Category: Euro 2020

by Jan

Pascal Struijk, dreaming of Oranje

He is beginning to be a big name in England. While in The Netherlands, he’s still merely a footnote. He’s Marcelo Bielsa’s favourite and is hoping to become Van Gaal’s as well. If only that call came.

The VI Pro pubished this excellent article on Struijk. Enjoy.

Elland Road is a paradise for football lovers. The 124 year old stadium oozes football. The steep stands, the wooden chairs, the names outside on the wall of Norman Hunter, Jacki Charlton and Gary Speed. There is the Don Revie statue of course, who managed the team of street fighters who dominated Englsh football some 50 years ago, with two titles, and an FA Cup.

Captain Billy Bremner is still considered their best player ever but today it’s the serious doctor’s face of Bielsa that looks down on the visitors here, on several big billboards. The maniacal Argentine coach steered Leeds back to the highest level in England after 16 years in the wilderness.

The sales guy in the fans shop: “The jerseys of Phillips and Raphinha are the most popular, but Struijk sits in third place, easily. He was part of the team that got promoted so he will be a hero here for life. He is our Virgil van Dijk!”

The comparison is made often. The Leeds press chef: “Did you see him against Norwich? Blimey! We knew he could defend but his passing is outrageous too. The fans, the manager, the media, everyone is impressed with him. Surely, he is in the National Squad by now?”

More about that later. But yes, Struijk does resemble. Van Dijk. They even look the same a bit and his game play too. Tall, elegant, sovereign, confident. Good in aerial duels. Excellent passer. And great vision. He might still be a tad soft, but once that goes, he will be world class.

There are more portraits in the stadium. Gary McAllister of course. Gordon Strachan. But no Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, for some reason. “One of our best strikers. And we see him often here, he visits us at least 8 times per year.” Eight other Dutchies played for Leeds United, and Robert Molenaar was probably the most popular. The concrete defender from Volendam earned the nickname The Terminator here. And now they again have a Dutch defender who is close to their hearts.

Pascal Struijk waits with a cup of coffee in one of the skyboxes. “See how wonderful this looks. Who wouldn’t want to play here? Most clubs don’t like coming here. The fans are so fanatical, it’s amazing.” Slowly he tells his story. “As a kid, we would watch Match of the Day. I adored English football and when we went across with an ADO Den Haag youth team once, we visited some of the big stadiums. We went to Old Trafford and Anfield and wow… I knew it then and thought: “One day I will play here!”. He played his first match at Old Trafford last season but as a bench warmer in an empty stadium. This season, he started with 80,000 people in the stands. Nervous? “Not really, I was very nervous in my first match v Liverpool, I think I had to go to the toilet 5 times before the game but that doesn’t bother me anymore. I know what I can and I concentrate on that. It feels like normal now. But when I speak to friends or family who are watching at home, I do realise how special it all is.”

“There are always stories of youngsters going across to England and failing, but for me it was the right decision. I don’t think Ajax rated me, which is ok… But I had to take control of my destiny.” He moved from ADO to Ajax when he was 16 years old but he was never really himself. “I didn’t know what my best position was but my coaches didn’t know either, hahaha. They even used me as a striker and it was not good for my confidence.  “I was a bit shy, I guess. I was at home at ADO which is a warm club. Ajax is colder, more like a company. There were big name players, everyone was cocky and egotistical. I was too impressed with it all. You had to be cocky and confident, to survive. I didn’t have that. Matthijs de Ligt, he was such a strong personality, so confident. Justin Kluivert, the same. They all played for rep teams, I didn’t. I was too modest back then. But not anymore, hahaha.”

Lost at Ajax

“There are always players at Ajax who for some reason get the attention. You can feel that coaches are personally invested to get that player to the top. That connection with a coach, I missed that. I was one of these players that was overlooked, maybe like Virgil or Jaap Stam you know? Or Marten de Roon. I wasn’t great, so that didn’t help either. My hidden potential stayed hidden. I missed that sense of urgency to show myself. That came later I guess. I needed some help.”

His manager of Forza Sports Group brought him to a performance coach. “He asked me what my identity was. Was I a leader? Or a beast? And we worked towards building that identity. We did motivational stuff and mental stuff. I grew, I got more confident. It’s in little things. Like little rituals before a game. I also tell myself I am The Best. That helps too, hahahaha.”

Six months after Struijk signed for Leeds, Bielsa was announced. “My dad immediately bought his book El Loco. I had a bit of an idea what to expect. He is crazy indeed, but football crazy. Good crazy. He is obsessed with football and completely focused on making you the best version of yourself. As an example? We get personalised diets, which are balanced out to the calory.”

And of course hours or pre match tactical talks with all the information available about the opponent. “He can tell you which player will start to get fatigue at what moment of the game and he then starts to make silly fouls. Or particular patterns of play. Choices made by the goalie when kicking a ball out, etc etc.” Infamous are his training sessions of eleven v eleven, but without goals and now cornerkicks and no throw ins. When the ball is out, the coaches kick another ball in and the player need to keep on going. Standing still means a red card. Constant movement. Every 5 minutes there is a break. After 5 sessions like this, players are vomiting in the bushes. Bielsa studies the patterns and movements and checks all the data like a professor. When you survive this murder ball, you are ready to play the game. All players will tell you that a match is the easiest bit of being a Leeds player.

Junior at ADO Den Haag

Struijk can only confirm: “The practices are super intense. Bielsa sees everything. Every detail. He made me look differently at football. For instance: don’t follow the ball, follow the man. And he is most sharp when we turn around possession. We train very specifically on that aspect. I really became a way better defender under his leadership. Look at how easy some players allow their opponent to drift away. Or how some players jog back in position. That won’t happen with us.”

“We play different here. We play man v man, all the time. High pressure, suffocating the opponent and always tough in the duels. We won’t change that, no matter where we are in the table. We will go up I’m sure. It is all about the execution. In the start of the season, we were sloppy and we are missing some key lads, but we have the belief.”

Bielsa on Struijk: “He works really hard, mentally and physically. And he is very capable of playing in different roles. He’s important for us as he is also a very intelligent footballer.”

Struijk has been used as central defender, defensive mid and left back. “Bielsa does this on purpose to make me better, more complete. Now, as left back, I need to make a lot of runs. And I usually up against quick and agile players. I played in midfield too where it’s crowded and you need to act really quickly. I am growing in every aspect of the game. I never felt that my opponent had the better of me. The only thing, I saw the data of my aerial duels and even though I am a good header of the ball, the stats say I lose too many duels. So that is something to work on.”

Pascal lives with his fiancee in a small village outside of Leeds where he enjoys his off time walking his dogs in the park. The quiet does him good but some big city clubs are after him now, apparently. Napoli, AS Roma, Leicester City and Newcastle United are chasing his signature, according to rumour. The Leeds press manager leans in when the part Dutch part Indonesian defender responds: “I am happy here. But you never know. I do want to better myself constantly, of course.”

The Romantic Struijk

His fave spot in the team? Left Centre Back. His role model? “Virgil of course. His confidence, his charisma, some opponents simply get intimidated by that already. I watch his games and study him. He was a candidate for the Ballon D’Or as a defender! How good is that!? I want to grow to that level. It’s a high aim to go for but I want that. I want to become one of the world’s best. It’s the ambition at least.”

In September, Struijk was facing Van Dijk, which would be a black day in Pascal’s short career. He tacked opponent Elliott and the youngster of Liverpool ended up in hospital with a complicated ankle fracture. Struijk got red carded and a two-match ban. The whole football world was confused. Even Elliott himself said the red card was ridiculous. “He told me too, I went over to him and he immediately waved my apologies away. It was a clean block but his ankle got stuck under my trailing leg. It was an accident. Virgil asked me what was going on and I told him, that I didn’t know, I hadn’t even noticed at the time. Virgil sent me a supportive message after the game, which did me the world of good.” The young defender hopes to spend more time talking to Virgil, about football, about defending, about anything… And preferably, in Zeist! The home of Oranje.

Pascal was born in Belgium. Both his parents are from The Hague, but Struijk senior had a software company in Belgium and when he was 4 years old they moved back to The Hague. Struijk played 3 matches for Oranje U17 and hadn’t heard from Zeist since. Until Erwin van de Looi, Jong Oranje coach, called him for the Euros under 21. Robero Martinez, Belgium NT manager, called him as well. “I actually considered Belgium. He did have a good story for me and I decided to get my Belgium passport. Because of Corona i wasn’t able to travel to Belgium so that is now all on hold.”

Red carded vs Liverpool

“I don’t want to rule out the Belgium NT. I mean, their defence is getting older but the team itself is a top notch team. It’s not a disgrace to play for the Red Devils, by no means. But my heart goes out to Oranje of course. But I am not sure if Oranje has that with me. I never heard since that Van de Looi call. I would enjoy it if the KNVB would simply let me know they’re following me. That in itself would be grand. People tell me Van Gaal has a similar way of working as Bielsa so I hope to feel right at home with Oranje.”

Struijk’s grand parents are from Indonesia and they have also invited the central defender. “But no, Indonesia is not an option. You know what, if by next year no one shown interest, I could even be selected for the England team! I would be here for 5 years and considered a footballing Englishman, hahaha. That is very unlikely of course, but who knows. My ideal scenario: the Dutch NT of course. And at the coming World Cup, if possible.”

At the end of the interview, the press manager asks: “So what did you say earlier about El Loco?” Struijk: “I talked about the book. and that the gaffer is a bit crazy. But in a good way!”

The press manager: “Then it’s fine, hahaha.”

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by Jan

Frugal Oranje does the bizznizz: WC ticket secured!

A combination of factors contributed to the abysmal performance and result away versus Montenegro.

And as a result, we saw the worst and the best of this Oranje, in the course of 4 days ( inspired by Louis van Gaal).

The nation was holding its breath, the pressure was on. And as a result of the drunk man’s policies of the Dutch politicians, in an empty Kuip.

So there were lots of questions. Will Louis change the team wholesale? Which goalie would he pick? What tactics will we see? Daley Blind, Wijnaldum, Klaassen underperformed versus Montenegro… Would Louis use Malacia? Or Ake?

With Bijlow injured, was it now Flekken’s turn? Or fall back on Cillesen, the more experienced one? And will Holland go for the win, and try to overwhelm Norway? Or did Louis expect Norway to come blazing on all cylinders?

Well, the answers were actually quite logical (from the Book of Van Gaal): Always rely on experience in big games. He would never throw Malacia before the wolves. Neither would he Flekken. Cillesen has been in pressure cookers before and knows the drill. He also is a tremendous kicker of the ball, so Cillesen in goal was not a surprise.

Van Gaal leaning on the experienced players was also not a biggie for me. He played the same formation as versus Montenegro, but with Bergwijn instead of Malen.

“Malen didn’t perform well. I told my wingers: stay wide and high as much as possible. Danjuma did well. Malen kept on moving out of position which resulted in a very underwhelming right side of the team. Bergwijn did better. So I played him,” was Van Gaal’s explanation.

And no, Louis didn’t force his players to hunt for goals. Keeping a clean sheet was key.

So in other words: dominant, with a provocative press. A Van Gaalism. Which means: invite the other party to attack. Sit a bit deeper and wait for the moment to press. This is 1) when a sloppy ball is played by the opponent, or 2) when a midfielder has his back to our goal when played in or 3) when the ball is played wide to a full back.

In the first half, we hardly got into trouble. And yes, we didn’t create a lot but we still had 3 or 4 chances. Bergwijn impressed on the right. Danjuma was threatening from the left. Blind played his usual decent game, as did Wijnaldum. The midfield was instructed not to run blindly into the opponent’s box and that reluctance made the chances we did create less effective, but hey… we didn’t concede!

And all that mattered was securing that ticket!

Norway didn’t take the game to us. They waited until the second half. Oranje got a bit more space in the second half, when Norway started to push a bit more, but they only managed two shots, of which none on target.

By then, we had seen some headers by Memphis, a Montenegro type flick by Depay as well, a volley from 25 meters from the Barca forward and some good crosses by Danjuma and Bergwijn. Lots of “almost” chances.

In the second half we got more opportunities when Norway went to play with three at the back. Bergwijn and Danjuma were always going to be the danger men, playing from the wide angles.

Oranje was clearly focused on not conceding, more so than scoring. The lack of confidence as a result of the latest draw was palpable. The lack of Oranje support from the stands could well have been a blessing in disguise, as in previous games the home crowd at times yells the team forward in scenarios where that is actually not preferred by the coaches…

Frenkie worked his arse off and probably ran more than 11 kms in this match. Wijnaldum was way more involved in midfield and Memphis was his usual self. Probing, drifting, threatening, while Blind and Dumfries offered good support for the wide men.

Man of the Match Steven Bergwijn made a strong statement with his creative explosive runs and it was befitting for him to be the guy breaking the deadlock. A wonderful little dribble from left back Blind, with a 1-2 combination with his former Man U mate Memphis and Danjuma was able to provide the assist to Bergwijn who found the top corner emphatically.

Norway had some minutes left to get back into it and added more attackers to the mix, prompting Van Gaal to sub Danjuma who was becoming a wing back for us. Nathan Ake was asked to shore up matters. From a Norway corner, a smart little header by Memphis released Bergwijn who ran half the pitch towards the Norwegian goal, with Oranje’s record breaker and future all time topscorer Memphis Depay in his wake. A simple wide pass to the Barca man and he added another goal to his tally, surpassing the likes of Bergkamp and Huntelaar.

And with that, Louis van Gaal – watching the game as an evil conniving Stavros Blofeld from his vip box -saw it was good.

His team qualified as group leaders and demonstrated some grit and effectiveness after a series of interesting matches. We’ve seen them struggle, we have seen them play Turkey off the pitch, we have seen them put to sleep by Montenegro and now we’ve seen them all business-like and efficient.

Congrats to all! We’re back at World Cup Level. Lets discuss what we learned moving forward in future posts.

In terms of player ratings…

Cillesen – 7

He didn’t have to do a lot of shot stopping but his distribution is excellent and it was good to see him confident and relaxed in the Oranje goal again.

Dumfries – 6

Lots of energy and hard work. At times a bit clumsy but always positive and always “on”.

De Ligt – 6.5

Didn’t do much wrong, but also didn’t do much to make us all sit up. Decent.

Van Dijk – 7

Played like a captain. Was the boss in aerial battles and commanded the troops with his booming bariton.

Blind – 7

Some good touches and passing. Not everything worked, but that is ok. His little forward dribble and 1-2 with Memphis broke open the Norway defence.

Klaassen – 5

A bit invisible. Probably working hard, but a tad off the pace at times. Got subbed due to a nasty stamp on his thigh.

Wijnaldum – 6.5

Played in service of the team. Had some good moments and battled like in his best Liverpool days.

Frenkie – 7.5

Frenkie led by example. Covering a lot of space. Always available and snapping like a pitbull at ankles and balls.

Danjuma – 7

Kept the pitch wide. Was threatening always and direct in his actions. A tad unlucky with his crosses and his goal attempts. Had the assist on the 1-0.

Memphis – 7

Scoring, hassling, leading, threatening. Not his best game but in a mediocre performance he will still find the net, he will work his butt off and that volley deserved better.

Bergwijn – 8

Man of the Match. Constantly threatening on the wing, tracking back when needed. Good crosses, and that superb goal. His last minute run to gift Memphis a tap in was excellent too.

De Roon and Ake didn’t have too much time to excel.

Van Gaal – 8

The winning coach. Bringing us back to World Cup finals level. Usually, I’d give him a 7 but his Blofeld impersonation gets him an extra point. If he would have brought a white cat for on his lap, I’d give him a 9.

For now: come back with your comments and insights below.

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by Jan

Do or Die for Oranje!

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

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

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

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

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

Van Loen forgets to mark George Grun

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

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

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

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

Spanje with Malta goalie on their side: 12-1

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

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

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

Kluivert sick of it in 2001 v Ireland

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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by Jan

No words for Oranje! Amateur hour!

I have no idea where to start. Maybe this whole post should remain empty. No words. No explanations or excuses. No photos. No highlights video (seriously… there were hardly any!)….

I have a very hard time to do a proper analysis.

Actually, I think I need to give Wilson, Orangutan and others their due! It was atrocious. Frenkie couldn’t create. Daley Blind was weak defending (the 2-2). Koopmeiners atrocious. Malen didn’t “get” this role. Memphis keen to play backheels all the time. And the pace was debilitating slow.

Yes, the pitch was tough. Boohoohoo. Hoo. But we played a Montenegro team lacking some key players. In a game that could have gotten us our WC ticket, which we knew already before the game. As Norway dropped points v Latvia.

But all this pre-match gloating might have paralysed our players and definitely took the sense of urgency and our focus away. The series of defensive and positional errors in that final phase of the game… just utterly shambolic.

For all I know, we do need Marten de Roon who was sulking on the stands, no doubt.

We had a left wing that tried hard, but with limited results. A right wing that didn’t perform at all. Forwards wanting to press. A defence keen on slowing the game down. We had runners Wijnaldum and Klaassen highly ineffective. It was embarrassing. Or as Frenkie called it: childish and amateuristic.

I don’t want to say more.

I think we need to realise that 1) we are not that good as we think, 2) Van Gaal failed to impart his instructions well enough and 3) if we don’t qualify we only have ourself to blame.

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by Jan

Danjuma: My best is yet to come!

After 3 years in the wilderness, Danjuma is now Orange’s Hope in Scary Days ( Dutch expression).

VI Pro visited Danjuma in warm and smouldering Valencia, where Danjuma lives next door to Jasper Cillesen. Only a few months back, he lived in Bournemouth. Another coastal town, but one where an umbrella is always needed. He played his games in the Championship, competing against Rotherham and QPR. Now he’s one of the most valuable players in La Liga, won a MOTM award in the Champions League and he has a pool in his back yard. On top of that: he’s back in Oranje!

“I played Real Madrid already, and soon it’s Barcelona. Last year, Millwall away, now Bernabeu. But the best thing, is that my dad can follow me. He never saw me live in Bournemouth due to the Covid stuff. But he’s with me now in Valencia. He saw me live playing vs Young Boys and I gave him my shirt afterwards. He had to dry a tear or two. This is worth a lot to me.”

He’s 24 years old but has seen a lot already. Born in Nigeria, but raised in Oss. Started with the amateurs in Oss, then PSV’s academy. He went to NEC when PSV didn’t offer him a contract. After NEC he went to Belgium for Club Brugge and Bournemouth. After his last season in the Championship, he had many big clubs courting him, including Mark van Bommel’s Wolfsburg. “It was hectic, we had many conversations but the talk with Unai Emery was the best. Some clubs wanted me too badly, it became unrealistic. They would make me skipper and they promised me the world. Emery was very clear. He had followed me for 5 months and saw all my games and immediately told me how I would become a better player. He was honest and highly critical. He tested my knowledge and I realised I get happy when I talk about football with people who are more knowledgeable than me.”

“Emery said to me: you can become a very big player and Villareal can be a bigger club. Lets do this together. And I am here now, at this unique club.”

And so it is. Vila Real is a town of 50,000 people. Similar to a mid-size Dutch town. The local business man Roig decided to put 400,000 euros into the club, back in 1997. We’re 24 years further down and he has now invested 200 million in the club. And his most recent investment: a former player of Margriet in Oss.

Danjuma would become the most expensive player for the club. The vice president was the chair at the press conference introducing the left winger: “Some people by a Casio watch. Others buy a Rolex. We got ourselves a brand new Rolex!”

Danjuma laughs out loud when he thinks about it. “I sat next to him and I had no idea what he was saying. And I was dead tired. It’s been a long day and I wanted to sleep. So he was telling the world how good I was and I was sitting next to him as a big whiner hahahaha. But being the most expensive player for Villareal motivates me. If someone is happy to pay millions for me, I will do what I can to deliver.”

And he does deliver. He hasn’t been able to make his guest room in order, but after 15 official games, he’s got 7 goals and 3 assists. In terms of goal attempts, succeeded dribbles and expected goals, he is in the top of La Liga. And against Young Boys, again he got the MOTM award.

Arnaut is a fascinating kid. In now way arrogant, but very confident. When he was in the PSV academy, the coaches would ask the players about their ambitions. Most would say: play for PSV’s first team. Danjuma said: win the Champions League and win the Ballon D’Or. The coach told him to remain realistic. “Football is my life. I have done everything I can to succeed. I don’t want to say I will be the best ever or something and the chance I will win the Ballon D’Or is slim of course… But I want to do all I can to try and achieve it. I don’t mind failing, but I want to fail on my terms. All my moves were conscious ones: my move to NEC, my decision to play wingback at Brugge and at Bournemouth I was creating a more tough character. All by design, as they say in England.”

His drive was born in his youth. He didn’t have it easy. When he was young, his parents divorced and it left scars, even though Arnaut himself is not keen to discuss it in detail. But Youth Care got involved and he lived in three different foster families. In England, he told a journalist there were times when he slept in a car. “But I am not a victim. I think the drive is a family thing. My dad has it too. My brother has two master degrees and my sister has just graduated in England with honours. I have my HAVO diploma, as my dad told me I wasn’t allowed to play football if I didn’t at least get that. So I did.”

“I had it tough at PSV. When I moved to NEC, I decided to become my own master. I decided to work with my own masseur, my own nutritionist and my own physio. Tresor, a kid I used to play street football with, is also in my inner circle. We called him The Snake. And whenever I score, I celebrate to honour him . I really do have a team taking care of me, as I don’t think I would be able to do this all by myself.”

By now, opponents know who he is and at times he has double marking to deal with. “I talk with Unai about this. I need to re-invent myself all the time. Football is not just Unai’s number 1 priority. It’s also number 2 and 3, hahaha. I am the same. Did you know Unai watched 17 full matches of Man United a prep for the CL game we played against them? He is the best coach I have worked with. One example, his analysis showed I always make vertical runs. Always deep, in one direction. He instructed me to change it up. Sometimes run horizontal, from left to right. Or drop deeper and then go behind the defence. That sort of thing. He also wants me to gamble. I never liked making dummy runs, but now, when a deep ball is played to our #9, Unai wants me to gamble that the striker wins the duel. I already scored two goals as a result. He also doesn’t want me to track back. When we lose possession, two forwards stay up top. Me and another player. I love it. He uses me in my strength.”

“His pre match tactical talks are usually 1,5 hours long. And never boring. He sees everything. He comes up with things like: the goalie has bad eyes and in night games he is not as good. Shoot from distance. Or, their full back is running out of steam after 75 minutes. All these details. We ended 7 in La Liga last season, we want to end higher now.”

The lessons in the CL are harsh. We played Man United off the pitch in Manchester, but we stil lost 2-1. That guy Ronaldo scored the winner, who else? But we were really good. I did get the MOTM award. After the match, Ronald came to me and complimented me on my game. We exchanged shirts too. He’s really nice guy, actually. And he really wanted my shirt. In C Ronaldo’s home is a football jersey with my name on it, hahahaha.”

It seems Oranje ignored him in his time at Bournemouth. He himself has a different slant on it. “I started there with an injury and wasn’t a starter. That season we got relegated and I wasn’t good enough. In the Championship, I found my groove and I almost did get the invite to play for Oranje in a friendly, some time back but I just got another muscle problem and told them so, and as a result I was never invited. So there is no official record of it, but I know Zeist was following me.”

This time around, for the Gibraltar match, Danjuma almost declined the invitation! “Yes, but let me explain! I hadn’t seen my dad for a long time and we had plans for a Father-Son thing together. He’s now 74 years old and I don’t spend enough time with him. And that was in the international break. So when I got the call from Louis van Gaal I couldn’t say yes immediately. I called my dad and said: I will cancel Oranje if you want me too, because we had a prior arrangement. And my dad was: no no are you insane! Go to Oranje. I will come to the stadium and watch you play! And that was it.”

I highly enjoyed my time with Oranje. The players were amazing and I was so positively surprised with all the amazing support from throughout the country. Oranje is super special for me, to play with the best of the country. Nigeria has been chasing me too, but I really wanted to play for Oranje.”

With Van Gaal’s plans to introduce the 5 at the back again, Danjuma’s position seems solid in the squad. He played wingback many times for Brugge. “Not my favorite spot, I didn’t enjoy it much. But hey, if it’s needed, I ‘ll play. Left, right, wherever the coach needs me. I want to be important. The World Cup is a dream for me. Being good versus Gibraltar is not enough though. I know that when I play like a bag of potatoes against Montenegro or Norway everyone will forget about me. But trust me: Holland hasn’t seen me at my best yet.”

The Eleven I think Louis will field. And my prediction below that. What do you guys think?

Montenegro – The Netherlands 1-4

Danjuma, Memphis, Klaassen and Wijnaldum.

 

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by Jan

Danjuma: Van Gaal’s missing winger?

This last week, coach Ronald Koeman was in the news, as Barca Chair “finally” sacked the Dutch club legend (and in his wake: Alfred Schreuder and Henke Larsson). Also in the news, 75 year old Wim Jansen – suffering from dementia – published his biography, ans with that, some exciting stories were re-hashed in the media. Do let me know if you want me to write some stories on either topic.

For now, I wanted to focus on that other winger that impressed. I covered Noa Lang in a post, now it’s time for Arnaut Danjuma.

The 24 year old Nigerian born Dutch international – Dutch father, Nigerian mother – started his career at Top Oss but moved swiftly to PSV where he played for PSV 2 before making his move to NEC Nijmegen, where he expected a swifter break through. He managed 40 games for NEC in which he scored 12 goals and got the first attention. PSV and Feyenoord were keen to sign him but Club Brugge in Belgium was the quickest of them. He made his first Oranje appearance under Koeman in October 2018 but lost his spot when he got injured.

He went to play for EPL outfit Bournemouth in 2019 but injuries kept him sidelined more than not and Danjuma got relegated with the club in 2020. He ended up performing really well for the Cherries and scored a total of 15 goals in 47 games for them until Emry swooped him up for Villareal for close to €25K.

It does not take long, in the company of Arnaut Danjuma, to realise how highly he regards his potential. “If I need to be completely honest, and this is me being completely honest, I never thought I would play Championship in my career,” the Bournemouth forward says, “I’m used to the Champions League, not the Championship.”

Danjuma – nickname The Cobra – talks like he plays: a winger with wonderful talent and ability complemented by extreme self-confidence which sees him attempt, and often execute, the audacious.

Danjuma – who had an unthinkable tough childhood – spoke of a desire to return to Europe’s elite competition and prove he is among the world’s best players. His two appearances in the Champions League came for Belgium’s Club Brugge in the 2018 group stage, both ending in defeat to Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid, whom he scored against. With Villareal, he was able to prove his mettle once again, particularly in the away match vs Man United.

Danjuma uses his past to help him perform. “When I go into a game I always get my mentality back to where I started because I don’t want to get used to being satisfied,” he says.

The story begins in Lagos, Nigeria, where he was born but Danjuma doesn’t remember much apart from his grandma’s house and regularly being late for dinner due to playing football in the streets. The true beginning came in 2001, at the age of four, when Danjuma’s parents, mum Hauwa and dad Cees, divorced in the same year they moved to Oss, in the south of Holland.

Danjuma doesn’t remember why but they ended up homeless for two weeks around a year after arriving in Europe. Along with his brother Reinier and sister Lisette, the then five-year-old and his mum would often end up sleeping in their car.

“I was a bit older, around five or six,” Danjuma says. “There was a brief period when we had no place to live, which obviously was very tough and, on the back of it, might sound weird but I’m grateful I went through it.

“For my mum, it was very difficult but she’s a very strong lady. I’ve never met anyone as strong as her, especially if you come from a different country like Nigeria to the Netherlands, don’t speak the language and are foreign. It is difficult, it’s tough. She had three children to take care of.

“It was a very difficult period for her but I always respect the way she dealt with it and she always provided for me and the whole family where she could. It really inspires me, having a mother like her, because it showed me the world is tough out there and if you want to survive you should always fight back, always take courage in changing your own destiny.”

Circumstances saw Danjuma and his siblings put into foster care. He doesn’t recall why but remembers clearly the difficulty it brought, comparing the period to time spent living on the streets. His foster family wouldn’t take him to play football, the sport he had grown to love since the age of four.

“It was tough because you’re not with your parents and you see all other kids living with their parents. It was difficult for me because the only thing I wanted to do was play football,” Danjuma says. “They weren’t willing to bring me to training so I got really annoyed by that. But my father luckily came all the way to the foster family, picked me up and took me to football, and then brought me back to them and went back to his place. I was lucky that my father still took charge of everything because otherwise it would have been very difficult for me.”

Cees remains an influential figure. They speak before every game and Danjuma describes his father as a “football fanatic”. “I’m not even exaggerating,” he says. “If he feels I have performed bad or the club is losing, he won’t sleep.”

Danjuma joined Top Oss, his first professional club, aged 11 in 2008, the same year a court ruled he could leave foster care and live with his father. Within weeks, he had joined PSV Eindhoven where he remained until 2016.

Through the years in the academy, he saw the benefits of his unthinkable upbringing by observing others. “There are a lot of players who have a lot of luxuries at a young age and it kills them,” he says. “I’ve seen so many talented players that didn’t make it in the end because of luxury. I’ve seen it with my own eyes because I went through it in the same period and didn’t have the same luxury as them, but in the end I scored my goal in the Champions League and they didn’t.”

His debut in Europe’s elite competition came elsewhere in the end. “At the time, my dream was to play first team and make my debut there but it fell apart because I got a bit impatient and didn’t think I got the respect I deserved at the club and tried my luck elsewhere,” Danjuma says.

He spent two years with NEC Nijmegen and then moved to Club Brugge in 2018 which was when Milan made a move. “Six months earlier I played in Holland so when AC Milan came through with an offer and bid I told the club straight away I want to move, I want to go to AC Milan which is a massive club, massive history, and at the time a very good step for me,” Danjuma recalls.

Danjuma’s personal ambitions mean he is determined to take Villareal back to the top in Spain, particularly with the Madrid clubs and Barca stumbling a bit. But he also has his eye on the international arena.

He made his come back in orange after three years. “I am so happy that I’m back and I knew for 100% certain that I would make it. I may have been off the radar a bit with Bournemouth so I decided to move up a notch.” Asked if he was happy to perform on the right wing for The Netherlands, as opposed to the left: “My preference is the left, I won’t lie, but if the coach want me to play on the right, I will. When Van Gaal tells me to be the goalie, I will be the goalie. But left winger has my preference.”

By now, we are all getting accustomed to the intelligence and wit of the winger. He was already known to be a walking football encyclopedia. He follows everything and even has his own data-service, which he devours week by week to learn, to develop and set new goals. He also has quick and dry wit. Asked if he new about Van Gaal lamenting that there weren’t many good wingers, he responded: “Was he lamenting? Well so was I. I was lamenting that I wasn’t called up.”

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by Jan

Dutch football impresses…

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.”

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by Jan

Impact van Gaal on Oranje

If all goes well, we only have one more month to wait before we can celebrate our WC ticket for 2022.

NT manager Louis van Gaal worked his magic. As he always says of himself: I am direct and I only speak the truth. Although, he also said he lacked wingers. Danjuma and Noa Lang: “Hold my beer!”.

Lets look at some LVG changes, per line.

Goalies

Only 30 minutes after Bijlow’s key save in the dying minutes vs Latvia, Van Gaal proclaimed: “The goalie situation is still an open question.” And in the same sentence, he hailed he absent Jasper Cillesen, who seems to be back in the starting line up at Valencia.

Mark Flekken’s sudden entry into the squad (and Drommel’s subsequent banishment to the stands) clearly shows that Van Gaal is stirring the pot. Bijlow has played 5 steady internationals for us, but next month we will get more clarity whom Van Gaal picks as his goalie for the time to come.

Defence

Van Gaal spent a lot of time talking to Mathijs de Ligt, during practices. Sitting on the dug out bench, which is symbolical and fitting, as the Juve defender has to accept a benchwarming position. This happened to him at Juventus too, at the start of the season. He did make an impression on Van Gaal: “Mathijs is returning from the darkness. He is clearly getting to the point where I can assess him as a first team player. But he has an extraordinary rival in De Vrij who was my Man of the Match twice now.”

In his ideal system, Van Gaal would play three central defenders. Louis prefers the 5-3-2 but his players asked for 4-3-3. Van Gaal might tweak it once we secured our ticket. He will have time in the coming calendar year to try out new things. Should we fail to qualify, the time to experiment is way less. Louis expects the central defenders to play an active part in the build up. Versus Latvia, Van Dijk and De Vrij played the ball square a walloping 73 times! That is a record for 230 international games! While Van Gaal’s principle is: first ball deep. De Vrij did demonstrate his cross pass just like Van Dijk can. Daley Blind is a a player with the vision and passing skill to accelerate the game and since Pat van Aanholt and Owen Wijndal have not secured a spot under the former Man United coach, it’s Malacia who is Blind’s understudy.

Midfield

Davy Klaassen was in the sticks for 3 years and made his return to the NT under Frank de Boer. But he didn’t get a second of playing time at the Euros. With Louis, Klaassen is a key player. Van Gaal wants to play with two “number 10s” to further support Memphis. And Klaassen ticks all the boxes: he has forward thrust, legs and lungs of a horse, a nose for the position and he can score a goal. And just like colleague Wijnaldum, Klaassen has a good sharp radar for the turn around. He can play all roles in midfield, including the holding position. Against Latvia, he scored and made a crucial goal saving block.

Marten de Roon seems to be the big loser. The Atalanta midfielder was first choice, mostly under Koeman and also under De Boer. He played a mere 17 minutes under Van Gaal. Teun Koopmeiners has passed the former Sparta player in the hierarchy, as De Roon had to take to the stands against Gibraltar.

Frenkie is the only controlling mid now and Van Gaal was highly critical on the Barca player. “The coach wants me to play in the Busquets role but he doesn’t want me to drift too much. As a central mid, you need to always protect the axes. Should I dribble now, I will leave a huge gap. The coach wants me to pass the ball quicker and not be too much of a post delivery man.” Van Gaal: “Frenkie plays on the position where I played and you really don’t need to run much on that position. I also think he can improve his game, someone with that talent needs to have a higher yield.”

Attack

From the start, Van Gaal lamented the lack of real wingers, so he couldn’t play his beloved 4-3-3. Since Robben retired, the coaches used 17 (!) players on the wings up front. “It’s not that we don’t develop right wingers, but the difference is the way we play today, with players and their contra foot on the wing. In my time, I had Roy or Overmars on the left and Van ‘t Schip or Finidi on the right. Today, we use the wingback to fly past and cross the ball in,” said Van Gaal.

He also points to the development trends in football. “We play 4-3-3 in Holland so we do develop wingers, but in some countries, the wingers are players who dribble inside and go for goal. In Holland, when players turn 16 years old, that is when we start introducing other systems.” Van Gaal only considers Berghuis as a real right winger. Bergwijn told the coach he doesn’t want to play there. Gakpo and Malen have not impressed on that flank. Noa Lang told Van Gaal he could play there and was happy to play there but 10 minutes into the Latvia game, the cheeky Brugge player switched flanks with Gakpo.

Under De Boer, Oranje played with Memphis on the left flank and a real #9 as striker (Weghorst, Luuk de Jong). This has immediately been rectified by Van Gaal: Memphis is the central striker and Weghorst and De Jong are Plan B players. And how it worked. In 5 internationals under Van Gaal, Memphis scored 7 goals and had 4 assists. Van Gaal: “When I see the data and the stats of Memphis, wow… I never had a striker like him. The work rate, the miles he runs. He does so much work for the team, he is constantly on the prowl. He is amazing.”

Asked where Oranje now is, he said: “We don’t know. We don’t have really top nations in our group, so it’s unclear. Should we qualify this November, I can organise friendlies against top nations and then we will see. On paper our midfield is European Top but… are they really? We can only tell when confronting European Top and that will have to come, still.”

For now, the winners are Justin Bijlow, Stefan de Vrij, Cody Gakpo, Mark Flekken, Davy Klaassen.

Louis van Gaal is also a winner, for getting Danjuma and Lang as white elephants.

Losers: Mathijs de Ligt, Marten de Roon, Joel Drommel.

Re: the Euros squad: there will be a way back for Owen Wijndal, Donny van de Beek, Joel Veltman and Quincy Promes. I am not sure about Pat van Aanholt and Marco Bizot, while Maarten Stekelenburg already retired from international football (and is currently seriously injured anyway).

I’m quite happy with LvG’s choices up until now. All logical and thought-through. The only big omission for me, is Rick Karsdorp as right wing back but he will get in the squad if he keeps on playing like this for Roma.

Another positive trend that deserves mentioning is the corner kick, under Louis van Gaal.

We would have won vs Gibraltar without corners, of course. But we scored the first from a corner like we did against Latvia. This is remarkable, as the yield from corners in Oranje was typically very low before Van Gaal. We took 20 corners at the Euros and only 8 reached a Dutch player and only 2 ended up as a chance to score.

The only nations worse than us in corner kicks: Sweden, Hungary and Finland.

Against Turkey away, we even conceded two goals (!) from corner kicks. Our corner kicks!!!

Van Gaal started work on the dead ball situations immediately. During his first spell, when Covid was a serious member of the squad, he even practiced this inside, in a conference hall, with chairs, tables and without a ball!!

The first corner versus Latvia was a success. The coaches had seen that Latvia doesn’t really have an overload at the far post, so the plan was to have the air force go to the near post, attracting all the defenders, while Memphis would curl the ball towards Klaassen at the far upright: 0-1.

This is by now means a magical trick, but a very effective, simple way to use a corner.

Against Gibraltar, same story. But the Gibs used man marking, so Oranje executed it differently. This time, our four strongest headers were around the penalty spot and using De Vrij’s block, Virgil came in front of his man at the near post and had a tap in (with his head).

From the other side, similar concept. This time, it’s Dumfries attracking the attention, allowing De Vrij a clear header, which was blocked by an arm. Penalty. Missed by our top scorer for 2021, but hey… He would get another chance.

During Koeman’s reign, considered successful, Oranje scored 7 goals from a corner in 20 matches. Under De Boer, it’s 3 goals in 15 matches and under Van Gaal, 2 goals in 5.

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by Jan

Playful Oranje dazzles in De Kuip

Evening matches in De Kuip are a joy. The stadium is big but cosy. The fans love it there and usually, so do the players. It has a real football vibe and usually the pitch is perfect. This season, not so much, but still, the atmosphere is amazing.

Louis van Gaal was not happy with the 0-1 versus Latvia, in the sense that he feels the second goal needs to come swift and as we play at home vs minions Gibraltar, we needed to entertain the fans.

For this, he went with almost the same eleven as used versus Latvia, with the addition of Lang on his fave left winger spot in place of the injured Gakpo and Wijnaldum back in place of Guus Til.

Gibraltar coach protested the use of Lang and Danjuma AND two balls!

Before the match, Louis explained how he expects Gibraltar also to have 1 or 2 chances, how he wants the forward pass quicker and demand more courage and creativity of his players.

He didn’t choose to hussle the team up. It would have been nice to see Malacia in action, with De Ligt and maybe Koopmeiners or Gravenberch, but Lous decided to build on his fave eleven, with the eyes firmly on next month’s key matches.

He also decided not to use a real #9, as was suggested by some experts in the Netherlands. “If you want goals against smaller nations, use a target man like De Jong or Weghorst”. Louis acknowledged the idea as a possible option but decided against it, by explaining the tremendous stats and workrate of Memphis as his key reason.

And the Barca man didn’t let his coach down: 2 goals and a missed pen plus 2 assists for the record breaker. He took Kluivert’s record of most goals scored in the NT in  calendar year (was 12, now 13).

At this rate, the often criticised artist will become the NT’s top goal scorer, top assister and most capped international.

Van Gaal will have been pleased to see how his forwards again were the key players in the 6-0 win over Gibraltar. We did what we needed to do: a quick goal by the captain, and the chance on a quick second goal. The penalty was justified, but Memphis was stopped by the debutant in goal for Gibraltar. Memphis’ 0-2 was a beauty with a tremendous pre-assist by Noa Lang.

And with Lang, we have another one of the top performers. The cheeky and gifted left winger was a constant threat with his dancing feet in the first half, impressing with his skill, his combination play, his dribbles and his through passes. With Danjuma nocking on the door with a sledgehammer, Lang could well play as a #10 as well. That makes me lick my lips. Great player.

So, Louis wanted to see Noa play and boy did he see him.

It must be said, there were no duds against Gibraltar although some players could shine a bit more (Memphis, Noa, Danjuma) than others (Frenkie de Jong, Bijlow).

Skipper leads the way

Van Gaal wanted goals, he wanted a clean sheet, he wanted his players to remain healthy and he wanted to entertain the public.

And he got all he wanted.

After the match, there was a positive vibe at the presser, with Denzel Dumfries and Arnaut Danjuma being feted and Van Gaal allowed the platform to gloat and shower praise over his lads. “This is a very very tight and good group!”.

I think it is clear that the quality will be there for us, right when we need it.

With Gakpo, Danjuma, Bergwijn, Lang and Malen, we have multiple options for the left winger role.

Lang and Gakpo can play #10 as well. Malen is actually a #9 (for me) and Lang and Danjuma can also play right winger, giving Louis options besides Berghuis.

Assist Weghorst, goal Danjuma!

With our central defenders, our goalkeeper, central midfielder and leader of the line Memphis, I think we’re in pretty good shape.

And yes, I know it was against Gibraltar, but I have seen so many matches of big name national teams (yes, our Oranje as well) struggling against the Cyprus/Malta/Andorra/San Marino/Gibraltar type opponents. Usually, you do win, but at times with limited score lines and lots of frustration.

This time, the team kept at it. Kept playing within the shape, disciplined, with frills and trickery.

Weghorst could have had a goal, Danjuma could have had a couple of assists. Danjuma: “I was waiting to come on with Wout and I said to him: where do you want them? He said: near post. I said, ok… Hard and low, near post. Make sure you are there!”.

Memphis Depay led the line like a real world class player that he can be. He fought, he made dummy runs, he assisted, created and scored. And even missed a pen!

Now, fans also want the tie of the coach!!

Lang and Danjuma will not leave the squad any time soon and De Vrij seems to have won the RCB spot from his best friend De Ligt.

For me, the midfield combination and the right back spot are still question marks. I’m a fan of Dumfries’ personality, his energy and mentality, but he is not good enough to play along in these type of tight games (tight as in “spaces are tight”).

Van Gaal will now focus on the last two matches: an away win v Montenegro means we only need a draw at home against Norway.

My player ratings:

Bijlow – 7

Didn’t do much wrong. Didn’t do much. Stopped a shot on goal from an off side Gibraltar player. Showing off.

Daley Blind – 7.5

Was active. Good passing range. Had several ventures in the box as a midfield-type runner. His team tried to reach him with passes over the top but it didn’t fall for him.

Virgil van Dijk – 7.5

Playing very high and was rewarded with a goal, the first one. A captain’s goal.

Stefan de Vrij – 7.5

Playing high up the pitch. Suffocating anything he could. Attacking prowess leading to (missed) penalty. Great long range passing.

Denzel Dumfries – 6.5

Doesn’t do much wrong but lack of technique and touch makes him a stumbling block in the velvety moves on the right. As always: great energy.

Frenkie de Jong – 6.5

Did his thing, let things ticking over. His long passing game was not 100% and he seemed not needed in this game.

Gini Wijnaldum – 7

Working hard as per usual. Made some great defensive sprints, when needed. Always available and close to a super goal after a great move involving Berghuis and Memphis.

Davy Klaassen – 7,5

Great understanding with Memphis. Wonderful timed runs, great energy and a top assist for Memphis.

Noa Lang – 8,5

First start. Dominant from first minute on. Played with discipline but also with a boldness not seen often, playing through balls with the outside foot, wandering across the whole pitch and setting the pace for the attacks.

Memphis – 9

Constantly hassling, probing, threatening. Allowing his team mates to shine with some good assists and demonstrating his skills in the small spaces. Got two goals, two assists, but should have had a hattrick. Passed some great names on the topscoring list and setting record after record.

Steven Berghuis – 7.5

Good performance, but never outstanding. Combination play was sumptuous, his crossing and shooting was thwarted. Great set piece deliveries too. He was booed by a small part of the (Feyenoord) Oranje fans whenever he had the ball. It didn’t seem to bother him much, but Van Gaal was dumbfounded by these “fans'” reactions.

Arnaut Danjuma – 8.5

Very lively play by the football professor. He’s fast, explosive, strong, direct to goal kinda guy. Took on opponents, had some potential assists, demonstrated a great rapport with his team mates and got his goal too. The golden wonder boy is back.

Wout Weghorst – 7.5

Wout does what Wout does and got an assist too. Should have scored with his head, but the ball should have gone 1mm further over the line. So unlucky.

Donyell Malen – 7.5

I feel for Donny. He is not the best left winger nor the best striker in our NT. But he’s an awesome player: fast, also direct to goal in his approach and a good ball player. He played right winger and looked better there now than he did under Frank de Boer. Scored his goal and is a great super sub to have.

Louis van Gaal – 8

He motivated and inspired the troops. He picked the right eleven. He got the tactics right. He used his subs well. If he does this with Oranje versus France, Italy, Germany and Brazil, he will get a higher mark.

Your views?

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by Jan

Oranje closer to the goal!

I think over time I have written thousands of these post match reviews, it feels. Almost on par with the reviews of friendlies, and somehow the Latvia game felt like a friendly.

The stadium only had stands on one side. The pitch was rough and rugged. The players were just a bit off the pace.

Oranje tried to attack from the get go, tried to let the ball do the work and find the openings against two blocks of 4 players, with 1 player in between to sure up the defence. A 4-1-4-1, with a tall, strong target man up top.

Klaassen could have scored in the first 3 minutes again, but “could have” was the name of the game for Oranje.

It was a bit rusty, a bit sloppy and full of good intentions. But it took Gakpo a long time to finally take his opponent on and reach the byline. It took too many touches for Dumfries (!) and Berghuis on the right to get to a decent attacking play. It took too long for De Vrij, Frenkie or Daley to play that forward pass.

We just missed that oomph, that laser focus to tear down the Latvian defences and in the mean time Latvia created three clear cut opportunities in that first part of the first half.

It would still be Memphis with his assist, yet again, and Mr 1-0 to score that all important first goal, but apart from some attempts by Berghuis, Memphis, Gakpo headers and some intricate attempts by Memphis and Lang in the second half, the ball wouldn’t do what we wanted from it.

And so, we got the clean sheet, thanks to Bijlow’s last minute stretch, we got the three points and we almost kept everyone in one piece.

It seems Cody Gakpo suffered a light concussion though, so he will have to leave the camp. The good news for all of us, Van Gaal immediately called up Danjuma, who will join the Dutch squad today, after having had his debut in October 2018, under Koeman. The 24 year old left winger is back!

After the Latvia game, Van Gaal said he was annoyed at times. “I am satisfied with the result. I was asked by fans this morning, what score I’d be happy with? I said 0-1. I also said we would have 70% possession but they would still get 2 chances. Well, we had 75% and they got 4 chances. But, even against amateurs, we would always give one or two chances away. We ended up doing well. Bijlow did what he is hired for. So we are not unhappy. Turkey and Norway both dropped points, we got the three points. Ergo: we are closer to our goal.”

“I did get annoyed at times with the lack of forward thrust. We are playing too square at times, too safe. You can only break down these kind of opponents by playing that first ball forward quicker. We will be looking at that.”

Despite the dominance and the win, only a couple of players really stood out. Frenkie will always be a 6, never less. Gakpo was active, Memphis was probing, as always and Blind was the one trying to find that forward pass all the time. But the right hand side didn’t perform very well as the Latvians made sure there was no way through for Dumfries. The Inter defender put a lot of energy in the game and was threatening at times but his limited ball skills also took the pace out of several attacks. He sometimes stands out negatively, particularly when quick feet are needed (in combi plays with Berghuis, Klaassen and Memphis, Denzel is oftentimes the player who breaks it up).

The left hand side was a tad more threatening and Guus Til earned his Heineken with his off-the-ball performance. He worked, he covered for Blind, he led the forward press and ended up in the box regularly as well, but the ball simply didn’t fall for him.

To me, I think Van Gaal made a mistake in using two box to box midfielders. The idea is good: Memphis drifts away from the #9 position and Klaassen and Til will run into that space, but during this match it was clear after 10 minutes, that we would have so much dominance that Til and Klaassen would be in the box or close to the box already, cramping up the spaces. The flanks were the ideal spots to attack but Gakpo always comes to his right foot, inside, and on the right Berghuis does this with his left. Dumfries usually supports with an overlap but there was no space. Same on the left. Blind had one overlapping run in the second half which immediately resulted in a header opportunity for Gakpo.

This image below shows how Klaassen and Til are already “there” instead of “arriving there” with Memphis dropping back. There are two midfielders close to Memphis to smother him and this way we played to Latvia’s strength.

Til and Klaassen are too similar. And when you play against a compact, defending team, you don’t want runners, you want creativity. That is the lesson for Van Gaal to be learned (he won’t like reading this….).

Against Latvia (and Gibraltar) I think you need to play with a real #9, and use Memphis as a 10 behind him, to feed off the target man. Til and Klaassen lack the creativity to find the free man in front of goal, so it was always up to Berghuis, later Lang, and Gakpo to create.

Noa Lang made his debut and it left us wanting for more. He’s cheeky, he demands the ball, he wants to be everywhere and he almost had a goal (blocked shot) and an assist (on Memphis).

He also got a big smile on the face of Louis van Gaal. “I want to use him as a right winger. And guess what, he’s not on the pitch for more than 10 minutes, or he switches flanks with Gakpo!! And I wanted to see Lang on the right. So I immediately told him to get back to the right. He’s got some nerve, that kid, hahahaha!”

It’s traditionally been hard for Oranje to impress against weaker teams that park the bus. Gibraltar will park two buses, one can imagine. You need a couple of things: a quick forward pass, ideally passing over the midfield. You need players who can take on opponents and you need width. We have the latter. We have wingers and good full backs. We also have players who can pass that forward ball (Frenkie, Daley, Virgil, De Vrij). We don’t currently have that creative midfielder like a Sneijder or Van der Vaart on the #10 position (as LvG prefers a runner there). But Gravenberch was introduced instead of Til to get more out of the midfield. I reckon we might see him start versus Gibraltar…

My starting eleven versus Gibraltar

The Starting Eleven Louis will field, according to me:

I think we’ll beat Gibraltar, 4-0 or something like that. Memphis will add to his tally and who ever plays target man will score too. If Lang gets a nod again, he also might find the net.

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