Looking ahead to the new season….

blog
by Jan

Well my friends, the debacle that was the Euro2012 is wearing off a little bit for me.

I actually came out of bed today and tomorrow I will definitely shave, I promised my wife. There is more to life then football, I realised and I hope to find out what exactly, soon…

So, with poor Bert trying to forget his sorrows on some far away island ( with a hefty exit fee in his bank account) and Louis van Gaal scheming and preparing the humiliation of Belgium next month, I am starting to focus on the coming football season.

And I’m not sure I like what I hear/read….

The latest rumour is that Inter and Anzhi have agreed the transfer of Wesley Sneijder to Russia. Now, I don’t care how much he gets ( 15 mio per season?? Really???), I personally want to see him ( and Yolanthe) in England, Spain, Italy or Germany. Not in Russia! Is it all about the money, Wes??

Another rumour says that Raf will have to leave Spurs. Sure, he has hinted at it himself, as Sylvie is making her moolah in Germany but it would again be a bit of setback, being sent away from Real Madrid earlier. Spurs new boss AVB apparently wants to play 4-3-3 and sees no room for Van der Vaart at White Hart Lane. Another disappointment for me.

Van Persie’s future is a bit unsure but we do know he won’t go for Chinese yuans or Russian rubels. I do hope he stays at the Emirates but he will most likely join Man City.

The EPL is getting less interesting for me. Vorm and Krul will keep me interested, but with Kuyt leaving Liverpool and Man City spending money like there is no tomorrow I’m not sure I will focus as much on England as last season. Sure, De Jong and De Guzman will interest me and Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen will be cool to follow but other than that… I do hope we invade Belgium soon… Vermaelen, Kompany, Vertonghen…aaaarrrggh… We would have had one World Cup and one more Euro Cup in our trophy cupboard for sure.

With Dost in Germany, maybe Rafa there too and Robben and Huntelaar in the Bundesliga, I might switch a bit more to the East, giving me a chance to check out Dost and Luuk de Jong too, who might sign for Monchengladbach (if Twente treats him well). Don’t forget, we have Bruma in Hamburg and Elia in Bremen, so heaps to look out for.

Portugal and France don’t offer leagues I’d be following but Ola John, Ricky Wolf and Stijn Schaars do happen to be players I love to watch, so…who knows…

The Dutch Eredivisie might well be the place to hang… Ronald Koeman at Feyenoord and Frank de Boer at Ajax play real Dutch football. Karim El Ahmadi, John Guidetti and Otman Bakkal may have left, but Feyenoord did sign former AZ talent Vormer, ADO marathon man Tim Immers and Heerenveen right back Daryl Janmaat, while the Norwegian/Indian Singh has impressed already.

Ajax will lose Vertonghen and Assaiti and who knows, Vernon Anita but Frank de Boer doesn’t panic. He refuses to pay ridiculous amounts of money for players (like Narsingh) and expect his new recruits to really want to play for the Sons of Gods. If not: see you later.


Bassie getting the Heerenveen suit measured to fit

PSV has new skipper Mark van Bommel in da house, alongside coach Dick Advocaat and is seriously eyeing Luciano Narsingh and Adam Maher. The AZ talent wants to move up a bit and doesn’t believe he’ll play for AZ again.

Gertjan Verbeek at AZ did sign Rasmus Elm brother Victor Elm from Heerenveen and seems to be comfortable with the exit of potentially Maher and Benschop, who left for France.

It’s pretty quiet in Arnhem (Vitesse presented Fred Rutten as their new coach), Groningen ( Robert Maaskant takes the helm), Utrecht ( Jan Wouters stays on board, with potentially Co Adriaanse joining in) and in other places but in Heerenveen the eyes are focused on new coach Marco van Basten, who will need some magic to replace the golden forwards Assaidi, Narsingh and Dost.

Despite another exodus of talent, it’s most likely going to be another exciting season in the Eredivisie, where coaches like Van Basten, De Boer and Koeman will stick to the Dutch school and present some open and attacking football…

And to finish this post off: interestingly our neighbours in the south ( Belgium) have decided to sign a number of Dutch coaches. Mario Been is doing really well at Genk, while former Club Brugge coach Adrie Koster will be active in Belgium as well. Ron Jans signed for Liege/FC Luik and Dutch crown prince coach John van den Brom left the snakepit Vitesse to coach the Belgium top club Anderlecht.

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  1. Thanks for this post Jan, I’m really looking forward to the eredivisie this season I’m hoping it’s as close as last year with Ajax winning there 3rd in a row. It would be great to see some Dutch of the Dutch clubs have success in Europe.
    Does anyone know the best way to view the Eredivisie in Australia?
    Also van Aanholt has extended his stay at Vitesse with a season long loan from Chelsea

    1. I watch it via Setanta (part of foxtel/Austar). Costs money but you get a LOT OF sports

      Another way to watch it is via Eredivisie Live after the weekend

  2. I read somewhere that Bert van Marwick just said that Oranje won’t succeed without him and that Van Gaal will fail. He basically blamed the players for the sh!t show.

        1. It’s strange. BVM is a professional and also is a gentleman. I really doubt he said that. I want to confirm this notice with more founds, and see the context witch he said that.. I just can´t believe it.

          1. why not? he was the scapegoat for the team’s failure. everyone blamed him for the failure, truth is, he played the best 11 he thought he had.

          1. I believe in SamNY too… but I am sceptical about the source, that´s all. I am like San Thomas; I need to watch to believe.

  3. I read on twitter (a serious guy who gives notices about eredivisie in Spanish @eredivisisphera) that Ajax wants Maher if Ericksen goes to Man U.

    I began to concern about Ajax. They lost a central striker (Bulikyn) a central back (Vertonghen), and they have the same “not so good” wings (Ebecilio, Ozbiliz). They need a central back, maybe a central striker (I don´t know if one of the academy players has the potential to replace Bulikyn) and it will be nice, and necessary if they want to triumph in Championes League, new wings too.

    In my book it will be very good if Ajax sing:

    1. Central back: Nuytink, Viergiver, Donk or Douglas (in that order). My favourite option is Gouleeweeu but he isn´t on Ajax’s radar at the moment.

    2. Wings: Buy Narsingh. I don´t care if they sell Sulejmani. Also will be nice to see Lukoki playing on the right wing sometimes.

    3. A new central striker, I don’t know who. Maybe brings one of the academy.

    4. Buy Maher if the sell Ericksen.

    5. Buy Clasie if they sell Anita. I know this is impossible and it’s just a dream!

    What happened whit the Ajax´s players wan on loan? Jozeffzon?, Bounevancia?, Castillon?

    Imagine this Ajax 2012:

    —————Boerrigther—???—-Narsingh
    —————-Janseen—-—Anita—Maher
    Forget the mane–Nuytink/Glouweeleeu–Alder…—Van Rhijs.

    2. I’m not worried at all. We finally have the best men on our backroom staff, and Marc Overmars is handling all transfers. De Boer knows exactly who he wants and is trying to integrate the youth into the team rather than spending millions on flops.

      Boerrigter-De Jong-Suleijmani
      Eriksen-Anita-Jansen
      Blind/Boilesen-Blind/New Signing/Denswil-Alderweireld-VD Wiel/Van Rijn

      Will be the lineup

      1. I’m happy to see Ajax is getting it together. Now that LvG’s attention has turned elsewhere. That is a strong lineup! I’m looking forward to the upcoming season.

        Ajax/Feyenoord/PSV are going to be really strong and I hope some of the youngsters can breakout and show themselves to be Oranje material.

      2. Agree with Frank de Boer, but I still think Ajax don´t have a competitive team to play in champion’s league. I´m crossing my fingers waiting that Ajax buy Nuytinck, Viergiver or Glouweeleeu and Narsingh.

        And I appreciate a lot Sien de Jong, but I think Ajax can find a better central striker and use De Jong in midfield. He is a strange player.

    3. I did a mistake here.

      Gouweleeuw is right footer, so he can´t replace Vertonghen. Ajax needs a left footer player, as Viergiver, Nuytinck or Douglas.

  5. From Van Gaals wiki page…i thought this would be interesting to share…

    “When asked about his system in 2008, van Gaal said: “It’s a footballing philosophy more than a system. A system depends on the players you have. I played 4–3–3 with Ajax, 2–3–2–3 with Barcelona and I can play 4–4–2 with AZ. I’m flexible. The philosophy stays the same though. I don’t think that you can adapt it to every possible situation. You need the right mindset, and it depends on how the players see the coach and vice versa. The coach is the focal point of the team but you need to have an open mind, and so do all the players. Everyone needs to work together to achieve a common goal. Preparing your tactical formation is essential. Each player needs to know where he has to be, and that is why there needs to be mutual understanding because you need absolute discipline. This is a sport played by 22 men, and there are 11 opponents out there playing as a team. Each individual needs to know who he has to beat and be there to support his team-mates.””

    1. I could have said the same thing. It’s not what is being said, it’s what being done. vGaal was successful as a club coach, now it’s his chance to redeem himself as a national coach

      1. two issues, both well known:

        1. NT coach is such a different job than club coach. Gaal has not proven he understands the difference.

        2. Let’s say, he grew older and he “gets it” now. Still he is not the kind of coach who builds title football teams. The defense will most likely “suck”.

        That is why I am so concerned. If it was just one issue, ok we can give the guy another chance. I just have doubt he can correct both at the same time.

        One can hope !

  6. wow, missed a lot on here,

    Afellay is gone, no more barcelona which is great, he is being offered to arsenal and inter milan

    Which is good, the more playing time the better, and hopefully for a team in the champions league or europa league.

  8. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/barcelonas-afellay-offered-arsenal-inter-084000946–sow.html

    Afellay is surplus. As a Barca supporter I enjoyed having him on the team but there are just too many players at the positions Ibi plays. His lengthy layoff also dropped him way down the pecking order.

    I hope Arsene Wenger opens his wallet a little more and picks Afellay up. Again I don’t think Italy is a good place for Dutch players to develope. Elia has left and I hope Castaignos does too.

    1. I think Italy is a great league for Dutch players to go and play or develop. Elia just dropped form. Many dutch players in the past have shined in italy. In addition, if you are dutch it is not seen as a negative by the italian coaches…if anything you’ll get positive points. the problem is, if you don’t deliver you will be dropped on any league. Considering the ‘slower’ pace of Seria A, if these players can’t cut it there, they can say gby to better leagues…

      1. I wasn’t implying in Italy it is seen as a negative that a player is Dutch. I was talking about the league and it’s play in recent times. Van Basten, Guillet, Rijkaard, Sneijder and others have had great success in Italy.

        The match fixing has become a huge problem. The play is very very defensive. If you watch a Serie A match the pitch looks huge and most teams are content trying crazy through passes rather than maintain possession. As you said the pace is also very slow while other leagues (BPL, La Liga, Eredivisie, Bundesliga) maintain a high pace. So when the Serie A Dutch players get together with the others they’re development and style will be way different which doesn’t help Oranje I think.

        I doubt Castaignos will develop better with Inter than if he stayed with Feyenoord for a few more seasons and then moved to a bigger club. As brilliant as Sneijder is I think his move to Inter has taken away his versatility. He operates as a #10 now and again I don’t know that he can’t or just won’t work in a Xavi role in a 3 man midfield.

        sorry… long post I just wanted to clarify my earlier statement.

        1. actually I should amend my statement…
          Dutch defenders should be sent to Italy especially CBs if we can’t develop them ourselves. If any of our CBs can get a starting spot in the Serie A they can start for Oranje.

          If theres one thing Italian football has it’s a strong defense and development in that area.

        2. Match fixing is not an exclusive Italian problem. If gambling and fixing is present in Italy then its present in almost every other European country.

  9. I just wonder since Van Gaal fell out of favor with Ajax (losing the battle with JC and company), if any Ajax player plays well, would he call them up? I would think the answer is yes. Frank De Boer publicly endorse him so Van Gaal will not any grudge.

    1. thanks Hien, I am trying hard to support the new situation. Decision has been made. Crossing fingers now 🙂

      Maybe Gaal’s desire to prove himself will prevail.

  12. …..Frank de Boer doesn’t panic. He refuses to pay ridiculous amounts of money for players (like Narsingh) and expect his new recruits to really want to play for the Sons of Gods. If not: see you later.
    —–

    Can we just fast-forward now to 2015?

    It’s a full year after the Oranje (surprisingly) won their 1st World Cup by beating the host, Brazil, and their enigmatic boss Louis van Gaal suddenly decided he has had enough of this sport. Not surprisingly, he publicly endorsed – almost appointed – Frank de Boer as his successor for the Oranje.

    That’s just my lame-ish attempt to mimic Jan’s “parallel universe” post.

  13. I am also looking forward to the Eredivisie season and i think it will be a race between PSV and Ajax.

    Unfortunately, I give the edge to Ajax…PSv will get MVB and Dicky A, but we are sorely lacking a killer up front. Ajax has more potent attack and is stronger at the back as well, although with a healthy Pieters and MVB/Strootman (if he stays), the PSV defense will be much stronger than in the 2nd half of this past season.

    My prediction:

    1. Ajax
    2. PSV
    3. Feyenoord
    4. Heerenveen
    5. Twente
    6. AZ

    I think Van basten will do well with Heerenveen, despite the loss of Dost and possible Narsingh. Twente will not cope well without LDJ as he was so pivotal to that team, with both passing and scoring. Dost was more of a one trick pony with less of an impact. Losing Ola John and LDJ will REALLY hurt Twente.

    AZ will miss Holman and Maher, but if Beerens stays healthy they may squeak into the EL.

    Looking forward to a new season!

    1. Narsingh may well tip the balance where ever he goes that team might win the league. I know PSV is looking at him closely too, or if Ajax get him, they might clinch a third successive title in a row. I also fancy Feyenoords chances this year

  14. Oh and Feyenoord have new momentum, some new cash due to EL and Clasie, who is the engine of the team. If Cabral can develop well and Guidetti continues his form, they may make it very difficult for AJAX and PSV. I think think they are a little young to win, but with a strong back line led by Vlaar, they are definitely in for a good year.

    1. Yeah he is. When he was little, Feyenoord told him repeatedly to try out for a smaller club, as he was too small. But he kept on fighting back. He has the spirit and the skills.

  18. Guys, only a month to go until the Belgium friendly. Any news on what players Van Gaal will be using for that match? He has only one practice game before the WC qualifiers starts, against the strongest opponent I might add…

  19. Van Gaal does not start until Aug 01, a bit more than 2 weeks from today. We will not know until he officially starts. Guessing from his records, he is likely not to call up older players (over 30’s) and will bring in younger players. It will be interesting to see how much rebuild he will do (how many players he will keep from the current squad).

  21. Perhaps 343 is the best for Oranje .

    Steklenburg (krul/vorm)

    De jong____ donk ___ Douglas

    __________ Strootman ______
    Afellay ______________ emanuelson
    ___________ Sneijder __________

    Robben ______ Persie _____ Elia

    Subs. ;

    Pieters , bruma ” i think he will develop a lot in the next 2 years ”

    ________ fer ________
    Clasie ________ Anita
    _______ De Guzman __

    Wijnaldum maher john & luuk

  25. @Jan,
    Thanks for the response! I don’t know how good Theo Janssen is defensively but I thought maybe he should have started instead of MVB. Team really lacked that midfield link between defenders and forwards as we have all seen. Hindsight is 20/20.

    Anyways, we need a strong and capable midfielder like Xavi Alonso. Someone who has the physical stature, passing and defensive tenacity.

  26. If we put the name van Gaal into our blog enough times – Ego maniac Louis will google his name and see it come up here regularly and probably start reading it.
    Vlaar -> Villa ?
    Narsingh -> PSV done deal

    RvP -> ????
    My take if I was on the Arseneal Board.
    Keep vP for the remainder season and get at least to the quarters/semi of Champions League and top 4 BPL – how much is that worth alone ? probaly 60-80m Euro. I sell vP what will I get ? 40m – 50 Eur ? (but winning may be difficult)
    Make a deal with vP that when/if he leaves he allows Arsenal to collect 20m upon departure.
    Many things can happen in 12 months and if Arsenal win something – he may end up staying.

  27. @Bobotoh – Is Dutch football Eredivisie shown in Indonesia ? Which Service provider (cableTV) has the BPL/Iralian/Spanish Leagues there ? Is it available everywhere ? Sumatra /Celebes/Borneo/ Lombok/ ??
    Anyone else living in Indonesia can answer these questions ?

    Thanks 🙂

    1. Because I don’t subscribe to any cable TV provider, so I don’t know about Dutch football matches. If you’re in Jakarta, you can call Indovision, one of cable TV providers in Indonesia.

      You can watch English premiere league on MNCTV or Global TV, Spanish La Liga on TransTV or Trans 7 (uncorfirmed yet), Italian Serie A on TVRI, Bundesliga on Indosiar. They are not tv cable providers, so you can watch them free of charge. CL matches, you can watch them on SCTV (one match per match day, free). And yes, they are available everywhere…:).

  29. @Jan its seems that Vlaar goes to Aston Villa. what do you think? who can replace him in Feyeenord?

    Ajax sing a U21 dutch player from PSG calling Ilan Boccara. PSGg fans are angry because of that.

    @bitter clasie is my best option right now to replace van bommel spot. I think he will become in one of the main pieces of orange midfield soon.

    I think LVG wants a midfield with faster players with defensive and ofensive skills at the same time in order to play possession football and aply pressing to recover the ball quickly.

    thats why I think LvG will use players like Sneijder Clasie Maher Strootman Affellay. I think Vaart and De Jong only will play in certain scenarios and will star on the bench.

  31. Reports suggest that Borussia Monchengladbach have agreed a deal with FC Twente for Netherlands international Luuk de Jong. Newcastle failed with a bid earlier this summer, but Gladbach and Twente are understood to have settled on a fee of around €20million.

  32. Barcelona B defender Marc Muniesa could join Ajax on a temporary basis, according to the Ajax sporting director, Marc Overmars.

  33. I think Vlaar at Villa is excellent…English Football is faster than Dutch Football and Vlaar needs this.He will become an Icon at Villa as he will score goals and he can set up the attacks with his technique and passing with both feet.

    2. I think it is sad that a Holland team starter is considered to be making a great move by playing for a team that barely escaped falling from Premiership. Look at defenses of our competitors and you won’t see starters that play for second hand strings. We will always suffer in defense.

      1. i didn’t know ron vlaar was the undisputed starter for Holland, I mean wasn’t it mathijsen and heitinga, and vlaar was a substitute, who didn’t even get chances till a few weeks before the euros.

  35. Good for PSV…Dickie has assembled some interesting choices..old and new. What of Ajaxs new signing…how do they plan to make an impact on CL? Any news on anyone ‘decent’ they have their eyes on?

  36. I think PSV can go all the way this season in the Europa league as well as the Eredivisie title. Very good signings. It will be fantastic seeing van bommel, strootman, wijnaldum, narsingh, pieters, and maybe willems all play together in one team.

    Ajax look like they’re going backwards at the moment. Hope they don’t think of replacing vertonghen with that spaniard kid they’re mentioning in the media recently.
    Plus they need a true striker, better wingers.

    Feyenoord… Well just getting to the CL will be an achievement.

    1. ajax doesn’t want spend much money. ajax wants Moisander but he is very expensive. So the other options are Viergiver Nuytinck and Muniesa. Ajax will sing the one who offers better options in skills., experience and prices. I hope they sing Nuytinck. Viergiver is expensive and Muniesa…. is spanish

  37. PSV has no money (we are told) yet every year they buy players: Lens, Strootman, Wijnaldum, Mertens, VB, now Narsingh. Ajax made something like 18M Euros from the CL last year, have won the title 2 years in a row but are bound by drastic finances and a new direction imposed by JC and the board, which consists of taking the players from the youth. Too bad we could not get Narsingh though but I am sure the Ajax managerial team knows best.

  40. @Miguel,
    why was Glenn Loovens not given a chance with Oranje. He played for Celtic. I don’t know much about him but I doubt he would be any worse than Mathijsen.

    1. My thoughts exactly. This applies to Roel Brouwers as well. Plus, isn’t Loovens one of van Persie’s best friends since childhood? That could have improved some team camaraderie.

      @Jan–love the new site, man!

  41. @SDC I am with you with respect to players we chose not to select for Oranje such as Loovens, Theo Jansen, and Wisgerhof but at the end of the day they might not have contributed much either. I am watching a rerun of a Champions League game between Twente and Benfica and the duo of Wisgerhof-Douglas have conceded 3 goals so far…. anything can happen on any given day but sometimes its better to go with proven players. At WC2010 our defense was solid most of the time.

    I really hope we utilize these next few months to regroup, renew, and refresh our team with younger hungrier players. I hope Sneijder will be captain and certain players will continue like RVP but these player should be given very little slack.

  43. About RVP. Now I understand why he had such a crappy Euro 2012…HE WAS JUST WORRIED OF HIS SITUATION AT ARSENAL. Just after the tournament ended the news that he was not going to sign a new contract were all over the place.

    He was worried about his personal situation. Of all Dutch players going into Euro 2012 he was the only one who had a superb season and funny enough, in the WC2010 many players were in better form than Van Persie and Van Persie didn´t enjoy many goal scoring opportunities. In this Euro even though the team lack chemistry and team spirit he had more than 10 clear chances to score and he only scored once??? Is he the man to lead this new Oranje??? I really doubt it.

    About all what´s being said about Van Gaal I will just add something. If you work for a company and don´t have much success but you were very succesful in managerial positions in other top companies and after your failure you continued to succeed almost every where you go and then you return to the company where you failed…Does that means you are more likely to fail again??? I don´t believe in that. The risk is always there and let´s not be crazy here. The first two games Van Gaal will have will be very important. The first a friendly one against Belgium to send his message to players and the second a crucial qualifier vs. Turkey. Those games will be very important to start building confidence and a new squad and if doesn´t win both is very understandable. He is inheriting a team with a disastrous Euro under their belt. Hopefully Oranje wins those 2 games and I am a believer that Louis Van Gaal will be succesful this time. What interests me the most is the selection of players he will decide for his first games. That could give us a great idea of his game plan, system and if he is to re-align the actual team or completely overhaul the squad in terms of players. There are a bunch of primadonnas who have to be axed for good. The first in my list is Van der Vaart…if he is benched he is like a cancer! And as a starter he doesn´t make any difference. He can create unrest in the dressing room. Others like Kuyt, Mathijsen, Boulahrouz should never return to Oranje.

    Bring in the new Oranje blood!

  44. @Bitterballen,
    in the end, that was the ultimate downfall of BVM. He went all in with the players he chose. Just as in poker. He should have experimented with more defenders. Not just that, but also with the bench. It seemed like the starters became complacent. Not much competition in the squad or fluidity with formations. We play the same way against N. Ireland or Germany or Portugal. Made the team predictable.

    My point is that, even if Mathijsen and Heitinga were more experienced, the fact that they felt no worries about their position made them complacent. Competition makes players perform to the best of their abilities.

  45. If Afellay has a choice between Inter and Arsenal, he should definitely choose Arsenal. I think the style of play would suit him more. Wenger would really mold him into a great attacking midfielder which is what Arsenal really need.

    It would also let RVP stay and finish out his season. It would be better for Arsenal to have RVP for the season and finish at least top 4, reach the semi-final of the CL and maybe win FA cup, instead of losing him for $15 or $20 million which they might get from selling him right now.

    Since every team now knows that RVP wants to leave, they’re holding out for a bargain. I really doubt that Juventus is the ideal destination for him. I don’t think he’ll flop but I doubt he’ll be scoring 30 goals as he did at Arsenal. System was really built specifically for him at Arsenal. Real Madrid would probably be a better destination for him outside the PL.

  46. RVP is an idiot if he thinks he has has a better shot of winning a trophy somewhere else whilst being a mainstay in the lineup… only Arsenal will allow him that opportunity.. if he leaves for Man City (realistically the only team that will splurge for a player of his age) he will lose playing time and still won’t be guaranteed a trophy.

  47. SamDC, I agreed. Had Bert make the players perform/fight for a starting spot, perhaps things would be different.
    I just wish all Dutch clubs play well in CL, Europa League, players develop well in Eredivisie, and those players not playing in Eredivisie will be fit, get a starting spot and play well in wherever league they play so Oranje can benefit and achieve the ultimate goal, winning the WC. Having say all of this, I do not think Russian League is the place to be. Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue1, Eredivisie, Portuguese League, not Russian League, Chinese League, MLS, South American Leagues. I hope money is not everything. Instead of Russian, perhaps considering Eredivisie or Ligue1 (PSG has a lot of money…)
    I also hope KVNB give Van Gaal 3 (at least 2) friendly games before Turkey game. Does not have to be against another national team. Can play against young Ajax or another Dutch club.
    @MH: Waiting for Jan to add me as friend on FB. Once Jan adds me, you can find me as Jan’s friends.

  48. Harmeet Singh really is some player and don’t forget Feyenoord have another Indian Rajiv van la Parra who will definitely burst onto the International scene this season. Hope Feyenoord and Ajax do well in the Champions league. But PSV eindhoven..gosh they really are on fire…they have signed some brilliant players already…boy waterman (penalty killer in goal), mathias zanka jorgensen…danish laudraup at the back….luciano narsingh ..aka the new robben on the wings…van Bommel in midfield to partner Strootman…and also am licking my lips at the prospect of a sensational season from messilike dribbler memphis Dephay! Feyenoord, Ajax & PSV sheesh all luking good

  49. Those who are blaming Van Persie for his “transfer request” are naive or don’t want to see the business side/reality of today’s football. We live in a world where Clubs gain recognition based on their purchasing power, where championships are won not because of a club’s history but based on how much they have spent in the last couple of years (ehem Chelsea, Manchester City) even Real Madrid and Barcelona with all its history and ideology of football have spent millions (Coentrao was purchased at a 30 million rate) tell me what did he do last season?
    Arsenal are trying to fight this phenomena by trying to stick true to their colors, not buying big. Whether they will succeed or not is not for me to answer, but the reality is that they have lost so many big players. They are entering a vicious cycle, for ever star player they lose they buy one semi-establish player who will take a year or two to become a star and by then the big spenders come in and buy him. Whether or not its a secret agenda of Arsenal, again not for me to answer…

  51. ————–Stekelenburg————–

    —-Bruma—Maduro—Pieters—Aanholt—

    —–Sneijder—Classie—Strootman——

    —–Afellay—Huntelaar—Robben——–

  52. Rvp left himself an escape hatch – if Arsenal sign Affelay – he can always claim – now they’re serious and I’m happy to stay.

    But frankly – he hads to cash in now – after the best season he’ll probably ever have.

    As for his and everyone’s form. I’d still bet if they had just camped out in their host city gotten used to the field. Well they would have cruised through at least the first game and gotten at least a tie in the others.

  53. sup dudes lull in summertime

    not many moves just more rumors

    Luuk de Jong to Borussia Gladnbach is official?

    Twente In for Luc Castignos?

    RVP to Machester City? Manchester United?

    Strootman has nothing concrete, Valencia, Ac and Inter milan, with manchester united

    Afellay to Arsenal or Inter Milan

    Viergever to Ajax

    Ryan babel and Edson Braafheid to leave hoffenheim to where?

  55. Feyenoord lost Guidetti, El Amadhi, and now Vlaar. What are they doing to maintain the same last year level?

    who will be the next 9 and who will replace KEA and Vlaar?

    I really wish that Castaignos sings for Twente.

  57. refreshingly honest from kuyt. what a legend.

    “I’m not a very talented player. But I try very hard. When I played for Liverpool I scored against Manchester United, I will score goals against Galatasaray in the same way here.”

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