Face to Face with Klaas Jan Huntelaar

blog
by Jan

In making all our squads and line ups for Oranje, I found that quite some people think Klaasjan Huntelaar is done for? He is not good enough? He only scores easy goals? He has no skills?

I think his track record says enough :-). Huntelaar is without doubt one of the best strikers in the world. With his left foot, right foot, with his head, etc. He does not have the pure skill of RVP or the speed of Lionel Messi but there are hardly any better real in-the-box killers than KJ the Hunter.

And he was a nuisance at the Euros? I’m sure he was. But was that his fault? I believe BVM mismanaged this situation. Huntelaar is known to be a modest chap. He is no Sneijder or Bogarde. He is a plain and simple Dutch lad. Who was promised a real chance before the Euros. And didn’t get one. When RVP missed all these chances against Denmark, obviously he was not able to respond.

The man is injured now. But he will most definitely return and I hope in the Dutch squad. A mix and match article here with info from VI, from World Soccer and other sources…

klaas jh mine

Whenever Schalke lost, their coach would send them in the mines the next day 

 

Last season there was a lot of speculation that you would leave Schalke, but in the end you signed a contract extension until 2015. What brought you to that position?

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar: I have never played in England and that was on my mind, so I asked myself if I wanted to move to the Premier League or to carry on in the Bundesliga. I talked to Schalke first and then I tried to understand what I wanted to do. I went deep inside my own mind and tried my best to listen to my heart. After a lot of soul-searching I told my agent to talk to Schalke with the instruction that I was ready to stay.

Apart from spells in Spain and Italy, you’ve played for clubs close to your home in Angerlo, Holland. How important is it that Gelsenkirchen is only 100km away and that your father can drive you to training?

It did play a role in my decision to join the club, as I enjoy living in Holland. I normally go abroad on holiday or to play a match with my club, but not to live. It was strange to live in Spain and Italy, to adapt to a new culture and learn a new language, but I am happy I did it and I do not regret it. Now I have a new two-year contract at Schalke and I am enjoying it. I can understand and speak German quite well, and this makes my life a lot easier.

On the pitch, is it realistic to think Schalke can break the supremacy
of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the next few years?

Yes, I think we can. We are a good team, but not good enough yet to better Bayern or Dortmund over the course of a season. I think we’re on the right path though, so we should keep doing what we’re doing and maybe buy a couple of quality players to bring us closer next year.

The Bundesliga is the rising force of European football isn’t it…

The Bundesliga is, for me, the best league in Europe at present. The Premier League is very good, but if you look at German clubs, they are all economically solid and healthy. It’s very well organised. Each team can beat everyone else, which isn’t like Spain, where Real Madrid and Barcelona are in a league of their own. The Bundesliga is more balanced and better in terms of quality.

You joined Schalke from Milan. How did you find life at the San Siro?

I loved the Italian way of life. In fact, everything was great in Milan apart from the football we played, which was a bit too defensive for me. This is the way Italians play and, as a result, unfortunately I did not play many times as a proper striker. I was often used instead on the right wing, which didn’t suit me. My time with Leonardo as coach was quite difficult.

kjh ronald

Ronaldinho really admired KJH’s teeth

 

And before that you were in the Spanish capital with Real Madrid. What was it like there?

It was great, but also strange at the same time. I had spent all my life in Holland, then all of a sudden I was playing abroad, with different people and a new language. It felt like I was on holiday, despite working hard and playing my football. It was very unusual for me and I had the feeling I didn’t belong there, not in that country.

I had to absorb a lot of new things, to assimilate a new culture, to learn new ways to communicate. It was nice, but it was not easy. Cristiano Ronaldo was there, and Real Madrid wanted to buy Karim Benzema and Kaka, so I knew I would play less. Raul was also there, and so were Gonzalo Higuain, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Javier Saviola and myself. We almost had a special bus only for us strikers!

Any regrets about those short spells with the two European heavyweights?

No, I don’t regret anything. I had a very nice time, and personally they were two important experiences which helped me develop as a person. I learned that things in football don’t always go the way you expect them to.

As an Ajax fan, was it hard joining PSV youth academy in your early career?

Obviously PSV was not my favourite team, but at that time it was the right place for me to improve as a player, to learn new things and to develop my game. It was a bit strange for me, and I was hoping for Ajax to call me as that would have made things easier, but to move to PSV was the right thing to do at that stage.

KJH Real

After scoring 17 goals before January for Heerenveen in 2006, the call you had been waiting for from Ajax finally came. How did it feel when they asked you to join them? 

I felt a surge of energy, but also pressure  because you badly want everything to work out well. It is like a dream, and you don’t want that dream to end in a negative way. Thankfully it all turned out very well for me at Ajax.

How proud were you to wear the historic Ajax number nine shirt? 

It is true that many great players have worn that number nine, but for me it was not about the number. What counted most was wearing the Ajax shirt. I had always been an Ajax fan, I had always looked out for them on TV, my whole family were Ajax fans too. It was just great to play for them.

And under Marco Van Basten too…

Yes, back then Marco Van Basten was a very young coach so he spent most of his time with the whole group. Unfortunately, us strikers rarely had the opportunity to work alone with him. What he really taught me was how to be critical towards myself and the need to do everything properly in order to achieve my goals. Without that attitude it’s impossible to succeed.

Were these your happiest days?

At that point, yes, for sure, but I have loved every single step of my career and every club I have played for. I always tried to do my very best to develop and make the next step. I’ve tried to approach all experiences with that same attitude. However, back to the question: I must admit representing Ajax was something very special for me.

Huntelaar’s position in Oranje was never really firm. He did play a number of games as a striker and scored a good number of goals, but it always seems as if he just wasn’t seen as good enough. This curse has been around Oranje since one Johan Cruyff was the central striker and everyone wearing the orange number 9 seems to be compared to JC or Marco van Basten. Even Ruud van Nistelrooy had criticasters talking about his lack of technical skills!! Players like Kees Kist, Peter Houtman, John Bosman, Hans Gillhaus, Roy Makaay, Wim Kieft, Floyd Hasselbaink… They all suffered from this….

Hunter missed the Asian trip this last summer. The 30 year old was allowed a break. “The coach told me he wanted to try out some other lads and would most likely not need me. I was a little annoyed at first, but realised I could actually use the break. So I saw it as a holiday gift. It’s been a while since I had a good summer break, so it was actually great.”

Huntelaar doesn’t seem to have a grudge, being Oranje’s substitute striker behind Van Persie. “Playing in Oranje is always a bonus. It’s always fun to be together and to play football.”

Klaasjan started well, scoring a brace for Schalke vs HSV but has been sidelined with an injury. He hopes and expects to be ready when the CL starts.

Asked about his expectations with Oranje, he says: “I can’t have any expectations yet. I need to get fit, and play well. Which in my case means: score goals. I expect to be part of the squad if I do this and once I’m part of it, I will probably hear from the coach what my role will be. I know Van Gaal well enough to know he will be straight and honest about it. I think I still have a lot to offer and I hope the coach will see this too.”

KJH ArsenalHis time at Milan and Madrid was not great but at Arsenal he was really invisible….

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293 comments

  1. He did scored goals.from stati thats for sure.His link up play is pretty poor doesnt create much chances.Doesnt contribute to team play.Almost impotent against strong teams interms of scoring and creating chances as well.At any day i would prefer Seim Dejong over him coz Seim is a scorer of importnat goals in tough mathes so dutch need seim over Hunter,thats is what my point,though seim looks like a limited footballer but mark my words he is one goin to dleiver goals for when it really matters,in that case he might out do RVP.Mark my these words.

    2. To put Siem over KJH is almost unbelievable. KJH has scored in every single team he played and is quite simply “born to score goals”…how ppl on this blog disregard his achievements is beyond me.

      Whilst i am a great Siem fan, Siem shoud NEVER be mentioned in the same line as KJH, at least not when the conversation is about strikers.

  2. concerning Fifa ranking and seeding:

    Colombia losing to Chile is our best chance of getting first pot seeding for the draw.

    If we manage to win our next 2 matches (basicly our only hope) we’ll have:

    1120 ranking points

    Colombia will have (if losing to Chile and winning their other match):

    1087

    However if Croatia wins vs Belgium they will take that seeding spot away from us again with:

    1130 (assuming they win their other match as well)

    Portugal is no threat for our 1120 number (out of the race if we win our 2 matches) and the other national teams above us are too far ahead making it impossible for us to overtake them even if they lose their remaining 2 matches, except if Germany loses to Ireland and Sweden.

    So to sum it up, for a pot 1 place, we’re mostly dependent on 2 results/requirements that need to be met even if we manage to win our remaining 2 matches:

    1. Chile winning in Colombia vs Colombia
    2. Belgium winning in Croatia vs Croatia

    I think the 1st one is the hardest one or most unlikely one. But if that doesn’t happen, I think we can forget about pot 1.

  3. and of course if wiki is correct about a friendly vs Colombia somewhere before december (i’m not sure about the date of 5 nov. they have there now, since that’s a champions league night), then we can possibly decide it in that match.

    But I can find no verification of this friendly. Can someone figure it out? (It’s also listed on the wikipage of Colombia’s national team)

  5. Fantastic article, Jan.

    The statistics do not lie.
    The Hunter takes less time to score goals than anyone else.
    Van Persie may look pretty, but he takes even more time than Van Der Vaart (a midfield player!).

    WC Qualification Minutes Played Per Goal:
    RVP 72.625
    VDV 70.25
    KJH 67.5

    Stats are the same for previous campaigns too. The further back you go, the more data you add, the less the pattern changes.
    The correlation is true and telling and scientific.

    Comments that KJH cannot pass, or does not contribute, are completely ridiculous.
    Why do people expect these things from a goal poacher??
    This is merely looking for the player to be a totally different breed, and ignoring what the player is all about in the first place!
    And KJH is all about goals.
    I like goals. They win games.
    I like winning.

    It would never happen, and I hate Scum United anyway, but I would like Moyes to sell Shrek, move Van Persie to the vacant support role and buy The Hunter up top.
    I honestly believe that given time to train together at club level, those two could have been among the deadliest strike pairings ever assembled.

    If it means sacrificing the 433 – well, I have three simple words that will ring in your ears.
    Nineteen Eighty Eight.

    I like winning.

    1. Comments that KJH cannot pass, or does not contribute, are completely ridiculous.
      Why do people expect these things from a goal poacher??
      Ximco we are sseing it from Ronaldo,Messi etc and they score morethan hunter.Static striker is long gone..

      2. Haha! Tiju, you clown troll.
        You compare KJH to Siem DeJong, and when someone presents a case which cripples your argument, you move your own measuring stick and compare KJH with Ronaldo and Messi to try to prove your original point!!
        Do you see why we laugh at you??
        You change with the wind. Haha.
        Please think before you comment.

        2. there is no comparison between klass and seim.i didnt.the clown troll is u not me..i have seen hunetr all thes years.u r in dream or r u smoking and expecting him to save dutch in crunch time…..hhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaahhaahaha this is joke of the century….

          1. @Tiju

            September 16, 2013 at 2:36 pm
            ‘there is no comparison between klass and seim.i didnt.’

            Yes. You did.
            Here it is, from just a few posts previously:

            September 16, 2013 at 11:40 am
            ‘.At any day i would prefer Seim Dejong over him coz Seim is a scorer of importnat goals in tough mathes so dutch need seim over Hunter,thats is what my point,though seim looks like a limited footballer but mark my words he is one goin to dleiver goals for when it really matters’

            Clear as day.
            You compared Huntelaar with Siem DeJong.
            Then we called you on it, and you now say that you did not make this comparison.
            So we can add ‘LIAR’ to the long list of adjectives we already call you.

            You do the same thing all the time.
            When we prove you are wrong, you change your original statement or comparison and pretend that this still validates your original argument. It’s retarded. How old are you? 12?

            Here it is Huntelaar or DeJong, then the challenge, and suddenly it’s Huntelaar or Ronaldo or Messi.

            Before, you compared Kuyt with Wijnaldum or Emanuelson, and when we reminded you that Dirk is a different sort of player, you then compared him to Ronaldo or Ozil, as if we wouldn’t notice, and as if they are suddenly Dutch and available for selection!!

            You do not understand that you negate your original statements when you change your comparisons.

            September 16, 2013 at 2:34 pm
            ‘what ur father?fag’

            And you seem to get very frustrated and angry.
            This is the product of a tiny mind.
            Perhaps this whole football analysis thing isn’t for you.

    2. Yeah you want Manchester to play like Holland did against Portugal during last euro with VP behind Huntelaar.

      You like goals but unfortunetaly it didn’t bring any one of them, only VDV scored.

      Your statistics are totally useless, do you know how many times VP scored against good teams ? I went to check and in total if you consider Arsenal, MU, City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham as “big” teams, he scored 23 times between 2005 and now in PL. + CL against Barcelona, Manchester, Porto x2, Roma, Dortmund x3…That’s 31 goals against good teams.

      Huntelaar ? Inter 2006, Atletico 2009 (with Real), Benfica 2011, Arsenal 2012 (two times), Dortmund 2013. That’s all. Really all. He played 334min against Bayern with Schalke but didn’t score any shit. Why you don’t write it ? On the 186 goals he scored since he was in Heerenveen, I really don’t count more than 6 goals against good opponents. That’s crazy but true, if you can find more, I’d be happy to know.

      You can check soccerway.com, all statistics are there and you’ll see by yourself if you don’t believe, just type his name and you’ll have a table with all the games he played and scored.

      With selection VP scored against France and Germany, in competition, Huntelaar scored only in a friendly against England, that’s all. He had his chance last year during euro, like he had it with Milan two games against Manchester in CL and many other times, he just can’t do anything when the level is high, he is slow, static, always offside, doing awful controls…

      He needs too much space and chances to score his hattricks against Augsburg etc. on serious games he isn’t able to create anything and as we’ll probably have only serious games during the world cup, we won’t need that crap.

      2. Laurent.

        The new Tiju.
        We really didn’t need another one.

        The Ximico guy said ‘…GIVEN TIME TO TRAIN TOGETHER AT CLUB LEVEL…’, you thundering nugget of shit.
        And you compare it to a one off National game?

        Why are you here?
        You bring nothing.

  7. Keeping the watch on our boys:

    Buttner..still not playing and needs to leave in the Jan transfer window to have any shot at going Brazil.

    Afellay…one of my favorite, but injuries “wont leave him alone”…will get fit in the new year and go out on loan…make the plane to Brazil and do very well. At least i hope so.

    Ola John…will regain his best form soon. will make the plane to Brazil.

    Quincy Promes…will be a GREAT player and should be called up soon by LVG.

    Hakim Ziyech, Jasper Drost, Duare, Hendrix, Dendsil, V. Van Dijk, Koppers, Van Aanholt….all have great future ahead.

    Over n out.

    1. I doubt Buttner will make it to Brazil, But I have hopes for Emanueslson and VDW. if they both play good with their teams , I think there is a gret chance they will lead the defence In Brazil.
      Afellay ; well i gotta feeling Martino will give him a chance. Martino appearntly is not a big fan of Pedro , tello and Alexis are really not that great , If ibi can regain his full firm he can get good minutes as a winger there. If he goas on loan to a good team , it will be also good. I hope he makes it into squad. With out-of-sneijder , Afellay can be an option.
      Ola John , well I’m not his biggest fan but let’s wait and see.
      Promes is a great player in the making ,
      Van dijk can also be an option if he does well in CL with Celtic.

  8. It doesn’t make any sense to bench Hunter because RvP is more versatile.. I’ve said that before and I say it again….

    Any player who is performing exceptionally well in his position at club level deserves a spot with Oranje..

    Imagine someone telling you they need to bench Arjen Robben because there is another winger who can play with either foot. The argument that RvP and Klaasjan can’t play together is bunch of bull..

    RvP can play in a classical 10 role and Klaasjan in #9. If Sneijder is back fit he can drift left.

    Robben — RvP — Sneijder
    ——- KJH ———

    2. It’s well known that Sneijder tends to drift toward the center. He’s not a genuine wide player. With this formation you’ll have Wes crowding both KJ and RvP. Then with Robben on the right cutting in to do his thing. This is a disaster waiting to happen. The attack will be unbalanced, too easy to defend and exposes the flanks on counter attacks. Please no more of the all-star fantasy lineups. They don’t work.

  9. @SamNY, In total agreement. With regard to Sneijder drifting out to the left, think back to where RDB played on the ’98 team. (Nominally the right side of MF, but really he went where he wanted to, and was a key link between the Jonk and Davids, and the forwards.)

    Enjoyed the Twente-PSV match. Impressed with Hendrix, Promes. Bright futures.

  10. Essien is not in the CL squad and Ramires is suspended for the upcoming CL game against Basel. That means only 3 players for the game. Hope van Ginkel can sneak into the squad second half. Mikel and Lampard are not seen as an ideal duo, but they will start probably anyway.

  12. Keeping the watch on our boys:

    Tiendalli…back at Swansea and on the bench as we speak.

    De Guzman…on the bench against Liverpool

    Ryan Babel and Ryan Donk…both doing well in Turkey

    Emanuelson…im hoping he keeps that leftback spot..we need an additional leftback in Oranje.

    Wijnaldum, Maher, Depay, Ebicilio all doing well

  15. Financial arguments in Oranje. Van Gaal wants players to put 50% of the individual sponsor earnings in Oranje to go into a collective tray. For the group to share. Strootman, Kuyt and Sneijder oppose and claim it should remain 20% collective, 80% individual, as it is the individual performances which trigger the sponsor activities. More later.

      1. Yeah, it’s tough to make idealism work in someone else’s pockets, he knows that.

        Big statement by LVG about team over individual. Team first is simply an organizing principle, and he’s showing he intends to take it as far as he can.

        How does this one play out?

  16. I agree with the “play the best team” argument and not “play the best individuals. Eleven Robbens won’t win you much. (although….they might actually…..)

    In my book, the KJH and RVP combo has not been tested properly. Not by BVM and not by RVP. To claim on the basis of one shitty game against Portugal that it doesn’t work is bullshit of course.

    JC said: good players can ALWAYS play together ( Cruyff-Van Hanegem, Gullit-Van Basten, Messi-Neymar, Bergkamp-Van Basten etc)

    I don’t believe in “systems”. 4-3-3 becomes 3-4-3 or 4-2-4 in the course of the game.

    For me:

    Stekel

    Defence

    Strootman/Fer N. De Jong/??? Sneijder/Vaart Robben/??

    RVP

    Hunter

    1. “good players can ALWAYS play together”

      But Huntelaar can’t play football. Even Van Persie doesn’t wanna play with him. Don’t you remember what happened in Real with Robben, Huntelaar and Van der Vaart when they ignored him on the bench ? He doesn’t really have friends in NT. Maybe it’s a problem from him, no ?

      I don’t know why you wanna put a system that only some stubborn fans want.

      Now you just put this topic about Huntelaar and everyone is putting him in first 11 while it wasn’t the case last week lol, strange fans.

  17. Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Lodewijk Asscher has proposed a law where all employee’s in the Netherlands will become permanently employed after 2 years being with the employer. As of now it concerns everybody, no exceptions, meaning also football players, which could be catastrophic for Eredivisie clubs.

    Example: Let’s say Strootman was at PSV for 2 years. However instead of Roma paying 20 million (Bonus included) to PSV as they did, they now could tell Strootman to terminate his contract, so he can walk away after a month …. for free. This law overrules the power of the temporary contracts where the transfer world is build on and how clubs are able to make money on increased player value. 4 or 5 year contracts lose their meaning.

    Now it could be that an exception is still made, but looking at the Kunduz agreement that costed Dutch clubs buckets of money (Ajax alone 4 million), I can’t say I have that much trust in the Dutch government being so thoughtful concerning football clubs.

    I hope an exception is made for the professional football world as otherwise Eredivisie will get a blow that is even harder than the one they got after Bosman.

    1. Does this have something to do with the prominence of employment agencies in NL? If so it will be easily circumvented. Firms will just drop such employees just before year two. Hopefully someone will point out to this bureaucrat the law of unintended consequences.

  18. Ed from football-rankings.info, made the follwoing post:

    ………………………………………………………….
    The formula used in 2006 was:
    ranking WC98 + ranking WC02*2)/3 + (ranking dec03 + ranking dec04 + ranking nov05)/3

    I made the following substitutions:
    WC98 => WC06
    WC02 => WC10
    dec03 => dec11
    dec04 => dec12
    nov05 => the predicted ranking nov13

    Top 8:
    1 Germany 60.0
    2 Spain 59.7
    3 Netherlands 55.3
    4 Argentina 53.7
    5 Brazil 49.0
    6 Portugal 47.3
    7 England 47.0
    8 Italy 42.3 (ex aequo with Uruguay)
    …………………………………………………………..

    With Colombia and Belgium in the top 8 some people start to think that the seeding will not be solely determined by the FIFA ranking. So people look at previously used formula’s to see who would end up in the top 8. This one is pretty good for the Netherlands.

    1. That’s a frighteningly bad methodology. 8 year old wc results should not count. My hunch is that old results are used to keep traditional powers at the top. This is more a ranking of insider political power.

    2. The 2006 formula is more convincing. It can give people a clear picture for a qualified team’s performance in previous years and previous World Cups. The main reason FIFA did not use that formula for WC2010 is to prevent Les Bleus in POT 1. Why? Remember the hand-ball in play-off between Ireland and France?

      Of course FIFA has the final say in seeding matter.

  20. De Guzman didn’t start for Swans today, but came on in the 2nd half. He played pretty well and is definitely coming back into form. It’s worth comparing the performance of Shelvey, with whom he may compete in terms of field time. Shelvey got a goal and assist, but made two bone-headed mistakes that cost both goals. He also compounded his error by failing to recover on the second error. I really can’t tell if this game helps him or hurts him since it went from the sublime to the ridiculous, but De Guzman was simply so much more assured and reliable out there. He also took a fine free kick that was well saved by the Liverpool goalie and had another mid-distance shot whiz by the corner. All in all a good day for him.
    Vorm had a few good saves too – blameless for either goal.

    1. I watch the game live as well and it was clear that Swansea were heading for a big defeat in the first half even though they scored first. Their midfield was non-existent and did not create many chances at all over 45mins.
      Then comes the second half with DeGuzman playing next to Shelvey, it took me a while to work out what his position actually was because he was everywhere and involved in 90% of the play across the park. He also tracked back and defended when required which was great to see. I would guess that he had over 90% accurate pass rate and created atleast 3 goal scoring opportunities for the Swans. I must say that Liverpool were hurt by losing their #10 (cant think of name but young and very lively)Contreo?, Contrato?, Consomething?. Anyway he was a big loss for Liverpool.
      DeGuzman will only get better under Laudrup, as they are playing a nice style of possession football, Van Gaal will have to keep his eye on him for NT.

      1. The Liverpool player was Coutinho, I think. It did make quite a difference when he went off. Even so, Swans really dominated the second half, and you’re right that DeGuzman takes a lot of credit.

    1. We were Pot 2 at the Euro’s. The big problem with the Euro is there are only 4 groups. With two hosts, ther was always going to be some very difficult groups.

  23. With oranje there are always intangible thinks that had ruined our chances at WC and EC. If is not the egos, then is the chemistry at the lockers, and if not that, then is the coach loosing control over the team or the poor vision of KNVB in several regards, like choosing the wrong locations to train and the wrong coach, (WC 1990) or the group of death or the damn penalty kicks and last but not least the reff. Now we are adding different approaches regarding distributing the money into the team which adds more stress.

    IMO since 1970 and except BRASIL 1970 and FRANCE 1998 the teams that had win the WC were not the best;
    Brasil and France ruled in WC 1982 and WC 1986 and what they got ?

    In WC 1974 we were the better team
    In WC 1978 same
    In EK 1988 we finally made it and then in WC 1990 with the same team we made the ridicule.
    EK 1992 again best team equal to Denmark
    WC 1998 very good team, damn penalties
    EK 2000 same, (we beat France)
    And in Wc 2010 not being better nor worse than Spain, the reff gave that red card to Heitinga and Iniesta play the ball while we were still in recovering from arguing with Web. No comments

    My take at the current situation of Oranje is that we don’t have to be the best team in the world right now, (we were in that status before WC 1990 and before EK 2012, and nothing good came from this). We will improve or decrease base on cohesion as a team which we don’t have yet and that is why i think we should asamble a consistent team base on regular formidable players to start gelling toghether. IMO we should play 4-4-2 except when playing very open teams, then we can add another striker.
    My team looks like this:

    stek/krull

    janmaat/vdw bruma/de vrij reikik/bmi bmi/urby

    v ginkel de jong wesly/vdv stroot

    robben rvp

    1. France the best team of 1998? Are you for real? That ugly team of defending bastards (plus Zidane) the best team, yeah right.

      Oh yes, now I remember, they beat South Africa in the first round. And, wait, didn’t they tie 0-0 with Italy? Oh, but for sure they won the final 3-0, so that makes them the best team. Right. With two headers from set pieces and a third one with an offside.

  24. It will be interesting to see if WS10 can up his game vs his old club Real Madrid tomorrow. These are the types of games where he could prove to van Gaal he is ready.

  25. @Jones FYI we can compare striker to striker,winger to winger.So we can comapre
    Ronaldo Vs kuyt
    ronaldo Vs Hunter.thats how things work but we cannot compare stam with kuyt.did u get that little mind?.I dont bel8ive hunter would do miracle for NT.he will make the game more boring.but am sure RVP will give you goals when he gets unslefish ,ruuinng,and brilliant players arround him.unfortunalty he is not getting it from NT.so untill then i dont expect him to do miracle.But still he can save u like he did aginst ivory coast and Andora.finding goal from vaccum.

  26. Strootman is impressing again with AS Roma

    Italian websites ratings :

    Roma Gialorossa :

    De Sanctis 6

    Maicon 6
    Benatia 7
    Castan 5.5
    Balzaretti 5.5

    Pjanic 6.5
    De Rossi 6.5
    Strootman 7.5

    Florenzi 7
    Totti 7
    Ljajic 5.5

    Borriello 6.5
    Gervinho 6

    Roma News :

    DE SANCTIS 6

    MAICON 6,5
    BENATIA 6,5
    CASTAN 6
    BALZARETTI 5

    DE ROSSI 6,5
    STROOTMAN 7,5
    PJANIC 6

    LJAJIC 5
    FLORENZI 7
    TOTTI 7

    BORRIELLO 6
    GERVINHO 6

    Forza Roma :

    DE SANCTIS 6

    MAICON 6
    BENATIA 6,5
    CASTAN 5
    BALZARETTI 4,5

    STROOTMAN 7
    DE ROSSI6
    PJANIC 7

    FLORENZI 6,5
    TOTTI 7
    LJAJIC 5

    Borriello 6,5
    Gervinho 6

  28. It may not be a bad idea at all to bring seedorf into the national squad again, he is meeting lvgs criteria better than most other players as he is: fit, in form and playing regularly. Seedorf could bring some form of solid leadership and his spirit as a champion. The way I see him is in the Same light as totti where he is so skilled he just plays for jokes. Seedorf apparently still has a good level of fitness which is impressive.
    Seeing as he has failed for the nt in the past he could offer something different in terms of setting a standard for the other floundering players.

    The only players that are going in the right direction for wc 2014 are probably only rvp robben rekik and most impressively strootman

    1. I read about this too — but I would rather have our youngsters feel confident than over-whelmed. Like when Ajax played at Real Madrid a couple of years back, under Jol, where it looked like they were just frightened. Let’s go Ajax!

  34. I don’t think they would get rid of the white jersey as it was promoted a World Cup 2014 jersey. I wonder if this is an alternate jersey? So we would have an orange, white, and a blue jersey? Some teams have 3, 3rd being an alternate jersey

  35. MVG will probably be a starter tomorrow . I hope he makes the best out this chance .
    I also hope he doesn’t play as a DM aside with Lampard in the Midfield.
    since both of Mikel and esssien won’t play , I hope he plays aside with David Luiz as a DM.

    on the other hand , FC Kobenhavn vs Juventus is 1-0 , can Ajax surprise us tomorrow ?

    1. goal’s rating :
      Gregory van der Wiel

      Questionable defensively, he did not inspire confidence when up against the likes of Fuster and Weiss. As has often been the case since his move from the Eredivisie he looked decent going forward but that is not enough at this level.

  42. Wesley Sneijder Flop of the Match
    Had a decent opening 20 minutes in which he was able to pick up the ball in his favourite area in between the defence and midfield. However, drifted out of the game terribly and eventually became anonymous.

    Arjen Robben
    An impressive outing from the winger. Whenever he got the ball he looked to race at goal, or he came inside in an attempt to pull the CSKA defence out of position. His clever free kick was headed home by Mandzukic before he rounded off the scoring with a great finish.

    Ola John
    Came on with 20 minutes remaining and was lively enough out wide during his short time on the pitch.

    Lars Jacobsen
    Often struggled to keep tight to Peluso but did help to hold a well-organised defensive line which caught Tevez and Quagliarella offside several times.

    Thomas Delaney
    Tracked back time and time again to help out his defence and was responsible for marking Tevez when the Argentine dropped deep, which he did to good effect.

    Nicolai Jörgensen
    Was rewarded for his persistence with a goal in the first half when he showed good predatory instinct to poke home Bengtsson’s cross from close range.

    Gregory van der Wiel
    Questionable defensively, he did not inspire confidence when up against the likes of Fuster and Weiss. As has often been the case since his move from the Eredivisie he looked decent going forward but that is not enough at this level.

    Robin van Persie
    A mixture of the very good and the occasionally awful from the Dutchman. Scored acrobatically and linked up well with Rooney but missed an open goal late on.

    1. Would it be possible for you to put up the nationality after the players’ name? It is much easier for me to skip the unnecessary parts without Google their name. Thanks.

        1. I think you’ve come to the wrong place if you think that people should consider Danish players to be “our players”. This is the DUTCH soccer site for fans of the DUTCH national team, not the Danish soccer site.

          1. what i meant is that if he needs to wikipedia which players are of dutch nationality…then there is a problem

      1. actually it’s exaggerated. he was bad,but for ex. felipe melo was far worse, he was the flop of the game. anyway,the whole galataseray team did a very poor performance in the second half. in the first half sneijder was ok (not more),but after 0-2 the whole team became completely invisible,not only sneijder. in the first half they had more chances than madrid.

        1. I am not sure who the fullback was who fell to the ground and gifted Isco the 1st Real Madrid goal, but he should be top of the list for flop o’ the match. A flop for a flop. It was disastrous defending and with a 6-1 result there is lots of blame to go around. Sneijder is just the biggest name so takes the heat.

        3. i hate Madrid but one thing u need to agree that Mdrid has bought some quality players in their team only few teams can match that quality likeBayern,Barca,dortund ,juve etc.
          what Gala had some urkish players with yilmaz and (Old drogba and old Wesly)i expected a 4-1 but it higher tahn may expecation.i hope ajax get a draw Vs barca,thats the best they can hope for.

  43. Strootman is doing well at Roma. However at NT he has not step up to take control of the midfield. Perhaps the shadow of VDV or Sneijder is too big. The 2 game changers RVP and Robben are also doing well today. We lack a leadership in the back. If none of the defenders step up, perhaps we need a goalkeeper who can do this, someone who is a bit vocal and speaks up. I hope Stek can do well and seems to be the best one for this. Gala is not doing well and it is bad for Sneijder. VDW has not been consistent, just like the rest of the young players (PSV, Feyenoord, Ajax). Let’s hope Ajax doing well tomorrow, stick it to Barca. Funny how Cruyff backing up Ajax over Barca this time as he has personal issue with Rosell, Barca’s president.

  44. Ajax Amsterdam’s players should perhaps be forced to hand over their mobile phones before Wednesday’s Champions League tie at Barcelona so they do not act like overawed schoolboys, according to defender Niklas Moisander.

    “I thought it a bit awkward last year that before a match against Real Madrid the players were taking pictures and video clips of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium,” the Finnish international told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

    “You can’t do that. Of course we should be allowed to enjoy the atmosphere but you must not stand there like schoolkids. We must be business-like when we get to Barcelona, do our work properly and try to achieve something,” added the 27-year-old.

    “We must not show too much respect or play cautiously. If we are scared then we will definitely lose.”

    Ajax lost 4-1 at Real in December in the group phase of last year’s competition.

    Wednesday’s match in Barcelona is their first match in Group H of the 2013-14 edition.

      1. Just as I expected , He will play as a DM.
        Chelsea starting line-up :
        Cech , Ivanovic , Luiz , Cahil , Cole , MVG , Lampard, Hazard , Willian , Oscar , Eto’o

        Fuck Mourinho .

        1. yeah we dont want him there, but at least he is playing lets see if he learns a thing or two from lampard!! Also I hope he played the full 90 minutes because he is a beast!!

  47. oh no why such a defensive team!! poulsen in there instead of schone and boilesen instead of being at LB with Blind on the bench is move to LW with amazin Fischer on the bench sigh

  49. recieved my De Jong # 10 away Jersey today and all hyped for the game…as Siem will be leading out ajax in that exact tshirt!! weakest ajax squad for quite some time but hyped!!

  54. ha aha this is how u can kill the career of young player..he wants to make Vanginkel as Dejong ha aha ah cannt stop laughing
    i remmber John obi mikel in 2005u21WC,how attack mined he was and how got changed under Jose.I like some charatcer of Jose ,,,but this really t sucks and his plastic club doenst win anything.
    Barca divers Messi got a small touch and he exaggerated it and dived got freekick and scored.F@@##k off Messi Diver,Ineasta diver(not today)Diver neymer most of the latin american players are divers and spanish too.

    1. no one dived, only in your dream. don’t bash the players of the other team,rather try to explain why ajax were unable to score from the penalty spot?

      in the first half ajax had opportunities,they didn’t score and in the second they were punished. the problem is that dutch teams are getting worse year by year. if ajax want good results they should keep their best players and not selling them 2-3 days before the end of the transfer season.

      1. Messi was clearly exaggerted the the touch and he dived.i watched first 45 minutes evrysecond.poor actor messi fall down after he undretsood that he got a touch in leg then he dived,watch rpley my buddy.i know u r diehard fan of barca.they are world class players they dive more often than others.they Dive cheaters.i used to like barca but i cannt tolerate divers.

        1. i am not your buddy,and you’re in a permanent delirium tremens. no one cares about who you tolerate or not,but your boring and nonsensical remarks ruin this blog. you always talk about jesus and here,on the blog no one hates more other people than you. when you write about player who you dislike (kuyt,affelay,recently wesley sneijder,usually iniesta,now messi,etc.) you mention them like people you would like to exterminate (probably in the name of jesus christ). you really hate them like a 8-year-old child who was disturbed on his playground. it’s a pity that the ignore button doesn’t function here because i would read with more pleasure the comments without your “passionate” and endless remarks,your 5 different line ups per day,etc.

          1. i am really sorry for hurting u.i mean (By saying nonsence abt barca).i dont hate Afellay ,kuyt or Wesly.i just dont like them in orange when they dont perform well.but i hate divers.Since u r decleared u r not my buddy so i have nothing else to say,but still..Plz dont drag Jesus in to this matter.Jesus doesnt reqiure any of my good works to help me.HE helps me not coz of my actions.HE didnt tell me to hate any one and HE already told me to look upon HIM and give up the small things in the world.,.to implement this i terribly failed.I just said JESUS wil bring WC to dutch nation if and only if they go to HIM,otherwise dutch must be stronger according to world standard,infact they are not.thats it,Obey or disobey thats up to them.if the obey they will get the reward.so leave Jesus.
            But I really hate devil,cheating is character of Devil,so i hate it.I agreed that i have ruined this blog by my bad english.i have not much abt say abt football so i say few things and which i say repeatedly.But i am sure am right abt what i say.i have seen my predictions gets right than anyone in this blog.
            but its u that showed me that who ever tells against Barca must be exterminated from the world.i mean showing child like hatred towards Barca dislikers.most of this blog mates are fantasy chasers including me and you.lets have fun.you are earning food for you,and am sure Messi is not giving you food, so take it like that we are in this world 60/70 years .why to say such kind of things to me?What did i do to you personally?.and u r fighting me for Barca?..thats pretty illogical isnt it?.Barca is not the end of the world neither football is.So why fight with me?so chill mate,chill..i understand ur feelings for barca but what i felt i said.thats it.it was not meant ot hurt any one.Sure i can fight with Boss,jones and other trolls.i know u as a person(not much though),(might be accuitance).do no not think that i got hurt by ur words,am not hurt,coz i know who i am,wher i came from and where i will go.

          2. You can’t argue with stupid, Ferenc.

            Even when it is carefully explained to Tiju why he is wrong, he will see it ONLY as an insult and STILL actually believe that he is correct.

            It is the evidence, nay, the hallmark, of a simple brain. It must be so frustrating for him.

            As for that Jesus crap. hahaha!
            If anyone ever suspected Tiju of being mentally slow, then the Jesus-preaching PROVES it.
            It’s amazing that in a world of scientific understanding and educational opportunity, there are still people too stupid to even think for themselves.

            The sad fact is that these vapid morons are always the ones who shout loudest and longest – so we must continue to put up with this never ending assault on this site.
            He will keep posting his hilarious line-ups, and he will keep insulting the players and supporters, he will keep preaching about his imaginary sky fairy, and he will keep getting his ass kicked. He will do this because he is simply INCAPABLE of acting and communicating like everyone else here.

            I don’t know why he is here.
            He only replies to other people. No-one replies to him.
            This says everything.

  57. 4-0
    Ajax missed a PK ..
    KNVB must do something . we don’t really need a strong league like EPL . we only need three-four teams that can compete in Europe. Just like Spain and Germany.

    1. Mohamed, what can KNVB do when players can’t even score a penalty?!?! I would rather ask the coach to do something about it. And there is no reason for high expectations here, Ajax played Barca which is the best club on earth and lost. This is the state of football today. 12 years ago it was Ajax who was kicking ass around Europe, today it is Ajax’s turn to get their ass whupped.

      1. I didn’t expect Ajax to win, Balkan. However, they should have made a better result.
        Chelsea lost to FC Basel , a Swiss team , not to forget that the game was played in Stamford bridge .
        Why Ajax can’t do the same ?

        Regarding KNVB ,
        what about PSV vs Milan ?
        Utrecht against a team from Luxemburg ?
        Feyenoord against Kuban ?

        Indeed , There is something wrong with the dutch teams and the dutch league , Something that must be fixed.

        1. To my opinion this is a money matter. Football has turned into business and obviously Holland does not have the buying power of Spain, England, Germany, Italy, France. It is a reflection of today’s global economy. Kids want to get rich fast even if it means carrying towels like MVG and plenty of others. I’d rather see Ajax lose by 4 goals and be 90% Dutch than see a 90% foreign Ajax who still loses but by a narrower margin. Hopefully young promising kids and their managers will see what happens when you run for money at 20 years old and your career disappears in smoke and all you got left is a few dollars and no satisfaction.

          1. Good points about the financial aspects. Ridiculous and unfair at the same time.

            Don’t see how this will turn around for the countries with middle buying power … Have no faith in UEFA and Platini. Don’t want to say the word “wh***s but ….

          2. He gave you the example of Basel, Celtic resisted to Milan better than PSV, Utrecht lost to Luxemburg, BATE won to Bayern last year etc etc

            It’s not only a question of money, don’t forget that Barcelona doesn’t always win 4-0 home in CL, they struggled many times, lost against Rubin Kazan etc. Real is really strong and hard in CL, not Barca in group stages.

            It’s a pure question of football tactics, when you see the second goal it’s just absolutly ridiculous, Ajax and Vermeer want to build up from the first pass but they don’t have quality enough for that. Many times there were risky situations they could take more goals, and the worst is that they ALWAYS do it, remember the game Utrecht 6-4 Ajax two years ago, it was only because of some Vermeer and defenders bullshit wrong passes.

            Dutch clubs are composed with young players who are unable to defend and to respect a tactic, + they wanna play and go forward…That’s why it’s so easy for big teams to play against.

            Many teams from east europa which have 30% of the total money of Ajax would be able to get a better result in the Camp nou (at least a short loss).

  58. Is this the ultimate destiny and denouement of Cruyff’s revolution at Ajax? Is this what Dutch football fans deserve?? I have a question for all the Ajax fans over here….
    What exactly is their long term plan??

    To compete in Europe or win the Eredivisie 10 times in a row??? I’m afraid they are making no efforts,whatsoever, to retain their best talents. They’ll get schooled by Milan as well..same old story..year after year..RM,Barca, Milan..just the names of the adversaries keep on changing while the results remain the same.. (4-0, 4-1 etc etc).
    What’s the goal of competing in Europe then???
    The KNVB needs to wake up and smell the coffee before its too late..and yes, one more thing… Poulsen should never ever wear that Ajax jersey again..

    1. Abhirup,

      Ajax will never be able to compete with Barca and the other super clubs anymore. That realization is very important as that mindset triggered Ajax going into spending behavior that made them walk on their toes. The money they had on the bank vaporized and they were unable to give backbone players a contract extension. They had to sell players. They now worked their way to a situation they don’t have to anymore, other than last contract year situations where players refuse to sign are forcing their hand to sell.

      Ajax has brought down the salaries of players. They only buy players if they really add something to the squad. They were prepared to pay “big” money for van Ginkel but he went to Chelsea. They also wanted to get Ola John but on the last moment Benfica had 2 injured wingers all of the sudden. They did not think Maher would add so much to the squad in the Ajax system. So far we see at PSV that they are right. Maher as a half player is a shadow of himself and Ajax plays with half players not a 10.

      That having said though, I think that van der Hoorn is a mediocre purchase. His football ability is limited. Actually more purchases look like players not in sync with the technical demanding game Ajax is aiming to play. IMO that area needs improvement.

      What Ajax is doing though is buying many foreign talents at a young age (U18) so that the expenses are still low and at the same time allows them the time to school them in the Ajax system. They were able to win the Eredivisie with the “cheap” purchases till now and maybe this year again. All this to accumulate more money. They have now including the CL money of this year more than 100 million Euro in equity. They can do 2 things.

      * Take the club from the stock and with that deal with all annoying rules they now are obligated to adhere or they can buy the stadium.
      * Or they can buy the stadium the play in, to start exploiting their it as a way to generate more money. In fact it is the only way to generate substantial money. Keep in mind they do not only pay a fixed sum of money for rent, they also pay a rather large percentage of what they make from selling (season) tickets. Ajax make over 25 million from that in a CL year and with the % construction (IIRC 10% over the first 10 million, 15% over the next 5 million etc.) 6 or 7 million does not go to Ajax. They can also start selling the name rights of the stadium. Actually they can start up a whole range of commercial activities that will make them money.

      This will give them a big edge in the Netherlands over Feyenoord and PSV. That on it’s turn enables them to become the “FC Porto” from the Netherlands and beat the competition in the Eredivisie all the time. That on it’s turn allows them to grab the CL money year after year, certainly now that the nr. 2 club always gets kicked out before the group stages start (not having to split it).

      With all that money they can grow much stronger then when they would aim to compete with the Barca’s in the here and now. Even if they spend all their 100 million, it would not work. They better keep the money on the bank and get to the point they can buy their own stadium so that they can distance themselves (financially) from the rest of the Dutch clubs in a structural way.

      Cheers

      1. Thanks DRB –

        I’ve said it a few times – the process will take a few years. Those who cannot look so far ahead may feel disappointed – but I am willing to wait and see where Cruijff takes Ajax.

        OJF

      3. From what I read on wikipedia Ajax have their own stadium but in your comment you say that they should buy the stadium because they’ll get more money.Can you tell me what’s the truth?

        1. You should check wiki “Amsterdam Arena” not Ajax. There you also see who owns the stadium.

          This is the construction as far as I know:

          The shares of the Amsterdam Arena NV are in the hands of foundation/trust (not sure what the english word for “stichting” is). That foundation issued 70 million Euro worth of certificates. There are 3 holders of these certificates:

          * Ajax for 9.1 million Euro
          * The municipality of Amsterdam for 31.8 million Euro
          * Private party’s for 29.5 million Euro

          No dividend is paid though there are special rights as having a skybox.

          Then the exploitation of the Amsterdam Arena is in the hands of the so called “founders” who came up with 20.4 million Euro. That gave them publicity rights and the right to use certain spaces in the stadium.

          Ajax will have to deal with these parties if they want to buy and exploit the stadium themselves.

          I hope my info is still correct without too much mutations having happened, but I think you get a clear enough picture of the situation regardless.

          Cheers

          2. Thanks a lot,good explanation
            Probably there are also such clubs that doesn’t have their own stadium and can’t access the real financial bonus from sealed tickets

  59. I really did not like van Ginkel in DM. He was swimming at times and gave the AM’s from Basel too much space all the time to wall pass it. He was not short covering them. I feared the 1-1 happening before it was real when I saw van Ginkel again leaving too much space between him and his man. He played a negative role in conceding that one.

    His ball circulation ability and creative pass is nothing special at this level. The whole attacking dimension the kid has is cut off. Lampard is making the runs and his job is keeping an eye on the shop at the back. Clasie is much better in this role.

    Mourinho needs to pair MVG with Mikel. Then van Ginkel can blossom as he can roll out his verticality. That is his weapon.

    This game pissed me off, but I felt better when Chelsea lost after the MVG sub. Let them have it.

  60. Marco van Ginkel

    The Dutchman was perhaps a surprise starter and didn’t have the best of evenings. A little off the pace as he was booked for a late challenge and showed a heavy touch on occasions. Kept his passing simple and worked hard defensively.

    It seems marco wasn’t great tonight , can’t really blame him.

  61. For one thing to start, stop bailing Spain’s government. It is not proven, but I wonder how Real can keep spending money to buy players. Is the money from their ad/tickets/jerseys/tv rights (including La Liga/CL) only? Instead the government can spend money to make Eredivisie a better league and make clubs better clubs?

    1. hien, I read recently that Madrid turned a decent profit this year. I don’t see how Spanish government plays a role here unless they are not collecting taxes from Madrid. Bernabeu is huge, always sold out and ticket prices through the roof.

      1. Ashenafi, I have no doubt that Madrid is not the cleanest of clubs. But their purchases are financed by banks and banks know where they’re investing. Would these banks loan money to Ajax? I doubt it. Small market, not much return.

  62. By the way:

    http://i.imgur.com/pZvh3Gs.png

    a DLLL for Mou now. He has credit at Chelsea, but with a free Hiddink he should not continue much longer. Chelsea has lost the Super Cup, is out of CL spots in the competition and now lost their first game in CL to Basel.

    Why do I mention this? I think Hiddink does know how to use van Ginkel and play him in a way his quality’s can shine.

    For now this all is premature though.

    1. Well , I’d rather have Hiddink as Oranje coach after the world cup bro 😉 .
      I do hope MVG leaves this team , anywhere would be better than Chelsea for him.

  63. Virgil van Dijk

    Performed his role excellently, sticking tight to Matri and Balotelli. Organised the defence effectively and could do nothing to prevent either Milan goal.

  64. So if MVG stays at Chelsea, he may turn into another Nigel De Jong, no more creativity/attacking mind, just another defensive midfield? I don’t know if he can be as good as NDJ for defensive midfield, but the potential of him to become a creative midfield is there (no chance NDJ will change now). I’m still upset at Vitesse of refusing to let him go to Ajax instead of Chelsea. Someone from KNVB should hold a talk with both Vitesse and Ajax in the nation’s interest.

  66. goal player Rating:

    Nigel De Jong – Acted as a solid shield in front of the back four and demonstrated his tenacity with a series of crucial tackles to break up the opposition attack.

    Urby Emanuelson – Gave Milan some fresh legs down the left-hand side late on.

    Virgil van Dijk – Performed his role excellently, sticking tight to Matri and Balotelli. Organised the defence effectively and could do nothing to prevent either Milan goal.

    Derk Boerrigter – Lennon introduced the Dutch striker in a bid to freshen up his front line. However, he was well marshalled by Mexes and found it difficult to make space for himself.

    Havnt included Ajax n Van Ginkle

  67. Just a comment on Huntelaar –

    Ruud van Nistelroy was also disparaged in the Dutch press on occasion for not being able to contribute to team play –

    “he doesn’t contribute much, all he can do is score some goals”

    !!!

    OJF

  68. @DRB300, you are absolutely correct in terms of what Ajax is trying to do. They see what has happened to clubs that try to compete beyond their means. PSV is a perfect example of what not to do. They keep buying players and are in serious trouble financially. They even had to proceed with a sort of illegal transaction to generate more income.
    Ajax is hoping that in the near future they will be in the position to compete because of the youth. The key is to re-make the youth system as it was in the past, simply the best in the world. Of course that is not an easy task any more because the competition for both local dutch and foreign players is much stiffer than it used to be. I saw the u19 Ajax team and i thought they played very well. The score does not reflect the true nature of the game. To be honest, the CL game today was also harsh. I thought Ajax played quite well at times and with a bit more belief it could have easily been 1-1 at HT. VRhijn and Duarte should have scored. At the end of the day, of course I am disappointed as an Ajax fan that every year we sell our best players and one can only ask what the score would have been if Eriksen had played today.

    1. “At the end of the day, of course I am disappointed as an Ajax fan that every year we sell our best players and one can only ask what the score would have been if Eriksen had played today.”

      That’s it Jeff.

  69. Yes of course it is disappointing. I was in Barcelona and could have gone to the game but decided to come back to the US instead because i knew it would be 3 or 4-0. I agree with Laurent and all the others. We simply don’t have it any more. I am not sure why but the decline for Dutch clubs is quite precipitous. Only a few years ago we were still dominant but now it is really bad. My only hope lies in the fact that Ajax appears at the very least grounded with the right people in charge (technical heart). But we really have to start from scratch. Holland has fallen off quite badly.

    2. Agreed.
      Sad day indeed.

      Some of us here actually watch football games instead of you tube highlights, and have done so for many years.
      Fortunately I am old enough to remember watching Muhren in the flesh.
      Great player.

  71. Popularity of clubs earns the money for them.duthc populations is minmal comapring to latin population i mean Real,Barca are bigger figure in brazil,Arjentina,spain other latin countries.hence they get more media coverage and get more sporsorship.so they can buy anyone.
    while MANU has introduced some asian stars in their team (brilliant markettig)and hence they hav good fans in Asia.since asia is the most populated conutry,KNVB and dutch clubs most look in to asian market.then they will be able to fight with the bigboys,till then there is no hope.Barca has started footballing schools in delhi.like that Ajax,PSV can start clubs in china,India etc..which will make them popular and will put themin media light.

  72. An interesting statistic, Barcelona ended the game with only 56% of possession…

    The optimistic people will say that it’s fantastic to see Ajax keeping the ball quite long against them, the clever ones will understand that many teams lost 1-0 or got a positive result there only with 30 % of possession.

    Ajax took 4-0 with 44 %.

    That says a lot about dutch football which tries to have possession, play good as good as the opponent while they don’t have quality enough for that.

  73. guys guys… stop the whining about the Ajax result. It was a game of boys against men. Still Ajax had very good chances…

    What I cared about was seeing Van Rijhn against Neymar… Van Rijhn was pretty good. I would say Neymar had a quite night. Vermeer wasn’t bad at all… There was nothing he can do about the goals… actually, the first one he could have been positioned better.

    Daley Blind wasn’t bad either…. the problems were in the middle of the defence.

  74. Yes I agree Sam NY. I thought the score did not reflect the game at all. In open play Ajax had the best chances of the first half and it could/should have been 1-1. I felt that Vermeer was to blame on the 3rd goal. If the GK makes a decision to go for the ball then he has to get it. I also believe the 2nd goal really deflated Ajax. Again with another top quality player on the team (Eriksen) it would have been different. 3 more things:
    1. Van Rhijn and Blind did well
    2. Denswill is good and I think he will continue to improve this year
    3. De Boer is a great coach. It was great to have Boilesen reinforce the left flank.
    Yes at the end it was 4-0 but I still think we played our game and tried to be positive, thereby creating chances. In fact even Messi said so today. This is a far cry from when Jol was in charge as we would still lose 4-0 but play horriby. Those days were so depressing. If we beat Milan next match at home we have chance of finishing second.

  75. Watching PSV, 0-0 half time. Both teams can score.

    The right side totally sucks, Bakkali loses so many balls and disapparead, Arias brings nothing offensivly, Brenet is better than him in that point.

    Hijlemark is also quite bad today, no long passes, got owned defensivly…

    Willems was good until he got subbed, Hendrix is doing well but seems to be a bit too crazy to play as DC, he is making crosses into the bulgarian box and take so many risks with the ball…

    Bruma, Maher, Toivonen, Matavz and Depay are showing good and bad things.

    2. Looks like PSV is a bush league team at times, with that goal. Really sloppy.

      The other team is vulnerable under pressure. But someone please tell Maher not to shoot directly at the goalie — it’s easier to score that way.

  76. PSV v Ludrogets in Europa League on now.

    A bit frustrating to watch. PSV better in the 1st half but making some basic errors that cost them. Bakkali is hardly involved in the game. Isn’t he supposed to be a wonder kid? Willems off injured with a knock, but doesn’t look too serious.

    2nd half just started, at PSV are under the cosh. Still 0-0 however.

  77. Pretty miserable, but Hendrix is an “uitblinker”. He’s going to be a very good player.

    Too many wasted opportunities by PSV. They should have scored first.

    1. The second half was a disaster. I’m glad you can find a positive in Hendrix, but this PSV team has a long way to go still in terms of maturity. It was interesting that both Park and Schaars did not start today — maybe they would have settled the team a bit more; but after they came on PSV did not look much better.

      One of the problems seems to be the attack gets a bit predictable, with the wingers relatively static. You can always bet exactly where they will be — no surprises. It seems like other teams do not have trouble defending this structure. If we are going to spread the defense, then the pair in the center really need to make the most of the openings — and Maher again was really sub-par this game, it seemed to me. Just doesn’t do enough in terms of creating opportunities, playmaking, getting the forwards to make incisive runs, taking quality shots, etc. His shooting recently has been a particular weak spot.

    1. I’m playing with this thought as well. Every time I see him I wonder if he could be our Verratti. Though DM demands a lot of handling speed and positioning skills he does not have to perform as a CB (Look at Bazoer showing problems after his switch from CB to DM), I would like to get an answer to this question sometime in the future. Rather sooner than later. I would like Bazoer to be brought back, Hendrix to be brought up the pitch and see how he does there.

      Cheers

        1. His engine is too small to track one for 90 minutes. He is good in ball possession phase, pretty good at making himself available, has aggression, can disposes without clumsy tackles (can be quite precise actually), but really nullifying the dynamic 10-ish types for 90 minutes is IMO too much for him for now. Letting him mark a player out of the game like Wijnaldum is already asking for trouble.

          1. Thank you DRB.
            I think Clasie can improve in this aspect of his game , as I believe fitness is something that can be gained by more training. He is still young and I hope he works on this.

      2. It’s worth a shot. He has all-around skills and his work going forward is quite convincing. He doesn’t lack confidence. Leaving him at CB seems a bit of a waste. I say put the best 11 footballers on the field and find a way to make it work.

        1. I’m bothered by the explosion of talent on the left center back spot. If a NT wants to advance, talent must nicely be spread over different positions. Rekik is a clear super talent. Denswil shows signs of promise. There is still BMI. Kongolo is in the waiting room. Ake can play there. Even more is lining up there.

          So I basically am looking at what talents could make a switch to somewhere else. Hendrix with his posture and good football skills is an obvious choice for DM. Ake is a very special talent possibly taking that spot in the future but I worry about his creativity. He is one hell of a shape keeper and pace/rhythm director, but that creative pass forward like Verratti is a thing I have yet to see being threatening for opponents. Anita lacks creativity as well. Clasie has it, but is build on the wrong frame. Bazoer is still a question mark concerning handling speed and positioning. Besides, I really want him for right center back.

          IMO there is still demand for a complete DM. One that can go on all game on being build on the right frame (unlike Clasie), while also having great creativity (unlike Anita and maybe Ake). Handling speed remains a question mark for Hendrix until now. Not able to tell if he can pull it off, so I would like to see it tested. Schaars and Hiljemark are a problem in this regard. Rekik only being a loan player leaving next year is another. They want Hendrix to take over from him. Not sure this is going to happen anytime soon.

  79. Awful performance by PSV. Did the Eredivise just hit rock bottom? It is so easy for the other teams, from Bulgaria, Russia and even Luxembourg, to score against the Dutch teams. Just park the bus and wait for the counter attack. Dutch teams are extremely vulnerable to counter attacks. The possession football Dutch teams are trying to play in Europe is simply not working when the individual quality is so low. With the footbal we are playing now, we are about as good (or bad) as Norwegian and Swedish teams, but probably worse than Danish, Swiss, Austrian.

    Well, now I am going to watch AZ. Let’s hope for the best!

    1. “Did the Eredivise just hit rock bottom?”

      No I don’t think so. Long term it will only get worse. Sorry to tell this, but with the money concentration in other leagues the quality corrosion will only increase overall.

      Look at the TV money deals in EPL and the commercial deals that are made every week now. The lower clubs in EPL will scan for talent and Eredivisie will not go unnoticed. Look at a mediocre club like Norwich getting Leroy Fer. Swansea getting the Eredivisie top scorer. Anita went from Ajax to Newcastle. Steps that must raise some eyebrows with people. In the past good Ajax players would not go to a club like Newcastle. I simply do not see new money streams indicating this trend will reverse. Russia, Ukraine and Turkey with their money attracting talent, does not help either. I think with Serie A (and La Liga?) getting poorer, they might start scanning Eredivisie more intense as well.

      Best thing is to do is what FC Twente do. Be financially sound and own the stadium you play in. That made them strong in contract negotiations and enabled them to sell a Luuk de Jong for 15 million Euro more or less. It’s key to be financially sound as otherwise Dutch clubs will be weak in negotiations. At the same time develop youth like never before.

      Cheers

  80. I cannot believe PSV lost to a second tier Bulgarian team. We have hit the lowest of the low. This is really terrible for Dutch football. We are entering a very dark period. I can still remember listening on the short wave radio in the early 1980s to the broadcast of Groningen with Erwin and Ronald Koeman when it was the last Dutch team in Europe! And yes it was the 3rd round of the UEFA cup. I thought we would never saw those days again but I am afraid they are back.

  82. Terrible result all in all, but I am encouraged by Hendrix’ performance in the first half. Very commanding defense and some composed build ups.

    The turning point of the game was when Willems subbed out due to injury. This forced Hendrix to play as a left back, which was very awkward to him. Unlike Willems, Hendrix was not able to run down the line, thus Depay was practically taken out of the game (no shot on goal at all in the second half). But more importantly, the gap in center between the defense and midfield was too big as a result of Hendrix shifted to the left. Zanka was horrible when it comes to passing and bringing the ball forward.

    Cocu also showed his inexperience. He put too much wager on Hiljemark and Bakkali, neither was a force. Should have gone with the veteran Schaars and Park from the beginning.

    1. I didn’t see the game but apparently Valencia got an early red card, so Swansea dominated. DeGuzman scored on a 30-meter free kick — very encouraging. He’s really developing a nice shot from set pieces.

  84. I wouldn’t be surprised if PSV got dissmissed from the groupe stage like last year. Even if the level of this group is ridiculous.

    Honestly I’m not sure at all that they’ll get a positive result in Ukraine, Odessa is a good team.

    1. Psv will get kicked from the group stage , Ajax will be lucky if they are able to go to europa league , so they can get kicked by the first team they face.
      I just wonder , Is it a must to have a strong league to have a strong NT ?
      I mean , Belgian league is pretty average too , however they currently have a very good group of players. Meanwhile , EPL is pretty stong , however , England is not really that great team.

      1. NO..its just the opposite I guess..having a financially poor league forces you to develop your own talents and that happens to be beneficial for the NT in the long run.

  85. Given the current performance of all Dutch clubs in European competition, perhaps we should give LVG more credits for qualifying for the WC (and thank RVP and Robben for being Dutch). I even go further to take back even critics at BVM for not dropping old players, replacing with these promising young players. The problem lies with the quality of these young players.

    There are still more games to play but I do not see how Ajax and PSV can win Europa League or advance deep. For some times I thought the future and potential looks good, but more and more I am leaning to Jeff’s and some others’ opinions here that we are entering the dark periods like the early 80’s. I simply cannot believe my eyes to see PSV, a former CL winners losing to a Bulgaria club (same for Feyenoord, another former club with proud history, not even qualified for Europa League). I can see that Dutch clubs cannot compete with German, Spanish, Italian, English, French clubs but Swiss, Bulgarian….

    The only hope I have is perhaps Cruyff can turn Ajax around with more young and good Dutch players. Very disappointed this week!

    1. “Given the current performance of all Dutch clubs in European competition, perhaps we should give LVG more credits for qualifying for the WC”.
      Funny I was just thinking the same way.

      1. the starting oranje eleven must be based on players from foreigners clubs,not on eeredivisie. they have more experience,the level and the competition is different. i would recall stekelenburg, then van der wiel and emanuelson for the right and leftback positions,nigel de jong as one of the central defenders (maybe alongside bruno martins indi). strootman,de guzman and sneijder (if he performs better than recently) would be the three midfielders. the attacking line is ok in any combination (robben,rvp,huntelaar,etc.). lvg and some talented eeredivisie youngsters would be in the squad as potential substitutes.

      1. I agree but unfortunately I am not the general manager of Ajax. I am convinced he would have contributed greatly. What a shame! But still don’t you think a 2 or maybe 3-1 score would have been more realistic and reflective of Ajax’s performance?

        1. Yeah Jeff. Sure. The first half should have ended 1-1 imo , and I think this could have changed the whole game, or at least get a better result.
          FdB was very good yesterday , he did a great job despite the loss.
          He kept the Ajax identity , but the result was disappointing to all Ajax fans.
          I read somewhere that this could be his last season , is this true ?

          1. Ajax desperately needs Siem de jong back. He may not be good enough for the national team but he’s huge for Ajax. and god damnit is there no one out there better than Poulsen that fits into Ajax’s budget? Poulsen’s a slug! if Ajax can solve these 2 issues, i’m sure the result would be abit more respectable.

  87. @ samNY – What I cared about was seeing Van Rijhn against Neymar… Van Rijhn was pretty good. I would say Neymar had a quite night.

    Please go and watch the reply. neymar played around him like a cat chasing a rat.

    goal rating:Ricardo van Rhijn
    The right-back had a difficult afternoon up against Neymar as the Brazilian beat him time and again. He looked especially vulnerable with little cover, but he did force a good save from Valdes with a header in the first half.

    Neymar
    An impressive Champions League debut from the former Santos man as he had the beating of Van Rhijn all evening. He made light work of the right-back and earned an assist for Pique’s goal.

    My point ,that was jus a trailer of what we will see in WC .

  91. Some of you guys are overreacting. Dark period? We’re talking about facing Barcelona on their home ground here, guys. Anyone who didn’t expect Barcelona to win comfortably was kidding themselves.

    Lately I’ve also seen some talks on this board of bringing back VdW. Did people already forget how he did at the EU12 last year? To anyone who hasn’t, watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYRtIzdXtSc

    Ronaldo had his way with VdW down the right, and in all honestly, he could have scored 2 more goals if he wanted to. He didn’t do anything noteworthy against Germany or Denmark either from what I recall.

    1. Sam Boy, if you have forgotten , then Robben was playing infront of Van der Wiel, and we all know about Robben defensive game so it would useless to blame him only. & also jus tell me which RB has ever kept Ronaldo from terrorizing the flanks. I jus remember once Ashely Cole did it , but I cant remember which tournament it was.
      some goes for Verhagr, he has only played one game for NT and some of us have already booked his ticket to brazil.
      As I see it.the RB race will be between all the four and even though Jammant is the front runner, I expect Van der Wiel to make the cut if he performs expectational well in CL for PSG, which he has started doing.

  92. Christian Eriksen
    Replaced the injured Dembele and showed a couple of creative touches, first pinging a ball over the defence for Sandro to head at goal, and secondly bending a lovely free-kick into the six yard box, where unfortunately no-one was arriving. Added the champagne moment with a right-footed stunner into the top-left corner.

    Michel Vorm
    Generally Vorm did not have much to deal with, but handled everything which came his way with minimal fuss.

    Dwight Tiendalli
    A mixed bag from Tiendalli. Defensively he was efficient and he was not beaten very often, but when in attack his crossing was very poor.

    Jonathan De Guzmán
    All-round excellent performance. Drove powerfully from the centre whenever he could, helped counter the threat of Banega and scored a magnificent goal with a free kick.

  93. De Guzman is showing he is Oranje material. We always talk about Sneijder, Vaart, Afellay, etc but De Guzman and Strootman are the most fit midfielders we’ve at the moment.

    I’d like to have them both on the starting line up.

    3. I like De Guzman but not rarely he starts from the bench at Swansea. But considering how low Eredivisie has fallen anyone who plays decent abroad can be considered NT material.

      1. Yes.

        Hopefully, mercifully, soon, people will realise that we are no longer a major ‘force’ in world football.

        Then they will realise that our players themselves just aren’t that good anymore.

        Then this ridiculous expectation of greatness will begin to fade.

        Then maybe the ass-clowns here will stop beating their dicks into each other’s mouths every time we lose possession, or let a pass go astray, or concede a goal, or field a player over the age of 28.

        Then they’ll find enjoyment and acceptance in other ways than predicting our failure.
        Then hopefully this site will be fun again like it used to be.

        It’s a game. Fucking retards.

        I say this so that you don’t have to.
        And you will love me for it.

  95. just calculate how many years, dutch club cannot make any dutch wonderful player, van persie and Robben leave eredevise more than 9 years, and after that what dutch club done in these 9 years, can anyone help me??

    1. Players like Persie, Robben , Sneijder , Bergkamp , overmars etc are one in generation.
      It’s not easy to “find” such talent. It has nothing to do with dutch football clubs .

  96. the one thing can help us in these years is big spender man come and buy one dutch club, see what happened in France or something like which happened in bayern, it is not jsut about that club it would be about all clubs in competition if someone come and buy vitesse, and but some player like ibramovic and …, then our league class would go one class higher, ajax and psv force to build better player, players face big names and get experience in the league, any france plaayer from their 20 teams, at least playe two games versus players like Cavani and Ibrahimovic, it would be really great, i said it isn’t just about the big spenders club it would be about their opponenet in league and their young players experience,

    plz some arab man come and buy dutch club.

  97. Dutch football is heading towards the dark tunnel… Regardless of Ajax’s abysmal performance against freaky Barca, PSV and AZ Alkmaar made a solid case that we are entering the dark ages. Watching PSV play Ludogrets last night was as painful as ridiculous as it gets. A below average Bugarian side tantalized and condemned a youthful, inexperienced, impotent, and pathetic PSV Eindhoven. Even the so called “talented” Adam Maher made a fool of himself and was only mediocre at best.

    We were hoping for a better display by AZ, but no AZ were sweating not to concede against Maccabi Haifa. Although they did get a result at the end (1-0 win), it was only due to the fact that Maccabi Haifa cant score even with a bitch at the goal line.

    Praise to Van Gaal, who out of nothing, managed to take Holland to the world cup with a set of players not even fit to warm the bench of a 2nd division English side.

    Waiting for the world cup draw, the dutch will be eating their nails afraid of a tough group with Brasil, Germany, or Spain who can turn the world cup festival for the over ambitious Holland fans to a living nightmare. Tighten your seatbelts fellows, we are entering the dark tunnel which Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and many now average European nations are in.

  98. I’m with Miguel and Demi too. RVP, Robben, Strootman and De Guzman solidify the 4 spots in starting 11.
    Lens has not convinced me enough, perhaps I put Kuyt on the other wing. We still need an attacking midfield. Maher has not proved that he can take the next step. I hope epither VDV or Afellay can regain their form and fitness. If they do then I will take VDV as my first choice to complete the front 6.

    De Guzman – Strootman – VDV
    Robben – RVP – Kuyt

    1. Hein putting 4 old boys upfront will make game less running ,hence we wont create much chances.game might loom boring once the opponet scores th e first goal,we will be done.it will be good that holland plays 2 old boys up front.

  100. Kuyt showed me that he is versatile, can play in the middle, have decent cross, good header, good defending skill. Until other young players step up, I would bring Kuyt to Brazil and even start him if needed. Lens, Ola John, Depay, Schaken (well he is not young but still a rookie with NT), Narsingh, Depay have not showed me that consistency yet. Like many of you I hope they will. For attacking midfield the list is Maher, Sneijder, VDV, Afellay (injured), Wijnaldum, Duarte. Van Ginkel and Fer has potential but now playing as defensive/box to box position now.
    I think VDV and Kuyt will connect well with Robben and RVP. Guzman and Strootman are younger so they will have to do the dirty work.
    Watching Ajax Barca again, Ajax did not play bad. They had 7 chances. Like PSV’s or Feyenoord’s young players, they need to be more clinical, converting their chances better. If we cannot play the ideal attacking 4-3-3 that Dutch is famous for, at least we need to be clinical like the NT 2010 that Bert had.

  101. Yes this new generation hasn’t produce a star like Robben, RVP, Sneijder but we must remember RVP had many years struggling to be on the starting 11 for Arsenal.

    It takes time for young players to settle in their new clubs.

    I do believe Van Ginkel, Fer, Clasie, Maher are world class players. They obviously need to do more to prove it but their qualities are amazing! I remember players like Cocu or Van Nistelrooy who became very solid when they were 24-25 years old.

    Let’s hope their careers develop well. I am happy Van Ginkel played as a starter for Chelsea in their 1st UCL game. He’ll have more minutes during the season.

    1. Miguel, how do you measure world class players or amazing qualities? Beating Romania, Hungary or Turkey is nothing great even though when you compare to how PSV or Feyenoord are doing it seems like a great achievement already. When they had the chance at Under 21 these same players failed. With regards to Ginkel I am afraid he will get an even deeper seat at the bench. His only starting game ended in a loss and Mou probably won’t experiment again.

  102. I long for days of old Europe when borders were separating countries, when each country had their own language, when clubs were only limited to buy at max 3 foreigners, when it would be impossible for a russian or arab oligarch to knock on your door and buy you and the whole family for a sack of dollars, when Ajax could safely produce enough youngsters for domestic and international consumption, when Holland vs Germany or Ajax vs Bayern would make fans feel like WW3 was at the door……………:-(

  103. I’m not as down on PSV. Seems to me that they’ve been playing in a fog since the loss to Milan. They still have a lot of young (emphasize young) talent, and its still being blended—remember, these guys did not come up through the ranks with each other, most have been brought in from elsewhere. The Milan match was a hit to these guys; they came in with such confidence. Young teams sometimes require longer to make course corrections after a dispiriting loss.

    Now is the time for Cocu to show his mettle as a coach, and snap them out of it. I think he will, and I think at some point in the season they will go on a long successful run.

    1. I think Bert has said once that he would take Afellay to any team he would coach , will Afellay join Vaart in HSV in January if Bert goes there ?
      Really intersting.

      1. All hail bert van marwijk…for these.
        Kicked out Vandervaart(27-fit-correct age)for Dirk kuyt.then sucked aginst spain and Wesly saved his ass aginst Brazil by a Header.
        Brought his son in law by kicking out Leory fer etc,afellay hasnt played a long and started with him.
        Brought kuyt who played all 3 important looses as staret from 20006-10)
        Lets hail him for what he have done.When considering the talents of Vaart,Wesly,Persie,Robben with professionala Dejong,Gio,Joris he underachived along with marco vanbasten.

        1. World Cup Final.
          Into extra time.

          ‘Underachived’

          HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

          Tell us some more!!

  107. If you look at the age distribution of all the players recently called up to the Dutch NT, you will notice a very interesting phenomena.

    The group of players aged 23 – 27 is somewhat weak. Certainly there are solid contributors (Lens, Vlaar, Janmaat, vd Wiel, Afellay, Anita, De Guzman), but they are all lacking the quality at the highest level. Strootman is probably the only one I single out who can reach very high, and it’s worth to note he’s barely 23.

    But then if you look at beyond that generation, i.e. those who are aged 19 – 22, I can easily make a list of at least two dozens emerging players. A handful of them are very, very talented and I think can be world beaters someday, e.g. Rekik, Vilhena, and Van Ginkel. There are another handful who are so promising that they are forces to be reckoned: De Vrij, Wijnaldum, Maher, Clasie, Ola John, Willems. And still there are others who can make strong arguments to be in the conversation: Depay, Denswil, Van Rhijn, Ebecilio, Van der Hoorn.

    The interesting part is that Van Gaal deliberately “skips” a generation. He chooses to focus on these emerging players. Even better news, the prominent Dutch clubs are also investing in their playing times.

    What does it mean for the Dutch NT? Well, there will be some growing pains such as this period we’re in now. The youngsters are not quite ready yet, they’re still trying to “feel” the game. Mistakes and sloppiness are expected as part of the learning. Next year’s World Cup may all be a very ugly. It’s important that fans are be patient and continue to infuse confidence in the development of this young team. I think in 3-4 years time, the rewards for this patience will be very handsome.

    This is the Might Oranje. We don’t rebuild. We simply reload.

    1. 5 years ago when Wijnaldum and Fer were titular with Feyenoord, everybody was also expecting that they’ll be world class players in 2013. Now, one is still in the dutch league and the other one is with Norwich. Both are 23 and far to be world class players. And that was the same with the previous generation, remember how medias were talking about Maduro, Babel and Emanuelson in 2005.

      The fact Vilhena and Maher will probably have already played around 100 professionnal games being 21 years old has nothing to do with quality. Quality is giving proofs, and none of them really did. Maher got one of the worst goals/assists ranking in the whole world for a OM/CM. Seriously, how many better young OM a team like Brazil got ? Just look the guy Fred who is the same age than Maher and who just signed to Shakthar for 15mo, directly scored in his first games.

      Investing time in young players in the dutch league isn’t bringing anything good for years, is it ? First results in european competitions are awful and secondly many of them go to warm the bench.

      In fact you’re positive about next years and trust the developpement, but tell me why we should trust more this generation than the previous one which failed (85-89) ?

      Take 2005 and you can have the same speech, talking about how good Babel, De Ridder, Afellay etc. will be.

      Currently I’d say that only Van Ginkel can make it, cause he made the step. Even if he fails in Chelsea, he’ll probably leave for another good team. Don’t know if he can be a really good player, but he’ll probably play at least in good championschips for a while.

      Rekik ? He belongs to City ok but you know that they look for top quality there, won’t hesitate to spend 30mo on a top class defender if they don’t have it. It depends on his progression, for the moment we really cannot say if he’ll play in City, be on loan to Aston Villa or still with PSV in two years.

      De Vrij and BMI will probably move next summer but I don’t expect top clubs. Same for Wijnaldum. Clasie isn’t a big interest for clubs, I read Fiorentina wanted him, but they have better material, he will bench there. If John leaves Benfica it would be probably to go to Newcastle or HSV, not more. Same for Van Rhijn.

      Depay, Maher, Denswil and Vilhena got absolutly no guarantee to be world beaters and even to play in good championschips. Things can go quite fast for a guy like Maher, an injury for example, he loses his place with PSV, few months later he is signing to Sporting…You should mentionned Aké who is probably closer to the top level than them currently.

      If you consider all those guys like “so promising”, what would you say about young german, spanish and french players for example ?

      Pogba and Draxler who are the same age than Maher for example and who are proving every week more in a higher level.

      1. Well , I think actually with the current level of Eredivisie , it will be hard for our young players to go directly to a top team.
        I think Strootman is a good example. His move to AS Roma was a successful one imo. He can develop in a Top league with a good group of players around him “pjanic , totti , de rossi , etc ” and perhaps play in the CL next season.
        Eriksen is another good example , he proved himself in Eredivisie for 4 years , then moved to Tottenham hotspurs.
        Playing in that level for 2-3 seasons before playing for a top team is not bad imo.
        Roma , Npapoli , fiorentina , and currently Milan ,
        Tottenham , Arsenal , Liverpool ,
        Schalke 04 , Dortmund ,
        Villareal , Seveille , Valencia , Malaga ..

        I’m worried though because of the Eredivisie level. Few yers ago sneijder moved from Ajax to Real Madrid and I remember he scored three goals in his first two games and was able to play on this level, Now it doesn’t seem to be the case.

        1. I Forget to say that I’m not a fan of moving to clubs like Norwich City , west bromich albion , etc.
          Players in these clubs may play under the stress of relegation , no good players around them to help them or give them experience. Very bad for their development. You need to really impress there or to be a super talent to move to a better team .

      2. We need to comapre Pogba with van ginkel.Maher is weak and mainly attack oriented player.Even though pogba was good in Manu he did get chance,he also got spoiled there.But when he went to Juve he got freedom and he became regular.like happing for Jefrry bruma in PSV.
        Ginkel is far betetr than pogba if he gets in to better coach and so he get fredom and more playing time.its sad that he went to plastic club.
        when you find th real fighing young talents and give them support you win some thing,i think LVG has proved it with Ajax 95.

        1. I compared Pogba with Maher cause they both born in 93, didn’t compare their profile.

          Isco is a 92 and can already be considered as world class player. Gotze is 92 and also is. Varane is 93 and can potentially be. Draxler, Pogba, Alcantara are subtop players, who are already a good step ahead Van Ginkel, Maher etc.

          We don’t have any player 90/95 who is a top class player or even a subtop one. Many would say Strootman as subtop one cause he is doing well with Roma, but honestly I prefer more to have Pogba than Strootman in my team.

          1. Pogba is a different player than Maher , Laurent.
            You can compare Pogba with Strootman or Ginkel. They play in the same position. I believe Pogba is better technically than Strootman , and better than MVG atm , but perhaps Ginkel can become better in the next few years.

          2. I don’t compare positions Mohamed, I compare level and state.

            Pogba is doing great in a top european club for months, Maher is doing not so good in a weak championschip and team…

    2. And in 3 years, all these kids will be nowhere.

      You get excited. Ha! You build them up so you can tear them down.

      It gives you something to comment on.
      Personally, I find it sickening.

      1. “And in 3 years, all these kids will be nowhere”

        They’re still pro footballers and get as much money in one year that you got in all your stupid life haha you’re +50 and will still post here with different stupid nicknames in three years, that’s embarassing.

    1. after 3/4 years fer,wijnaldum ,deguzman and many will be 27/ or deguzman would 30 we will again see a slow and average team. SO UR TIME IS NOW.lets ready for the right now moment.
      Fnerbache cannt even win against PSV.
      Hamburg is getting humiliated in Budesliga
      Galatasray is No wher near th elite group now we have kuyt.vaart and wesly in thoise teams and we beleive that these players will take us to to quater at least.i am not in fools heaven.With these playe u cannt even beat estonia and u r hoping they will get better????what is the logic behind that?and say cluless things that dutch have no chance with ut wesly or vaart??no way dears.we have better chance with out them.
      @Lvg take the deserved ones for WC and omit the underferforming and unfit players.
      Lets take fresh,fast inettlgent and hardworking younger ones with Nijel,Robin,Robben and stekelnburg the for get about the other old ones.then we have chance.

      1. ‘and we beleive that these players will take us to to quater at least’

        Who said that?
        No-one!
        You are a fucking retard and a liar. Stop making shit up.

        ‘@Lvg take the deserved ones for WC and omit the underferforming and unfit players.’

        Yes, I’m CERTAIN he reads this site everyday, retard.

        ‘Lets take fresh,fast inettlgent and hardworking younger ones with Nijel,Robin,Robben and stekelnburg the for get about the other old ones.then we have chance.’

        Paedo retard freak. What is your obsession with young boys??
        Go somewhere else.
        Take Laurent with you. Thanks.

    1. Come on, Jan. Don’t be a moron like…

      You’re better than that. You know that I’ve posted well over thirty of these, just to get a rise out of these little girls. Your numbers don’t have the vaguest connection to reality.

      My perspicacity allows me to rise above the rabble, and to apotheosize my position as an aging, alcoholic Liverpuddlian, with bad teeth spackled with beans and toast, who can’t stop thinking about that time I offered Dirk Kuyt a tug job…

      But I digress.

      Please adjust your numbers. Don’t be an idiot like all the commenters on your precious blog. Half the fucking people “commenting” here are me.

      RIP Dutch football.

  110. @LVG plz take
    ======================
    Persie
    Seim
    ======================
    Robben
    Urby
    wijnaldum
    Van ginkel
    Leory fer
    Strootman
    Deguzman
    Nijel Dejong
    clasie(as attacker Not as holding mid)
    Duarte
    =============================================
    Eric peiters
    Bruno martins
    Karim Reikik
    Jefrry bruma
    Douglas Texiera
    Stijn schaars
    Daryl Janmaat
    Dwight Tyndalli
    ==========================================
    stekelenburg
    Tim krul
    Vermeer
    ====================================
    stand bye
    =================================
    Luuk Dejong
    Adam maher
    Jean paul botius
    Paul verhage
    De vrij
    Vaart( as lone static tsriker)
    ================================
    You must forget about rest of the players

    1. Thank you, Tiju.

      I agree with your selection and I will only take these players to the World Cup.

      If you wish to make more line ups, I will also only consider those players too.

      Next Summer, after I retire from my position, I would like YOU to take over this team.

      Also, do you have any youtube highlights vids I could look at? There is SO MUCH to learn from watching someone’s edited best moments.

      Finally, would you like to play for this team too?
      I hear that you are a really good footballer – and obviously such a nice person. I’m sure we can rush through that Dutch passport for you.

      My best,
      Louis

      1. hha l Gaal…
        Nice to hear from you,i think u will go with ur mind,in the end u will get humiliation and then u come to me.one thing i understood u dont even wtach you tube highligts.so ur slections must be right.i played lots of games i want to play in this team too.but i cnnat due to some problem,i mean Vaart syndrome cannt play more than 20 minutes.thats why hence ur team have Schaken,kuyt etc ,so i can also hope for selection.Any ways u are so inellgnet person on the planet i have ver met.u r a wiseman.its my privilliage to talk with you.so regin from ur current post.keep going
        orange needs ur wisdom over me.
        thank you
        Ur loyal fan
        Tiju

      2. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
        Louis, that is the funniest post I have read all week. I love this place.
        BRILLIANT!

        Louis 1
        Troll 0

        ^ That is how it is done, people.

  111. orange will have plenty of movemenst and will be a strong contender for WC if they could field a follwing 2 elevns
    ——Persie————–Roben——-
    Van Ginkel—–Claise———Strootman—-
    ————-Nijel———————-
    BMI————————-Janmaat
    —–Reikik——Bruma——————
    ————Tim Krul———————-
    =================================================
    ————Seim———————–
    Urby——-Duarte——–wijnaldum—–
    ——–Fer -Deguzman——————–
    Peiters————————Tyndally
    ———schaars—Douglas—————-
    —————stekelnburg——————
    =================================================
    Vermeer……
    You will see fast ,Fluid attack(even if we loose)with lots of grit…you guys mark my words.

    1. 3 runner for first 11
      and 4/5 runners for second 11.Wow that will give you balance in defnsese and offensce as weel.Common LVG lets do it.You have slecetd some guys and they cant even win against estonia.so how they they are going to compete with the greats?????????

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