While us here at the blog could debate the positioning of Stekelenburg vs France or the Dost disallowed goals vs Sweden for weeks on end, the Dutch have shrugged off the Oranje drama and are all looking forward to what comes next!
Which obviously is the Classic, this coming Sunday. I have to say “classic” actually. The Capital C should be reserved for the home game for Feyenoord, in De Kuip. Playing in the Amsterdam Johan Cruyff Arena is simply not the same. And definitely not without any Feyenoord supporters allowed in…
So, the debate within the KNVB is going to go on ( will Louis van Gaal become the newly created CEO role? will Hans van Breukelen survive the assessment about his functioning? which coaches can we expect on the short list?) and I’ll keep on informing you about all that.
In the meantime, the media are focusing on the clash of the two Titans. And the key players in the Dutch classic encounter, are not Dutch players, but Moroccon! and interestingly enough, they are close friends, on opposing sides.
King Karim El Ahmadi vs Seer Ziyech
They could have played for Feyenoord together by the way. When Ziyech (24) left Heerenveen, Feyenoord wanted to sign the playmaker but he picked his career path with care and brushed Feyenoord off. And picked FC Twente. He does make funny choices. On the pitch, he’s all class. Off the pitch…. He picked Twente and they got into trouble soon after (unrelated) which meant Hakim Ziyech ended up leading a pack of juniors, with the aim to not get relegated. And he also picked Morocco over Oranje (due to an alleged conflict with ex-coach Van Basten and lack of warmth from Blind), but his headstrong personality resulted in the current Morocco coach to ignore him for the national team. El Ahmadi (32) was the midfield man for them in the Africa Cup, while Ajax was able to utilise Ziyech domestically.
Character vs Class
Not really, though Ziyech oozes class but has character for sure, while El Ahmadi is the symbol of Feyenoord’s resilience, but the younger El Ahmadi was definitely a creative artist when he was at Twente. But his days in England have turned the flegmatic midfielder into a leader. Not unlike Phillip Cocu’s metamorphosis, from inconsistent left winger to hard working midfielder.
El Ahmadi was the moral victor in the last meeting between the two. Ziyech was signed for 12 mio euros from Twente to do exactly what he is aiming this Sunday. To put Ajax on top again. El Ahmadi, who was rested last week by the Morocco coach as a gesture to him and Feyenoord, knows that a win will mean they got the title.
El Amhadi will not have the Robin to his Batman in midfield. Tonny Vilhena is suspended for two games. Toornstra or young talent Nieuwkoop will complete the eleven.
Another interesting clash is the meeting of two white elephants in goal. Brad Jones and Andre Onana. At the start of the season, it was not even conceivable that these two goalies would become fan favorites and key in their respective teams’ game plan. Tim Krul was supposed to succeed Cillesen and Ken Vermeer was #1 in De Kuip with recovering Bernard Hahn as second in command. But Onana shrugged off the mistakes he used to make in Young Ajax and the 20 year old has established himself firmly in the starting line up. The Cameroon born player still likes to display his football skills (as he did away vs Groningen), and sometimes it goes wrong… But versus Groningen, he was fouled (not seen by the ref). Despite this, in front of the cameras, he admitted that despite the referee’s mistake, it actually was situation he should have avoided. The youngster also kept a cool head vs Feyenoord, when after Kuyt’s goal, Kramer tapped the mourning goalie on the head. He didn’t react.
Ajax wants to go on with this youngster. Krul is now at AZ and Overmars and co are currently negotiating with Onana for a continued stay as Ajax’ #1 goalie.
Brad Jones has had many clubs in his life. From playing some CL games for Liverpool he went to mid-table club NEC from Nijmegen where the aficionados recognised a classy albeit aging goalie. Confronted with Vermeer’s major injury (and Hahn not fit), Martin van Geel picked up the transfer free Aussie and with his experience and more importantly, his Australian Rules football experience, the keeper rules in the Feyenoord box and has had a massive impact on the success, with his composed and controlled nature.
Coach van Bronckhorst made it clear some months ago: whatever is happening with Vermeer and his return to fitness, Jones will be our #1 goalie this season! This message resulted in clarity and harmony in the Feyenoord camp. But the expensive Kenneth Vermeer (31) will most likely return to the number 1 spot next season, while the free agent and 35 year old less expensive Jones might well have to find another club. “I do not worry about the future. I understand how these things work. My focus is winning the title. The rest will fall into place.”
Here are some classic Classics…
1964: Feyenoord – Ajax 9-4
Ajax with Cruyff and Swart took the lead twice but Hans Venneker scored 5 goals this match for Feyenoord. It’s 5-2 at half time.
1983: Ajax – Feyenoord 8-2
Cruyff switched sides and took his new team to Amsterdam to be humiliated by the kids he helped develop. Van Basten, Vanenburg, Jesper Olsen allowed Feyenoord to get to 3-2 before they rant riot. After the game, interviewed for national television, Cruyff said: “It’s just three points. We will still win the title”. And they did.
1995: Ajax – Feyenoord 1-2 quarter finals national cup
The year Ajax beat everything and everyone and took the Champions League. But in the quarter finals, it was cult hero Mike Obiku who scored the winner in extra time. Feyenoord would win the cup that year.
1995: Feyenoord – Ajax 2-4
Half a year later, Ajax is King of Europe. Feyenoord starts ferocious and leads 0-2 in the first seven minutes of the game. Ajax straightens its back and scores four times to take the three points.
2005: Ajax – Feyenoord 1-2
The last time Feyenoord won in Amsterdam. Kalou and Kuyt the goal scorers for the visitors. Feyenoord would win the home game as well (3-2) and that impressed so much that a documentary and two books were made about this feat.
2012: Feyenoord – Ajax 4-2
John Guidetti’s year. He loves Feyenoord and despises Ajax, as he demonstrated recently playing against Ajax with Celta de Vigo. The loanie from Sweden scored a hattrick and is a Feyenoord legend forever.
2015: Feyenoord – Ajax 1-0 third round national cup
Ajax rules in the Eredivisie and withstands Feyenoord’s pressure until the dying minutes. A last free kick in the 95th minute is swooped into the box and Joel Veltman allows the ball to ricochet into the goal. De Kuip explodes and Feyenoord would end up winning the Cup again. The festivities are insane at De Coolsingel but will fade compared to the party that will ensue when Feyenoord beats Ajax this weekend yet again.
Left some comments on the previous post still (wilson and others (Tiju)
“”””This was a friendly against Poland. I do hope you realise we haven’t won a serious match against a strong opponent?
If you pick St Juste, Diks, Nouri, Hendrix, Ake you have a handful of untested players who have potential but never played together.
Football is a team sports. Van Gaal made 5 mediocre players (on world level) world class. That is gelling a defence together.
This WILL NOT WORK picking 5 random talents for a game every three months.
You live in LaLaLand man”””””””
What is the end product you got from so called experienced ones????
you cannot make a man pregnant..its as simple as that..expecting klassen,Dost,luuk,BMI,to get us to WC is excatly similiar to that..
Just drop them and we have some experienced players who are doing well in Gini,blind.build the team arround them..
I think strootman lost a bit,he is not the guy before injury…Even Strootman should be benched…
Pick the right players and train them thats the job of coach..blind picked up some horrible choices…he paid for it…
players like klassen,luuk,Dost will make Depay look like a king in the feild..i mean anything would be better than them…
What the hell gini is still playing as DM….he has to be upfront we are filled with shits there..
Had blind called Haps and Williams,ake,ramseelar..the he could have feilded Vs bulagria
———–Zoet————-
Karsdorp—hoedt—Blind—-Williams
————-Ake—————–
—-wijnaldum—–Toonstra———
Roben——-Lenz——Promes……..
that would have changed team dynamics…
Jan as I said earlier, I don’t wanna drag much on father and son.one has gone and the other is hanging on a thin thread.What I’m LOOkING FORWARD for is an open minded and a technical coach who can recognize talents and mould them and also lift NT from this mediocrity which Daddy Danny has left behind.
http://www.futaa.com/international/holland-drop-in-fifa-rankings.
Well it back to square 1 again like in the euros qualification and again it will come down to wire as to whether NT qualifers on not. Even if NT fails to qualify ,I think the future will still be bright given the steps which KNVB has taken and who ever comes in will have good foundation to start with.
wilson, just wanna clarify on your current standpoint of Blind Jr. let’s say: every LB/CB/DM of our NT are fit, do you think Blind merits a position in our team? with all his skillset and weakness (speed, is there any other?), will you pick him? either bench/starter is okay.
Daddy’s gone now. so if any coach picks him, it won’t be a bias decision, right?
Play rotation or competition at individual spots is what brings the best out of players. If daley can justify this with Buttner, van Annholt, pieters given the opporunity to prove themselves, I have no problem. This is what in looking forward from the new coach.
This is not true. Where did you get that? Who told you this?
Player rotation in a CLUB makes them maybe more versatile? More fit? Rotation at NT level makes it harder to gel a team together…
Bert van Marwijk demonstrated this clearly.
I was talking about more competition at LB like what danny did on the right. Tete,veltman,brenet, karsdorp. I dont wanna keep repeating about veltman vs Karsdoep/ van dijk vs Daley Blind etc
As for the big game this week,I think the spot light also should be on Toornstra vs Klaassen. That midfield position should be under dispute here as to who is a overall better midfielder.hope danny will be in the Arena somewhere to witness this.
Toonstra is tough and hard block..Klassen is a joke and overated..Toonstra will win it by miles…no compettion at all..To make some one understand toonstra needs to show..
u can wake up a sleeping man..
But cannt wake up man who acts like he is sleeping..
Wilson, boy for someone who doesn’t want to “drag much on father and son” your two posts have a funny way of showing it. Lol. All good, man. But, really, its time to turn the page.
Jus replying to Jan q
Come on Ajax….!!!
WC qualification is still oncards,Danny has done enough damage in WCQ campaign by selecting third class players..
But we can beat Sweden
We can beat Bulgaria Both are home matches..and i am sure Bulgaria and swedn will have trouble vs france and Swden Vs Bulgaria could end up as draw…
But we have no chance for WC2018,if we play Dost,luuk,Klassen up front..Memphis may be an upgrade to them but with him also its impossible..Wijnaldum playing at DM is waste of talent..blind playing as LB is waste of spot and i am 1000% Blind can do better than Klassen,Dost,luuk,Memphis upfront like Bto B role..he would do better than Strootman also..
We need a strong motivational coach for this ….LVG is the right man as koeman is not available…
May be Fred grim will do it as he has shown..
If Klaassen and Dost are third class players, where does St Juste sit, hahahaha.
I feel like the Idiot Whisperer.
We did not lose games because our players are third class.
Iceland, Turkey, Sweden, Bulgaria do not have better players. It’s not about Ake vs De Ligt or St Juste vs Klaassen or Nouri vs Dost.
its all about integrating to team…
Look at janssen Vs Dost….Janssen sits in bench and he integrates with Dutch NT so well.while Dost sucks…Luuk looks far better though..
the real IDIOTISM is that expecting Dost,Klassen,BMI,Luuk,Memphis to take us to WC with wrong coach who plays some nice players out of the real spot..
St juste is capable player to do his duty as DM…
Ake is capable player as he is able to do his duty..
while klassen,Dost,/memphis are choking chance after chance like their boss choked as coach..
Anyways we played so bad vs Luxumburg also ,it was 2 fluke memphis goals got us win and saved Blind..
Haha the idiot whisperer.. it’s hard not to get sucked in sometime.
At least you don’t get insulted as others do..
maybe you just spend too much time with those 2 ‘specia’ guys here who like to make things up!
Some people here seem to think that picking player A, B and C over D, E and F in a 23 player squad would make all the difference.
What do you guys think?
What are they key elements in creating a winning team at NT level during qualifications?
I think BvM method is the best: instill the idea that every game, qualification or friendly, are all important to win for, just to get the feeling of being invincible.
seriously, I was really pessimistic on how our back line at 2010 are able to brought us to final. but look at how things turned out for us.
2012, things are falling apart because.. well, you guys know why.
under BvM is the only period I’m feeling confident that our team will somehow win. (I only became Oranje fans since 2007, so that’s arguable)
De Jong and Van Bommel kept a tight shield on mathijsen and Heitinga who were really average defenders.
No BVM was an old fart,who got the prime years of our super stars. A team made by Vanbasten and handed over to him…He ride them 4 years..some how reached Wc final by a stekelnburg save and 1.7metere height Sneijder header..He couldnt utilise the complete luck as he alwyas benched Vaart for kuyt…at Vaarts prime age…never give a real chance to new players…he put our team in to darkness in 2012..If NOT LVG we will not be even playing in Wc2014…
A selfish biased coach…Right after his departure RVP started scoring…
F$$$K BVM..played ugly football and dutch got a bad name in Wc2010..though that was erased by LVg in 2014…
A,B,C,D,this is not kindergarden,Jan. You invest,you invest smart. Look at what happened to Riedewald, Bazoer,Tete,Hendrix,Willems. If danny would invested at least in some of the EPL guys who play every week,by now there would have been some more stability in the team. Again him starting De ligt over Hoedt when he clearly said his selection was circumstantially showed his preference to eredivisie players come selection time and every time this happened,they never lived up to expectation. Ake was continuously overlooked for Bazoer and hendrix in the U 21s and even in NT.look at both of them now,At least Ake at least proved to conte he is a real deal.
Now when I look at Art Langeler and what he is doing at U 21s,I can 100% guarantee the next generation and transition from U21 will be a great one.
I agree–what the hell happened to Willems? I thought he had great promise and he disappears Janmaat was a regular and then disappears. Others show up and play a game or two and then disappear. There has been so much //indecision// about personnel the last 2 years.
Player selection is very important of course, but not as much difference as other decisions a NT manager has to make imo – things such as tactics and management can be much more important..
All depends on the managers style, there are more than one way to skin a cat, as they say. Bottom line is that the players must gel and and the players must execute his plan.
Also it obviously depends on which players you refer to as well.. for instance, someone with more experience than de Ligt, like de Vrij, van Dijk, or even Bruma, may have made a real difference versus Bulgaria – but, all injured.
Saying someone else, like in this case Hoedt, would have made the difference is not only pointless but a totally ignorant assumption, to me.. but I almost always think that when I see people say that things would have been different ‘if’ blah blah..
Yep – pointless – would rather live in reality, even if it’s harsh, than making pointless assumptions about what might have been.
(Btw, that’s a reply to Jans main question..)
Also, imo the player selections of Blinds’ were almost all justifiable and his management deficiencies were elsewhere.
@richarde, Willems, has actually been okay recently again, but did not have a good fall at all.. Janmaat is not playing regularly.
Jan, this a great question. I’m sure books and manuals have been written about this, and its been thought about by people who forget more about the game while brushing their teeth in the morning than I’ve learned in my entire life.
But its one of your questions that should spark discussion, so my 2 cents…
It first depends on the form/talent at the coach’s disposal. If you are (currently) France, Germany, Italy, (Netherlands, sadly a few years back), you put your best out there in a familiar structure, and you’ll likely get there…
…but if you are not at that level, I’m looking at mentality. I’d like a leader on every line (Def., mf, attackers)…someone who can get them organized, react to the in game changes, someone the players follow. I also want one or two hard guys; players that the other side finds it hard to play against; and they know that there are consequences if they take liberties. I’d want a couple of fast starters; some players let the game come to them, and build into the game. But I’d like at least some players who play like they’ve had five cups of coffee at the opening whistle; it sets a tone, and it gets the other players more involved.
Tactically, I want the center strong. So that the other side knows from the outset, there is going to be little space in the inside, make them wonder where the goals are coming from. If it takes 3 cb’s, so be it. If it takes two holding mf’s that is fine. You also have to know where you talent lies. If the talent is such that your fb’s are better offensively, play three at the back and let the fb’s be wingbacks, or play the two holding mf’s.
And then you have to blend. Some players are are not compatible with each other. THe coach has to figure out who fits with who. Its always nice to have a players from the same club team…but that can’t be the primary consideration.
Finally, I want one or two guys who can get a goal from nothing. The world is full of players who run, hard, do their assignments, never take a moment off…and lack imagination, or that extra bit of magic.
Not easy at all for the coach. They have at most a day or two to get the players in camp, and get them out on the field during the qualifying campaigns. So, to me, for qualifying anyway, just as important as the what happens when the team gets together, is the evaluation that the NT coach is doing when the team is not together. This is when he has to decide who fits into his vision of how the team fits together; how he sets up his depth chart. Watch film, watch live, talk, talk, talk to the players’ club coaches and scouts, etc.
As I said, my 2 cents…
Unfortunately the only problem here is the execuation of what you have explained in detail.the KNVB wants to take total football with them to the grave even when there dont even have players in NT to execuate this but yet they want to idealize the concept in the wake of the traditional dutch football style.
You look at most of the high profile coaches, they have modernized the total football concept and have moved on to another level which correlates with the modern day or if not have come up with new approach in context to modern day soccer.
The faster they realize this the better for them .
Good post man!
Agreed.
Like your take on this, Andrew
https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DoWBQm7-KD6I&ved=0ahUKEwiuna7834LTAhUFTbwKHcSfCfUQwqsBCB4wAA&usg=AFQjCNFZ8ke5IcJ9cS32M1QD4BtPfg3baQ&sig2=7KLdTeKWHasO0V2WsQLlJw
Wijnaldum played 90 in his usual CM position in Liverpool 3-1 derby win over Everton.
Janssen started for Spurs, had a decent game.
Pieters and Martins Indi started for Stoke, and Afellay as usual on the bench, losing 2-0 at Leicester.
Blind and Fosu-Mensah were on the bench for United who drew 0-0 at home, and Janmaat same for Watford though subbed on in the first half helping them in their 1-0 win over Sunderland.
van Aanholt still injured for Palace’s win over at Chelsea, where Ake was not in their squad as usual.
Clasie stayed on the bench for Southampton, with news that van Dijk’s season may be over.
In Germany, Robben and Huntelaar both started on the benches and both subbed on late.
de Vrij and Hoedt both started at Sassuolo who had Letschert on the bench.. the only goal against coming from a foul by the keeper, not much they can do on that..
suspended Strootman was not in the Roma squad
Lens, van Persie and van der Wiel all started for Fenerbahce. RvP with the only goal and GvW with the most tackles in the 0-1 away win.
El Ghazi was a late sub for Lille, Kishna not in the squad.
Thanks for the update Pals!
Nice to see Janssen get a start for Spurs, I’ll try and catch a replay .
My pleasure mate!
Georginio Wijnaldum today, “The Wijnaldum in Liverpool is valued more than the Wijnaldum in Netherlands. That’s proven.”
true?
I think it’s more “GW in Liverpool is used more effectively by his coach than GW in Netherlands.”
Locadia and van ginkel both scored for PSV vs sparta.good to see Locadia back and scoring. Cocu deployed Van Ginkel on the RW and again he is proving to be cut above the rest in eredivisie. Van ginkels offensive attributes are extraodinary and hope at some point in time he will get the nod at CM. If anyone can come near Dennis Bergkamp, its him.
i really wish both were there Vs Bulgaria instead of useless klossen and Dust..
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EqNy6aCju3I
After watching this video you realize the less Depay keeps the ball at feet, the better. Looked as if he was playing 10. All over the park. You also realize this is the very same way they play at lyon.
Ajax – Feyenoord
Beautiful Schone free kick to start the game at 1-0 for Ajax. Sloppy first half, tons of mistakes with Ajax winning almost all of the one on one battles and creating more with their possession. Neres scored the second on decent play that was poorly defended. 2-0 at HT.
Feyenoord not the rock they’ve consistently been this season, really missed suspended Vilhena and injured Kongolo (but I’m biased as those are my 2 of my fave players on the side).. then they lost Jorgensen to an injury after 10 mins, and then Karsdorp at HT.
Feyenoord did get one back in added time, nice shot by Kramer from outside, but ultimately Ajax were the worthy 2-1 winners in the end.
Good for the eredivisie, though the title still very much in Feyenoords hands..
Here it is with 6 matches to go:
Feyenoord – 69 pts
Ajax – 66 pts
PSV- 64 pts
And of course, Ajax still must play away at PSV.
Fer and Narsingh both start for Swansea, Fer back in his usual CM after the one match at RB.
van der Hoorn on the bench again for the first time since mid-January, though he has played one match this year, a cup game. de Roon started for lowly Middlesbrough, would not be surprised to see either side relegated – would be a massive bummer for Fer, getting relegated with a third EPL club. Our boys almost combined in the last minute for a winner.. Narsingh was okay, created a few chances and 100% passing accuracy in the final third, in the 0-0 draw.
I had it on next to the Ajax – Feyenoord match so did not pay enough attention but it seemed pretty uneventful!
Feynoord really missed kongolo and Vilhena..this is primary example of missing an integral part of team..thats why i say presence of 2 players make huge impact..Selection of players is vital in any match..
Bazoer seems to have got himself the starting spot, starting now the 4th match in a row for Wolfsburg. Played 75′ in their 3-3 draw at Leverkusen.
Depay was on the bench for Lyon, a late sub in the 1-1 draw.
Hateboer on the bench at Atalanta.
Babel had a goal and an assist for Besiktas, helping them stay tops in Turkey
Hateboer did play after coming on as late sub.
correct, thank you. I posted prematurely, but after noticing he only touched the ball 2 times and that nothing else happened in Atalanta’s 5-0 win I decided not to bother to update.. :/
Good for Bazoer let’s hope he keeps his starting spot.
I really liked Justin Kluivert he was very smart on the pitch. He played as an experienced player, he made things simple. Karsdorp had a hard time with him, I hope he keeps improving.
——————-Zoet——————
—Karsdorp—DeVrij—V.Dijk—Aanholt–
——–Clasie—Strootman—Fer———
——-Robben—-Janssen—-Wijnaldum—-
*I believe with the lack of real wingers we should test Wijnaldum there.
@Miguel..it will take long time to see Devrij and Virgil together as both are struggling with injuries…
We Dont have strikers too…
For me I Forgot about Babel….
If Janssen is not playing i think Babel is the best we have got now for striker spot…
Bazoer for Fer as Bazoer has excellent vision..
I agree we shit left in wings,,
Zoet-Cillesen-krul-Vrom-Vermeer for GK..
Karsdorp–Tete for RB
Devrij—Bruma For RCB
Virgil—Mensah–For LCB
Kongolo–Williams For LB
Then
Bazoer—Blind for B to B
Strootman-Ake For B to B and DM
Wijnaldum–Ramseelar For playmaker/shadow.
Roben—–Promes for right wing
Annholt—Williams–Fro left wing
Janssen–Babel for striker…
Stand bye
Fer as striker
St juste as DM
Hoedt as Defender
Clasie as playaker
these are the best players we have got now..rest are just crap..
I don’t follow Babel but if he is doing well he should be considered for the NT.
I will go back to to what Andrew. We have some exceptional wingbacks. Build the team around them with no holes in the centre.
Zoet
Bruma- De Vrij- van dijk
Van der weil- strootman- Ake- Van Annholt
Van Ginkel
Promes – Depay
Seems that could probably work nice — except with Kongolo / Blind > van Aanholt and also Karsdorp / Tete > van der Wiel for me 😉
Plus for Ake I assume at more of DM, that is probably what we hope he can play rather than what he has actually shown..
When it comes to wingbacks, I will rate, van Der Weil above all,Tete and karsdorp.when he was at PSG,his weaknesses was hardly exposed as he was often invoved more offensively than defensively and given he was well covered by the CBs and midfielders, it suited him. Unforuntely he didnt have that some lyxury in NT.
Van Rhijn too is better offensively and his set pieces is also quality as well. Again Janmaat could also fit in there, but he is kind of fading at watford due to lack of playing time.kongolo is in the same boat as karsdorp.he needs prove himself at NT level more.
Promes played 90 at LW and scored the added time game winner for Spartak in a 3-2 match today. Also 100% in take-ons.
Sneijder and Nigel de Jong were both late subs for Galatasaray in their 4-0 win. All the goals had been scored by then..
Thanks for the updates guys
Whoever the new coach may be, they need to change the 433 formation. We simply don’t have the players for it. We need to test new systems. 532? That worked in 2014. Why not try that in some upcoming friendlies? Why not try van mariwjks formation, 4231. I like the 2 defensive midfielders. I just can’t see this 433 ever working with these group of players. It’s so frustrating. Sure, 433 would work against weaker teams than Bulgaria haha. By no means do we have just average players. I honestly believe they can be pretty damn good, but need formation changes, and of course this coaching change.
Also, I never really understood the Nigel de Jong departure from the NT. Yeah he went to play in the US, terrible league. But he comes back with Galatasaray, decent team. Right now I don’t know if he’s been playing a whole lot, but I miss his intensity. It’s what the team needs.
Fascinating football weekend in the Eredivisie.
Enjoyed the Ajax-Feyenoord game but not impressed with my team. They allowed themselves to be bullied by an Ajax on fire. Ziyech, Kluivert and Traore were very good while Toornstra and El Ahmadi (two key players for Feyenoord) were not at their best…
Karsdorp was so impressed with little Kluivert that he didn’t make his typical runs on the flank, as a result making it even easier for Ajax to put forward pressure on. Nelom is not good enough for Feyenoord, I don’t think and neither is Tapia.
Without Elia, Vilhena and Kongolo (and Jorgensen!) Feyenoord weakens a lot and there is no player on the bench who can come into the team and add something.
Every Feyenoord starter that exits the game makes the team 9% weaker.
Whereas Ajax and PSV both have game changers on the bench.
I’m a bit concerned for the remainder of the season, as Jorgensen, Karsdorp and Vilhena are still out for a spell.
The Ajax 1-0 was a beauty, but the free kick was a gift. I don’t think anything wrong happened in that first minute but the ref wanted to assert his authority I think. I also think Jones should have done better… He clearly wasn’t ready for it yet.
Kramer scored a fine goal in the last minute but other than that he’s very mediocre compared to Jorgensen in terms of movement.
Saw some crazy goals, the Locadia one was a beauty for PSV and Kuwas scored a sensational free kick for Heracles.
And Tiju will have seen St Juste making two major mistakes for Heerenveen and getting red carded in a very silly way?
Maybe St Juste should be Oranje skipper?
St Juste is young lad his mistakes will be pardoned..What about BMI redcard in ECQ2016,which showed the EXIT DOOR of EC2016??this redcard is nothing compared to that..
Player selection is basics of any coach.EVERYTHING STARTS FROM THERE..At any cost Dost,luuk,BMI,Weil,Afellay,Depay should not have there in NT…okay that Blind is pardoned for giving chances for klassen and Propper for benefit of doubt..
Infact players who really played from the young ones were Ramseelar,karsdorp,Bazoer,Tete…But He dropped everyone except karsdorp…that was mistake..
Then playing wijnaldum in DM and RB..What the F##k is that???
We all know that Daley Blind very decent back up LCB..then why you call BMI????
I feel Blind was really betrayed by klassen,propper,Dost,Luuk(very little),Weil,BMI,Afellay and Depay(But Depay somehow got us win vs luxumburg by fluke or crook)…
I think Blind failed to organize the team..He should have learned from the team that beat poland,Austria etc with out roben and Sneijder…
My points..
Blind was betrayed…
Blind was wrong about certain players..
To Qualify for WC
following steps must be taken..
1-STOP relying on Roben and Sneijder..
2-Make Gini wijnaldum captain
3-NEVER EVER SELECT following players.Dost,BMI,Weil,Afellay,Depay,Klassen,Propper,Stekelenburg.
4-Find a Pure Best and second best DM from De roon-Stjuste-Ake.
5-Free Strootman and Wijnaldum from DM role..
6-Let our strikers Be Janssen>Lenz>Babel..
7-Make a pool of 30 players only…Not 45 players pool..
8-Do not waste Daley Blind at LB.
this should be the pool we shoudl have.
Zoet-Cillesen-krul-Vrom-Vermeer for GK..
Karsdorp–Tete for RB
Devrij—Bruma For RCB
Virgil—Mensah–For LCB
Kongolo–Williams For LB
Then
Bazoer—Blind for B to B
Strootman-Ake For B to B and DM
Wijnaldum–Ramseelar For playmaker/shadow.
Roben—–Promes for right wing
Annholt—Williams–Fro left wing
Janssen–Babel for striker…
Stand bye
Fer as striker
St juste as DM
Hoedt as Defender
Clasie as playaker
De Roon as DM..
Field balanced team..the team must have
Energy-Stamina-Intelligence-Desire-Never say die attitude…On Top of everything THEY MUST HAVE HEART/MIND FOR SACRIFICE AND UNSELFISHNESS PLAY..
I like this list-and agree that the coaches need to shrink the pool, find the right two candidates for each position, and go forward! Pool has been too big–too many different players, too many personnel changes game to game. The NT has lacked cohesion and chemistry for too long.
Blind back in the starting lineup for United today, Fosu-Mensah remains on the bench, but was withdrawn at the half for Pogba, with a tactical change from Mourinho.. United end up drawing at home 1-1 to Koemans Everton (with Steks on the bench, as usual), thanks to a late penalty.
Janmaat remains on the bench for Watford, again entered in the first half due to an injury. He helps them to win 2-0 even playing with 10 players for the last 30 mins.
As usual, Martins Indi and Pieters start for Stoke who had Afellay on the bench, but played the last few minutes.. but they lose 1-0 at Burnley.
Robben starts for Bayern, played 90 and created the most chances, most take-one and best passing percentage in the final third, but they were still unable to finish or find any goals, losing 1-0 at Hoffenheim.
Huntelaar starts on the bench for Shalke played the last half hour but was helpless as the score went from 2-0 to losing 3-0..
Strootman and de Vrij both start for their clubs in their cup match against eachother.
Hoedt started on the bench for Lazio, who go in with a 0-2 agg advantage in this semifinal, and replaced de Vrij at HT (let’s hope SdV is okay!) with the score 1-1. Roma go on to win the match 3-2 but lose the semi 3-4 on agg.
Both El Ghazi and Kishna start for Lille away to Monaco in their French cup tie, and both played 90, and El Ghazi scored at the end, but they lost 2-1.
Alexender Buttner is set to start for the first time when Vitesse takes on Hercules. Coach Henk Fraser is happy with his fitness level now and thinks he is ready to start.
Stijn Schaars also made his first appearance, coming of the bench since December after being sidelined due to injury.
I’m also starting to like this guy big time Pelle van Amersfoort. Lanky guy for a midfielder but quiet a talent.knows how to find the back of net.
I saw a stat from optajohan on Buttner:
12 – Alexander Büttner has lost possession more often than any other player in the first half of Heracles Almelo – Vitesse.
Ouch! Maybe that’s why he was the first sub.
Diks also with a red.. but they win 1-0 at Heracles though!
Looks like he needs a lot of catching up to do if he wants to reach his peak form,which I think he will with more playing time.
In between, the goal by Foor came from his intervention. It was his cross which the heracles defender completely miss judged it before Rashica set Foor up for the winner. No doubt he will improve with more game time.
Feyenoord destroyed Go Ahead Eagles 7-0.Jens Troonstra with a Hatrick.
Also Peter Boss must have realized today how fluid the midfield can be without Klaassen. Klaassen was subbed at half time and eventually Ajax went on to thrash AZ 4-1. Kuilvert,Nouri,sinkgraven,van Der Beek, look like Bosz is building his own empire in his own way.
Really think Reidewald should start looking for a new clubook.
De Roon starts for Middlesbrough as usual, and he scored a goal but unfortunately lost 4-2 at Hull.
Fer and Vorm started in Swans match v Spurs, both Narsingh and Janssen start on their benches. van der Hoorn left out again.
Janssen played the last 30 mins and saw his side come back to win 1-3, with his assist for Son being the game winner.
Wijnaldum starts as usual for Liverpool, he assisted a goal for Origi in the 2-2 draw.
Ake stayed on the bench for Chelsea, hosting City, and Clasie remained on Southamptons bench.
Bazoer started for Wolfsburg. Very tidy with 38/41 on passing, and created a couple chances but his side lose 0-1.
Lens started for Fenerbahce for their cup match, up 0-3 on agg., with van der Wiel on the bench.
They win 3-0, and 6-0 on agg.
Memphis was not in the Lyon squad today as he was not eligible..
Janssen played well after he subbed in. I hope he will get some goals soon.
Unfortunately, Wijnaldum has two assists. One for Liverpool and one for Bournemouth. Both are really good though 🙂
Saw Wolfsburg’s game last weekend. Thought Bazoer looked good; had that “look” about him; the way he moved, his energy, always around the action Have no idea what his stats were, though, and to tell the truth, I just never know whether to believe stats in soccer.
@Sybe, Thanks for the comprehensive round up, as usual.
hey no problem. I am looking anyways and happy to share.
I wish I could do better to leave my opinion out, hah but even if I manage that I am still biased because when I look at matches I’m mostly looking for positives. when I come across negatives I do not always bother to share. not so objective!
As for stats, I think sometimes (maybe depending on competition levels, which have obvious differences, I hope) the most important stat is the games played! I think momentum and form is more important than most fans talk about, and little things can build this for a player
by the way, what do you mean about believing stats in soccer?
@Sybe, re: your reports. I actually like it when you interject opinion; adds a little flavor.
I guess I was half-joking when I said I’m not sure I believe in stats in soccer Sometimes I waatch a game, and think a player has done well, and his stats aren’t good, and vice versa. So I wonder if I’m even watching the game correctly…on the other hand, soccer is not like baseball, where almost everything is measurable. Take a guy like Van Bommel for instance. He’d have games where his time on the ball, in the middle of the action, etc. seemed almost negligible. But if you paid attention to just him, you’d see his defensive positioning 20 yards away, lining up with the offensive man, and just that would influence the offensive player to pass in a different direction. Or on offense, you’d see him wave off a pass or point to another player to play through. How does that show up on stats. Or take a striker who does nothing for an entire game, and then scores a goal on a half-chance…(Example, My recollection is that in an interview after he scored the magnificent goal against Argentina in ’98, Bergkamp, said something like, he didn’t do much else the rest of the game.) I don’t know how that gets quantified either. So part of the comment was a jab at myself, and part was my just musing.
Aha, yes. I know just what you mean!
Janssen’s assist was very good. From what I’ve read from Spurs’ fans Janssen has been doing well he should be given more playing time especially with Kane injured.
I’m afraid if Tottenham qualify for CL, they will be forced to bring in a proclaimed striker who can relieve Harry Kane or vice versa. Apparently Tottenham
Have made contact with Lyon for exchange of Lacazette with Janssen going in opposite direction but it is still premature talks at the moment.
Imo Roger Schmidt is the best option for the Dutch national team right now. I’ve always admired his work and think that he is so suited for our style of game.
It’s not just about the coach, it also comes down to players at your disposal and then the most critical part is the how well the players bond with the coach.
Van Gaal in 2001 had one of the best generation available to him but yet he failed simply bexcuse some players didn’t like his TORRID approach resulting in rift between them.then you look at Ranieri and Leicester without Kante. Just one departure change the entire balance of the team and Ranieri, from hero became zero and was shown the exist.
Looking at the aftermath of Danny, any coach coming in needs to carefully asses player to position first and then decide who should play where. 3s ( player to pisition)should be sufficient enough and the first priority should be the midfield, especially DM.use Friendlys to inject them slowly and then work you way up to forge the best combination.
Given the timing of everything and with WC qualification at stake, a foreign coach will be a huge gamble if brought in at this point in time. It would be better or would have been better to bring in a foreign coach after Euro 16 failure 0r if again they fail to qualify.
Current Rank is 32..Thanks to great Work od Danny Blind,klassen,propper,Dost,Stekelenburg,BMI,Weil and Depay.veltman RB,etc…
Bazoer is top class i mean the level of old dutch greats…Perhaps the best in midefeild we have got now..
Tiju, Lets not overstate it. Bazoer has some physical gifts, and he is developing but its hard to know what his ceiling will be. Right now he is just beginning to get regular minutes with Wolfsburg…Not sure what “old dutch greats” you are referring to, but think of guys like Van Hanaghem, Neeskens, Janssen, Rijkaard, Wouters, Seedorf, Cocu, Van Bommel…Bazoer is not even close to that quality right now.
not 74 or 88 Generation…1995 generation..this guy is class,that you can see from his game..not from stats…Ramseelar,Blind,Ginkel,Bazoer,karsdorp,clasie,janssen,Devrij has top notch intelligence of football…i would say klassen too has that but hi skills on ball is so poor that makes him average..But Bazoer is complete package..
Locadia with another goal for PSV but had to settle for a draw after twente scored late in injury time dashing cocus hopes of finishing in top 2.strange selection though by cocu, opting to use van Ginkel on the RW.
Well, more proof that us amateur national team managers would not do too well either.
Diks and Buttner were played off the pitch by their opponents. Buttner looks out of shape (weight) and misses rhythm. Let’s not consider these two for the NT…
Feyenoord actually scored 8. It took Kramer a while to get on the score sheet. He missed so many chances and had one assist by accident, hahaha.
Janssen was voted Man of the Match for Spurs by the fans with his Bergkampesque assist and his hold up play.
Ajax did not win easily against AZ. It was 1-1 for a spell and AZ had wonderful chances to take the lead. Ajax broke the AZ resistance in the final minutes of the game and got an extra goal from a counter when AZ player all or nothing.
Jan I’m putting all my money on buttner to rejuvenate with more game and when he is back in form.it’s true he is still rusty, but you cant blame him for that. He hasn’t played a lot so it might take him sometime to get back to his old form. I don’t know about diKs but he is in the same boat as well.
Apparently When Buttner subbed off vs Heracles, his knee was wrapped up with ice by trainers after being cleared of by the doctors prior to the game. In the post match he said he had to take the risk as he is determined to get back to form as soon as possible.
he might well be in the mix of things before the start of next season given the training and games in preparation season.
Let’s also don’t forget about Wolfswinkle who is thriving in eredivisie now and who was also in the same boat as Buttner.
Also there are speculaction going around that Daley Blind wants to return back to Ajax after getting frustrated with mourinho. If this happens than it will be more easier to evaluate the two.
I was thinking, with eredivisie about to wrap up. Who should be the players of the season.
I personally have Ennes Unal of Twente as my first choice.
Feyenoord- Toornstra/ El Ahamdi
Ajax- kasper Dolberg/ schone
PSV – hard to call here
Vitesse- Lewis baker
Heerenveen- Reza Ghoochannejhad
Coach of the year. feyenoord vs Ajax. Who ever wins the title.
Oranje update KNVB:
The latest: the KNVB has two options to go forward. Forget the WC and get a young coach who can build a new winning squad, in a modern fashion, phasing out Robben, Sneijder, etc and building around the likes of VIlhena, Memphis, Wijnaldum, Karsdorp, Ake and Nouri.
Or option 2: give 100% with the best options for now (Viergever? Nigel de Jong? Van Persie?) to try and reach the World Cup under a crisis manager like Van Gaal, Advocaat or Ten Cate.
The KNVB picked option 2.
But Louis van Gaal has given a definitive NO to the KNVB for the coaching role.
Van Breukelen is on a mission to gather useful opinions from the likes of Robben, Van Gaal and the three Technical Directors of Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV.
We can QUALIFY AND do it with out RVP,Roben,Sneider,Nijel, and veirgiver but we should play with out Dost,Luuk,Depay,klassen,Weil,BMI,Propper and seim..
Also we should not play Blind as LB,Gini as RB,Ramseelar as LW etc…
We have some good experienced players in Gini wijnaldum.Strootman,Devrij,Blind…they all will start if fit…then what is the issue???We have an amazing pool of 30 players with out those early mentioned players..
Things needs to be oragnized thats it..
————–Zoet—————
——-Bruma—De Vrij—Virgil——
Karsdorp—-Bazoer–Strootman—Annholt–
—–Wijnaldum—Janssen—-Promes
=======================================
————-vermeer/cillessen———–
Tete——–Mensah—Kongolo—–Williams
———–Ake——-Blind————
Lenz———Vanginkel———Naouri—-
———-Locadia/Babel—————-
Stand bye
Fer
Ramseelar
Raidwald
Juste…
What about Kluivert or Zivkovic?
Added stand byes..
No surprise..KNVB always picks wrong choice except LVG in 2012…OPtion 2 is a blunder idea,i dont know which A@@#Shole give that option..That seems so negative…
I like optoion two better, but that me personally. Use robben while we have hI’m and hope the rest can perform. I like Advocaat, Ten Cate too. I’m eager to see how it’s gonna play out. I’m always optimistic I hope they all reach a democratic decision and get back to playing good football and qualify. WC without Dutch is not the same. Thanks Jan good stuff as usual.
Advocate might get the Job done…but not with old legs..When was Roben Fit??(Any time injury scare )We must consider Roben as Bonus not as regular salary.With out Roben other older players will be also in same like now..its more like Ringa ringa Rose game..
The third option.
This is what KNVB should do. Just apologize to Hiddink and reinstate him as head coach and Guilt as assistant coach. Hiddink did an exceptional job when asked to stand in as interim coach for Chelsea,If any one can come face to face with Van Gaal, its him. Hiddink has always had a upper hand over his compariot and the last time they confronted each other, Hiddink again had a upper hand taking chelsea to record breaking 12 games undefeated.
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10153397/guus-hiddink-v-louis-van-gaal-chelsea-boss-has-winning-record-over-manchester-united-manager
Both Guilt and Hiddink have good knowledge on players playing in eredivisie and also abroad. Hiddink is also without job at the moment, I’m sure he wont say no to the job if KNVB do give him a SOS call.
His Ideas are out dated and he doesnt think out of the Box…That would be a stupid idea..Hiddink failed to qualify from group of iceland,cezch with 3 spots for Qualification… HE STARED THIS DOWN FALL OF NT….
The best one is
Ronald koeman
Dick Advocate(may be)
Henk ten (may be)
and finally
Guilt with an assistant like me..
Had i joined Danny Blind scout anaylyst team…We would be sitting in second spot at least with good lead in points..
Wow.
Sorry but Hiddink? Why? That’s seriously the last option for me. Maybe he did ok with Chelsea, but this ain’t Chelsea. I don’t understand how you can choose Hiddink when he destroyed our team after van Gaal left. We might as well throw in the towel.
Not to mention, what has Gullit ever done. What’s Gullit going to do, he’s a terrible coach.
What did Danny Blind do has a coach or how much experience did he have. At least Guilt had some experience at top level. Just like Cocu and De Boer, Guilt too could start fresh under hiddink.
And also refresh me again, how did he destroy the team..
calling useless dribbler APPAlley,BMI,Weil, kicking out Janmaat…then tactical blunders.moving back to 433 with out ideal players for that…He acted like a clown..
I will ignore you shitty crap and will move on to some real discussion. Van Gaal failed with on of the best generation but Yet KNVB gave him the benefit of doubt and appointed him after the 2012 disaster. You look at all the players which van gaal used in 2014. None have livestablished up to expectations know
i know that you are deusional….
LVG had only 1 spot to qualify with second spot for play ,he didnt had the luxuray of Stupid Hiddink had…LVG loss to a portugal who have humiliated Germany,England etc with some exceptional talented players..Plus Immortal Roy keane s ireland…
Plenty of dutch were injured or suspended for drugs..dont you know that..His missing was just unlucky…he only lost 2 games you stupid…
Iceland who ???
Cezh in 2015??who …then poor turkey…ha ha that was a joke..
Cont’d
If you look at all the players van gaal used in 2014, there is no way Hiddink would have succeeded using the same playing in 4-3-3. This has been debated here so many times here. Look at what happened to De Bper at Inter.it doesn’t happend overnight, and that whats was in store foto Hiddink. No matter whom he would selected. It would have been comes down to same result especially in the second half of the qualifications.unfortunately for that burst up with KNVB led to his resignation.
Same old shitty crap.
Let me put it this way. Van Gaal has already cleared the air on his third coming as a coach. It’s true either they forget about WC and start from scratch or
Or continue with someone who knows in and out about Dutch soccer and players. It has to be Hiddink. I don’t think a foreign coach is the solution at this point in time.it has to somebody, as I said above know in and out about players and who is proven technically.
HIDDINK WOULD BE DISASTER..MAY NOT BE AS BAD AS BLIND.BUT CLOSE TO THAT…
You cannt beat Cezh and iceland and turkey then you are not dutch NT coach…its simple as that..Coz none of those teams are ATM not better than us..that includes sweden and bulgaria..
Advocate seems logical IMO..
From 1994 when i was 14 i became the fan of orange..i saw that they are different from other teams..the players were simply brilliant and top notch..
Now struggling beat certain teams such as Iceland,Sweden,Bulgaria,,Turkey etc..i am sure even now we have the players who can get us to WC..But the KNVB and their appointed coaches are playing Ringa Ringa rose..
What RVP,Nijel,Veirgiver and Sneijder can do with out Roben?????At end time of their careers???
i see a sluggish games if we rely much on that..Hiddink has suffered that(COz of his stupidity).and here we go again..
I don’t really want to get in the middle of these two, but I’d have to say that I’m not opposed to Hiddink, certainly not based on his last short stint in charge. I certainly don’t know all of the inner workings of the KNVB machine, but I always thought th failures leading up to euros was based on the players losing a little motivation after World Cup (we’ve seen that before) but really about the forced return of 4-3-3, regardless of what formation might have for the current group of players. That seemed so bizarre to me, to tie the essence of Dutch football to a formation rather than to innovation, fluidity, movement and space. Seems like there was way too much insistence on doing it 1970’s style and it was a doomed and misguided effort, in my mind.
Considering Hiddink’s success with Chelsea is not as relevant to me as how well he did with Russia, Australia, and South Korea
There is talk that KNVB is interested in the coach of Sevilla. It would be odd for Netherlands to have a foreign coach–but given the dearth of good options maybe this is the time, even for a nation that is very proud–and rightfully so–when it comes to its style of play, coaches, players, tradition.
http://www.football-oranje.com/sevilla-boss-jorge-sampaoli-netherlands-links-compliment/
Sampauli is not a bad option…he really gave us hard time when we played Chile…But LVG out smarted him in tacatically..First LVg absorbed the pressure then kicked them at right moment..Wow LVG..
Danny Blind had immense knowledge about dutc football,and he followed some 50 players.but on final 23 he used to pick up at least 4/5 uselss players and surprisingly they started the games in most of the time.
I am not in for a foregin coach except German like klopp..
It would be really interesting if the KNVB got a foreign coach. Would that be the first time the KNVB had ever done that??
Also commenting on Jans post. If it is true, I do like #2. Try and get to the WC with the likes of VP, nigel de Jong. Why not? I still think that VP, de Jong, Robben and Sneijder still have something to give. Have the young guys like Nouri, Ake, etc as back ups! These guys in their 30s will teach this young team! Whether they win or lose, the young guys will benefit and learn from them. But please, whoever the coach may be, they need to change the formation from 433. It definitely was odd how they forced 433 on these guys. Sorry, but they can’t play that formation. It’s time to use a formation that will see them succeed. We should be 1st or 2nd in this group, but poor decision making has hurt the team, especially the formation.
if 433 then the team should be
Promes—Janssen—Wijnaldum
—–Bazoer—–Ramseelar——-
———–Ake—————-
kongolo—Virgil–Devrij–karsdorp–
————Vermeer/Cillessen———-
only formation??i think we lacked quality when we played Dost,klassen up front with sluggish and lazy performance from Propper(vs france)Strootman(vs bulagaria).
I didn’t say only formation. I do agree that playing certain players hurt. I’m not a fan of Klassenn. He’s alright but only from the bench. As a sub. I think we could do well with 3 CBs. De vrij, van dijk and hoedt. 2 solid wingbacks like karsdorp on the right and maybe kongolo or Willems on the left. Blind could maybe play as one of the CBs but I’d kind of rather see him in a position where he’s passing a lot. That’s his strength. Dost should be our backup for the end of the game like they did for the first game of the qualification against Sweden! Anyways I really would like to test out those 3 CBs and wingbacks
You can play with 5 CBs if you want, but if you have a solid DM it’s of no use. Any one following Southampton by now must be knowing how Van Dijk likes to venture forward. In worst cast scenarios during counter defense if he is caught out then you need the midfielders to save their assess and if you don’t hAve a good DM,the defense will always be exposed, no matter how many CBs you play. BVM did exactly the same with De Jong and Van Bommel to ptotect the CBs who were quiet average.
If you look players like Riedewald, Ake,st juste, or even de ligt, these guys have the potential to play there but due to circumstances are not playing at club level, but this doesn’t mean they shouldnt be tried out.this is where the new coach has to gamble.
Depay
Promes- van Ginkel- lens
De ligt- Strootman
Kongolo-Van Dijk- De Vrij- karsdorp
Zoet
Or
Clasie- Strootman
Ake
Or
Riedewald- Strootman in 4-2-3-1
Yeah, as I said in an earlier post, a 4231 would be good. I would actually prefer it actually. Van marwijks approach was great as well.
As fan this is real heart breaking period.ranked 32..and everyone looks empty and clueless,some are giving wrong ideas and a negative approach to WCQ2018…
What are the wrong ideas and negative approaches?
What we are going to do with calling back older guys???..
Sugesting wrong coaches..
Repeatedly putting faith in low quality players,while others gets ignored..if are playing with same players you are goin to get same result..its as simple as that..no use of sacking Blind..
Now in a football a good forwards are Benzema, Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín and others. For better analysis I want to look a many games in matches on site https://www.footballstream.co/
Depay with another multi goal game. Who said he isn’t the best?
I am not following him for a while did he loose weight?gained speed??and increased work rate?? or just fluke goals??
Anyways if so its good i was gutted to see Roben departure and can he take batten from wher Roben left?
Yah he looks like he slimmed down but is still decently built but faster than like messi
Messi is too much skilled and so precise in pass and shots so it compensates his lack of speed.He deosnt need much speed..
Neither does depay because of his strength and skill. But he still has alot of it