With the KNVB team almost up to speed (surely Koeman will be the man) it’s interesting to focus on the top quality players we thought we had… Jetro Willems came like a comet and disappeared into mediocrity last season. He’s picking up the pieces in the Bundesliga now.
“What is good arrives quick” is a typical Dutch saying. We saw it with JC, with Seedorf, Van Basten, Messi, Rooney… Age is not a concern, it’s all about quality. Giggs could play well into his 30s, so what? Jetro Willems appeared to be another top player who presented himself at top level in Holland at 17 years. And through a stroke of luck, ended up in the – disappointing – Oranje eleven for the EC2012.
Developed at Sparta Rotterdam, he made name real quick. Fast, strong, great technique and a wonderful left foot. PSV didn’t wait for the other clubs to wake up and immediately snatched him up. When Oranje and PSV left back Erik Pieters got seriously injured, Willems took his spot in Eindhoven, and not much later, the youngster was selected by Bert van Marwijk for the Euros2012. In his first 5 minutes in the match vs Denmark, he almost became a legend by hitting the ball like a rocket on goal, only for it to splash onto the bar. In that highly disappointing campaign, Willems was one of the high lights.
His coach Advocaat at PSV called him complacent. His Young Oranje coach Cor Pot called him naive. Willems always listened to the criticism and with his involved parents as advisers, he would improve himself.
After making a name as the youngest player at a Euros tournament ever, he also saw the other side of being a pro. Willems was a little bit too soft on himself. And in the year after the Euros, he even lost his spot in Young Oranje.
He also had to cope with a series of injuries at PSV Eindhoven but the season before last, he shone again. With the highest number of assists, he won the title with PSV, helping Luuk de Jong score and riding the wave with other marquee players like Memphis and Wijnaldum. And while Depay left for Man U and Wijnaldum went to Newcastle United, Willems decided to stay at PSV.
The season following was a dreadful one for the youngster. Hardly any assists, Luuk de Jong forgot how to score, more injuries and as a result, ridicule from the tv pundits for his weight problem. It was time for Willems to move on. But the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona and Bayern Munich weren’t interested…
The 23 year old was still keen to reach the European top, but he has to make a detour. AS Roma and AS Monaco were in the running for his signature, but Willems decided on the Bundesliga. Eintracht Frankfurt. An unlikely decision.
Willems: “And credit to my dad. Because of him, I’m here. Really, I was happy to go with the other clubs, and I never thought about the Bundesliga. I mean, the Bundesliga…that is a lot of running and working, right? I am not a great runner, I’m good on the ball. But my dad convinced me and I think him for it. Frankfurt came late in the game, we basically had decided for another club, we had negotiated the deal etc. It was almost done. But dad started to google Eintracht. Their games, their practices, he investigated the coach and he said to me: “I think Eintracht is ideal for you.”. I didn’t get it… He never ever pushed me to do anything, so when he said this… I took it seriously. And I thought. Ok. Bundesliga it is.”
Willems would discuss this with his dad later on. And his dad was quite harsh. “He never told me off he was always positive. But now, he basically said: let’s face it. You’re good on the ball, you’re a good passer, but in the turn-around you’re hopeless. You let your man go, you jog back, you’re too easy on your self! Now, look at the big full backs in Europe. Alaba. Marcelo. Alvez. They run their guts out. They work like crazy. Yes, all good players, but all hard workers. You won’t make it to the top if you don’t get that part of the game down.” Willems had to concede and went for it at Eintracht.
Willems: “Man, how I found out about that running. The first weeks of pre-season was so harsh. The first session I did was a 3 hour training, and after 2,5 hours I cramped up. So they said, don’t worry, we’ll do some easy running later today, to run it off. Guess what, that was an hour forest run! And I had done the first part of the pre-season with PSV and thus the second part with Eintracht. Incomparable. Seriously. At PSV, you work with the ball. At Eintracht, the ball doesn’t even come along to trainingscamp. We would run 14 kilometers per training day. Every day. Here, you need to be able to play full throttle every match, for 90 minutes. It’s that simple.”
Willems currently is top fit and starts to enjoy the hard work. “I never minded hard work, if I can see it aims towards something, sure. It’s not that I like it, but it’s a matter of just doing it, right? But my body mass index is still the same, don’t get wrong. Some people thought I was fat at PSV? But that is all muscle man. I’m a big boy, but I have a six pack and always had that. The only thing, my neck started to become a bit big, due to the muscle work I did in the gym, when I was injured. I looked fat, but I am fit as ever.”
Playing in Germany is a bit different. “Here, you play a good game, they will say: good game! In Holland, it’s always: good game, but…. this and that was not good. There is always that “but” in Holland. Look at PSV this season. Last season: criticism because they couldn’t get the results. This season, PSV is leader but still people whine and whinge that it’s not good enough… Typical. And my view of football has changed. I loved to do the cool and fancy things, but now, I realise it’s only about winning! I know Mourinho and Conte…they don’t care how they win, as long as they win. It’s time I start focusing on trophies rather than a cool trick or a good shot.”
Willems keeps on going: “In Germany, if you can’t win, the new aim is to not lose. In Holland, if you can’t win, you will try even harder to win. With the result, potentially, that you lose! I grew up with the Dutch school of football and attacking football is my thing, but here I have learned to play for the result. The Bundesliga enriched me like that.”
Eintracht Frankfurt is doing well this season and Willems plays a key part in it. “We are sub top now and we can look up instead of down. But, we’re not Bayern Munich, which can win games at 75% commitment. We really need to work our asses off for a win. The big thing here, like in the Premier League, is that any team can beat any team. In Holland, we only had two real rivals, Ajax and Feyenoord. We were expected to win the other matches. In Germany, it’s a bit more close. But tactically, the Dutch are better. Here, if the build up fails, they just hit a long ball forward. Boom! But in the last phase of the attack, everything goes much quicker here. Zip zip, some passing, first touch and before you know it it’s a goal, or a chance. And it’s constant. In Holland, we had moments in the game, where I knew I wouldn’t be involved. It was predictable, the patterns. I sometimes lost some focus. Here that is impossible. You need to be on your toes constantly.”
Willems is the fourth on the list of players with the most crosses, but he is number 1 in term of accuracy. He is no. 6 on the list of players creating chances. “Wijnaldum always pointed stats out to me, he’d always say: numbers don’t lie!”.
Willems about his position: “I am confident in the 3-5-2 system, which means I play 20 yards more forward and my defensive tasks are less important than in a 4-3-3. But I do need to track back of course, the coach expects me to take care of the whole left wing. So I need to be top fit.”
Life is good in Germany. Willems lives with his 29 year old cousin, who cooks for him and does odds and sodds for Jetro. “We have 17 nationalities in the team, it’s quite a cosmopolitan team. We speak English mainly but I’m learning German too, I can understand it. In Holland, it was all becoming “normal”. Here, both professionally and personally, it’s a new world for me. I’m out of my control zone now. It’s good.”
Willems enjoys being more anonymous. “Somehow I managed to get the attention of some tv pundits. It’s probably my own fault. I remember being interviewed when we were trailing behind Ajax two seasons ago, and I jokingly said – with a straight face – that we would win it, and we did! Hahaha, and I had some more funny interviews but somehow people don’t always get that humour. Football humour. And when I seemed to have gained weight, they were all over me. It’s good to be in a country where I am not important. They still call me a talent here in Germany. At PSV, I was one of the veterans, hahaha. I did play six seasons for PSV, won titles, played the Euros, I was one of the players in the dressing room who’d talk and be present. Here it’s different, with players like De Guzman and Boateng… I know my part here.”
Looking back at the criticism: “I understand the criticism. I simply wasn’t good enough, not consistent enough. I try to be honest with myself. I had this reputation of “he doesn’t care” but that is not correct. I do care. I am highly critical towards myself. I’m not arrogant, but I do speak my mind. In Holland, that is not always appreciated. I am not the ideal son-in-law, true, but I’m always speaking my truth.”
17 year old Jetro signing for PSV, with mum…
He had to make the switch in his head. “When I was young, I played on talent and instinct. I kept on doing this and maybe wasn’t always to responsible with my body. I had to learn this. You can reach the top with talent, but you can’t stay there just with talent. You need to work hard, learn, improve, push the boundaries. I didn’t do that for a while.”
In Germany, the benchmark is higher yet again. “The coach pushes me. He always says, if you train at a certain level, you need to push that level up, otherwise you won’t improve. In Holland, this is lacking. We train exactly how we did 4 years ago. The coach here tells me: “You’re good Jetro. But not as good as you think you are. That helps me, he triggers and pushes me. At practice, I get a lot of kicks. I tend to play a bit, trick the guys, well…they’ll have a go at you here. And the coach allows it. At one stage I was on the ground and said “coach, surely a free kick?” and he waved play on and yelled at me “will you cry and run to your mum!”… That took care of that, hahaha.”
Willems still has his eye on moving up. “Don’t get me wrong, I still have a lot to prove here, but things are going well, so who knows. Gini went to Newcastle, he didn’t wait for a big name club. He played a good season and made a move. I think I could do a similar thing. After two years Eintracht, I’ll still be 25 years old. But key is to be happy and healthy. And I’m both here. I enjoy my football again and that is so important. Particularly after what happened to Nouri, I can say I’m blessed to be healthy and playing.”
Willems played his last international game for Oranje in October 2016, in the 1-0 loss against France. He watched Oranje’s exit from the sofa, at home. “So what can I say? I wasn’t there. I don’t have a right to say anything. My Eintracht coach tells me we are too complacent, we talk tactics but we don’t work hard enough. I get what he’s saying… I will do what I can to get back into it. But I am not the type to ask or to whinge about it. I have to show it week in week out on the pitch. It’s as simple as that. I hope the new NT coach will make a fresh new start now the older key players are slowly drifting out and a new group needs to step up. I hope to be part of it. And believe me, we still have top quality players. I think we’ll be fine.”
He needs to improve defensively as that is his weakness. He is in the same boat as Van annholt,van der wiel,van Rhijn who are offensively more balanced.he has competed at the highest level and I doubt he will get any better than what he is now.
Most top teams deploy attacking fullbacks but them the midfielfers are very efficient when covering up and when you look at NT midfield itself is out if depth.
Van der weil is staight way example,when he was at PSG and when he use to switch to NT.
I think its time to focus on some of the upcoming talent especially on that left. Thomas Ouwejan of AZ,he has been regular for both club and Jong orange.philippe sandler whose agent suprising is Mino Railoa.Kirk Pierie of heerenveen. Nathan Ake also
Ridge Haps should’ve been the no.1 at LB, if only he wasn’t getting any injuries…
but Willems seems like a fine backup.
These days he is pretty much a bench player.
Willem’s I meant.
Anwar El ghazi scored and assisted in the winning goal for Lille after coming of the bench.I have said this before,this guy is individually talent.it unfortunate he is on the losing end as the new coach of lille is using him as a striker due to limited options upfront,but no doubt he has become one of their integral players.
Man City Sign Philippe Sandler and will return to Zwolle until the end of the season.
Yes, amazing news for him. Sandler was developed at Ajax and made his move to PEC, where he flourishes under John van ‘t Schip, who himself has strong ties with City Group (ex Melbourne City coach).
3 mio euros is the deal, the biggest transfer in the history of PEC. Sandler might never play for Man City though, as he might well be used for Malaga or another spin off City Group club. He does finish the season at PEC.
Nicolai Jorgensen will not go to Newcastle United but stay at Feyenoord.
Maher scored two goals for Twente to come from behind to win 3-1 vs Cambur.I hope he with more game time and under verbeek will get back to his very best.
Like Depay he also can be a very impact player.
@Wilson, I’m with you on Maher. I watched a couple of PSV exhibitions this summer, and he stood out. Not sure why PSV decided he couldn’t help them this year. (OTH, PSV is having a good season, so…) Anyway, I’m not sure what his ceiling is, or whether at his best he is NT material—he just seems to have gotten lost the last few years. Hope he is now in a situation where he can play his best fb.
Option wise he was well in pecking order but for me he is a more technical player than ramselaar who doesn’t fit in midfield at all. Also when van ginkel arrived from Chelsea it was always going to be tough for me.guardado,Van Ginkel and propper became the first choice midfield trio for cocu.Hendrix was on and off and also came in ramselaar.
anybody watched feyenoord vs PSV. KNVB Beker. jus interested on how Sam Lammers did.
I watched the game. Can’t say it was great football, but the atmosphere was amazing. Feyenoord got an early goal, and PSV never seemed to get in the game, or maybe to be more fair, Feyenoord never really let PSV get in the game. Vilhena and El Ahmadi were their usual active selves in the MF breaking down any buildup, and, to me anyway, both St. Juste at rb and Haps at lb (after coming on to start the 2nd half)impressed. Lammers came on in the 2d half, didn’t do much, but, in all honesty, the entire PSV team was essentially invisible.
Thanks Andrew.
Juventus have signed 18 year old PSV starlet leandro fernandes. the critics again have been sceptical about the move like others who have moved too early but only to flop. well Mino Railoa is this guys agent and even if Juventus loan him out to team like sassuolo who have closes ties with Juventus, it could work out for him.
I assume you read it but just in case will post it here. It is a google translation so do not judge English of the article from vi.nl.
“Nico-Jan Hoogma is in talks with the KNVB about the technical directorship of the football association. The current managing director of Heracles Almelo confirms that against VI.
The 49-year-old Hoogma came out as a professional footballer for, among others, FC Twente, Hamburger SV and Heracles. Since January 2007 he is general manager in Almelo. He has been in the picture several times in recent years to get started at HSV, but in the end it never went through.
The KNVB sees in him the successor of Hans van Breukelen. The football association also talks to Ronald Koeman, who is the intended new national coach.”
another article about Ronald Koeman’s appointment as a National coach of Oranje.
This is how Ronald Koeman will tackle the Orange project.
The appointment of Ronald Koeman (54) is independent of the appointment of a technical director. The new national coach will lead the Dutch team autonomously on the way to Euro 2020. Koeman is ready for the job he has been aiming for for years. Finally The Boss of Orange.
Now that he can do it, he does nice things. And so Ronald Koeman spent a few days in Spain last week, before he will be presented at the end of this or no later than next week as the new national coach of the Dutch national team. The deal is not complete yet, it’s all about the last details, but Koeman will be the new boss of the Dutch team, is certain. This will give the KNVB the desired national coach.
Koeman has always been number one, actually since his resignation at Everton. That Eric Gudde, the new director of paid football from the KNVB, traveled the world, had more to do with his search for a solution to the crisis in national football and the search for a technical director and manager football development. That has nothing to do with Koeman. He is not appointed to reform Dutch football, but to help Orange on its way towards the European Championship of 2020, via the Nations League or the qualification series. The KNVB would prefer to present the entire technical framework at the same time, but if that does not work, Koeman does not want to wait. There is work to be done.
IDEAL FOLLOW-UP
The appointment of Koeman does mean that the new national coach will operate autonomously. He does not have to account to the technical director. Koeman determines who he selects and how he will play. Undoubtedly that will have been a condition for the former coach of Vitesse, Ajax, Benfica, PSV, Valencia, AZ, Feyenoord, Southampton and Everton, among others. He is The Boss .
Koeman already knows how he is the Orange Projectwill deal with it. The national coaching has always been in his head, actually from the moment he was approached for the first time. That was a formidable achievement in the 2011/12 season, after he had led Feyenoord to second place in the Eredivisie, because that club had finished tenth the year before. Koeman thought it was too early, he did not want to leave prematurely at a club, certainly not one where he could have resuscitated his career as a trainer. Feyenoord arrived at the right time after a quick and unexpected departure from AZ, which followed a failed adventure in Valencia. But Koeman also came in time for Feyenoord. He taught the players what winning is, restored the discipline and turned the fallen top club into another champion candidate.
The Dutch seemed a logical follow-up after he had announced his farewell at Feyenoord. The timing was perfect, right after the 2014 World Cup. Koeman wanted to do it, but the then director of professional football Bert van Oostveen opted for Guus Hiddink. Koeman was able to become an assistant, but he still thanked him for the position he had already held during the 1998 World Championships, even then under Hiddink. The club then moved Danny Blind forward as the future successor and Koeman left for England, where he led the modest Southampton to European football two years in a row.
Yet, Koeman has never completely let go. The job was high on his bucket list, just like Barcelona’s trainership. The Dutch national team is the highest for him, as a player he already thought about it. In addition, life and work abroad increasingly began to oppose him, he told VI in his last week as manager of Everton. Of course he would have liked to finish it in Liverpool, but at the same time he knew that he would have a big chance on the national coaching, because he wanted to do it. “I coach, it seems inevitable,” he said. And further: ‘I think I can do it well and also that it is necessary.’ And: ‘In the end, the Oranje would also be an ideal continuation of my career.’
Koeman then gave, November last year, a glimpse into his plans as a national coach. He will lead the Dutch team pragmatically, but sees a glass that is half full. It is not going well now, so it can only get better. Koeman sees his entry moment especially as ideal. ‘Dutch football matters to me,’ he said, ‘and two tournaments are missing … Yes, that is tough. At the same time I say that something beautiful can arise. I agree with Dick Advocaat when he states that it is not all that dramatic. You only have to adapt to your material. Look at what you do have, attacking backs, good central defenders, fine midfielders and also nice attackers, because I saw Quincy Promes at Spartak Moscow make a few goals against Sevilla from a free role. You have Depay who still has a promise to redeem, Wijnaldum at Liverpool, Blind at Manchester United and do not forget the light of Ajax with Van de Beek and Frenkie de Jong. There is really enough to stick to. ”
ANTECEDENTS
With Koeman, the KNVB wins a winner, a national coach with the best antecedents: he became European champion as a player and wore the shirt of the three Dutch top clubs, which he later also served as a trainer. He is acceptable to all parties and can therefore count on a solid mandate. Koeman does not ignore it and explained very well what he thinks a national coach should do: perform.
‘If you want to change, you have to do that in the courses. For Orange, select your best players and you must place yourself for a final round. Just like the Juniors, with that team I also noticed a certain satisfaction after a draw against England, after which they subsequently lost to Scotland. I say this as an outsider, because it strikes me. And because I’m also grumpy that after a European Championships we also miss the World Cup. I also want the Orange place, I love that solidarity that comes with it. So we have to make sure that it comes back soon. I’m sure it can and will happen. “
Thanks AZ, that was supposed to be my new post hahaha…
But all good. IT does seem the KNVB have got their ducks in a row.
I’m not too negative about these appointments.
I read again Jan’s post about the technical Director and some questions arised
http://dutchsoccersite.org/the-new-oranje-coach/
1. If Jan Smit said that “We won’t start by appointing a coach. We will first introduce the new Technical Director” why they appointed Koeman without the TD?
2. It seems that Koeman wont answer to the new TD. Then, which will be the role of the new TD? He will just focus on the necessary “revolution” of Dutch football focusing in the younger categories and in the clubs?
3. Is Nico-Jan Hoogma a good candidate for the TD? Why Jan didn’t mention him in this post about the TD?
Jan can you answer these questions in your next post, please?
Nothing specific to football, but I found this article about Dutch “directness” to be pretty amusing:
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180131-where-dutch-directness-comes-from
Nice piece. Thanks
“According to AD, Koeman is the KNVB’s choice to replace Dick Advocaat and will sign a two-year contract, with the option of another two years, next week.
The 54-year-old, who has previously coached the likes of Benfica, Valencia, Feyenoord, Southampton, Ajax and PSV, has been out of work since being sacked by Everton earlier in the season.
Koeman reportedly met with the KNVB in Amsterdam on Friday and has decided on his technical staff. Kees van Wonderen is set to be named his assistant, while Patrick Lodewijks is likely to be the new goalkeeping coach.
Nico-Jan Hoogma is also set to be named as the new technical director of the KNVB.”
Why change Hoed?? He is excellent goalkeeping coach! And van Wonderen as assistant? Is he good? Is he a laptop coach??? I would rather an assistant more like Bosz or Ten Hag…
I agree.its always better to have an assistant coach who will succeed his predecessor but at the same time somebody who is capable.Bosz would have been a idle candidate for AM but I’m not sure about his relationship with koeman.
On the other hand Bosz may be tempted for Vitesss Job as Henk Fraser has already confirmed he will depart at the end of the season.some good young talents also coming up at vitesse.could be his next destination.
Bosz definitely isn’t gonna go from ajax to Dortmund to Vitesse. His managing career is just taking of and I doubt he will move back to a smaller club
Do you think a better offer will come knocking on his door after the sacking at Dortmund. He is in the same boat as FDB. He needs to start somewhere I think vitesse will be good team for him to get his career back on track. Feyenoord and PSV is out of question.he is prime candidate for koemans successor and he needs start some where to build his coaching experience.vitesse jus needs a profilic striker up front.
Donyell malen also made his debut for PSV.
EL Ghazi again most outstanding player for Lille,but unfortunately PSG had to much fire power winning 3-0 in the end.El Ghazi,Depay,Promes,Kluivert,Locadia should provide a good depth in attack for NT.
Luuk de Jong is the new Netherlands starting striker. He had a rough patch for a couple months but now he back to full strength and just firing in the goals
You have to be joking. PEC Zwolle has been unlucky for second consecutive week.last week vs AZ they got thrashed after their GK was red carded and again vs PSV,micky van der hart got red carded after which the flood gates opened.
He only poses Ariel threat only and apart from that he is average striker. Even Weghorst is in better form than him.
Jan,thanks for a good article.
I really want the internationals to come as soon as possible and see what koeman has in mind.there is two things that bothers me though is one, as usually who is will fit in best at DM and two whether its a good idea to have De Vrij and Van Dijk starting together. There is something that you need to realize about van Dijks play,once he is committed to offensive play,the midfielders need to cover him up if in case of counter as he doesn’t have the legs to cover the field both up and down. This is one reason why they need a very efficient engine room,if not the scenario will be the same as it has happened so many times with strootman,wijnaldum,Blind and others.
De Vrij,only in big games you can assess his ceiling and vs teams like juventus,inter and Roma he has looked clueless specially against clincal finshers like Icardi,Dzeko,Dybala and hugain.
I was eager to see him switch to epl but after watching Antonio Rudiger at Chelsea who was one of stand out CBs in Serie A for Roma,I’m glad he never made the switch.I think with van Dijk you need a explosive CB to partner him as both van Dijk and de Vrij
Will be run out during counters and without efficient coverup. Bruma has just returned to starting 11 for Wolfsburg after being sidelined for over a month and is still not to his regular best.
Van Dijk and De ligt could be interesting though,but they need to start the partnership and build it from scratch.
So, I haven’t seen an entire Ajax game for awhile. In the recent matches, the lineups are listing Frenkie De Jong as a central defender next to De ligt. When I’ve looked at extended highlights, it does indeed look like he is playing along the back line, but its impossible to know based on highlight snippets.
So, for those of you who have seen Ajax, is he indeed playing as a central defender? Is it just the websites being lazy, and it really is a 3-4-3, or (as I hope) is it something more fluid than that, him sitting between the lines available to help on defense, but looking to push forward? I’m very curious about this, if anyone has an answer.
I reckon it was pretty much a experiment which turned out to be a success.initially its was either schone or frenkie in the midfield,until they slotted him at CB to make room for both. What you have mentioned in the last paragrph is correct but they still deploy 4-3-3 with Frenkie running the lines. In case when schone is out of gas.wober comes in and frenkie moves to DM.in a way its a good move but I would like to see how well it works out with tougher teams outside of eredivisie.also this will give him the opportunity to fine tune the defensive duties better moving up and done.but again he needs to play CL or EL.
Thanks Wilson. You anticipated my next question. How will it work against a step up in competition? Won’t know until they come to that, I guess…too bad they are out of Europe. Like the idea, though.
Well thats something that remains to be seen but I doubt it will work in CLs or ELs especially when you will be defending in majority of the games.in eredivisie it works because they hardly get punished or get exposed on counters.going back to When Bosz was in charge they had a good defensive duo in Sanchez and De ligt who were instrumental at the back. Frenkies defensive ceilings is still unknown while offensively he has had the luxury of showcasing his abilities in eredivisie.the balancing part of both will be very instrumental when he moves to a tougher league and in his development.this is exactly what happened to marco van Ginkel when he moved to Chelsea.his injuries mostly came about when he was mostlty defending.Clasie same story.all this guys were offensively more balanced.
In eredivisie.
I think only strootman went on to become a well balanced midfielder but after his injury he has never been the same like before.
Also watched Liverpool and Tottenham and I must say wijnaldum is on a lost course under klopp.had no impact off the bench and was a ghost.don’t think he will be able to nail down a regular spot and hence will be jack of all trade and master of none.
This brings me back to the question,who are the best option in midfield going forward?
Don’t agree with your conclusion that Wijnaldum is on a “lost course” under Klopp. I agree that he didn’t have much impact in the Tottenham game, but he came on pretty late. I think he has played well for Liverpool—he was very good in the MC match. He is not going to sit in front of a defense like an NDJ. But he has the skills, speed, and the motor, to play in a more all around position, as he does at Liverpool. He can forage for the ball, close down, and stick in the ball in the net. This is not nothing. Just my opinion.
Your last question is the $64,000 question isn’t it? Much depends on the set up, and figuring out who complements who to bring out the best in the team as a whole. I hear they are hiring some guy named Koeman today to figure all that out.
Bazoer van de Beek and de Jong will be the midfield in two years time. End of discussion
@ Andrew
“lost course” from NT Point of view. you have to admit his consistency level is zero at pool and this is pretty much due to klopps rotation in the midfield, with Ox also in the picture now. I jus cant see what transition he will bring in the midfield when switching to NT with how he is being groomed under klopp, but I will admit he is clinical inside the box
@ Depay9isbest
Bazoer is no where to be seen at Wolfburg but you still persist on him. you sure you also not on lost course as well.
@Wilson, understood and fair point. But I do think that Wij. has enough versatility in his game to make a spot on the NT. New coach, new approach. Time will tell.
Probably yeah, but if there are others who fit bill better than I don’t see any reason why he should be be dragged with. Clasie is one player I know will get the benefit of doubt from koeman as he has worked with him both at Feyenoord and at Southampton and he knows his ceiling.I’m looking forward for this.
Another question I have is what will happen to Nathan Ake.he fits in well in a three man defense but from his games its evident he will find it going tough when switching to normal 4 man back line.he has being a regular under however and Bournemouth.what does the future hold for him. DM?
Was too busy for long time…..i would love to see super fast accurate Williams as bombing LB..but not with 433..with 3 man defense….
We have
Mensah—Vandijk—Deligt with Van dijk for Build up from back
on Bench
Bruma—-Reikik—Kongolo with Reikik as build up starter…
Ake as DM…..St juste as DM on bench
Williams as Bombing LB ..Annholt on bench
karsdorp as bombing RB—VanRhijn on bench
its looks like you are still trolling with the same old empty drum.for gods shake its 2018. was expecting something new. Van Rhijn? Since Karsdorop is injured. I would opt for tete and Hans Hateboer who are playing regularly for their respective team. haven’t being following Menash though.
forgot about Janmaat, scored a good goal yesterday vs chelsea. wingback,definitely yes.
https://youtu.be/whQ3YzNMVGc
He is back and looking sharp.