Since 1998, Holland has played so-called “uitzwaai” games, before a big tournament. This time around, Wales was the “Australia stand-in” and LVG was able to try his non defensive approach against a solidly defending, skill-challenged and physically imposing opponent.
Here are some atmospherics.
For a while it seemed like Van Gaal giving Hans Kraay JR hell (see below) was to be the high point of the night…
Or maybe Mark van Bommel’s farewell?
But all in all, the lads did the job. If we’d beat Australia 2-0 at the World Cup, we’d probably be ok with it….
This game can be seen as another boring game. In which we didn’t give much away. In which Robben missed a couple of good opps and inwhich Sneijder shows how creative and smart he can be.
We also saw RVP leave the field with a groin situation but LVG confirmed it is not a biggie. No worries, as the Ozzies say.
So Van Gaal lost it when Kraay kept on asking and nagging about individual players and was comparing Van Gaal with coaches like De Boer and Mourinho who are coaching really animatedly while Louis is the Sphinx.
“What do you think I can do when I am yelling on the sideline? It mostly means I have not done my job! If I do my job, the lads know what to do and I can sit and observe and analyse. Yes, I might go out there and let one or two individuals know what they should change maybe. But other than that, I don’t want to coach constantly. It is ridiculous and it doesn’t work. Only maybe to motivate them more, but even that should not be needed. I think I should be able to sit on the stands and chat away with Mr Blatter and Platini, actually.”
The game started ok with Janmaat finding Robben in the first minute, who was crowded out before he could pull the tirgger. In the 3rd minute RVP gets a chance after a dribble but goalie Hennessey stops the ball. In the 8th minute, it’s De Vrij’s pass bringing Robben free before the goalie but he just misses the target. In the 25th minute, the fans start to slow clap and whistle a bit until a good little combination through the middle gets Robben in a good position again, but the ball flies over the goal.
In the 27th minute, the biggest cheers of the night so far are for Robson Kanu when he changes shorts on the pitch. In the 29th minute Robben has another attempt but the ball goes corner. Vlaar almost scores as a result.
Two minutes later it is 1-0, after Robben scores a tap in after an RVP attempt from a difficult angle. The goalie stops but Robben is alert. The supporter start the wave and in the 40st minute RVP almost scores a second on a low Janmaat cross.
Nigel practicing his “studs in the chest” kick
During half time it is clear that despite good opps for our forwards (we could be 2-0 or 3-0 up) the game play is not crisp and sparkly yet. Suddenly Lens starts to go out as well, it is clear that either Robben or RVP will leave the pitch. Which means trouble, if its RVP as Van Gaal said he wanted Robin to play as much as possible.
The ManU striker has a groin issue and decides to take a break. Lens on for RVP and Wijnaldum on for Fer.
Oranje starts the second half badly and Wales even gets some opportunities. In the 70st minute, a Wales player can dribble past a couple of defenders and Vlaar has to bring resolve. The Aston Villa man explodes and is so angry that he rams the ball at Wales’ goal from 35 minutes. The ball ends up in Amstelveen but Vlaar does get applause.
Only minutes later, Sneijder finds Robben with a superb pass who offers the goal to Lens.
Nigel de Jong is then subbed for Huntelaar. It’s 4-3-3, with Klaas Jan in the center, Robben and Lens on the flanks, Blind in the De Jong role and Wijnaldum and Sneijder completing midfield. That last 15 minutes is a better and more positive quarter than the first 30 minutes of the second half, with Huntelaar being close to scoring a third goal for Oranje.
LAte in the game, Sneijder finds Lens again but the Kiev forward made hands and is called back.
And with that, the game ends….
Van Gaal was realistic after the game: “I expected this to be much better. I hoped for it to be better and I wanted this to be better. But….we scored to brilliant goals. We created those ourselves and we gave not much away. That was good. Wales was tough, they parked the bus and I wasn’t happy with the pitch. Very slow. But then again, we should have done better despite all this. Too much loss of possession. It was boring at times, but the players are making big steps up and we’ll keep on working on it.”
“I am prepping the team for opponents with more attacking power at the World Cup. And normally I would play 4-3-3 against an opponent like Wales but I am in a process so unfortunately for the supporters, we played a system that is difficult against defensive teams. We will most likely end up using 5-3-2 for the big games, turning it into 3-4-3 when we can or 4-3-3 against the weaker opponents.”
Asked why Van Gaal selected so many forwards when he wants to play with two strikers only: “Statistics will show that if you bump into injuries at the World Cup, it is amongst offensive players. I think we will be able to hold our own with our defence but I need three different types of forwards. Strikers, wingers and offensive midfielders. I have also looked at multifunctionality. Kuyt can play on many different spots, so can Lens, so can Depay, so can Wijnaldum…. This gives me ultimate flexibility….”
On RVP: “We took him off as a precaution. He does have pain there but I think with some rest he’ll be fine.”
Willem van Hanegem added some words as an analyst… “The more I see Holland play, the more I feel we need to have more creativity at the back. With all due respect, I would want to see Sneijder, sitting deep. Playing just in front of the defence. So he has a lot of the ball, he can accelerate the game with his pinpoint passing and we can more legs up front to support Van Persie with runs. We need a number 10 like Litmanen or Bergkamp. A moving player. It feels to me like Van Persie is constantly in Sneijder’s way and vice versa. This is why only Robben seems to benefit from Sneijder, because of his movement. With a player like Wijnaldum or as Cruyff said, Klaassen behind Van Persie and Sneijder sitting deep, we could use the strength of all players much better. Wes can move up at times for a distance strike or with corner kicks and free kicks but he should temper his urge to score goals and serve the team.”
Leroy Fer played his first 45 minutes since a while. He was subbed for Wijnaldum at half time. “I think it went ok. In possession I played well, I had some good through balls and playing with Janmaat on the right is really good when we have possession. When we lost the ball, I wasn’t pressing well enough, the coach said. I think he wanted to see improvement there and brought Gio for me in the second half. But I’m happy I got to play.”
And lastly, as a bit of fun trivia, you know about how the Dutch Legion gets all crazy when Orange is playing a tournament?
Whole suburbs turning Oranje? Stupid suits, dresses, glasses, hats, fuzzy animals, what not?
Well, in case your heart stops while watching Oranje win the first World Cup ever against Belgium, this Summer, this is how you can go out:
vidal is back, early than expected. Sanchez and Vargas are in really really good form. Sadly none of the friendly opponents maybe except Ecuador are fast teams. This defence shows they can play well against physical teams but I am still not sure how well they can handle players like Sanchez, Vargas, Vidal, Iniesta, Fabregas.
And Cillissen never get tested in the last three games. That is something really make me nervous. Chile has 15 shots on goal today and looked very dangerous going forward with Sanchez, Vargas, Vidal in.
A draw against Spain would be a very good result. Holland definitly needs to play counter attacks against them, but I don’t know why I have the feeling maybe Spain will try something new. Like letting possession to Holland. Remember how Milan did it against PSV and Ajax. Maybe Spain will get inspired from it, even if their style is really different from italian football…
Teams now that Holland is not dangerous when having possession.
If Spain let the possession to Holland then we should really worry cause they really have fast players able to benefit from every mistake dutch players make.
If Spain plays its traditionnal football, having > 60 % possession in dutch half then :
Krul-Janmaat-Vlaar-De Vrij-BMI-Blind-Clasie-Nigel-Sneijder-Robben-Lens.
Very defensive, Clasie and Sneijder should launch Robben and Lens on spaces when we retrieve the ball. Lens is better option than RVP for such games.
Wijnaldum, Fer and Depay can come in 2nd half if we need to score.
Carzola, Silva and Xavi will be the ball carries
Missed the new post……this from the previos post. if RVP is in doubt
———Hunter——- Lens———-
—————Robben—————–
——-Sneijder———- Wijnaldum——
Blind——–De Jong—————- Janmaat
———BMI——-Vlaar———De Vrij——
——————Krul————————-
in this formation we easily resort to 5-3-2 during defense with Janmaat and Blind falling back and during attack Sneijder and Wijnaldum can become wing attack.
lol, yes it would be nice if we were allowed to play a 5-3-3.
did not see game but van hanegem’s comments about sneijder make sense, no?
@wilson, I think we will need your “12” players in the field to beat Spain 🙂
my bet guys…..exciting as it is ….yeah minus Blind
———Hunter——- Lens———-
—————Robben—————–
——-Sneijder———- Wijnaldum——
——–De Jong—————-
———BMI——-Vlaar———De Vrij——Janmaat
——————Krul————————-
Spain played the same formation vs Italy. 1-0
You can check all WC squads’ stat at matchstory.co.UK/WC_squads_interactive. Holland is 7th youngest.
I agree with Van Hanegem that Sneijder should roam closer the defense, and close to De Jong. The formation can remain the same but tactics at the back should be that the ball is delivered to Sneijder as quickly as possible. We should stick to the 532 in the important matches and this will be quite a surprise for the other teams.
Sneijder looked good!
LAst 15 minutes were great
Guys just thought about a statistic/fact that made me so happy!! There is one special thing about Oranje!!!
The only team that have played the final of the World Cup in three different continents: Africa/Europe/South America.
It made me really proud:):)
I will be using this in debates with friends who root brazil, Germany Italy and Spain :):)
Imo the Elo ranking over the past 50 years is one of the strongest pro Dutch arguments there is. Combined with number of Ballon d’Or wins and impact of style on world football (less measurable) sets Netherlands apart as a unique footballing country.
This is the Elo ranking I am talking about:
http://bit.ly/1p8C2OQ
Over multiple decades, every game counted and weighted accordingly and Netherlands ends up above Italy, Spain, England, Argentina, France, Portugal and others.
Some years ago I also saw a strong stat (used a cut off though, since the ’70 IIRC) of Dutch results in head to heads with other big country’s. Looked good also. Brazil, France and then Netherlands, but this has probably changed a bit already.
Cheers
Wow…thats a great facts…where did u got this info?
And I just realized that no not Oranje only:(
Brazil and Germany too, because they payed the final in South Korea!!
It is still an interesting fact for people to consider, so thanks for bringing it up.
To prove the pessimism that some members of this blog have … Noone said anything about Chile game. If it was Holland taking 80 mins to score a goal against N Ireland … we would have criticized endlessly!
Chile started with half of theur starters, when Vargas, Sanchez, Vidal comes in it is totally different. Vargas and Sanchez are in brilliant form. However, the first Chile goal is actually offside. But 20 shots 16 on target is not something to be underestimated.
I am still worried about when the defence face Sanchez Vargas Iniesta and Fabregas.
I’m sure they are saying that they are worried about when their defence faces Robben and Van Persie !
Remember winning a WC is not about players … it’s about fitness, mentality and luck during those 3 weeks. Analysing pre-tournament friendlies is therefore useless, but we still do it to have fun 🙂
I just finished rewatching the second half!!! I loved sneijder in the last 20 minutes and that thru ball he gave to robben for the second goal seems to have given him a boost of confidence, after that he made few long range passes, perfect accurate and looked sweet!!! The other player that I really like is wijnaldum!! The guy knows how to play football he can make a dribble and he can pass, he added some quality that is really needed in the middle of the field!! BMI doesn’t convince me at all!!! He is too random and has no style!! The other three guys de vrij vlaar and janmaat are good enough!!
Wijnaldum did better than last game and is still not at his best. He did well recovering possesion, good pressing.
Indi is very average as a LB , but he is a pretty good tackler and is good as a CB , especially in the three defenders system. He is so handy as LCB imo.
Please guys correct me if I am wrong ;
I thought in the beginning of the 2nd half , we played like this
Janmaat __ Vlaar ___ De vrij ___ indi
_______ De jong _____
Wijnamdum______ Blind
________ Sneijder ____
_____ Robben ___ lens
In the last 20 minutes , it was like :
______ Sneijder ____ Blind__
__________ Wijnaldum _____
Robben___________ Lens
________ Hunter __________
I did like sneijder a lot in this part of the game. Absolutely brilliant.
If we can play like this vs Spain ;
De vrij ____ Vlaar ____ Indi
Janmaat ____________ Blind
___ Sneijder ___ De jong ___
_______ Depay _________
Robben _________ Persie
I would like to see us playing with those three upfront. Sneijder and de jong controlling the feild behind them , Janmaat and Blind on the sides.
I thing LvG is preparing for something.
Any thoughts , guys ?
I think that’s too risky against Spain … If De Guzman is out I prefer Wijnaldum over Depay against Spain. But I like the idea of Sneijder playing deeper closer to defense, with someone else behind Robben and RVP.
@mohmed trust me.
Wijnaldum is better skilled than depay and stronger too,just watch the minutes of 53-56 or so……I would take Gio over Depay at any day,though i would not take him as playmaker spot.When we put Robn+Lenz and Wijnaldum its going to be huge for any team,coz they will drag 6 defenders..they all need 2 defeners each at least,so this this will open huge spots ans pace for others especially when u have shooter like sneijder,sneijder will benefit from this.
LVG is playing “confusing or misleading the opponents” …when the matchday itself, its either the opponent confused or we end up “confused”.
The last 20 minutes were good but Wales helped Holland with taking risks.
The main problem is that Holland is unable to open a team, they took about 55 minutes to open Andorra defence. They couldn’t open France one.
Against teams that play attacking football like Japan, Turkey, Ecuador, Holland doesn’t have problems to score and have beautiful phases, but when team park the bus like Ghana did and like Wales did during 70 minutes tonight, Holland players can’t do anything, the movements are slow and predictable. Only Robben creates things with the ball.
If teams play as usual, the three games will be different :
– Spain would have possession and Holland would have to defend
– Australia will park the bus
– Chile will probably play like Japan did, I expect a very open game with goals.
So maybe Australia can be harder than expected if Holland keeps lacking creativity.
Laurent I agree in principle, but remember that against Ghana and Wales we still got the 3 points and that’s what counts. I think Chile style is easiest for Holland. Australia will be very difficult as you say – Spain can go either way, the luckiest will win just like in 2010 Final!
The team would have been much more stronger..if LVG selected
Bruma for veltman
Virjil for BMI
Annholt for Blind
Davy klassen for Fer
Van rhijn for Verhage
I miss vaart and stroot..
but with available ones we can have a formidable team.
if RVP is inured then it should be
Lenz——–hunter———Roben
———–sneijder————-
——Dejong——-Wijnaldum—-
BMI—–Vlaar–Devrij—–Janmaat
————krul——————-
i like wijnaldum and roben and lenz at same time on field this guys could toy any defender in the world,it makes others free am sure we will create plenty of chances.with these three.
How did huntelaar play?
i think van gaal has no plan to play him at all as he likes fast-moving and dribbling forward.
he will only play some minutes in rubbish time of a decided-match.
i feel sorry for him
Kelvin, I agree. It would actually be very ballsy if Van Gaal would go for full retard.
Meaning:
Huntelaar
Robben V Persie Wijnaldum
Sneijder De Jong
Blind De Vrij Vlaar Janmaat
Krul
This would certainly be interesting and might make Spain “park the bus” 🙂
Seriously, I don’t mind playing different ways against different opponents, especially against Spain, who attempt to dominate possession so thoroughly. But I really want to see Holland attack, and I’d prefer to put our best players on the field together and try to outscore the opponent than just pile on a bunch of lesser-skilled defenders and try to ride out a draw.
If it is the last game of the group stage and Oranje needs a win then LVG will go for the above. It is the first group game and a draw is an acceptable result for both teams so I do not see either Spain or Oranje take a risk. LVG will stick for 5-3-2 vs Spain. Both teams are counting on the other to make mistakes. That does not mean they don’t go for the kill but with minimal risk.
i don’t see any reason why oranje should play 532 against spain who will probably play 460 with cesc as a false nine (costa won’t be ready for the first game)
I was at the game yesterday. Pretty nice atmosphere..not so great football. I cud try and analyse the game but i think its of little use. No player gives more than 50% in these games so not possible to rate them or the team performance.
What i will say is that our defense is weak at best..but thats nothing new. This team is a mediocre team with 3 above avarage playes
guess best i can do is show u some lousy pics i made..even tried to write u all a little ” hi” on a piece of paper; didnt quiet work haha (thought this site was stilled called ” worldcupblog! haha)
http://i59.tinypic.com/2ebaipx.jpg
http://i61.tinypic.com/2z3ukhw.jpg
http://i58.tinypic.com/2zg9rt0.jpg
http://i59.tinypic.com/eqt6o7.jpg
grtz to all of u
its good and bad we are getting all these injuries. this world cup is going to be won by a team that overcomes things going wrong. lots going wrong but hey stranger things have happened in the end all you can really do is sit back, watch and enjoy
Saw the match live on TV. It was in the early morning where i live. Honestly was asleep on certain times and the worst part didn’t saw the second goal. Usually i would not feel sleepy watching oranje live matches but guess it was not an entertaining match in overall. Only after the introduction of hunter and oranje play 4-3-3 then the game burst but it was too late to score any more goals. Anyway, a win is a win even if have to play ugly football ( BVM once said )…and 2 win and a draw is enough to boost our morale going to Brazil. HUP HUP ORANJE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LVG has not won against any quality opponet in his second tenure i mean lost to belgium draw with germany,italy loss tp france etc even draw with japan and co..its really scary for a loyal fan
Interesting game.
We wanted Wales to attack us, and test us. And so it happened. Funny. Why is everyone surprised by this?
Blind was first-class in moments. He will be a better player than his father perhaps. Very calm head, very sure feet. And not so slow. He has it all. I can see why he was player of the season in eredivisie. Very talented. Starter for certain. Dutch class.
I was impressed by Lens again. He always raises his game for the national team – many cannot, but he has heart and also skill – good combo. I like him.
So, Sneijder cannot play with Van Persie apparently? Give it more time? Hmmm.
I was not impressed with either player, again.
I think Huntelaar is the perfect centre forward for us, and has been for years. It is a crime that he has never been given a PROPER chance at the highest level. He is the HUNTER. Funny. Look how the defenders were suddenly on their toes when he was introduced to the pitch.
Van Persie is an artist. He lives on killer passes. Arsene Wenger understood this (Robin told him). Ferguson was aware of this also. If you want to get the best from Van Persie, you must play the early killer passes (and make him captain). He does not live off scraps so much, and he does not really fight, or surprise with intelligent movement. He makes beautiful football in open space. He is a marlin. A very gorgeous marlin, flipping and flopping and looking pretty. Dangerous, sure. But pretty. The defenders like a lonely open marlin. It’s very nice to keep him in front of you and watch him dance and make art. In front of you. Stop the killer pass. Stop Van Persie.
Huntelaar is a Great White Shark. When he swam close, the defenders soiled their swimming trunks. His movement alone immediately pulled them out of positions – such a natural apex predator, such an instinctive, clinical killer. Always facing goal. One thing on his mind. So dangerous.
Save the art for the wingers. Feed the big fish. The Hunter! It has been a missing piece in our orange jigsaw for years. Even the Germans understand the basic concept of statistical chance. They have played with a genuine centre forward for generations. Clinical where it matters most. It is good science.
I was not so impressed with Wijnaldum. I don’t see much intelligence. But he will be given more chances no doubt.
De Vrij was honest in defence. A good account.
Vlaar unleashed a rocket – haha – always nice to see!
I was very impressed with Janmaat. Very. This is a quality player. Always has his head up. I like that.
Robben missed a few chances. Nothing new here! Oooops! 😉
I still think he is best on the wings. Ah well.
Some people are upset with a 442 derivative. May I remind you, it is how we won our ONLY tournament.
So Van Gall has played with his toy now.
It is time to see how good we really are when we raise our game to a higher gear – which is obviously the master plan. Learn to defend, then be creative in attack.
I have been gaining confidence with these games. It feels like it is coming together at the right time.
Here is another thought. We usually go on a long run of undefeated games, then destroy some team (normally a Hungary or Scotland) by 5 or 6 goals right before the tournament starts. Everyone goes “yay! we’re gonna w1n”. *sigh*
But statistically, it is highly unlikely that we will score many goals in the next few games, or even win them. There is a cunning madness in these statistical numbers. A pattern. The blips are absorbed. They always even themselves out.
Most teams that win tournaments start badly. Many even lose their first game. THEN they go on a winning streak ‘through’ the tournament.
As amazing as 2010 was – and THANK YOU BERT VAN MARWIJK, DUTCH LEGEND FOREVER – it feels slightly different this time. Maybe this is a good thing.
Hup Holland!
this isnt a long run of undefeated games we lost to france and before euro 2012 we lost to sweden, then bulgaria
Yes, …erm…. that is the point. I think it helps if you read what I write before replying.
Haha *poke*.
Nevermind.
Statistically, you do NOT want a run of undefeated games (or a massive win) before a tournament. This is a comparison of all teams in all tournaments. You compared it to just us, in one tournament. I did not. Bad science, dude. Besides, the wheels had already come off the Oranje Wagon by 2012. When the players no longer carry out the commands, it is just 11 individuals and no team. There is no run of statistical chance which will turn around a general slump like you mention – (as opposed to a ‘blip’ like I mentioned – again, nevermind, I perhaps wasn’t specific enough).
Oh! Forgot to say:
I thought Cillessen was excellent again. He is getting better with each game – really growing into the number one role. He will be tested more thoroughly in the next few weeks, but he has the confidence now to build a string of performances together. Class act.
AWESOME POST! I love the fish comparisons. You enriched the blog 🙂
I don’t agree with Van Hanegem. Sneijder has to play close to our forwards.
———————Cillessen——————–
————DeVrij—–Vlaar—–BMI————–
–Janmaat—————————–Blind——-
———–Sneijder—-Nigel—-Clasie/Wijnaldum–
—————-Robben——-RVP——————
This is how I think LVG will start vs Spain if De Guzman is still injured.
Blind is not doing well as midfielder. We have better options!!!. I really don’t like him there.
With Clasie or Wijnaldum we’ve more creativity, better assists, the game is faster.
Have to go the other way and agree with Van Hanegem. Sneijder and RvP have never combined very well. Oranje really needs a good passer from the back. So seems fairly logical to move one of your great passers back to give you that. Of course you don’t have a lot of size for defending, but he’s sneaky quick.
Robben will always miss some – when you run that hard it’s impossible not to miss a few.
On Huntelaar, very high chance to seem him against Australia I’d guess.
On Huntelaar… if Robin’s injury is as bad as suspected (feared), we might see the Hunter feeding on some paella!
I actually said that before Euro 2012… I said Sneijder plays in DM next to De Jong (or v Bommel) and VDV plays upfront as CAM in a 4-2-3-1 line-up. VDV and RvP can play the combination passes and Sneijder can unleash Robben with his vision and pinpoint passing.
Problem is that Sneijder cannot defend, but if Nigel and 3 center backs are behind him, it’s ok…
Agreed and I think if Sneijder plays at DM, we would have a completely short midfield. Unfortunately neither LvG nor BvM experimented with this and VDV is now injured.
Any news on RVP?
Tiju, you are too funny.. still talking about the selection LVG did NOT make. I agree he should’ve taken a few other blokes like Pieters but we should focus on the positives now rather than cry over spilled milk.
This is our FINAL team and we need to stand behind them 10000%
By the way, does anyone else look at guys like Kongolo when he sits on the bench and think ‘wow, this guy really doesn’t look like he believes he belongs here.’ He looks like he is in utter shock he was selected. Strange, no?
And what about Castelen?
> “By the way, does anyone else look at guys like Kongolo when he sits on the bench and think ‘wow, this guy really doesn’t look like he believes he belongs here.’ He looks like he is in utter shock he was selected. Strange, no?”
Kongolo is a bit of a strange guy altogether. In front of camera he kind of switches between normal answering of questions to answering it like his persona among friends. He then constantly rubs his cheek and talks in a certain way. I guess he is still undecided how he wants to present himself. Boëtius joins him when they are together, so I guess it is a thing, but in front of camera Boëtius is a very good speaker. Fresh, normal and articulated. Vilhena basically says as little as possible.
I also think it is isn’t that weird Kongolo has to pinch himself being there. I mean, the guy is only half a season starter for Feyenoord and now he is on the plane to Brazil. It went really fast for him. We will see if it was too fast.
yes DRB I agree, thanks for the reply.
Don’t you feel like Kongolo is almost a symbol of this whole young squad? Like, deer in headlights: “Hey, can’t believe we all are here?”
> ““Hey, can’t believe we all are here?””
Well, Krull, Vorm, BMI, Janmaat, Fer, Nigel, Robben, RvP, Sneijder, Wijnaldum, Depay, Lens, Kuyt and Huntelaar are pretty confident.
De Vrij, Kongolo, Cillessen look less confident at times.
De Guzman, Clasie, Veltman, Blind and Vlaar are in the middle.
I don’t know. I think looking at the quality of the players that their self confidence is often not even a bad/unfair reflection of their ability. It’s just that they are either young, inexperienced or just not that good. We are caught between generations and with some hurting injuries (Stroot, van Ginkel, Afellay, vdV). I don’t know what is a symbol for this squad. Would have a hard time pointing to it.
What bothers me is that playing one midfielder over the other is such a trade off. Playing Fer for some through balls is giving away so much in the area of handling speed. Playing Blind gives away a lot in the creative passing forward or finesse in the final third. Playing Clasie is really exposing the defenders. De Guzman can switch on his ghost mode any time or any game and now apparently also lost his interesting passing from a deeper position. Stroot, Ginkel, Afellay. More complete.
In that sense I have a soft spot for Kongolo. At least we invest in a guy with a complete profile. Speed, football ability, defensive ability, even penetrating runs into midfield are into the equation with him. Herlich. He can look and talk however he wants, as I want him developed as fast as possible. We need to move forward and for me he is part of the Dutch NT future. Hope he does not get Ron Vlaar burned-Luca Tony style on this WC. That would set things back.
Cheers
LOL, the last piture remembered me of an old academic study about penalties and death. You can see it here.
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2003/1113573489.html
Did you knew that «investigators in the Netherlands had also examined the effects of penalty shoot-outs on deaths. In the European Cup of 1996, Holland met France in the quarter finals. This finely balanced contest had to be resolved by a penalty shoot-out. France won. It was estimated that over 60 per cent of the Dutch population watched the match. There was a 50 per cent increase in mortality in men, although not women, from heart attacks and stroke combined, on the day of the match compared to appropriate control days, which was attributed to the stress associated with penalty shoot-outs.»
Let’s just hope for no shoot-outs this summer. 😉
Hup Holland Hup!
I think a few of us fans should be willing to sacrifice ourselves if we have to go to PK’s in the knock-out rounds. It’s a small price for Oranje to go through to the next stage!
I hope RVP’s groin injury is very minor. If it’s something more than minor, obviously will be a problem. Groin injuries are slow to heal and are easily aggravated.
The Great Hunter……..I tell you you giv him a chance with Robben and Lens upfront then you see the fun.
@NILBOG great analysis. Thoughtful and imaginative. Thanks. So many posts on here you just scroll through ignoring the repetitive crap.
Interesting … Obviously eredivisie is way behind.
NUMBER OF WORLD CUP PLAYERS BY LEAGUE
1. England’s Premier League
2. Italy’s Serie A
3. Germany’s Bundesliga
4. Spain’s Primera Division
5. France’s Ligue 1
6. Russia’s Premier League
7. Mexico’s Liga MX
8. Turkey’s Super Lig
9. Portugal’s Primera Division
9. USA’s MLS
MLS will jump a few spots in a few years as there is money to be spent.
Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV players will win the WC and Eredivisie will jump a few spots too!
No that did not take into account where the players spend their youth to develop. There are actually 39 non dutch players who was developed in Eredivisie in this world cup.
If you add the 23 dutch players that is 62. Not bad at all.
There would be way more if Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Serbia did not miss the WC.
EPL with 105 players … Tenth placed MLS with 22 players.
Hunter (RVP)——- Lens———-
—————Robben—————–
——-Sneijder———- Wijnaldum——
——–De Jong—————-
———BMI——-Vlaar———De Vrij——Janmaat
——————Krul————————-
in this formation you can easily turn 4-1-2-1 into 4-4-3 when during attack and 5 defenders is enough for spain in my opinion.
Jan I also like your formation too
Huntelaar
Robben V Persie Wijnaldum
Sneijder De Jong
Blind De Vrij Vlaar Janmaat
Krul
I wish we could have tested this formation early rather than when we run out of options like what BVM did.
Janmaat agrees Napoli Move
Borussia Dortmund are keeping an eye on Twente winger Quincy Promes
Terrible move by Janmaat. He will regret it.
Not agreed yet.
Napoli is a good move for Janmaat actually!. Good for him.
Agreed, the other option is Arsenal but I think that is a little early. Napoli is in need of a RB. Indi to Napoli can be good as well and De Vrij to Lazio.
Napoli still have not finalized the transfer fee yet. It should be between 6.5m and 8m.
I think Janmaat should move to a top club. He will be able to make himself a starter in any team . He has a great Mentality , Similar to Strootman. Arsenal is a better option imo. Sagna has already left the team.
On a side note , Netherlands didn’t lose a single game with Janmaat as a starter. Very interesting piece of information .
On the other hand , I’d really like to see De vrij and Promes with Dortumond. Would be great to have two of our youngsters playing under Klupp. Also Bundesliga is a very good league to continue developing after Eredivisie.
When Dutch players make a move, the only thing I care is it is the coach that wants the player not the club. Luuk De Jong’s failure is still there to show the youngster, never move too early and make a wise choice (for Van Wolfswinkel).
I am not sure if De Vrij is ready for Dortumund, maybe two years in Lazio will be better.
Promes is definitely not ready for a move abroad. At least another year in Eredivisie.
The last generation made bad choices and cost us an entire generation lost. I do not want to see it happen to this generation again.
Sometimes the negativity on this site is staggering – a comfortable 2-0 win against Wales barely giving them a shot on goal is somehow seen as a bad thing because Cillissen didn’t get tested?! Seriously?!
I’ve seen the Chile highlights – their left back perpetually fouling a 19-year-old who has managed 9 starts for Barnsley this year and some woeful defending from the subsequent free kicks – good luck against Robben and the likes of Vlaar and BMI in the air.
They struggled to break down a Northern Ireland team that had come half way across the world with little time to adapt, are considerably worse than Wales (49 places different if anyone cares about the FIFA rankings still) and when they did score in the 79th minute it was offside. Sorry but these are really not fearsome opponents.
I think Oranje will lose or possibly sneak a 0-0 against Spain and should win the other 2 matches fairly comfortably. Chile are such a niche team Van Gaal should be able to find a tactic to deal with them.
I agree with most of what you said but Chile should by no means be underestimated, Vargas, Sanchez Vidal are all great players. Against Chile it is more depended on the coach’s strategy, if we make use of the wings and our header advantage we might even get a big win.
But you never know what Van Gaal will do, he put up a ridiculous 442 against Wales that really scared me, if decided to play possesion build up game against Chile we will be killed.
I think Van Gaal plays the most important role on this team.
As he said, we can beat any teams in the world but can also lose to anyone.
quote: ” and when they did score in the 79th minute it was offside.”
That only makes me worry more, the WC is already in South America, they’re already everyone’s favorite second team almost and now it’s confirmed they’re getting referee help as well?
Great. The writing is on the wall as they say.
Can some body explain this …..Van Gaal has already made it clear about his intention to use Kuyt as wing back if need arises then what about Paul Verhaegh. same boat as with Kongolo IMO. I think Van Rhihn would have beem more suited for the wing back position after Wiel. Verhaegh is a defensive minded
Yes, but you can see by the run of bad luck with our midfielders that it might also be important that Kuyt offers back-up for them, too. The flexibility of BMI, Blind, Lens — and Kuyt — are significant values in the team, IMO.
vory Coast 2014 World Cup squad
Goalkeepers: Boubacar Barry (Lokeren), Sylvain Gbohouo (Sewe Sport), Sayouba Mande (Stabaek)
Defenders: Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro (Toulouse), Serge Aurier (Toulouse), Souleymane Bamba (Trabzonspor), Arthur Boka (VfB Stuttgart), Viera Diarrassouba (Caykur Rizespor), Constant Djakpa (Eintracht Frankfurt), Kolo Toure (Liverpool), Didier Zokora (Trabzonspor)
Midfielders: Geoffroy Serey Die (Basel), Ismael Diomande (St Etienne), Max Gradel (St Etienne), Cheick Tiote (Newcastle United), Yaya Toure (Manchester City), Didier Ya Konan (Hannover 96)
Forwards: Mathis Bolly (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Wilfried Bony (Swansea City), Didier Drogba (Galatasaray), Gervinho (AS Roma), Salomon Kalou (Lille), Giovanni Sio (Basel).
Will you also post Honduras ?
More seriously Lamouchi is fucking silly to ignore Doumbia (who is the russian topscorer) and to prefer him a player of Dusseldorf…
I hope they’ll play like that :
————————Barry———————
–Zokora————K.Touré——–Bamba———Aurier
—————-Yaya Touré———Tioté—————–
–Gervinho————————————–S.Kalou
—————-Drogba———-Bony——————-
He also didn’t call Eboué. I put quite much on Ivory Cost passing the first round so I hope they will do it.
Honduras squad
Goalkeepers: Noel Valladares, Donis Escober (both Olimpia), Luis Lopez (Real Espana)
Defenders: Brayan Beckeles (Olimpia), Emilio Izaguirre (Celtic/Scotland), Juan Carlos Garcia (Wigan/England), Maynor Figueroa (Hull City/England), Victor Bernardez (San Jose Earthquakes/USA), Osman Chavez (Qingdao Janoon/China PR), Juan Pablo Montes (Motagua)
Midfielders: Arnold Peralta (Rangers/Scotland), Luis Garrido (Olimpia), Roger Espinoza (Wigan/England), Jorge Claros (Motagua), Wilson Palacios (Stoke/England), Oscar Garcia (Houston Dynamo/USA), Andy Najar (Anderlecht/Belgium), Mario Martinez (Real Espana), Marvin Chavez (Colorado Rapids/USA)
Forwards: Jerry Bengtson (New England Revolution/USA), Jerry Palacios (Alajuelense/Costa Rica), Carlo Costly (Real Espana), Rony Martinez (Real Sociedad/Spain
No Big names…..
Does anyone have any update on De Guzman? Will he be fit enough to go to Brazil or LVG has to call up another player?
Do u guys know any website with nice oranje cartoons and screensavers?? I want a couple to post on my Facebook account, tease fans of other teams:) maybe a dutch website would have that?
No idea. Just google it?
yeah thanks Jan:) I found some good ones on some dutch websites!!
when are you going to start giving us some dutch language classes jan for the “non-dutch” oranje fans here:)??
I found this nice pic:
http://www.oranjecamping.nl/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Bus-Oranje-Trophy-de-Aanvoerder.jpg
If according to Van Hanegen we need more creativity up front our defense, why not play Clasie instead De Guzman?
I agree with Van Hanegem observation but not in the solution. Instead to play Sneider there, we can use Clasie.
What do you think?
@eduardo,
I totally agree with u!! Against Wales it was clear how much we needed clasie touch and eyes!! Having de Jong who is only good for protecting the defense because he is zero when it comes to participation in build up means we need the other midfielders to be both very good at passing the ball, u can’t have de Jong plus another midfielder who is also not good in build up play!!
Just imagine if things didn’t go wrong with us and van Ginkel and strootman didn’t have those big injuries, it team would be
————–gk————-
———defense————
Van Ginkel-sneijder-strootman
—Robben—persie—-depay—
Isn’t this team amazing???
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldcup2014/article-2649879/Louis-Van-Gaal-slammed-Dutch-fitness-coach-training-Holland-players-Robin-van-Persie-suffers-groin-strain.html
Interesting article. I tend to believe it, but then I’m not a Van Gaal fan so..
daily mail is 100 % made up
I’m from england it is a terrible newspaper