One of the great sensations of Belgian football this season is a Dutch goalkeeper who is only 20 years old, we are talking about Bart Verbruggen. The young goalkeeper has already been called up by Ronald Koeman in his first call-up as coach of the Dutch national team.
Faced with excellent performances with the shirt of RSC Anderlecht, clubs like Manchester United and Burnley would be interested in taking Bart Verbruggen out of Belgium and taking him to England.
Current Burnley manager Vincent Kompany was keen to sign Bart Verbruggen at the start of this season, but the Burnley board and RSC Anderlecht could not reach an agreement and Bart Verbruggen continued to work in Belgium.
With a return to the Premier League guaranteed for next season, everything indicates that in the coming months Burnley will make an offer that revolves around 17 million euros to remove Bart Verbruggen from RSC Anderlecht.
Liverpool are also closely following Bart Verbruggen’s development in Belgium and would have the young goalkeeper as an ideal replacement for Alison Becker. Other information that arrived is that Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United want to count on the goalkeeper as early as next season. He would arrive to replace, in the long run, David De Gea.
The young goalkeeper has produced many outstanding performances this season and this has further strengthened interest from clubs across England in his football.
RSC Anderlecht will be looking to get as much value as possible to release Bart Verbruggen. With Hendrik van Crombrugge still at the club, RSC Anderlecht know they won’t have to spend any of the proceeds from the sale of Bart Verbruggen on signing a new goalkeeper.
With Verbruggen, Flekken and Noppert, we have 3 decent goalkeepers. Cillessen should be back up and not starting goalkeeper.
With Malen get back to form and Frimpong is doing very well, the right side looks bright. Dallinga is scoring for fun in Ligue 1. De Ligt is doing both defense and offense for Bayern.
With the current form, I think Botman should take over VVD’s place in the starting line up. I don’t know why and how but VVD has regressed so much over short amount of time. He is at fault for both goals Arsenal scored today. He was also at fault for a couple go goals other teams scored against Liverpool recently.
I don’t see how Virgil was to blame for the two Arsenal goals, sorry.
@ kevin
Slowly but surely it happening. The next golden generation and the dream team for 2026. The emphasis right now should be to quickly call up some more new faces and then integrate them with the current team for 2024. 2024 has to be the platform for 2026.
The other thing I would like to say is danjuma and Lang has become the intergal piece upfront and koeman needs to recognize this. Watched danjuma for just over 13 minutes and frankly speaking he looks more comptent and sharper than gakpo having played for over how months and games now.
Secondly there are enough quality players now to integrate once again and build a good bench. Good bench in contexts to game changers or super subs who can change the complexion of the game.
Lastly let’s hope for some more good transfer in summer with respect to positions which are thin in depth.
Boadu, Gravenberch, Reis,Lang, danjuma at best.
Forgot to mention, Malen should be lock on the right going forward. He scored and had a other good outings for Dortmund playing from the right. His ability to play deep as a winger and in the process allowing the FB to overlap has been been a facelift in the attack for Dortmund. While the FB bombs forward malen is able to squeeze in the box and act as a second striker.
You put this in context to NT and with Dumfries as rampaging fullback, It can yield the same. At the same they do need a good MF on that side who can provide cover to Dumfries.
I was able to watch an entire FC Toulouse match the other day; against FC Annecy, a Ligue 2 team, in the French Cup. Van Den Boomen impressed. Started out inside left, but went all over looking for space. Created the first goal from the right wing, took it almost to the endline and made an excellent cross under some pressure that made it easy for the goal scorer. Dangerous right foot when on the ball; picked and timed his runs into the box for good effect. Only thing is that it was against a Ligue 2 team and it was pretty much one way traffic. Couldn’t get a sense of how he is against a top opposing team, what his all around game is. Do others who have seen him have comments?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0dTYOp7rto Check out the Frimpong dribbles here.
Also @Andrew , to me Branco should’ve been called up at least to pre-selection. But I think he will not be up for consideration until he moves to a bigger club or he just has a banger of a Coupe de France final match.
van den boomen like Veerman are both deep lying midfielder. this is the first thing that needs to considered when assessing them. they thrive on good possession and like to move around and are decisive and critical with their pin point passing , opening up the play from any where, this are their strengths. being said this its their defensive attributes, breaking down areas which exposes their weakness if any. they dont bring that robust or rugged factor and this is where frenkie simply tips the scale and the coaches have to rely on him. this will be the biggest challenged for midfielders like them when competiting against frenkie or whom have stronghold in the same position as frenkie .
I also agree with frenkie injured, van den Boomen should have been called up atleast in the preselection. I mean look at Noppert. he came out of nowhere and started (first cap) on the biggest football stage of all just through showcasing his capabilities in the training camp.. being said you can also understand koeman preference of wijnaldum and klaassen simply closed the doors on him. if koeman doesnt change his mindset he will fall in the same trap as others whom had to bite the dust going with experience and players who had well passed their prime.
Re: if koeman doesnt change his mindset he will fall in the same trap as others whom had to bite the dust going with experience and players who had well passed their prime
It’s quite touching how hopeful you are of this management after what history has taught us.
Lee Kuan Yew, the father of modern day Singapore, who took it from a malarial swamp to what it is today, had a mantra which he stuck by: figure out what works and do it.
Simple enough statement and one that would seem a no-brainer until you encounter the sorry excuse of a bureaucracy that calls itself the KNVB or, the cabal of entitled agents, posed up as coaches, suffocating in their own insularity.
You can’t expect change from a group of people who are afraid of change. A people terrified of change lest they are proven wrong after sticking to a single solution for so long.
So they cover up for each other. Appoint people of the same outlook and avoid coaches who might be anathema to their coaching beliefs and smartly ward off the risk of been shown up by changes any layman could put into effect.
They might do the performative odd things, here and there, like try a new goalie or bring in a new face as a token addition. But the core remains the same. They refuse to change.
Look at the video posted of Frimpong going rampant in the Bundesliga. You mean to tell me that you need consultation with a Jong Oranje coach to decide if he is ready for the squad? And farmers league star Kenneth Taylor is slotted in for 1st team football? Please.
This is all intentional. Wilful. With Ajax’s dry spell of stars, they ironically can’t move away from them so as to keep them relevant. And of course, the same happens when they have a good crop of players. Either way, for better or worse, Ajax players are going to be shoved down the throat of Oranje.
I will tell you exactly what’s going to happen in Koeman’s tenure. And I’m no genius for suggesting knowledge of the future. All I have to be is realistic and let history be the guide.
He is going to have some good moments and play some good football which would be nay impossible not to achieve as not all teams are France.
He will keep majority of the old guard for one reason or another.
He will continue doing odd things like inverting defenders for no logical reason whatsoever. They all suffer from the naked emperor syndrome.
What I’m trying to say is, please save yourself from heartache.
They are not interested in trying to find out what works. Let alone use it.
you have sumed it up very well and to the bone I must add. the pros and cons. pros, atleast Koeman will fall to his own demise and kicked out. cons, viable time will be wasted which could have been used to give a facelift to the team and in keeping up with other international teams. the greece and and NI away fixture should decide his future imo if he continues with suicide mission
joel piroe scored twice for Swansea, his 16th and 17th goal and as expected he will cross that 20 goal mark again this season. his finishing capabilities looks top notch being a lefty. he needs to move at the end of this season.
40 goals barrier in two seasons has to reflect his talents and at 23 he looks to have matured into fine striker. note he was never called up for JO because he was playing in championship.
under the readar
https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/gijs-smal-the-exciting-left-back-thriving-at-fc-twente
he is more competent version of Daley Blind.
It really depends on what version of Daley Blind you compare to. It is hard to find some better LB than the 2014 version of Daley Blind. I would say it was a joy to watch him back then.
@wilson: I see no reason to throw Gakpo under the bus for 13 minutes of Danjuma. Both of them has not done anything significant recently and need to step up their game.
The forward department do not have much selection. We might have Malen and Dallinga on form. Xavi, Piroe and Lang are hard to judge considering the league they play but we should be tested. Kluivert show some flashes of good play here and there but need to be more consistent.
Other than that, I am not convinced by any other. Gakpo play a lot, no impact. Same for Weghorst. Danjuma has 23 minutes so far in 2023. Depay is regressing, cannot stay fit at all. Bergwijn is also regressing. Summerville lost his starting spot at Leeds.
@ kevin
Any version and even the 2014 one. There was not a single position daley blind played where he didnt look vulnerable. Speed was always a downfall or weakness for Blind. what I meant was Gijs is more balanced and complete defender than Blind. Down wanna go about writing in detail about Blind. Enough of him.
Regard gakpo vs danjuma. It is what it is and credit should be given where it due. Gakpo doesnt have the cutting edge for epl level. He shows flashes of it but that’s not enough and again you have to agree he hasnt lived up to expectation with the opportunities that has been presented to him.Liverpool will definitely invest in the summer and with Diaz back from injury, he will fall behind in pecking order if he doesnt progress. For Danjunma he just brings another level of energy than gakpo and just in three games (clocking some 35-40 minutes) he has shown that.
I’m not expecting danjuma to feature much this season and get selected for croatia game either, but he he definitely will force his way back once he finds a club where he he can clock regular minutes. Also remember his early days at Villareal and how he proved the NT critics wrong as he started playing more and more. I always see that the dutch selectors are not able gauage true potential of a player at an earliest and often leave it late once they have proven beyond that benefit of doubt. In the mean time those who are playing in eredivisie get the nod regardless. Ironically this is a currently going on with respect to frimpong.
Being said this I’m not saying gakpo shudnt be selected but like many he just took a big step rather than gradually.
You can also compare Langs trajectory here as well and how he is working his way up.
Back to the above topic, we can assume that Bart will not be going to any of the Eredivisie Top 3? HLN reported Liverpool & Man United have scouted him. Burnley will have an inside track since their current keeper coach was the keeper coach at Anderlecht previously w/ Vincent Kompany before moving across the Channel. That club has had a reputation of developing a lot of England’s best keepers in the past.
What about Bijlow? Can he rival other Gks for the starting spot.
Bijlow can definitely take on the goalies mentioned. It’s looking pretty ok in that domain.
Gijs Smal of Twente is indeed playing really well and is ready for a move. I think a number of Twente players will move on actually.
This weekend Heitinga had some cryptic words re: Brobbey, explaining he is “not ready to play 90 minutes, but we are working hard with him to get him there.” REALLY? Marco van Basten went ballistic: “They had him at the club for years, then he refused to sign a new deal, went to Germany on a free, got homesick, Ajax signed him again for 16M euros and now it seems he’s not putting in the work and doesn’t live for his sports? It’s a disgrace! What the F are they doing at Ajax??”
Peter Bosz copped criticism in the media for appearing in practically every sports talkshow explaining how “he will pick up the phone if Ajax calls” and applying for the job in a very obvious manner…. I think he might like returning to Ajax?
I see our friend orangutan is doing what he claims others do: framing and taking words out of context? No one claimed Koeman went to the Young Oranje coach to ask is Frimpong is ready.
Very tiring, this type of communications.
@Jan
Re:I don’t think it’s fair to say that Koeman doesn’t “dare” to select Frimpong, or that he didn’t recognise his talent. Everyone can see it. Even better: he’s part of the Young Oranje squad and Erwin vd Looij and Koeman discuss their squads periodically etc etc.
So those claims are false.
Trying to look into Koeman’s head: he will not bypass Dumfries.
My dear Jan, you are in the habit of taking so many liberties in stern defence of Oranje management. In your own words, you are “trying to look into Koeman’s head…”
You throw out all these supposed rhetoric and suggestions as a way of defending ridiculous management decisions and you expect these statements not to be challenged and just be treated as hypotheticals.
But they are anything but harmless suppositions. They are sent out there to convince and influence how we see Dutch management. Like any good rhetoric, its intended use is try to control narratives without the responsibility of words being casted back to sender.
In defence of Koeman’s absurd decision to leave out Frimpong, you brought up the subject of Frimpong being part of JO and how Koeman has regular conversations with the JO coach.
That statement’s desired effect is to imply that Frimpong is in close consideration by Koeman. But it is a broad statement and not in any particular way connected to Frimpong. But you made it sound so and declared my “claims are false”
But the false claims that you accuse me of are all based on facts.
And these are the facts, no ambiguity, no rhetoric
-Frimpong was NOT called up in the squad
-Frimpong is one of the top RB/WB presently in Europe
-Frimpong is better than Berghuis in that wing role
-koeman and Dutch coaches have a history of making baffling decisions like this
Where am I wrong to complain about Frimpong not been called up?
Why should I believe that he will ever be in consideration when he is in the best form of his life and still not called up?
Why should I think he is ever going to be an integral part of this team when management have a history of sidelining great players for seemingly no particularly, serious reasons?
I will never attempt to “look into Koeman’s head” or make excuses for him with use of rhetoric. I will rather judge them by their actions both past and present and call a spade a spade.