29 comments

  1. my two players that I think should go WC 2018 did well this week. Nathan Akes goal vs stroke should give Eddie howe something to think about but personally I think he should leave Bournemouth for a team where he can play more and also at the same get to play in the midfield. Again he demonstrated he has what its takes to play at atop level though there was few occasions when he was caught out of position. but again this c out if he plays more regularly.

    also Zivikovic nailed the equalizer for Utretch vs Twente. has been in good form lately and was a good decision by Ajax to send him out on loan. with the uncertainty surrounding El Ghazi future under Bosz,wont be surprised if Bosz cuts his loan spell short and bring him back in Jan. speculation on Traores future also remain under spotlight as Lyon has been reportedly monitoring his situation at Ajax and could be tempted to sign if the deal goes through with chelsea.

  2. Wilson:

    the negative responses to Blind were the results of Oranje not qualifying for the Euros, which is more on Hiddink than on Blind in my view. He was on a mission impossible, almost.

    Blind is not liked by Derksen for personal reasons. They have a history.

    Derksen is/was JC’s buddy and when Van Gaal/Blind tried to outdo JC at Ajax (velvet revolution thing) Derksen got all vengeful. He’s a bitter guy at times.

    Now, however, Derksen defends Blind weekly and says no coach can do better, with the shenanigans at KNVB and the limited quality we have.

    The negativity around Oranje has changed in the last months as the performances aren’t that shabby and we get the results (bad luck Sweden, tight defeat France, draw Belgium).

    If you purely look at results, Blind is/was the second worst team manager (up until 2 weeks ago). But that is just a snapshot of the moment. In 1 year that stat will have changed.

    As for Spurs: I think Son is more influential than Kane. Janssen would have scored that tap in too, and the penalty as well. I don’t think Kane changed the game.

    When Son got into the team, they got more penetration and speed up front, which is what both Janssen and Kane lack.

    I am not saying Janssen is awesome. He’s not. But he is simply not a quick runner, that is not his forte.

    His left foot is good though, and Winks’ goal was the result of Janssen’s shot on target. I count that as an assist.

    1. Jan did you really expected them to be ” shabby” vs Luxembourg and Belarus. What my concern about the team is the players that can enhance the productiveness of the team which under blind is zero. His approach is the same as under Van gaal who was building the team around three key players before WC 2014 until it all got foiled after Strootman injury.don’t think Danny will be able to pull out what Van Gaal did in 2014 though. If the productiveness is there and even if they loss you always have that sense of belief that the team will go on to improve and win. Unfortunately the only sense belief with the current team to date, you apparently get is maybe or may not. This is not a rant by the way.

      Jan maybe you should write an article on the 2002 failure and what the critics had to say back then.

      1. I did not expect them to be shabby. I was merely saying that the criticism was severe when we didn’t qualify for the Euros, coz people want to kick a dog when they’re disappointed. And Hiddink was gone so people kicked Blind.

        That is what you saw in that first video.

        The same people who were interviewed now say “He has a rough job”, “he doesn’t have a lot of quality to pick from”, “his team selection is logical”.

        That was my point.

        And I do need to make the point that Van Marwijk also built the team around his Big 4.

        The 2010 defense was highly criticized before that WC and everyone said “you can’t win trophies with Ooijer, Mathijsen and Heitinga”.

        When Oranje went to the WC1978 without Cruyff and Van Hanegem, same thing.

      2. I will make a post on 2002, good idea. Just know it was a totally different situation then :-). Not lack of quality, but lack of desire and “click” between players and coach.

        And some injuries. And some bad decision making by LVG.

        1. Jan, Looking forward to your piece on 2002. Am I right in remembering that both Davids and Frank De Boer were on doping suspensions for some part of the qualifying campaign?

          My recollection is that the entire campaign was just off. Bad timing to play Portugal at home (2-0 loss) due to lots of injuries). Blew a late 2-0 lead in Portugal. At home they struggled to tie Ireland. And the final game in Ireland would have meant nothing except that RVN rescued them a couple of weeks before with 2 late goals against one of the Baltic countries. as you say, just weren’t clicking.

          What I’m most curious about is the relationship LVG had with the team. A number of the players had been with LVG as kids when Ajax won the CL. But I got the impression that they related to him differently in their later years. I saw an interview with a player (Overmars, I think) before the final Ireland game where I got the impression that LVG was overloading them with information, just giving them too much to process and still play freely.

          1. Yes, you are mostly correct. I do have some “alternative” views but will tackle this in a future post. Not the next one though….

  3. Another interesting development with the transfer window approaching is that of Hans Hateboer who has confirmed he will not renew his contract at Groningen.it Its not clear at this moment where he might go or wants to go or simply its a wage issue but given how things turned out for him in the U 21s,for sure he would by now realized there is no future if he continues at Groningen and also now that he is ineligible for jong ,he needs to step up to compete for a spot in NT. Good decsion, good talent,need to find a good club as what van dijk did and move up gradually.

    1. The Sun accurate? I find it hard to believe.

      Rooney, Mata and Ibrahimovic both faster than Herrera and Depay?

      I’d like to see an official analytics page from United before I put too much stock in that graphic

    2. Yeah i dont trust the Sun at all, especially considering that Fosu-Mensah is one of the fastest in the Man U squad and he ranks bottom in that false statistic!

      1. How to lie with statistics. If Usain Bolt would have played 2 mins in the team with a low average speed due to circumstances in those two minutes, he would be on the bottom of the list. Silly.

  4. As per reviews Kaj Sierhuis is really turnng heads for Ajax U19s. Sam lammers also has being turning heads at PSV as he has already made his debut for PSV.with the other young talents in the pipeline you can really feel the vibe of another golden generation on the brink of horizon.

  5. Liverpool is on the hunt for Van Dijk. Could really bolster the squad if the move happens. They would really will become contenders for EPL if Southampton agrees to sell him.

    1. It’s really worth if Liv or MU have Van Dijk in their squad, he’s one of the best defender in the world i think, the way that he’s developing & control the game are impressive.

      Price tag is around 40 europe mils, quite high for a Ducth defender, but he deserve this.

      I think he’s now over John Stone, Otamendi of MC, Matip of Liver, all of defenders of MU & Chelsea for sure, and still potential to be better & better. Another important thing is he adapt very good to big league such as PM & able to play for any big club as his confidence & technical/physical.

      He’s same level with Bonuci, Varane, Godin, Hummel, Pepe

        1. “Also above de Vrij at the moment.” sure thing, he has developed too much while de Vrij has showed he’s talent few years ago, but now de Vrij still struggling with injury & try to recover his best. If de Vrij ‘s fit he’s still very good defender but potential he cannot improve more like van Dijk

  6. Seems Bosz want to punish some players who don’t want to work under his control such as Ghazi, Bazoer, Tete, Riedewald. These players have bright future for Oranges. It’s not good if they will be stop developing, should leave Ajax to find more time to play regularly. Especially Riedewald, his style of playing very potential to be top defender if the coach know how to motivate him.

    1. Tete made an interesting comment. Something to the effect of…”I’m not excited about my current situation, but I realize I’m doing something thousands can only dream of. So, I’ll continue to work hard”

      That to me is the right attitude. Sure, he’s not playing regularly, but he had an opportunity against Panathanikos, and he took it. Well done. He will get his chance, I’m sure of it.

      El Ghazi is playing with the juniors, and seems to be working hard. (Lets be honest, he’s not impressed since starting last season with 8? goals)

      Jan touched on this in one of his comments I believe. Some of these guys have ‘support’ around them telling them how great they are, the coach should be playing you…
      If they can’t force their way into the starting lineup of Ajax, (with all due respect) how is the dream move to Barca (Bazoer…) going to work out? Are these guys deluded into thinking that they will waltz into the starting lineup one of these huge clubs.

      Now, I wish Riedewald would start instead of Viergeiver. But, seems like #6 will be his position. Schone is in his way. Gudeijl is thankfully on his way out, so if he continues to earn his way, he will make it. Same with Bazoer. Put your head down, work your ass off, and establish yourself.

      Bosz is the boss. If you don’t play by his rules, there has to be some sort of consequence. At least, in the real world thats how things work.

      1. Ajax will face high flying Heerenveen this weekend.should be an interesting fixture for both teams as they will wanna close the gap on feyenoord at the top of table.

      2. The problem is partly the players, partly their management. Bazoer is under management with a really difficult guy who will have several offers in his bag for the lad. Not necessarily good for Bazoer, but good for the agent.

        They think the world of themselves and when a coach comes in and benches them – with reason – they immediately throw their backs in the wind. Bad mentality.

        Ajax cannot let players try to strong arm them. Matter of principle. Players like Van Basten had to sit on the bench at times (under JC!!) and toughen it up and fight back.

        It’s how it works.

        I’m sad to see these talents not being used, but they need to show some humility.

  7. Next post is one of the best ones (in my view) of recent times.

    It is – finally – Wim Jansen giving his views on what the KNVB should do to get Dutch football back where it belongs.

    No word of it is mine, it’s all Wim.

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