right winger Robben isn’t. And fill that space. Marathon man van Ginkel as right mid would have covered ground on that flank. Pieters is more a defender which would work well with Sneijder who likes to own that left space.

Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken, but clearly Bert van Oostveen felt “5-3-2” means the system needed fixing…

persie sneijd turk

The analysts are ruthless in their analysis. You read what Gullit had to say above. Johan Cruyff pointed out that all of Oranje’s mistakes are basis flaws in quality and it is all trainable. “The defending was shocking. Weak. Positioning was totally wrong and the challenges were ill-timed. The penalty we conceded against Iceland is a typical example. Positioning: all wrong! Most of our movement in defence and in particular in and around the box is naive. The second thing that gets me is the lack of passing capabilities. The through pass forward. Only a couple of players see it and can give the pass. Sneijder, of course, but he is playing high up the pitch. From behind, it’s only Blind and Clasie. The rest rather play square balls because they don’t see it or they don’t have the skill. And it’s all trainable stuff.”

Willem van Hanegem laments the lack of quality. “The reality now is, that we need help from Iceland and the Czechs to qualify. That sums up how poor we have become. Having said that, Turkey wasn’t that good either and the only thing they were better in against us was team spirit and desire. Oh, and the fact that they converted their chances and we choked at the crucial moments.  Hiddink was told he was too old or too weak and had to go. A new young coach played two games and has zero points. Well done KNVB! We think we are very good but the reality is different. A lad like Memphis is playing and acting as if he is a demi god but he spent most time on the pitch moaning to the ref. If he gives a back heel the commentator orgasms but the effectiveness of all his dancing and twinkletoes is simply not there. The player who impressed me was Van Persie. He tried to play as a team player. He was always looking for the combination. We are too soft for our youngsters. The hat, the scarf, the golden boots… Start with performing, with making a difference before you behave like a movie star. For me, criticizing Danny Blind is too easy. He started his first game and was confronted with the epitome of bad luck: losing Robben, red card, penalty… What do you do? Sure, he made mistakes but we all make mistakes. That is part of the game. But I’m telling you, Turkey will make mistakes in the last two games. They probably lost their qualification against Latvia, when they could have scored 12 but ended up drawing.”

Blind staf

A telling statistic, one we can’t ignore, is the fact that out of the 8 qualification games, Oranje conceded first in six!! Six times, at home and away, the opponent scored first. Six times, our lads have to play to get back into the game. That is a telling stat. It happened again against Turkey. All tactical plans can go into the shredder. The idea was to let the Turks come out and play, as they needed a win. And we would counter our way to our victory. Hence Narsingh, hence Van Persie. After seven minutes, the Turks could play that game with us… In six out of eight games, the opponent can sit deep and make the field small and give us the ball. In all these games, we had serious trouble playing our way to chances. Spain, as an example, has more than enough players in midfield able to play the through ball. They have Iniesta, Fabregas, Isco, Silva, Mata in midfield. And fast full backs using the flanks when they can. A top striker like Costa is actually not even needed in the Spanish team, that is how well they break down opponents from midfield.

Our midfield does not have that quality. It’s predictable and slow. As Cruyff said, we don’t have enough players with the sharp through ball… And therefore, we might have enough possession, but we don’t do enough with it. We don’t really dominate the game.

Another issue we have: our top guns hardly make the difference. Robben was not as instrumental as he was at the World Cup. Van Persie looks quite bland these days and Sneijder misses opportunities he would have scored back in 2010. We don’t even remember who Van der Vaart was, by now.

elftal turk

There are now two options:

1. Turkey fails and Oranje wins the last two games….

This option doesn’t sound like the obvious one to me, to be honest. I think Turkey has the momentum and we clearly don’t. But it we do get through, I think Blind will need to focus on the 5-3-2 system. With players like Willems and Janmaat as wing backs, with Memphis and Robben upfront. Depending on form of the day and opponents, we could play with players like Sneijder, Strootman, Clasie, Van Ginkel or Wijnaldum in midfield while Daley plays center back. The other CBs are not that key. Bruma, De Vrij, Veltman, Rekik, Van Dijk, Van Beek….

2 Turkey finishes the job and Holland is out!

The more likely scenario. I think in this scenario, Blind needs to stay on and work on a new Oranje. Time to slowly phase out Van Persie and most likely Sneijder. Time for an exciting new team to be build. And I think we have the quality.

We have decent goalies…

Our back line is not that shabby either. I believe in Tete, Van Beek, Blind, Kongolo, Riedewald, De Vrij, Rekik, Bruma, Van Dijk, Willems… I also believe in Janmaat by the way and Van Rhijn will not have unlearned how to play….

With midfielders like Clasie, Maher, Wijnaldum, Fer, Ake, Van Ginkel, Strootman, Bazoer, Ziyech, Tannane, Klaassen, Blind, Vilhena, Sinkgraven and Propper we surely should be able to field some quality there

Upfront, Memphis seems to be the man, with El Ghazi coming through, Sinkgraven, Promes, Boetius, Berghuis… The only missing player in all this is the central striker… Van Basten, Kieft, Bosman, Kluivert, Bergkamp, Van Nistelrooy, Makaay, Huntelaar, Van Persie…where is the next one? Maybe it’s Vincent Janssen….

young nl

In 2011 and 2012, Alfred Stuivenberg won the European Championship with the Under 17s. The current Man United assistant coach had players like Rekik, Ake, Hendrix, Vilhena, Willems, Depay, Kongolo, Kyle Ebicilio and Anas Achahbar under his wing. He said: “The trophies were great but it is youth football. It is different. At top senior level, different skillsets are important and there is no telling where these players will end up.”

Statistically, Oranje is one of the more dominating teams in Europe. Holland has 67% possession over 8 qualification games. Only World Champs Germany and former Champs Spain come to the same percentage. In terms of attempts on goals, Holland is in the top 3 as well. We had 151 shots on goal. Only Germany and Belgium had more attempts. 60 of these attempts were on target. Only Germany had more precision. But… out of the 60, we score the least goals. Only 13 goals out of 60 with 6 of the 13 in one game ( Latvia 6-0). England is top with 24 goals and Poland is number 2 with 21 goals…. End conclusion is: the opponent goalies are playing sensational against Oranje or the quality of the shots is wanting…

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Turkish Delight or Drama for Oranje….

My dear friends, let me start this blog post by showing you something that will fuel your hope for the future. Dutch football is not dead. When you have players like Vincent Janssen, Nathan Ake, Bazoer and Tannane there is a future. Let’s see how far these guys can go. And I know, it was only against Young Cyprus and all that, but you can see what kind of talent we do have.

 

The seniors were on a mission to win four games. They lost the first, as you probably will have noticed, and now a draw against Turkey is enough to finish third… Well, I don’t believe in “a draw is enough”. There are more games to play and who tells me that Holland will win the last two? Therefore, we need to play to win!

I have watched the press conference and some of the interviews and it really is not that inspiring. “Yes we will try and win.” “Yes we want to silence the crowd”. “Yes we are full of confidence.”

Whatever. We need to see it tomorrow I suppose. The Turks aren’t that good but they definitely aren’t shabby either. They play with intent, with a sense of urgency and they can play. They might be erratic at times, or undisciplined but hey…so do we.

conf blind sneijd

We need to realise that we are not that great team (at the moment). And I am not referring to 1974 per se. We are also not that great team of 2014. Even if we almost have the same players. The team simply isn’t there.

I watched the first 30 minutes of the game again and despite what some say, Van der Wiel wasn’t the problem. Sure, he created the penalty and that was absolutely ridiculous, but the first 30 minutes, when we played 11vs11 and it was 0-0, the problem we had was created by the lack of movement by Klaassen and Wijnaldum. Our defence did not have an outlet. And when Sneijder got the ball the movement around him was absent.

Not, with Robben out, we have a mediocre team. Which is ok. We have four outstanding players. Two used to be World Class (Sneijder and Van Persie), one will be (Memphis) and one is a goal scoring machine (Huntelaar). The rest are all ok but need to play in function of these four.

press sneid

With RVP not 100% match fit, it is only predictable that Hunter will start. When Oranje is in front, expect a like for like change with RVP. If Oranje is trailing, Blind will bring RVP to play next to Hunter…

I have my personal ideas who Oranje should play but I don’t think Blind shares my ideas. I do believe he will start Van der Wiel again. He has no options. If he’d play Tete he would basically have to send Wiel home and get Janmaat in his place. Lots of loss of face.

So Van der Wiel will start, alongside De Vrij and Bruma and Blind, most likely. I imagine Blind will keep the midfield intact but add Lens on the right as a false winger. He’ll play Depay left and Hunter centrally.

I think.

I would have made many different choices. I would have had Janmaat with De Vrij and Blind as left center back (like he plays for Man United) and Pieters as left back. Blind can build up well from behind and speed up the game.

virgil

 

Virgil van Dijk

I would have Sneijder, Anita and Wijnaldum in midfield with Memphis and Hunter upfront and Lens as false right winger (allowing Janmaat his runs in the channel).

You’d have Blind and Memphis on the left hand side, who know each other. You’d have Janmaat, De Vrij, Wijnaldum and Anita who sort of know each other.

Klaassen for me is a left midfield player. Not a defensive mid.

Should you need more fire power you can always sub Pieters for Van Persie.

Anyway…we’ll see. It will be a nail biter.

I hope we get a sensational win but it could well be a chess game ending with 0-0 or something like that…

sneij turan.jog

We played Turkey eleven times before and won five times. We lost twice. Last game in Amsterdam was a draw with Huntelaar’s last minute equaliser.  We lost our last game against them in 1997. The infamous Seedorf penalty miss game…. The Turks have a scoring issue at the moment. They haven’t scored more than once every game for a while. Yilmaz, team mate of Wesley, is the man in form in terms of goals. With Turan their bearded leader and playmaker.

RVP is our top goalscorer with 49 goals. Huntelaar is behind him with 41 but the Schalke man is prolific in qualification games, so who knows. For superstitious people, Promes shouldn’t play today. The former Twente winger never won a game with Oranje. He lost five.

The best number 3 is qualified directly, by the way. If we have to play play offs we are most likely the best ranked “number 3” and we will have some protection and probably will get an opponent like Norway, Slovenia, Israel or Ireland.

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Horror scenario Oranje vs Iceland

Any coach will go through potential scenarios in his head, when preparing for a match. All different angles are being talked through. What happens when we concede early? What happens if it stays 0-0 for a long time? What do we do when we score very early? What will Iceland do? What if we lose a player due to a red card? What if Arjen Robben gets injured…

But I do think that even Danny Blind didn’t come up with the scenario that hit us like a hammer. “What if we lose a defender in the first half on a red card, what if we also lose Robben to injury and on top of that Iceland gets a penalty in the second half…” If Van Nistelrooy would have suggested this, Danny and Marco would have said “Shut up Ruud, you’re not funny!”

blind bassie

But this is exactly what happened. And sadly for all of us, for the supporters, the players and for Danny Blind: the choices the coach made have come to bite him in the butt. Not that he made obvious blunders, but his choices didn’t pan out. And as he is end responsible, he will have to take the blame.

It starts with the selection of the players. He took BMI and Van der Wiel along, two players who lack rhythm. Both players let the team down. Coincidence? Maybe… BMI couldn’t control himself and had to smack Sigthorsson in the neck. Not smart. While Bruno actually started relatively well… Greg van der Wiel was cocky before the game and said with a wry smile “who said you need to have a starting birth at your club to be able to play for Oranje?”. Well, Greg… You made the point. The sliding tackle in the box on a player who was going into a cul de sac was unnecessary and foolish. You simply stay on your feet and block his passage to the goal…

BMI

These are childish mistakes. Mistakes you’d expect Tete and Riedewald to make… Bind must have gone crazy but he has to look into the mirror. The loss of Robben can not be blamed on Blind… Or can it…?

Danny Blind decided to make a big thing out of the change of skipper’s band. As if the new coach wanted to make a point to the world. “I am now in charge!!”. He gave Robben the band, but had to send out a press release to emphasize the fact. Why? As a result, the Dutch media were focusing on this aspect more than necessary. It was all about the extraverted manner in which Robben led the team and was actively cheering everyone on. Robben was at the press conferences and Robben fielded questions. Blind could and should simply have said “Oh by the way, Robin is not 100% fit and since he might not play, I passed the armband on to Robben.” Done.

de vrij

But with the additional focus on Robben and the energy all this took, it might have contributed to additional stress in Robben’s body. The groin injury came out of nothing and Iron Man went back to being Man of Glass…

I was also not impressed with Blind’s changes. Iceland didn’t come to score goals. When BMI left the field, he could have decided to bring Daley more in to the left center role and have Klaassen drop back a tad to cover the left flank. Just see what would happen before you decide to sub a striker.

Subbing Huntelaar was contentious to say the least. Hunter keeps two defenders busy, just by being Huntelaar. Oranje also would have a target man to focus on and Klaas Jan can hold on to the ball, usually. Without him upfront and soon after without Robben as well, the danger would come from two players coming in from the flanks. Memphis known for his skill, Narsingh (brought on) only known for his speed. For which you need space. Which we didn’t get.

penalty ijsland

I would have kept Huntelaar on and would have instructed De Vrij, Daley and Klaassen to sort it out. I would have brought in Afellay for Robben. A player who can shoot from distance, create something with a dribble and have the ability to pass and move. More options than Narsingh offers. I would have had Wijnaldum play more controlled and used Van der Wiel as a wing back to bring the ball into the waiting Huntelaar. Afellay and Sneijder would loved to have picked up the lose ball. At that stage, it was still 0-0 and one goal would have been all we needed…

But Blind made a different decision. He chose to go for mobility and movement. Instead of long balls towards Huntelaar. After the game, he acknowledged that the Hunter option was definitely an option but he decided against it, and he didn’t regret it. “We create a number of opportunities with my game plan, sadly we couldn’t finish.” He wan’t wrong, but I think we would have had more dominance and power with KJ Huntelaar op front and a more pragmatic and opportunistic approach.

Blind baalt

Obviously, it is too easy to blame it all on Blind. His game plan could have worked but most players in Orange weren’t able to reach their usual level. De Vrij was decent, Sneijder worked hard, Memphis had his moments and Cillesen made no mistakes but too many players were bland. Wijnaldum and Klaassen in particular looked out of place while Narsingh offered not enough either…

Despite the gloom, Holland still has options. We can still finish third and play offs will be available to us to make the cut. But we do have to keep Turkey behind us, which we can realise coming Sunday. The Turks seemed to be winning but a late goal resulted in a draw for them and a lifeline for Oranje.

After the game, Blind calmly analysed what went wrong and did mention Martins Indi and Van der Wiel specifically in their foolishness. The BMI action, he called “bad” and Van der Wiel “should no better by now. You never go down in the box. Lesson #1”.

sads

Later on he evening. Blind announced that Jeremain Lens and Virgil van Dijk will be added to the squad, which leaves for Turkey today. Martins Indi wasn’t available for comments as he avoided the media. Arjen Robben however was quite furious. “I do blame him for this. This was not smart. He let the team down. There is a lot riding on this.”

Wesley Sneijder, currently the skipper for Oranje: “It was terrible. A horror scenario indeed. But we have to pick ourselves up now. All is not lost. We simply need to work hard to get our sights on Turkey. That will be a tough game, but they have something to play for, so I do assume we will get more space to play football.”

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UPDATE: Do or Die for the Dutch….

UPDATE MATCH DAY:

 

Here is the latest. Skipper Arjen Robben laughs when asked about this Iceland game. “Listen, I played the game already in my head. A couple of times. We’ll win it. Van Gaal calls it “imagining” it and I did it and guess what: we did well.” Robben was pleased to see the quality of the lads on the training pitch. “Everyone is hungry. We all know what is at stake. Pride, honour, ego, etc… We finished third at the World Cup. That may not mean we are the best of the world per se, today, but we have it in us to play any team off the pitch. We are still the master of our destiny and we are very confident.”

robben skip

In a packed Arena Stadium, Oranje wants to go for the jugular and pin Iceland down. And makes goals. Lots of goals. Team manager Danny Blind: “We want to make goals, and we want to play in a good pace. With aggression. But from experience I know we also will need patience. The pressure is on but funnily enough I feel quiet and relaxed and confident. Our players deal well with pressure.  We lost the away game against them due to lack of sharpness. Two set pieces. That tells the story. But Iceland is a smart team, they don’t spill many points and are disciplined. But in terms of quality, they don’t really have world class players. Their players all play at decent level, Basel, Swansea…that sort of level. But we should definitely be able to beat them.”

depay hunter

When Robben was asked about his role as captain, he joked: “I gave the team manager the line up for the game and that was it.”

I don’t like football-less summers and I don’t like the month of August. In which clubs need to start the competitions and play qualification game while the transfer period is still going and teams can lose key players and therefore we, the fans, have to suffer from what I call competition falsification. I mean, if El Ghazi would be bought by Sunderland on the last day of the transfer period, the clubs that played Ajax in the Eredivisie might well protest that their competitors now have to face an Ajax without El Ghazi while they had to play against him…. Etc etc…. I simply do not get why clubs need that long to sort out their bloody squads.

selectie

 

San Marco is back….

But September is here and not only that: the big Do or Die games are on our doorstep.

Who would have guessed that we would get ourselves in such a mess…. Oranje finished third at the last World Cup. And second at the World Cup before that. Not too shabby. In 2010, we sort of hoped for it to happen, with Wes, Raf, Robin and Arjen in their prime. But in 2014 no one predicted it. Not me, not you and certainly not Louis van Gaal. But it came at a price. A large group of players left the Eredivisie to set up camp elsewhere. Most of the back four left Holland, which always affects a player and our beloved team manager left as well. And in their infinite wisdom, the KNVB made the only logical decision they could: they appointed someone who was the total opposite of Van Gaal and forced him to work with Van Gaal’s legacy and his former assistant. Who, by the way, was already given the contract to succeed the new coach on the way to the World Cup 2018. Only in The Netherlands…. Well, at least it is clear that should Danny Blind not be able to qualify for the Euros, his short career will be over and so will the career of Bert van Oostveen, CEO of the KNVB.

robben

 

Captain Arjen Robben

Poor Guus didn’t gel with Blind and was too fuzzy for the squad, who was used to benign dictator Van Gaal. And it isn’t hard to imagine that Danny Blind was on the squawker with Van Gaal on a weekly basis, making it hard for Hiddink to make something out of the team. Lucky Guus took on the job not realising how much work there was to do and with a series of disappointing performances by his team and the injuries of Strootman, Robben, Van Persie and Vlaar it became clear that the Dutch were not going to qualify that easily as they did in the 10 years prior to this qualifications.

So Guus left. Danny stepped up. And San Marco joined Blind and Van Nistelrooy in his quest to help Oranje qualify.

This Thursday, Iceland awaits in the Amsterdam Arena while Turkey is host on Sunday.

The selection of players Danny Blind presented for the games did raise some eyebrows… Kenneth Vermeer, going through some issues at Feyenoord, is not longer part of the squad. Jeroen Zoet of PSV replaces him. Krul and Cillesen are the other two and the latter will be goalie number 1.

RVP

At the back, Jetro Willems is injured (like Vlaar) and Daley Blind seems to be the only real option for that spot. Blind decided to ignore Pieters and Van Aanholt, two players who have extensive EPL experience and picked Kongolo as potential stand in for Daley. On right back, Daryl Janmaat hasn’t made it into the squad, again… most fans don’t get why, and Greg van der Wiel (benched at PSG) and debutant Kenny Tete (only 4 eredivisie games) will compete for that spot. Stefan de Vrij will most likely play centrally, but his former partner in crime Martins Indi might have to start on the bench as he hasn’t had any football yet.

As controlling midfielder, Vernon Anita and Davy Klaassen seem to be the candidates. Wijnaldum can play there as well, as he demonstrated at the World Cup. Clasie (injured) and De Jong ( ignored) are absent. Sneijder and Wijnaldum or Afellay will complete midfield. It is also pretty certain that Robben will wear the armband, with Huntelaar leading the line as RVP is not yet fully match fit. Rising star Memphis will start on the left wing.

Anita

 

Vernon Anita

Danny Blind will need to win in his first match as team manager and if he does, he will be the first one to do so since Frank Rijkaard in 1998. There has been a lot of debate in Holland about the fact that Blind doesn’t really have a lot of experience as coach. His only year as Ajax coach didn’t end too well with technical director Martin van Geel saying “Danny is the right man, but not in the right job”. However, he did secure CL football for Ajax and he won the national cup so it wasn’t all that bad… At the same time, being a successful club coach doesn’t guarantee a good stint as team manager. Van Gaal himself is the proof of that statement, with his abysmal turn in 2000 – 2002. Joachim Low, the world champion coach, also cannot look back at a great career as club coach, but being a club coach is simply a different job altogether.

blind doceert weer

It will be quite something though. Our new team manager hasn’t even had the chance to play one practice game with his team. His first game is immediately a must-win game. There is no long term vision needed at the moment. Simply the short term one. Winning. We have Iceland on Thurs, Turkey on Sunday and next month the Czechs at home and Kazachstan away.

Oranje played 10 times against Iceland and won 9. The last one was a debacle and happened to be the one earlier in this qualification race. The goal difference between Oranje and Iceland is 25-2.

tete

 

Kenny Tete

Jairo Riedenwald and Kenny Tete are two young Ajax defenders. Both are known talents of the highest order. Blind selected both and left Virgil van Dijk and Daryl Janmaat out. Blind: “I see around 20 games every weekend. I follow all the players and analyse their game. I am all for experience, but when I see experienced players make the same mistakes over and over again, experience clearly doesn’t count for much. I believe in these youngsters. They have something special. I selected them because I think they can do the job. I didn’t make the decision flippantly, but after very careful consideration. The fact that they play for Ajax has nothing to do with it, for me. And obviously, they won’t be starters. I have experience in my squad but I do believe it is good for us and for Dutch football to allow these guys a look in.”

Gregory van der Wiel was asked a lot of questions about his situation at Paris SG. “I started seasons like this before and I always came back into the team, stronger. I hear there is a lot of questions about my ability to play. Ridiculous. As if I don’t know how to play anymore? It is about quality, yes? Who made up that rule that you cannot be selected if you don’t play with your club?”

memphis

 

Memphis “Clint” Depay

Memphis Depay had the entrance in the Oranje camp of a diva. Kenny Tete had a different welcome. He stepped out of the car, driven by his dad, and when the news teams jumped on him, his dad drove off. The young debutant realised his bag was still in the car and he quickly called his father to ask him to turn around. “My bag is still in the boot, dad! Please come back.” At Ajax, Tete seems to have won the competition duel for the right back spot with Ricardo van Rhijn. “I would have been so pleased to play for Young Oranje. It is quite special that the team manager acknowledged our strong start (referring to him and Riedewald). But this is even more crazy. Cillesen told me about the media being present so I’m well prepared. What? Do all debutants have to sing a song? He didn’t say that? Gosh I hope not….” Tete doesn’t count on playing time. “I am just so happy to be here. I have Greg van der Wiel in front of me. He is big player. I look up to him. And I am not really counting on anything else. My first job is to introduce myself to the other players. I don’t think Robin van Persie knows who Kenny Tete is, hahaha.”

Vernon Anita is back at Oranje. The little defensive mid had a stint earlier under Van Marwijk but basically was considered “too light” for Oranje. He appeared to be too light for Newcastle United too but after being patient, he seems to have his starting position under McClaren in North East England.  The 26 year old wasn’t called up for 5 years. “I don’t know why I wasn’t called up and I actually never wondered. I mean, Holland has a tremendous talent pool and when you have players like Nigel de Jong or Rafa van der Vaart and more recently Blind and Clasie for my spot, it is not hard to see why I wasn’t getting any games. I was not a regular for a while at Newcastle. so…” The new coach Blind has a special relationship with Anita. The midfielder made his debut under Blind at Ajax, when 16 years old. Anita: “Wow, that is quite some time ago now… But we have many players who can play on that spot. Wijnaldum and Klaassen, Blind… and in the future Clasie, Strootman, Van Ginkel and De Guzman. I don’t count on anything, but I’m ready if the coach needs me.”

Sneijder Robben

 

Old guns Robben and Sneijder

With his 31 years behind his name, Wes Sneijder could be seen as a veteran. He scored twice last weekend and was his cocky old self when at Oranje’s camp in Noordwijk.  “We created this situation ourselves and we will get ourselves out of it. I remember the 2004 Euros when we had to win against Scotland in those play offs. These games are a bit like those play offs. All finals now. And we need to do all we can to be there. You simply have to be present at those tournaments. But it will be tough. Iceland at home sounds easy but it’s not.” When questioned about the second game, Turkey, Sneijder showed his usual grit. “Are you asking me about the second game now? You don’t get it. The second game is irrelevant. We first need to win this one. Then we talk Turkey.” Sneijder played every tournament from 2004 onwards. Three World Cups, Three Euros. And it is unthinkable for him to think he’ll watch this one from his sofa, on telly. The kit managers and medical staff is constantly reminded of Sneijder’s presence in Brazil 2014. He gifted all of them a special watch with inscription. “We won bronze in Brazil, but you were gold for me!”.

With the two international games this coming week, Robin van Persie can enter the Club of 100. He has 98 games to his name and will need playing minutes in both games to reach that illustrious club. At this stage, Van der Sar is still the record holder with 130. Wes Sneijder is on his tail with 115. He hopes to add four in this qualification series and another 4 or more at the Euros. Then it will be a matter of remaining fit as the World Cup qualifiers and friendlies might lift Sneijder past Sar. Frank de Boer has 112 and retired. Rafa van der Vaart is still active as a player and has 109. Feyenoord coach Gio van Bronckhorst has 106, Dirk Kuyt 104 and Phillip Cocu 101. Huntelaar can reach 75 games while Cillesen might reach the 25 cap milestone on Sunday.

Danny Blind press conference

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