Long Live the Coach!!

blog
by Jan

Ok, so now we had a couple of days to get used to it. And to vent our frustration and criticism.

But… Bert has really resigned. Frank and Guus never made it clear they wanted it and Co is as controversial as Louis so…let’s simply accept the fact that King Louis the Sunking has the job.

And let’s make the best of it.

At the end of the day, it’s not Louis who will stop the shots, give the through-pass or score the goals…

Although it does look like Nigel de Jong took a page from the Louis van Gaal book of flying karate kicks… (see above).

So let’s get on with business.

If Louis is courageous enough to take on the job again. And if the KNVB is courageous enough to take on Louis again… We should start rallying behind them/him, as most of you said already.

And it is true. We do know he knows a thing or two about football. He does have some form of charisma when he walks into the dug out. And he will be able to control the egos. So let’s hope for the best and simply enjoy these press conferences.

I will however, follow his shenanigans closely and will report without prejudice.

And with Ajax-man Danny Blind as his right-handman and most likely Feyenoord-man Gio van Bronckhorst to the left, he might well have himself a strong team. Only a PSV lad to add to the mix and all blood-types will be pleased.

After a first uproar of suspended belief ( Van Basten) and mockery (Ronald Koeman: “Van Gaal first choice? He was more sixth choice, wasn’t he? They came to Frank (de Boer) and me first, then Rijkaard, Hiddink…hahaha, but please add that this was a joke, otherwise Louis gets angry again….), the nation seems to have accepted him. Even Johan Cruyff responded with lots of positive vibes to the news.

Cruyff: “I think the Federation acted very swift with the new team manager. A bit too quick, as far as I’m concerned. You need to take time to make the right decision and talk to the right people. This might end up being a gamble. But, Van Gaal has demonstrated to be a good coach and he might have feelings of revenge and lets hope he takes those feelings and turns them into a ballsy and adventurous football style. That is what Holland needs.”

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0 comments

  1. I’m happy 🙂

    ‘Ballsy and adventurous’ – yes, exactly what I want to see.
    Fingers crossed.

    Jan, could you possibly highlight a preferred system of LVG’s? Does he like natural wingers or wingbacks? Quarterbacks or blockers? Precision or flare up front?
    My memories of his last time in charge are pretty hazey – I do remember it didn’t end well, but hey that’s a motivation to set things straight this time, right?

    Also, would it be possible to have a tab at the top for upcoming fixtures/dates of importance etc. I’d like to plan out my diary around our next matches but hate having to go elsewhere for that info.

    And, shoot me down, can we get any news on the Ladies’ National Team? I’ve watched them a few times now – they’re pretty good, and pretty pretty 😉
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anouk_Hoogendijk
    ^ stunning, and very talented.
    (nudge nudge get an interview with her, Jan!)

    Keep up the great work!
    Thanks.

    1. “Also, would it be possible to have a tab at the top for upcoming fixtures/dates of importance etc. I’d like to plan out my diary around our next matches but hate having to go elsewhere for that info.”

      This is an excellent idea – I would also really appreciate a section of this website that would let me know when the next match was and any other important Oranje events!

      Of course I love the website as it is, but this would make it even better. 🙂

    1. Agreed. Another thing I like about Louis is that he can successfully convert players, which I think we might need. In the past (albeit at club level), he successfully converted Simon Poulsen from a winger to a full-back, and although I’m not sure if he is responsible for Schweinsteiger, he also converted Badstuber from a fullback to a central defender. He also is responsible for giving starts to Thomas Muller and Alaba.

  3. Great article Jan, you always seem to put us Oranje fans at ease. I also like that JC has accepted the choice too, considering there recent conflict at Ajax.

    I can’t wait to see who louis will and wont pick, how the team lines up and how they will play in the coming games very exciting.

  4. I just hope that he’ll forget the must-win-at-all-costs atitude. I understand most of us want the damn throphy. I would like that too. But I just want the beautiful game back. I hope they [LvG and the players] can manage that.

  6. LVG has my support and backing, I bleed Oranje and always will.

    One more shot though, I can’t resist. He couldn’t qualify with Frank de Boer and Jaap Stam, how the fuck will we qualify with this bunch of miscreants and ner-do-wells we have at CB now!

    1. By getting rid of the miscreants, bringing in fresh legs and attacking effectively and outscoring the opponents. See it is so easy 😉

  7. On transfer news..

    Buttner apparently off to Southampton who are back in the premier league.
    Juventus and Werder Bremen have reached a deal for Elia to move back to Germany.

  9. It is a gamble. Frank or Guus would be a better and safer choice. It can go either way. With a wiser, calmer Louis we will qualify and may have a decent chance to win at WC2014. With a nutty and ego Louis we will not qualify for WC 2014 and rebuild will begin right after. KNVB acted quickly because there is not much time before qualification game. Did they take time to find the right person? Perhaps not as cost is also a factor.
    Let’s hope for a wiser and calmer Louis.

    1. Definitely a gamble – vGaal always seems to do well early and then implode after some time. He did it with Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern and Oranje. I hope he doesn’t do it again.

      1. All the coaches implode after some time.

        It´s natural after a while the cycle began to downfall. All the projects has ups and later downs.

        I still remember the audience in Camp Nou asking Cruyff to leave, with their whites handkerchiefs.

  10. From Goal.com (http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2601/features/2011/10/01/2691197/loved-hated-at-ajax-barcelona-bayern-munich-louis-van-gaals)

    the man himself speaking
    “We are the best! And not just the best from Amsterdam, but also the best from Rotterdam. And Eindhoven. And Europe! And the world!”
    – After winning the Intercontinental Cup in 1995
    “Am I this brilliant or are you the one who is that stupid?”
    – Reaction to an ‘ignorant’ question from a journalist
    “My friends of the press, congratulations. I am leaving!”
    – After resigning as Barcelona coach

    the most controversial quotes about the Dutch tactician
    “Van Gaal really has Alzheimer’s if he writes stuff like that. You wonder whether he has one or two screws loose.”
    – Johan Cruyff
    “Van Gaal is the Hitler of the Brazilian players, is arrogant, proud and has a problem. He has no idea of football. His type is sick, he’s crazy.”
    – Giovanni
    “I haven’t had fun on the pitch once under van Gaal. I had had more than enough of it.”
    – Franck Ribery

  11. This will blow up in his face. The problem with him, is that he NEEDS to do something. As NT coach you do NOTHING for long periods. He does not have that balanced approach. You can’t talk to NT players like club players. This dude has only a PLAN A!

    Anyways, behind him too.

  12. Gio said no. He would like to focus on Feyenoord youth team. I think Gio made a wise choice. He needs time at the club to learn and develop, like Frank De Boer.
    I take that Cocu is no longer assistant coach so only Blind is the assistant. Van Gaal can add Gullit as his assistant to be PR of the team?

  13. Louis will succeed with the national team. Just reading the comments of this blog I can see everyone has respect for Louis and everyone knows Louis is kind of crazy and that’s what we needed.

    We needed a strong personality to coach our egotistical players.

    It’s a bet with Louis it can go great or it can go really bad but I think it’ll go great.

  14. @Miguel
    Respect is earned. As far as coaching national teams, he flopped big time! Until he shows he can successfully manage Oranje, I don’t think I respect him yet.

    I also don’t think we needed a crazy coach. The problem with people who can’t control their anger and emotions is that they’ll undo everything they have done in a single second of outburst or madness.

    Let’s see how he does against Belgium and Turkey. I hope he proves me wrong for the sake of Oranje.

  15. I hope he proves me wrong too. At least qualify for the WC first, then if he exploded, quit and resigned, I do not mind we find another coach for the World Cup.

  16. It´s seems that not only Ajax wants Nuytinck, Juventus and West Brown also wants him.

    http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/west-brom-battling-crowded-field-bram-nuytinck-3239291
    Is he a good player?

    I read that he is U-21 captain.

    In this forum, everyone has been talking about Gouweleeuw, Viergiver and De Vrij, but no one shows special interest in Nuytinck.

    Even BvM pick Viergiver and De Vrij over him in the pre selection to EC.

    So, I don´t know why Ajax wants him over Gouweleeuw, Viergiver and van Dijk (I don´t know his name, but is the central back about Jaap Stam said he really like it beside van Rhijn)

    Anyone has an opinion about him?

    Are you happy that Ajax wants him over the rest?

    1. @Eduardo, he’s a left footed player like Viergever. But Viergever is no longer eligible for the U-21s. De Vrij is right footed, and BVM preferred a balance in right vs left footed CBs.

      Also Ajax looking for a replacement is looking for a left footer, most notably Moisander, Viergever and Nuytinck.

  19. —————Stekelenburg—————

    —-Bruma—-Maduro—Fer—-Pieters——

    ——Sneijder—Nigel—Strootman——–

    ——–Afellay—-Huntelaar—-Robben—-

    1. Not really feeling this unconventional one. Maduro maybe, but Fer somehow doesn’t seem like a very good CB to me, a bit uncontrolled, and he has a big tendency to push far up. RB, Bruma could work as Van Rhijn needs to perform for longer to get a real shot and Van der Wiel in this form doesnt deserve a place. I’d prefer Donk, unlike popular belief he’s actually developed into quite the mature player. Doesn’t make as much mistakes anymore, hardly any, and bit more composed.

      1. @Alex did you read my previus post about Nuytinck? may your answer it please?

        I am very concern about Orange full backs, and I think that can be crucial that players like Gouweleeuw, Viergiver, Nyutink and maybe Donk, make a interesting moves to other team in order to improve their level.

        For example, Goweleeuw and Nuytinck should looking for a better Eredivisie team, and Van der Wiled should go to England.

      1. Not assuming any such thing.

        If Van Gaal walks in ready to axe the most talented players on the team, it’s a big mistake.

        As long as the NT doesn’t have wingers laying in crosses, neither Van Persie nor Huntelaar will have that much success.

        But cutting either one of them would be exactly the kind of chutzpah that gets you nowhere.

        Van Gaal’s job is to work it out so that he can use the best talent available to him.

        Cutting Van Persie doesn’t make sense.

        1. RVP still has a lot to offer. He just had a bad game against Denmark which affected his other two games.

          Huntelaar is a great striker but he needs to be more mobile and find spacing. Whenever he was in the game, he wasn’t getting much service.

          We need both RVP and Huntelaar to have competition in the squad. Competition makes them more sharp and less complacent. I doubt LDJ is ready to take over the striker role.

          It would be a big mistake for Van Gaal to cut RVP right away. Say what you want about RVP, he’ll still start on almost any team in World Football. A good coach will try to bring out the best in a talented player.

  21. I don’t see a lot of tall potential CBs coming up. A lot of them are 6’0 or 6’1. Very much the same height as Heitinga and Mathijsen.

    Vlaar and Douglas are the only ones I see that have the physique of a typical CB.

    Good to have options available in the team. I’m not saying that height and muscular build are absolutely necessary but it’s good to have one that’ll mark tall and powerful forwards like Ibrahimovic, Balotelli, Ronaldo, etc

    1. All fairly tall CB’s, from tallest to ‘shortest’

      Virgil van Dijk, 20 = 6 foot 4 = around 1.93
      Douglas F. Teixeira, 24 = 6 foot 3 or 4 = 1.92-1.93
      Ryan Donk, 26 = 6 foot 3,5 = 1.92 m
      Bram Nuytinck,22 = 6 foot 3 = 1.91 m
      De Vrij, 20 = 6 foot 2 = 1.88 m
      Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, 21 = 6 foot 2 = approx. 1.87m
      Jeffrey Bruma, 20 = around 6 foot 1 = 1.85 m
      Karim Rekik, 17 = supposed to be 6 foot 1,5 at least

      A player like Sergio Ramos is only 6 foot 1
      You don’t all need Giants, Pique is about the same height as Douglas. I personally think a pairing can work equally well if the slightly shorter one is technically good. Note the Stam-De Boer partnership, Pique-Puyol, Pique-Ramos etc.

      1. I personally am a fan of the sort of defenders that Bruma, Rekik, Donk and Gouweleeuw are, but can enjoy the tougher, more Stam like CB too. And I have to say, for me Sergio Ramos clearly combines the two, technically very good, fast, strong and hard in the tackle. I still have high hopes for Bruma, and for Rekik.
        I can’t seem to get very enthusiastic about Nuytinck, but he’s reliable. I have to see about Van Dijk, Gouweleeuw and De Vrij, they all have potential but need to sort out their obvious flaws. I was an avid Donk admirer, he was strong, fast and a good passer. But his lack of focus didnt work, it’s only now that he’s started to pick up focus and rid his game of major mistakes. That shows that we give up too soon on CB’s, a lot of them only mature late, something which the Portuguese have learned..

        The above mentioned are, for me the most obvious and talented picks. I dont know about Viergever, he always seems a bit slow to me somehow, same with Vlaar, just not fast enough for my liking.

        1. Thanks Alex.

          My doubt is why Ajax prefer Nuytinc over Gouweleeuw (he seems better talent) or Van Dijk (Staam trust a lot in this guy)

          There is something on him we didn´t see? Why he is the U21 captain?

      2. Alex,
        thanks for the info. I said we need at least one very good tall and physically imposing defender that will give us options.

        BTW, Sergio Ramos is a bad tackler IMO. He’s more of a thug than an accomplished finesse defender. He gets away with a lot of calls especially in La Liga because he is Sergio Ramos. He does get his fair share of cards though.

        I’m apprehensive about Douglas. I hope he turns out good for us. I doubt he’ll be any worse than Heitinga or Mathijsen in their current form. Vlaar still needs a lot of work. I was not impressed at all with his performance. He was slow to react and kept losing his man.

    2. but look at sergio ramos.. i have no idea how tall or strong he is but he doesn’t look like a ‘typical’ CB and he has been so effective… i have always been a SR doubter but for some reason he always surprises me.

  23. We need to be careful about expectations for the national team these next two years. It will take van Gaal a while to evaluate current team talent. It will then take time to remove the many players who do not fit into what we hope will be the renewed Dutch system of play. Finally, it will take even more time to search the Netherlands for talent which can be brought along to replace those who will be leaving. This will take at least two years plus, and during that time the team will play inconsistently because van Gaal will insist on doing it his way. The “new” talent part will be the most difficult, but I think he can do it IF the talent is there in Holland. The entire defense needs to be replaced, at least two of the midfielders and–most difficult–at least two forwards. These are total replacements, not from just the first team. It represents 50% +/- of the current total squad, but will be necessary. Then, with some luck, the Dutch will qualify for the WC in Brazil, play competatively there, and perhaps get as far a the quarter finals. That is who we are now, and for me, if we play attractive, excellent football, that will be more than acceptable. As to the future, it will depend on talent development and who will replace van Gaal, who will be ready to leave after the WC.

  25. Vlaar is slow. I will keep Vlaar as backup, not as starting CB. He may be good for a sub when the main CB is injury but not a whole tournament (like Ooijer in 2010). For now I think we need to leave Pieters and Van Der Wiel on the wings. Perhaps Van Gaal can straighten Van Der Wiel out and make him better. I will keep Willems as backup for Pieters so he can learn unless we go with Anita or Emmanuelson on this spot for backup. We should focus on the CB. Whoever there should play and act like a captain of defense (at least 1 of them will).
    Up front is where it is more interesting. Play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. I still hope that Van Persie and Huntelaar can be the 2 in 4-4-2.

    1. >Perhaps Van Gaal can straighten Van Der Wiel out and make him better.

      forget about it 🙂 Wiel has an expiration date on his participation in the Oranje.

      Vlaar is not bad, you are correct he is slow but his positional awareness is pretty good. It is not his fault he couldn’t follow Ronaldo. It was idiotic to play 1to1 Ronaldo anyway. Ronaldo should be double or triple teamed just like they do to Robben.

      Vlaar can help in many second class games. He is a solid guy.

      Pieters is a gifted player. He can solve one CB position right away. I would use someone else as LB. Anita or Urby are both possible choices.

      I will bring up this from an older post from Jan:

      Robben – Robin

      Schaars Strootman Sneijder De Jong

      Emanuelson Heitinga Vlaar VD Wiel

      Stekelenburg

      This is not a bad way to start. More midfielders … you can play the above in several variations.

      1. if the primadonnas don’t track back remove one of them and bring Kuyt in. Dirk has at least 2 decent year left.

      2. you can play a two zone defense (just like italy in their good games). You do this, and you don’t necessarily have to have the best defenders in the world. It is kind of naive to think that if you have one good line of defenders will solve all defense problems.

      3. We are not using a classic striker but neither does Spain. And neither did we during WK2010. It doesnt hurt if you do things right.

      Pieters can play CB, instead of Heitinga. Heitinga could even play RB. There are a lot of possibilities. As long as they keep the lines tight, we will have no serious problems back. We absolutely need the most hardworking players in the team. Work rate is very important the way the game has developed.

  26. I may sound crazy and unrealistic but if we qualify (euro or WC) we should set the expectation to win. We can say we are not favourite but always strive to win the whole thing, not 2nd round, not QF, SF. Now it is the coach’s job to prepare the team and its players to focus at one game at a time, but the goal is to win.

  27. Van Gaal? Van Geniaal? Van Ingenious? Clever, Original and Inventive? Van Gaal!

    And if Orange is the color of craziness, they now have a matching king as coach. Crazy? Yes, but also ingenious, clever, original and inventive!

    Fasten your seat-belts.

  28. With Van Gaal, I think more people are worried about him. Even some people are worried that Holland will not qualify for WC 2014 in Brasil….

  29. i hope Pieters plays center back this season on psv.

    also would be nice if Strootman plays as libero or central back too.

    do you think it’s possible than Van Gaal asking Advocaat to try this? i hear that Low asked similar things to Bayer coach.

    1. I am for Pieters at CB. He’s got great positioning and is smart. I’ve seen a lot of comments about Strootman at CB and I think that would be a mistake. He’s a versatile midfielder and I’m sure he could drop back into the 4. But that would be a waste of his talent. He’d be best in a midfield 3 providing accurate passes to the forwards.

      1. exactly! stroot is the ideal player we have been missing our lineup… an able MF who can create opportunities and a player who can drop deep when needed.

        1. Yes but in midfield you have plenty of good players like de jong clasie maher affelay anita, but you can’t count with center backs.

          if you use strootman as center back you switch from 433 to 343 as vertonghen use to do in ajax last season.

          don’t you think it will be interesting?

  30. 10.28 BST – DONE DEAL: Juventus have sold Dutch winger Eljero Elia to Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen for €5.5 million plus add-ons.

    Let’s hope he gets a lot of game time and gets back his form.

    1. yes, good, and on top of that interesting news

      Strootman who seems to be wanted by manchester united for a while is now being wanted by valencia who is impressed, a team psv played in the europa league,

      Luuk De Jong only wants to leave twente for borussia monglendbach

  31. And here comes Patrick Kluivert – what a fantastic news!!!! Considering how he presented himself during Euro 2012 on Eurosport – passionate about the national team with great understanding of football!!!! The best striker of Oranje is finally where he belongs – back in the national team!

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