Great night for Oranje

blog Euro 2020 Euro 2021
by Jan

I wish I followed my instincts and wrote in my previous post that I wouldn’t play with the same eleven vs Gibraltar.

I would have gone with a 3-4-3 and probably leave out Dumfries. I didn’t so I can’t claim to be smarter than De Boer but I have the feeling most of you would probably support that notion anyway.

Frank started the game with the same eleven as he did vs Latvia. I can understand the sentiment, but against a 5-4-1 dogged team like Gibraltar you really don’t need 4 at the back!

Even stronger: in the home game, I think De Boer should put De Ligt on goal!

The first half, we simply had too many issues breaking them down. The two main problems: the ball pace was way too low and our bright midfielders ended up clogging up the box with their bodies making it easy for the Gibraltians (?) to defend. That, and their excellent goalie of course.

Denzel Dumfries ended up with the most issues. And according to influential football magazine VI, he was the only player who got a bad rating. He himself has said, that at times he has “hard feet”, meaning, he lacks the technical finesse to play in small spaces.

The Gibraltar coach is renowned for his tight organisation and there was hardly any room for Dumfries to do what he does best: run into space.

He did play a crucial part in the opening goal in the first half, but Frank subbed him at half time and brought prodigal talent Ryan Gravenberch as midfielder, to cover the space on the right. His contribution would become vital, allowing Berghuis to grow into a Man of the Match performer.

The first 20 minutes were shambolic. Uninspired, slow and sluggish. The first goal made the difference, as we all knew it would. It should have been scored sooner though. The second stage of the first half resembled the Latvia match: heaps of opportunities and half chances, but no sharpness in finishing. Davy Klaassen was against guilty of not having his sights sharp.

In the second half, some things that could be predicted happened: the second goal broke the back of the opponent a bit. They got tired. They were no longer able to track everything. Gravenberch played his part too, being the deep lying playmaker next to Frenkie, allowing Berghuis to stay wide and forcing the defenders to choose: do we stay, do we press, do we follow the runner…

Here are some examples: Latvia had issues with Klaassen as they played 4-4-2 and didn’t have the man available to take care of the Ajax midfielder. Gibraltar had 5 at the back so there was always the free defender to pick up Klaassen. The two wide midfielders would assist with stopping Dumfries and Wijndal. Because of this, Oranje needed to find space centrally.

Look at this situation. Wijnaldum needs to pass the ball. We have four players standing in line, up front: Frenkie, Luuk de Jong, Memphis and Klaassen. The midfielders have pulled their direct opponents with them and as a result the spaces became even smaller. And with Berghuis moving inside as well, the suffocation was complete. Frank de Boer even mentioned this problem beforehand, when he said: “Playing more forwards is not going to work, as the spaces will get smaller. We need to lure the opponent away from the centre and then make quick combinations into that open space!”

Oranje runs into these spaces and fills them up and does Gibraltar a favour!

The two first goals are good examples of what is needed. The first goal is the result of depth without the ball. A run in behind and it’s Dumfries who creates it. Berghuis finds the ball in front of his left wand and knows how to bury it.

In the second half, for the second goal, we see what was missing in the first: players coming into midfield to ask for the ball and creating space behind them. Here it’s Memphis pulling a defender with him, and Klaassen does this with the left back. This results in Berghuis getting more freedom and Luuk de Jong is then one-on-one in the box: 2-0.

Gravenberch offers more options in midfield. The Gibraltar players are pulled into the midfield more and this is how the pockets of space appear.

The fourth goal is a perfect example. Gravenberch, Klaassen and Memphis join at the right side in midfield. The left midfielder is now forced to stick to them which puts Berghuis in a one v one situation with the left full back. In the first half, Dumfries runs would bring that left midfielder next to the left back, making it tough for Berghuis. The Berghuis cross ends up with Wijnaldum who scores the fourth goal.

Same story for the fifth goal. Gravenberch lures an opponent in, Berghuis gets space to play with. He then pulls two opponents towards him allowing Memphis to pass into Klaassen who runs into space. His pass to Malen is a simple tap in. The two final goals are the result of a similar situation but then with Wijndal on the left.

The big lesson for Oranje: lure the defenders out of their comfort zone and use the dynamics to play in the wide players who are capable of taking on an opponent with an individual action. Another big change, was to play Memphis in midfield and having him want the ball in his feet.

The win was predictable. The number of goals was enough, not overly spectacular, but enough. And Frank de Boer finally showed his qualities by analysing the first half and doing what was needed in the second half.

A good night for Oranje, also because Turkey forgot to win against Latvia. They threw a 3-1 lead away and had to be content with a draw. This resulted in a wry comment by De Boer: “Hmm, so the 2-0 against Latvia actually wasn’t that bad after all….”.

A big wet blanket was placed over the win by the sad demise of Daley Blind. In what was a rare outing up front for De Barr, Blind was pulled to the ground by accident and one of his feet got stuck in the turf, which may have damaged his knee or his ankle. Unsure at this point. It looked terrible and the Ajax star had to be taken of by stretcher. It didn’t look too good.

Frenkie and Memphis both were quite happy with how it all panned out. Both players realised during their post-match interview that things ended up pretty well for Oranje. “Yes, we did the job. It wasn’t great, I know. We started weak, it was sluggish, we had to get used to the pitch and they were really dogged. But I think if you told people up front that we would win 7-0, everyone would be happy. I think at least. The second half was ok. And yes, Turkey dropped points of course, so it actually was more than ok. Yes, we actually had a top night!” So spoke Frenkie de Jong.

Skipper Gini Wijnaldum had a frown on his face: “The first half was very frustrating. We were a bit pissed off at the break and unhappy. It resembled the match vs Latvia. So much good intentions but so little to show for. The 7-0 was fine at the end, but it could have been double figures and I’m not happy that we failed to do so. We didn’t really celebrate our goals, we were on a mission. And yes, it’s awesome that Turkey dropped points, but we need to stop looking at others and focus on our own performances and improve!”

Last but not least, Young Oranje did tremendous business. It beat Hungary 6-1 and Cody Gakpo was the main man for the Dutch. When the reporters after the game asked the PSV winger whether he was going to play for the seniors or the youngsters, Gakpo was about to answer. And then coach Van de Looi walked by and coughed loudly. Gakpo: “Oh, I think I’m not supposed to answer that question….” Young Oranje ended this little group as group winner: well done lads!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFXo1bcV0xo

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65 comments

  1. Turkey-7 points

    Nerthlands- 6points

    Montenegro-6 points

    Norway- 6 points

    This will be a very intresting group come the next round of qualifers.Not sure if FDB will be around but hopeing to see more quality players drafted into the squad. Danjuma being first one the list. If karsdorp makes the euro squad, well and good, if not he surely needs to be recalled.

    Some of the JO contingent as well, aleast on the bench. Lang, Gakpo and yeah Brobbery. Gakpo is the type of player you need in your team. Currently the NT lacks players who have the abilities of thundering those long distance torpedos like what Gakpo has shown. Was also impressed with brobbery, he can add that muscle in the box plus can become a solid partner with Depay up front.he is also good in the air.

    Also should FDB depart, I would like to see Van Bommel and Van Marwjik take over.

  2. Two posts in a row, Jan, where I was responding on your prior post without realizing you’d already started a new one!! Love that you’re posting so quickly, I just need to adjust so I can keep up with you!

    Great post and a great day for Oranje. What I love most about your post is the quotes from the players and de Boer, which show that they understand where they are and what these results mean, what’s needed, what can be improved, etc. the only problem with winning 7-0 is that you could take the position as a player/team that you’re amazing, that you’re world beaters. Glad to see that they’re not looking at it this way, that’s good for the next round of qualifying matches and for the Euros.

  3. In sept I’m expediting to see a lot of new faces In the Oranje squad .

    One of them is Ihattaren, it’s been really too long and I’m worrying that we gonna lose him eventually . Of course , I’m expecting to see an improved ihattaren, not the current one

    1. Ihattaren has deleted all of his instagram posts where he is involved with the Netherlands National Team in any way, which is a bad sign for us.

      1. Ihattaren is very promising player but he is not disciplined and I do not think his attitude will change. I am pretty sure he will chose Morocco

          1. ihatteren has no discipline…thats wont take him any where….yes he is top talent getting spoiled by coacky nature.

  5. I cannot really understand why Netherlands u21 don’t use ihatteren. We really need him. He is our best attacking mid. Even now. If we miss him there will be another ziyash.

    Anyone has any news about him

    1. Faraz,
      a person could be a brilliant scientist, engineer, footballer, etc. However, if s/he is not a team player and constantly creates a toxic environment then s/he will be outcast and eventually fired. Football is a team game and if one young, talented, but unrulable player like Ihattaren consistently violates norms of discipline and can not get along with the coach because he follows his own rules (my way or no way) then coach needs to make a hard decision. I understand that this is a coach’s task to develop a customized approach to each player to ensure that relationships are working. However, this should also be a two-way traffic. So far, based on media reports Ihattaren does not want to do his part of the work. If he continues this way, he will be out of PSV soon and nobody will want to work with him. I do not think we can compare his situation with the one of Hakim Ziech. Hakim was an accomplished player with some level of the middle eastern swagger which never been a problem. Ihattaren is a beginner who is not in position to tell his coach what to do and how to do things. So, Ihattaren needs to decide for himself what exactly he wants: to be some tough boy that does not give a fuck about team or behave properly and work on his development and growth. If he is a smart young man he will follow the second option.

    2. Faraz,
      a person could be a brilliant scientist, engineer, footballer, etc. However, if s/he is not a team player and constantly creates a toxic environment then s/he will be outcast and eventually fired. Football is a team game and if one young, talented, but unrulable player like Ihattaren consistently violates norms of discipline and can not get along with the coach because he follows his own rules (my way or no way) then coach needs to make a hard decision. I understand that this is a coach’s task to develop a customized approach to each player to ensure that relationships are working. However, this should also be a two-way traffic. So far, based on media reports Ihattaren does not want to do his part of the work. If he continues this way, he will be out of PSV soon and nobody will want to work with him. I do not think we can compare his situation with the one of Hakim Ziech. Hakim was an accomplished player with some level of the middle eastern swagger which never been a problem. Ihattaren is a beginner who is not in position to tell his coach what to do and how to do things. So, Ihattaren needs to decide for himself what exactly he wants: to be some tough boy that does not give a fuck about team or behave properly and work on his development and growth. If he is a smart young man he will follow the second option.

  6. Frank de boer is saying”‘its not bad getting 2-0″” after hearing turkey drew with latvia….
    He should understand that Turkey is not A TOP TEAM…..we should have murdered them in their own back yard….
    Now Septemeber we have 3 matches vs Montenegreo,Norway and Turkey…. win with 1-0 in all matches would be a huge step towards direct qua;ification…

    1. He was being cynical Tiju. That is a Dutch thing. He was criticised for the lack of goals and now he said with a smile “we didn’t do that bad”… It’s a joke.

  7. Guys…any one noticed …
    klassen played good against three weak teams and he performed better than Dumbfry,winjdal,Krul,wijnaldum,De roon …..
    How many chance he needed to get a gaol???how many chance he bottled??
    its a serious concern…you cannot do this VS portugal,france etc..

    1. Martinez has being doing a very good job at CB but Taglifico if not avaliable then could be problem.otherwise dont think he will be missed at all.

  9. Just as I was thinking that maybe Jan is right and DeBoer can’t be so bad after all he goes and slams Gibraltar for playing anti football. WTF man!? What kind of loser would go on and trash Gibraltar with a population of 33000 and that only started playing international football the last few years. A real jerk. Did this punk expect Gibraltar to go all out attack against a 3 time WC finalist? Can’t believe he stooped so low.

    1. I don’t think he said it in that way. He basically said: “they were set up to stop us from scoring, and they did that very well”. He wasn’t overly critical of them. He did not like them wasting time and I think that is fair enough, time wasting is not good sportsmanship. Chillax.

      1. Hey Jan, it kinda hurts that you think I am making up stuff about your favorite coach. Do me this huge favor and Google “frank de Boer slams Gibraltar”. To make it easier for you here is a link: https://www.besoccer.com/new/de-boer-accuses-gibraltar-of-anti-football-in-netherlands-7-0-win-973831
        I stand by what I said and I will add that this guy is a real @.sshole. B!tching after a 7-0 rout against a team that doesn’t even belong to 3rd or 4th league of any big soccer country in Europe is SICK. Can’t chillax when I read trash like that. Go ahead and try to sugarcoat his jerk behavior. I can tolerate a coach who doesn’t have skills or does his best but doesn’t succeed but being mean like that I can’t tolerate. He sounds like a terrible character.

        1. italy park,poland park amd even turkey park..
          He should shut his mouth and concentreate on Euro and september qualifiers…
          Hope he brings Cody gakpo,Tyrell malacia,karsdorp,geetruida…
          dumbfry is hotrrrible to watch….Winjadl will be smoked by leory sane,Gnabry,silva etc….

        2. Just a follow up to my post. I may have gone too far with name calling re: FDB, sorry. It’s not that I hate him but I was really shocked to hear his comment after the game. Anyways best of luck to him. Regardless of my distrust in him I still want NT to succeed.

  10. Judging from the WC qual results, seems no team has really convinced – Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain and Germany.
    Hopefully FDB makes good choices for the final squad. Surely team needs finetuning still. 🤞

    1. This is where you are wrong and are basing your argument just by looking at the score line.u see this is where you put a blind eye on the reality of the matter and have been plunged into thinking just because some of big nations are peforming averagely vs minors,they are in the same boat as NT,because they lost to Turkey and then lativa drew with Turkey while NT beat lativa in their fixture.

      You cant simply weigh NT in the same scale with other big nations . You can say they(others) have been unconvincing but you fail to see whats happening behind the fold. Alot of coaches are still trying to put the puzzle together by maintaining and carrying forward that high level of continuity from previous games and using the same players in different formations,new players and also player rotation of the bench, building depth and overall fine tunning the best team possible. Comes euros everything will fall into its place and only team bonding will be left. This is whats gonna win you euros and France and Portgual are two teams that are well on this course.

      For NT unfortunately the same cannot be said or predicted as they have a belief “NT is not a platform for development or experimentation” the team is also mediocre being centred around certain key players who are the spine of the team and if they get injured, its a disaster.

      1. I think the next EC and WC will go to a country in this group: England, France, Belgium and Portugal. Not a fan of any of them but if once I hated Portugal I now am a fan. Fantastic players under an old time coach. Belgium I can also digest even though it is nowhere near to authentic belgians of the 80s and 90s but France and England I can’t stand. I hope Italy makes it as well.

  11. Good to see Jayden Braaf getting minutes at Udinese. Started actually vs Atanlata until 70′ got subbed.

    Sam Lammers on the other hand at Atalanta has been stuck on bench for ages now. Unless either of muriel or zapata departs Atalanta, its gonna be seeing him getting minutes.

  13. Weghorst with another assist. Wolfsburg is heading for CL next season and the main force of Wolfsburg is Weghorst. But knowing FDB, he will ignore Weghorst again.

    1. Lille have one crucial fixture left which is vs Lyon while PSG apart from CL games have a plain sailing till the last match day. Whoever drops points will kiss goodbye to the title.

      I watched the game and the best part for me was Pocettinho got to taste his own medicine after his selection back fired on him. He has been overlooking Bakker to Abdou Diallo for sometime now who is more a CB and it was from his error which resulted in the Lille’s goal after being caught out cold. In the end he was forced to deploy bakker who actually was an instant upgrade to him but in the end it remained 1-0.

      Looking at Balker’s performance, defensively he ticks all the boxs, offensivy he needs to work on his crosses and dribbling as well. His going forward was good but the end product was not there. In attacking phases he just couldnt go around his oponent and kept passing back wards. This is where Kurzawa and Brenat are excellent going forward.

      PSG didnt have much grip in the game as well and hence lille back line didnt have much to do.only during set pieces they looked to be threatened Cant recall botman being called in action much.

      1. Did not watch yesterday game. But in general, he is very strong in the air. His tackle is good. His passing is just ok, not good enough. He tend to make some mistakes just like Schuurs.

      2. Tyrell malacia out classees him in evry departments except headers as Malacia is short 1.70m guy…
        Bakker is joke going forward,atrocious crosses,no connnectivity with left winger,moves stalls with bakker…
        IF malacia,Blind,sinkgraven,annholt,jetro williams is njured we can look bakker..nothing special

  17. Bergwijn, VDB and Propper should seek transfer. They are not playing. Bergwijn is not even on the bench today.

    Zirkzee got another injury. It looks like he is gone at this time.

  20. Its again shows the incompetency of KNVB management,selectors, choches or whoever is making the decision there.

    There was issues surrounding ihattaren at PSV, the fallout with coach and lack of game time before the u21 squad was announced but given the tournament was schduled to be played in phases he should have been selected just to make the squad based on his experience and technical ability merit. I mean you look at VD Beeks selection in NT.The QFs was scheduled to be in May and just after the internationals ( group games) Ihattaren makes huge statement coming of the bench to prove the critics wrong. Maybe not for De Wit but surely for jurgen ekklenkamp who only played 8 minutes through out the three games.

    Im not sure if he is on the standby list,if somebody gets injured from the initial 23 or whether its eligible to make changes to the intial team list come QFs but all in all its loss for JO.

  21. Watched Ajax vs Heerenveen and must say finally joey veerman lived up to his Bill and even though they lost, he was a masterclass in the midfield causing awhole lot of problems for Ajax with his technical passing and setting up offensive counter which left ajax backline into 6s and 7s.
    Unfortunately for him their forwards lacked the cutting edge and were not clinical enough. Looking at his overall performace, there is no doubt that he is ready to take the next step and move to either of the top 3 clubs in eredivisie.
    Not only him but Mitchell van Bergen as well. He is such an underrated player. Was in the thick of things as well terrorizing the flanks with his speed but the end product let him down. Should have scored after being set up one on one by veerman with only Gk to beat.

    Kjell scherpen also made his debut for Ajax after a good outings in the euro u21s. Had few nervy moments but recovered well with some good saves.

  23. Danjuma now in Blistering form.one assist and goal in last two two games. west Ham and few others clubs have started scouting him out. hopefully he secures a move in the summer.

      1. Agree…I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t at least get called into the training camp for the Euros. Give him a chance to show what he can do, and if he stands out, he should make the team and play.

        1. I think I read somewhere there is two friendlys scheduled for May before the euros starts. one of them being vs Scotland and the other yet to be confirmed.

  24. Cody Gakpo and Danjuma deserves the call over Berjwin and Babel at least…..
    koopmeiners and bazoer over De roon and strootman..
    Tyrell malacia over Winjadal,Blind,annholt,Jetro..
    Sven botman is outstanding as well ..i heard ake recovered but is he p[laying???
    if virgil absent …then Botman is must..
    ================================
    Danjuma,Gakpo,Depay,Malen,Luuk,Stengs(any one among 3)
    Then
    Frenkie,Gravenberch,koopmeiners,Bazoer,Gini(only as sub)..De beek…its better to drop Gini and klassen..as weill have better team with out them..

  25. Just watched the Ajax game. Two big mistakes—Tadic missed a penalty leading 1-) and Scherpen butchered a free kick—and they pay the price. Have to score at least 2 goals in Rome now. Not easy, but doable as Roma doesn’t have the tightest defense, but Neres and Antony have to up their games for the offense to thrive.

    As an aside, Timber looks like he turn into a very good player.

          1. It will simply be a waste when he needs to be playing constantly like during Emmen days. He has already wasted this season with jong Ajax and another season on the bench at Ajax will only delay his progress compared Bijlow and few others who are regular in eredivisie.

  26. Ajax , always naïve and loyal to its never ending habit of being wasteful to the extreme. Same way they went out to Tottenham. Same thing here against Roma. Instead of winning by at least 3 goals they lose. It may the only experienced team in euro cups that plays like a total newbie.

  27. Good weekend for Dutchies

    Weghorst scored one goal and one assist

    Danjuma scored 2 goals taking his tally to 13 goals now.

    Bakker played full 90′ vs Strasbourg. Xavi simons also made his debut for PsG in this game coming late in the game.

    Ake also clocked over 50′ minutes vs leeds. Looked rusty but had some good interventions. Was clearly better than stones.

    Pascal Struijk also had a solid game coming at Half time

  28. Terence is a reliable LB than winjdal,Blind,Annholt,Jtero….He could play as LCB as well..He is defensivly very solid,hard tackler,good ball controll…he displaced BMI from feynoord first 11…
    Tyrell Malacia is Top notch,amazing pitbull defender,fantastic dribbler, very good crosses…Very speedy player…
    i feel from Tyrell,Terence and Jetro we should choose our LB….
    on right it should be Karsdorp,Geetruida,Rensch,Timber….Both dumbfry and hateboer is S@@#t …

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