Lets have us some Italian!!

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by Jan

Holland never won a friendly against Italy.

We don’t do friendly too well.

For the 18th time in history, both nations face off and elevent times this was a friendly. Holland lost 6 and drew 5.

Goalie Buffon has more international games to his name than the whole starting line up of Holland.

Amsterdam has been the venue for a Holland – Italy five times. The Azzuri never lost in our capital.

The last time Holland beat Italy was at the EC in 2008. For Holland, Mathijsen, Kuyt and Van Persie were present. For Italy, we welcome back Buffon, Barzagli and Pirlo.

Holland won against Italy only once on home ground, in 1974. In De Kuip in Rotterdam, Boninsegna scored first before Rensenbrink and Cruyff (2x) responded.

Louis van Gaal will offer Daley Blind and Ola John their first starting position. Goalie Krul will start with Blind as left bank. Martins Indi, De Vrij and Janmaat complete the defensive line up. The midfield consists of Clasie, Maher and Strootman while the attack is formed by Lens (left), Van Persie and Ola John.

Klaas Jan Huntelaar had to leave the camp. A weird eye injury means he can’t assess depth. “He can’t play like that,” stated LVG. Experienced bench sitter Arjen Robben is now called up. The winger does not play regularly for Bayern but Van Gaal likes to make exceptions.

“We know what Robben can do. He is fit. He won’t start for us, but start on the bench, like he does at Bayern.”

Van Gaal wants his young squad to play dominant and pressing. “It is going to be a major test for the youngsters and I am actually pretty tense. They can hold their own in the Dutch league but now they need to make a step up.”

Players like Van Persie, Strootman and Krul know what that means, as they have played at this level many times. For Maher, Blind and John, to name some newbies, it might be tough.

“We know they have the quality. They lack the experience and maybe the mental strength. The good thing is, Italy will play with three strikers too and I don’t think they’ll hide against us. Let’s hope we can see some real football.”

Van Gaal is testing Maher as replacement for Sneijder and Van der Vaart. “If he is quicker in the turn around when we lose possession, he can score bonus points.” Van Gaal is also using Martins Indi as central defender, while Koeman uses him at Feyenoord as left back.

“I know that and I think it is because Koeman doesn’t have the same options as I do. I told him I would use Martins Indi as a central defender and he didn’t object.”

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  4. Big test for Maher-strootman-clasie, arguably the best midfielder in eredivisie against 4 even 5 experienced italian midfielders (they might play 3-5-2…??).
    This might be LVG’s agenda following his previous statement, that Serie A is not better than eredivisie.

    4 eredivisie-based defenders too.

    I like his statement:
    “We know what Robben can do. He is fit. He won’t start for us, but start on the bench, like he does at Bayern.”

    so subs can be called to NT as subs…

        1. Had simply to do with van Gaal telling van Bommel that he would start to see the bench more often in the second half of the season. Also did van Gaal tell him that his captaincy would become a problem in time. Van Bommel could not accept that and moved to Milan. However van Gaal has a way of imposing his authority on everybody and van Bommel probably also felt that van Gaal went to far in diminishing his voice and role in the group.

          Van Bommel had a good season at Milan after that and even won the competition battle with Pirlo, which made Pirlo move to Juve. The Pirlo had a stunning season both for club and country. It’s funny how things turn out in life.

  7. I am happy with the team except for 2 positions; the GK -should have been Vermeer rather than Krul and the right back -should have been Van Rhijn instead of Janmaat. That guy is terrible. Again, I know I have said this, but if LVG is watching the eredivisie how can he not see that Feyenoord’s defense is terrible? Yes BMI should be in the center and that may help, but frankly Janmaat is horrible and so is Joris. He should not even be playing for an over 35 league. At least he is not starting!! Anyway, We will see tomorrow.

  8. Van Gaal is an idiot – he always knows best and has no people skills. Loony Louie will ruin Oranje just like the last time he was in charge. He wants people to know that HIS changes, HIS methods, HIS strategy is the difference.

    He should motivate like Michels and van Marwijk. They were not genius trainers like Cruyff and “The special one” Let me make it clear that I despise Mourinho but he is a genius trainer. Van Gaal is NOT!

    Maybe he will be “Lucky” Louie this time but his luck will run out soon enough. We need a trainer that can give our team some belief, some consistency. To teach them a winning attitude – pretty football does not always win games. Sometimes ugly is ok – van Marwijk was more special than you all know.

    I pray for a miracle, van Gaal to swallow his pride and van Persie to score when it matter most – not friendlies (he has enough friendly goals) but in knockout stage of tournaments.

    This is a meaningless friendly – Oranje should be where the best play everytime – to learn how to play a system. Where Sneijder and van Persie are on the same thinking. Where the defenders learn their every move and play like a cohesive unit. This is what van Marwijk got right. I was frustrated at his patience with van Persie but keeping a team together worked wonder.

    Spain has la Masia and Barcelona links. Where each of the players play the same system – and know their every move because they play together all the time. Oranje does not have this – Loonie Louie only looks at the individual (usually just himself…) and doesnt see a team that can play together.

    He is a national trainer – he does not teach all the players the same system every week as a club trainer. His methods may work in the short term at club level but at national level it is crazy coaching.

    I am getting more critical in my old age but Oranje deserves better.

  9. I don’t like Janmaat..
    Van Rhijn is miles ahead of him in terms of defensive abilities…Remember the first half against Turkey..??
    He was horrendous..

    Clasie-Strootman-Maher..
    Can’t wait to see how this combination works..

  10. Van Maarwijk gave consistency to the team and that worked well in 2010 but after that Mathijsen got older and slower, Gio retired and it wasn’t the same. Van Maarwijk got stuck with Pieters and once he was injured he didn’t know what to do because for 2 years he played with him and didn’t try or experiment with new talents that much, Strootman for instance didn’t play 1 second during the EC!!!.

    LVG might be an idiot but I think he knows he is an idiot and that’s why he called Kluivert, Blind and wanted to call Gio as well because he knows he is not very good when dealing with the press and they all have better people skills than him.

    1. Van marwijk was so biased and he loved in son in law very much…he knew that if strootman plays instead of Bommel…from denmark game onwards we would have created more chance we would have had better midfeild.so dutch people will not wish to see bommel in that spot again,ie End of Bommel’e national teams hope…
      HE DIDNT DO THAT…. LOVING FATHER IN LAW AND family business..
      Where as LVG is pretty blind at some times due to his own EGO..thats it…But over all if LVg could find RIGHT PLAYER FOR RIGHT SPOT,and also if can make a stability then nobody is goin stop him wiing Wc2014…
      LVG should stop beliveing in some players like Luuk dejong,kuyt,haken,Afellay,Joris,Hetinga…but there are coaches like Scelari who belives in Ronaldino..i think both are wasting thier time on beleving in wrong players.

      1. Tiju, you are an idiot.
        Please stop posting that same bullshit every fucking day. No-one with a brain is going to agree with you, and repeating that same crap over and over and over again will NOT suddenly make any of it true. It is also fucking tedious to read. Do you understand? Or do you need me to use smaller words?

        1. Orangetooth u r bigger idiot than me…Orange will SUCK if they go with forementioned players.MARK MY WORDS.I bet u that,Get out of ur Fanatsy world.The bullshit is posted by you and you WANT TO SEE ORANGE SUCKING AGAINST SPAIN,AREJNTINA,GERMANY,BRAZIL AND EVEN PORTUGAL…wait and watch…………

  11. Van Maarwijk was great he got us to play the WC final and we should have won it.

    I like the fact that LVG wants to give experience to new players in order for them to be ready enough when the WC 2014 starts.

    1. Agreed. Van Marwijk did a wonderful job, and got us a far as ANY other Dutch coach ever has – AND he did it with less skilled players!. All hail Bert.
      It’s a great shame that those poisonous little chokers (like Robin Van Rapist) ruined our Euros, but with Van Gaal at the helm we stand a decent chance of blending in some youth in time for the next tournament.

      Hou je bek man!

  12. Goal.com has predicted a starting lineup with Mathijsen in the LCB position..I’ll be damned if that happens..
    Martins Indi should pair up with De Vrij in the centre..
    Its time to say goodbye to Joris and Heitinga..

  13. I’m really looking forward to this match for a number of reasons.
    1 to see How LVG wants the lads to play ( attacking/defensive)
    2 the ability of the players to play the way LVG wants them too.
    3 The midfield combo of Strootman, Maher and Classie , can they live up to the expectations of most of us since we all have been asking for this trio in some form.
    4 if RVP can play ala ManU style! Please!
    5 just to watch my beloved Oranje go around once again!

    Bring it on!

  15. Can not wait for this game… Living in Australia this is a rare luxury to watch Oranje live. Will be tuning in to your live feed as well Jan. Looking most forward to seeing how Maher, Clasie and Strootman go in the midfield

  17. This game tonight is a hard one to predict. That is because so many Eredivisie players will play. I watched them,we all did,in eredivisie and they are talented,but we do not know how much,because we do not know how good the Eredivisie is compared to Serie A. That is why I am looking forward to this game-to see their talent against european top.
    It should be very interesting…

  19. Guys, think about this crazy idea for a minute:

    How about Kuyt as a central defender for the World Cup and WC qualifiers? I know it’s nuts but if you digest it for a second, think about what he can offer as a central defender next to BMI with Van Rhijn/Wiel and Pieters/Blind on the wings.

    I know as an attacker he is limited considering his age but he plays competitively in Turkey and I think he would would make a great Puyol-type defender for us. He is very sound defensively and can cover plenty of ground. He is a sure bet rather than a gamble like our other CBs.

    What do you think?

    1. Like that idea, it would seem a natural transition for Dirk. But how much experience does Kuyt have at that role? We’ve certainly seen his expertise at tackling, and he’d be a great distributor as DM, at the least.

      Kuyt’s leadership will be very hard to replace. If he can find a role on the team as DM, or sub DM, that would be a plus.

    2. I think it’s a little too late for him to make that change at this point in his career. A more natural transition would be for him to play RB, and then transition to CB. But to go from RM/striker to CB in his thirties likely wont work, and his club team would never play him there either

    3. They should have used Kuyt in Euro 2012 for the left back position. Willems was not ready. Stupid decision and Kuyt would always have scored a 6.5, like Cocu in the past.

      For Brazil it is too late and I like to think that our upcoming defenders are not so bad that Kuyt should make a position switch in his mid thirties to help us out. Let’s see how de Vrij and BMI fair against the top Italian striker partnership.

      1. I like our new young defenders, too… all Eredivisie stars. Just a few months ago, we were in a panic about our defense. Now all we see are possibilities.

        These, however, are just possibilities. I don’t know how much we’ll learn from the match today, but we’ll get a glimpse of something. Class will tell.

        I think Dirk is pure class. He earned his place by working harder, not by coasting on his talent. DM is just a pipe dream for him, I know, or any other position.

        But when he can’t play anymore, Dirk Kuyt should still find a place with the NT… to teach the next generations to earn their Heineken.

        Now if Jaap Stam will just let a little fightin’ Dutch bleed onto these boys today… 😉

  20. Meanwhile, Del Bosque is dancing to protect the Spanish NT from doping scrutiny, claiming his “eyes have never seen” doping in football.

    Sounds like Lance Armstrong.

    Hasn’t he heard of Franz “Klootzak” Beckenbauer’s boast that he used to transfuse blood to dope?

    I guess Del Bosque’s eyes have just not seen it. 😉

    http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3266/spain/2013/02/05/3729268/del-bosque-i-have-never-seen-doping-in-football#

    1. This will never ever get uncovered. Spanish judges are already summoned to put the computers from the doctor who is the big spider in the web in some special place and as we speak the hard disks are probably being destroyed. This scandal is so big that Spain on all levels will cover it up. Including the judges. Too bad, but I would not invest 1 thought in the possibility that we will hear the truth about the matter and Netherlands getting the WC 2010 title after all. Even the 1978 title where people have been assassinated for the Peru regime in order to get a big result was, was not given to us.

  23. A draw against Italy for these young lads would be encouraging, a win would be fantastic. It will be difficult as Italy always makes you pay for the lack of experience. Let’s hope for an entertaining game. I will keep my fingers crossed for RVP not to get hurt. He is the main reason I still follow premiership.

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