Ajax wins trophies, PSV deserves applause

blog Euro 2020 WC2018
by Jan

The season has ended… Most of the decisions are in. Yes, the play offs for European Football and Promotion/Relegation are still on, but the key decisions are in: Ajax wins the double (and had one leg in the CL finals as well of course), and NAC gets relegated.

We will congratulate Ajax here on a sensational season! A season that made us all drool. Not just us Dutchies, but football fans from across the planet fell in love with this Ajax team!

They won matches, they won trophies, they outplayed the bigger guns (Benfica, Bayern, Real Madrid, Juve, Spurs) and were so close to playing the CL finals! And all of this with great football.

So, expect more posts on Ajax and Oranje in the coming month!!

Interviews with Ten Hag, Overmars, analysis of their games, the Ajax future, etc.

Expect more on the Nations League too, of course.

But despite Ajax’ successes and my inbred support for Feyenoord, this posts needs to give some deserved credit to PSV Eindhoven!

It’s not my club. But this season they really impressed and Ajax coach Ten Hag did praise them, as they kept Ajax sharp (and vice versa) throughout the season.

Because we tend to forget that PSV had its complete technical management replaced, this last summer. Marcel Brands left for Everton. Cocu went on his Turkish dream nightmare job and the youth academy coach left as well.

WK 2010 reunion, with from left to right: Mark van Bommel (standing), Arjen Robben, Technical Manager John de Jong, Nigel de Jong (unrelated), Wes Sneijder and Bert van Marwijk

John de Jong (former PSV midfielder) took over from Brands while Mark van Bommel was promoted from the youth system (PSV2) to the first team.

And the headstrong and outspoken Van Bommel left his mark immediately.

And credit where credit is due! He put his team out there. He instilled his principles into the team. And he started winning games like no tomorrow.

On the first day of the season, Ajax dropped points (Heracles) while PSV won. The two points lead was there all the way until only a couple of weeks ago!

And PSV didn’t dazzle. PSV did win some games in a “fortunate manner”. And they were bumped out of Europe in the CL group stages.

But lets look at at that more closely.

Van Bommel instilled a more modern and dynamic playing style into the team. “I want my teams to be the boss. That doesn’t mean we need the ball all the time, it also doesn’t mean we want to be playing some fantasy football or be attacking all the time. It means we determine what is going on, also without the ball.”

The personality of Mark van Bommel made its way into the team and with some strong signings, he did squeeze the best of out his – also young – team.

Van Bommel and John de Jong as players… the latter had his career cut short due to injuries…

I could even argue that Van Bommel did a better job than Ten Hag. But I won’t.

So Van Bommel wanted his team to press higher up the park and have more grit, more fight and more of a killer mentality. Where Cocu tried to adopt a more Dutch football style (and with a lot of Barcelona DNA which never really came of), Van Bommel added some German and Italian elements to this PSV.

Jeroen Zoet is a capable goalie. Not world class, but definitely top for the Eredivisie. Schwaab and Viergever are vulnerable and limited centre backs. But they did show what focus and determination and communication can do. Schwaab is German and brings that solid and focused approach. Viergever is mainly experienced and an obedient soldier. Nothing flash.

But the full backs compensated in spades. These two made the difference. Angelino is quickly becoming an A team player for Spain. While Denzel Dumfries is already consider Oranje’s best right back. Both players have assists in their locker, both players love bombing forward and can create and score goals (Dumfries more so than Angelino, but the Spaniard has a gifted left and a good partnership with Luuk de Jong).

Denzel Dumfries… From Sparta via Heerenveen and PSV to the top?

Van Bommel learned from his father in law Bert van Marwijk and used two holding mids in his 4-2-3-1 set up. Initially, Hendrix and Rosario took the job but throughout the second half of the season, Van Bommel needed more and started to change the team around. Many criticaster will tell you that was the start of PSV undoing but Van Bommel will know better.

Rosario deserves a mention. The kid came from Ajax, via Almere City of AGOVV or something. “Not good enough for Ajax” although it probably was due to his behaviour and his dad’s behaviour.

But Rosario is a rare player. So young, yet so disciplined, so astute tactically and such a wonderful passer of the game. He would have been more effective in the Ajax team, I do think, but he was a joy to watch in his first real season as a starter.

Jorit Hendrix is a solid club player. With some outstanding moments, but something is lacking with him. He’s too average for my liking. He’s like Ten Hag was, as a player. He’s not quick enough, not tough enough, not tall enough, not technical enough, doesn’t score enough, etc etc.

Pablo Rosario

Which is the only true criticism Van Bommel probably listened to. The PSV midfield didn’t score enough goals! Hendrix maybe 1? Rosario literally zero goals in the Eredivisie. Not good enough. Vilhena scored 7, Toornstra scored 8, Schone scored 5… you want your midfielders to score… Criticism that applies to Frenkie de Jong too, but he creates a tremendous number of chances and criticism Jordy Clasie gets as well.

The #10 in PSV is a problem and Mark solved it eventually by putting Luuk de Jong there. That happened in the period of the season where PSV would end up losing the title, but still, it somewhat worked.

Mexican Gutierez wasn’t good enough (Van Bommel: “The pace is still too high for him”) and Pereiro simply doesn’t seem to be consistent enough. A truly gifted lad, but not dominant enough.

With Ihatarren, PSV has a gem for that role. And Mark tried him on the #10 spot and the youngster made his debut at 16 years old. But can’t carry PSV yet.

So with Malen as the #9, Lozano and Bergwijn on the flanks PSV tried it with target man Luuk de Jong as #10. It did work, but simply not good enough.

Luuk de Jong did win the golden boot, shared with Tadic, and had a very strong season but I do think the captain needs to lead the line… The #10 role is hopefully a temporary one.

Cody Gakpo and Ihattaren: PSV’s future?

Ramselaar realised that his game is over at PSV. Along with Adam Maher, another prospect that didn’t really enjoy his time at PSV. Gutierez might well be the next one…

Lozano had a good start this season but somehow the Mexican doesn’t seem to be consistent. He picks up a lot of yellows and reds for petulant behaviour, diving and at times vile tackles. He seems to be playing for Lozano and seems to be wanting to make his mark and leave to a bigger club.

Bergwijn had a break through season. Scoring goals, using his explosive runs, creating goals and he made his way into the Oranje squad.

But the last months, he seemed to slow down. Not enjoying his game, maybe? Or…getting ready for a big move to his old stomping ground at Ajax?

Anyway, PSV deserves credit and Van Bommel deserves credit for the next wave of talented youngsters coming through. In the olden days, Sparta and Feyenoord would be the harbingers, alongside Ajax… Today, it’s PSV and AZ along side the Sons of Gods developing and keeping talent.

Potential new signing from Germany…

Ihatarren, Gakpo, Salinec, Malen, Rosario…all lads who played under Mark in the B-team and are making their way into the first team… Gakpo reminds me of Beckham, Ihatarren of Afellay, Salinec is a young Van Bommel and Malen and Rosaria, well…you know enough after seeing them play this season.

Van Bommel might be on hitlists in Europe already (AC Milan, Bayern) while numerous players will be scouted too (Angelino, Pereiro, Luuk de Jong, Lozano, Zoet)…

So who knows where PSV will be next season, but they definitely contributed to Ajax’ success (and Ten Hag rightfully thanks PSV) and they gave us some exciting new talents to watch!

Next season, we actually might see a new exciting Dutch talent coming in from a Bundesliga club: Arjen Robben… He doesn’t want to go to China, the sand pit or the US. He needs his medical team close and he wants to be close to his family… He also doesn’t want to compete for 6th spot, so it seems he is exclaiming quite loudly “PSV!!” but we’ll need to wait and see…

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54 comments

  1. With some new signings this PSV team can go to another level in the new season. For sure their midfield has crumbled and thats where they need urgent reinforcement. Clasie can be a good addition in the midfield with Southampton already putting him up for sale. Bacuna as well who was relegated with huddersfield from epl. This guy made a big impression in the second half of the season.

    In the backline,Schwaab is departing and they will need reinforcement there as well. Derrick luckassen is on loan at hertha berlin and has not played much either. Bruma is the man they shoud bring on loan.schalke has released him and at wolfburg he status is not quite clear.obispo is also lacking in the back ground but doesnt look to be ready. Van drongelen had a heart break season when when they fauted at the finish line. If he stays at Hamburg, he will simply waste another season.

    Upfront, time for luuk to go. If he stays he will c*ck block the developments of upcoming strikers.lammers, Malen, Gakpo, Bergwijn,Romero and Piroe, there is more than enough attackers up front. But imo they should send Piroe on loan like lammers last season.

      1. Forgot here Crystal Palace his also trying to offload jairo riedewald. What a tragedy it has been for him after following FDB.if he would have stayed at ajax he would have become de ligt no 1 partner

  2. AZ Alkmaar updates:

    Adam Maher initially indicated that he would stay longer in AZ. However, yesterday it was informed that he declined the contract from Alkmaar management. Rumor has it that he will go to Feyenoord. I doubt it. My impression is that he wants to go somewhere abroad for big money. Another option is to join his beloved coach Gertjan Verbeek in Adelaide United (Australia).
    It is unfortunate for AZ, as Adam would be an important part of the team next season, especially in Europe. But it is what it is. He did not violate any clause of his contract with AZ and does what is best for him

    1. I really like him. He’s a great player that needs the support of his coach. At PSV he wasn’t treated too well and he’s an introvert, so where a Sneijder type player would bully the dressing room into submission. I do hope he’ll come to Feyenoord but I can see him go to Germany for instance. I hope he does well.

      1. No surprises there. Given he is back in form. He will wanna have a second shot in NT and to that you need to be playing in so called attracted club. This is very common in NT unless there is not enough depth in a particilar position and they have no choice but to resort to who is in the line next. Propper etc

  3. Dortmund has to be the out right winners of this transfer window. They managed to rake in brandt, hazard, Schulz, three very good players for just over 60 million pounds. This has to be crazy.

  4. Lets also keep fingers crossed for Reis to develop into a potential future partner for De Jong. When you look at his games you can see flashes of xavi in him. Short, pace ,aggressive, Dribbling. Im not suprised why barce came knocking on his door.its hard to call where he will playing next season or will he be loaned out but he does look like a technically gifted player.it may take him some time to break into starting 11 if any but at 18 he can always use this as a stepping stone.

      1. Good idea, he is some of talents that out of top three of Eredivisie & abroad along side Reis, Piere, Boadu, Steng, Til, Ouwejan, Koopmeiners, Venema, Buitink, Doekhi,van den Berg

        He need to choose that kind of footstep like van Dijk

        BTW, Tadic out of PL after done for mediocre club Southamton and now is one of the best player & top 1 scorer for Eredivisie, it says a lot about quality of Eredivisie, so sad *^*&*&*&*&

        I a doubted for Reis who just signed for Barca

  8. I have given it a long thought, spent day and night and the possibility of dutch NT winning the WC has to be in 26 and this side could well feature alot of 18s that are currently playing at top level now. These are the projected players and there could some who might drop out or others might join in depending on alot of things.

    Chong- Lammers- stengs

    Ihattaren

    Frenkie- reis

    Bakker- pierie- De ligt- Ki jana

    Bijlow/Scherpen

    If these guys can put it togerher and become consistent playing at the top level. There is no stopping the dutch at 26 WC. Then There are others as well who will be lacking in the back groung and could provide a good competition. Gravenverch, Van drongelen, Redan, Lang, malacia, eiting, brobbery, Piroe, bobby, gakpo, malen etc

    I will be sticking to this line up and if somebody needs to be included then will do so and so forth.

  9. Kevin Strootman is in final selection. Not sure what Koeman thinks of but Strootman has not played in his own club due to fitness issues. Luuk de Jong was preferred over Weghorst????

    1. He has but has been poor plus fitness. ACL recovery is not easy and I think koeman is monitoring him in every selection.benefit of doubt factor imo given how good he was before the injury. He has a lot of experience under his belt and should he get back to his old form or atleast get fully fit, it could be revealed in the training session. As it is other day on the bench for him.

      The bench players are just there to make numbers.

    2. Weghorst for Luuk or Vice versa doesnt make much difference..Luuk had a wonderful match e vs Germany away match…Luuk is an effective pinch hitter on last 10 minutes..

  11. Goalkeepers: Jasper Cillessen (Barcelona), Marco Bizot (AZ), Kenneth Vermeer (Feyenoord)

    Defenders: Patrick van Aanholt (Crystal Palace), Nathan Ake (AFC Bournemouth), Daley Blind (Ajax), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Denzel Dumfries (PSV), Hans Hateboer (Atalanta Bergamo), Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax), Stefan de Vrij (Internazionale)

    Midfielders: Donny van de Beek (Ajax), Frenkie de Jong (Ajax), Davy Pröpper (Brighton & Hove Albion), Marten de Roon (Atalanta Bergamo), Kevin Strootman (Olympique Marseille), Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord), Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool)

    Attackers: Ryan Babel (Fulham), Steven Bergwijn (PSV), Memphis Depay (Olympique Lyon), Luuk de Jong (PSV), Quincy Promes (Sevilla)

    Ake should start as our DM..That would give us a watertight defense.i dont trust strootman at all..
    Bizot is amazing goal keeper..he could take away no 1 spot from cillessen sooon.
    its sad Danjuma is injured and stengsand Boaudu didnt make the cut..

  12. Wtf is Strootman still doing in the national team.

    If I performed like he did at work, I’d have been handed my notice and had the shamevof clearing my own desk years ago.

    It’s this continuous blunder, and thus denying a blooding of a fresh face that makes me doubt Koeman. I can see he’s going for his ‘settled squad’, but like it or not we are still a team in transition and that transition does not end until we progress in the next EC/WC.

    Koeman strikes me of having a bit of Ernesto Valverde in him. Fails to understand when and how to change things, and a blinded faith in his favourites (= Barcelona’s back back Champions League knockouts).

    The Nations League is a mini tournament. No shame if you don’t win it, no big pressure to win it. Surely…. surely this is time to take 2-5 kids, even if they don’t feature they have the tournament camp/dressing room experience to fall back on!!! But no, that useless idiot Strootman again.

      1. We need a solid DM,thats not strootman..It should be Ake or Juste or someone else..
        I was pkay with DE roon there but he was expeosed vs Germans.
        fisrt team should be
        —Babel———Depay——-
        ——–Berjwin———–
        –Dejong——–De beek——-
        ———-Ake—————-
        Kongolo–Virgil–Deligt–Dumfries
        ———–Bizot/Cillessen———-
        =========================
        Second team
        —-Boadu———-Promes——–
        ———–stengs————-
        –Vilhena———–Wijanldum
        ———De roon————–
        Annholt—Blind—Devrij–karsdorp
        ——-Bizot/cillessen————-

        Stand bye
        Luuk dejong
        Danjuma(when he comes back he should start
        ke jana hoover

      2. Any number of *young* players. And not necessarily in the midfield position.

        Remember this a 2 game tournament not 7 game WC affair. therefore the squad requirements are not as demanding. If anything, you should really have a team capable for going for broke, rather than a side aimed at turning things into a tactical battle.

        Not to mean as if I’m treating the Nations League as a second rate affair, but let’s be honest, if Holland don’t win it and it is close, it’s not like in hindsight we are all going to chant in unison “if only Strootman was there!!!”.

        Personally I would have found a way to take one/some of Badou, Stengs, Malen, Eiting for example.

        Regardless of what The Netherlands does in the Nations League final, the loss to Germany for me was a warning shot that we need to keep blooding players as I stated earlier this transition is not over (it will come back to bite us at some point, sooner or later). Koeman seems not to have heeded this warning shot, hence my comparisons to Valverde. A master of watching from the sidelines and failing to react to the clear signs!

        I’m not Mourinho’s biggest fan in terms of his style of play and antics. However I do respect two of his qualities…

        1) undeniably he’s a winner
        2) during matches, if he’s sees its not working and his team is struggling, he doesn’t sit and watch what is clearly about to unfold. He changes it.

        I question Koeman on point number 2. Both during matches and in his squad selections.

        But most importantly, let’s not forget, and Koeman not forget, that despite our recent successes, we are still in transition. Don’t stagnate on the same old faces please!!!

  13. Michel Vlap, I know he is more of a number 10 and not 6 like strootman but still he had an amazing season scored 16 goals and assisted so many!!!! He is young 22 years old, he could’ve picked him instead of strootman 😏

    1. This guy is good but not that special & not massive potential, look at his highlight 2019 i see he just another version of Propper for both playing style & physic however Propper is higher level as he playing at PL while Vlap jus playing for a mediocre league/club

      I prefer Koeman give chance to Ihattaren,Kluivert, Kongolo, Bacuna, ect. Especially Ihattaren to seal his contribution for Dutch & encourages him as we did to Depay before as they are almost same footsteps & player style to me even though Ihattaren more about number 10

    1. I am not sure whether that was a bad Dutch-to English translation but it did not make any sense to me why de Jong was chosen over Weghorst. Is that because he wants to continue this tournament with the same troop that he started with? De Jong and Weghosrt are two different types of strikers and in my view the latter with his aggressive way of play is currently could be much more useful for Oranje than De Jong with his static manner of play.

      With respect to Strootman, even Adam Maher would have done better job as a controlling midfielder than Kevin. But in Oranje it is hard to challenge a status quo. “old boy club” mentality is very strong among Dutch coaches and Koeman is not an exception. We will see how Oranje is going to do, but i think players need to know that they will not get credits for their previous achievements.

  15. I don’t know what to think about Hol-Eng. Considering Strootman, deJong etc. we may get slaughtered. But we have a strong defense which in fact struggled against Germany. It may be close if defense plays up to its potential but the attack is also really weak. While I would love us get into final and win it against Portugal I doubt we will get past England. Just hoping for a good game. Koeman is no magician but just an old fashioned stubborn coach. I wouldn’t be disappointed if Barca gets Koeman and NT gets Ten Hag.

  16. Good year season to dutch
    – Ajax reached semi final UCL
    – Orange reached semi final naional league & have alot of chance to become champion.
    – Van Dijk & Winajdum lead Liv to UVL final
    – Depay helped Lyon seal UCL nexg season as they reached yop e Lig1
    – Hanstuboer/ Vrij/ Roon key player for Atalanta & Inter reached next season UCL
    – U17 2yrs in round as champion European
    – de Ligt, de Jong, de Beek, Dumfries footsteps van Dijk, Depay, Winajdum, Vrij to become world class player.
    – Berwingj, Dilrosun, Danjuma, Kluivert, Ake, Rosario, Vihelna become more mature
    – New generation Ihattaren, Gravenberg, Brobbey, Malen, Chong, Hoever, Redan,Steng, Boadu, Reis, van Drongelen, Malacia, Schurr, Piere, Maatsen, Zirkzee, Mbuyamba, Kokcu, Adekanye
    – Woman dutch champion European
    –

    1. Exactly ruud. WC 26 will be the year and lets just hope most these players make the right choices and are not lost. Im also expecting a EC or WC win for the u21s on the road to WC 26 as well.

      Not the current batch but after this one when 18s and 19s will enter the final stage of the youth level. Although van der looi stinks. I hope kees van wonderen will take over from him

  17. Based on the match against the Germans, I really feel our front power is not enough.

    If Babel has a good day, then we may win against England. Promes and Bergwijn are still not up to the level where our former Oranje strikers used to be. I really feel that Koeman should have brought Danjuma together. He is our missing puzzle .

    Having said so, I still feel and cannot accept England will beat us. Their form should not be better than us.

    You guys are saying it is a good year for Dutch Football. I would not say it until Holland wins the National League Final , or at least Liverpool Wins the Champions League (Wijnaldum + Van Dijk) at least two Dutch players got silverware.

    For decades Holland has not won any silverware. the last time was 1988 Euros , then Ajax Champions league in 1995. I hope we will make a real difference and get a cup. Even it is a National League Cup, I would be happy for them

  18. and yes, Koeman needs to make use of Aka.

    He is one of the multi-functional player , which can fit it many positions.

    Ake just has too much potential to show, unfortunately he is just too loyal with the small club. He needs champions league experience urgently

    1. Not only him. St Juste as well. PSV should buy him. At feyenoord he is just wasting his time.at PSV he could reinforce both CB and CM. Bit clumsy sometimes though.

  19. Malen and stengs on fire for the u21s. Kjell scherpen and reis also made their debut for the 21s.

    Scherpen

    Zeefuik- Schuurs- Hoogma- Malacia

    Reis- Koopmeiners

    Wit

    Stengs- Malen- kluivert

    Malen scored twice while stengs, de wit and gakpo getting one each.

    1. Malen is really starting to show his potential now. His confidence level loooked to be boosted with his outings in PSV especially woth Van bommel starting in the last few games or so.

    2. Watched the game,Malen, Stengs, Kluivert is forming a pretty good partnership up front. All three shows clear progress after this season.

      Malen really shined at number 9 in this game, fast explosive and strong.On the other hand, Gakpo really needs to work on his finishing and weaker foot. He missed two golden chances even though he scored the last goal.

      Midfield still lacks some creativity. Reis put on a decent debut though.

      At the back Schuurs played pretty well, except for the goal that we conceded. Makes we wonder why Ten Hag did not give him more chances this season.

      GK seems to be our major problem. Even though Scherpen played an entire season of Eredivisie games already. His goal kick is horrible to watch. Half of the time it will end up out of bounds. Made some good safes but he really needs to make some serious progress on goal kicks or we will definitely be in trouble in building up when we face better opponents.

      Kadioglu seems very rusted when he came in, he needs to leave Turkey and get some playing time.

      Overall, a good game and U21 coach Van De Looi seems to be making some progress on building up this team. He did not focus on possession football too much but when we counter attack, we definitely created a lot of chances. The score is 5:1 but if we took the chances that we should, it could be 8:1 or 9:1.

      Mexico actually played their U23 team, which is getting ready for Olympics next year, they made a lot of subs and pressed pretty hard when we have the ball, so a pretty good win for this new U21 team. Let’s hope we make the U21 Euro this season. We have been missing this tournament for some time.

      1. The good thing about this squad is, they also have a good depth considering the likes of van drongelen, gakpo,lang,Sierhuis,Van bregen, Wijndal who were all came on in the second half. It would be a waste if these group dont make it to the top.

        I also agree about gakpo. I think its his left foot which is in question. This has been evident in eredivisie as well.he freezes when the ball falls on his left foot.

        Also to note here dilrosun and chong were selected in the squad. Dilrosun has just returned from injury and I think chong is with man united pre season camp

  21. I was incredibly happy that tottenham Lost than liverpool victory..Totenham didnt deserve to win against Man city and Ajax.it was fluke..Blunder mistake of Ajax gave them chance.
    Pochetino is an example of stubornness as he played Hary overrated kane who much slower than Speedy Moura…It was moura who got them in to final..if it was not moura speed he would not be able to conncet the speedy passes send to him…This is what Speed brings to table..Kane can only dream that..
    I am happy Babel,Depay,Berjwin are incredibly fast and that will make the difference upfront for us..
    Loved to see Pochtino S@##ked for benching Moura…it

    1. I like that idea, but seems it’s not really. I am afraid that Fan & professional will still vote for Messi :), anyway i like the way that VVD thinking, he doesn’t matter that individual honor if the people think he deserve & vote for him then he take it otherwise he’s still have the best season

    2. wilson, where did you see VVD declared MOM for the final? In my book Matip played as well not to mention some other players too. Just curious. I really do not see a stronger candidate than VVD for golden ball but it would seal it if we win nations cup. deLigt and deJong will certainly be on the short list as well.

  23. Adam maher has signed a three year contract with Utrecht.he joins van der brom who will take over from Advocaat. I think at AZ he was overshadowed by til and at utrecht he might get to play his prefered position. This guy has worked his ass of to get back to form and he deserves a second chance. Good luck to him there.

    1. Yes, I am also happy for him. In Utrecht he is going to play at his beloved position, attacking midfielder. AT that position he would be much better than Til in AZ, but the latter has undisputed authority in the squad. Nobody can challenge Til in AZ and that is a big unfortunate.

  24. Champions League “Squad of the Season”:

    Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)

    Defenders: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax) Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham) Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) Andrew Robertson (Liverpool)

    Midfielders: Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham) Hakim Ziyech (Ajax) Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) Frenkie de Jong (Ajax) Tanguy Ndombele (Lyon) Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool) David Neres (Ajax) Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

    Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Dusan Tadic (Ajax) Sadio Mane (Liverpool) Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) Lucas Moura (Tottenham)

    7 of the 20 players are either Dutch or play for a Dutch team. Pretty impressive!

  25. i really wish Harry kane played Vs Ajax..it was incredible pace of Moura cost Ajax…like that Let them play Harry…sterling and rashford is really hard to defend..Both are pacy agile and skilled..We always had problem against such players..
    I wonder why san marc didnt play Babel as striker vs Portugal Vs 2006..if he hated Nestelrooy…long gone the time of static immovable slow strikers..may be last 10 minutes..thats the best option.
    What would be the line up?
    Gini can be a supersub and score 2 goals like he did vs barca..
    –Babel———–Berjwin—-
    ———Depay———–
    –Dejong——-Debeek———-
    ———Ake—————-
    Annholt–Virgil–Deligt-Dumfires—
    ————Cillessen——-
    i dont trust Blind vs high pacy england players..

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