This was a good week for Dutch football. I don’t want to bore you too much with the co-efficiency ratio discussion ( a battle played out in a spreadsheet, not on green grass). In short, the # 6 of the list – best nations in this calendar year – will get 2 CL places in the 2023/24 season and 6 clubs in Europe overall. At this stage, we are #7, with France and Portugal on spots 5 and 6 and very close. Portugal currently has 4 teams in the race, we still have 5 (Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, AZ, Vitesse).
The many qualification games PSV, Feyenoord, AZ and Vitesse had to play means we collected the most points (!) of all nations in Europe. By December, we should be #5 or #6. Great stuff! Vitesse’s 1-0 win over Spurs B team has helped as well.
So, combine that with Van Gaal’s recent successes and Ajax’ impressive performance vs Dortmund and one can’t escape the feeling we are truly on the up and up.
Van Gaal must be purring with pleasure, as the Norwegian medical team announced Haaland has a hip injury and will be out for week. Ajax will play Dortmund sans Haaland and Oranje will face a Haaland-less Norway in November. What can go wrong?
Van Gaal selected 30 players in his pre-selection now, because a number of players are a bit of a question mark (Ake, Berghuis, Luuk, Klaassen, Rensch, Wijnaldum) and LVG will drop players who are truly out of rhythm.
The biggest gloater this week will most likely be Ten Hag ( honourable mention for Daley Blind of course), after his team took Dortmund apart. Just before midnight a proud Erik ten Hag enters the press room in the JC Arena. His German colleague has just summarized their game versus Ajax in one word: “Scheisse!” (Shit!). Ten Hag: “We have all enjoyed this together. Coaches, players, supporters, everyone. The cross polination was great. But you need an opponent that wants to play, to make a great match and Borussia Dortmund came her to get something. We won, we were dominant and that is great to see. We had so many top performers, I think it was a Collective Men of the Match situation for me.”
You are a critical coach. Can you see points to improve even now?
EtH: “Oh yes, but now it is not time to be too critical. Tonight, after the match, we need to enjoy the win. But tomorrow, different story. We did see some lessons, some positive, some negative. When you want to grow as a team, you will always have to look in that critical mirror.”
So what were some of the negative lessons?
“The Germans are great in the turnaround, in the gegenpress. We had too many moments where we lost the ball too easily. We had a situation in the first half, where Alvarez, Antony and Pasveer lost possession in a row, that is something we cannot accept It’s lethal, normally. In this case, it wasn’t, but we need to iron these things out. Another problem is our effectiveness. We had so many chances and “only” scored 4. That is something we need to work on. Berghuis had two amazing flicks for Haller and Gravenberch. If they score, these two goals will go right across the globe. We could have had 8 tonight. And Borussia maybe 2. It could have ended 8-2. A classic score line for Ajax :-).”
Can you actually enjoy the match, as a coach. Even briefly?
“No not against Germans. They never give up, you know this. It’s part of their DNA. It’s over when the ref whistles three times. And I told the lads at half time. We’re 2-0 up but should they get the 2-1, you can get in trouble. The 3-0 of Antony was super important. Missing chances, or even going with Dortmund in their pace, you can easily lose your head and than a match can pivot. We do need to work harder to kill games off.”
After Antony scored, he had his by now classic celebration with his mate and rival Neres. You immediately coached him. What did you say?
“I love the euphoria and Antony typically wants to celebrate the goal with every squad player. This is needed for a group to bond and become stronger. But, I also told Antony to leave the trickery and the circus act behind. It needs to be effective. Tricks, stepovers, back heels, I love it when it has a function. Like I said, Berghuis could have had 2 assists with a flick behind his leg, but Antony does these things needlessly too and I like him to limit that. No tricks purely for the tricks.”
How do you explain the difference between Ajax and Dortmund?
“That was purely optical. We did a great job and Dortmund did help us a bit, but that was also because of us. We executed everything we wanted to perfection.”
You had to select your #10, Klaassen or Berghuis. Was it a hard decision to make?
“No not really because I go for what the team needs. Steven played really well for us as #10, also in the CL. He has been decisive for us so it’s not logical to sub him. Davy would have been disappointed but he is a top athlete who understands how it works and we know Davy can also play there and be great for the team. But differently. And Steven again was amazing for us tonight.”
Ajax has 9 points and 11 goals (1 conceded) in the CL group now. Are you surprised?
“I never look that far ahead, in all honesty. We go from match to match. We need to simply look in the mirror and try to be as good as possible. We’ll see where we end up.”
Was this the best match under your management?
“Well… I remember a game some time back against Real Madrid away. That wasn’t too shabby. But this was incredible and it gives a lot of confidence. And we need to take the good and work on the not-so-good. We could have a great season, you know?”
It’s amazing, because 3 seasons after that Madrid game, only a couple of players from the current team were there…
“I think we are on the right track. We built a new team and I am very happy with where we are. But we can improve still. And we need to be and remain critical. Against Utrecht, we didn’t have the energy and focus and therefore we lost. But when you show that mentality, as we did versus Heerenveen, we can win. We need to keep on bringing this.”
Daley Blind and Tadic are the leaders who remained from the Madrid game. And they’re both important yet again.
“That is never in question. Any coach wants players he can fall back on. Feyenoord has Toornstra, PSV will see Van Ginkel as the culture guardian, as we call it. These players understand the club, the culture, they understand tactics, they recognise moments in the game where we might get caught, or where we can pounce… But you mention Daley and Dusan, I would like to add Klaassen to that list, although Alvarez and even young Timber are developing more and more into leaders.”
The first 10 minutes, you were very actively coaching. Why?
“Because Dortmund played differently to what we expected. And we made the wrong choices at times. It took a while for the team to adjust. We were a bit nervous, or seemed nervous. Once we got more steady on the ball we started to create chances immediately and as a result we were able to dominate both in possession as without the ball.”
So you had to change the shape during the first 10 minutes?
“Yes, and I would love it if the players would be able to spot it without me interfering from the side. We need to be able to do this quicker.”
This will give heaps of confidence for the PSV match?
“Of course, but we don’t lack confidence. We need to watch out for over-confidence. Sunday is a totally different game. We know and we need to prep for that. We need to be top on Sunday in order to win.”
Goalie Pasveer was also key for you, does this settle the goalie problem in Amsterdam?
“Remko only demonstrates what we know already. He has so much potential still. He did have some glitches in the first weeks, but that is normal. He has been one of the best in the competition now for years and he too will have to keep on making steps up. I am happy that he is growing. At Vitesse, you may get 10 saves to make per game, at Ajax only 2 or so. But you really need to be there for that. I am proud that he was indeed one of the MoTM candidates.”
More Things Change The More They Stay The Same
Dutch football have never had any problem been in the top and thereabouts of world football. They have entertained the masses with the likes of the Ajax team of the mid 90’s all the way back to the total football of the true masters.
Conversely, they have disappointed as much as they have enthralled. The last time a Dutch team won the UCL was back in the 90’s with the aforementioned great Ajax team led by LVG. All through that time to present, there have been some decent runs from a PSV led Van Bommel team and most recently the surprising Ajax upswell leading to a semi-finalist place.
Oranje have had similar runs and even better. More recently, world cup finalists in 2010 and semi-finalists in 2014. And in contrast you have them missing out of the following Euros and world cup mostly because of bad management appointments. That’s the most obvious reason. But then you have the intangibles and variables.
I’ve always subscribed to the opinion of defence winning tournaments. The Germans and Italians have never played better football than the Dutch but they both have a far superior trophy haul. And I will chuck that to the playing of better defence and a conscientious effort of doing that at grassroots level.
England are traditionally not better than Oranje. But at most times they have a string of 2nd team defenders who can walk in the Dutch team. At present, they have like 2-3 players who are better holding midfielders than our choice in that role. And you can say the same about a few more decent European sides not the least France.
It’s not a coincident that we’ve thrived and dominated when we have MVB, Nigel de Jong and Davids, true holding midfielders in our teams. De Roon being able to nail a place as the best a great a footballing nation can produce in the past five years is appalling and points to one thing. There is not enough emphasis being placed in grassroot levels to bring about these class of defensive players. The Jan Wouters are an anomaly and it’s hurting the winning chances of Oranje. Not just entertaining, winning I reiterate.
And we are in the same boat again. FDJ is our one and only plan. Gini, Klaessen and a lesser degree de Roon can’t play that position satisfactorily in case of an emergency. Maybe Koop but not as defensively solid. So we again find ourselves teetering between genius and bust. An injury away from de Roon.
Just to update everyone. The date is October 24th, and since Orangutan’s last post on October 23rd, he remains upset at the state of affairs.
Lol
Thanks, Jan. Enjoyed that. Good couple of weeks for Dutch Football.
Perhaps OT, perhaps not, but here is an amazing goal from Groningen-AZ match.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72d8rkjLRwE
@Derek
Re: Just to update everyone. The date is October 24th, and since Orangutan’s last post on October 23rd, he remains upset at the state of affairs
Your like can’t handle the truth and would rather live in this fantasy world where the Eredevisie is the shining beacon of “real” club football and oranje’s problems are just a phase. Rather, acknowledge the reality first and you might just have a shot at solving the problem.
And the reality of the situation is this:
Whatever have been happening to Dutch football in terms of its underachievement and devastating disappointments over the years is endemic, chronic. It’s a persistent symptom of a glaring structural and foundational deficiency that has been failed to be addressed.
Finalist in the World Cup of ’74 and 78 and missing out on ’82, ’86 and after triumph in Euro ’88 another lackluster outing in 1990 world cup. And then missing out again in 2002.
And the cycle continues. Finalist and semifinalist in 2010 and 2014 respectively and then missing out in both the following Euros and WC. It is clearly a pattern and it is not a good one. It is shockingly abnormal and something is fundamentally broken.
Appeasing yourself with hollow stats may be a great coping mechanism. Facing the problem headlong is the Solution. Meanwhile, the trophy cabinet remains bare.
What I’m saying is that if somethings wrong, but nothing changes. You don’t have to comment on it again. If its raining for 40 days and 40 nights, you don’t write a post every day about the rain.
Must I have to remind you that this is a football blog…an Oranje football blog?
I write about the issues, not things that do not concern me(like getting pressed over hard truths and objectivity)
Let’s use a metaphor.
Oranje is a sick person.
We (the blog users) are it’s family.
You are the doctor.
Normally, a doctor will tell the family the patient is sick and tell them how bad it is (once) and then they spend the rest of the time offering solutions or suggestions.
You as a doctor are calling the patients family to remind them everyday their family member is sick, and then abruptly hang up offering no solutions, only to call back later and remind them they’re sick.
I see this Ajax team as something special. I think the eredivisie will be wrapped up, and even looking at Europe, I think maybe Bayern and Liverpool are the only clubs Ajax might be scared of. I don’t see them going into Paris or Madrid or Manchester or Turin with fear.
I think that van der Sar, Overmars and Ten Hag have created a good blueprint for a successful Dutch side. There’s been a bunch of players I thought would be leaving who have remained, even Ten Hag himself. That, combined with good youth players equals a decent European side.
It’s funny, Wilson criticizes the likes of Klaassen or Berguis for flopping in the PL and treating Ajax like some safety net, but Ajax seems to have some effect on these guys that turns them into world class players. Tadic would be the best example. I can name very few clubs that he could not walk into. Tadic, Blind, Haller, Berghuis, Klaassen, all PL flops that are dominating the Champions League now.
I honestly think it’s the start of an Ajax Renaissance which will see them as regulars in the knockout rounds of CL. The only issue is it may make the Eredivisie more one-sided than it has been.
Indeed, this Ajax team will go far. As long as Van der Sar, Overmars and Ten Haag stay, they will become an European powerhouse again. They were able to rebuild the group after FDJ, De Ligt, Ziyech and VDB left. They will go through that cycle again soon but I am confident that with the right people at the top, they will continue to develop and integrate new players into the team.
@Derek
Re: Let’s use a metaphor.
If we don’t talk about racism, it will cease to exist. Poof!! Just like that. Or even better let’s hang on to the fantasy that it doesn’t exist because even if it does exist we can’t do nothing about it. So, shhhhsh.
If you were not so hung up in opposition of my objectivity, you will find that I have always presented solutions alongside my critique.
My last solution was geared towards the grassroots level making an effort in churning out better defensive-minded players. We all know how Oranje can’t withstand any kind of sustained pressure.
I spoke about less bias.
I suggested giving worthy players a fair shake.
I preached against arbitrary actions and how the Dutch management is ego-driven in its decision-making at the expense of the greater good.
Problem is, you glance and shut out conversations you don’t like. You would rather I stay mum. For your convenience.
@ Derekvdberg91
“It’s funny, Wilson criticizes the likes of Klaassen or Berguis for flopping in the PL and treating Ajax like some safety net, but Ajax seems to have some effect on these guys that turns them into world class players. Tadic would be the best example. I can name very few clubs that he could not walk into. Tadic, Blind, Haller, Berghuis, Klaassen, all PL flops that are dominating the Champions League now.”
First of all You forget that all the names that you have mentioned are eredivsie grown players except for haller but he also can be counted in there as well. Tadic (Twente), Klasseen,Blind (Ajax),Berghuis (AZ), Haller (Utrecht). they are well adopted intensity of the league and as far as champions league goes , collectively teams like dortmund, porto , Monaco have achieved the feet which ajax has. there aint much to dispute here and saying that they have become world class coming back to ajax is bogus. collectively Ajax is like a wolf pack. no need to elborate much on this but at the same time its not like they are unstoppable as what you are trying to make it sound like..
as much as Ajax is flying the netherlands flag and raising the bar in champions league which is indeed good for CPs, how they have been dominating, can you throw some light on this????? they were beaten by teams like Roma and Atalanta and again I would say they will be beaten by well structured teams. Inter , Atletico Madrid, Man United on a day if all they players are available could beat them, Leipzig, Villarreal (50-50). I wont even go to the big guns.
“I honestly think it’s the start of an Ajax Renaissance which will see them as regulars in the knockout rounds of CL. The only issue is it may make the Eredivisie more one-sided than it has been”.
It may, it may not, there are alot of factors, draws/group, opponents, match day squad considering both teams, coaches, tactically battle. if you think the next leg in Dortmund will be a walk over like in Amsterdam, forget about it, it wont.
well they have always made eredivsie more one sided when it has come to transfer market but then they pockets run deep and no other club can compete with them on that front but they will drop points for sure. it will be close finish. on the same note I read Man city owners are interested in investing/Buying at ADO Haag. I can imagine how this will have the ground trembling in Amsterdam. its all about money, if other teams would have deep pockets as well like Ajax Im sure they would have been in the same boat or achieved the feet which Ajax has achieved but like I always say beggars cant be choosers.
I’m aware they’re all from the Eredivisie, but you like to use the fact they flopped in the PL as some negative against them, because Ajax is just a “red carpet” into the National team. It’s like your one major argument against Blind, Berghuis and Klaassen.
City own a lot of teams, their investments aren’t the same across the clubs. They own Belgian club Lommel as well, but they’re not some powerhouse. Until the Eredivisie gets a better television deal, ADO will likely just be a club for City C players to go on loan.
well thats what it is (red carpet- Rensch/Karsdorp). even an average player will look great in Ajax. I still stand by my words simply because what happens at ajax remains at ajax and they are unable to replicate their performance at international level simply because they find themselves outside of their comfort zones. you wait for some big games and then you see the usually suspects, berghuis, Blind, Klaassen. I hope to hear from you then. pliz dont go AWOL like Jeff now after danjuma and lang proved their credentials at NT Level.
they buy clubs not to transform them into powerhouse but develop their players which you are quiet true. and at the same time this also adds formidability in teams outside of top 3 which is a plus. look at the chelsea contingent that came through Vitesse. they did increase the competition level overall. 2016-2017 season. KNVB Beker winners/ 5th overall in the league. again on the city C players, you make it sound like they are hopeless player which they are not. city just doesnt sign any tom , Dick and harry.
I think all in all, Hollands national team is going to fall behind unless the Eredivisie can catch up to the top leagues. Every top Holland team in history has followed a period of strength in the Eredivisie.
We all complain about management and player selections as the failures from 2016-2019, but realistically there were no top Dutch players to choose from.
Between 2010 and 2016, only PSVsde the knockout rounds of CL, and our best results in Europa were a few quarter-finals. The Eredivisie became irrelevant. That entire generation of players became irrelevant, that would be your 1989-2005 players. Berghuis, Siem and Luuk de Jong, Klaassen, Wijnaldum. Those were the stars of the Eredivisie. Compared to the ones that had come before, irrelevant.
Previously, Eredivisie top scorers were hot commodities on the transfer market. During that period: Vleminckx, Dost, Boney, Finnbogason, Depay, Janssen. All nothing.
Holland wasn’t able to keep up with the football revolution that started in 2004 and peaked in 2010 when money just exploded in the sport, so they fell tragically behind.
And such, the National Team which came behind that generation of players was weak. The options available to all of those managers was weak. We had to keep players after their retirement because there were no other options.
But now, the Eredivisie is starting to make a push, with Ajax really dragging the rest of the teams. Feyenoord have American investors circling, Vitesse at one point had a billionaire owner. But the biggest thing will be getting that second CL spot as it guarantees so much television revenue for whichever club gets it.
I think the Eredivisie will get back to 6th place by 2024. And then the National team will see the benefits in years to come.
I have been scouting around and will again say we will get to see very good / best NT in 2024 -2026.
May have gone under the radar but crysencio summerville ( ex feyenoord) is coming up to Leeds united first team now after some exceptionally performances for their u23. Came of the bench last week vs Wolves after injury to Raphinha. didn’t disappoint and put in an energetic performance playing 30-35 minutes. looks set to gro in the shadows of Raphinha.
If you havnt watched his guy.
https://youtu.be/hpzq3PPS06g
Again his technically abilities and why Bielsa has has a taste for explosive wingers. Raphinha was also scouted by them at Rennes and has gone to make a huge impression in the Brazilian national team just in his two appearance. Leeds wont be able to hold him for long though and eventually when he leaves, Bielsa will groom him(summerville) as his replacement on that right wing. he can also play on the left as well.
Have also been keeping tabs on Javairo Dilrosun as well at Boudreaux on loan from Hertha. Has been active on the right wing/ striker in two man upfront. was surprised though when hertha shipped him out on loan. he clocked alot of minutes there. He is kind of Injury prone though but in 2-3 years time, with some more experience and maturity he will be knocking on the door.
overall the french contingent , stengs, Van Bregen and Kluivert all will have come into spotligt by then and the competition will be more for that RW where berghuis is now.
last but not least is the progress of Xavi Simons which has come an halt after the arrival of messi at PSG. his contract is set to expire in 2022 and he needs to look for a club where he get minutes and play regularly. he has showed his desire to return to Barce but that remains to be seen if Barce would want him back or no. they already have, Pedri, Gavi, Puiq, Coutinho.
I was hoping Ihattaren would redeem his career after joining samporida on loan from Juventus but that has turned out to be disaster and has vanished after returning to nerthalnds for family reasons. what a waste.
https://youtu.be/eqU-gDdS19E
Had one goal disallowed by Var. Inches offside.
First saw Summerville in the UEFA U17 championship team in 2018(?)…not big, but quicker than most players at that level. Glad to see he is getting some playing time at Leeds. Hoep he can stay in the lineup.
Dilrosun. There were times during his stay at Hertha that it seemed like a spot in the NT was just a matter of time, (and I guess it was, though unfortunately, he came on for just around 20 minutes against Germany, and had to leave with an injury), but he also had periods where he just couldn’t get off the bench there. Just another example how hard it is to reach the NT level, or even a regular place on a team in a top league; slip a little, or go out on injury and, all of a sudden you’re are on the bench, and some hungry player is doing his best to take advantage of the opportunity. (As an aside, its why I won’t refer to any player as a flop, or in any other personally derogatory terms. What they have to go through to even get to become a professional deserves respect’ regardless of the level he reaches.) Hope things work out for him at Bordeaux.
@Derek
Re: We all complain about management and player selections as the failures from 2016-2019, but realistically there were no top Dutch players to choose from.
I don’t know why we can’t just see the obvious for the obvious. Blind and FDB had no chance of succeeding with Oranje because they both lack the charisma and electricity to inspire lesser players. But even more importantly, they lack the tactical nous and know-how.
Yes. This bunch are not the best crop of footballers that have been available to Oranje. But Koeman made it work. Same batch of players. So did LVG. Same group of players. What’s more obvious than that, that this was a coaching problem.
We have FDB been interviewed a couple of days ago and claiming that Oranje would almost certainly have won the Czech game if not for the red card. He also followed that with the assertion that Ajax is amongst the top 5 teams in Europe. Both claims are delusional. Less so the Euro claim, but again he was in charge.
But FDB knows these kind of comments is red meat to his targeted audience. He knows appreciation is going to follow. That’s how he ended up with a job ten times bigger than him in the first place.
Frank de Boer won 4 straight Eredivisies using Siem de Jong, Kolbeinn Sigthorson, Ryan Babel, Derek Boeriggter, Jody Lukoki, Aras Ozbiliz, Bulyukin as his strikers. If thats not bringing the best out of lesser players…
And FDB won games after games with Inter and Crystal palace,He almost won Cl and EPL…How many goals scored by Crsytal palace under him?? in Epl games?? how many??
From 2010 to 2014 Az alkmaar,feynoord and PSV wre in immense trouble…it just like getting top spot in a weak group..Dont you feel ashamed to bring FDB as coach????side pass ,back pass boring ajax under FDB…The coach who signed Van der hoorn for Van dijk….ha ha FDB,Danny blind, both has nothing to be come a top coach…
like I always say averages players look great in Ajax but then have you considered how far they were off in CL COMPARED TO NOW.
You’re agreeing with me. I’m saying they were bad players and FdB got the best out of a bad bunch by winning the Eredivisie with Siem de Jong as his top scorer.
What you’re implying is that the only difference between Ajax then and Ajax now is the coaching. Like if ten Hag had coached the 2011 team they would have made it further.
And why is it when people being up the 2015-2017 generation they only mention Blind as the coach? That generation of players had Hiddink, Blind and Advocaat coaching them and none of them could get that team to do anything. I think at some point you need to stop blaming the coaches and just say the team wasn’t good enough.
Bro layoff the FDB fanboyism. It’s not a good look. Winning four trophy on the trot with an Ajax blueprint doesn’t prove much. Winning outside of your comfort zone like Advocaat and Hiddink have done, sometimes at the highest level, is everything. You trying to compare their track record with FDB is laughable at best.
Left to his devices, away from the safety of the Ajax blueprint, FDB woefully flunked every single assignment entrusted to him. Most of the world saw it coming. Not you. This kind of talk emanating from you is how a football nation as big as the Netherlands ended up hiring someone that has been fired three times on the spin from club football. It’s an attitude. The unwillingness to see ones own limitations.
@ Derekvdberg91
your arguments are baseless . the eredivisie as a whole was barren during that period and thats why ajax were dominating with What I said with deep pockets. if you recall after tops propescts which ajax signed flopped like Sinkgraven, Zivkovic and few others, they stretched out to other markets and thats where they were able to rephase the team and then came the coaches like Peter bosz who laid down a good foundation for the team to build on.
as for NT, top players declining, individual mistakes was not Hiddink’s fault. I will still say he was the only coach who came with an open minded to use both huntelaar and RVP together unfortunately, individual mistakes just didnt help him in his course and KNVB was consistently on his tail as well.
another one bites the dust. koeman gets sacked. as expected
Look I’m not saying FdB is a great coach, or Danny Blind. What I am saying is that you can’t blame them entirely, which is what the rhetoric is here. You guys act like when Holland had those 1000 shots that didn’t go in against Latvia it was FdB missing every shot. If you took Cruyff, Michels, van Gaal and Hiddink on a coaching team together they could not have won the euros with that squad.
This sack culture is not really a Dutch thing, because I think typically we’re more realistic about expectations, which is different than say England where they all think their clubs are the best squads on the. world, and the only reason they’re losing is the manager.
Also, I work with professional athletes on a daily basis, and I’ve seen people who go around blaming coaches for bad performances, but at the end of the day there’s only so much the coach can do. FdB couldn’t score that chance for Malen, or make that tackle for de Ligt.
Nah…@Derek..you are in delusion .Coach is the leader,He dictates everything till kick off..i will prove you are wrong..
1..Look at Manu after Ferguson….thats coaching difference,
2-We got su@#3ked at Euro 2012 and LVG took us to semifinal,perhaps would have won that WC..if he was able to send krul for shootout vs Arjentina..
3…hiddink took same team….could even take 3 rd spot from a weak group for EC2016.
4-Danny blind lead us to catastrophy, however advocate did some fight back but that was too late…i do agree with some luck advocate would have taken us to WC..
5-koeman inhertied same team took us to nationas league final by adding frenkie and co..
6-FDB was a luck rider ,i thank for Malen miss,if not that clown would have continued..under FDB we would not be in this spot right now…
…Remmber the nepolean word…
“”if u build an army of 100 lions with dog as their leader,the lions will die like a dog.but if you build 100 dogs army and their leader is lion..the dogd will fight like a lion”””””
klassen,haller and many are not so great players ,but they have intelligence,they adapt to Eric ten haag the genius…Ten haag is great coach…He makes them better…once Ten haag leaves..everything will fall apart untill another Ten haag arrives and takes over..
So coach is the Key..
@Derek
You speak in extremes which suggests that you are just trying to claw your way out of an indefensible position.
The rhetoric is not to blame FDB entirely. We have just pulled out receipts in LVG and Koeman to prove that he could have done better with what he had. So you are wrong there.
Another extreme position is your claim that none of the other coaches could have won the Euros. Nobody expected Oranje to win the Euros and certainly not with FDB at the helm. Have also seen this argument where people think Malen converting his chance would have resulted in a win. That’s ludicrous. The Czechs were at par with Oranje and the biscuit could have broken anywhere.
Sacking culture is not a Dutch thing? Stubbornness and aversion to change is more like it. Won’t surprise me if Danny Blind(assistant) succeeds LVG and continue failing his way upwards. Can’t be worse than the FDB appoint after his clubs misadventures.
Now Koeman is gone, I guarantee you Depay and FDJ are going to be benched. There has been many complaints about the lack of performance from these 2 guys. I feel like FDJ is fading away. He has been very boring. This guys could do a whole lot more. All he has been doing is his little trick where he turn around with the ball and pass it. This is old. He doesn’t shoot. 25/30/35 meters (zero) He never takes a shot at the goal. His last 2 games for the national team was very disappointing.
I never want to see him in NT again.
I agree. FDJ has become a boring player in a boring team. He is supposed to be the new anchor for his team but I don’t see that happening. Gavi and Pedri are breathing on his neck and with a different coach any of those guys can grab the spot from him. Depay is limited too, he seems to be getting heavier by each game and looks more like a bodybuilder than a football player. Koeman showed again why he sucked at Valencia and Everton. What a terrible club career, almost on par with FDB. He made the $$$ though. I bet once LVG is done , KNVB will go back begging him to come back.
Boring Tikki FU@#3k barca…FDJ needs to get out of broing barca….Memphis should go diet fasting and should stop taking wieghts in gym…After LVg darkness is waiting…After ten haag darkness is waitiing in Aamsterdam..
mark van bommels sacking also went under the radar.
Guys, what do you all think of the chance Overmars and Erik Ten Hag leaving Ajax? Really wish they would stay to build this Ajax team, which has done very well. Both of them certainly have played a big part in it.
Thinking, even if they are to leave, they should do it after this season ends..leaving in January is too abrupt and disruption to the team rhythm.
But then, the lure of big 💰 might be too hard to resist.
@ycsng0822…yes, been wondering about that, too. I read where some of the thinking is that it is more likely that Overmars would go there, but not Ten Haag. I can see the appeal to Overmars. Unlimited budget to build a team; huge, passionate fan base, that has been waiting for years for a turn around. He strikes me as having ambition, and would relish the challenge. So I think, if offered, he’ll go. Shouldn’t affect Ajax too much this season. The team is already pretty much set. The one cautionary thing (in all sports) is that sometimes the ability to build a competitive team on a smaller budget doesn’t always translate to being able to build a team with unlimited resources. That won’t affect his decision, ut its something to keep an eye on.
Ten Haag, however, would be a huge loss halfway through the year. But I doubt he’d go at this juncture, with Ajax in such a a good position to move to the CL group stages. If he really can’t resist the offer, my guess is that he would make a deal to take over next year.
Koeman to Ajax.if ETH does leave.
Possibility????
2 days ago, I’ve made a comment about Depay and FDJ going to be benched since Koeman is gone. Now there’s already rumor about selling FDJ because he is nor performing well enough.