Dutch clubs in Europe

blog
by Jan

And it only takes a week for two of our young, cool clubs to be relieved of their European dreams. No CL for PSV, no EL for Feyenoord (or Vitesse, or Utrecht).

What a drama.  Feyenoord started well against the Russians in a steaming De Kuip but missing a penalty is never a good thing to do. Too many individual mistakes. Not enough forward thrust. Not enough killer instinct. End of story.

Ronald Koeman: “We lost against ourselves, really. We did everything right in the first half. We pressured forward, we scored and created 5 opportunities. But they came back due to personal mistakes and that second goal took the confidence out of the team. This was very unnecessary.” Apart from losing the game, Feyenoord also lost Clasie with a hamstring injury.

Feyenoord not good enough. Utrecht and Vitesse: not good enough. AZ might have a somewhat friendlier draw than Feyenoord but still…probably…not…good enough.

So, we need to make do with Ajax. In the CL. An Ajax WITHOUT Eriksen and most likely Alderweireld, who is linked to Atletico Madrid and Liverpool. Ajax is checking if Van Ginkel is available for a loan deal, what with Willian coming in, but for now, Chelsea said no.

Last season, they were facing the champions of England, Spain and Germany. “It can’t get that bad this year,” everyone said. So now they get Barca, Milan and Celtic. And sure, it’s not that bad. I do believe 6 points are a must against Celtic and maybe they can grab two against Milan. Who knows how they’ll finish up. They will at least bag the millions tv-money all by themselves now PSV is out.

cocu ac milan

PSV might not have gotten the victory (and the CL ticket), as was to be expected, really. But PSV definitely received and deservedly so, the compliments for trying hard.

The young team ( 23 years on average WITH Park and Schaars, 20 years without these two oldies) played with gusto, flair and panache in the San Siro. With the first chance even for Tim Matavz.

But it didn’t take long for Kevin Boateng to find space in the centre, with the former Portsmouth forward drifting between Wijnaldum and Rekik and pulling the trigger early. The PSV goalie Zoet was probably expected to block that but he simply wasn’t quick enough.

PSV kept on playing and Milan allowed PSV the ball. And slowly PSV gained some confidence, knowing that a 2-2 or a win would be enough. And there is enough football in PSV to go for a goal or two. Maher understood this in the 20st minute, taking a ball on the half volley and forcing a stop from Abbiati.

In the 31st minute, great chance for Milan, with a low pulled back cross from the left and an El Shaarawy hit on the bar.
The start of the second half was great for PSV with a 100% chance for Wijnaldum. Instead of being smart about it, the former Feyenoord man went for power and Abbiati blocked it nicely.

but it was Balotelli who found he net in the early stages of the 2nd half.

And it has to be said…. AC Milan looked more lethal, more mature and superior, but they did allow PSV the ball a lot and the youngsters from Eindhoven tried to take the game to them. The final pass or the final cross failed them though. And it has to be said, some players failed to step up.

Specifically Adam Maher and Memphis Depay, in my book, should have brought more. Maher had some great moments, but he needs to be more dominating, in my book. He does drift in and out. Depay however seems to light at this level. Physically and in terms of decision making. He is a great talent, for sure. But his time has not come yet. Park and Matavz played decent. So did Wijnaldum. Schaars worked his arse off but simply does not have the class of a Sneijder or Clasie. It’s a bit too predictable.

The most impressive players for me where – despite the goals conceded – Rekik, Bruma, Willems. Fearless. Focused. And sure, playing those top forwards (Boateng. Balotelli, El Shaarawy) you do make mistakes and you will give chances away. But I was impressed with these guys.

Jeroen Zoet? I am not convinced. Talented for sure. But not the man to win games for you (yet). A bit too…..sweet? (Zoet is Dutch for sweet, hahaha). I can’t see how Tyton is not better at the moment.

nigel

Nigel de Jong was nice to his fellow countryman. The best Dutch player on the pitch: “I really need to compliment PSV. They play with heart and soul. And they’re talented. But it’s too early for them. If they can keep the lads together for a bit, their time will come.” Asked about his future in Oranje, he said: “Sure! I’d love to wear the jersey again. But for now, after this long injury, I need to focus on my club. If I do well for Milan, the rest will probably follow.”

Stijn Schaars: “We are too light for this. Milan showed us that. We just didn’t have enough. With 1-0 down, there was nothing really troubling us, as we had to score anyway. We had the 1-1 opportunity and we missed. The game would have been different as a result.  They got one 10 minutes later, and score. Almost from the same spot. That is the story, I guess.

This game and this opponent came to early for PSV. Sadly or maybe not sadly, the can now concentrate on the domestic league.

And in Amsterdam they secretly cheer, as all the CL tv income will now go to Ajax….

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164 comments

  1. Kaka wants to leave Real Madrid. This is where Marc Overmars should act:

    “Hey Kak, this is Marc. You are on the speaker. Edwin Sar, Frank de Boer, Dennis Bergkamp and Johan Cruyff are in the room too. You made enough money now for 4 generations of little Kaka’s. Stop mucking about and come play awesome football in Amsterdam mate!!”

  2. It was a terrible night yesterday for all dutch fans. Feyenoord with 4 important Oranje players ” de Vrij , Indi , Clasie and Janmaat ” and a top dutch talent in the u-21 team ” De vilhena ” are out of europa league by an extremely week russian team with Clasie injured , Eriksen and probably Alderwild will leave which means Ajax should forget about CL , let alone the difficult group.
    I can’t figure out what Ajax really wants. Money ? European Trophies ? Or just Eredivisie titles ? They said earlier they won’t pay more than 5 million to bring a player so we won’t bring Maher , and we won’t bring MVG . The new policy is to keep our players instead, pay them better salaries so they can stay ,depend on our school and bring some fucking talents from Iceland and Denmark to the school for free .
    Everyone on the planet Earth knew Eriksen would leave this summer with one year left in his contract , why to let him go only 4 days before the transfer window closes with no suitable Alternative ?
    PSV already won’t be in the CL. Not sure anymore how they will perform in Europa league.

    A positive note is that LVG could reach semi-final in Europa league like 8 years ago with AZ , which sounds like an enormous achievement to me atm !
    Perhaps he can figure out a similar achievement in the WC.

  3. I think Ahax should try lure Seedorf his experience with all these youngsters would be great. I also think that they should bring Heitinga in as they could prob get him on the cheap and is experienced.

    i know its not Ajax’s philosophy but It would be nice too see Ajax bring in a big name with some off the money they will make of the sales of Eriksen and Alderweireld

  4. I agree. Seedorf said many times he’d be keen to come back to Ajax.

    The Oranje squad for the Estonia (Sept 6) and Andorra (Sept 10) games have been announced.

    No Sneijder. But Jeroen Zoet (huh??) and Jetro Willems are part of it again. As ifs Jeff Bruma.

    Daley Blind, Clasie, Huntelaar, Dost, Siem de Jong, Rekik, Afellay and Boetius are injured.

    Van Ginkel, Mathijsen and Heitinga are not selected as they don’t play enough.

    Van Gaal did say that Sneijder, Nigel de Jong and Stekelenburg are on their way back.

    Goal: Kenneth Vermeer (Ajax), Michel Vorm (Swansea City), Jeroen Zoet (PSV)

    Defence: Jeffrey Bruma (PSV), Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord), Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord), Paul Verhaegh (FC Augsburg), Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa), Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord), Jetro Willems (PSV)

    Midfield: Jonathan de Guzman (Swansea City), Stijn Schaars (PSV), Kevin Strootman (AS Roma), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburger SV), Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV)

    Attack: Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahçe), Jeremain Lens (Dinamo Kiev), Robin van Persie (Manchester United), Arjen Robben (Bayern München), Ruben Schaken (Feyenoord), Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Norwich City).

    2. Well, that’s good to hear. Stek, Nigel, and Sneijder all belong on the 2014 WC squad.

      Squad looks decent enough. My only nitpick is I would have rather taken Pieters over Willems.

  5. The Young Oranje squad has six debutants:

    Goalie Mickey van der Hart (Ajax) , defenders Nathan Ake, Dico Koppers and midfielders Ayoub, Drost and Kyle Ebicilio are part of the squad now

  6. These are the final names for the qualification games against Andorra and Estonia:

    Keepers:

    * Kenneth Vermeer (Ajax)
    * Jeroen Zoet (PSV)
    * Michel Vorm (Swansea City).

    Defense:

    * Jeffrey Bruma (PSV)
    * Jetro Willems (PSV)
    * Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord)
    * Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord)
    * Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord)
    * Paul Verhaegh (FC Augsburg)
    * Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa)

    Midefield:

    * Jonathan de Guzman (Swansea City)
    * Stijn Schaars (PSV)
    * Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV)
    * Kevin Strootman (AS Roma)
    * Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburger SV).

    Attack:

    * Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahçe)
    * Jeremain Lens (Dynamo Kiev)
    * Robin van Persie (Manchester United)
    * Arjen Robben (Bayern München)
    * Ruben Schaken (Feyenoord)
    * Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Norwich City).

    -> Rekik, Blind, Clasie, Stekelenburg, van Rhijn are injured/not fit enough.
    -> Van Ginkel, Mathijsen and Heitinga do not play enough.
    -> Sneijder and Nigel de Jong are a bit weird cases and won’t be there either.
    -> Zoet, Willems, Janmaat and Strootman were not in the preliminary selection, but did make the final squad.

    Cheers

    1. I’d like to ask you about Wijnaldum bro. I mean the guy seems to be a good footballer , however , I can’t figure out the best position for him or how to get the best out of him.
      He has speed , technique , dribbling , good shooting ability ” can improve even more “, good physics , can defend , and has a good personality and mentality not to mention his versatility.
      What are your thoughts ? Is he better as a no.10 ? 6 ? Or box to box ? CF ? Winger ?

      2. He is a central midfielder. Not a winger (IMO), not a pure attacking midfielder (10) and not a defensive midfielder.

        I still remember him in his first year for PSV against FC Twente running circles around Wout Brama. He did fine on that position as he does fine as a half midfield player at PSV now.

        He can be good on the wing against inferior opposition. However against elite he lacks speed. I also think his field play in the Euro U21 as a winger was mediocre, bar the Italy game, the game he did not score.

        I want to see Wijnaldum develop 1 or 2 years in this position and then see what he has become. It’s no coïncidence that Wijnaldum has been selected now for the Dutch NT in a serious way.

        He should use this year at PSV to develop the defensive side of his position. He is not good at tracking back. That was a big problem for him. Should be nr 1 on his list to get solid in. Apart from that. his effectiveness in front of goal needs to improve.

        Cheers

    2. LVG said first Nigel needs to focus on his club after a long injury rehab and second, Oranje doesn’t play with a pure defensive midfielder particularly against teams like Andorra and Estonia.

    3. —————-Vorm——————-
      ———-Bruma——Vlaar————-
      Janmaat————————–BMI
      —————-Deguzman—————
      ——wijnaldum———-Strootman——
      Lenz—————————–Roben
      —————Persie——————-

  7. Psv were simply outclassed, the Milan boys were only in cruise mode for a lot of the game once they got the early goal. Psv had moments of nice attacking play but they constantly turned over cheap possession in danger areas trying to play out from the back when it was too congested. Park was ordinary!!
    But they are young and will learn from this, 12 months will do them the world of good, lets hope they can stay together for a season or two.
    I’m not convinced that there are any real NT certainties in Psv. The team for the WC will need more experience right through the spine.
    On a side note, Dejong might make a good CB if he is fit especially if
    Stroot plays in front of him.

      1. I agree with you Honda may be better for them , but Galliani said that Kaka is always welcome in Milan as if he wants him to return to his old club , plus , I think Kaka will be cheaper in price which is good for Milan who suffer financially.

  9. Selection U21:

    Keepers:

    * Warner Hahn (FC Dordrecht)
    * Mickey van der Hart (Ajax)

    Defense:

    * Timo Letschert (FC Groningen)
    * Joshua Brenet (PSV)
    * Stefano Denswil (Ajax)
    * Nathan Aké (Chelsea)
    * Mike van der Hoorn (Ajax)
    * Dico Koppers (FC Twente)
    * Ruben Ligeon (Ajax)

    Midfield:

    * Yassine Ayoub (FC Utrecht)
    * Jesper Drost (PEC Zwolle)
    * Kyle Ebecilio (FC Twente)
    * Marco van Ginkel (Chelsea)
    * Adam Maher (PSV)
    * Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord)

    Attack:

    * Luc Castaignos (FC Twente)
    * Memphis Depay (PSV)
    * Jürgen Locadia (PSV)
    * Quincy Promes (FC Twente)
    * Luciano Slagveer (sc Heerenveen)

    Ake can also play in midfield as other players have strong secondary positions they can play.

    Cheers

    1. thanks for the selection, did you know the squad for the U19??
      About Eriksen replacements of all the option I read, I guess the best is Duarte, at least for us, the guy really can play football, and I think his style is compatible with Ajax, good first touch and has good long ball.
      Cheers!!

      1. U19 for two big friendly against Germany and Italy:

        Keepers:

        * Mike Havekotte (FC Utrecht)
        * Nick Olij (AZ)

        Defenders

        * Jorrit Hendrix (Jong PSV)
        * Peet Bijen (FC Twente VA)
        * Daniël Breedijk (Sparta Rotterdam)
        * Jeff Hardeveld (RJO/FE Feyenoord)
        * Sander Heesakkers (RJO/PEHV PSV)
        * Yemaro Hoogdorp (AZ)
        * Rodney Lopes Cabral (RJO/FE Feyenoord)
        * Jairo Riedewald (Ajax)

        Midfielders

        * Riechedly Bazour (Ajax)
        * Clint Leemans (RJO/PEHV PSV)
        * Danny Bakker (ADO Den Haag)
        * Thom Haye (AZ)
        * Rick Karsdorp (RJO/FE Feyenoord)
        * Clint Leemans (RJO/PEHV PSV)
        * Rai Vloet (RJO/PEHV PSV)

        Attackers:

        * Bilal Basacikoglu (sc Heerenveen)
        * Sheraldo Becker (Ajax)
        * Wessel Dammers (RJO/FE Feyenoord)
        * Sam Hendriks (Ajax)
        * Issa Kallon (Vitesse)
        * Queensy Menig (Ajax)

        Cheers

  11. I am really pissed of by MVG case the guy should leave that plastic defensive boring club.he would have got chance if ancelotti were there.
    @Ajax managemner EDVS,Marc etc..Go and get him for your country at least for the sake of national team.

  12. Europa League groups

    Group B: PSV Eindhoven (NED), Dinamo Zagreb (CRO), Chornomorets Odesa (UKR), Ludogorets (BUL)

    Group L: AZ Alkmaar (NED), PAOK (GRE), Maccabi Haifa (ISR), Shakhter (KAZ)

    Pretty happy with these groups

    1. PSV will face two dutch players in Ludogorets : Mitchell Burzorg who played with NEC, dutch footballer/rapper lol and Misidjan who just came from Willem II.

      Odesa may be the surprise in that group, they have a good starting in ukrainian league.

      PSV will finish first I think.

      I’m not even sure AZ will qualify though, PAOK is better than Atromitos and Haifa is hard to play.

  15. Louis van Gaal on Clarence Seedorf being selected for next summer’s World Cup: “I don’t think so, but you never know.” [telegraaf]

    It’s literally one of my current daydreams :’) .

      1. Seedorf doesn’t need to be followed. He is the captain of his team , plays full 90 minutes in Brazil every week , was selected 2nd best foreign player in Brazil last season which is enough for LVG i think. This season he has scored 5 goals “top scorer has scored 10 goals till now” , his team is the 2nd in Brazilian league table.

        If he doesn’t mind to play again with Oranje , He must get a call-up before the world cup.

  16. Hope to see janmaat-bruma-bmi-willems starting, in club level is proven that 3 feyenoord defenders in a row are not good enough, need someone to complement them, imo, bruma is more experienced and adventures than devrij.

    Good that mathijsen no longer in, when narsingh back, im pretty sure kuyt and schaken will be gone too.

    I think bit too crowded with forwards, who is the backup AM for vaart?

  19. Wijnaldum fits much, much better in central midfield role than in any other role. He is a typical runner.. he goes all over the pitch to retrieve the ball and help in the attack. He is fast and very industrious. That said, his making late runs to penalty box or shooting from distance is probably his upper limit of his contribution in attack. Since he is not a true playmaker I don’t expect him to dictate the game and pull of fancy passes. His defensive awareness needs to increase over time, definitely an area of improvement for him.

    Wijnaldum as a winger was a disastrous experiment. He would either run through a brick wall like a blind horse, or he would drift to center crowding the midfield. Besides, he is not sharp enough to finish off chances inside the box.

  20. Jan–
    Do you have any fear that your site has an Oranje version of the Sports Illustrated cover curse?

    Adam Maher: Oranje’s Next #10
    -suddenly he’s largely invisible and can’t even take a corner kick effectively

    Bruma-Rekik:
    -within 24 hours they give up three goals and are out of Champions League. Not to mention giving up goals to that SOB Balotelli

    Nigel de Jong:
    -he should be very worried

    Maybe you should start writing articles about Portugal/ Brazil/ Germany, etc. –Just a thought

  22. Eriksen seems foolish to leave Ajax now, for Tottenham. He will miss out on CL football. Spurs are in transition with no guarantee of success. He will play 50% less than he does at Ajax, given the competition for midfield spots. Had he waited another year, with another Dutch title and another year of possibly impressing in the Champion’s League, his value would have gone up significantly by next year and more than made up for whatever raise he’s getting. Now he’s chosen a risky path that actually may stunt his further development.

  24. @VanX, I totally agree with you. I am not sure at all he will be a guaranteed starter. As for V Ginkel, we all agree that this was a huge -in fact colossal- mistake to have gone to Chelsea. Now we know why. I hope he does too. He is already left out of the national team and if he has any sense, he has 3 days to ask to go to Ajax. when we look around the world and see the trades we realize how low Dutch players have become. The mere facts that nobody is even looking at de Vrij, BMI, Janmaat or Clasie is extremely worrisome.
    @DRB300, I read with great interest your analysis of Ajax’s finances. I also read this morning that Ajax has now around 80M euros in the bank, the highest ever in Dutch history. Ever since Cruijf took control with his revolution, we have heard that Ajax was building for the future. So is buying the stadium part of that? Just curious.

    1. Ajax has made clear that they are looking at ways to make more money. Indirectly they gave a signal that something is up.

      The thing is that once you own a stadium you can use it for countless activity’s and sponsor deals. From honeymoons, to show off you serve Heineken. Everything can be commercialized. That’s where still a lot of money is to be made. Many concerts and events can be planned in the Arena and made money on. Also the name of the stadium could be commercialized. That is a choice though. Oh and you don’t have to pay rent once you own the place.

      Point is that with buying the Arena, Ajax makes a step towards more financial power long term and thereby independence. Combined with bringing down the salary’s and increasing the efforts to produce elite youth prospects means that Ajax is really busy to become future prove.

      This year, without reinforcements might be an exercise in frustration, but I like to believe it’s all in order to realize the greater plan.

      Cheers

    2. I just read Milan is ready to make an offer for Martins Inddi. I hope he goes for Milan, a club where he can develop his skills having first team football in a better league.

  26. I am so curious what is FDB plotting?
    whoever has an eye knows Eriksen will leave for sure.
    Why didn’t FDB sort out his replacement earlier instead of wait until this dying minutes?

  28. I dont know whats happening with robben yesterday, he look lost, didn’t know what to do, very insignificant involvement in the play, offensive or defensively… Disappointed because i was expecting him to show that he is the main bayern man, not ribery who just won european player of the year.

  29. if ribery stepped up in to the plate at right time,then bayern would have lost to chelski.let us take it as oofday for Roben.What happnes for dutch NT if Roben hav an off day?.He the worst player along with rafihna yesterday.Shaqiri came for him and he did well.i hope roben plays hard in coming matches for orange and bayren.

  30. Van Ginkel must leave Chelsea as long jose is in charge.this team is pretty defending team and he will spoil MVG.at least he must ask for a season loan.

    1. Hes clearly he 5th option for defensive midfielder in Chelsea. Ramires and Lampard are Mourinho favorites, Mikel and Essien are their backups. Van Ginkel will be an option in bench when anybody got injured os suspended due cards.

    1. I think Mourinho dont want to loan Van Ginkel because hes planning to have him playing like Lampard in the future and dont want him playing in another positions in other clubs.

  33. Luuk de Jong is really bench material these days. Is on the bench today again. With luck he might get 5 minutes playing time after a 86th minute substitution.

    Much is down on his lack of skill, but part of the story is also the setup not being catered towards him. He needs that to excel. Both he and the club have not moved intelligently when going for each other and still have not fixed the problems of the mismatch.

    Good luck to him turning this situation around.

  34. I’m watching Norwich vs Southampton, Fer and Van Wolfswinkel are playing but doing nothing special, both are struggling with the ball as always.

      1. Couldn’t watch second half, but in first half he was average, like all his team.

        I do like him but honestly, he is no good footballer, he struggles every time in his ball control and passes, everything he does is imprecise.

        I still consider him more as a weapon for last twenty minutes.

  35. now it’s official for me, Pieters is the best defensive LB we have. That’s 3 Premier League games in a row without a (defensive) mistake (couple of minutes injury time left and 3 more points for Stoke).

  36. damn I don’t know what it is with Ajax but they never get a break with the UCL draws. tough group in 4 consec years. i’m beginning to think this is all rigged…

    2013-14: Barca, Milan, Celtic
    2012-13: Dortmund, Real, Man City.
    2011-12: Real, Lyon, Dynamo Zagreb
    2010-11: Real, Milan, Auxerre

  37. and not a word about him in Dutch Media after his non-selection. 🙁

    They talk about Sneijder.

    They talk about Nigel de Jong.

    Blind gets injured.

    And still not even a peep about Pieters. Very odd.

  38. Looks like Buttner could be headed to Celtic. Good for him, as he is not getting enough exposure at ManU. However, he’ll be pitted against Ajax in the CL, if he plays.

  39. atleadt van der wiel seems to be coming back to his best again for a strong PSG

    Gregory van der Wiel
    The Netherlands international couldn’t exactly assert his authority on the encounter, but contributed to the cause with a couple of good crosses from the right.

  40. Robben was not good last night but it was just about time Ribery shows he is the “best” of Bayern. I mean in the last 4 years Bayern has reached the UCL final 3 times and in all those years it was Robben who was the main man for Bayern. Even when he missed the penalti against Chelsea he was the best on the pitch so I really don’t understand why people say Ribery is the best and not Robben but who cares it was Robben the one who gave the UCL to Bayern with that fantastic goal! and MVP of the UCL final. 🙂

  42. Finally some good news for Ajax. Duarte signed. Great recruit. I always liked this guy, he is fast dynamic, good goal scorer. Great potential. I also heard Benayoun may come. May not be bad for experience in some key games.

  44. At the minimum, Ajax has replaced 2 foreigners with Dutch talents. The defense will now have all Dutch GK and 3 out of 4 Dutch defenders with more on the way. With Duarte and when Siem comes back, it will be 2 Dutch players in MF. As for the forwards, except for Hoesen (I really like him) and De Sa, there are none currently but the youth team has Menig, Becker and Hendricks. So hopefully it wont be too long.
    Of course it would be fabulous to get MVG but I seriously doubt it. MVG should have refused to go to Chelsea.

    1. Kudos to Ajax to stock up on the Dutch talents! Looking forward to this, it’s been a long time coming.

      Vd Hoorn and Duarte should slide in directly to the Ajax starting line up. I think both have a decent chance to make it to the Dutch WC squad. With injuries, loss of forms, etc., getting called up to the Oranje (at least, preliminary) squad should be attainable in the near future. My prediction is that Blind will be phased out out the LB position with Boilesen finding his form. Tough situation as this will certainly not help his cause in Oranje. Siem De Jong is position-less player, a “9.5” — unless he has a superb season when he carries Ajax to multiple trophies or something crazy like that, my guess is that he will have a hard time sneaking in to the Dutch squad with the extra abundance of central midfield players.

  47. Everton are preparing for life without Marouane ­Fellaini and Leighton Baines.

    They have lined up moves for Wigan’s James McCarthy, Feyenoord’s Bruno ­Martins Indi and Chelsea ­left-back Ryan Bertrand.

    The Blues are bracing themselves for a last-ditch attempt from Manchester United to prise Fellaini and Baines away from Goodison Park.

    United’s latest offer of £38million was not rich enough for Everton, but, if the champions return with a bid closer to £45m, the ­Toffees will do business.

    Both Fellaini and Baines want to be given the ­opportunity to link up again with David Moyes at Old Trafford.

    And, although ­Everton are reluctant to lose two key ­players with the­ ­season underway, the money will give them the scope to move into the transfer market ­before Monday night’s deadline.

    Boss Roberto ­Martinez will immediately commit £30m to bring in McCarthy, Martins Indi and Betrand.

  48. Guys what u think abt Johhny boy?will he comeback??Last time i saw him for everton he got schooled physically.I am just thinking of collection of defenders we have.Coz stable defense is the base of any champion team.look at how many goals conceded by Brazil 94?France98?Brazil2002?
    Italy2006?Spain2010?.
    who are all will be our apt 8 defenders for WC.sure that Bruma and Rekik will become superb at the end of the season.with good number of matches in pockets.vlaar bring guts and grit.Heitinga brings experince.Urby/Williams bring speed and agility.
    Paul Vargah,Ricardo Van rhijn,Gregory vanderweil.Janmaat
    Williams,Peiters,Blind,Buttner
    Bruma,Devrij,Heitinga,Douglas
    Martins indi,Vlaar,Reikik,Veirgiver
    16 Defenders for 8 spot.
    i would go for
    Peiters,BMI,Vlaar,Reikik=Bruma,Janmaat,Van derweil,Devrij.8nos

    1. it would be wise that we take 8 capable defenders.i was remmbering how corpot sucked after Bram nuytick injury.He had only one option that was van der hoorn and he was forced to play him.i wish and hope that doesnnt happen with LVG in WC.

  50. watched last 15 mins of the ajax game. wasn’t impressed at all with Ajax.

    -Saw some terrible decision making by Bojan, tried to dribble thru the entire Groningen defence when guys are open on his left and right for an easy goal.
    -Vermeer couldn’t hold tight on the ball and gave away an easy rebound.
    -Not sure if Hoesen is too slow or was out of breathe but there were instances where if he was a faster player, he could of had a one on one with the gk.
    -and Poulsen missed a sitter which could of won the game.
    -wish FdB could of subbed in Fischer, Anderson earlier to give them a chance to change the game.

  51. Without the horror committed by Vermeer we would have won the game. I thought we were much more dangerous after Hoesen and Fisher went in. Give Hoesen the same amount of time as Sightorsson and I am sure he will start scoring. Bojan did well but he is still too selfish. Poulsen should not play as much. He is like Giggs with Man U. But I agree Jalepinho that we will have to be much better if we want to do something in the CL.

  54. Simple Derek. Instead of having a league with a few locomotives (PSV, Ajax) destroying the opposition as in the past, the level has gone down -as reflected by the poor performances of the Dutch clubs in Europe (Utrecht, Vitesse and Feyenoord). The top teams can no longer keep their top players, as a result, the smaller clubs take their chances and at least until now are able to close the gap fairly easily. I still expect Ajax and PSV to top the league but almost by default. The mere fact PEC is leading the league says it all.

    1. I agree Jeff, but why were you surprised when I was saying the same last year ?

      Dutch league is going down year after year, if PSV sucks with a 0-0 home against Cambuur, they can expect Ajax and Twente to suck also in other games.

      That’s how things are going for years, every champion is by default, honestly the last dutch yeam which really convinced me was AZ 2008/2009 though the trainer was LVG, they really had a great team.

  56. Laurent, if I did disagree then, my apology, I certainly agree now. As you know I am a die hard Ajax fan with PSV second but to see year after year Ajax throw away its best players is really getting on my nerves. I understand the limitations of the Dutch league but still it does not make any sense. For me, the fact Babel left for Turkey is a symptom of an ill fated league. The KNVB better wake up because soon the eredivisie will be at the same level as the Scottish league.
    I really think UEFA needs to look at some kind of salary cap or merging some leagues together. I watched both BPL games today Liverpool-Man U and Spurs-Arsenal and God was it terrible. These clubs look like multinational corporations that just wear a club jersey. Chelsea must 25 players on their roster worth more than 10M euros. It is simply ridiculous and will kill the game. The only way to compete is for the Dutch, French and Belgium league to merge. I am sure smart guys can figure it out.

    1. There were talking about a benelux project, with Holland, Belgium and Luxemburg, but I never thought about France to be with. But yeah, it would be a good idea, French ligue 1’s second part sucks, too much weak and useless teams, and the level is also going down year after year except for PSG of course…

      Russia and Ukraine are also talking about a collaboration, I don’t think Russia needs it, their championschip is already quite strong.

      About salary cap, is it the real reason dutch clubs are failing ? If I’m not mistaken, no Ajax player got more than 1,2mo per year. That’s not understandable for me that Kasimpasa can offer a better salary to Babel than the dutch champion, even Anderlecht starts to be a better destination than dutch top clubs.

      The day Ajax will bring a big transfert, the club will gain notoriety and be more attractive.

      1. With big transfert I don’t mean spending 16mi in a young serbian guy like they did for Sulejmani, I mean bringing one confirmed player offering him a good salary (let’s say 2,5mo per year, they can easily afford it).

        Take a look at that Kuban which beat Feyenoord, they never made any big transfert but they offer good salaries and could get Dealbert, Kaboré, Baldé, Cissé now…Little by little they’re really building an interesting team. They sold Ozbiliz for 10mo while they got it 1mo from Ajax…

  57. Is nobody calling out Brenet for his performance yesterday? That kid needs to improve.

    He Messed up with the 0-1 for Milan in the PSV home game.
    He messed up with the 2-0 for Milan in the away game.
    He messed up with the 3-0 for Milan in the away game.
    He was a disaster yesterday.

    I like Dutch youth to be phased in, but this one is pushing it. However if PSV want to pay for his tuition money then that’s fine by me. He might do a Daley Blind turn and become semi solid, while actually being athletically equipped to fulfill the full back role.

    That having said, boy does he need to improve.

    1. Agreed. Brenet has the raw pace and power, but he doesn’t have his defensive awareness developed. Caught off guard in too many occasions. Offensive-wise, he blows hot and cold, seems lacking confidence to charge forward. I think he will be ugly to watch this year, there will be times when he makes some silly and frustrating mistakes. Understandably so this is being his rookie season. Part of the learning curve. Would rather seeing him being burned now, rather than warming the bench. Difficult to assess his floor/ceiling this early on, but technically, he is not as gifted as his counterpart Jetro Willems.

  58. So Bale to Madrid. If Ozil gets snatched by Arsenal rather than United I would be pissed. Looking at RvP standing on a bigger island in the last 2 games of United than in all his games for the Dutch NT, an Ozil would make that go away or in any case lessen. I did not like Kagawa’s link up ability with RvP past season.

    1. Fer’s defensive work rate was really good I think this took away some of his attacking ability, even though he nearly scored early on after linking with VGinkle, I agree that he was one of the best on the park along with the Norwich left striker ( can’t think of his name) who scored the goal. A good year ahead methinks!

  61. An article found from December 2011

    Cruyff – Van Gaal

    Both men though similar, domineering personalities, are different when you begin to scratch beneath the surface. In essence at the heart of the battle lies a clash of ideologies, which their feud has been characterised by, either side claiming their brand to be superior and best for the club. “Of course, Louis van Gaal has an understanding of football,” Cruyff said. “But we both have a clear difference in approach.”

    A good example is when it comes to development of players and running the youth program. Van Gaal, as well as Co Adriaanse, to many is credited with allowing the deterioration of Ajax’s academy from the mid 90s onwards. As a coach his way of thinking is on the side of the collective, also applying to how he develops players, often seen as a militaristic approach which he classifies as team building. It’s ultimately geared towards winning.

    Cruyff, believes in the individual, under the auspices of Van Gaal there was a move away from the traditional approach – often referred to as the ‘Michels model’ – effectively the importance of individual training which Cruyff is an ardent proponent. The belief in this is during critical stages of a match, instead of relying on others, the player would solve the predicament himself, character building is as much as important as skill development, talent is one thing but with a football brain things become more advantageous.

    1. They are great one after the other. After Cruyff at Ajax, they produced an avalanche of young talent that fell in van Gaal’s lap and that he used to mold one of Europe’s best teams during the nineties. The problem was that van Gaal started to think he could develop better, together with clown Sef Vergoossen and now we see that the Netherlands does not have 1 talent named in some top 50 lists.

      Once we produced players like van Cruyff, Rensenbrink, van Basten, Bergkamp and RvP. Now we can only marvel at players like Özil, Isco and Thiago.

      We used to be at the forefront of producing technical players. Players that sparked the imagination of Europe and the world. Spain has overtaken that position easily. Even Germany, the founding fathers of the robot footballer, pour out more creative and technical players than the Netherlands.

      At the moment we produce gritty robot footballers like Strootman and van Ginkel. Ideal son in laws. Strikers like Dost, Luuk de Jong, van Wolfswinkel, Locadia. Our best players of the next generation are at the back, not at the front.

      I miss absolute finesse in the players we currently produce.

    2. Yes, this was discussed in depth here. The clashes between JC and LVG. When JC’s philosophy was adopted at Ajax again, under Jonk/Bergkamp/DeBoer it was silly Danny Blind who contacted LVG to come and be Technical Director at Ajax!!!

      JC was livid: “For starters, we don’t need that role in the first place. A TD doesn’t exist in my vision. And Secondly, LVG’s philosophy is based on the collective. My philosophy on the individual. This will not work.”

      As a result, LVG got egg on his face and was called a backstabber by people in his “own” club. And now he is at Oranje….

  62. It’s becoming a very strong rumor now that Özil is moving to Arsenal. This is one of RvP’s last world class years and I want him to excel, not suffer in a mediocre, reactive, 4-4-2, Moyes, United team that is unable to deliver him 1 proper chance in 2 games.

    The sheer class of an Özil can not be overstated. The guy is better than overpayed long distance runner Bale. He is better than Rooney, Kagawa (who is a good player by the way) and Welbeck combined and then some. That is how good Özil is.

    Look at this clip:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXWosvWiE6E

    That guy can give RvP the player of the year award, massive confidence for the WC and maybe the the Ballon d’Or. Only if he does not win it himself that is.

    How that mediocre thinking Everton coach is letting this happen I do not know. You don’t get a chance like this very often. Sell Kagawa to PSG. Sell him to Arsenal for that matter. Keep him and let even more creativity into your gritty team. Maybe it will allow him to win an away game against the top 4 teams in EPL. In the end only one thing counts: One does not say no against Özil. Arsenal does not deserve this player.

    Actually RvP deserves this player for once. For all the games of Ramsey playing behind him at Arsenal. Welbeck at United not able to score a goal if his life depended on it. Wingers that all decided to go through their worst season ever and stopped offering proper crosses. In the NT a Sneijder who I love but made RvP a shadow of what he could have been. RvP deserves Özil behind him.

    1. “””””The sheer class of an Özil can not be overstated. The guy is better than overpayed long distance runner Bale. He is better than Rooney, Kagawa (who is a good player by the way) and Welbeck combined and then some. That is how good Özil is.”””””””””””””””
      LOL…great sarcasm,many idiots dont understand this DRB,its sad fact.

  63. DRB300, I agree. Watching MU today, I feel very frustrated for RVP (anyone else watching the game probably how frustrating RVP is). I hope NT has better services to him like MU last year. Without the proper support to RVP, MU will not win EPL this year. Perhaps Maher can develop into Ozil but it is a long way to go. The way Sneijder plays does not compliment RVP much although I still wish Sneijder can regain his form and be part of NT. I was hoping for Afellay to do this, now with the injury which makes me think Maher is the best candidate right now.

  64. Moyes is mediocre at best. This knucklehead keeps on asking for Baines and Fellaini like his life depends on them. From what I saw today pretty soon RvP will clash with him and I wouldn’t blame him. MU will win nothing with this shortsighted idiot at the helm.
    On the other hand the level that eredivisie has fallen to and lack of promising stars is depressing. To me Sneijder looks like a great deal at the moment and LVG may piss him off to the point that he may refuse to play for him. I don’t understand how you motivate a player by constantly humiliating him.

  65. In fact as Manu fan i thought Vanginkel and Stroot at MU.at the summer time.Antoniso valencia is much beter player than Ashly young.England and their overhyped players.

  66. Ajax failed with their bid to sign both Elia and Ola John, they have now wrapped up the signing of their 3rd choice target, Zakaria Labyad from Sporting Lisbon who is not half as good as either of the failed targets!

    sad times at ajax

  67. BMI to Everton is getting closer. Somehow that is down to Baines making a move to United. If that means BMI is going for the left back spot, then that is stupid.

  68. Pff I just see now that Guilavogui joined Atletico for 10mo, midfielder and french international, really really an average player, Van Ginkel, Strootman, De Guzman, Schaars are all better than him, Clasie isn’t less good.

    He’ll play the CL with them while Schaars and De Guzman will play the EL, Van Ginkel will bench Chelsea and Strootman will only play serie A.

    There is a problem with dutch players currently, really, why can’t get better teams, play in a an higher level…Even BMI to Everton would be a bad transfert.

    1. united is responding by paying 30 million for Fellaini. The world has gone mad. If Fellaini is worth this much today, Bale is worth 100 million etc what would Cruyff, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Bergkamp etc would cost at their peak? I hope Real Madrid crush under the weight of debt and never come back again for instilling this culture of getting anyone at any cost. Same wish for Chelsea.

  70. BMI to Everton may not be the perfect destination for him. But still, it is better than staying in Feyenoord and only play in the Dutch league. If Feyenoord would have qualified for the EL, staying would have been a better option. Now, I hope he leaves for Everton

    1. Yeah I agree but as DRB said, he will probably play as LB there, not his best position and not the position we want him with NT.

      BMI makes me a little bit thinking about Micah Richards.

      1. I don’t mind seeing BMI in Everton. Will hurt his development in short term (playing as LB), but in a long term, it’d be probably a good move for him as Everton’s center defender options are over the hill (Jagielka, Heitinga, Distin).

        1. Baines does not seem to move. If his move and BMI’s are connected than it’s off. If they are not and Everton still move in for him, he is probably going to compete for a CB spot.

  71. And what the hell is Nathan Ake doing. His competition are all out on loans by what it seems. Meanwhile he seems to enjoy himself being in Lampards aura or something. Kid needs to make serious flight hours. If not at Vitesse, then to another club where he gets semi guaranteed playing time. Not in championship though. No hoofing and “getting stuck in” football for this one.

  72. Nice bit about United’s handling of the transfer business:

    Two for the price of two

    “The whole idea of United offer a ‘Package Price’ for the Everton pair was idiotic from the start,” writes David Hale a commercial economist. “The commercial logic in offering a combined price for anything is a direct acknowledgement that you are either looking for a discount over the individual valuations, or you are offering a ‘persuasion bonus’ by taking on board by taking an unsellable asset off someone’s hands in order to get the other one. As the latter is clearly not the case here, then Everton would always have been stupid to accept any combined offer.” Yes – but does that mean that Spurs consider Benoit Assou-Ekotto an unsellable asset – they have reportedly told QPR that unless they take the left-back on loan and cover his wages then they can’t have Tom Carroll on loan for the season.

    That is funny. Have to blow off some steam at the prospect of Özil joining Arsenal instead of United.

  73. @Jeff, Laurent – Thinking about the discussion of merging the leagues of Holland, Belgium and Luxemburg, I can see that the top teams might be reluctant to do this because of losing Champions League slots. Between the 3 countries there are 5 slots although only 2 are automatic group stage. Could the merged league be of such quality to pull in the same number of CL spots as England and Spain? If not, we might see Dutch or Belgian teams actually missing the Champions League some years.

    1. Good news. I would be much happier if he joined MU but obviously some boblehead called Fellaini is worth more to them. MU is not ending in the top 5 this yr. With latest purchases Arsenal can win EPL this yr or Chelsea.

    1. Not sure in which context. But I am assuming what is meant is this:
      Vitesse is owned by a close friend of Ibramovic. Some say it’s actually owned b y him. They use Vitesse to try out talents, to put players out on loan or to use Vitesse to showcase players they wanna sell.

      Vitesse is like a trading company. They don’t compete to win titles but to sell and buy players.

      3. You can find many many dutch people (especially Ajax fans) who complain about Bosman law and putting dutch clubs as victims, but what I see is that dutch football is one pf the most cooperating and actor of that system. Dutch clubs only go for money and think problably less about the sport aspect than english or spanish clubs.

        I’ve been looking patiently and I didn’t find any club which acts like Vitesse is doing now. 7 players on loan from Chelsea, probably 5 of them will be starters. Obviously Vitesse can’t buy any of them, they’re just there to help Chelsea to select good ones and to sell bad ones.

        Even if Vitesse would win the title with it, I don’t think supporters will be proud.

  80. anyone know herrera? manU was willing to pay 36M euro, but they failed. why is he so expensive? and fellaini for 26.5M, only recently the Belgian is so highly appreciated more than dutch/ dutch academy, e.g. erikson for 12M? toby – 7M, ginkel – 5M.

  82. A pure disgrace that United allowed Arsenal to sign one of the most brilliant players of this era.

    A player that would have set RvP on fire for the rest of his career at United. He went to Englands biggest club to play with the best and he gets that sluggish slow moving Belgian to play behind him. You know who will benefit from that? Fellaini. If RvP gets to take the corners and free kicks again (which is still a question under this new brilliant regime) he will land 3/4 of them on that big head of his. The corner situations will become fun to witness.

    Instead of open play sorcery from Özil+RvP we get to see a defensive gritty team banking on dead ball situations to score goals and pull wins over the line. Contrasting what could have been with what actual situation is leaves a very bitter taste with me.

    Time to move on.

    2. Hmmm DRB. RvP + Ozil would have been a dream pair. The worst I’d that now Arsenal position themselves as title contenders for years to come while MU deteriorates under Moyes. RvP may end his career with only one EPL title. I feel bad for him.

    3. My favorite aphorism: “Be careful what you ask for, because you might get it” applies to RvP here.

      I’ve got Arsenal fans in the family, so I’m cool with this signing.

  83. AS Roma is another team to look out for in Serie A. They will definitely be title contendersthis year with the likes of Juventus, Milan , Napoli. I think two teams which have really used this transfer window effectively are Napoli and Liverpool. I would add Chelsea, but I think they will backfire.

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