Looking ahead with memories… World Cup 1974

blog
by Jan

I have to profusely apologise yet again!

I have been away, and very busy with cool stuff…and I have been dropping the ball a bit.

New posts are in the making, but I wanted to start with this series of looking back to our previous World Cup campaigns. Just to freshen things up before we actually head off to Brazil.

Hope you don’t mind me doing this now. And soon more current posts.

The 1982 World Cup qualifier post is not in the trash, I’m still working on getting some awesome footage.

Keep it up my friends, and please don’t keep on overlooking the donate button, hahahahaha….

nees_1976

Nees was always polite when people accidentally bumped into him…

Here we go for 1974 then… I do surrender my age with this one  .

But, most of us will remember prolific scoring Johnny Rep, snake-man Rensenbrink, Neeskens and the blood on his shirt against the Butchers from Brazil (sorry Felipe  ), the awesome Cruyff goals, the swimming pool incident and the finals against West Germany. We lost. In case you forgot.

But not a lot of people remember the run up to the WC. In fact, Holland shouldn’t have qualified. Belgium was in our qualifications group and they needed a win against Oranje to oust us. And the match ended 0-0. Holland qualified. But…Belgium scored a goal and that goal was disallowed. Although no one knew why. The ref ruled off side, but the replays showed he was wrong… Close call, that one…

JC 74
JC in typical style…

In the prep for the WC, Frantisec Fardronc (?) was Oranje’s manager with Jan Zwartkruis as his assistant. In those days, Oranje wasn’t the hot. We never achieved anything before 1974 but with Feyenoord and Ajax ruling Europe and the world (Feyenoord won the European Cup and the World Cup in 1970, Ajax repeated that European feat thrice (71, 72, 73) so the players figured we might have a bit of a chance on that WC.

Looking back, the likes of Van Hanegem and Krol admitted never to have thought we would be contenders for the title. The KNVB feared Fardronc wouldn’t able to lead the team to success and they quickly signed Barca coach Rinus Michels as a supervisor (that was the term). He quickly realized Oranje was in trouble defensively. Killers Rinus Israel and Theo “The Tank” Laseroms were both injured, and so was Ajax defender Hulshoff. Michels tried out different things in the warm ups but wasn’t happy with the results.

Note: Israel and Laseroms were credited with the innovative “drifting” of center striker Johan Cruyff. The two Feyenoord defenders were tough as nails and mean as alley cats. Whenever JC played Feyenoord (with Ajax and later Barca) he didn’t have the guts to play upfront and stayed away from the two fearless defenders, leaving space for others (Nees, Rep) to move in to the center striker position. That worked so well, that JC promoted this tactics to standard MO.

In those days, Ajax and Feyenoord ruled Oranje. PSV cracks Jan van Beveren (Holland’s best goalie ever (debatable, I know)) and playmaker Willy van der Kuylen for instance, had trouble getting into the hierarchy at Oranje and pulled out. Feyenoord midfielders Van Hanegem and Jansen – both very smart players – recognized JC’s sublime genius and were happy to play second fiddle to Jopie.

oranje_engel_159553h
She was there in 1974. And she hasn’t changed a bit… Good girl…

With the PSV contingent out, Michels still had his defensive issues to take care of. After several experiments, apparently Cruyff whispered in Michels’ ear: try Arie Haan as central defender. Haan, a young Ajax midfielder, was a great passer and more importantly, had wonderful lungs. He was teamed up with young and ruthless Feyenoord defender Rijsbergen. Cruyff wasn’t stupid. By attempting to dominate the game, he knew that using Haan as center back would result in an extra midfielder when in possession, allowing Neeskens to make his penetration runs into the box. With Suurbier on the overlap on the right, Rep could afford to leave the right wing to come to the center up front and thus Rep became the goal scorer, with Cruyff in a free role….anywhere on the pitch.

But, the space between defense and the goalie would be huge and any deep ball over our defense would prove to be dangerous. No problems. Michels selected burgeoning FC Amsterdam goalie Jan Jongbloed. Jongbloed was a spectacular goalie with great reflexes but more importantly, Jan was fast and was a good passer. In this way, Michels added an extra sweeper to the team, Jongbloed would rule the space behind Haan.

All this was not so much strategy, it was born out of necessity and by coincidence.

The rest is history. Arie Haan would develop to become The Dutch Player with most Prizes ™ until one Seedorf started to collect cups. Wim Rijsbergen moved from Feyenoord to New York Cosmos where he’d play with Garrincha, Pele and Beckenbauer. Rob Rensenbrink was one of Holland’s first players to football himself to financial independence and John Rep became a rock star. Sort of.

Clockwork Orange was born. JC would grow into the Best Player Ever (most Brazilians or Argentinians don’t think so, by the way) and Rinus Michels felt it necessary to call his pupil Cruyff an amateur coach and psychopath in later days. But that’s another story…

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166 comments

  6. Thank you Jan! Just some comments:
    1. This team is the only team that ever played Total Football. It is still exciting to watch the old footage of this team. Definitely the best team ever to play football in my book.
    2. Regarding our current squad, if they can consistently play 7 games like Ajax’s first half dominating Barcelona on November 26 2013, I have no doubt that it is our turn to win the WC, given the NT having more maturity, skill and talents than Ajax.
    3. I am a bit concerned with LVG’s lately comments about how he does not enjoy coaching national team due to the discontinuity (time off between matches I guess) comparing to a club plus stating his interests with EPL club. It looks like he is not focused on the job at hand and already paving way for a club job after the WC.
    4. Ajax dismal display in Europa League. I agreed with earlier comment that Ajax seemed not to care about Europa League. The moment that they failed to advance in CL, they just focused on Eredivisie title. I still has faith in Cruyff, FDB and this group to make Ajax better and will eventually benefit the NT.
    5. UEFA 2016 full draw.

    Group A
    Netherlands, Czech Republic, Turkey, Latvia, Iceland, Kazakhstan

    Group B
    Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Israel, Wales, Cyprus, Andorra

    Group C
    Spain, Ukraine, Slovakia, Belarus, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Luxembourg

    Group D
    Germany, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Scotland, Georgia, Gibraltar

    Group E
    England, Switzerland, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, San Marino

    Group F
    Greece, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Northern Ireland, Faroe Islands

    Group G
    Russia, Sweden, Austria, Montenegro, Moldova, Liechtenstein

    Group H
    Italy, Croatia, Norway, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Malta

    Group I
    Portugal, Denmark, Serbia, Armenia, Albania

    The nine section winners, the nine runners-up and the best third-placed side will qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight remaining third-placed countries will contest play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the 24-nation finals.

    I do not like 24 team ideas. 16 teams, 4 group of 4 is good format as these offer top quality football. I can see 8 teams format before is not enough. Czech and Turkey are not as good as before and top 2 advance so I do not think we have an issue here.

    LVG’s reaction after UEFA 2016 draw from uefa.com:

    History has taught us that most of the time we have beaten these opponents. And because in the new format, the runners-up as well as the group winners will quality, the Oranje have to be able to qualify for the final tournament automatically.

    1. I think it’s the first time Holland will play against Kazakhtstan. I remember Holland having beaten Latvia 3-0 during EC 2004, it was the only one game against them I think. Turkey, Czech Republic and Iceland are quite usual.

      In europe Holland has never played against : Kazakhtstan, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Georgia, Lithuania, Montenegro.

      Anyway the draw is corrupted for sure, just like the CL and WC one. They made a simulation one day before, the group for France was : Portugal-Denmark-Israel-Armenia-Albania. And what is the final draw ? Portugal-Denmark-Serbia-Armenia-Albania.

      Just like for the WC draw, I posted a previous one three days before and it was : Germany-Holland-Chile-Australia. Only Spain replaced Germany in the final one.

      I just wonder why they don’t do it more discretly, or maybe they just know that people will keep going to the stadium anyway.

    2. > “3. I am a bit concerned with LVG’s lately comments about how he does not enjoy coaching national team due to the discontinuity (time off between matches I guess) comparing to a club plus stating his interests with EPL club. It looks like he is not focused on the job at hand and already paving way for a club job after the WC.”

      If there is is one thing that I am not worried about then it is his focus and commitment on the job.

      In the zone:

      http://tinyurl.com/nlbbjtq

      His dissatisfaction stems from not being able to instruct, train and conditioning the group (processes). He is just an observer until now. He does not like that. Once he is with the group in training and going to Brazil, he is happy again.

        1. I am willing to bet everything I have that Castaignos is not being considered by van Gaal.

          His touch is so poor, he would lose the ball every time against mid to high quality opponents

          1. If you keep watching his games you will realize how much he has improved from last year. Especially this year he was improving from each game. He wasted many chances for sure, but he created a lot of chances by himself as well. This is something Dost Luuk De Jong and Van Wolfswinkel are lack of.He is gradually living up to his expectations from his U17 days. Give him sometime, he should be the answer at number 9 after Euro 2016.

        2. Yes the first that I can think of is Castaignos but could be a real surprise with this kid Kishna.
          Do not think that Louis will ever consider van Dijk or any other defender that he hasn’t already tried.

          1. Kinshna has never even played for U19 or U21 and only played one Eredivisie game. He might get his first call up next season but not now. It’s the same thing as calling up Van Ginkel when he is playing for Chelsea reserve. Plus on the winger position we still need to try out more of Depay, Boetius and Promes. Kinshna is no where close from them as for now. He might be at the same level as Depay if he did not get into those terrible injuries.

          1. Because Van Gaal do not pick players that did not perform well in recent games, like PVA is not in the preliminary squad.

    1. Thanks Wilson. I saw him in the Jong PSV game vs Helmond about 2 weeks ago, but since then he has missed the last 2 games. I was even looking for him yesterday when they played Emmen and he wasnt there. Im a little worried that he may have had a setback after that first game against Helmond (he was sub at half-time.

  11. Blessing in Disguise for Ajax against Salzburg??

    The Eredivisie side have been dealt a blow with the news that the youngster will be out of action for over a month with a muscle injury

    Ajax winger Viktor Fischer will be out of action for at least six weeks with a hamstring injury, the club has confirmed.

    The Danish forward has been a regular this season under coach Frank de Boer but, after limping out of Sunday’s 4-0 win over AZ on Sunday, tests have confirmed a tear in his muscle.

    The 19-year-old has made 35 appearances for the Eredivisie champions this season, scoring seven goals, but is now set to miss a large part of the remainder of the campaign including the Europa League match against Red Bull Salzburg on Thursday and Sunday’s clash with fierce rivals Feyenoord.

    “On Sunday in the match against AZ, Viktor Fischer sustained a tear in his left hamstring,” a statement on the club’s website read.

    “The Danish forward has been ruled out for at least six weeks.

    “In a few weeks he will have another test to see how the hamstring is recovering.”

    Fischer joins a growing injury list at the Amsterdam Arena, and the club do not expect Lasse Schone, Thulani Serero or Nicolai Boilesen to be available for their important upcoming fixtures.

    The statement continued: “Lasse Schone has a torn ankle ligament. He is recovering well, but will not travel to Salzburg [in the Europa League on Thursday], and the match against Feyenoord [on Sunday] will probably come too early.

    “Thulani Serero flies to Salzburg but is not in the squad. The South African has been struggling with a groin injury and will continue his rehabilitation.

    “Finally Nicolai Boilesen has a left hamstring injury and is therefore not available in the upcoming weeks.”

    Ajax are six points clear at the top of the Eredivisie, and will look to turn around a three-goal deficit in their Europa League last-32 clash with Salzburg on Thursday.

  13. Tomorrow starts a tournament full of friendly’s for U17 to prepare them for the Eilte round = qualification for the Euro that will be held in Malta.

    Opponents are:

    * Wednesday 26th of February against England U17.
    * Friday the 28th of Februari against Germany U17.
    * Sunday 2 March against the host Portugal.

    Selection (22 players):

    * Justin Bakker (AZ)
    * Stan van Bladeren (Ajax)
    * Donny van de Beek (Ajax)
    * Anthony Berenstein (FC Utrecht)
    * Steven Bergwijn (RJO PSV/EHV)
    * Laros d’Encarnação Duarte (Sparta Rotterdam)
    * Jeremy Helmer (AZ)
    * Kaan Karabakal (AZ)
    * Joris Klein Holte (Vitesse)
    * Rick van der Meer (Feyenoord Academy)
    * Bradley de Nooijer (Sparta Rotterdam)
    * Abdelhak Nouri (Ajax)
    * Yanick van Osch (RJO PSV/EHV)
    * Segun Owobowale (ADO Den Haag)
    * Kenneth Paal (RJO PSV/EHV)
    * Jari Schuurman (Feyenoord Academy)
    * Marlon Slabbekoorn (Feyenoord Academy)
    * Jan-Willem Tesselaar (AZ)
    * Keziah Veendorp (RVO/GC FC Groningen)
    * Calvin Verdonk (Feyenoord Academy)
    * Wellington Verloo (Vitesse)
    * Teun van Zweeden (Ajax).

    Stand by list:

    * Erwin Heidekamp (RVO/GC FC Groningen)
    * Leon Bergsma (Ajax)
    * Tim Brinkman (FC Utrecht)
    * Guido Janssen (FC Utrecht)
    * Julian Lelieveld (Vitesse)
    * Mauro Savastano (Ajax)
    * Danny van Haaren (Feyenoord Academy)
    * Frenkie de Jong (Willem II / RKC)
    * Karim Loukili (FC Utrecht)
    * Martijn Berden (RJO PSV/EHV)
    * Dani van der Moot (RJO PSV/EHV)
    * Ezra Walian (Ajax).

    So what are we looking at?

    * Well notice how striker talents like Walian and van der Moot are not in the first selection, but the AZ striker (Tesselaar I think) is. Both Walian and van der Moot are both ex AZ by the way, which kind of makes you scratch your head. Basically 3 potential U17 strikers come from that club.
    * The creative potentials are there: Nour, Paal, Slabekoorn

    We see guys that were in that Georgia game I posted some time ago:

    * Wellington who then played left back. I kind of like that guy.
    * My favorite at left center back who still makes too many mistakes, Verdonk.
    * Donny van Beek who is slowly and silently developing into a midfield force.
    * Chosen is for wingers Berenstein and Bergwijn. That talent from FC Twente Ould-Chikh is not between the names.
    * That Duarte kid between the names is indeed the little brother of our friend at Ajax
    * Don’t ask me to do a name by name break down as there are enough players that I do not know either. I hope we will get some video material from the tournament to update on the last developments in the youth.

    After the tournament this is the program for the Elite round that will be played in the Netherlands :):

    Thursday, March 20:
    16.00: France – Sweden (RKSV Nuenen)
    19.00: Netherlands – Austria (UDI’19)
     
    Saturday, March 22:
    14.00: Austria – France (UDI’19)
    17.00: Netherlands – Sweden (RKSV Nuenen)
     
    Tuesday, March 25:
    19.00: Austria – Sweden (RKSV Nuenen)
    19.00: Netherlands – France (UDI’19)

    I believe that U16 plays football as well. I will maybe update on them as well later.

    Cheers

      1. http://i.imgur.com/TlJcGPz.png

        Yes Turkish Dutch, definitely with an eastern mix to it by the looks of it, I agree. It’s always waiting for what is going to happen with double nationality, certainly with Turks (Ozyakup).

        Ajax reject. Went to AZ. Turned into a right back from being a winger. Now for the first time with the national youth team. More power to him.

        Would really like to see footage of this tournament.

        1. It’s interesting the new generations have different type of players, first I couldn’t guess the roots of Kishna when I firstly saw him. Has european face lines with a light coffee color. Like Zivkovic. Holland is probably the most multicultural country in Europe, even more than France.

          We already knew the antillian, moroccan, indonesians and turks who are in Holland since decades, but more recently there was a massive importation of people from Cape Verde, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan…I see more and more black players with spanish or portuguese names in youth teams. There is a guy who plays with PSV A1 “Mohamed Mahmoud” who is from Iraq. There is another one from Heracles but I can’t remember his name and I don’t know where he is now. About Afghanistan Shabir Isoufi who played with Feyenoord but wasn’t good enough, now he is playing in jupiler league.

          1. Kishna has Indian heritage and not sure why Isoufi failed, he was brilliant in that Toulon Youth tournament

          2. Kishna is a real mixture, was hard to guess for me. Aaron Winter,Narsingh and Biseswar are also surinamian with indian roots, are there others ?

          3. There is actually many more, van la Parra, the other Narsingh brother, Furdjel Narsingh who scored for Zwolle last week, before there was Prince Rajcomar and Kiran Bechan also of Indian heritage who were playing in the Eredivisie

  16. What a disaster at Manchester United… RvP needs to get out of there this summer. Strootman should avoid going there too. Maybe LvG will end up replacing David Moyes… I don’t think Moyes will be there for very long.

  17. Jeffrey Gouweleeuw is one of five centre-backs who have caught the attention of Barcelona. The Catalans are also keeping tabs on Aleksandar Dragovic, Aymeric Laporte, Mateo Musacchio & Eliaquim Mangala.

    DRB300 any analysis on this guy……

    1. Stupid rumor.

      Gouweleeuw is not good enough for Barca. Keep in mind that he was never given a call up or even made the preliminary squad while de Vrij, BMI, Rekik, Bruma, Veltman or actually even van der Hoorn have all done just that and we can not say they have been without fault in Eredivisie.

      He should work hard at AZ and maybe in time he is ready for a top club in the Netherlands. Not Barca.

      That being said, I liked Kongolo against FC Twente. Rumor is that he is the surprise rookie van Gaal talked about.

      Cheers

      1. Gouweleeuw is a pretty good player in Eredivisie already, AZ is not a bad team at all, also, some media called him Dutch Pique. Van Basten has mentioned he should move to DM because in the next generation there are way too many competitors at the CB position. We should not judge players just by Van Gaal’s selection, don’t forget players like Bacuna Pieters Anita all did not get a call up. Van Gaal tends to choose players from teams that perform well recently. I also need to mention Gouweleeuw’s performance in Europa League was pretty good. To sum it up, he has good body very good long pass and vision for a CB kind of similar to Veltman but with less dribbling, postioning abilities and better body. Definitely not ready for Barca now, but can be an interesting player to move abroad after 2 or 3 years of development.

      2. As for Kongolo, if he got called up it will be a bummer for a lot of players. He just played one good game and that’s it. I think it is also his first time playing as a LB. I still think he is a natural CB but he need to grow a little bit. He definitely is very talented, actually most of that U17 championship squad is. He could have been a starter for a good Eredivisie team but Feynood is not willing to lend him. From last euro U19, he is the leader of the back line and did ok. Pretty fast for a CB and can head the ball well but need to work on positioning. I have to mention he really loves to charge forward. I think Indi is the only player on Feynood that is ready for a move abroad. If it happened it will be very good for Kongolo’s development.

  19. The NT might have to keep a close tab on this fella against France – Antoine Griezmann. he the leading scorer for (Real Sociedad) and third behind Ronaldo and costa in La Liga. I reckon this time around the Van Gaals selection of the backs will definitely be under spotlight given the depth in the France squad specially in their midfield. also curious whether Nigel De Jong in the right guy for 4-3-3 formation.

          2. Yep goldstone it was sarcastic. And Big Dan, I’ll be sure to point that out to you in the future, K?

  26. I actually think Sneijder did really well today. You’re right, he had precise crossing. But without the precise crossing and precise passing by Sneijder, I doubt they would have scored. So IMO not just an average outing for Sneijder. We have to remember that Sneijder doesn’t exactly have the best players around him. Great players do well with good players around them.

  28. ———————-Stekelenburg——————

    ———Janmaat—–Vlaar—–BMI—–Blind——–

    ———-Sneijder—–Strootman—–Clasie———

    ————-Robben——-RVP——Depay/Boetius—-

    1. Vlaar and Clasie are not Oranje material. The back line is very young and suspect. We will see how they perform.

      I think RvP lost his place spearheading Man Utd for the next few games. I think he’s either trying to force himself out of there and challenging the team to perform better.

  29. Van der hoorn either causes a penalty or scores own goal!
    I watched the first half and i am footballistically depressed! I couldnt Believe how bad ajax played!

    1. No body except De Sa Duarte and Klaassen is running. Everybody is static. No movement. No press up in defence. Allowing Salzburg build up at high up in midfield. No body trying to start a quick free kick. No body even cares that is the attitude of Ajax in Europa League. You never see this happen in Champions League.

  30. This Ajax performance is absolutely disgraceful…I’m tuning out now. I will wait until AZ’s game starts. I can bet that AZ will represent the Eredivisie well.

  31. It sicks me to see any of my beloved Eredivisie teams play so poorly in Europe, Doesnt matter if its CL, Europa League or a stupid pre-season friendly.

    1. And you support that ?

      Even if it’s not a real interesting deal economically, Chelsea which is one of the richest clubs won it last year. For fans, for reputation, for players developping etc.

      Behavior of Ajax and dutch clubs is unacceptable and no worth to support.

    1. No Klaassen has a fantastic first touch à la Bergkamp and above all a great vision.

      To be serious, I rate Siem above him. Siem is really slow but has some elegance sometimes, like his backheel pass against AZ last week for the Duarte’s goal.

      Klassen has really nothing special technically, he is the new Immers, hope he’ll get out the selection tomorrow, it’s a shame to select him above De Guzman.

  36. Srinjoy….. Gala played 4-5-1 instead of 4-3-3 which they usually play. I was really suprised to see sneidjer with those deliveries as that is not typical Sneijder. He is more Hazard like a players who likes to run with the ball. The good part of him on the left was all his delivery were finding its mark….he couldn’t take on Ivanovic one and one as choice to cross earlier with his right rather than suppressing forward deep on the flanks. I remeber we had these conversation on Sneijder to start on the left? Ialso think he started there in EC 2012 VS Portugal.

      1. send me the link – I must admit, I don’t follow him. But the fact that nothing he did in an Oranje shirt impressed me is the fact that I’m saying he is not worth it.

        Also, one game is not proof of concept. Needless to say, the game ended in a tie, not a win when they should have been up 3-0 in the first 30 minutes.

    1. jus like what happened to schalke yesterday vs Real Madrid. They thought the had them covered with the very young and versatile squad but Madrid were class of their own who had all top players in every position. Benzema,Ronaldo,Bale, Modric, Pepe, Ramos, Di Maria,Alonso

      Van Gaal cant make that same mistake other wise will find ourselves in the same boat as what happened to Schalke.

  40. French selection for the game against Holland :

    Keepers : Lloris (Tottenham/ANG), Mandanda (Marseille), Ruffier (St-Etienne)

    Defenders : Debuchy (Newcastle/ANG), Evra (Manchester United/ANG), Koscielny (Arsenal/ANG), Sagna (Arsenal/ANG), Sakho (Liverpool/ANG), Varane (Real/ESP), Mangala (FC Porto/POR), Digne (PSG)

    Midfielders : Matuidi (PSG), Pogba (Juventus/ITA), Sissoko (Newcastle/ANG), Grenier (Lyon), Cabaye (PSG), Mavuba (Lille)

    Strikers : Benzema (Real Madrid/ESP), Giroud (Arsenal/ANG), Payet (Marseille), Ribéry (Bayern Munich/ALL), Rémy (Newcastle/ANG), Griezmann (Real Sociedad/ESP), Valbuena (Marseille)

    1. France won’t rip us up with that squad, or any squad they put out. The dutch squad, whoever van gaal will put out, will compete against France and give them trouble, just like they did against Colombia when everyone on this blog thought they would rip up the netherlands, and what happened in that game? Netherlands could have won with 10 men. All you guys on this blog need to have way more faith. Maybe France has good players on paper ( so do the dutch) but on paper doesn’t matter, it’s how they perform, and most of the time the dutch perform well these days without exception of the second half of that japan game.

      1. Exactly. It seems like people on this blog give up before the game even starts.

        There’s no Nasri, and even though Ribery is named in the squad, he just returned from an injury so I doubt he’ll even play).

        We’ll be fine.

        1. Holland had nothing to be scared of Nasri, especially when you see how poor he performs with NT. Ribery is also not a player to be really afraid of, but I don’t know how Janmaat would act against him…Ribery wouldn’t do anything against defenders like Brenet or Willems who are both strong and quick (despite of their mistakes).

          Benzema and Giroud aren’t scaring neither for me, but with our defenders I don’t know, Benzema was having fun against Ajax last years, scoring bycicle kicks etc. so I’m not sure Veltman and De Vrij would defend well on him.

          Griezmann, Valbenua and Remy are fast and dangerous players. The two first ones are the kind that dutch defenders hate to defend against, they play with much agility. Remy is a kind of Castaignos with better technical abilities.

  42. Viergever scores again..seems like AZ are the only team who take the Europa League seriously, possibly due to the lack of respect and recognition they get within the Eredivisie…

    1. Might it have something to do with their opponent being Ligerec?

      First serious opponent and they’re out as well.

      With a little luck, Bayern, Galataseray and Manchester United will be out of European competition soon too and vGaal will have no excuses left (as if a short preparation time isn’t something coaches have to deal with every 2 years when it comes to national team tournaments like the EC and WC, I don’t understand his complaints, well unless he’s preparing excuses in advance).

  43. I agree Srinjoy. AZ takes it seriously and it shows. As for the France game, I also fear the worst. Robben is our only world class player and it will be tough.

  44. Evra is in a bad form and in a global depression for long months (years ?) now, Sagna is quite strong when it’s about defending but can’t attack at all, Debuchy is a bit the opposite and Digne has potential but almost didn’t play with PSG. Interesting though that he got called above Clichy and Kurzawa who is in a great form.

    I think dutch wingers will have chances to make the difference on the sides, especially Robben of course. But french midfield is hard, don’t know if Deschamps will go with a 433 Matuidi-Pogba-Cabaye or choose a more attacking option (Grenier ? Valbuena ?) instead of Cabaye.

  45. I thiking Ribery on the right and Benzema on the left and Griezmann in the centre pretty much the same as Robben RVP and who ever starts on LW. Sagana side will be hard to penetrate…. if Evra starts then we might have chance on the left as he is defense is questionable especially with Robben. The focal point of this game will be on our Back 4.

    Blind/Janmaat – Ribery/Benzema
    NT CBs – French Midfielders

  46. final 23 announced (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
    Post by KNVB.

  47. Keepers: Jasper Cillessen (Ajax), Michel Vorm (Swansea City), Jeroen Zoet (PSV).

    Verdedigers: Daley Blind (Ajax), Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord), Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord), Karim Rekik (PSV), Paul Verhaegh (FC Augsburg), Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa), Joël Veltman (Ajax), Gregory van der Wiel (Paris Saint-Germain).

    Middenvelders: Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord), Davy Klaassen (Ajax), Stijn Schaars (PSV), Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray), Kevin Strootman (AS Roma).

    Aanvallers: Jean-Paul Boëtius (Feyenoord), Memphis Depay (PSV), Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahçe), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04), Quincy Promes (FC Twente), Robin van Persie (Manchester United), Arjen Robben (Bayern München).

    Cillessen and Zoet ? Please tell me that Krul and Stek are injured.

    What a poor midfield, no Nigel but Schaars and Klaassen. Fer is injured. No De Guzman. No other LB (Willems/PVA).

    The worst is that Van Gaal made to understand that the 23 names that will travel to Brazil are probably in the 33 players list he gave before + Lens and VDV.

    That means no Afellay, no Van Ginkel, no De Guzman, no Wijnaldum, no Willems, no PVA, no Van Dijk, no Duarte, no Castaignos, no Emanuelson (for those who like him), no Anita…

        1. My guess would be that LVG is toying with the idea of Verhaegh for the bench on the left, hoping that his Bundesliga experience will make him less error-prone as a sub than the youngsters. He at least has experience against the top wingers of the BL.

      2. vGaal has used Schaars at LB I think (at least BvM did once or twice)

        Nigel de Jong didn’t play in Milan’s last game, so perhaps he’s in need of some rest (slight injury perhaps? strained muscles? I hope that’s the reason, cause we’ll need him at the WC).

        I’m most dissapointed about Krul not being there, if he’s fit, which seems to be the case.

        I guess with this selection vGaal will play:

        Lens*vPersie*Robben
        Sneijder*Clasie*Strootman
        Blind*BMI*Veltman*Janmaat
        ******Cillessen******

        I’d like him to try out Klaassen in Clasie’s position and Promes on the right moving Robben to the leftwing, no need for Lens who couldn’t prevent Dynamo Kiev from doing worse than AZ in Europe either and he already has plenty of games for Oranje so far, so vGaal should know everything about him he needs to know by now.

        I also prefer Vorm over Cillessen from this selection, but that’s like choosing between Babel and Beerens.

    2. my first thought after reading your post was that you have a point but in truth this is close to the best we have (other than de guzman, lens, krul, peters, and maybe one or 2 more guys… certainly NOT vaart)

  51. Strange selection indeed. First of all, where is Krul? I do not think he is injured, or am I wrong?

    Second, what are players such as Blind, Klaassen and Schaars doing in the squad? Where is Nigel de Jong?

    And, why take three right backs?

    I hope Van Gaal knows what he is doing. I think he overestimates the quality of Eredivise players. Did he no watch Ajax versus Salzburg

  52. IMO
    krul and stek are better than zoet
    Dejong and deguzman should be there ahead of schaars
    Verhaegh is wasting one spot
    Im happy with forwards, best we can get.

  53. Strange selection of goalies.

    I want to think LVG already knows he’ll call Krul, Stekelenburg. Nigel, Vaart.

    If we take in mind the fact that Fer, Vaart are injured, Van Ginkel and Afellay have just returned from injury our midfield is the best we could have maybe De Guzman is missing and obviously Nigel de Jong.

    I really think LVG will not call Nigel for the WC for the same reasons we’ve posted on this blog.

  56. LVG still has a dilemma on the LB spot. Also he said he wants to test Clasie and Schaars.

    He did what many on this blog asked by not calling De Vrij.

    Promes and Boetius are good news. Sneijder can finally shut some mouths proving yet again how much we need him.

    Do you guys think Rekik can be Oranje material?.

    Janmaat will go to the WC. LVG called Wiel and Verhaegh to see who’ll be as the back-up for the RB spot.

  59. I dont know what you guys think but it will be stupid, I mean very stupid! not to pick Wijnaldum over some average player like klassen or de Guzman for example. Wijnaldum has future, and can play either on midfield or at winger. Super sub for Robben for example, and from all of these eredivisie player he is above all of them. Lets hope wijnaldum regain his form and be in Brazil!!
    Cheers

  60. Wow. Van gaal is a real schmuck.

    http://www.thestate.com/2014/02/28/3296494/3-debutants-in-netherlands-squad.html

    According to this article, he says ‘LB spot is up for grabs as he really wants Blind playing in MF…’ so then why didn’t he select a a few more true LBs to compete for Brazil in this friendly? WTF is he waiting for? The first game against Spain? I still rate Erik Pieters highly. What do you all think? But please be realistic, obvious Urby is not realistic.

    2. If LVG plans on using Blind at DM over Nigel then we can forget having any modicum of success in Brazil. Playing DM in the Eredivisie is nothing compared to the NT level.

      As for the selection, there’s some questionable omissions for sure. The ones that immediately jump out to me are Krul/Stek/Nigel. I hope for the NT’s sake that you guys are right about LVG having considered them locks, otherwise those 3 GK’s LVG selected are a recipe for disaster.

      JdG’s never really impressed me. Wasteful in possession, and Schaars is more of a natural DM anyway, so I’m fine with him being chosen.

      Will Sneijder show up? It remains to be seen.

  61. Yeah… He’s got ten selected already. And just a point about Sneijder
    If you saw him against Chelsea you saw his intelligence, drive, endurance but surrounded by players not as smart as him.

    If Sneijder commits to finding RVP, we are set….remember what Sneider
    Did in 2010 and if he lacks a bit of fitness there is still no midfielder on this planet with his intelligence and drive. And as far as fitness goes, he recovered many times Wednesday night.

    1. remember what he did in 2012 🙂 just kidding, i’m a big sneijder lover but i’m still obviously upset by our last tournament…

      i think we are in a transition period now so the next 4 years will be rough.

      that said, i am still holding out hope our boys can spring a big surprise in Brazil.

  62. I doubt that any of those midfielders can run 100 meters under 15 seconds.

    There are three fast midfielders : Afellay, Duarte and Wijnaldum. None of them is in this list, and there will be probably none of them in Brazil, that’s sad.

    1. wijnaldum still has nigggling injuries but I think he will be there in brazil. Afellay out of question…..Duarte…FDB has been doing a extreme makeover with him…no fixed position in recent games…one thing that is very clear is that Van Gaal is going for perforcemance of players in recent games…..and those who never played missed out.

      Van Gaal always likes players which suit his 4-3-3 system and thats where De Jong might have being overlooked IMO……he is more suited for 4-1-3-2 or 4-2-3-1 which he plays at milan.he will go for Blind at DM at some stage and schaars at LB if need arises… lets see how it goes . ……….elementry science…basic science class with full of experiments still going…….my question is what happens ifffffff we dont win…….

  63. another intresting aspect of this game would to find out who is better…Promes at RW or JPB at LW coz that will determine where Robben fits the most. With Robben and Senijder…. both RVp huntelaar never gets enough balls……given whar sneijder was doing vs chelsea…well and good but the end of the day we need quality balls for our strikers . …and not dead ball situations when the door is about to close. I hope when huntelaar comes we go for positional switches……Robben to left….Promes comes at RW….JPB out

    Start

    JPB————————RVP——————-Robben

    —————————–sneijder————————-

    when huntelaar comes on……

    Robben——————-Hunter————-Promes

    ————————Sneijder/clasie——————–

  64. Schaars as LG would be a step back, we know it was not a great success last time with BVM. I dont think LVG would do that, I think most likely BMI will get the nod.

  65. really wonder why Virgil Van Dijk not highly regarded by LVG. I actually quite impressed with his play in the CL games. Good speed, strong and header of ball….

    1. jus like when AVB was at Tottenham……he always overlooked adebayor but he turning out to be the sensation under sherwood…Dijik was overlooked jus because he is not playing in eredivise and veltman has more experirnce them him at Ajax???????? Maybe 2016 he will get his chance when LvG term is over.

  66. Nobody is mentioning the beautiful free kick Tannane scored and Heerenven’s 2nd counter attack goal involving Van La Parra, De Roon, Ziyech, Fazli was just beautiful. It reminds me of Van Basten’s NT in 2008. It’s such a bummer that he is not going to keep coaching Heerenven. They really have been bringing in talented youngsters into Eredivisie. Hopefully Van Basten can coach Feynood.

  67. Leaving out Virjil Van dijk is a big mistake and sin.i still think Heitinga or Devirj will make final cuts in brazil,thats how the things looks like,though i would be pissed off if i see that.A back CBs of BMI/Vlaar/Vletman/Reikik is not bad at all.considering the talent of Kongolo even he can do better than old legs of Johnyheitinga and Devrij.
    I belive current squad members are given chance to prove their worth.We will do very well vs france with even these slections of players,coz most of the players are young and will have plenty of energy,but goin to Wc with these kind of squads will end up tears of hardcore fans,Coach has the main role in winninng a trophy,everything goes thorugh his hands,
    So selceting the right players for the right spot determines the basement of a champion team,everything builds on from that point.Very very unfortunatly we have kuyt as striker/winger who is very much a good scorer.Hunter who always scores and makes cahnces for teammates in crucnh matches.Wesly sneijder he always looks for team mates to find goal from better angle.We have Devrij/Vlaar/Heitinga who are all like usain bolt and they will nullyfy Hazrds,ronaldos,messis ,Marias,Neymars etc.
    on top of it if we scelet or starts with Afleay and kuyt as wingers they would be creating plethora of chances from wings,so that we can score even if we miss to score in one chance.When dutch team is tsruggling for goals kuyt or afellay will find an acrobatic goal of the tournamnet to save us.So everything looks so bright…..Memphis Depay is more intelligent than Van basten and he is effective dribbler with better brain so we must drop Wijnaldum,promes,boetius for him.Also we mus take afellay who has an einsteins brian like bergkamp in the final third.So Afellay will save our ass,may be hunter too.lets kick out the unslefish teamplayers who might be able to win a WC for u lik maceo righters did for u21.

    1. Kuyt isn’t any problem, he almost didn’t play with NT two last years, I don’t believe he’ll play against France, he is just in the squad for his positive attitude I think.

      Afellay isn’t even on the 33 names selection but you keep putting your hatry on him, that’s so useless, he won’t be in the plane for Brazil.

      Keep your energy and bad words for Ajax players who just got humiliated by a sub european team and are still in the squad, they are the real reason to worry.

      1. the Ajax players i like are Blind,Kishna and vletman and duarte…..kuyt role is that he has to carry the team as sub winger or striker.where he is not evn close to his counterparts in other good teams.Ego of the coach is big problem for any NT team.Why the hell people cannt understand that kuyt will not get u goals in WC.neither hunter.Also why to stick with Depay where promes and boteius are better than him???
        why to stick with devrij and veltman when Virjil is tad ahead of them?
        Why to cry for Afeally when we have better players than him??
        Lets cry abt the fitness of vaart(the most cruicil thing)
        lets cry abt form of krul and stekelenburg.
        lets cry abt deserved players gets ignored…
        Where is PVA?

    1. He still got the Flop of the Match on goal.com

      John Heitinga

      “Looked nowhere near as comfortable after Hangeland’s early withdrawal and could not deal with Schurrle’s movement inside from the flanks. Ludicrously positioned to play Schurrle onside for the German’s third, though grabbed a late consolation.”

  75. Gio, Stam and Nistelrooy night be part of the coachin staff. Blind will stay on under Hiddink and is probably going to be the coach after Euro 2016.

    It seems like a good plan. Blind will have gained a lot of experience under LvG and Hiddink.

  77. Anybody follows RB of GAE Doke Schmidt?? He is 21 years old and really seems to having a good campaign in the eredivisie. What do you guys think? DRB?

    1. Another good talent coming from Heerenveen. I have mentioned Heerenveen under Van Basten has produced a lot of interesting young players but nobody seems to be interested.

  78. Maarten Stekelenburg
    0
    0
    Maarten Stekelenburg
    His kicking was woeful at times but Torres never did enough to punish him. Could do little about Schurrle’s clinical hat-trick.
    John Heitinga
    2
    0
    John Heitinga Flop of the Match
    Looked nowhere near as comfortable after Hangeland’s early withdrawal and could not deal with Schurrle’s movement inside from the flanks. Ludicrously positioned to play Schurrle onside for the German’s third, though grabbed a late consolation.

  81. I must say this the form that Sterling and sturidge are in England might be the dark horse in the WC…there performance against Southampton was clinically. Also the the southampton trio of Lambert, Lallana and Rodriguez are in good form compared to most of our new guys…

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