Koeman’s Kids on the radar!

blog Euro 2020 WC2018
by Jan

We didn’t qualify for two big tournaments, we burned through some very decent coaches in a short time (Advocaat, Blind, Hiddink), we produced thigh thick reports about how dreadful our football has become, bowed our heads in shame when Vincent Janssen failed at Spurs, Memphis failed at ManU and Bazoer failed at… I don’t even know where he failed… and we all need to learn how to play football again, from the Germans! That is only a year or so ago…

Today, Europe has taken notice. There is a new sheriff in town and he brought some exciting deputies. Koeman’s Kids is the phrase. And the mix of the squad seems to be quite good. From old hands Babel, Cillesen, Wijnaldum and Strootman, to team players Blind, De Vrij and Propper to stars in the making De Ligt, Bergwijn and Dumfries… We are excited again!

And with reason.

Some interesting little symptoms that bode well. Just randomly. A 70 mio euro offer for Frenkie, from Man City. Or, on the other end of the spectrum: a distraught and highly critical Pablo Rosario beating himself up after his below average debut. Or Denzel Dumfries who humbly admits his ball technique needs a lot of work (“I have hard feet”). This squad exudes joy, comradery, ambition and above all: exceptional quality!

The win over Germany and the draw against Belgium is another big step forward in Koeman’s mission to bring Oranje back to the top. And the signs are positive: the interception of Donny van de Beek, snakelike. The turnover and high quality counter. Within a nano second the ball goes from Promes to Memphis and his pinpoint pass has the angle and the weight, perfect for Danjuma to finish. All this, within 15 seconds of retrieving the ball.

Sure, Belgium had pressure, dominated and created chances, but Oranje fought and countered and could have won it.

And Ronald Koeman can take the credit. He brings balance, structure and maturity to the picture. Realism. The joy was big after the Germany win, but immediately after the match Koeman put his foot on the brakes. He saw some tactical mistakes in the second half. He saw the spaces becoming bigger, with the team on the fence between pushing up or sitting deep. “We keep on stressing the points we need to improve. We’re going ok, but there is much much more potential, things to improve. But give these kids three more years, all the Champions League experience and what not, and check again in 2021 where we will be.”

The players are happy with Koeman’s directness, with his clarity. His team selections and squad selections are logical, with a strong fixed core of players and players who get the chance to show themselves. Patterns and “automatisms” are showing more and more.

Jasper Cillesen is the number 1 goalie. Without debate. Even with him being a bench warmer in the Nou Camp. The central defenders duo will be De Ligt van Van Dijk. A top defender from the EPL with a top talent with a tremendous future in front of him.

In midfield, it seems Frenkie de Jong and Gini Wijnaldum will be the usual suspects. Gini’s qualities will become more apparent with a player like De Jong behind him. Marten de Roon was excellent vs Germany, but surely Propper and Van de Beek can fill the third man’s shoes as well. With Carel Eijting and Pablo Rosario making big steps, it seems Strootman’s role will become smaller and smaller.

Up top, Memphis is the key man, with Ryan Babel currently his side man. Bergwijn, Danjuma, Promes, but also AZ’s Stengs or Roma’s Kluivert can come in to complete the forward 3.

This Oranje does know how to deal with space. And with prospects like Fosu-Mensah, Van Aanholt, Dumfries, Karsdorp, Janmaat and even Ake and Vilhena for the wide back roles, the mix of talent and experience is really good.

In the international break before this last one, we got some colour back on our cheeks. Now, we can even muster a smile…

A tpyical weapon Koeman is putting a lot of time and effort in, is the dead ball. Every team works on that, of course, but Koeman made it clear he sees the free kick / dead ball situation as an extraordinary opportunity. “When you dominate, you will have opportunities galore to find a gap and create a chance. When you play more compact and will have less possession, against the stronger teams, the dead ball situation can make all the difference. For this reason, we put more emphasis on it. We even train and practice and talk through these situations on the match day. When you have players who can deliver, like we do (Memphis, Dumfries, Janmaat, Blind) and players who can win aerial battles (Van Dijk, De Ligt, Dumfries, Strootman, Ake) you’d be silly not to use their qualities.” And it shows: Van Dijk scored vs Portugal like this, Nathan Ake vs Italy and now Van Dijk again from a Memphis corner kick.

Memphis playing in between the lines, pulling away from the defenders and coming into the zone vs statically being there…

Another weapon we use with flair, is the false #9. Most central defenders like to play against static strikers. Lets make it an even battle, between strength, length, timing… Defenders like Ramos, Hummels, Skertl, Thiago and Ottamendi to name a few, will love to play against Luuk de Jong. But when Tadic plays #9 for Ajax vs Bayern or Memphis vs Germany their weaknesses show. It’s not new of course, one Johan Cruyff started it maybe, in the 70s. Every nation back then had a Gerd Muller like #9. Holland didn’t even play with a player wearing the 9 on his jersey :-). Messi perfected that with Barca and Memphis Depay is quickly becoming the new standard. The alternative to Benteke, Lukaku, Lewandowski and Giroud.

After the first weeks with Oranje, Koeman criticised Memphis for being to static. Playing like a pedestrian. “Move Memphis, run!”. And Memphis picked it up. He makes himself available in between the lines, he knows when to dribble, when to go deep without the ball, when to hold up play…. Against Germany, he had 5 attempts on goal and created 3 chances.

Holland doesn’t need to dominate anymore, to win. Based on our compact organisation, the effectiveness on dead balls and the world class qualities of Van Dijk/De Ligt/F De Jong/ Memphis we can kills opponents off without seeing much of the ball. A luxury Holland never had.

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75 comments

  3. Full credit to Koeman who has resurrected the Oranje team from the grave. That said, this team is very much a working in progress and I hope things are continuing to progress in the right direction.

    To get to the next level, in my estimation, the one thing that Koeman must prioritize is to find a complementary “wheel” in midfield… the missing piece to sit alongside Frenkie de Jong and Gino Wijnaldum in the engine room.

    There are several options already being tried (Propper, Vormer, Vd Beek, Strootman, Vilhena, Rosario), but nobody has emerged as a leading candidate yet. Propper is an interesting option due to his playmaking abilities – this can be beneficial when/if FDJ has an off day. Propper however is not that athletic and quite slow/tentative at times.

    I personally like a combative and energetic box-to-box midfielder who can occassionally score. Van De Beek fits this profile to a certain extent, and where I would wager if I were a betting man. He runs well, and is a decent scorer. For him to impress Koeman, though, he must soon cement a spot in Ajax starting line up (which is not given now), and get a ton of consistent minutes there.

    The wildcard player IMHO is Pablo Rosario. Not an attacking threat like Vd Beek is, but an absolute workhorse who covers all squares in midfield. Rosairo also has quicker ballhandling than he’s given credit for, is very tidy and composed. My hope for him is that he can be more comfortable in the final third. He must develop an instinct to attack the ball from deep. He must also take more risk in launching shots from distance (which he is capable of triggering). Van Bommel has done a fantastic job “molding” Rosario to a version of his own old-self. We’ll be interesting to monitor how Rosario will develop in next few months.

    1. And de Roon? He impressed against ze Germans, and he starts at Atalanta, so he’s already learned Italian for “park the bus,” which is a key tournament skill. 😉

      He has at least a bit of a rapport with Hans Hateboer at Atalanta? Might be useful later. A deep, but familiar, squad is essential.

      1. I really think St juste is the man to anchor the midfield but the problems is he is floating at feyenoord.he really needs to decide where he should play and if this requires him of leaving feyenoord then he must do so.if not he simply will see his career go down the drain. He has played at LB, LCB, RCB, RB, DM but yet his career doesnt seem to be moving.

        It has been rumored that Karsdorp will return to Feyenoord which means the window of opportunity for him to play will even become more lesser.

      2. De Roon is a defensive midfielder, through and through. He is a VERY solid ball winner, I give credit to him. His job is to add an extra layer of protection in the defense.

        Having said that, as Koeman’s defensive unit is solidifying (primarily Van Dijk and De Ligt, but also the full backs), and Frenkie De Jong settles in as the last man in front of the backline (as well as the deep-lying playmaker, or quarterback in American Football), I think the need for a “traditional” defensive midfielder will be greatly diminished. In lieu, Koeman needs a box-to-box (b2b) runner who are able to gather loose ball, assist in ball distribution, and burst through the middle of the park (think of Yaya Toure).

        Without a proper b2b, as I alluded earlier, the ball circulation will rely too heavily on Frenkie De Jong – which can’t be good if he is an off day, or simply harassed/double-teamed.

        1. I dont think so.if you look at the set up the midfield on paper looked point forward but it was operating point backward with frenkie going back and forth on that left side and wijnaldum drfting to the right.

          In other words in attack

          Frenkie- Wijnaldum

          De Roon

          And then in defense it was

          Wijnaldum

          Frenkie- De Roon.

          It was frenkie doing the BTB role while De Roon was stationed as the DM. It worked out good though. I think this is the way forward for them. Giving frenkie the freedom to go back and forward with wijnaldum drifting to right and then having a good DM to cover for both of them.could work just fine.

        2. https://youtu.be/zw-aEni78O4

          Clasie with a classic. His passing and vision is just amazing.

          Now this are things that we have talked about. Try to pick this out.

          St Justes interventions

          Vilhneas time has expired.

          I know this is just highlights but still its evident.

          De Klassieker is this week and feyenoord could take adavantage of Ajax playing in CL otherwise could have settle the dust at certain positions

    2. once Redan gets first team minutes, I believe Depay can drop back to second striker/no.10 role. Frenkie – Depay – Wijnaldum will do just fine even against top team.

      1. Nathan Ake was also at and the captain of Chelsea u21s.he didnt get to play much in the first team.other talents include manson mount who is playing in championship. No matter how big talent you are, you still will have to dig deep to break into starting lineup.

        Redan too will be thrown around like many others before his fate is decided.

  4. What if on a day memphis is injured?

    It is very important that koeman brings in a good competitor for Depay. Not luuk, not werghorst but somebody who is on his par. This because if the day memphis is injured, the team will be back to square 1. Just like during Blinds era and when Robben used to get injured. Just like Van Dijk in the backline, frenkie in the midfield, depay too is the balance factor in attack and if that factor is not there, there will be no goals. These are the areas that needs to be sawed up.

    Lens and Zivkovic are the only two players I can think of at the moment who can be good backup for Depay provided they are rotated.

    1. Lens have had his chance
      And I don’t remember much contribution he had given to oranje . Sorry he is not the same level as Depay

      Zivkovic , how many goals has he scored for his teams ? He looks like a model but I was quite dissaponted at him . As a striker , he needs to score goals . To become a top striker , he needs to score a lot of goals . I don’t see that has happened to him

      Perhaps dilrosun could be someone close to Depay , or even redan . Danjuma time will tell

      1. You beat me to it.

        But either way. “Lens had his chances” Not really.As usual it was coaches who didnt open the doors for him simply because of club crisis and he wasnt playing much especially during Blind era, though he called him up for one friendly after there was heavy injury casualties . This is the thing with the dutch soccer.they dont give much attention to those playing in lesser known clubs unless its a worse case scenario. You look at how Babel reclaimed his spot back in NT. He simply siezed the opportunity after being given the nod by Advocaat due to promes injury. He took it and he kept nailing it from there. There was no question about his capabilities.Imagine if Danny Blind would done the same. This is why Im always adamant, it should not be always about the club but what they can bring.

        Lens is in the same boat.both him and babel are in good form beskitas. Lens is 30 and Babel is 31 but still there are in good scoring form. I said this earlier it comes as a surprise why babel and not lens. Im sure if he gets the nod this time around the outcome will be same as babels no doubt.

        the questions remains if on day if Depay is injured, will the team be able to cope upfront in terms of goals.

        As far as going with young talents are concerned,I also said this earlier, its always a 50- 50 call especially when they will move to another league as we have seen in the past. Again as usual there is a lot of execptation on some of these talents but it remains to be seen how it will turn out.

        Its either you go with somebody thats there or you go with the probability that the youngest will reach their max ceiling by euros or later on WC. Most of them are work in progress and the time factor could be of a constrain. Bergwijn, Dilrosun, kluivert, Danjuma.out the four danjuma looks the only one who could be ready by euros.

        1. Yes Wilson I see your point

          And perhaps lens was just missing the big of luck. Babel had
          But remember luck is part of the game

          being optimistic , there will be a lot to see from now till Euro’s .

          Can’t wait to see our starting VI by then

  5. That’s so shame because the flopp ò Bazoer, Raidewal, El ghazi, Kishna, Rasmelaar, Fer, Classie, Ginkel,Locadia,Maher, Dos Santos, Janssen, Ola John, Rekik, etc. And Luuk de Jong/ Wergought/ Dost are forever medioce striker.

  7. https://youtu.be/zw-aEni78O4

    Clasie with a classic. His passing and vision is just amazing.

    Now this are things that we have talked about. Try to pick this out.

    St Justes interventions

    Vilhneas time has expired.

    I know this is just highlights but still its evident.

    De Klassieker is this week and feyenoord could take adavantage of Ajax playing in CL otherwise could have settle the dust at certain positions

    1. Clasie real spot is play maker,with excellent vision…its sad that many times he had to play as DM holding which spoiled his career..
      like Memphis changed from left to Center..
      Clasi should have moved to playmaker spot..i can see sneijder/vaart in him..

      1. He comes with limitations. He doesnt have those clincal abilities which sneijder and van der vaart had and secondly he cant hold the ball at feet for long. This is why his passing game is his stronghold . This will mark it hard for him to thrive at AM.

        I think he needs to get more tougher and try to evolve into a all rounder. You look at kante for example, he round about the same size as clasie but yet he is best in the business. He is just tough and his workrate simply is on another level.

        If you look at clasie now at feyenoord, you can jus tell he is out of shape.he looks like bag filled with water and he always had problem with his lungs.

        I think koeman knows his weaknesses very well from the southampton days and thats why he hasnt given him the call up even though he had been playing regularly for feyenoord.

        1. If koeman wouldnt have left southampton, he could have moulded him into a all rounder.if I remember correctly he did play AM when he was on loan at Brugge but didnt spark.

    2. I quite liked Clasie actually

      I remember when he played during 2014 , he was up to the job when Nigel was injured ?

      My expectations on him was high but sadly his improvement was halted ?

      Then compared to sneijder or van der vaart unfortunately he was not special enough . Otherwise he would have succeeded in the English premier league

      1. He needs to really work hard if he wants to get back into contention. What he needs is the grit factor of strootman and more stamina to increase his horsepower.it also remains to be seen what happens to him at the end of the season. He has already cleared the air that he wont be returning to southampton and im not sure if feyenoord will be will be intrested in making his loan spell permanent given the price tag and also with the midfield being overcrowded.

        Its hard seeing him making it back to the top again. At 27 if you are playing in eredivisie then defintely something is wrong. This is the time when you wanna be nearing the absolute peak of your career

  8. I like this Angelino guy at PSV, unfortuntaley he is not a dutch but he is really the type of attacking LB you need in NT on that left flank.

    To be honest this is where I absloutely hate how the dutch system works.you look on the right. Tete, Janmaat, Dumfries, Fesu Menash, hateboer, karsdorp.six players have been rotated over the last 4 years and competition seems like will heat up when on a day everybody is up and running. It is unfortunate that the same cant be said about the left flank.At some stage they will pay the price if they stick and continue with Blind.even with Ake.

    I remember asking this question in previous blog.who was the rotten potato in 2010? Well nobody answered it but it was simply kyut and it was only in the final that he proved to be rotten. It again comes back to the coaches as to why they never rotated him more with someone who could have been his understudy prior to the WC. It was awful to watch when everytime instead of going forward he turned around and passed backwards.had they started elia or vaart in that final, im sure it would have another story and the funny thing it again happened in 2012 until vaart proved it against portgual I think, when water had reached the neck but unfortunately they lost that one too.

    This is why it becomes so instrumental knowing you players inside out, their weaknesses their strength including to that of their backup. Because if on a day situation calls up for a different approach you down wanna be dragging with the same crap just because the backup is just there to make the numbers or simply did get as many minutes as the first choice.

    Other example I can think of is and I have also emphasized on this, imagine if NT is playing a final and Depay gets injured and he is replaced by Luuk De Jong. I mean will it practically be justifiable if they lost.it again comes back to why Luuk was there in the first place.

    1. “”It was awful to watch when everytime instead of going forward he turned around and passed backwards”””””””””
      THAT WAS SO ANNOYING TO WATCH,DISGRACE..
      AFTER HIS PATHETIC HELPLESS MISSES VS PORTUGAL..Every one misses one on one but this guy gives u a feel that he cannot get pass the goalie 100 percent..Any other skilled player would have made mockery of that protugal goali 12 years ago…He Cost us 2006 and 2010 on pitch on bench Bert and san Mark cost us ny not playing Vaart and RVN instead of him…

    2. Yes exactly what I think

      So many players competing on the right back but what the heck , blind sits there comfortably without anyone challenging him ????

      For Depay , though I am not too worried

      Give our new boys a bit more time and I’m sure we will have some new faces and new stars emerging who can reach the same level as Depay

  9. WC 10 should have started with
    —RVP————Roben—-
    ———Vaart————-
    –sneijder——Bommel
    ———Dejong—————
    Gio—Joris—Johny—weil
    ———Stekes ————
    as starters that was blunder by bert…

  10. Great article and analysis, amazing how we were so desperate less than a year a go, and look where we stand now, we have so many talents that even Koeman might face some trouble choosing the best of them, with no exaggeration, we can make 2 strong national teams out of these players, looking forward to the bright future.

  11. I think what we are looking at now is the same transition period like to that of,leading to the 94 WC .this was start of of new era and the dawn of the 80s golden generation.FDB, RDB, Berkamp, overmars, Numan were coming up on back of stellar performance at their respective clubs like to that of De ligt, frenkie,VDBeek,Bergwijn,Dumfries.the only difference if you compare them to the current generation is that the transition this time around is on the back of a huge failure which will go down in history book.

    Being said this I think koeman will be find himself in the same shoes as Hiddink in 94 leading to 98 and no doubt the next generation after 2022 could step into the golden generation tag.

    Most of the young talents who will play their first world cup cup 2022 will absloutely be in their prime. Im talking about Frenkie, De Ligt,Dumfries and few others.
    Imagine when this squad will collide with the likes Redan, Boadu, kluivert, stengs, chong, Dilrosun, lang, bakker, pierie, Bijlow, van Drongelen.

    We could see the next golden generation in making.

  12. Kluivert and Karsdorp both not even on Roma bench. Kluivert played in the 2-0 loss to SPAL in serie A over the weekend. Karsdorp is somehow injured even without playing.

    1. Yes . Again poor kluivert , if he still don’t score any goals , his coach will lost confidence in him and that will it be , he will turn to be another Vincent Janssen

      As a striker , you really need to grab The Chance and score or assist . Every chance could be the last chance

      Don’t tell me that you don’t have playing minutes . Didn’t your daddy remind you that Leavig Ajax is a gamble ?

      1. Plus ünder is proving to better than him in terms of finishing.ünder has being scoring consistently from that right. Also remember florenzi is a make shift RB, he is naturally a winger.

        Im jus hoping Roma sack Di Francesco . He has come under fire after the defeat to SPAL over the weekend. He has being using santon instead of karsdorp who needs a second chance which he should understand better.this where the coaches simply destroy the players and their career.

      1. I think the performance of Ajax in CL will defintely lead to eredivisie getting a direct qualification to CL which they lost coming into this season.this plus with the international wins as well.

  15. Was watching juventus and man united. Chong was rumored to be getting minutes but never eventuated. I dont think united have the right players to push for any title.not sure if it is just mourinho and if the team needs a new life. Juventus winning 1-0 coutersy of Dybala, but Man united looked threating enough to cause any problem.

  16. Ajax scores in dying minutes ! Wow!
    This benefica is really stronger
    Than i thought , and they have a stubborn defence !

    The Away game will be interested for Ajax !

    Surprised when I read that Chong was included . But what the hell was
    Mourinho doing ? Not even a single change of substitute and you’re one goal down! And let the game ended like that ???!!!

    1. What u expect from that Glory hunter Jose whore”””better term might be Golddigger Jose..
      Under him there is no chance for any kind of player development…
      He is bus parking coach ..

      1. Wouldnt have made much difference either. Mourinho said it right in the post match interview that Juventus were simply on another level and Man united need to spend more if they wanna challenge the heavywieghts.

    1. RVN would have burried portugal in 2006.Poor guy was crying on stands….We out lcassed portugal but we lost due to poor finishing and bad luck..kuyt should have finished his 2 1 vs 1 chances,that was an easy Job for RVN,just routine Job,..while kuyt looked like he will never dribble pass that goalie..
      Then
      2010 Final atrocious back pass every time he recived ball,our movement were stopped when kuyt received the ball.basically it made our one wing impotent and the full back of that wing gets double courage to go for attack..then kuyt has to chase him all the way.(we would say kuyt was imperious indefense)..while On Robens end it was opposoite,since the defense was afraid of Roben and they stayed on their toes…i felt so bad that Vaart should have been n10 role and Sneijder in Pirlo role with Bommel help and Dejong as destroyer…that would have given us 3 goal lead before half time…that was a huge loss for us..

  21. Donyell Malen has a rare opportunity to start and what is worth it’s a champions league game against a strong contender

    Dispute PSV poor results in the champions league this year , what is important is every remaining game for our young Dutch boys

    How did you think Malen performed last night ?

    1. Didnt get much opportunities plus lozano was the only player who looked dangerous through out in the game. I think PSV as a team lacks that balance where the backlune, midfield and forwards are on the same level. .you would have expected players like hendrix to take centre stage especially in the midfield but he was awful. Like I said he is other of those players whose time has expired. PSV is really missing van Ginkel.

        1. Yes well but he’s a left winger yes?
          Currently we have too many left wingers
          Which Depay is the solid starter

          Hope we can see chong starting his debut soon . It seems that Jose has changed his mind … otherwise he wouldn’t be included in the team VS juvuntus

          Currently this PSv has too less Dutch players . That really upsets me a bit . Ajax better a bit bit still incomparable back to the old day in 1995

          1. Yan…i am so sorry..Depay is moved away from left wing…He is our false striker..We dont want to see Dost or Luuk there…We Want to see there Depay/Babel or even Berjwin…
            FYI DEpay is s surper striker now..He neve looked after getting there…
            We need left wingers..

  22. I mean Luuk De Jong , when will de give up his place to the new boys ?

    Yes he may be currently the best in the team but we all know the fact that he will never become our ideal striker for Oranje . So I hope his place can be given more to the new boys for gaining more experience – especially champions league experience

    Good to see Malen playing the whole 90 min I’m sure he has learnt a lot last night

    1. They still have a long way to go.maybe another season or so if they break into starting 11.one night of CL aint gonna make them jump to the next level. GVB also had to rely on young talents when feyenoord were struck by injury crisis last season during CL but at the end of the day its always going back to eredivisie where the competition level significantly drops..

      1. Yes you know what ? I keep hearing this on this blog

        And I have the patient as there is no choice

        But I remember that Robin van Persie, Robben , sneijder we’re already somebody before they were 20 or even 19

        I really miss the days we had 4 goal machines upfront

        Back then , we didn’t even have a place for hassailbank cos we had Bergkamp kluivert , overmars etc 🙁

  23. @ Emmanuel

    Well ur right and good to see that he’s moved to the centre striker position now

    Still we need a replacement for him and still we got too many wingers on the left .

    I don’t see many natural right wingers recently and I’m hoping to see chong getting his debut now .

    Stengs is also a right winger but he is still far away and yet to be proven

    1. The wing department is just overloaded with potentials.the only question is whether they will make it to the top or will disappear with time just because they wont be able to make the starting 11 of their respective teams . Noa lang, Che Nunnely, Mohammed Ihattaren,cheick Toure are talented wingers (right) but as usually only time will tell what the future holds for them. If you look at the jong Ajax contingent who left last season bergsma,savastano,Dekker (AZ), Flemming ( PEC Zwolle), Zeeifuk (Groningen), Ekkelenkamp ( heerenveen). This guys were highly rated when they were coming up the ranks but it was not suppose to be just because they simple wouldnt have reached the top of the leader. This is crash and burns and in store for youth latents especially in jong Ajax and others who simply will be blocked from making that next step.

      Groeneveld is a good example who was let to go and has gone to become a NT winger.

  24. Hamburg has climbed to top of table in bundasliga 2 with van drongelen now a regular starter. The club has sacked their coach in the bit to make sure that the team stride towards promotion back to bundasliga. Van drongelen should be the next central defender who should break into NT. A good and wise investment given he is young and has all the qualities to become a top defender.if I have to compare him with Daley Blind who is susceptible and is still getting the nod then van Drongelen playing in second division is no exception.

    Jus wanna give heads up to this guy, the day he gets a call up for NT and starts, he will de throne Daley Blind.

    Man united, man city and tottenham are also on hot persuit for Nathan Ake after his performance for Bournemouth has caught their attention. Further more chelsea had a buy clause insterted in his contract when they sold him and they will have a say to some extent where he goes. I mean chelsea will have the first bid.

  26. Depay again came of the bench to inspire Lyon to victory after lyon were trailing 1-0. Assist and scored the winner.

    If he continues with this form he defintely can become a aguero type striker.

  27. Another dutch coach bites the dust. Cocu gets fired by fenerbahce on the back of poor results.

    This will also indirectly ruin kadioglu stay at fenerbahce. This is the same thing that happened to Riedewald and clasie respectively.

  29. Max Huiberts with his merchant mentality will dearly cost AZ Alkmaar in the near future if he does not change this tactical manner of managing the company. The fear of consequences of DSB failure is so much ingrained in the mentality of AZ upper management that they have forgotten that it has already 10 years passed since that unfortunate event. Perhaps, it was necessary measure in 2009-2010 season when the club from Alkmaar was on the edge of losing its existence. Perhaps, it was another great idea of creating a Youth Academy and grow the local talents, the brainchild of Ernie Stuart. I never liked Ernie Stuart but I have to admit he did a good job in bringing young talented players to AZ. Under him AZ twice played in quarterfinals of Europa League. Ernie sold many players but always managed to bring very adequate replacements. After he left the club, Max Huiberts took his role and John van den Brom was appointed as a coach of AZ Alkmaar. Max set very simple task for van den Brom: develop players so we could sell them at the higher price and replace them with much cheaper material so you (John van den Brom) could start it all over again. Due to Max’s smart purchases (Janssen, Alireza, and Weghorst) and John’s high tolerance to mistakes and ability to give lots of opportunities for younger players to prove themselves, they were able to achieve good results in Eredivisie within last four years: 3rd place, 4th place, 6th place, and 3rd place again; and two lost cup finals. The results in Europe were by far less impressive though. But who cares about Europe, as long as Max builds his resume of being a successful merchant. What has been happening to AZ this year is a result of a greed and unnecessary risk that Max has taken. After sales of Wout and Alireza, Max gambled and did not hire the adequate replacements. He took unnecessary risk with 17 y.o. Boadu forcing him too early to the first team. After having such a terrible trauma, Boadu was again put into first team. It was obvious that physically kid was not there, but no, Max needed another “meat” to sell within coming two years and Myron was very promising. What happened to Myron, we all know. The same thing happened to Stengs last year, they rushed and put him to the first team which resulted in a terrible injury. Max bought two central defenders in summer. However, it became obvious that none of them are ready for the first team. With Wuytens being injured, AZ needed to rely on “grandpa” Vlaar and average Pantelis Hatzidiakos . What is happening now? Pantelis is completely out of shape, and slow Vlaar can not keep up with fast attackers. And guess what? There is nobody to replace them with? Looks like our merchant Max has been too long under the euphoria of earning ~35 million euros last summer. Van den Brom is no better than Max: not sure how he trained his team during summer time, but it so obvious that his key players such as Til, Midtsjø, and Svensson are completely out of shape. When Til lost his place in U21, Brom was mad. But why are you mad, John? Til has been absolutely below par this season. His uninspired captaincy is a reflection of your entire team. I barely understood his decision to appoint Til as a captain btw. But keep in mind that Brom is under consistent pressure from Max to develop player and sell, sell and sell. Max does not care about prestige of AZ in the Netherlands or Europe. As long as he can sell, he is happy with that. He will never fire vd Brom because no other ambitious coach will come to AZ as they will never agree with Huiberts merchant policy. Bell will ring only when AZ became dangerously close to the relegation zone. And that is coming very fast! Mr. Huiberts wake up and do some amendments coming winter. Do not force Stengs and Boadu into first team, kids will break again. Spend some money to bring experienced players in the backline. Remember that you are a director of a team which has a name in Europe, the team that was able to become twice Dutch champion during complete hegemony of so-called ” big three”!!! Also think about fans who do not care about your resume and want again to see flying high boys in red!

    1. If im not wrong than they did invest but in the youths, Bergsma, Decker, savastano and Gudmundsson.only Gudmundsson has managed to get into starting 11 while the rest are in playing in jong AZ.

      Whats the story with Fred Friday? Why is he not playing.

      1. Yes, you are right, Wilson, they bought several younger players with two factors in mind: they were cheap purchase with some 50-50 potential. But their potential will be known withing coming 2-3 years. What about now?
        With respect to Fred Friday, I believe he is done.

  30. When one buys only cheap young players calling it “investment”, he basically gambles because only a small percentage of those boys will be impactful. With this tactics, you can achieve only cyclical performance in Eredivisie, rare participation in Europe which will be in most cases humiliating. If Ernie Stuart turned AZ into Walmart store, Max Huiberts bringing it down to Dollar Store level.

  31. With only one Youth system, AZ will not achieve a sustainable performance. It was understood long time ago in Ajax which have had much better Youth system than AZ. If you look at current Jong AZ, it is not that difficult to see a bunch of mediocre players, including Ferdy Druijf.

    1. Have to agree that the backline was a weak point for them especially when they have van Rhijn deployed at CB. He scored a bizarre own goal the previous week which gave Utrecht the victory. he was subbed of straight away in the 90th or so minute.that pretty much showed how the staff felt on bench. The camera was focused on him when was subbed and he looked like small boy after being scolded by the teacher. It a shame that Van Rhijn development stalled, he had so much experience under his belt including how many seasons of chamoions league.

      I would say their campagin is pretty much over for this season. I think they should jus see this one out and plan for a better one next season when all the players are up abd running and maybe with some new faces.its hard to think of which players they could sign to reinforce the backline. Cant see any player in eredivisie that could make an impact there. Dont know how the scouting for them is outside of eredivisie or should they also look at the South anerican market like the top 3.

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