Do or Die for Oranje!

It seems Oranje is never able to do things the easy way! We either cruise through a tournament beating big nations only to crash land unexpectedly (1974, 1998, 2021 Euros) against lesser opponents or we find ourselves blocked in a thrilling “play off finals” we end up losing…. Ireland. Belgium. Russia. Sweden…

You will know me to be a positive minded Oranje fan and I like to protect our coaches and players, in particularly if they have had a good record for us all and made us cheer. I find that I can take that really far, at times. Kuyt, Nigel de Jong, Jordy Cruyff, Bogarde, Andre Ooijer, I really like and respect these guys. Now, I clap for Blind, I cheer for Berghuis and I support Koopmeiners.

But…. now the time has come to step up and earn all these credits, all that applause, the fancy cars and paychecks!

Norway is not France, Italy or Spain. Norway with Haaland is a bit like Portugal (with CR7) or Poland (with Lewandowski). Norway without Haaland is a bit like Austria, Ukraine, Ireland and we need to be able to beat them. With or without fans. With or without De Vrij.

There are no more excuses. Not even Van Gaal’s accident, when he crashed with his bike and hurt his hip severely. When he suggested to leave the camp, the players and staff pleaded with him to finish the job, bringing tears to the eyes of the veteran coach. Ah well… we can add that to the mix. Why not.

Van Loen forgets to mark George Grun

I think it’s sad that Bijlow isn’t fit, but Cillesen, Flekken or even Sergio Padt or Marco Bizot should do the job. Even if we concede goals, we simply need to score one more (or the same number actually).

De Vrij won’t be missed: we have De Ligt.

We simply need to show up. Focused. Fit. With courage, forward thrust and using our brain and common sense in the decision making. Playing simple and effective.

Van Gaal will not play around with systems and he will not change too many names on the team sheet.

Spanje with Malta goalie on their side: 12-1

You can expect two holding mids, this time. I wouldn’t be surprised if De Roon is on the bench or even in the team. Him or Wijnaldum next to Frenkie, allowing the Barca man to wander.

I don’t think Blind will be sacrificed. Van Gaal will trust his experience and his pride. The Ajax man wants to redeem himself. Using Malacia in a game like this might be just a tad too much pressure for the energetic youngster.

Bergwijn might start, although Van Gaal could also pick a player like Lang, provided he impresses Van Gaal on the training pitch.

Kluivert sick of it in 2001 v Ireland

Danjuma will start as left winger and Memphis as #9.

Koopmeiners will not get playing time, I don’t think and neither will Gravenberch.

I can even see Blind next to Frenkie and Nathan Ake as left back. It will depend on how Norway is set up and sadly, that is tough to know.

What will they do? They need to win this, so will they start overwhelmingly attacking? Or will they plan for 1 counter while parking two buses?

I know this blog is being read amongst the Oranje players (and staff) and I hope our message to them is clear enough:

It’s ok to F Up every now and then as long as you fix it!

Should Oranje fail to qualify for the World Cup Qatar, I will accept offers for this blog. I don’t think I can go through another World Cup, blogging without Oranje being part of it.

But, Norway is no Brazil or France. I think we’ll win this match 3-0. Memphis, Danjuma and Klaassen…

This is in Dutch, but you can use the subtitle option to let the bots translate…

Bookmark and Share

41 comments

  1. i really pray that Danhumma doesnt start..As this will send us to back foot..He makes Blind look terrible,His connectivity with Blind and Depay are atrocious..Blind-danjuma on left is disaster combination…i want Berjwin to start with Blind on left…they compliment each other and gave us super games…Danhummma su##ks at big time..Yes danhuma can dribble and score but when??his tactical awarness is poor,his off the ball movemnet is atroiuos..his work rate is no where near Berjwin…throw that guy to bench…We played splendid games with out him..all problems started when started playing on left…

  2. @Jan

    Re: Should Oranje fail to qualify for the World Cup Qatar, I will accept offers for this blog

    😂😂 Bruv, Oranje will do this to people. But whatever happens please continue on.

    I was weaned off of every level of football for two months after oranje’s loss to Italy back in 2000. Oranje will do that to you😂 But we move. Hup Holland.

    1. It is heading for 0-0. Norway need to win but they sit very deep. Their plan is to play long ball at like 75 mins and hope that they are lucky. I feel our left wing is not functional. Danjuma play too high and Blind play too far back. Right wing is better, Bergwijn is playing well, I don’t know why he is not starting for Spurs. If we have someone who can score headers, it would be 2-0 by now with crosses from Bergwijn.

  3. Lack of spectators plays a big role but the fact is we have not created a single clear chance on goal. Norway doesn’t look likely to score but anything can happen after 80′. We suck big time today against a very ordinary side. Depay is a piece of crap.
    Turkey is winning.

  4. I think, NED needs to be more aggressive and not settle for draw. This tactical approach could work for teams that can defend well. We all know defending is not our strength. I am just afraid of any last minute goal from Norway. It is so typical for NED and Dutch clubs to concede last minute goals…Hopefully, it will not happen but the chances are there.

    1. Norway is playing well and getting closer to our goal. They are running on steroids and are suffocating us. I hope deLigt doesn’t have a brain fart in the last 10 mins. It is obvious we cannot score.

        1. I stand by what I said , he is crap. Good player in general but nothing special. Just because he scored on an empty net doesn’t make him king. It was sarcasm. You think he is great, I respect that.

  5. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaahh we have made it !!!!

    I know we have loads of problems to work on but after months and months of arguing ( here on this blog ) , let’s share a moment to celebrate this !!! Big congrats I’m so happy in tears now !!

    Bergwijn will be included to the World Cup for sure and Danjuma also !!!

    Lots of work to do but let’s celebrate this moment finally !!

    1. @yan…Danhumma was one of the worst player we had on pitch..he lost balls many times,His workrate was poor..blind struggled due to him…Malen aND gAKPO ARE WAY TOOO BETTER AT LEFT WING THAN dANHUMMMA…Danuhummma makes game slow by his poor thinking capability,..Berjwin,Berghuis,Malen ,Depay all are far better than hyped danhuma

  6. I don’t think any player in Oranje history has done more for a qualifying campaign than Depay did during this one. Provided either the goal or assist in something like 75% of Holland’s goals. Must have played nearly every minute.

    And I’m not saying he’s the best Dutch player ever, but normally the praise is spread around more because of the abundance of quality. Depay dragged this team into the world cup. Without him, we would have probably finished 4th in this group.

  7. I know there’s been a few hiccups recently, but after that defeat to Turkey to finish top of the group is a big turnaround so well done to Oranje. Now we can concentrate on building towards to the World Cup and fielding a team that can compete. We’ve got some great players and with a bit of guidance (and luck) we can show the world what we’re made of. Hup Holland Hup!

  8. Finally!! Congrats Oranje.
    I said it once and I’ll say it again, Van Gaal might be controversial sometimes. But he knows what he’s doing. And that poor game against montenegro might have while killed the chances for some players

  9. I wonder if Blind will get some love now for the amazing dribble and one-two with Memphis, setting up Danjuma with a pre-assist, allowing the Villareal winger to set up Bergwijn ;-).

    Now I’m back to work. Later my analysis and comments. Keep the comments going in the meantime.

    Oh, and interesting that our main man who breaks record after record is called “crap” here… Oranje hit an all time low against Montenegro but at times I feel so do we here…

    Now Danhuma (sic) and Memphis are crap… Wow.

    1. Jan, I see you’re taking a dig at me regarding Depay. What is it with you dutch people? Why can’t you accept someone else’s opinion but instead consider it a low for this blog? If I don’t like a player I have a right to say it here. To me Depay is nothing special, just an ordinary attacker who can be found in many clubs across europe. I was a big fan and always thought he would become a superstar but now I see a bodybuilder full of tatoos who can barely jump 20 cm and who scores tons of goals against weak opposition. You think he is amazing, so do many others here and I respect that. I don’t hate him, just don’t like him and I won’t make fun of his name. He should have been substituted in many games and made way for somebody younger but unfortunately he is considered irreplaceable. If he gets hurt we have NO ONE to take his place. If he gets us to success I will eat my words, but so far he doesn’t convince me. That’s all. PEACE! And congrats to all Dutch fans.

      1. Opinions aren’t always correct.

        Depay only scores against weak teams? He’s scored in 14 of Hollands last 18 fixtures. He’s got 3 goals at European Championships in 4 games, and 2 goals at World Cups in a matter of minutes.

        He scores goals at every level so this rhetoric that he never scores against big teams is just nonsense. Which big teams do you want him to score against? Germany in Euro qualifying? Maybe Germany and France in Nations League. He scored 2 of the most important goals in recent history to drag us across the line against Northern Ireland.

        When Lyon were in the CL he scored in 5 consecutive games, got injured, then scored in his return against Juventus.

        1. Nope, I never said my opinion is correct but it is based on what I see. Depay of Lyon and of couple of years ago was much better than the one of today. Of course he scores tons for NT, he is our only experienced striker and he takes all penalty kicks and he plays every single freaking minute. I guess I unrealistically held him against very high standards and I feel disappointed. He loses the ball easily now when 2 years ago it was almost impossible for any defender to get the ball from him. I don’t think he has scored that many against big teams on either club or NT level during the last year not considering PKs.

          1. Looks like uou didmt watch NT vs Italy where won even after making changes to the team. Mexico, spain.

          2. Looks like you didnt watch NT vs Italy where Italy won even after making 7 changes to the team. Vs Mexico, vs spain.where were you my friend.

          3. That was over a year ago. If you have to go back over 20 international fixtures, over a year to find the last time someone played a bad game…

      2. Thanks Bro. You are entitled to your opinion. No worries. But this guy will go into the history books as top scorer and probably also most caps. He is essential for this Oranje. When someone calls him crap, well… that says more about that person (for me). You can say “I don’t like him”… It’s like me: I don’t like Thomas Muller. But I wouldn’t call him crap :-). I think Dutch nationals who support their team wouldn’t use those terms. We would try to be respectful and say “I don’t like his built, or his headers” but we wouldn’t use a word like crap on a player like him. That is all. Peace back to you.

  10. @ Balkan

    I will back you up on re: Depay and its a legit point. But at the same time we are talking about dutch football here and where changes is seen as barrier to progress even if it is for the betterment of the team. They dont look at a bigger picture and focus what tomorrow can bring.

    Competiton is good for team and looking at the forward department its really iginiting up now. Lang must be itchy as well and with gakpo back its gonna be a headache for for van gaal. If there was somebody to push Depay it would have been great. There will no shortage of fire power up front. Thats for sure.but its also true if Depay gets injured, the team will lose its equilibrum in context to stability. Some with frenkie.

    On another note looking at the forwards department ( options/ competition),If that was the case in midfield. Bang, NT could have been contenders.

    1. I think you an Balkan are of the opinion that when a footballer gets an international cap it’s like a level up or something. You keep claiming the reason we don’t have a backup is because Memphis doesn’t get switched out.

      That is not how it works. You show up to camp with your playing level, and then you display it in the game. Then you go back to your club and train and get better. The reason Memphis doesn’t have a backup is the fault of the development at club level. You can’t take some nobody and give him international minutes and turn him into an international quality player.

      You guys talk like you’re playing FIFA and after each game the players grow stronger.

  11. Does anyone know which friendlies would come in March? We have an outside chance to be seeded in the draw.

    Overall we need:
    – Italy and Portugal not to qualify (hard)
    – Leapfrog Denmark (has about 0.5 a fifa ranking point on us)
    – Not allow Mexico, Germany or US to leapfrog us.

    I think we have a good chance if Italy/Portugal miss out. But those friendlies are crucial to get that ranking a little bit higher than Denmark and fight off others.

Join the Conversation

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.