Our line up??

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by Jan

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

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

Live. So join in ok?

In the meantime, some thoughts…

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

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

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

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

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

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  3. Here is an additional factor that will play a hugely decisive role: real-time dynamics. Players will know what the score in the parallel game is and adapt their strategy.
    This means, that only when Germany comes to an early lead, we stand a chance.
    If Oranje is the first to make a lead, Germany and Denmark’s second best strategy: cruise for a draw, becomes the safe way to go.
    Assuming that when two teams settle for a draw there is hardly any chance to change the outcome and once there is a lead, the chances to a turnaround are getting slimmer as time proceeds.
    And how bad is a draw for Germany and Denmark? For Germany it is good enough and for Denmark it still gives a reasonable chance. The Danes will not start taking chances unless Portugal leads.
    With a Portugal lead Oranje’s chances are nearly down the drain anyway.
    So, let’s not start hoping until there is a safe lead for Germany and Holland is not down a goal or facing the prospect of scoring with little time left.
    I can see Oranje make a flying start, but then trigger the draw strategy in the other game.
    Or I can see Germany take the lead, but Oranje struggling to reach and maintain the 2 goal lead.
    Everything will have to go our way tonight and in the right order. I am afraid that is little too much.
    But then again, who’s a thunk the Greeks and Czech would top Group A????

    1. Haha! Your thinking too much! Germany is going to win period. Do you think for a second if Germany sees holland winning there going to let Denmark score a goal? Do you know how many things could go wrong? Its not that easy my friend. What if they did let them tie and then the danes scored one on there own. Oops! Or is Germany so strong they can determine what the score will be before the game starts?…… I think not.

      Germany would only see holland in final if they advance so I’m sure they don’t care.

    2. Seems flawed. It’s never in Denmark’s best interest to play for a draw just because Netherlands is leading. Maybe if Holland was up 3 then they might get super defensive as to not concede, but if Portugal is only down one goal, that’s not nearly safe enough. They play for the tie and Portugal gets one against Holland’s shaky back line, and Portugal advances. Too risky.

      And what if Germany were to play for the draw? Foolish to try playing for a draw for so long for them. Playing for a draw and then conceding a goal to Denmark by fluke breakdown in the 85th minute means seeing Spain in the semifinal for Germany. Foolhardy, I think. It’s in both teams’ best interest to play for the win, and I think it’s imperative for our players’ psyche that we score an early goal to bring us the confidence that we can pull it off

  4. Its reported in the Telegraaf that Van Bommel will be replaced by VDV, so let’s hope anyway as wesley has publicly mentioned that he felt they had more chances with him against Germany.

    I personally think there formation is just wrong. I was reading an article from Kruyf and it mentions a lot of things that we are all complaining about. Such as the gap between mid and forwards. We are trying to be an offensive defensive team and its not working because to much possesion is being handled holding mids, and because of this it makes the wingers and wesleys job that much harder because they have to cover that much more distance to keep the field tied together. This has been difficult as all of are starting wingers are not fit yet from injury issues all year.

    I hate to say it but I think portugal game will be the same unless we change formation. Our issue is the huge gap between wingers and backs, and there is so much room and time. I’m afraid it will look the same as the other games where eventually are wingers are going to run out of gas very Quick from the amount of times we will see them trying to overlap. Or the play will stay behind wingers in port mid and we will getting no chances with are dutch forwards stranded on an island.

    As Einstein said, isanity is expecting a different reesult by trying harder doing the same thing over and over.

    There is too much room and holes on the field, and our wingers are going to pay dearly for it. Having said that Ronaldo is going to make minced meat of our defense and holding mids!

    But let’s hope I’m wrong!!

  5. Germany to score first….Hunter to grab 2 goals, Bendtner to score the equaliser, CR to score a consolation. Klose to get Germanys 2nd and Huntelaar completes hatrick in 91st minute.
    🙂

    3. man, figuring bert van marwijk, with us winning 2-0 in the 70th minute, he will take off huntelaar for van bommel. Then he will replace robben with kuyt, and then CR will score, and we end up losing 3-2

  6. i am afraid …of what will happen tonight but i hope u can fuken score 2 goals easily so that we can wait for the germans to eat the DANISH So that we pass to the quarter HUP HUP ORANJE AND LUCK !!!!

  8. Jan, I really admire how you handle our defeats and poor gameplay. You allways seem to find constructive words.

    Im so fed up with this Bart van Mermaid (for quit some time actually), he should take you as an example as to keep spirits high.
    I completely agree with Dutch uber football analist Jan Mulder in that it is a disgrace how BvM adresses the press and by that the fans.
    Besides his backwards tactics, hes nowhere near the class of Joachim Low. Allthough that guy eats out of his nose, go figure :s

    It should be no surprise how Oranje will approach Portugal. Give or take a switch or two, its all the same. I will switch the shirt im wearing tonight with that from 94 (which i like the most), now that should make a real difference!

    Whatever, i cant stand those Portugese overacting diving butchers. I hope that in his final act, BVM will play Bhoula against Gaynalda.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmJKoAmynso

    Now that should ruin his hairday!

  9. 2-0 should be our aim.But its important that we dont concede.Nani and CR7 will give a miserable time for van der wiel and willems.Its important that they get enough protection.

  10. I dont belive in this scenario that the germans must score early and if not they will aim at 0-0. Low is a winner, he wont allow his team to get any result but victory, to keep the german momentum going. I am not worried about germany, I am worried about Oranje.

  11. lets get that 3-0 victory, Hopefully if van bommel plays, it’s at center back and he can turn back the clock. if only for one game. I mean man, it’s too depressing to see this happen.

    The Great Escape is on!

    mission impossible, If we get out, we get czech republic! we should so win it!!!

  14. i don’t know what to expect,have mixed feelings… everything can happen,the team is capable of beating portugal by 2-3 golas,but are as well capable of losing against them. until now we have underperformed and have been unlucky. with some luck it can be done. i’m sure portugal will score against our defense,and it means oranje have to score at least 3.

  15. First of all, has Netherlands ever played 3 bad matches in a row in a major tournament?

    Secondly, look on the bright side. Even if we lose tonight, something good will come out of this. We are probably getting a new head coach.

  16. Jan, I really was hoping that you wouldn’t do another “these are the reasons we will win” or “germans will win” etc. Last time you did it we failed miserably against Germany. I am a bit superstitious, that’s all.
    This tournament has been a first for many things:
    – Denmark beating us in 90 minutes since 50 years.
    – Holland losing first 2 games since whatever.
    – Holland still having a chance after 2 losses.
    – England beating Sweden for first time in 100 years.
    – Russia being eliminated and Czech Republic (maybe the worst team) taking 1st place in its group.
    Let’s hope this pattern will continue today and for the first time ever a team that wins just one match goes through.
    Anyway, we either progress or get kicked out with a whimp. No draw today, WIN or LOSE (and have Bert gone).
    HUP HOLLAND.

  18. Ok, here’s the deal:
    If it’s still hot and humid in Kharkov, I’d start with defensive minded field-players for in the 1st half – to worn out the Portuguese players. Doing counter-attacks from time to time, and defending with the whole team.

    In the 2nd half – bring in all the attacking big-guns and make a massive attack of the opponents goals.

    Based on 2 recent games (exhausting level of players) that makes sense.

    According to this plan, I’d start Kuyt and Strootman (since box-to-box for effective counter-attacks), and De-Jong/MvB.
    And you know who’s gonna get subbed in the 2nd half, right?

    1. Why start with defensive minded midfielders to wear them out?? Why not start offensive minded players, wear them out, and then bring in MORE offensive minded players? I would vouch we start VDV-De Jong. If we aren’t up two by half, bring in Strootman for De Jong, and if we still have ground to make up, Afellay for VDV. If we’ve accomplished our goal, MVB for VDV and Kuyt for Robben and put him on the left to help with CR7.

  19. then we might end up partying like it’s 1999.
    —

    Jan, I love that song but I’d rather we end up partying like it is 1988

    HUP HOLLAND HUP!

  20. Bobotoh – Coaches usually release the team 1 hour before the game especially highly important ones so the opposing team has no time to practise against a similar line up.

  22. guys, interesting to see how affected CRybaby was by the Messi chants from Danish fans…. Dutch fans should chant “messi, messi” everytime Ronaldo has the ball… it will break him.. i want him to cry DURING the game lol 🙂 !!!!

  26. Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that!
    Rocky Balboa
    Speaking to his son in Rocky Balboa (2006)

    You got hit twice already guys, its time to wake up and fight. We don’t need you to always win, but at least show some courage and leave the arena with your heads high..

  27. Just to respond to my comments from the previous article…

    Robben: Had 2 shots where he couldn’t beat Casillas in the previous WC. Fluffed numerous shots in the 2010 CL Final. Fluffed more shots (shots he normally is on target) during the 2012 CL Final. Asks the manager to not be apart of the penalty shootout.

    I love Robben he is a phenomenal player. Yes I don’t know what the pressure is like at this level because I am not a player. But the pressure Robben is under causes him to choke when it counts most. He can take shots all day during a league game. Put him in a final type situation and he probably won’t come though.

  28. I wasn’t saying Robben or v.Persie are bad players. They are 2 of the worlds best at what they do. I’m merely pointing out that when it matters most they miss chances that for a run of the mill league game; they’d make or at least be on target.

  29. Sorry… a lot of positive feelings going on on this blog. Definitely want to keep that going!

    Portugal is going down for sure! Hunter is going to knock in 2 with that thug Pepe getting a red card at some point. Then Ronaldo can cry.

    Hup! Holland! Hup!

  30. I watched the Germany game again… and boy we should have scored 2 more goals so easily – guys we’re just unlucky this tournament – I dont know what it is, but we’ve created good chances against Germany. And whoever said Robben should be benched should be banned from this blog!!! Robben created two CLEAR chances one for Sniejder and one for RvP that should have been scored. I was surprised why BvM benched him, Robben was creating havoc both from the left and right sides.

    1. Agreed SamNY

      Robben and Sneijder are by far our best players. I would pick Robben above Persie on every position anytime, except on the right hand side …

      1. I agree Robben has been good (although Lahm had him in his pocket for most of the germany game) if he had just that tiny bit of luck and one of his shots went in e.g. the ball off the post in the denmark game people would be raving about him

  31. I’m nervous. this is so different than the brazilian match or wc final with spain.

    I know that stubborn Bert got to take the blame but nevertheless he is the person that took our team to the wc final two years ago.

    I really wish he can take some advise and no more Van Bommel tonight, and pls start Huntelaar! Robben , use him as a sub in the final 20min, when the portugese defenders are tired.

    I just won’t believe that Holland will lose 3 games in a row. With this team of talent, this is never gonna happen.

    The team must get united all in once and win this game. Even if we are kicked out of the tournament, this is a game that must win!

    Do not dissapoint us Holland!

  34. Netherlands team to face Portugal: Stekelenburg; Van der Wiel, Vlaar, Mathijsen, Willems; De Jong, Van der Vaart; Robben, Van Persie, Sneijder; Huntelaar

    according to goal.com

    1. It doesnt seem to.. But knowing Bert a tiny bit, possibly cause he wants a left and right footer in the back, and cause Heitinga was at the root of at least 2 goals conceded.

  39. Yesterday’s games showed us what we need in order to win by a 2 goal margin. Greece and the Czecks played with their hearts and that’s how they won! by killing themselves on the pitch.

  40. I do have a great feeling about tonight’s game 😉 .
    We’re gonna win 4-1 , 2 by persie , 1 by hunter and 1 by Robben with sneijder making 3 assists lol 😀 .

    Germany will win 2-0 :).

  41. nobody else find it interesting that Heitinga is out, the best player for Everton this year?? Vlaar is in, who is much slower…idk about this.

      1. heitinga made mistakes, and vlaar is taller, so maybe BVM is trying to dominate possession, and figures with vlaar’s height, he should help against corners and headers.

        1. Portugal’s strenght is, among other things, headers, possibly a counter measure. I’m thinking.. possibly Robben can get past Coentrao quite nicely if he ever went past to cross, but considering he always cuts in I still think Bert is making a mistake by playing Robben on the right, Sneijder wide and not in the centre. But anyways.

          1. Robben did well vs Coentrao when Bayern played Real Madrid. Hopefully we are in for a repeat performance on that front.

  42. Im not sure about the positions, but the players according to BvM (live on tv) are

    Steke
    Wiel, Vlaar, Mathijsen, Willems
    Jong, Vaart
    Robben, Persie, Sneijder
    Hunter

    1. i think we can cope without heating, he couldnt handle the “pressure” and has gone cold now.lol

      I would choose willems for his speed against the portugal attack. Hopefully BVM has shown willems where he went wrong against germany and will take on the advice.

  46. interesting line up,i do like it. matthijsen or heitinga? heitinga is more reliable,but on the other hand in the previous two games he unfortunately made crucial mistakes. normally i would titularize him over matthijsen,but his confidence might be very down.

  50. Hi.

    Holland’s tournament has been painful to watch and for the last three days, i’ve been hoping for euthanasia, so that we can start rebuilding with a new coach, some new players etc etc.

    But now it’s crunch time, and as a loyal supporter, I AM going to throw my weight behind this team, and put on my orange jersey.

    It’d be interesting to see what happens if we get an early goal (something inside the first 20 mins.). Then may be we’ll play with a lot more confidence and be able to go for the kill.

    All the best!!

  51. One point or another, I would really like to see Stroot come in there; however, in regards to players who got capped it’s looking pretty good and I’m feeling great.

    For those for kinda doubt Kuyt as a defender, I’ll tell ya that it’s known I’m a huge Chelsea fan and when I watch Pool or a couple of other teams, Kuyt is the biggest hustler and bustler there is, making runs for days and can defend. His finishing at times clinical, at others for us, not so easy to watch/understand, but I have confidence in him over MVB at this point [hurts saying that, it does].

    I’ll say it again that I’d like to believe that Robben, VDV, Van Persie will play as if it was their last game and I enjoy watching these gentlemen very much; I’m still trying to figure out when Arsenal destroyed us as RVP on target so many times this season, surely the last goal will give him more confidence as we all know that kept our dream still alive and realistic. Hey, we coulda gone into this game needing 3-0 maybe 4-0 5-0 at one point; but there is a reason for everything and deep down I know we will finally get our luck!

    Wearing my Robben home jersey in pride, HUP ORANJE HUP!

  52. It is out of our control (we have to depend on Germany to beat Denmark) but we still can play our best. Win or lose they need to show that they care, like many of us if not all, do. So go out and beat Portugal by 2. Anything can happen (as we lost the first 2 games). I still think we can advance to the 2nd round to play Czech.

  53. Kick off in 10 mins. Hell yes, I am SO up for this!! Come on Holland, we can do it! Let’s get out of this group so we can get on with proving we are challengers!

    Hup Holland Hup!!!!!

  54. Nigel won’t let anyone down tonight with those six super attacking guys in front of him.. he’s gonna need to play the game of his life, but I think he will!

    Come on Holland!

  67. Vlaar has pretty good positional awareness. Of course his size doesn’t help his speed, but he did pretty ok.

    Steks saved our ass more than a few times.. Still trying to understand what is the complain against him.

    Other than that, lukewarm performance. Sorry 🙁

    have to pick up the pieces and rebuild.

  69. Going by the last 30 min of the first half this team totally looks like their coach: static, predictable, no creativity, no heart, no soul. Must be a tremendous achievement to make a team with so many talents so utterly pathetic. Only Maradona would be able to challenge such a feat.

    But then again maybe some individual brilliance will result in 2 goals for Oranje in these last 20 minutes.

  72. This is the end of this generation. Just like the previous generation- which was superior to this generation ended in Euro 2004. Another lost generation.

  74. I have a weird feeling never experienced watching oranje lose in 20 years. I cannot recognize the team I’m watching. This is not oranje I love or have known. Unmotivated, uninspired, scared, static. Where is the fluidity. Where the hell is the fluidity? Where is Total Football. This is Total Shame.

      1. The coach takes blame and the players take blame. They are both disgraceful. In every oranje loss I’ve seen before, I can argue that they were dominant, motivated, maybe reckless at times, but at least put a fight. They were never fearful. This team looks scared, fatigued, static. I’m speechless.

      2. I agree I used to like BVM, but we started losing friendlies here and there and watching our performace, esp now I think he might need to go sad to say. Hunty just missed a decent one and well lads, we must rebuilt and I think it starts with Bert and we need someone who can utilize strategies better and get everyone to play as a solidarity unit, rather than 10 men running about and the last 4 in complete disarray. I hope we put 1 more in for pride at this point, not htat it means anything and of fckin course RVP misses it as I type.

    2. You can’t talk about fluidity. If only they could make a few successful passes. By the way, this was Hunter’s first shot on goal. After 86 frigging minutes.

      1. From what I’ve seen there was one big huge gap where a midfield should be, totally disconnecting the atteckers from the game and not allowing them to show their stuff.

  75. Every one in this game sucked. With no exception. The only player that never stopped moving or fighting was De Jong. If De Jong is our best player on the pitch- that says something.

  76. Sneijder’s had the worst game I’ve seen, too many long balls inaccurate and very poor. I like him a lot but for facks sake, at least VDV and Robben are trying and doing their thing.

    1. I wouldn’t put the blame solely on the players as they were made to follow the detrimental tactics of a very dubious coach (appointed by the KNVB = Dutch Soccer Association). In 2010 he got away with it based on luck and individual class but now that luck evaded them there was not enough class to make it work this time.

  80. Were done, we may not even qualify for the world cup in two years. Sniejder Van Persie, Hunterlaar, vaart, robben, are at there peak and only can go down.

    2. That’s an over-reaction – no way will Holland be beaten by two of Turkey, Romania or Hungary. Maybe Turkey away would be tricky, but I think there will be a WC finals in 2 years.

      I just hope Holland can find better defenders than the back four that played tonight. You can have all the talent in the world going forward, but that was one of the worst defences in the competition. Willems is a kid and will improve and stop giving the ball away so often, but vdW will never be world class, Vlaar may improve given an understanding with de Vrij, Mathijsen and Heitinga are finished at this level.. dunno why Heitinga didn’t play, but he wouldn’t have made a difference.

      Why does van der Vaart think he’s so great, when he only did two things all game? Score and hit a post, but nothing else. An odd choice for captain, Sneijder is more of a leader, though he played very poorly too tonight.

      No-one will ever understand why van Persie can’t play in tournaments – even the WC, when everyone else came together.

      Oh well. I look forward to seeing the new Oranje players. There’ll always be another generation, and Frank de Boer seems an intelligent and up and coming coach for you guys.

    1. yeah def feel you on that, absolutely horribly and looks like their playing as if they want him to go, see it clubs a lot too. Ugh this is a tough one to swallow, but what can you. I still have pride and just to have look forward to the future; I don’t solely blame the players at this point as some have improved and others let down, from the previous two matches.

      Anyone know when we play again? Can’t believe I already want to watch a friendly or qualifications, just need Bert to go now and I never thought I say that, can’t we please get J.C. already!

      1. Belgium in August, well all we can do is look forward to then and each club game in between. I won’t partake, but I can sense a lot of shit talking will ensue, shameful day/tourny and what a disappointing build up for this.

  82. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!

    Congratulations to Bert and the boys! What a team!!

    I’ve been supporting my mighty Oranje since 1974 but this… THIS… was truly the number 1 stand out performance in living memory.

    17th June 2012 – What a day!
    What a game!
    What a championship!

    Stunning. I am truly stunned. I think I’ve just witnessed a new level of football. The future is most definitely Orange!
    Our next generation of world beaters are gonna have to do something really special to top this achievement.

    Could someone please post Bert Van Marwijk’s reaction to all this? I would love to know his thoughts on this most memorable and glorious of campaigns.

    I would also like to read Johan Cruyff’s comments – though I doubt his amateur analysis will be as accurate or articulate as the great Van Marwijk’s.

    Hup HOLLAND Hup!
    Tonight, my boys and girls, I sleep proudly.

    1. because it’s a perfect storm. Traveling by plane a lot, remember it’s not just the 700 miles from poland to ukraine, it’s the 700 miles from poland to ukraine, then 700 miles from ukraine to poland and 700 miles again.

      first game against denmark is 700 total miles flown, then for germany trip back and forth, thats 2100 miles flown. then for portugal thats 3500 miles flown.

      or for everyone not american, replace 700 with 1,337 km, or 1300 flat rate, thats 3,900 km flown by germany game, thats like 5,200 km flown by portugal game.

    2. I know it might feel good to make excuses, but the reality is we lost to a better team(s) period!

      After watching today I realized holland is not what we think them to be.

      Everything was is horrible

  84. The blame for this poor result lays ultimately with the KNVB, who appointed BvM as Dutch coach. Wanting results and allowing the Dutch team’s natural way of play to be changed and thereby undermining their strength they are the one responsible for ruining this team.

    I know we will never find out what they would have been able to achieve with a different coach, but that’s life.

    In the hope that the coach will do the sensible thing and clear the field for someone else to start afresh.

    Hup Holland Hup

    1. Well said. This was a coach imposed by KNVB ay the expense of some other respected names. His luck ran out in 2010 and this time around he was exposed for the mediocre he is. Whoever comes next will easily qualify this team for 2014. I am not worried about that.

  85. Sometimes this doesn’t feel like a fan site. We are all disappointed but saying the harshest things about our players is uncalled for.

    We had to win this game by two goals and so were always going to be exposed at the back. After the first goal we got too impatient and rather than settling the game and waiting to spring at the right moment, we kept pushing forward leaving gaps in the back. Eventually all of the racing back takes its toll.

    Not everyone was great but that’s true in any game. In each of the 3 games we lost by just 1 goal. It comes down to luck sometimes, and yes tactics can be faulted but do not berate the players just because things did not work out. We will be back and will learn from this experience.

    1. @VanX. I think after we scored we handed the initiative to the portuguese. We didn’t push cause we didn’t have legs. These players were unprepared for any of the scenarios that they had to face.

      1. Handing the initiative is a nice way to say it. They flat stopped running after the first dangerous Portuguese counter attack, which was unsuccessful, mind you. As if they had thought “well, they will crucify us anyway”…

      2. Making them play, either through tactics and/or choices of the selection, in a way that totally left them disjointed between all the lines must break up any player. Maybe with 11 Kuyts they would have had a chance. lol

        We might find out a few more (suppressed) details now that it’s all over. Like them having to fly in for every game. Who’s clever idea was that? Again that’s the KNVB’s responsibility.

    2. well said, I’ve been saying this since the Denmark game, this doesn’t feel like a fan site and I’ve been reading posts from Jan & Co for a very, very long time and this had to be one of the few times, I cringed when I read some of the things being posted. The KNVB will learn from this and they must make changes.

      Look at Ajax [love them too], when they lost their prolific goal scorer (Suarez), they took a small dip but eventually found their form and won the league over a strong AZ, so I mean we have to find bigger and faster defenders and solve our striker issues. I mean the reason Hunty didn’t get any shots off, it was obvious they would try and bomb the ball to them with poor accuracy unfortunately.

      We’ll hear some news soon and I would really prefer a legend to take over, but hey it is what it is will always support my Oranje and Ireland and we will have to look into the next couple of months and see what we react and build up from this. Although I’m in the states at the moment, definitely wanna try and go to our games in March.

  87. Bert started with 1 holding midfield and we had a good start. We were lucky for a while. I thought luck was on our side but it was just a matter of time. Many players on this team were 27-29 which I believe it is their prime. This generation is very talented but failed miserably this time. I am not sure what to do now. Rebuild, yes. Replacing Mathijsen, Van Bommel, Bouma, Boula and Kuyt. Who else? Who is the best man to replace Bert?

    1. Regardless of whatever went wrong up front. The back looked like a kindergarten. Come on, V.d.Wiel can kiss a transfer good bye, he better pray to God Ajax will still have him.
      Willems is just too young, Vlaar defenitely proved he is never going to be on the required level and Mathijsen is over the hill.

      Let’s face it, Eredivisie is mediocre at best, and our defence was no better than Irelands.

      We will not be contenders for a while, it’s going to be mediocre for some time from now on. Something has to be done. Beneleague first of all, and a massive overhaul in youth development, getting one or 2 dutch clubs playing European football regularly with dutch players.. especially defenders and for god sake please let us learn something from the Portuguese at defending.

      I pray to God Douglas moves to a top competition and plays every week.

      BTW I dont know if Bert is going to quite, itll be up to him since he has a contract for 4 more years. KNVB is not likely to buy it off.

      1. I’ll do what I do best and make a prognosis of our backline and send it to Jan !! Since I am a new guest writer! Maybe that news will lift the cloud 2 cm’s lol.

    2. relax dude, holland will compete at the world cup hoping we get a new coach and guys will be performing great

      remember unlike other countries holland has a great ability of producing late bloomers.

      I would like guus hiddink, Pep guardiola,

      and my favorite, Gertjan Verbeek

  88. Is this the fist shot for the bow? KNVB first man just declared Orange play was ´Oranje unworthy.´

    I think vmarwijk will quit in the next week

  90. @ Alex : Well , I believe you’re partially right .
    we won’t have worldclass Defenders for the worldcup within 2 years .
    this is why we should depend on de jong as a CB .

    Perhaps De jong and Douglas will be a good duo in the CB for the next WC.
    with some young talents for the Bench .

    I think we’ll actually have some problems in the wingbacks for a while .

  91. tonight i don’t blame the team. they tried it and portugal were simply better. the denmark game killed oranje and it was no way of going back. i blame bert because of the lack of chemistry. one more time the gap between the lines was immense. in the kind of football oranje were supposed to play tonight the distance between the most advanced man and the central defenders shouldn’t have been more than 30-40 meters. in these conditions the fluidity disappears. one more time the team didn’t press the opponent.
    we had a goood start,but after 1-0 portugal changed their approach,and unfortunately the our defense was unable to keep ronaldo quiet.
    i hope a new coach,maybe rijkaard will replace bert van marwijk. oranje will qualify for the world cup,i’m sure about it. in the meantime the defense has to be rebuilt,and oranje must return to the basics…
    very sad night,disappointing tournament. it reminds me the 1980 euros,but this time is even worse: the zero point and the fact that stekelenburg was our best player when oranje was supposed to attack and create say everything.

  92. Honestly our defense was a level unseen before for Holland. Shaky legs, insecurity, blunders, out of position, one step behind all the time, disjointed, in panic every time portuguese attacked, in total disarray. VdWiel is not worthy of Ajax let alone national team, Willems was abused and will be scarred for a while……sad, sad state of a team supposed to reach the final and I bet this is the worse ever for Holland.
    I hope we’ll hear from the players soon.
    I have a feeling Bert won’t quit and KNVB (the cheap that they are) will just give him another chance.
    Let’s see.

  93. Very well said Alex.. Very well said !

    I think our stars were a bit under the weather , but it’s absolutely not due to them that we lost. There’s absolutely no balance in the team. Defense is just too weak. Too too weak to be able to compete in a group of death against Germany and Portugal.
    Willems, matijsen, vlaar, and van der Wiel are quite weak. Simple as that.
    And everything started going downhill, when van der Wiel made that first error. All confidence went out of the window. And then we started making more and more mistakes. Too bad.

    It was sad to hear the commentator say end of a generation. My whole twenties went by with those guys. It was just so so sad to hear.

    Benelux league is indeed needed. Required. Weve been licking our wounds for too long. Something’s not working, we have to address it. We need a competitive league. We need good defenders , we need balance within the team.

    Douglas starting for us in October is the first step . Not having him in our squad is the worst next thing that can happen to us at the moment. We should all beg him actually, as I’m not sure he would be too excited after what he just saw this week.

  94. Actually I think this is a good thing what just happened today. Think this will unite the team again, will further propel the new guard to step up, and the old guard to no longer take things for granted and end their careers two years for now on a high.
    Sneijder must leave Milan.
    Douglas must become Dutch
    Classie, maher, van wolfswinkel, and Dost need to be introduced to the squad
    Willems , Narsingh need to continue their progress
    Strootman Wijnaldum, Luuk de Jong need to step up
    Huntelaar, Robben and van der vaart need to accept becoming experienced super subs
    Van marwijk must go
    What else?
    We need a new right back, ASAP. Van der Wiel must get a clue, must have competition.

  95. Perhaps it was just me but I found that the players did not find open space when we have the ball. There was hardly any opening. Why do they run out of gas? Stek was good today when he has to. I thought De Jong and Van Der Vaart playing well, so is Robben. Hunter is invisible. You can blame that there is no decent cross but I still think Van Persie is better. The offense was not strong enough to compensate for our weak defense. I think other teams has improved since 2010 while we are idle. France did a good job to rebuild. I doubt it if Johan can come out of retirement and take on national coach. The last time consulted he recommended Marco (I think). I think it is time to bring in younger players and let them play in qualification (not bench warmers). I do not blame on the players, more on the strategy/tactic, the preparation and the fitness. Today I am very sad, and I hope we learn from this failure. Let’s focus on WC 2014 qualification. Let’s win the first WC.

  96. I agree with what VanX and ferenc said. We learned from this and will be a better team. Don’t let what happened to Euro 80 (missing 82 to 86 tournaments) happend again. If lacking central defense, we can use De Jong or perhaps Strootman there. I cannot count Douglas until he is eligible and the coach calls him up. We should switch from 4-2-3-1 back to 4-3-3.

  97. what i dont understand is, if the aim really was to score 2 goals… before the game, every goal Portugal has conceded was from headers, 1 against Germany and 2 against Denmark. So why wasn’t the team set up to play 2 fast wingers who will go at full backs right from the start and keep putting in good crosses? When i saw the line up I was not confident because for one I wondered where is the width really going to come from and two will the two in midfield be able to cope all game long with their 3 in midfield? Thats why I’ve been advocating 4-3-3 with 1 passer (Sneijder), 1 fast dynamic runner (Afellay), and 1 solid defensive mid (in this case Nigel), with Robben and Narsingh on the left and right wings, so that the team can always be on the offence without ever being outnumbered anywhere on the field.

    It means you have to make a brave choice up, it’s either the goalscoring ability of Huntelaar for Oranje or the close control and dropping deep of van Persie. You must choose and go with option which one scores the most goals for Oranje, not both. If it’s Huntelaar then you must play Nasringh. You need lots of pace and crosses on the wings (like Nani and Ronaldo showed, similar to Farfan and Drexler at Schalke) with at least 1 man in central midfield with real pace who can burst forward like lightning to join in with the attack (Meireles role). The midfield although technique level was upgraded from van Bommel to VdV still lacked pace and was also outnumbered.

    The lack of any decent wing play has been a recurring theme in all 3 games, as well as all the other problems which have been talked about more in midfield and defence. An yet in every game it was never adressed, which showed me the coach doe not know how to react when things are going wrong to make the right decisions. When you factor in all of that travelling, back of forth, as well, then it must be clear that this team never stood a chance from the start. Basically, The coach and his bosses (KNVB) are the ones whose decisions have cost these players and team dearly. In the end what they left us with was a completely disjointed team for most of the tournament who addition simply did not have the legs to compete. So yes I have to agree with one other others guys above, these guys were left totally unprepared for any situation they found themselves in. BVM has to go and we must now bring a few younger talents in some positions.

  98. Van Marwijk Quiet Over Future

    Holland coach Bert van Marwijk refused to discuss his future after his team bowed out of Euro 2012 with a third straight defeat.

    The Dutch, who needed to win their final Group B clash against Portugal to have any chance of reaching the last eight, took the lead through Rafael van der Vaart, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s double sent them packing.

    Van Marwijk, who has a contract until 2016, said: “We had to win with a two-goal difference so we had to take a risk and go forward, it started well but then it didn’t go to plan.

    “We are disappointed we did not play well today, I am disappointed, I am responsible.

    “We started every match well and today the scenario was right when we opened the scoring but then you have to keep that advantage to force your opponent to take more risks.

    “But again we proved not able to do that and then we gave the goals away too easy. I am responsible and therefore failed at this tournament but at this moment I am not thinking about my future.”

    Van der Vaart said: “We lost three games and we didn’t deserve it. You could say: “You’ve had so many chances”, but we weren’t able to do anything with those chances.

    “We all played badly, we all have to take a good, long look in the mirror. All we can say is that it’s sad for our supporters. ”

    Portugal coach Paulo Bento refused to focus on Ronaldo’s stunning performance.

    A Euro 2012 quarter-final against the Czech Republic awaits in Warsaw on Thursday after Ronaldo scored in each half to send the Dutch home.

    The 27-year-old Real Madrid winger was irrepressible as he tormented Holland’s defence throughout, ensuring Portugal finished the ‘group of death’ as runners-up.

    Ronaldo was criticised for his displays in the opening two games at Euro 2012, but despite having overwhelmed the Dutch, Bento was reluctant to shower him with praise.

    “The individual effort of players is not important,” Bento said.

    “The issue of the effort players show for their clubs and country we have already talked about so much. We have discussed that enough.

    “I’m proud of what we’ve done as a team and satisfied that we achieved our aim brilliantly.

    “We have a certain kind of style, identity and ideas. The players put that into practice.

    “Today we can talk about brilliance, it was the best game we have played here.

    “We have been loyal to our spirit and that’s what we’re proud of.”

    “We don’t claim to be favourites against the Czech Republic and it won’t be easy against them,”

    “They’ve shown they have the ability to turn a game and now we must continue our work and the quality we have shown so far. Maybe then we can even reach the semi-finals.”

    http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/12/06/17/manual_224803.html&TEAMHD=soccer&BID=165

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