Not the ugly I guess. Joey doesn’t do ugly. He was a name in youth football already. Playing in Volendam, the little quirky sea faring town which has produced 1) incredible football talents, 2) incredible musical talent and 3) a rugged and headstrong local people who tend to live by their own rules.
Volendam is hard drugs, great seafood, incestuous relationships, creative talent. I am not sure if there is a correlation.
It’s not strange for clubs like AZ and Ajax (who are a stone throw away from Volendam) to ignore talents from there. There is a list of players who shine in the Volendam orange, but fade in another jersey or even when 15 kilometers away from Volendam.
Some football examples? The brothers Mühren (Gerry, Arnold) – Ajax, Man United, Oranje. Wim Jonk – Ajax, Inter Milan, Oranje. Keje Molenaar – Ajax, Feyenoord, Oranje. Johan Steur – Feyenoord. Edwin Zoetebier – PSV, Feyenoord. Tom Sier – Ajax, Heerenveen. Joey Veerman – Heerenveen, PSV. Henk Veerman – Heerenveen, St Pauli, FC Utrecht. Robert Mühren – AZ, Zulte Waregem, SC Cambuur. Pier Tol, – AZ, Oranje.
Veerman’s part time fish stand at the PSV grounds… PSV should pay him better!
Some Volendam talent has trouble playing outside of Volendam. They miss the friends, family, the rhythm of the village. It’s a very tight knit community. As an example: typical Volendam and places like Volendam (Urk for instance) have a very low vaccination ratio. They simply refuse as a group. As a sub culture in The Netherlands. Don’t forget: they used to be on sort of an isolated island and they used to be free from government interference. They were fishermen. They worked hard, played hard. And their heads are very hard as well :-).
So Veerman was passed over by AZ and Ajax. “A very gifted player, but he has a mind of his own. We are not sure he’ll fit the group dynamics.”
Heerenveen likes to use Volendam born players and signed him. He made his mark there which got him a transfer to PSV.
Lets look at Veerman in the role of defensive mid. In the Conference League match v Leicester City, all that was good in attack started with Joey. But on his own half, he also helped Leicester City at times.
This was the way the teams were set up.
In the first two minutes of the game, he gets a smile from the football aficionados. He sees Gotze run in behind and plays the pass with a subtle chip, putting the German Weltmeister in front of the goalie. He impresses on the ball, but he also comes with some issues.
Schmidt selected Veerman because his go to man for the role Erick Gutierrez is suspended. The choice for Veerman’s creativity over Van Ginkel’s running pays off almost immediately. But Schmeichel stops the attempt and there will be no assist for Veerman.
Beautiful pass, great timing by Götze but also weak finishing by the German
But, what also sticks in the mind, are the number of times he is the one starting the Leicester counter. In the 20th minute, Dewsbury Hall is on Veerman’s toes and won’t give him the time of day. His pass is intercepted and Iheanacho finds himself face to face with the PSV goalie. The striker misses.
This is the biggest lesson for Veerman. The pace in these games is way higher than what he is used to in the Eredivisie. I find him slow at times even in the Dutch league. A bit too relaxed at times. And in the holding mid role, it usually means that losing possession results in a chance for the other guys.
Take this situation: he gets the ball from Max, a square pass. The pass is not good, lacks pace, but Veerman should be able to keep possession. He tries to “roll” the opponent and open up with his right to the right flank. Good idea. But an idea that is predictable and the intelligent Dewsbury Hall won’t have it. The whole midfield is now open for Leicester. In the end, it’s Maddison with a weak shot on goal.
Just before the break, Veerman shows his weakness positionally. He gets it wrong three times!
Here, Iheanacho mis-controls the ball. Veerman isn’t ready for it. The ball comes into his zone, but he’s not able to take advantage.
Then, a second issue with Veerman: ball watching and not communicating with this environment.
Here he completely misses Iheanacho’s run in his back. PSV does not play man to man marking so it’s ok for Veerman to let the forward leave, but it’s Veerman’s role to block the pass line to the running Leicester player. He doesn’t and Leicester has another attack.
He is definitely not unwilling to put in a shift. Here, a couple of moments later, he’s back in his own box defending. Harvey Barnes wants to penetrate but Veerman pushes him wide. This is a good situation for PSV to be in.
Then something happens which can be lethal at top level. Veerman thinks the situation is under control and doesn’t look around him, to see that Barnes is making a dart. The midfielder sees it too late and by then Barnes has rattled the cross bar.
In the 64th minute, another typical Veerman situation. Zahavi is impeded in a challenge. The ball rolls towards Veerman, who believes PSV will get a free kick.
But the ref lets the play go on and suddenly the PSV defence is horribly exposed, not for the first time. An offensive player can gamble at times. A defensive player cannot.
By the way: Sangare is not helping Veerman much. He should cover a bit better for the youngster but is usually further up field, exposing his partner too much.
An attacking move in the 85th minute summaries Veerman’s game. First he accelerates the game with an excellent pass to right winger Doan. And then he moves forward himself, to contribute more to this attack.
When Doan loses the ball, Veerman has a mourning moment. He takes a couple of seconds to deal with the disappointment and runs back to his own half.
PSV is completely exposed now. Leicester has a 5 v 5 situation and defensive mid Veerman is nowhere to be seen. The Leicester team doesn’t take advantage though.
Joey Veerman played a match showing his both faces: on the Leicester half, he’s amazing. His passing range, his vision are top. On his own half, he’s a danger for his own team. He’s a bit complacent at times, arrogant almost and his positioning and orientation need to improve. The latter – orientation – is always a big thing for Louis van Gaal.
The question is: will Schmidt risk playing Veerman in that role more often, or will he use Veerman as the understudy of PSV’s #10 (Gotze or Gakpo).
Source: VI Pro
Spot on Veerman Jan..he is wonderful at attack,danger for own team at defense..not the dieal material for DM or one in double pivot……Just like blind and him should play up in the feild should be relived from defensive duty..
High time promote Timber and Ake to DM,i would add Bazoer too No more De roon or wijnaldum…
Jan, you got it spot on the analysis. Saw exactly the same as you said. I saw more bad than good. Veerman struggled with the passage of play…it suggests he might not be ready for the top level football just yet.
I am originally thinking he can be one for the NT, but from the games I saw him played so far, think he’s not ready, yet.
I watched the game and wanted to comment on it in the previous post but didnt. I actually wanted to see how Veerman does around epl level midfielders like Tielemans,Fofana and Maddison and rightfully he was no match for them but you have take into consideration he still is coming up and with experience there is a probability he will getter better . Even Sangare looked average and defensively was in the same boat as Veerman. The whole team was on back foot when in defense. Even gakpo looked toothless and had to track back in most phases of the game. I hard to say if any eredivisie dutch midfielder would have lived up to expectation in this game. Credit to the last line of defense for PSV who continously bailed their compatriots in front out.
Being said this the Leicester midfielders simply showed they were on another level. For veerman, if PSV would play an epl team like Leicester week in and week out, it would boost his confidence level and his game but at the same time his weakness was clearly highlighted in this game particularly in the breakdown area where he looked cold.
Watched Bayern and Villareal. While Bayern were dominant and chasing the game, villareal played compact and waited to attack on counters.
Danjuma had few good chances but screwed those opportunities. Villareal was always looking for him on the overhead long balls but Upamecano had a good check on him.
I feel though he is being underutilized in emerys formation and should move to the wings. He the type of players who needs have possession and in big games like this he was really marked out. He should have done better on the few chances he got but otherwise was just running laterally, back and forth.
If it was city, they would have punished them hard as there was big hole in the Villareal midfield which bayern couldn’t capitalize on. Villareal in big games usually play compact and look for that one good move to kill the game off. Their equalizer again was a good build up of a bayern attack with a good finish as well by Chukwueze who replaced danjuma.
Wilson..”Their equalizer again was a good build up of a bayern attack with a good finish as well by Chukwueze who replaced danjuma.”””””””
This is what i was going to tell,villareal out played Bayern at villareal home game,but they could only score 1 goal at home ,this was down to Danjuma nonchanalce..The moment Danjuma left the feild Vilreal got rythem work rate etc…Danjuma missed a one on one as well yesterday(that can be excused as everyone misseses)…his over all involvemnet in game is so poor…he is good at tap in finish…He hardly connectes with team,.dynamism is absent in his game…he is not a modern day forward…no where near the explosive creativity of Gakpo,Depay,Berjwin and Malen….lang at least works hard and connects with team..We Dont need a tap in guy in NT…okay only if he scores like ronaldo…
@Jan how can We contact Danny Blind??..
What for? Is it for Oranje topics? I can via the KNVB
@Jan..yes oranje topics..He has influence on LVG than many.. Danny is going to get criticism for Taking Daley as LB…we all know Daley will play and probably start…its high time to move Daley upfront,like kuyt played as RB at WC ,Daley Blind in midfeild and i am sure Daley wont disappoint there ,he will be much better than current Gini and De roon there..Gini is not playing and when playing he is playing like ghost of past Gini..Every motor vehicle have a blind spot while we drive..Hope we act as our oranje’s Blind spot Checker/Mirror..
No need. The Dutch football expert “community” (the analysts) are ahead of us. Don’t worry. Just like he got his spot on merit, not because of daddy, he will also lose it on merit.
As for Veerman, I too believe he’ll come good. He has the quality to step up and improve on these flaws, but I also think this is why Ajax didn’t take him. His work rate and orientational awareness need to improve. Not that he is lazy, but he switches off. What I can see as a top skill is his calmness on the ball. Any shooting chance, he will not close his eyes and go for full power. He will pass the ball with the inside of the foot and be precise.
@ Jan, since the Dutch football expert are ahead of us, what are they saying about the left back situation and the right back for that matter? I’ve aske you this question a few days ago, you did not say anything.
Sorry Jean, I missed that question I suppose. The “experts” on Dutch tv are all agreed: Malacia or Wijndal will be the man for the future. They all rate these two high. Bakker will probably be added to that list at some stage.
@ Emmanual
Re: Danjuma.
He is not an out and out striker and has to adpot to emery formation and try to fit in it. It evident and like I said when Villareal dont have possession, he is just running laterally, back and forth. He doesnt track back deep and maintains a high line from where he can lead the line and attack on counters. This is how the team works. They try to find him on long over the head balls. On the other hand Moreno is an out and out striker who is good at holding the ball and laying in of for others and in congested area like in the box.
The problem with you is you write players off too quickly which then comes to bite you back. This is danjuma first season in top flight football and has done exceptionally well. You make it sound like that he is a fluke which itself stinks.
Credit should be given where its due and if you look at Emery he has learnt to remain patient with him as he knows what he can do.
If you would have watched the second leg / game and again I mentioned this, Upamecano closed him down well and it happens in many games when you are one of the key players in the team. Emery was spot on with his substitution as on the right bayern looked vunerable especially with hernandez launching forward and also when davis came on. This is purely tatic.
” purely tatical”
Tap ins will stop one day….with Danjuma Villareal and Oranje had goal drought even after playing well as team..thats the big conceern ..Danjuma should learn from Gakpo and Berjwin and evevn berghuis who puts immense work rate to find and create cahnces for team..IT IS WAT IT IS….Upamecano s duty is to stop/shut Danjuma(which they did very well both legs ,except for a tap in),Danjuma duty is to create or score goals..i still dont rate kuyt as a skilled attacker or Blind as excellent trustworthy defender..but both has work rate,when kuyt played as RB,i was fine…Depay has attitiude problem,he miserab;y failed at MANU,.unlike Van de beek who seldom gets a 10 minutes sub time once in blue moon to prove…Depay started several games under LVG,he had poor work rate….but with leon he started working for team and he found goals…Depay is producing amzing workrate at oranjae also ,when u add his skills ,its no wonder he scored 17 gaols from 17 games..i am pissed of with danjuma and his work rate…his lack of wokr rate affcets the whole team…
No use dwelling on the left back issues. Its gonna change for good. Now there are options which werent there before or was there but were deemed not good enough to be NT material. 2024-2026 will be the best.
Veerman selection for worldcup msy noy happen becoz i think there is little time left. If such players are given a chance in Nations league matches then they can prove their worth and get a chance to get in.
Ratings for Nathan Aké (for Walker 73′) – 8 – Magnificent. The best City player on the park in Man city vs Atletico game yesterday. Ake could get to play nore games in Man city due to an injury to kylie walker. Good for Ake and Netherlands team.
Another future LB talent is rising, Bojorn Meijer, just turned 19 last month, is already the starting LB for Groningen. He is moving to Brugge next season with a 6 million transfer fee. This kid looks very promising. Great physic, 190cm in height, strong but not slow for his build. Good at tackle and crossing, with nice touch and vision as well.
I read about him few weeks back. Went and checked his highlights out. Really didnt struck me of any thing special but you never know. Good move and for his development.
Watched Leicester vs PSV. Much improved performance from PSV with Veerman starting on the RW.unfortunately the quality in the depth for PSV came to haunt them as the subs for Leicester were decsive and made the impact coming on. This was it. Psv played well and had some good chances but they couldnt hit the target.
Veermans showed his class in this game and came up with his usually trade mark passes which was entertaining and eye catching as well. If you watched the game you will know what im talking about.
Also Fofana once again shut Gakpo out on many occasions. Made some good runs but that was it. Couldn’t really get into spaces from where he is usually descive with his trademark shots. Few crosses in the box as well which was delt with.
Guys, have watched Karsdorp yesterday in the EUropa quarter final, the guy was incredible.
I think if Van Gaal doesn’t call him in the next squad, the people in the Netherlands needs to riot. This is total BS
There is not comparison between Karsdorp and Dumfrees. This BS needs to stop… I’m sorry!
I don’t know if Karsdorp is hopelessly rightfooted but even so I would drop Blind like a hot potato to accommodate him. That left side is in a terrible state and my questions of Malacia are far from being answered.
Dumfries is a busy player and does all the tangibles and then some. He is not far away from the goals and his assists ratio is nothing to be ashamed of.
LVG should conjure one of his tricks and make Karsdorp work. On the right side. Drop Blind permanently. He is a drag on the whole team.
Majority of our players only play bit parts with their clubs or are with low level teams. V de Beek is assured a bench seat at Everton which is almost relegated, Krul is nowhere near top quality and plays for relegated Norwich, Bergwijn only gets in the last 5-10 mins at Tottenham, Weghorst has only scored 1 goal for his club, Wijnaldum is a bench warmer if he is lucky, Depay and L de Jong are bench players for Barca and FDJ often starts from the bench, Ake just like Bergwijn is used when there are injuries. If LVG were to strictly use players who regularly play for their clubs (his philosophy) we would have a very different list of players at disposition.
In general comparing this team to the team that Koeman left we have significantly regressed. For a short period of time we were a team that could rank top 5 without a doubt. That was until Barca bought Koeman.
Here’s hoping for another 2014 like performance but just like back then we will need A LOT of luck.
@Balkan do you remmber krul on Goal keepr Vs Turkey away game at WCQ2022????
wijnaldum has past his prime ,De roon hsouldnt be in squad…
Ake ,Berjwin and competeing with world best,in plastic money clubs….others they wont even consider forbuying..let alone bench..
dony van de beek is misundertood by coach…Dony need ajax system to excel,just like klassen at everton..;
FDJ is dutch thats his problem at barca…Depay gets resher by sitting in bench and gives us 100 percent..
This paints a bleak picture. I don’t think Krul is nowhere near top quality. He only stopped two spotkicks the other day. Weghorst has two and some assists. FDJ hardly ever starts from the bench. Ake gets enough playing time. L De Jong does at Barca what he will be doing for Oranje: coming in with 10 mins to go for Plan C. Bergwijn demonstrated already that he doesn’t need to play 10 games in a row to find his form. It’s all fine.
Jan, not sure how you measure top quality but do you really compare Krul with DeGea, Ederson, Alisson, etc? Stopping 2 spot kicks once in a blue moon does not make a great keeper, not to mention age which for keepers takes a heavy toll. In case you didn’t notice FDJ was on the bench for both very important UEFA games against Frankfurt. I follow Barca and seen FDJ start on the bench multiple times. I bet there is an issue btw him and Xavi. Depay has turned into Bergwijn at Tottenham. And I rate Bergwijn a better player than Depay. LDJ is great for last 10 mins and wreaks havoc in attack, I like him. I really don’t think our big future stars of 2 yrs ago are the same. FDJ and DeLigt have not progressed well, Depay has declined, VVD has declined due to age, Wijnaldum has disappeared, Blind shouldn’t be there etc etc. I know I see the glass half empty but I believe my assessment is not exaggerated.
Hi mate, I never claimed Krul was as good as the other goalies? I don’t think it really matters too much. De Gea is great but is Man United winning trophies? Greece won the Euros in 2004. Do you remember their goalie?
We need to put a goalie on goal. We can only choose Dutch goalies. We can’t pick De Gea. So if I had Cillesen, Bijlow, Krul, Pasveer, Flekken to choose from, I would the one in form and give him my blessing.
As for your other comments: we had top players in 2002 who bottled it. Top players in 2012 who bottled it. We don’t need top players. We need a TEAM.
Alright, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, and I respectfully disagree with your assessment.
The entire first-choice backline (with the wingbacks) consists of Van Dijk, De Ligt, De Vrij, Dumfries and Malacia/Blind, all of whom have been locks in the starting 11s of their respective clubs.
Gravenberch, De Roon, Koopmeiners are all starters for their clubs as well. Xavi rested De Jong for a couple of games, cause he thought Eintracht would be pushovers, and he could use the likes of Pedri and Gavi to see things off in style. When things started spiraling out of control, De Jong was the first one to be introduced from the bench IIRC. While I agree that Wijnaldum and Klaassen are largely bench warmers, it should be kept in mind that Van Gaal has replaced them with the obvious choices in midfield.
Yes, Depay and Bergwijn are struggling to get minutes, and that’s the part where I totally agree with you. I think Bergwijn will make his move in the summer (to Ajax, preferably) and that’ll probably seal the deal for him with regard to final selection for World cup. Depay has just returned from an injury, and although I’d love to see him bounce back from this slump, I don’t see that happening cause Xavi simply doesn’t like him, and finds him unsuitable for positional play.
Danjuma is a star for his club, and bagged a brace yesterday vs Valencia, while it seems Noa Lang is slowly beginning to rediscover his old touch, after a slight dip in form. Was crowned MOTM against KV Mechelen this past week. Malen is doing decent as well, and with Ihattaren on the brink of a breakthrough at Ajax next season, I think the key positions (except) our attack look good.
My only concern is the midfield, cause I feel that besides De Jong and maybe Koopmeiners, we don’t have enough game-changers. I hope Gravenberch develops well at Bayern, and cements the no.8 role for both club and country. Matusiwa, Donny(if he seals a move and gets game time on a regular basis, that is) and Timber (the other one) should all be called up during the Nation league games, and slowly integrated into the setup.
Thanks. You are very right.
I’m on my way to the Dutch Cup final with some other Ajax supporters, and the air around Ajax is not good right now. Since about mid February the performances have been very unimpressive, despite winning many of the matches. I personally think it comes from constantly using the same eleven, and fatigued, but a lot of fans think that Ten Hag has other things on his mind.
Since the Johan Cruijff Shield, Ajax conceded only 8 goals from August 14th to February 18th, and five of those were in the CL. Since Feb 19th we’ve conceded 12. A lot of fans are worried that we may come out of this season with no trophies, miss out on CL next year, lose Ten Hag, have already lost Overmars, and end up in a dire position next year. Mazraoui, Tagliafico, Gravenberch, Antony, Alvarez and Martinez are all touted to leave, and there’s rumours Ten Hag will take Timber with him to Manchester. I doubt we lose all seven though, but if we do that basically leaves Blind and Rensch with Schuurs. We would need another CB and CDM. Jong Ajax doesn’t have the quality at the moment to jump right into the Ajax 11, maybe Musampa, Baas and Fitz-Jim get some minutes. Kenneth Taylor will likely take Gravenberch’s role.
I try to stay optimistic.
watched KNVB final…felt little bad for ajax….they out played PSv at first half and 2 disallowed gaols affected them morally…PSV got better when Veerman was taken off..Gakpo,what a player with incredible work rate,,from defense to offense…yet again he proved he is 1000 times useful to team than Danjuma…Sagare,Ramlho,Gakpo,gotze were amazing…Alvarez had an off day..may by injury cost him that..
You highlights analysis sucks as usually.
Joel Piroe with two more goals in the first half so far, the guy will be playing for a big team
Next year, first goal today was pure class…
Karsdorp had another top notch performance vs Napoli.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.fcupdate.nl/ampartikel/%3fid=400638
Karsdorp provides nice statistics: does he deserve a chance in Orange?
Apr 18, 2022
Although Rick Karsdorp is a defining player at AS Roma, he is invariably ignored by national coach Louis van Gaal. These statistics show that it would not be surprising if the 27-year-old right wing defender gets a chance in Orange.
Of all right backs in Serie A, Karsdorp created the most chances this season (40). The former Feyenoord player is also the leader when it comes to the most created big opportunities (9). Even when it comes to key passes, there is no right back in the Italian league who does better than Karsdorp (38).
Karsdorp has only played three international matches so far, the last of which dates from March 25, 2017. Van Gaal has never included him in the (pre)selection. Karsdorp recently told ESPN that he has put Orange out of his mind. “I played 40, 45 games last year and will probably tap that again this season, but I’ve never heard anything from the KNVB.”
It doesn’t mean he isn’t available anymore. “That is certainly something else, but I have accepted it very easily. I don’t even look at the list anymore. I will automatically receive an app from friends or family. But it is absolutely not the case that I am waiting for an email said the right-back.
I am currently watching Inter vs Ac Milan and Dumfrees is not on the field. So now, how are we going to this world cup when most of players are bench warmers in their clubs? How is that possible?
Unlike the Netherlands, Inter does a lot of rotation. Dumfries started the last two games so he need some rest.
It’s called rotation. This is a cup game.
The Karsdorp situation highlights the level of dysfunction that pervades the Dutch federation. Koeman taking over and continuing on with the snubbing of Karsdorp would be the last thing to surprise me. They live in an echo chamber of foolish and spiteful decisions and their biggest fear is letting in an outsider who can easily show up these actions for really what they are; ego-driven and not reality based.
They’ve held the footballing hopes of a nation at ransom for decades all in the name of protecting their fragility. The surest way for these bunch of insecure men to make a wilfully wrong decision is for the Dutch public to have a strong, right consensus about a subject. True that coaches know more about football than the average joe but also true that the average Joe knows that 1+1=2, that Karsdorp belongs in that squad. Dutch management because of the mass mental issues they deal with naturally interpretes this public observation as an effrontery, a slight on their very being.
I truly believe the lack of international success and trophies have led to the doubt of self and ultimately a reverie of overcompensating in the form of pigheadedness as a coping mechanism and self-assurance.This may sound like some psychological whodunit but it is an attempt at a logical explanation borne out of their absolutely illogical decisions.
Danjuma scored twice against cillessen. unfortunately form them they wont be able to catch on the top four.
@Jan: If it is possible, could you ask for me this question: why is it easier for players to get NT call up while playing in Eredivisie than playing abroad? I am not asking just because of Karsdorp situation but this is a trend i see. There are many examples, but take those 3, Karsdorp, Weghorst and Klaassen.
Karsdorp and Weghorst got easy call to NT when playing Eredivisie. Now they were and are playing at top level abroad but they need to prove a lot to get the call or not even get the call.
Klaassen was starting every game for Bremen in Bundesliga but did not get call until he came back to Ajax and play a rotation role.
By doing this, we actually let good players slip away, e.g. Gosens and Struijk. I actually did not find any reasonable explanation for why Gosens did not get a call while our best LB is Blind for years. Same for Struijk, he played in 5 man defence in EPL week in week out, but did not get tested in last friendly. Instead we wasted our time to try out Blind, who play LB, as a LCB.
this is an old age problem with Dutch Management and Its good to finally see now the curtains being lifted on them. hopefully some nosie will make them change their mind.
Gosens preferred Germany over Holland. There have been talks between him and both federations for a while. He went for Germany. Fair play to him.
AZ have signed another Former Ajax LB Mees De Wit. adds to the growing list of options at LB. Watched some of his highlights. long range shooting, holding up, dribbling seems to be good. dont think he is related to dani but lets hope he take it to another another level at AZ.
https://youtu.be/zKJXyZlQTHM
@ Orangutan
“They live in an echo chamber of foolish and spiteful decisions and their biggest fear is letting in an outsider who can easily show up these actions for really what they are; ego-driven and not reality based”
Well Roger Schmidt has already shown it and shut the critics up.
@ Jan
Im hoping your next post will be on the Beker Final.
im also impressed with Nathan Ake performance in the last few matches for City
@Balkan
Alright, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, and I respectfully disagree with your assessment.
The entire first-choice backline (with the wingbacks) consists of Van Dijk, De Ligt, De Vrij, Dumfries and Malacia/Blind, all of whom have been locks in the starting 11s of their respective clubs.
Gravenberch, De Roon, Koopmeiners are all starters for their clubs as well. Xavi rested De Jong for a couple of games, cause he thought Eintracht would be pushovers, and assumed he could use the likes of Pedri and Gavi to see things off in style. When things started spiraling out of control, De Jong was the first one to be introduced from the bench IIRC. While I agree that Wijnaldum and Klaassen are largely bench warmers, it should also be kept in mind that Van Gaal has replaced them both with the obvious choices in midfield.
Yes, Depay and Bergwijn are struggling to get minutes, and that’s the part where I totally agree with you. I think Bergwijn will make his move in the summer (to Ajax, preferably) and that’ll probably seal the deal for him with regard to final selection for the World cup. Depay has just returned from an injury, and although I’d love to see him bounce back from this slump, I don’t see that happening cause Xavi simply doesn’t like him, and finds him unsuitable for positional play.
Danjuma is a star for his club, and bagged a brace yesterday vs Valencia, while it seems Noa Lang is slowly beginning to rediscover his old touch, after a slight dip in form. Was crowned MOTM against KV Mechelen this past week. Malen is doing decent as well, and with Ihattaren on the brink of a breakthrough at Ajax next season, I think the key positions (except) our attack look good.
My only concern is the midfield, cause I feel that besides De Jong and maybe Koopmeiners, we don’t have enough game-changers. I hope Gravenberch develops well at Bayern, and cements the no.8 role for both club and country. Matusiwa, Donny(if he seals a move and gets game time on a regular basis, that is) and Timber (the other one) should all be called up during the Nation league games, and slowly integrated into the setup.
The thing about Depay is the second he slips on that Orange kit he’s a different animal. Has always been that way. You get certain players like that and Depay is one of them. Koopmeiners is an interesting prospect as Gasperini likes to move him around the pitch a lot, he played as a 10 a few games back. If we’re playing with 2 up front I think it would be Danjuma and Depay, with Bergwijn coming off the bench.
With PSG having all but wrapped up Ligue 1, it will be interesting to see where Xavi Simons falls in the pecking order to get some minutes. He played a bit of the game today.
Guys, a question….
I just got sent an amazing e-book on Cruyff (his death was remembered) and these stories are very cool.
I can do two things: 1) put a JC article on the blog every now and then but focus on current affairs or 2) focus on the JC articles and let the current affairs take a step back.
Any suggestions?
Jan, to be honest Cruyff is history. The Netherlands have wasted generation after generation and never won a WC. Matter of fact, Have JC gone to the 1978 world cup, who knows we could of won but he decided not to. What I am interested now is how Van Gall going to approach this world cup so we can at least have a chance. Who is going to be our left back and right back. Is Van Gall is going to finally drop Blind. I’m interested to know if Van Gall is going to finally drop Berghuis. A lot of our players now are bench warmers around Europe. Our chance at this world cup is very slim. I am interested in what the conversations are in Holland. JC is History but open to read anything about him.