Keep Calm and Trust in Louis

blog
by Jan

The Portugal friendly resulted in many-a critical comment on this blog and in other media. That is not a coincidence, as other media obviously copy all we are saying here. In fact, most of Goal.com’s coverage on The Dutch National Team are copies of soundbites of Tiju ;-).

But seriously, our defence is shit, our best striker can’t score for shit in Oranje, Robben is slow, Lens is stupid, De Vrij is ugly, Van Gaal is a moron, and Vorm can’t distribute the ball.

Before you know it, we will ask Van Gaal to please save us the shame and simply pull out of Brazil… Why bother.

No people!!!

This is not on.

We need to man up.

It’s early in the season. Hell, RVP, De Guzman, Vorm, Strootman, Van Ginkel haven’t even played a real competitive game, as yet. The Bundesliga lads just started. The bodies are still a bit rusty.

Then, most players can not play their best in a friendly. It simply doesn’t work. If your name is Robin van Persie, you know you have 50+ matches in front of you (and a World Cup). Subsconsciously, you play these  matches on 85% of your normal intensity. Arjen Robben will peak in the summer 2014, but not in August 2013.

kluiv rvp

We played with a couple of new lads in the team (Vorm, Verhaegh, Wijnaldum and later on Van Ginkel) and that might seem a detail, but it’s not. Almost 30% of the team has never played together. That is pretty big.

The criticism on our defenders is justified. But at the same time, they are very young… When Rijkaard and Frank de Boer made their debuts, they were criticised too. Frankie was too slow and too complacent. Frank was too arrogant and sloppy. Jaap Stam never made it into the Oranje squad until he was 24 years old. 3 years older than De Vrij is now. We need to cut them some slack and accept their mistakes. That is how they will learn.

And knowing Louis a bit: if he sees that BMI and SDV don’t learn fast enough, he’ll recall Mathijsen, Heitinga, Vlaar or even Douglas. And as he said: with Rekik and Bruma playing regularly together, who knows…. They might be the real deal.

 

I am proud of having such a young team (defensively). It shows courage. And it will boost our football. With Van Aanholt, Willems, Pieters to name a few, waiting in the wings (Van der Wiel???) I think we will be fine. We might not win the World Cup, but if we are depending on a left back to win us a World Cup, we simply do not deserve to win it.

Our midfield wasn’t great. Apart from Strootman, Van Gaal would want to play different players on that midfield. Wijnaldum was given the nod but only because De Guzman wasn’t fit. And Van der Vaart played because Sneijder isn’t fit and Maher lacks form. Normally these two (and maybe Siem de Jong) will be higher on LVG’s list.

Upfront, people complain about Hunter and RVP leading the line. I have three words for you. Let them be.

Huntelaar scored two against Hamburg. In a game that mattered. Robin scored two against Wigan. Another game that mattered. Hunter won my sympathy for ever since his grass eating antics against England at Wembley. Leave the man alone. He risked his life in a friendly. He will be fine!

Robin van Persie is one of the best players on the planet. Full Stop. Every coach of every nation would sacrifice one testicle to have Van Persie in the team. Yes, also the Spanish coach.

So what will Van Gaal do?

He wil monitor all relevant players. And the closer we will get to the World Cup, the sharper he will get. And if Narsingh, Ola John, Boetius or Elia will shine, he will pick them. I think that Sneijder will be back for the qualification games, if he keeps performing for Gala.

He will use the time to mould variances on the current 4-3-3. He will play around with Robben, with the midfield make-up ( forward center mid or deep lying center mid).

robben funny

And most importantly, he will craft something that we don’t have as yet: a team!

We don’t need the best left back or the best right midfielder or even the best center forward.

If Messi and C Ronaldo were the best players of the last 5 years, they still haven’t won the big trophies to prove that?

It’s not about the best this and that. It’s about TEAM.

This is also what Van Gaal can create. If we can operate as one, with the fitness required (physically and mentally) and we have three players in top form, who can make the difference, we have a chance.

Look at Germany in 1990. Or Argentina in 1986. Or Germany in 1996. Greece 2004. Or Italy in 2006. Spain in 2012.

Did they play “awesome” football? Did they have “awesome” players?

Germany 1990 had Klinsmann and Mathaus. Don’t you think RVP and Strootman (to name two) are better players?

Argentina had Maradona. Ok. We have Robben. The rest of the Argentina 1986 team played totally in service of Maradona.

Germany 1996, had an atrocious team. All anonymous players except for Scholl and Moller maybe? Bierhoff? Surely, Huntelaar is as good….

I think I made my point. We have (if all goes well) Sneijder, Strootman, Van Persie and Robben. We most likely will have other players in form available. Probably from the list of: Maher/Wijnaldum/Fer/Van Ginkel/Clasie/John/Lens/Elia etc.

I don’t care if it’s Lens or Wijnaldum of Elia. I believe that whoever Louis picks, will be the right lad.

By the summer of 2014, we will have a squad ready to go out and play for gold. We know the core names. We don’t now the supporting actors yet.

But with our talent and with Louis’ balls, bluff and bravado we will go a long way.

 

hunter grass

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  3. I think van Gaal dropped the ball in this game.

    I mean leaving out Sneijder is one thing, but then at least it should enable RvP to step up and become the main man. RvP was a vegetable in this game. RvP needs a shutler behind him. The irony is that in the first half we played with vdV behind him on 10. While maybe more of a combining player than Sneijder, he does not take away the main issue of RvP underperforming for the Dutch NT: The lacking of vertical movement behind and around him. vdV is a very dominant architect kind of 10 himself. At Spurs the big joke was that he at times he was played out wide but within seconds of the game would drift towards center. He wants to own that center spot and lacks the speed to dribble past players or be launched by RvP after a 1-2. Every time it’s the same thing. We have been playing this game now for years and with the same result. RvP underachieved with Sneijder behind him and then suddenly part of the Dutch population thinks vdV is the solution. vdV plays behind him and RvP still underperforms, so people start moving towards Sneijder as a solution again. The thing is, neither are a solution. Neither are the solution looking through the eyes of RvP. Neither provide the level of vertical movement behind him he needs.

    RvP needs Affelay behind him. That player is too blind for the 10 role. At United they have Kagawa and Rooney behind him from what it looks like. Not good enough as well. Kagawa is dynamic, but more horizontal than vertical and lacks true dribbling ability. Rooney has lost his raw ability from the past to get past players and make good dribbles. Had dried up as so many do later on in life. Reus would be a good purchase. Ozil too perfect and unrealistic. I am hearing things about Willian being a target and that might save United’s year if rightly paired with RvP. Welbeck from a field play perspective is better behind RvP than Rooney and Kagawa. Has verticality in his game plus speed. The kid can not finish though and does not carry enough gravitas for such a big spot in center. This tandem thing I have in mind needs the man behind RvP to be able to score as well as otherwise RvP dropping more to launch this vertical player makes no sense. Willian is not a player I have seen a lot, but something tells me he would come close to what I have in mind.

    Back to the Dutch NT, van Gaal moved back to 4-3-3 with the point to the back in the second half. We stopped playing with a 10 after the first 45 minutes and Wijnaldum and van Ginkel became half players. That tells me van Gaal is clueless about getting most out of RvP. RvP stood on an island once again and did not get his shutler behind him. Against Portugal we had the ultimate opportunity to test this. Sneijder was not there. vdV was out after 45 minutes. Maher was not there as well. The perfect opportunity and van Gaal failed to use it. van Ginkel or Wijnaldum should have been played clsoer behind RvP and we would have finally seen what RvP looks like with movement behind him.

    There is also not 1 TV programme in the Netherlands that tries to initiate a serious discussion about getting most out of RvP. To rise as a football nation we need to develop an intelligent problem solving discourse in the country. I have the feeling that we are getting further from that reality than closer.

    2. I agree. This is why I think Sneijder should be sitting deep in the Pirlo role and we need runners with brains to support RVP. Maher is the solution I think. He has brains, skill and speed. Fer is another option. I would personally abandon 4-3-3. Our players aren’t fit for it. ManU doesn’t play 4-3-3. With Janmaat on the right, we can forget about a right winger. Let Janmaat take care of it.

      Robben on the left, RVP centrally in a free role.

      Then a midfield of Strootman Sneijder Maher Fer

      1. That would be perfect , although i’m q bit afraid of sneijder’s defensive abilities. Also I’m not sure if he has enough Lungs for it.

        He has to regain his 2010 fitness to fulfill this role.

        Sneijder — “clasie” or “de guzman”
        Strootman — “fer”
        Van Ginkel — “maher”
        would be percect midfeild.

        Every manager would play with sneijder on top of the triangle , upfront .
        only van gaal can do the opposite 🙂 . How crazy is that.

        I remeber Cruyff asked BVM to play like this before WC 2010 , and Use MVB as a libero instead .

      2. @Jan goal.com doesnt fight for wijnaldum,Maher,Bruma etc,they will yell to kick out some players.but i do.They dont follow the dutch football like i do.i watch matches of PSV,AZ,Ajax and feynoord,also watches the matches of clubs with dutch players.they dont do that..

  4. This’d be my wish list for the final 23 man list:

    1 Stekelenburg
    2 Vorm
    3 Vermeer

    4 Janmaat
    5 Verhaegh
    6 De Vrij
    7 M. Indi
    8 Bruma / Rekik / Heitinga
    9 Pieters
    10 Blind

    11 Sneijder
    12 Maher
    13 Strootman
    14 De Guzmán
    15 V. Ginkel
    16 Clasie / Nigel
    17 L. Fer

    18 V. Persie
    19 Huntelaar
    20 Robben
    21 Wijnaldum
    22 Lens
    23 Narsingh / Depay

    I rather have Wijnaldum instead of Ola John. Wijnaldum seems to have more courage and can play in more spots.

    Vaart might be a dressing room problem so I’d rather leave him home.

    1. interesting list, out of that list I’d swap:

      Blind for Willems
      Clasie / Nigel for VDV

      and Wijnaldum and Fer would be competing for a spot with the likes of Ola John and Affelay, would depend on their season this year, or in other words, they would be on the edges of my selection and the first ones I’d swap if I see any better players this season.

      And if Lens keeps sucking it up in Siberia or wherever the h*ll he is sitting on the bench, I’d guess I’d need a replacement for him as well perhaps, or at least a better starter. I know he can play if he can get back to his form of last year, but not like he’s playing now.

      If vdWiel gets more playing time he’d move ahead of Verhaegh, but he needs games with ParisSG first.

  5. The answer to Van Persie conuldrum might be Maher.
    Van Persie actually played well vs Italy. Maher was the No.10 in that game.
    For Van Persie to be dangerous as a pivot, the players need to move around him for them to be played off by Van Persie’s release/return ball.
    This is how Man United actually plays.

  6. @Jan, good stuff, as always.

    My 2 cents:

    I actually thought that De Vrij and (especially) BMI played very well. De Vrij made a big error at the end; he was marking Ronaldo and then let him alone to go to where he though the ball was going to be. Big mistake, but correctible. He’s young, and as Jan pointed out (again) it when Stam and FDB were the ages of De Vrij and BMI, neither was thought to be headed for the levels of excellence they actually reached. Central defenders take time to develop…De Vrij and BMI are on their way, and the NT has to live with their development phase because frankly, right now, they are the best the NT has.

    By my observation, the best performance by the Oranje midfield during the time LVG has been in charge was the Clasie, Strootman and Maher against Italy. Unless Sneijder regains form (and I am not betting against that—playing in a WC is a huge motivation), or one of the others (Fer, VG, Wijnaldum) really has a breakout, I’d like to see them together again.

    I’d like to see more of Verhaegh. His build up play was very good; gave them some structure and intelligence. Compare it with Van Rhijn whose offensive ideas are to charge up the filed as quickly as possible and (more often than not) make a less than decent cross.

    If not Maher/Sneijder/RDV, any thoughts on Huntelaar starting as the central striker and RVP dropping into Maher’s spot?

    1. Agree that Italy was the best game so far. One thing. In the post match interview van Gaal talked about having an organisation for these corners and he was amazed about 2 man letting the Portuguese going first post change the direction of the ball. He said he had to look again at it from video, but something was not going well there. He also complimented his defense.

      To me the error of the goal was to blame on Robben, van Rhijn and Huntelaar. Robben for the weak press and track back allowing the ball going into our box, van Rhijn for giving away the corner in a simple way, Huntelaar for weak front checking of the the attacker who deflected the corner. I also did not like BMI’s initial reaction towards de Vrij, making sure not be associated with the situation rather acting gracefully from the value of camaraderie.

      IMO de Vrij has a case to be named MOTM.

      I am curious to know if van Gaal actually sees BMI’s position as a possible opportunity to upgrade by Rekik from the footballing perspective. Van Gaal being a build up freak might opt for Rekik soon, rather than replacing de Vrij by Bruma. We will see.

  7. @DRB, good points all. Agree that Robben and Van Rhijn had no business giving up the corner in the first place, and Huntelaar should have stopped that first flick. Still, De Vrij has to bear a significant responsibility as well; it looked to me like he reacted to the play by going where he thought the flick would go, and when it didn’t, he’d left Ronaldo all alone. (And is there a reason why they wouldn’t have someone on the near post?) That said, I agree with you (as I noted in my original post) that both BMI and De Vrij had good matches.

    I also noticed BMI’s immediate reaction. Didn’t like it either, but I can chalk that up to heat of the moment. Both of these things (De Vrij’s judgment, and BMI’s reaction) are things that can be corrected by the right word from staff.

    1. quote: “And is there a reason why they wouldn’t have someone on the near post?”

      Because the draw was already agreed upo before the game started?

      I dunno, can’t think of any other logical reason.

    2. You should keep an eye out for these though, I’ve seen those ‘tricks’ (not using a player on the near post) more often.

      I’ve never heard anyone point it out on TV how odd it is that it happens so often. Seems so simple having someone at the near post, how can you not do that deliberately if you don’t have a player there? And if deliberate, what could be the possible tactical excuse? I can’t think of good one (other than having 1 extra player to use elsewhere, which is a rather pathetic excuse).

  9. An 11 year talent from Groningen will make a move – Messi style – to Barcelona. His name is Fofana. Remember that name.

    Boulahrouz on his way to Crystal Palace?

    1. Bobby Adekanye is another “Dutch” talent at Barca, bit older than Fofana. Came this summer back to the Netherlands and decided to play a tournament with Alphense boys. Looks like he feels connected to the Netherlands while born in Nigeria and living from 12 years onward in Spain. Not sure what to make of that regarding the Dutch NT.

      I think he should have stayed at Ajax.

  10. I hope both Boetuis and Depay show significant improvement this season and be our left wingers in the WC. Fantastic wingers with fantastic skills and great potential .
    I think van Ginkel can be also great behind Persie.

    2. @Mohmed from my personal experince i found one thing i was lean and was able to dribble past at least one player when i played foot ball till 26.aftre that i went to Gym and i gain muslce and body was ok fit.what i found was i lost my agiilty and speed also i get easily exhausted…Memphis depay and and many guys doing bodybuidling and you will see that they have good biceps and triceps.i really footballers who go to gym wont sustain like giggs or scholes for long time.this will take out their stamina and will affcet skill.once you stop the gym you are done…Recently i saw vanginkel who was also added some muscle in arms.somehow i dont feel it good.in medical science point of veiw.let us see.

        1. @Mohmed CR7 doing it lately areed this has reduced his pace,he is not dangerous/Agility as he used to be ,u can sse that if watch him carefully,davids never had big biceps so are Seedorf and drogba.none of them were freak about adding muscles in upperbody.those had natural muscle strenth.they just concentrated more fitnes,endurance and stamina.thats what footballers need.Gym trent is mostly happend with new showboys..thats bad i am worried abut vanginkel coz he is the most brilliant talent we have got..Gym is good but over doing is bad for footballers.

  11. Nathan Ake was playing left back at the U21’s of Chelsea in the last game. What does this kid want to achieve? Chelsea is packed and now he is even moved to a left back spot at the U21. I rate this guy very highly.

    He should have done what Piazon has done and move to Vitesse. Form a partnership together and make some real flight hours in a top division. Look at Ebecilio and Rekik. Frustrating.

    1. Here’s my favorite, from Van Gaal’s wife:

      Truus is bang dat mijn opvolger de vruchten zal plukken, er komen geweldige talenten aan.’
      De vrouw van Louis van Gaal vindt het eigenlijk niet zo leuk dat de bondscoach na het WK 2014 ermee stopt. Hij is immers ook degene geweest die bij Barcelona en Bayern München de basis heeft gelegd voor de huidige successen.

      (“Hilda was afraid that my successor will reap the rewards, there are great talents. “)

          1. Abhirup….its true that LVG has found talents for Barca and bayern.his methodologies are right abotu 85 %.if you follow LVg method there cahnce of 85% that you will become a champion if and only if u have right players in th team.its like making puzzle.like who fits th bill rather than individual excellance.

  15. Why trust a man who destroyed our WK dream once before. You all were glad to see the back of van marwijk after the euro but he got us to a WK final. He certainly didn’t fail to take our team to a major tournament! Your trust in van Gaal is woefully misplaced.
    I have seen Oranje play for 30+ years. Van Gaal IS a moron and van Persie is the biggest disappointment of any of our star strikers. He simply fails to deliver at the important moments. In key champions league games for Arsenal and Man U and certainly for Oranje…. You are crazy to believe in these 2…. absolutely crazy!

    1. Sadly, you are right.
      Tournament after tournament, every 2 years we see much of the same thing. The 2 tournaments, well 3 actually, where Oranje either fulfilled potential or struck deep into the hearts had a strong personality at the helm and a very cohesive vision. The ’74 WK, the ’88 EK, and the ’10 WK. You can make a case for Happel in ’78 and for Hiddink in ’98, but really the previous 3 were the idealistic moments.
      And it isn’t just a strong hand at the helm that ensures success. It is a clear and definitive vision which is understood by everyone from top to bottom. No gray and fuzzy areas. One vision, one goal, and clearly defined routes beforehand. With Van Gaal I see only a strong hand cloaked within the glove of confusion. The only thing making it worse is the egoism attached to the hand.
      I’m telling you, and I predicted it before on this website, we are in for a repeat of the post 1980 team. The only thing that will get us into the tournaments is the expanded fields. Otherwise it would a sad steady replay, starting from the EK ’80, the “Gold Cup” ’80 in Uruguay right on through until the ’88 EK.
      We are truly the unluckiest of teams. Especially considering the ’78 WK Rensenbrink post shot, the Kluivert can’t find the net to save his life in the WK ’98 Semi, the ’10 WK Spain diving performance, the van Basten drought in ’92 EK, the ’76 EK referee Taylor wanting to be the star in the Semi’s, the ’84 EK Spain scoring 12 suspect goals in qualifications, the Belgians finding a miracle in the ’86 WK UEFA playoff, … well you get the point! But we surely have to be the most masochistic of all teams to willingly give away so much over the last 40 years also. Will this team follow into those footsteps?
      Meh… No matter, we’ll all watch and subconsciously strangle all within reach when the “moment” comes. Which it always does.
      Why couldn’t of Cruijff and company broken the spell before it began in ’74?

    2. I ,myself,trust in Louis because of his success with Ajax in 95 & 96 .
      He did make a team that was a nightmare for every other team in Europe, and most importantly , this team was composed of a bunch of kids. “Kluivert , who scored the final goal aginst Milan was 17 back then”.

      And yes , Louis has a great role in where Barca and Bayern stand now.
      Iniesta who was 17 , xavi who was 20 by that time , both were discoverd by LVG. Both of them and even Guardiola admitted that LVG had a great impact on the current Barca.
      Same with Bayern , alaba , Gustavo were developed by him , not to forget Schwinestiger who was turned by LVG from an average playmaker to a worldclass Holding mid. Robben had his best season in his career with LVG.

      I agree with you that he flopped before with Oranje , and actually we should have won the 2002 WC because we had all what it takes to win it, But many great coaches have their flops.
      lippi , when he returned back to National team , after winning the WC , he was kicked out of the group stage in the confedrations cup and WC ,
      Capello was a joke with England .. Etc.

  16. I like the honest policy of LVg and ruthless aproach towards fitness and form.But like others said here,he seems arrogant.and not opned to others idea.what i feel is LVG is 85-90% right but he must listen to others like Debosque does.
    FYI guys..spain is getting rid of then older ones(ineasta only)..they started to play with Thiago,Tello,Xavi martinz etc and they are force to reckon with in 2014 brazil.Delbosque understood the problem after brazil match and rectified it.they won against a toung defnding team.that says a lot.

  17. Trusting LVG ? No

    Robben saved him with Bayern honestly, does someone here remember how Bayern reached CL finale ? Robben’s miracles every game, against Fiorentina, Manchester and Lyon. Does someone remember how was Bayern when Robben was injured in the first part of that season ? Losing against Bordeaux and threatened not to qualify for CL 2nd round…What about following season when Robben got injured again ? Bayern 9th in bundesliga in november…Their worst classement for long years.

    AZ ? Everyone remembers about the title he won with them, no one remembers that the year just before ,AZ was dissmissed in Europa league first round and finished 11th in the Eredivisie. Worst season of the club for long years.

    About those who say that LVG had the genius idea to use Robben as RW, ok, he probably had his best years in that position, but now, why he is using him as LW again ? …

    That’s just what it feels with Van Gaal, total no sense in everything, no clear explainations, no tactical plan, changes his mind everytime…

    Not a trainer to trust at all even if he did some good things.

    1. He does seem a bit all over the map with his player selections. I know it is time of transition for the NT, and that fitness and having a good year leading up to the WC is vital, but I fear that the team LVG ends up selecting will be a collection of talent with no chemistry. The whole (team) will not be better than the sum of the parts. With Barcelona and Spain, it has been the opposite–the whole better than the sum of parts/individual players because they knew each other so well. LVG needs to find some midfielders/wingers who can help RVP do his thing, in addition to Robben.

  19. @Ed: sorry man but I’ll have to keep believing in LVG because everyone deserves a 2nd opportunity and also because he has achieved some incredible titles.

    Actually his 1990’s Ajax was the best team I’ve seen in my life (I’m 27) so taking that into consideration I’ll keep being a LVG fan and hope LVG makes a team strong enough to compete at the highest level.

    @Laurent: so LVG was lucky to have Robben who “saved” him just as Guardiola was “saved” by Messi, or Di Matteo was “saved” by Drogba, Arrigo Sachi was “saved” by Van Basten, Heynckes “saved” also by Robben.

  20. anybody watching games tonight?
    I’m watching Bremen vs Augsburg. Elia vs Verhaegh. Verhaegh’s crosses are sharp and precise. Elia… well, dancing past the defences only to be outnumbered by the backs. Bremen are currently 1-0 up.

    also following the live scores, Van Wolfie is having the hard time against Everton defence.

  21. After the EC’ 12 we wanted:

    1) a new back four…done.
    2) a more attacking midfield….in the process at least we don’t play with 2 holding mids anymore.
    3) we al said our center forward wasn’t getting any crosses at all and that is why LVG is playing Robben as LW.

    Of course there are lots of things to improve but these were the 3 main issues we all talked about in this blog and LVG is working exactly on this 3 things.

    Also our players were assured of their place in the team. Now they know they’ve to work their asses off if they want to be in it.

    I still believe Robben should cross more the same goes for Lens. We need to play more for RVP.

    2. Appreciate your comments, Miguel- you are one of the consistent voices of reason and perspective on this board. Thanks- I totally agree with this

    3. I think one reason why RVP suffers with Robben and the NT is that Robben doesn’t cross much, or he is not a good crosser. At ManU, it is different.

  22. RvP is slow… He doesn’t have the speed he used to have when he played as a winger for arsenal… He holds the ball and distributes it so well that he can’t have slowe players around him…

    RvP needs Maher, Strootman, Lenz and Robben around him… Wesley and VDV are too slow for my liking.. I can see Sneijder player a deep lying midfielder but not in a true number 10

    1. SamNY :

      I agree with you, I like VDV for his undirect free kicks which are almost everytime dangerous (that may not seem enough to be a real argument but we really scored many times thanks to that), his fantasy, but yeah he lacks speed,energy and influence for me. I didn’t really like his first half against Portugal.

      About VP being the striker, there is nothing to discuss, even if we know that we won’t score 5 goals during the world cup, we don’t have something better. Now the thing it’s to use him to make others players playing around, like he did it good in 2010.

      Which player to play behind him ? Honestly, I don’t think Maher will make the WC, and though he is good in the last pass and a bit quicker with the ball than Sneijder and VDV, his influence is not important enough for me , it would be the same configuration than with L.De Jong during -21 and he was disappoiting.

      Strootman is a way too slow with the ball to play as high on the field. Robben and VP never been great friends during competitions, they’re both two egos and they’ll probably always go for the individual situation. Especially Robben. Lens isn’t good enough technically to play behind VP.

      For me two players are interesting : Afellay, VP said many times that he likes too much to combinate with him. Afellay is definitly quicker with the ball than all the players we mentionned before (except Robben). Now, he lacks effectivness but he can correct it I think, if he can convince me that is able to make a full season with his future club, score 10 goals and give 10 assists, he would be my first option.

      The other one who would suit VP according to me is Van Ginkel. Probably doesn’t have as much pass quality as Sneijder, VDV or Maher, but plays with more determination, more discipline, and makes often the right decisions. A player I would trust even if he is used as left back.

  25. Van persie ………………..cant stop scoring for Manu….but threason is guys welbek,rooney,valencia all are too unslefish they dont for self glory and running all over the feild….simple..he need service

  28. SamNY, I’m with you about RVP. We need better services to him and faster players around him. If NT cannot benefit having striker like RVP then I blame the coach. Look at BVM, even he cannot use RVP to RVP’s best ability, at least BVM used RVP creating enough space for players behind him.
    I’m not sure about Sneijder being deep playing midfield though. Yes he is slow now, but he is working hard to be back on top, and his pass, free kick, long distance shot, passion…I have not seen any other player step up that can replaces him in NT yet. Making him deep playing midfield is Strootman’s position and I am not sure if Sneijder will ever has lunch for this. Perhaps Maher, Afellay (he needs to leave Barca) or Wijnaldum can develop into this 10 position in 9 months, and I’ll be ok with Sneijder is a sub for NT if he is only 80%.
    Robben is a good player the way he is now, a bit more selfish, but I’m not sure if we can make Robben passing more. Remember the game vs France in Euro 98, Robben passed to RVP who scored, and Robben also scored from a small angle. It is what defines him who he is.

  30. I am the only one who see in Depay the same stile of play that Ronaldo?? Of course distances apart Depay is really good, have similar shooting stile, power and sprint!! Lets hope Depay will lear to score goals more regularly, I dont think he could reach ronaldos tally but if he score 15-20 goals per season that will be awesome!!
    Cheers!

    1. Yes Gabriel. This is true. Depay has developed his efficacy a lot this season. He is already better than Ronaldo when he was at the same age.
      Also , he’s got great determination , like cr7 , which is the most thing i like about him.

      1. yes Mohamed, maybe I will look for more stats to compare Depay-Ronaldo at the same age, but hey, our kid is wonderful!! And he has a lot of margin to progress cause he is just nineteen!!
        Cheers!!

  31. if PSvV defends well against Milan,that says soemthing and i should say LVG should opt for many PSV plasyers coz they play together for year like barca players did for Spain
    Barca-Spain
    PSV—dutch……wow
    Brent is not bad has speed,guts etc are his qualities..it seems PSV has the best defnse in eredivise with AZ..

    1. And the best attack , too.
      3 games in Eredivisie & 2 play-offs games scoring 16 goals and conceding only 2 , this says a lot.
      Although they usually don’t score inthe 1st half , cocu has to fix this . Early goals are important in big games.

  32. Dutch Updates from the Premier League Opening Day

    That’s one way to stop Jack Wilshere in full flow – the Arsenal midfielder is taken out at high speed by a bodycheck from Ron Vlaar. It was as cynical as it gets from the big Dutchman, and Wilshere doesn’t like it one bit. There are some handbags, and both players go into the book. Poor challenge.

    Norwich hand a debut to record signing Ricky van Wolfswinkel, while Nathan Redmond also starts. Gary Hooper is not in.

    Norwich new man Ricky van Wolfswinkel then has his first sighter, but he can’t make a clean connection with a header at the back stick and the ball drifts out of play.

    Goal on his debut for Norwich striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel, and it brings the home side back level. Again, right-back Steven Whittaker is heavily involved, taking aim ambitiously with his left foot, slicing his shot across the face of goal for Van Wolfswinkel to expertly redirect back across and into the top corner. A really superb header.

    Tom Adams: Ricky van Wolfswinkel taking the Premier League player by storm. Who needs #RVP when there’s #RVW?

    Norwich striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel: “I’m glad I can make the goal in my first game and help the team. I have to score goals but we play with 11 and I am team player and am part of the team like everyone else. The Premier League is fast and I will have to get used to it.”

    GREAT SAVE!- Sunderland 0-0 Fulham
    What a way to introduce yourself! New Sunderland full-back Ondrej Celustka takes a crossfield pass on the chest, lets it bounce before firing an effort in from 25 yards, forcing Maarten Stekelenburg into a flying save.

    “It just has not happened for Martin Jol’s side – they have kept Sunderland at bay. Maarten Stekelenburg pulled off a fantastic save from Ondrej Celustka’s shot.

    Jozy Altidore almost gets in on the end of a loose ball but it’s scrambled away. But Fulham keeper Maarten Stekelenburg is injured in the process.

    And that’s the end of Maarten Stekelenburg’s Fulham debut, he is off clutching his shoulder. David Stockdale comes on for the remainder of the game.

    GREAT SAVE!- Swansea 0-0 Man Utd
    First blood (almost) to the champions though. A free-kick from the left runs through to Phil Jones deep in the penalty area, and he forces Michel Vorm into a flying save to tip away his dipping shot on the bounce. Lovely effort from the utility man.

    Robin van Persie has his first chance of the Premier League season, rising to meet a cross from Patrice Evra but heading straight at Michel Vorm. Good chance.

    And Ryan Giggs should score again! Danny Welbeck finds some space to move into the area, he shoots low, it’s tame and Michel Vorm parries out, but only as far as Giggs, who connects beautifully but thumps his shot just past the far corner. Inches away.

    Ryan Giggs is in – he latches on to a fine lay-off from Robin van Persie but for once, at last you could say, he doesn’t have the pace to get clear and Ashley Williams is able to recover and make the tackle. Giggs has been leaving defenders for dead for over 20 years but he couldn’t do it that time.

    Robin van Persie shoots with his right foot, but drags it wide from 25 yards before Jonjo Shelvey is too powerful for the Manchester United midfield on the counter attack.

    GOAL- Swansea 0-1 Man Utd – Robin van Persie (34 mins)
    Every time Manchester United are up against it, Robin van Persie comes to the rescue. Swansea were just starting to apply some pressure and dictate the play when the Dutchman pops up with yet another goal. Ryan Giggs lifts a pass over the top to find Van Persie in a pocket of space, the bounce is awkward but he adjusts his body well to hook in right-footed.

    Sam Muchai: New Season, New Manager, Same old Van Persie.

    Keval Shah: Cheeky bicycle kick from Van Persie. Picking up where he left off last season. Could be the difference again.

    Swansea 0-2 Man Utd
    As that picture shows, the opener was yet another superbly taken goal from Robin van Persie. There’s not many type of goals he can’t score are there?

    David Moyes could be forgiven for thinking that managing Manchester United is easy so far. He won the Community Shield last weekend despite his side not being at their best, with Robin van Persie scoring the crucial goals, and six days later he’s well on his way to a winning start in the league.

    They’ve not been at their best perhaps, but Robin van Persie – you know the rest…

    Tom Holmes: Very good ball from Valencia for Welbeck’s goal but all the deserved plaudits go to RVP. United look shaky at the back though.

    Matthew Ryan: RVP and Welbeck off to a good start this season. Wayne who?

    Chris Jones: Is there a greyer frontline in the Premier League than Van Persie and Giggs? Class is clearly permanent.

    CLOSE!- Swansea 0-2 Man Utd
    David Moyes appeared to be giving Wayne Rooney some instructions on his return to the dugout, looks like the number 10 will be on the pitch soon. Oh, and it’s nearly three with United’s first real attack of the second half, Robin van Persie getting in behind but firing across the face of goal.

    GOAL- Swansea 0-3 Man Utd – Robin van Persie (72 mins)
    Unstoppable! Just a fabulous goal from Robin van Persie, who ominously has already got four goals this season. It’s a solo effort, running at a retreating backline, ignoring the runs of Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney before thumping a left-footed shot into the roof of the net. Bang.

    You have to see this is an impressive league opener for David Moyes. Many tipped a struggle for them this afternoon but from the moment Robin van Persie opened the scoring it’s been in the bag. Van Persie is in the hunt for a treble as he orchestrates a flowing move down the left but Patrice Evra has strayed offside.

    David McW: How can Rooney complain about being 2nd choice striker when RVP bangs them in like that?

    Jonathan McGarth: Don’t worry Moyes, RVP is looking after it

    Robin van Persie – the matchwinner yet again for Manchester United – is rested for the dying stages as Anderson comes on in midfield.

    “Whatever Wayne Rooney’s fate, Robin van Persie has quickly proved that he will be United’s main man again this season.”

    Stuart Mitchell: Bet Rooney is regretting that assist. RVP and Welbeck have emphatically told Rooney he can leave if he wants.

    PLAYER REACTION- Swansea 1-4 Man Utd
    Manchester United striker Robin van Persie: “We are very happy. To play against Swansea away from home is tough. It’s tough. I love the way they play but it’s hard to play against.

    “Swansea were better than us for the first 20 minutes or so but the goal changed the game. It was one of the best goals I have scored with my right foot. But the fourth goal from Danny Welbeck was unbelievable”

    Worryingly for Premier League goalkeepers, Robin van Persie says he “is not really a chip man” so is going to try and learn from Danny Welbeck. If Van Persie adds any more weaponry to his game it will be bordering on unfair..

    Okon Isong: Rooney has to step up because Welbeck and RVP were sheer class today.

    Manchester United manager David Moyes tells BBC Sport: “It very much was a Manchester United display. We were clinical in attack and I am very pleased.

    “This is a tough place to come and we won well in the end.

    “Today was my first game at Manchester United, I was excited but it’s just work to me, it’s the same as I’ve done at Everton over the last 10 years or so.

    “Robin van Persie scored two brilliant goals. When he pulls the trigger it’s a goal all the way.”

  33. Michel Vorm
    Hardly at fault for two wonderful goals from Van Persie and was let down by his defence for Welbeck’s close-range tap-in.

    Robin van Persie Top of the Match
    Showed world-class technical ability to volley his side into the lead, before playing an important part in their second goal just moments later. Fired a rocket of a shot past Vorm for the third goal and was the star of the show. Constantly a thorn in the side of the Swansea defence.

    Maarten Stekelenburg Top of the Match
    Showed his dominance between the sticks early on and gave a brilliant performance in his first game in a Fulham shirt. Made a super stop to deny Trabzonspor-loanee Ondrej Celustka, leaping to his left to parry away the powerful shot, but sadly picked up an injury in the latter stages.

    Ricky van Wolfswinkel
    Saw an early header glance off Distin and drift wide. Didn’t get much of the ball in the first half, but threatened and caused trouble with his running. Quiet in the second half, until a comically sliced volley came his way. The striker expertly guided his header past Howard, showing his class.

    Arjen Robben
    Was very lively having replaced Muller in the 74th minute. He won a number of free kicks and created chances for his team-mates.

    Daniel Agger
    Diligent in his defensive duties even if his passing was sometimes off. Dominated Crouch aerially and posed a threat at set pieces. Ludicrous handball at the end nearly cost his side badly.

    Erik Pieters
    Tough baptism of fire for the Dutch full-back, who endured a torrid time down the left as Aspas, Sturridge and Johnson all looked to get at him down his flank.

    Ron Vlaar
    Set the tone physically for Villa and occasionally strayed over the line, committing himself far too high up the field to allow Oxlade-Chamberlain to set up the first goal and seeing yellow for a foul on Wilshere. He grew stronger as the game wore on, though, giving Giroud an increasingly difficult time.

    Portugal vs Ned Ratings

    http://www.goal.com/en/match/107831/portugal-vs-netherlands/player-ratings

    1. Bacuna came on at the end for Aston Villa when they were leading 3-1 /// ran on to a great through ball to go one on one with the goalie only to screw horribly wide…looks overweight..and will not crack the first XI…disspointing as I thought he wud be like a premier league drenthe

  34. vdv scored another penalty for hamburg…while jozefezoon and depay both score in psv s 3-0 win over the eagles…cambuur beating groningen 4-1!!?? zwolle leading NEC 5-0 within 52 mins ???????????????????!!!1

      1. I must say I am very happy for Stroot, I only regret Man U not seeing the really NEED!!! they have for a guy like Strootman, leadership, strong presence in midfield and lately some good goals too!! I think he is way too better for Roma. We need that he acquires CL experience soon!!
        Cheers!

  36. I am a little concerned about Depay. He will play for us right?? I was reading a ghanaian forum and all the people are saying that the ghanaian trainer should give a call to Depay. I hope we dont loose this one cause he is REALLY GOOD!!. So lets hope Van Gaal ends this issue soon and give a call to Depay. He is not very far for play on the left. He is better than John, Afellay, elia, etc etc

    1. 100% sure he will play for the Netherlands. Never heard something about him wanting to represent Ghana. Ghana is also in CAF and that means no Euro.

      I actually think he takes too much time to shoot, misses too many chances and is too imbalanced at times and is not fast enough. Has a lot of improving to do. I am also unsure about his mental stability. Elia was hot one time as well and both are best friends. Look at Elia now. His behavior could infect Depay. Then again he is also friends with Rekik and I see that kid as one of the most stable figures of this next generation. Breaths consistency so far, says sensible things, carries himself responsible and is uplifting towards others on top of all that. I actually partly going to attribute Depay’s good start of the season to Rekik. I think he is close with Depay and is having a good influence on him. I have no prove of that of course.

      Only thing that is annoying though is that Depay is right legged and van Gaal will use him on the right, as he uses Robben on the left because of his left leg. Depay from the right dips in quality from the right as he really prefers to play from the left. So we should take that into account.

      1. Yeah agree about Depay’s finishing. He has to work on it. I’ll also add Cocu as a reason of his good start aside with Rekik. Cocu seems to think of Depay vey highly , he was also the reason Depay start to concentrate on football and leave rapping career .
        LVG has to change his mind for god sake :D. Just like he did with Bayern when used left footed Robben and left footed Lahm on the right , and the right footed Ribery on the left .

    2. Don’t worry man 🙂 . I don’t think he thinks about playing for Ghana at all actually , plus , his mother is dutch. Depay listens to Cocu and thinks of him as his idol. I read somewhere that he stpped rap because Cocu asked him to stop it and cocentrate on his football career.
      Also , he is playing in Netherlands , not in Arsenal B team like Quincy who decided to play for Ghana before , which makes it difficult to play for Ghana.
      On the other hand , It seems Bakkali wants to play for Morocco , although he joined the Belguim camp before the friendly vs France .

      The most refreshing about today’s PSV game is Maher who seems to starting to regain his AZ form . Hopefully he will get even better.

      Heijlmark is a great talent too , unfortunately he is Norwegian 😛 .

        1. Thanks Mohamed and DRB300, I also believe that Depay needs to finish better, and maybe increase his speed. Elia was very speedy, crazy speedy I think. Maybe Depay under Cocu commands will end being a better footballer than Elia is. Glad to hear that Depay let the Rap thing aside.
          I think we all think that Rekik will finnally be our next wonderful defender!!
          Lets wait for the Milan games, really hard for PSV, cause they are too young.

  37. IMO the below list the players likely to be included for WC14 squad.
    No Huntelaar, VDV, Kuyt and Schaken for me.

    Vorm
    Janmaat/Verhaegh
    De Vrij
    Martins Indi/Karim Rekik
    Lens/Narsingh
    Van Ginkel/De Jong/Clasie
    Strootman/De Guzman
    Wesley/Maher
    Robben
    Van Persie

  38. van der Vaart threw his captain armband onto the ground when subbed last night. not sure if he’s really frustrated with the scoreline or there’s something with the team.

    1. Hamburg has become crap…happy that Bruma escaped from that club.they got thrashed by many teams espceialy bayern….Vaart past his prime looks old and slow cannt execute what his mind think.But still good at penalty,freekick etc..

  39. My 2014 Oranje team:
    —————Stek————–
    Janmaat-bruma-rekik-willems
    ————-schaars———
    —–maher—–wijnaldum—–
    —robben—v.persie—depay

    This is a team that knows each other very well and has way more organization and coherence than what we say agains Portugal!!

  41. Players who are doing very well ATM
    Bruma
    Brenet
    williams
    Reikik
    schaars
    Wijnaldum
    Maher
    Depay
    RVP
    Van ginkel
    Strootman
    Leory fer
    Who played well at present ijured
    Deguzman
    Seim Dejong
    Players who fit for form and fitness
    Nijel Dejong
    Wesly snijder
    stekelenurg
    Peiters
    Plays in dip of form
    Janmaat??or somewhat
    Vanrhijn
    Blind
    Players who play inconstistant
    BMI
    Devrij
    Vlaar
    Roben

  42. Tiju what about an attack :

    —Narsingh——–Afellay————Elia

    —————-Huntelaar—————

    With few months of body building for all of them, are our chances to win the world cup high ?

    1. skill wise all are good huntlaar is the lesser one.Problem with first 3 are they lack intellignce and they seems blind.Huntlaar is static ..if the build body(too much Gym) then they have no chance to execl in their respective clubs too..

        1. i understood more than what u understood.it is not orginal laurent it is some one else..then i dont give a shit abt sarcasm mate.for rugby it is good and needed but football……….we will see..maldini,nesta,gigs,jaap stam all had natural boy and fitness.The new trend shaping of over Gym work clearly destory the agility and stamina of players

          1. Lol just wanted to see your reaction Tiju. You seem to be a good guy and I know you follow games, which gives you the right to have your own opinion about them.

            And I agree about body building, for sure it makes losing agility.

    2. So bizarre how this pops up every once in awhile, but at least this time it’s not following a bunch of vile words about someone’s mother.

      By the way, Jesus was something like 32-33 when he hit his peak, so maybe you should cut the ‘old’ guys like VdV and Sneijder a little slack. Just sayin.

      1. Why u getting itched by my comment..understand that u are a zero to say that Jesus peakness.and u r joking about ur creator.u have a very very little brain.
        then comes bunch of vile words,if u are replying me with disrespect u will recive it coz am infront of a computer,if it is direct i would braek ur head with an iron rod…hope u understand it….faggie u have been itching me for long time….

  45. Schalke striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar will be out of action for several weeks due to a knee injury sustained in his side’s 4-0 defeat at Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday (tsn.ca)

  46. Must say, Chelsea has a crazy schedule these 12 days:

    http://tinyurl.com/kxrfpzv

    18-21-26-30 of August are all important games Mou will aim to win.

    1 down 3 to go. If Mou barely uses van Ginkel in these next 12 days, then we actually have an idea of where Marco stands.

    Today he was brought in as AM in the final minutes of the game when Chelsea tried to die it down. If hazard would have had a good contact with his back heel pass, then Marco could have scored.

    Let’s see what the Villa game brings.

    1. Yes DRB , this can be true.
      What makes this kinda sensible that also Mata didn’t play this game , and I doubt Mata will stay on Bench this season.
      If Mourinho wants to use Rotation method , it will be good or Marco and I hope he proves himself with every minute given to him. With mourinho , the more he impresses the more he will play , I have no doubts about this.

  47. On a side note guys:

    Whoscored is doing a good job in collecting stats from different leagues these recent years. However this was always limited to a select number of competitions. This year (as far as I know), they have expanded the number of competition and among those is also Eredivisie. Pretty cool. Link:

    http://tinyurl.com/k3wfv3w

    Other added competitions:

    Russia
    Brazil
    USA
    Championship

    This means we should even be able to follow Seedorf in a better way!

    Cheers

  48. All our players news and our team performance against Portugal are not very promising! Frustrating game against Portugal, our best talents are bench Warmers in Europe (van ginkel), other players playing in the middle of nowhere and are not even starters (lens), our coming defensive line is in deep trouble (Bmi-de vrij).
    There is only one remaining hope and with that only hope it becomes a death or life matter, I am talking here about PSV-Milan, if cocu turns out to be a genius and manages to beat Milan and those young psv kids perform well, then we will get out hopes that there is still something to be happy out! But if psv turns out to be just another Dutch club and loses like every other Dutch team in Europa league year without being able to compete with a much weeker Milan than usual, then at that point I can say we are officially in a big hole and we will be in that hole for a while!! My only hope and it is a very cautious hope and maybe unrealistic is that cocu does with this very young team what van gaal did with the very young Ajax 18 years ago!!

    1. Holy negativity!! I think you should go back and read Jan’s article above. Things aren’t nearly that dire- most of professional football is in it’s first or second week. Their are Dutch players scattered throughout the EPL and their are exciting young players to watch in the Eredivisie. Lets give it a few weeks at least until we declare Dutch football to be hopeless.

    2. @Alaa u can excuse Wijnaldum…RVP and roben will get in shape.The real problems are Vaart,blind,(Decvrij slow)Van rhijn(immature though i liked his over head clarence otherwise it was a goal)bit BMI.Lenz will beome fine if he plays regularly for his club.things would change if Reikik and Bruma develops in a year.
      ————-Persie————–
      Roben——————-Wijnaldum
      ——Strootman–Vanginkel———
      ————-Schaars————–
      williams——————-Janmaat
      ———-BMI—–Bruma———–
      ————Steke——————
      ==========================================
      ————-Seim Dejong———–
      Depay————————Urby/Maher
      ——–Leory fer/clasie—-Maher/Wesly
      ————-Deguzman/Nijel—————
      Peiters———————–Brenet/Vanrhijn
      ———Reikik—-Devrij—————–
      ————-Vorm————————
      ==========================================
      Krul-23
      ===========================================

    1. Great video.

      This is not a player who is finished. He’ll be back. Can’t wait to see him back in an Oranje jersey. I think LvG’s particular type of motivation will work for Sneijder.

    2. Still has his vision and touch, but he seems a bit slow. I just saw a review of his play on Studio Voetbal and he was noticeably quicker in 2010.

      1. The quickness that’s important with a player like Sneijder will always be mental, not in the legs. Seeing how he so quickly launches the ball off his foot, completely changing the field if play, is what’s jumping out at me from this clip. If he himself is in shape and in rhythm, sending these types of balls to dynamic young players in Oranje jerseys, he can still be a huge force on the NT.

  52. Any update on Ibrahim Afellay guys? He hasn’t played in almost a year. He really needs to get out of Barcelona – he’s got talent and if he’s fully healthy and fit, I’d like to see him on the WC squad.

  54. ajax-feyenoord last night,
    I could not really cheer for Ajax, with 8 non-dutch of 10 field players, it looks like a team from Danish league. The feyenoord looked awful though. They need much better players than immers, schaken, nelom. Vilhena and clasie looked ordinary too. Who is ligeon? He played well as RB and lively sometime as RW, much better than schaken.

  55. Frankly Jake I don’t care that Ajax has limited Dutch players. There are plenty of them in jong Ajax and I am sure that the team will be more Dutch in the next few years. Liegon is exactly one of those players. Formed at the club and coming up now through the youth system. He is going to give Van Rhijn a run for his money, that’s for sure. If you look at both teams today Ajax and Feyenoord, what you should really care about is that 80% of the 22 players -and you could add the reserve players- were formed in the clubs respective youth academies. Those are incredible numbers. So again I don’t care that Ajax is non Dutch from a passport point of view but I do rather care that it is a very typical “Ajax” team built with players from the youth (except Poulsen, Schone and Bojan), not filled with mercenaries or players bought from other clubs. Same goes for Feyenoord (Immers, Vormer and Pelle). Kudos to both teams.

    1. If we look at the issue from a neutral point of view, recent history indicates Ajax have become a development platform for foreigners, and failed to supply talents to the Dutch NT. Let’s just be honest with this question – who was the latest talent emerged from the academy who made a decent jump to the Dutch NT? Van der Wiel, Van Rhijn, Blind, Vermeer? Ugh. Ugly list. None of them could get me excited.

      Unless something fundamentally changes with the transfer policy, I think this trend is very worrying. Krkic’s loan move was the tipping point for me to say that Ajax had no confidence at all with their youth.

      Fair point that maybe the Ajax youth team is loaded, but the fact of the matter is that the current senior team needs a complete makeover. The Dutch talents need to promoted. otherwise what good will it do? The likes of V.d Hoorn, Denswil, Bazoer, Hoesen, etc will be far behind in their learning curves playing second string and garbage minutes. While the rest of the Dutch talents are playing hardcore week in and week out.

      Case in point: Rekik and Denswil are both hyped as the next Dutch superstar defender. Both were in class of 1993/1994 birth year. While Rekik is getting important lessons to develop at PSV, Denswil are so far down in the pecking order at Ajax. It won’t surprise anybody they day Rekik is wearing his senior Oranje jersey, Denswil is still waiting for his bite to Ajax first team.

      I am of the opinion that the purpose of club’s existence is to win trophies, and NOT solely to “develop” talents for the national team. But, hey, if you could do both, why wouldn’t you? Kudos to PSV, Feyenoord, and even Twente lately, who have taken a huge step in this direction. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but as a fan of Oranje, I don’t blame anybody who doesn’t cheer for Ajax these days.

  57. Had Afellay moved to a club where he is a regular starter and can do well, I can see him instead of Kagawa at MU and hook up with RVP. Unfortunately he cannot break to 1st team at Barca, and he should look at Thiago as a warning (moving to Bayern instead) to his career.
    @Jeff: I’m still Ajax fan first regarding club but I’m looking forward to the day that Ajax has more Dutch players. I’m happy that Ajax is doing well the last 3 years but a bit disappointed about its contribution to NT. I believe a strong Ajax with a dominant Dutch players will contribute to a better successful NT team.

  58. Another two winning goals from RVP, again MOTM. We urgently need to get players that can play for RVP like Arsenal and MU. It’s annoying because we know that out NT have better quality players than those two. Maybe not the backlines, but LVG should study what is wrong with the NT’s midfield and wings.

    Re: affelay, I dont believe that he is capable of supporting RVP in MU or NT, he lacks visions and final products, wasteful at many times in the past even playing behind RVP in 2012.

  61. Norwich have held talks over a deal for Galatasaray striker Johan Elmander and are also considering Andrea Caracciolo of Brescia.
    Elmander, 32, scored four goals in 14 games last season and is available for £500,000 as he has a year left on contract.
    Caracciolo, 31, is also available for a cut-price fee. He scored 16 goals in 28 Serie B games last season.

    1. It was predictable.

      When you lose Asare, Kali, Wuytens, (Van der Hoorn)…And get Derijck and Verhoeven lol nothing to hope.

      Mulenga will leave them, Toornstra will feel alone.

  64. Tiju’s best team :

    ——————Douglas Jesus—————–

    –Jesus Gamez—-Juan Jesus—Rueda Jesus—Chavez Jesus

    ———–Zavala Jesus——-Molina Jesus———

    –Jesus Navas——-Datolo Jesus———Sanchez Jesus

    ——————De Jesus Marlon————

    Coach : Jorge Jesus

    2. These human jesuses doesnt know who is Lord Jesus and laurent u too..Joking about Jesus will not do anything good for u.HE is real ,its not mythology.i just wish that HE forgives ur ignorance.I trust in Jesus than LVG.If NT coach was son of Jesus,then i am sure that no one beats national team.

      1. Your Jesus did not exist.
        You have been lied to.
        Now grow up. Get over it. Move on with your miserable little life.

        This is a FOOTBALL site, you colossal idiot.

          1. Please provide evidence of this ‘historical fact’.

            For you information, and benefit, there is not a single historical account of Jesus’ existence during the time that he is supposed to have lived. The only document of the era citing that such a person ever even lived was created 27 years after his supposed death, and was written by/attributed to a political spin-doctor of the time with proven and established grievances against the elite ruling class.
            It is not even the basis for a confirmation, let alone a modern religion.
            It is so far removed from ‘historical fact’ it is in fact a polar opposite.

            Don’t make claims you cannot back up.
            So again, I ask, please provide evidence of this ‘historical fact’. Evidence, or get the fuk out. Idiot.

            Now.

            Back to football.

    3. With apologies to all, may I please suggest that we leave discussions of race, religion and politics to other websites?

      It’s voetbal we’re talking about here. 🙂

      1. Same here. Hope to see him develop even further in Italy. He has certainly looked very strong the last few times I’ve seen him.

        I was actually hoping that he’d go to Man U, both for the better exposure and because it would’ve been nice to have another Dutchman on the pitch with van Persie weekly, but so far his Roma move looks promising.

        Thanks for the link

    1. Hey Andrew 🙂
      Promes is a verstile Midfeilder , can play as a winger , has very powerful shoots and got some nice dribbling skills actually.
      He had a big role with Go Ahead Eagles in Erestevisie last season , he plays now as a winger with Twente but I think he is better as a playmaker “Tadic spot”.
      He has talent , but I can’t figure out how good he will be.

    1. Tiotut e is strong and work hard, bJonas Gutierrez is a vary bad player, i simply dont know how hes favored in strating 11 instead of Anita.

    2. Tiote is strong and work hard, but Jonas Gutierrez is a very bad player, i simply dont know how hes favored in starting 11 instead of Anita.

  69. In PSV-Go Ahead Eagles 3-0 game, Willems made a very good pass to Jozefzoon; a young 19 years old defenseman J. Brenet who looks much better than Arias who he sub and some good chemistry between Maher and Depay. I hope PSV can upset Milan, giving these young players confidence and of course PSV to play well this year. I hope LVG give Willems a chance at NT; at least it makes Blind to be better and more competitive. I hope this does not sound negatively as it is but I’d rather lose with Rekik and Bruma rather with Mathijsen and Heitinga now.

    1. Willems is the best dutch LB atm .
      He has showm great maturity this season.
      Sometimes I wonder how he hasn’t become a winger though , he seems to be a great street footballer with great skills and freestyle 😛 .

      1. The international level is a different animal. It’s still hard to shake off the memory of how bad Willems looked against Portugal and especially Germany.

        We still have other options at LB I’d take before Willems like like Daley Blind, Karim Rekik, and Erik Pieters.

        1. Willems is better than he used to be with PSV last season , Sam.
          Honestly I don’t blame him against Portugal and Germany.
          I mean , a 17 years old young lad , playing his 3rd international game , in the Euro , against strong Germany , while playing with the worst dutch team ever. He didn’t even play in the qualifications.
          Anyway , Let’s see how he will perform against Milan.

  71. Milan 21 squad for PSV

    Abbiati, Amelia, Coppola (35); Abate, Constant, Mexes, Silvestre, Zaccardo, Zapata; Boateng, Cristante, De Jong, Emanuelson, Montolivo, Muntari, Nocerino, Poli; Balotelli, El Shaarawy, Niang, Petagna.

    1. The midfield trio will the engine room for Milan, If PSV wants to win , they will hav to dominate and hold the mids from catalyzing the deadly forwards. El Shaarawy and Brenet woulld be a colossal showdown. the right flank will be the centre of high and intense activity.

  75. If Maher makes his Magic this game , PSV will win. I hope he gives de jong hard time.
    I hope no more disappointment from Dutch Clubs , because I feel very positive about this game. Milan line-up is really average.
    Mexes , de jong , shaarawy and Balotelli are the only top players in the team imo.

  83. I’m with you Wilson on Schaars and Brenet to start rather than Hiljemark and Arias for PSV.
    Any news about Pieters (how did he play,…)? He was the first choice for NT LB until he was injured. I hope he can regain his form and fitness.

      1. I wont be surprised if Pieters takes the the nod ahead of Blind, Williams come wc 2014. he has tons of experience, international caps to his name. it was jus his injury and off field incident that got him at PSV. I think he will definetly rejuvenate at Stroke City. Jus like Van Sar when he was at Fulham berfore moving to MAN United

  85. Brandelly , Italian National team coach , says Del piero , totti and Cassano have a chance to be in Brazil.
    I really wonder , Why not to call Seedorf ? He already plays full 90 minutes with his team in Brazil. I don’t care how old he is. And yes , We need him. His experience in all tournaments and in Brazil will be extremely helpful to the young generation.
    Anyone agrees ?

  86. Guys, to be frank I really dont follow Eredivise. so Really I often miss out on the upcoming prospects for NT. What about this guy Luc Castaignos. his he really a talent. I think he was inter b4 moving to Twente

  90. Norwich took Elmander rather than Toivonen. Where will Toivonen go ? I wouldn’t be against if he stays and plays again as striker. I like him more than Matavz.

    Afellay will leave Barcelona normally, I just hope he’ll find a good team from now and won’t wait the last day to go to Kasimpasa or something…

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