New and Refreshed Oranje makes LVG proud

Louis van Gaal was always headstrong. And with that mentality he is working on his plan. A new Dutch team, going for gold next year at the World Cup. The coach had already told everyone who listened: Holland’s youth has the future.

Against the losing finalist of the last EC, Van Gaal picked the youngest team since 99 years. The average age being only 22 years and 361 days. Seven of the players starting against Italy are still eligible to go to the EC Israel this summer with Young Oranje.

And Oranje played fresh and gutsy football against Italy and scored the first goal via Lens. The lads forgot to score more goals and conceded a late goal, ending it in 1-1.

LVG was slightly disappointed in that equaliser but still walked through the Arena with his chest out. Eight players in his starting eleven are Eredivisie players and his team was better than a team full of Serie A stars. This gave him hope for the months to come.

The next qualification games are against Estonia and Romania and winning those two games will make all the difference in the quest to World Cup gold. “Again, I will pick the best players of the moment. Big names, small names… all the same to me.”

Bert van Marwijk held on to familiar faces and created consistency and stability. Van Gaal rewards players who develop well and play regularly. Less stringent. Only in the last months before the World Cup will he work on a fixed line up.

In the coming weeks, LVG will visit Sneijder, Stekelenburg and other experienced names. When players like Van der Vaart and Heitinga perform well, Van Gaal is happy to select them again. But they will do their utmost to get to that point. Reputations do not count.

Van Gaal: “We played well as a team. We played attractive and offensive and created chances. Sadly, we could convert them all and conceding late was a bummer. We simply didn’t respond well to them changing their system.”

Van Persie played like a captain (even if Strootman was wearing the band) and resembled a traffic agent, sometime around the 22nd minute of the first half. He’s waiting with the ball under his foot. Right back Janmaat comes storming on the flank and Van Persie shows him the way to run. In doing so, Janmaat takes along one of Van Persie’s opponents. He creates space for himself and instead of passing to the Feyenoord back, RVP takes on the other opponent. And passes the ball to playmaker Maher in the center of the pitch.

Kit sponsor Nike lauched the new away kit for Oranje with the slogan “the New Masters” but it’s Van Persie who bridges old and new against Italy.

If the inexperienced pups of Van Gaal are the new masters, then RVP is the Grand Master in this Dutch team. Not because he acts the dominant leader ( he doesn’t) but because of the total control in his game.

The combinations with Maher are clearly visible, as a fine combination of old and new. The AZ midfielder has instinctive feeling for space and time. Wherever the Man United star drifts off, the young playmaker arrives and vice versa. This results in a goal twice, almost. Van Persie seems to have a similar click with Maher as he has with Ibi Afellay.

Maher is constantly available and he has the legs to bridge between attack and defense in the turnaround. This is where he has added value over more static players like Sneijder and Van der Vaart. The playmaker spot is now broken open. For years, Sneijder and Van der Vaart monopolised it. That time is over.

This gives us a sunny perspective on our way to Brazil. How 19 year old Maher remained on his feet between Italian stars like De Rossi and Pirlo.

A week ago, his coveted transfer to PSV didn’t happen. But in nothing could we see any disappointment. In the second half, Maher is part of every attack of Oranje. The only disappointment for him, is that he wasn’t able to score a goal.

Stefan de Vrij is another name that played a remarkable game. The 21 year old concluded after the game that there are many different strikers in football. Last weekend he played against Willem II’s Joachim. This midweek, he played Balotelli. Super striker and mad genius. “On this level, strikers are so much better. Stronger, faster and they move differently.”

He came on as a sub twice and now finally had his starting berth. He played against renowned names as Balotelli, Gilardino and El Shaarawy but never really got in trouble until the late equaliser. “I think we didn’t do too shabby with this inexperienced line up, we can be satisfied.”

Coach Louis van Gaal was clear in his instructions to De Vrij and Martins Indi. “He told us to defend as we normally do, but he also instructed us to be adventurous in possession. Push forward, keep the pitch tight. We needed to play with space behind us, which is pretty daunting. Balotelli is strong and fast and Pirlo knows how to play a ball in….”

De Vrij was not surprised that they did so well. “No, not really. We know what we can do. We are confident players. This game was a test for us, sure, but we knew we could show the coach and the fans what we are capable of. When Italy switched to 4-2-4 we got in trouble a bit. They pushed up while our front four wanted to score the second goal. It was pretty obvious that one of us would score. Either we’d win it 2-0 or they’d come back to 1-1. But the overall feeling is a bit down with that equaliser. It’s always shit to concede in the last minute.”

The two center backs seem to be the central duo for Oranje’s future. Something Ronald Koeman doesn’t seem to see, as he still pushed Martins Indi to the left back spot and uses Mathijsen centrally, next to De Vrij. “Van Gaal has different options as left back, so he can do other things. I know Bruno since my 13th… We play together for a while. We know who to play together and compensate each other’s weaknesses. But I can play well with Joris Mathijsen too. Ronald Koeman has options and either way, I’m cool with it.”

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  1. ‘Bacardi, and coke.. and oh man, those short skirts’ – Andy van der Meyde’s warning about Liverpool’s temptations to Royston Drenthe

    AMSTERDAM enjoys a well-earned reputation as Europe’s pre-eminent party city.

    With its bars, red-light district and a mayor who advised in December that city police will turn a blind eye to foreigners who buy cannabis in its famous coffee shops when a national ban comes into force this year, ‘The Dam’ is the destination of choice for stag and hen parties.

    But it can’t hold a candle to Liverpool.

    That’s according to two Dutchmen who are well-placed to judge.

    Royston Drenthe and Andy van der Meyde are former Dutch internationals who each spent turbulent times at Everton.

    And van Der Meyde in particular believes that the temptations on offer on Merseyside were simply too much to resist for a pair of mercurial footballing mavericks trying to rebuild stalled careers.

    A feature on Dutch website HP Detijd this week reveals the lengths van der Meyde took to try and protect his compatriot from falling victim to the same perils and pitfalls he experienced on Merseyside.

    The article reveals how Drenthe received a phone call on August 29, 2011. It was Andy van der Meyde.

    “Royston, I hear that you are on your way to Everton,” he said. “Don’t do it boy, I beg you, don’t do it.

    “Liverpool has too many temptations for guys like us. Before you know it you will be dragged into the nightclubs.

    “There Bacardi flows and you can ski on cocaine; and the women, Royston. Oh man, oh man, oh man. Those British women with their short skirts . . . .’’

    Did Drenthe follow his advice?

    He signed for Everton. But less than eight months later was looking for another club. A football club that is.

    His intentions in August 2011, however, were honourable.

    “Don’t worry man. I come here for the football,” he told his compatriot. “You know, I dare not say it out loud, but I aim to go to the European Championships in 2012. I’m going for it, brother.”

    “That’s good to hear,” replied a concerned Andy, “but can I keep in touch by text?

    “And keep your eyes open for those clubs man. They can cost you the European Championships!”

    Three short weeks later Drenthe scored his first goal in a 3-1 win over Wigan Athletic. He came home to another text message from van der Meyde.

    “Congratulations on your first goal. Onwards to the European Championships!”

    Van der Meyde continued to send messages during the season…as Drenthe played less and less. And as his appearances dwindled, so too did his text replies.

    Drenthe didn’t make it to the European Championships – and the story fast forwards to December 2012, when Drenthe is Christmas shopping in Rotterdam.

    He buys a copy of van der Meyde’s autobiography – and decides to text his old pal again.

    “Do you know if there is anything to do in Vladikavkaz? Regards, RR.”

    According to HP Detijd, Andy replied: “I’ll find out for you for you,” gave his wife and kids a kiss on the forehead and checked into the Aleksandrovskiy Grand Hotel in the Russian industrial centre. He showered, he splashed on his eau de cologne, and was ready for the Vladikavkaz night life.

    After three days of ‘research’ he returned home and sent a reassuring text to Drenthe.

    “Nothing to do. Ugly women. The coast is clear.”

    On February 2, Royston Drenthe officially signed a deal to become an Alania Vladikavkaz player and help them fight a Russian relegation battle in a city lying in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains.

    According to Wikipedia, Vladikavkaz’s most notable structure is a ‘TV mast, 198-meter (650 ft) tall and built in 1961’.

    Drenthe is now spending plenty of nights in watching television.

  2. IMHO, Van Gaal should really focus on increasing the squad depth at this point of time. The young players are really very talented and they did demonstrate that against the Italians. But,we should really focus on developing good enough back-ups/replacements in order to have two more or less equally strong squads for the showdown in Brazil.
    Germany and Spain have outstanding squad depth and we should follow suit. (It irks me to say this since we’ve always been the pioneers of youth talent production).
    So lets start a position wise analysis of the talents we have at our disposal.

    GK- I’m not worried about this spot. Krul,Steks, Vermeer, Vorm…we have good enough custodians to guard the posts.

    RB- Van Rhijn should be the first choice..Janmaat and Van der wiel are efficient backups..

    Central defence- From what we’ve seen so far, BMI and Stefan De Vrij should be our first choice defenders in the middle of the backline. But do we have efficient backups/replacements for these two?
    Vlaar, Heitinga, Douglas,Viergever,Nuytinck and Gouweleeuw
    . I can only think of these names at the moment. Will a Douglas-Heitinga partnership in the middle suffice against fast, counterattacking opponenets??? Vlaar is too slow in my opinion and Heitinga isn’t good enough anymore..Douglas hasn’t been called up so far and I don’t see that happening in the near future either. So that leaves us with Viergever, Nuytinck and Gouweleeuw…good enough as replacements???Your thoughts please..

    LB- I think this position is well covered. Jetro Willmes, Pieters, Buttner, Van anholt and Blind.Enough said.!

    The two DM’s behind the no.10 position- Plenty of options..Strootman,De Jong,Fer,Clasie,Van Ginkel and De Guzman. I think we should have Van Ginkel & De Guzman as replacements for Strootman and Clasie.That gives us a solid defensive block in the middle of the park without sacrificing much creativity.

    The playmaker/no.10- Sneijder is still the first choice in my book without a trace of doubt. I’m sure Wesley will bounce back and regain his old form .Maher should be his backup and to be honest, he still has pleanty to learn. Maybe,the training sessions with Wesley will help him a lot. Coutinho once famously said that Wesley was his idol and described how he looked up to him(during Wes’s Inter days)to be a better playmaker. Who’s gonna be the 3rd no. 10?? I don’t want to see VDV in the national team anymore..

    LW-Robben and Ola John are the obvious choices..Boerrigter and Elia as backups??? Are they good enough to replace Robben on the left hand side? Ola John has loads of potential but he was too tensed to take on the Italian defence that day.I’m pretty sure he’ll regain his confidence and get better. However, I’m not so sure about Elia and Boerrigter.

    RW- This is where we have a serious dearth of options. I believe Narsingh is quite limited in closed spaces and Lens is doing just fine so far, but against a world class defence, will they be able to find the crosses for the attackers lurking on the edge of the box? Schaken is 30 and should not be considered for the NT anymore..Beerens?? Lukoki???

    CF- ROBIN VAN PERSIE…enough said. Huntelaar is a very strong target man and a tremendous goal-poacher but he’s too static for my liking. Luuk De Jong, Bas Dost,Van Wolfswinkel,Achachbar…good enough replacements???

    LVG is doing a wonderful job but he needs to address this issue in order to compete with the very best in Brazil. I hope he does that pretty soon. HUP HOLLAND!! Looking forward to see the best of Oranje!

    1. Gouweleeuw has been overrated guy, he isn’t as good, Van Dijk(Groningen) and Van der Hoorn (Utrecht) are considered as better currently. We’ll see how it goes with these young players, they still have time to improve.

      About the midefield, as long as we don’t have a guy who really can defend, N.De Jong is the best option. Strootman and Fer are really box-to-box, they go easily forward and are unable to keep a zone, a player, Clasie has more discipline but is still light physically I think. Look how many times Pirlo could give balls to Balotelli and Sharaawy without no one disturbing him…N.De Jong is still the best choice.

      You forget Afellay and Babel who are still two good players when they’re at their best, and of course Lens, who shows game after game that he definitly is an interesting player.

  3. just in case
    Schedule for next week all new york eastern standard time or -5:00 gmt

    Friday Feb 8
    2:30pm 14:30
    PSG vs Bastia (van der wiel)

    Saturday feb 9

    7:45 am
    Tottenham vs Newcastle (krul, anita)
    10:00 am
    Norwich city v Fulham (emanuelson)
    Swansea city v Queens Park rangers (vorm, de guzman)

    9:30am
    Borussia Dortmund vs hamburg (van der vaart, bruma)
    Borussia monchengladbach v leverkusen (brouwers, luuk de jong)
    Greuther Furth v Wolfsburg (bas dost)
    Stuttgart v Werder Bremen (elia)
    12:30
    Bayern Munich v Schalke 04 (robben, huntelaar)

    2:45
    Vitesse Arnhem vs PSV (van ginkel, van aanholt, strootman, lens)

    Sunday feb 10

    8:30 am
    Aston villa v west ham united (vlaar)
    11:00am
    Man utd vs everton (van persie, buttner, heitinga)

    8:30
    ajax vs roda
    Feyenoord vs az alkmaar

    11:00am
    Sporting lisbon v maritimo (van wolfswinkel)

    1:00pm or 13:00
    Nacional de madeira vs benfica (ola john)
    Galatasaray vs antalyaspor (sneijder)

    Tuesday feb 12th

    2:45 or 14:45
    valencia vs psg (van der wiel)

    Wednesday Feb 13th

    Real madrid vs Man utd (van persie, buttner)

    Thursday europa league feb 14th

    1:00pm or 13:00
    AJax vs Steaua bucuresti
    Bate vs Fenerbahce (kuyt)

    3:05 or 15:05
    Borussia Monchengladbach vs lazio (luuk de jong, brouwers)
    Newcastle vs Mealist (krul, anita)

  4. can’t wait for the under 21 summer euros! maybe holland can win that

    plus gotta see more games with maher and the rest

    What lineups you think we should use for the qualifiers coming up in march

  5. When Bert was our coach our attack only depended on our forwards. During the EC it seemed as if only four of our team were the ones responsible for our attack (Robben, Afellay, RVP, Sneijder) and the other rest of the team didn’t contribute much for our attack because I believe our central spine was too static.

    Instead, we now have more attacking options because our holding midfielders are more skilled creative and versatile.

    Our central spine was too static with Nigel, Heitinga and Mathijsen.

  6. Found this on the net:

    http://i.imgur.com/WHYAP71.png

    It’s a calculation for the years 2011-2012. Despite reactive game play over most of this period, Netherlands still stood for goal rich games luckily enough. Now with van Gaal, we might see the intricate passing coming back slowly and we can start breathing again. We played Italy in 2009 and it was a bad game resulting in 0-0 where Netherlands was lucky with getting the draw. This week, we played them off the park and at least saw 2 great goals. I was entertained again. Progress.

  7. When van Gaal was appointed, I and many people wondered how the older players with a lot of status would work together with him. Could this go right? When would they start to resist him with his attitude? Well I guess the answer is that they don’t have the opportunity to do a lot of resisting.

    Van Gaal is probably the most brilliant coach in the world working with very young players. He has understood this and just went out selecting the youngest squad in almost 100 years and pressed Italy against their back line.

  8. well Van Gaal had a remit from the KNVB to bring this next generation through, and you get the sense that they have been following the German team model very closely.

    I think they see this summers U21 Euro champs as a great opportunity to test the mettle of these talents and give us all a taste of what we can expect in Brazil 2014.

    After the fiasco of 2012 I for one am grateful to van Gaal in revitalising my beloved oranje and it’s obvious this generation burns bright with promise,lets enjoy the journey.

  9. hey guys, i dont know if u even remember me, i havent posted since the euros, because that euro team depressed me and made me see the future of orange very dark.
    but when van gaal got hired as the new manager, I had a very good feeling because we all remember that very young ajax team he had in 1995 that he led to win the champions league title!
    now this italy game, made me remember that 1995 ajax team I will not get too excited yet because this team played really well against italy but they didnt get to the ajax 1995 level but thats understandable, these are players that play in different teams, van gaal sees them once in a blue man, so based on that what he did with them last game is really great!
    now I want u to notice one thing take a look at the line up he had in november only 3 months ago against germany?

    Kenneth Vermeer
    Bruno Martins Indi
    John Heitinga
    Ricardo van Rhijn
    Ron Vlaar
    Arjen Robben
    Ibrahim Afellay
    Nigel De Jong
    Rafael van der Vaart
    Dirk Kuyt
    Ruben Schaken

    if u look at that team it has only one player in common with this team which is martins Indi, and as we all saw our game against germany was depressing, very bad, no spirit, no creativity, none, zero! in my modest opinion is that players like de jong and kuyt and vlaar kill the team because they are slow and have no creativity at all, now against italy we see a bunch of fast and talented guys, they could play the van gaal style, attractive and dominant, and did u notice how they were able to push all together starting from the back and the team looked very tight always, meanwhile with van marwijk the team always looked like it is two separate pieces the defensive part and offensive part, u see 4 who do the attack job and 6 who are all defensive and slow, very ugly to watch even though they were able to get good results because at that time sneijder and robben were peaking incredibly!!

    as I said I dont want to get too excited because it is still too early to judge this very young team because they really need more tests and only time will tell us whats true, but the one thing for sure is that orange style and total football is back!!!

    “note: now that van gaal is showing the world these talents, u can expect next season to see at least 4 of those guys to be in high quality european teams, mark my words”

    1. the thing was that under van marwijk we had a defensive block of 4

      —–De Jong———van bommel——-
      ——mathijsen——heitinga———–

      which meant that the right back and left back had to attack, but since gio was slow he had to play tight to his marker,

      then when gio left we played great because we had erik pieters who could go forward and defend, but when he went down, we put in willems

      and willems could get forward but had shaky defense and afellay or robben or whoever was on the left side would never track back so it left us exposed

  10. Part -1
    The teams like Germany and spain has plenty of talents,they are intelligent too unlike brazil and arjentine talents.But these 2 countries has some highly skilled individuals.who can take on 2/3 players at time.can create hovac in any defense.i think we need to be cautious about Arjentina,Brazil,Spain and Germany..The dangerous thing about them is especially arjenina and germany are capable of scoring 2 goals minmum aginst any defence.thats so SCARY.at the same time Brazil and Spain are capable of defending even a 1-0 lead…Among these 4 teams.Arjentina has the weskest defense.and spain and arjentine players are known for their diving.these are factors LVG should take care of.
    Apart from these counrties there is Portugal,Italy,france and england to some extend who can cause some trouble for us.But these coun tries doesnt have a potent attack like other forementioned 4 countires.
    What i am pointing is we need to score well.To score more goals we needed to create chances.We must select players who can create chances and also must be able to score from those chances.We have very limited talents for these purpose.like Persie,Lenz etc..Wesly and vaart are not fit,Maher is inexperienced,hunter is static,kuyt doesnt add anything in attack.Afellay only good for dribblng etc..We must look in to individual players of other nations…let us have a look in to that.

  11. Under great Rinus and cryuff we got a name Tatal footballing or a nation who plays wonderful attacking football..still we got 1 EC and 2 WC final.
    Under BVM we got a name THUGS AND reached 1 wc final…So what is better…???

  12. When i looked in to teams i found we have 3 teams as follows
    should be first 11 asper current form are
    Van persie
    Adam Maher
    Arjen roben
    Jermain Lenz
    Clasie
    Strootman
    Van annholt
    Bruno martinz
    De vrij
    Ricardo
    Krul
    ==================================================
    Back ups and bance 12 players for 23
    Bas dost
    Van Ginkel
    Wesly
    Ola john
    Urby
    Leroy fer
    De guzman
    Danny blind
    Douglas
    Janmaat
    Vermeer
    Vorm23
    Toatl-3Gk–7 defenders-4holding mids-3strikers-etc
    ===================================
    The old boys who has many faults
    Hunter
    Wesly
    kuyt
    Afellay
    Vaart
    Dejong
    Williams
    Joris
    Johnny
    Weil
    Stekelenburg
    the point is if we play our First eleven and old boys..Old boys would get raped by our first elevn thats for sure..

  13. so lets us go to first eleven of 5 countries
    Netherlands.
    Van persie
    Adam Maher
    Arjen roben
    Jermain Lenz
    Clasie
    Strootman
    Van annholt
    Bruno martinz
    De vrij
    Ricardo
    Krul
    ======================================
    Spain
    Villa
    Ineasta
    Pedro
    Fabergas
    Xavi
    Busquets
    Azpllicuata?
    Jordy alba
    Gerad Pique
    SegioRamos
    Iker
    ============================================
    Germany
    Muller
    Reus
    Gotze
    Ozil
    Ikay gundogan
    sami khedira
    Howdes
    Hummels
    Boeatng
    Lahm
    Neuyer
    ============================================
    Arjentina
    Higuain
    Messi
    Aguero
    De maria
    Mascherano
    Fernado gago
    Zabelata
    Colocini
    Garay
    Fedrico
    Romero
    ============================================
    Brazil
    Fred
    Lucas
    Neymar
    Ramires
    Oscar
    Arouca
    Marcelo
    Dante
    Tiago silva
    Alves
    Julio ceaser
    ====================================
    there are playuers like Ronaldino.kaka,Wesly,Vaart are in sad state of affairs offcourse they are loss to their teams.But fitness is very important…if we play with our old boys we are sucked……..

  14. now tiju plz compare position by position the first eleven players of each country and tell us which is the strongest overall…for eg

    Cesar v Romero v Neuer v Casillas v Krul

  15. watching borussia monchengladbach and wow, we really missed out without picking roel brouwers for the euro. right now he’s playing against schurrle and one of the benders handling them well. I think today he’s too old and not enough passing to be considered by lvg but when we had van marwijk we could have benefitted with him on the field

    Luuk de jong showing some awesome ball handling dribbling skills, and an amazing range

    1. am currently watching Dortmund vs Hamburg. Bruma is having a good game. Van Der Vaart successfully provoked Lewandowski after Lewa miskicked the ball in the air, instead, he hit opponent’s foot. a bust up followed later, VDV surrounded by Dortmund players, pushing him down to ground, including Lewandowski. Lewandowski was sent off by the ref. VDV only got yellow. the home fans enraged by the ref’s decision, and so do Dortmund players. they started to give harsh treatment to VDV, throwing things when he took a corner kick.

      Suddenly remembered of Van Bommel. 😀

      1. is bruma doing good because the one man advantage or was he doing good before the incident. how was his passing? did he pass it to the goalie, the sides, forward, was he able to hit his intended target, did he push forward what is bruma doing?

        1. Bruma did good before the dismissal. He knew when he should pass forward or not risking losing possession. But his pass were mostly going forward, reaching the target. Defensively, he’s beast, better than Westermann I think.
          The red card itself, I think it was life or death situation. Had Reus successfully escaped, it’s a most certain goal (equaliser to 2-2, which would change the flow of the game). And Dortmund already down to 10 man, so it’s not really a loss.

          VDV subbed off because Bruma got sent off, although it was also a prevention from him being sent off too. He drew fouls. LOTS of fouls. not a match winner, but certainly put the stepping stone towards Hamburg’s victory.

  16. based on my own rating(Maximum of 5 score) with following staring 11 of five countires i found like this….
    Spain———- score
    Villa———- 3.5
    Ineasta——– 4
    Pedro———- 3.5
    Fabergas——- 4
    Xavi———– 4
    Busquets——- 4
    Azpllicuata?— 3.5
    Jordy alba—– 3.5
    Gerad Pique—- 4
    SegioRamos—– 4
    Iker———– 3.5
    Total———- 41.5
    ====================================
    Arjentina—— score
    Higuain——– 3
    Messi———- 5
    Aguero——— 4
    De maria——- 4
    Mascherano—– 3.5
    Fernado gago— 3
    Zabelata——- 4
    Colocini——- 3.5
    Garay———- 3.5
    Fedrico——– 3.5
    Romero——— 3.5
    Total 40.5
    ==================================================
    Germany——– score
    Muller——— 3.5
    Reus———– 4
    Gotze———- 4
    Ozil———– 4
    Ikay gundogan– 3.5
    sami khedira— 4
    Howdes——— 3.5
    Hummels——– 4
    Boeatng——– 4
    Lahm———– 4
    Neuyer——— 4
    Total———- 42.5
    =================================================
    Brazil——— score
    Fred———– 3.5
    Lucas———- 3.5
    Neymar——— 3.5
    Ramires——– 3.5
    Oscar———- 3.5
    Arouca——— 3.5
    Marcelo——– 4
    Dante———- 4
    Tiago silva—- 4
    Alves———- 3.5
    Julioceaser—- 4.5
    Total———- 41
    =====================================================
    Netherlands—- score
    Van persie—– 4.5
    Adam Maher—– 3.5
    Arjen roben—- 4
    Jermain Lenz— 3.5
    Clasie——— 3.5
    Strootman—— 3.5
    Van annholt—- 3.5
    Bruno martinz– 3.5
    De vrij——– 3.5
    Ricardo——– 4
    Krul———– 4
    Total———- 41
    but if we play the old ones then it would be
    Hunter——— 2.5
    Wesly———- 3
    kuyt———– 2
    Afellay——– 2
    Vaart———- 3
    Dejong——— 3
    Williams——- 3
    Joris———- 2.5
    Johnny——— 2.5
    Weil———– 3
    Stekelenburg— 3
    Total———- 29.5
    That means we are out straightaway.if gomez is playing germany rating could go down etc..

    1. or you can rate teams an even better way instead of the individual players the sum of the whole

      What’s the purpose of the game? to score goals and stop other teams from scoring

      Possession factors into a team and how well they will do
      Also how clinical the team is
      Passing accuracy and triangles
      and something underrated which is how do teams start offensive plays

      for example the better teams have sweeper keepers who can pass to almost anyone on the field

      In the game vs spain for the wc final

      We had stekelenburg pass mostly to mathijsen or heitinga even though both of them split in half to allow van bommel to get the ball and start plays, but xavi or iniesta would follow van bommel meaning he had to signal for stekelenburg to pass usually to mathijsen that slowed us down

      Spain had casillas do the same thing but sneijder didn’t track busquets so they had more space, and time to pick the passes they wanted and attack holland

      So when we saw the italy game, BMI went left, and De Vrij went right and who came in the middle to pick up passes Clasie! Which is why he’s an important player for our future, But it remains to be seen how he will handle being pressured by a player.

      So now Looking at the teams you mentioned today

      When the goalie has the ball whether through being passed back, goal kick, whatever

      Who is going to start the offensive plays for each nation at the world cup? Italy has pirlo, but buffon is not really a sweeper keeper and the defenders don’t have great ball skills

      For spain probably will be xabi alonso and busquets starting their plays

      Germany got schwensteiner and argentina’s defensive is kind of weak so we got a great chance, we should at least make the quarterfinals

      So I’d prefer not to rate a team by numbers but by how they start plays, how they finish, and how they stop the other team.

      1. it was all about individual rating and cumulative of that..i have not considered team spirt,tactics by the etc..
        i think it s like Delbosque>Van gaal>Low>Sabella>Scellari..i really like Delbosuque dropped torress and they played with out striker that was a master stroke…i am seeing ferociuos striker in leroy fer…

      2. i also think that coach must select right players for right spot…What if De bosque is given saudiarabian players????????So individual talents decides many things…

        1. talent is important, but it’s not about being the most talented side to play, italy seems to always win without the most talented players. Germany used to do that too, be not very talented but advance far.

  17. how the dutch players doing today? did not see all the games, that would be crazy but so far

    Krul got scored on twice, once inbetween the legs, other time the wall let him down

    De Guzman and Vorm playing for swansea and they are winning 4-1

    bas dost scored
    luuk de jong scored

    Elia played the full 90 minutes

    Van der vaart played great but had to be subbed due to red card of bruma

    and thats about it for now right?

    later huntelaar plays, van wolfswinkel also plays

    1. I got signals that Bruma played quite well, until the red card. He was not punished by his team still losing, but he has made life hard for himself. MM is out for a few weeks and when he comes back will probably get the CB spot back again. Bruma could have made a big impression these weeks and now he will get banned. Such a pity.

      1. I thought his mates are the men to blame. They let the pass slipped. Bruma knew that he was already steps behind Reus, and it’s a 1on1 situation with Adler. Had Dortmund got the equaliser, Hamburg might find it difficult to score again.

        But I agree, it’s such a shame that he got banned…

  18. You can dislike Bert for the style of the team, but I still like Bert and the 2010 team.
    I sincerely hope LVG can bring us the 1st WC. So far it looks promising, but he still has a long way to go. Qualify first and then see how far we can go.

  19. Yes obviously I like Bert too because even though we didn’t play great football we reached the WC final and in my opinion Holland was better than Spain during the whole WC 2010.

    Now with LVG we are showing a more attractive football and I love that but we need to go for the victory because I am and I bet most of you are tired of people saying Holland will always be an underachieving team. All the world said the same about Spain until they won the WC so we must do the same and I believe if the Dutch team clicks we’ll play better football than them.

      1. He should have scored in that moment he choose to go for a chip over the keeper. I have no problem him doing that, but then it must be a goal. I thought he could easily round the keeper and score that way.

        He had a proper game, but is not at his best level yet IMO.

  20. wijnaldum was man of the match agains Vitesse..and douchebag theo janssen got red carded as usAal :D…bony scored 2 as usual..strootman was quite awful worringly…kept losing the ball…and willems luks quite AVG too…kakuta was a handful for vitessa and beat marcelo easily most times

      1. The problem with van Ginkel is that Bony played in attacking midfield and does 0 defensive work. Janssen does little defensive work and so that leads to van Ginkel having to control the game, making him look “flat”and “grey”. Today he was subbed somewhere in minute 70 or so. I think that had more to do with minor injury problems and he also had a head collision with Derijck IIRC.

        Was not such a good game from him, but van Ginkel is always of defensive value, working hard and be there with headers in dead ball moments. I have the feeling too much is demanded of van Ginkel at the moment. They over ask from van Ginkel at Vitesse at the moment. I also can’t remember him really having had his dip yet. Every talent experiences a dip. Clasie just had it and came out of it a few weeks ago. Strootman second half last season. Not sure if van Ginkel is getting into one, but would not be weird. Let’s see what the next week brings.

    1. Especially the final phase in the Vitesse vs. PSV game Strootman had quarrels with the ball, but this is nothing new. Strootman’s short passing is pretty bad at times. His long ball distribution is good, but when short passing is demanded a lot, he can lose the plot.

      I disagree with Willems playing average. I think He was pretty damn good with a lack of concentration maybe here and there in the second half. That second goal of PSV is also Willems rushing up and setting up the attack. He got into duels and looked strong against van Ginkel and Ibarra. After failed attacks from PSV he often pressed and pressed to get the ball back. Against ADO he was good as well.

      I was just wondering by the way and have a question: Can anybody come up with a name of an 18 year old left back in the world that is better than Jetro Willems?

          1. True. Even though he is two years older. David Alaba is miles ahead attacking and defending. Last year he was amazing as a 19 year old. Soo impressed with him vs Madrid last year.

            Still, I get your point, Willems is a little bit like Maher. Some things need developing, but the potential to be amazing is very good for both of them. Both have a higher ceiling than a Luuk de Jong or Bas Dost type.

      1. Definetly agree about Strootman short passing. He really needs three seconds to combinate control/short pass, too slow, I remember the game against Germany last year (friendly lost 3-0), he was totally awful, if he is under pressure, he really loses the ball easily.

        About young talents, I think, above Willems and Maher, Vilhena is really getting the best young player of all europe for his age, he is born in 1995 and he already play every game with Feyenoord and scores. Vilhena now is better than Maher two years ago.

        I think PSV should have put Depay on loan instead of giving him 5 minutes per game to play, he can be titular in almost every dutch team, really a good young player also, better than Boetius as left winger.

        1. I think Boëtius and Depay are very different in that the first one far more easily looks for the combination with somebody close to him whenever he gets the feeling he can’t run past a defender (decision making). Depay is playing at times his own game and keeps doing that. Then again a bit of proving behavior is understandable with the little time he gets and the talent he has.

          The problem with Boëtius is his end product so far IMO. In field he has a nice first touch, nice combinations, good speed to out run his opponent, vision to give a ball deep on a fellow player making a run, but his crosses from near the opponents back line and his shots on goal when going inside, have been sub par IMO. He is actually naturally right footed and maybe in time, if he gets to play on the right side, he will deliver maybe at least better crosses. I mean his shots on goal after going inside have so far not lead me to think great threat will falter anyway, so would really like to see him 5 or even 10 games in a row from the right, in case Schaken dips or is being injured.

          I don’t exactly know who is better in tracking of the two by the way. For example Ola John and his lack of tracking back could have resulted in a goal for Italy the other night. That’s important as well.

          By the way Laurent, I saw a comment of you blaming Clasie for the Pirlo threat. I was wondering, what responsibility you wanted to see Maher fulfill in those moments?

          1. Well, I didn’t watch the game again to make a good analysis, but I could notice, in the first half, more than in the second one, that Pirlo could give many balls forward easily, without almost any pressure on him. When De Guzman came and Clasie went out, I haven’t seen this problem anymore. That’s why I blamed Clasie, but maybe he wasn’t the only one responsible.

          2. Pirlo was substituted after the first half.

            IMO there is a little game going on. I see before the game a tactical formation with Netherlands playing 4-3-3, 1 DM and two half players on midfield. Yet we play with 1 attacker midfielder behind the striker (Maher) and 2 DM’s. Those would be Clasie and Strootman, with the last one as a runner making the occasional attacking run forward making the formation look different at times.

            However Pirlo plays right before his defense and sprays his passes from there. As Maher covered that ground, I wondered why he was excluded from any defensive responsibility in your opinion. Who should Maher have picked up then? IMO Pirlo, outside of special situations. Would be another argument for me to say that Maher was certainly not as good as the media wanted us to believe (for their commercial reasons or whatever).

          3. Yeah I thought Pirlo went out 65′, I mixed with Balotelli.

            To judge if the reponsability is more for Maher than for Clasie, I have to see those passes again, but I still think Clasie isn’t any safe player. It’s ok if he plays next to another defensive midfielder, but alone no, I saw it against Kiev, Veloso could easily go forward, against Hungary he made a silly mistake, against Turkey, was really light…

          4. I think Turkey was bad, Hungary first half he could have he caused a penalty that was not called, second half was pretty good with that fast free kick resulting in a goal as a personal high, In the Italy first half he played almost a perfect game according van Gaal (no journalist pushed him to say that). That is a steep adaptation curve as I ever saw one. I think de Jong is more solid still against top opponents, but Clasie has the creative pass forward, being able to cut through defenses with man beating passes. De Jong is ball back, to the side or if he wants to spoil us, he passes it to Sneijder. Clasie offers much more offensive wise. Has pretty high handling speed, being able to speed up the game and also has that venom to press forward and in ball backs pretty fast.

            Clasie is just starting with the Dutch NT and de Jong will be out for quite some time, so we will have enough time to see this one play out. The Italy game was really enjoyable to watch, with high pressure and nice football from our side, so I would just like to see that again.

          5. Yes, Clasie offers more possibilites in his forward play. He also has a good aggressiveness toward his opponent, a little bit Enoh style. But he is still a little bit light, I don’t think he would win balls against Khedira, or Yaya Touré. Also, he can’t shot a corner or free kick honestly, even worst than Sulejmani.

            As you seem to be really good informed about dutch football (you live there ,right ?), I would like to ask you if you think that Gyasi can be any U21 material for this summer ? I mean, as subtitute. He play quite often with Twente, but never has been called, I’ve seen him 3 games and found him a poor player, don’t know if I’m missing something about this player or if it’s just not rationnal that McLaren gives him as much chances.

          6. Gyasi I have seen only a few times at the start of the season and I think you are spot on. He can do things with a ball, but probably misses quality’s like vision, overview and right decision making. Mind you, Twente is a club that have been able to turn around Elia, so it is dangerous to bet against them doing the same with new wingers. They also attracted Cabral and that is a player I have seen a lot. I think that is a player with lack of effectiveness as well.

            Both wingers are not high on my “expectation list”.

            After the first game of Boëtius I was already anticipating his selection for the Dutch senior team in time. Not because he scored that game, but because he saw IIRC Verhoek at the other side of the field and delivered a good ball. Also because Boëtius showed he had a good first touch. I instantly liked that, despite his imperfections close to the goal. He showed intelligence and overview. Now today he even showed me he can hurt the opponent with his distance shot, while that was my point of concern.

            I think Boëtius, Depay, and soon Kishna (if his injuries stop) will emerge as the young alternatives for the senior team. How much % of U21 players make the senior team eventually? 20%?

            For the U21 Israel tournament in the summer I would take Depay, Boëtius, Wijnaldum and Ola John for the wing. Narsingh is injured for a long time. Before Gyasi there is still his team mate Cabral and Wildschut with his speed. Will be tough for him to get into the team with how he is playing.

          7. Which one would you put as right substitute ? Depay,Wildschut and Boetius play all on the left. Cabral can play at both position. Josefzoon is doing it not bad with RKC,improved quite much since his Ajax period, also Bacuna of Groningen is some material, even if he is really irregular and not really a winger.

          8. On the right side:

            1. Boëtius. (has played 2 times in Eredivisie from the right side and was always a right winger in the youth IIRC, plus he is right footed)
            2. Ola John (was great there against Barca)
            3. Wijnaldum (not a natural winger, but is matured and was pretty good there against a recent U21 opponent)

            I want crosses as Luuk de Jong can score easily with his head. So in the first team Ola from the left and Boëtius from the right to swing in crosses. They could also switch all the time if they want to, especially in crunch time. Then we could play opportunistic (not that I like that), play high ball on Luuk, him chesting it, wingers close to him picking the ball up and then taking the shot with their best foot.

            Bacuna, Wildschut Cabral and Josefzoon. I don’t see the point with them. Israel should be used to prepare youngsters for Brazil. When we have to go with those guys, then we are done anyway. We need the real talents over there and give them experience in bigger tournaments. We forgot about Lukoki from Ajax, but is also acting as an one dimensional player until now.

            The Dutch NT is pretty good in the center triangle, but backs, wings and center defense is compared to the top in the world a worry. That’s too much positions. So we need to be picky who to give this experience and send in the guys who “have it”. But that is just my opinion.

    1. As number ten, let’s forget, we have at least 5 better options at this position. As right winger, we only have Lens and Narsingh, so why not, he’ll probably play at this position if he goes to the U21 euro this summer.

  21. About young talent, jurgen locadia maybe our next the next world class striker after kluivert? He scored hatrick in his debut, Depay as talented as locadia, imo.

  22. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YAZhHrljnxg#!

    This is a player many Ajax fans expect a lot from. Bad field, weak opponent, but this being one of his first games for Ajax (Vitesse and ONS Sneak being the other competitive games this season), you can at least say you saw the start of his career.

    * BMI
    * Denwil
    * Kongolo
    * Rekik

    All young left CD who will have to compete with each other in the next years.

    PS at a certain moment in the video it is better to turn off the sound and put on your own music. 🙂

  23. I agree with DRB. Pirlo made those passes from deep in his half. That is why it is very hard to cover. The responsibility has to be from Maher to cover him but in the course of a game he is gonna get open a couple of times. When he does the defenders have to stay close to the forwards and they did that well.

    Pirlo really is sensation and we dealt with him pretty well.

    Really excited for the CL.

    van Persie vs Madrid
    Sneijder vs Huntelaar
    Robben fighting for his place!

    Should be fun

    1. Boëtius, and he had another good shot in goal. Looks like the kid is reading this website and is about to prove he does have a good shot coming inside. I don’t complain, would be awesome if this becomes part of his repertoire. 🙂

      His tracking back is not bad either, is it?

    1. why not both!

      Clasie is like that annoying tennis player that changes the tempo of the game, and can hit the ball with all sorts of spins to keep you on your feet

      Defensively solid, had help, feyenoord guys track back and make it easy to steal the ball and launch counters.

      Passing is everywhere, a little bit too much stuff got intercepted, he’s not yet sneijder

      He’s not exactly box to box midfielder, but he is a side to side midfielder, covered both sides greatly

        1. not his best days, showed up with the ball, got some good shots and chances, but yeah,he got some hard tackles, lots of contact all game, I didn’t really pay much attention to maher because boetus and vilhena and clasie where shining pretty bright

  24. heitinga is on the field for everton against manchester united……. thats having some faith in a player after that horror show against second to last aston villa!

    1. And he just but confirmed that bench is where he belongs when RVP goes around him and provides the assist for Giggs. RVP also missing a sitter minutes earlier. Hope he scores today.

  25. GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Everton! Ryan Giggs opens the scoring as he nets for the 23rd league season in succession. Poor defending from Heitinga as he allows Van Persie to get away from him in the box and the Dutchman finds Giggs, who steadies himself and steers the ball home off the inside of the post

  26. van persie scores goal, ran past heitinga, heitinga had chance to clear it off the line, and nothing, 2-0 man utd, i’d be surprised if heitinga comes on for the second half, horror show

  27. Thanks for the Eredivisie updates 🙂

    Feyenord is producing so many good players they seem to be working really hard with their youth system.

    Maher has to move during the summer because if he stays at AZ for much longer he won’t develop as we would at PSV, Ajax or abroad at Arsenal.

  28. I think Vilhena was pretty mediocre despite his shot and goal today. Had he not scored, I would say bad. I also did not like the way he celebrated his goal. He got it on a plate, but ran away like Inzaghi did in the past.

    Boëtius changed his image a bit as somebody who has a bad shot and low goal/assist output. Did well today and tracks back. He has much more aggression in him than Ola, and that is why Ola John will have a problem soon, as he misses this defensive dimension and coaches love a winger to have that trademark.

    Clasie was the AZ target to press and prevent doing build up. Smart, but when AZ got a red card Clasie got space and gave a great key pass on Schaken and later scored himself. He was sharp and did his defensive work quite well.

    Maher played pretty good IMO. That shot was brilliantly stopped by Mulder. Was unlucky at times to face Clasie, but nevertheless had enough contribution to the game to say that he did pretty well. After the red card, it became hard for him of course.

    I think Maher is lucky that Vilhena is played more like a controller. If Immers would be benched and Vilhena would play attacking midfielder, he would maybe start to score a lot. That tends to attract the attention much more than running in midfield. Maher is probably better in the wall pass, but his shot is a bit weak and I have a feeling Vilhena’s through passes over the ground and through the air have a greater accuracy rate. They are really well weighted often, while Maher can be quite sloppy at times. To phrase it all in one word: Effectiveness. I think Vilhena might have more of it, but it is dangerous to say that about Maher who is advertised by pretty much anybody who follows Eredivisie as the biggest talent in the competition. I just wish Koeman would start to play Vilhena behind Pelle so we could start comparing.

  29. Boëtius is so well spoken. I almost look out for his post match interviews. I think he is better in it than van Bommel who is seen as one of the best. Wonder how Boëtius handles the post match interview when he gets in a phase where he is criticized. Tends to change things, but nevertheless for an 18 year old he is stunning well spoken. Vilhena is almost the contrary.

  30. Did anyone see Sneijder play?

    What I’ve seen so far from deGuzman vs Clasie I would pick deGuzman, any other choices for that exact position (playing with Strootman as the other defensive midfielder)?

    VDV+Strootman? VDV had a good game against the nr.2 in Germany, B. Dortmund, got himself an assist for the 3rd goal. Or de Jong, is that a likely combination? Strootman+de Jong (when the latter is recovered that is), or is de Jong better partnered up with deGuzman/Clasie?

    Does it matter and have you noticed vGaal basing his decision on whether someone is a left-footer or right-footer? Does he switch them around often or generally use the same guys for the same positions like vMarwijk did with vBommel + de Jong using VDV as a replacement for either but usually for N.de Jong. Can Maher play either position?

    1. The right foot left thing is hard to be certain. As Strootman is left footed and the other options are all right we will usually have the perfect mix though. Unless the unlikely VDV and Strootman combo happens.

      I think Clasie actually looks pretty fast and I personally think defending is all more than speed. Maybe our euro 2012 was so slow that it could have used more pace and energy. But now, with Strootman, Clasie, and a faster defence are team looks very energetic.

      If your asking, I think Maher has played deeper for AZ before. But for the national team we have better players for that position.

    1. What do you have against Miguel? He’s an awesome contributor. And if I recall correctly, he’s Mexican, not Portuguese. Doesn’t really matter in any case; there’s no room for racism here. Keep it civil, please.

  31. Oh, the reason for picking deGuzman over Clasie for me is the fact that deGuzman is faster and can therefore close down the spaces a bit quicker, especially on the defense (and shortly after losing a ball).

    I think we can use that extra defensive quality right now in our team. I’m glad Blind didn’t look so exposed in the 2nd halve vs Italy as he was in the 1st halve, but the goal still came from that side (someone wasn’t closing down fast enough in the box, don’t remember who that was).

  32. And I watched a little bit of Sneijder. Couple of times he tried to play hollywood passes that almost worked.

    The biggest moment for me was when he tried to play a cross/shot and horribly messed it up. The crowed still chearer loudly. We always think Wes plays best when he is the main man. At Gala the fans alone will make him feel important.

  33. @Vincent: I guess you are talking about me and protecting me from some nasty comment which by the way I didn’t read so thanks man I appreciate it a lot. 😉

    And yes I’m 100% Mexican with 100% Dutch heart. I am not Portuguese I actually hate them when it comes to football because we haven’t had any luck against those guys.

  34. I was watching wesly yesterday..he is much fitter than vaart and improved his fitness significantly.that is a good news,we all know what a fit wesly can do……
    My worry is that there are some old players who are not fit and we cannot take VDV for giving redcard for Lewandovski.Bruma was redcarded aand he was playing well,some says that he saved the match for HSV.by doing that crucial tackle.
    Once again i repeat that selecting the old players heitinga(lost,slow)Joris(slow,age)kuyt(slow,age and lack of skill).Afellay(no brain)Elia(No brain),Nijel(over defensive bit static)Bulah(not good in goin forward)Vaart(lack of stamina)Wesly (lack of work rate)..would spoil the team balance and harmony..Only 2 players can get in to selection by extream hard work that are Vaart and Wes..But it seems unlikely.Please van gaal dont do it.you are coach and u can try many ideas with other players,these are all WRONG PLAYERS FOR NATIONAL TEAM ATM.

    1. Not sure VDV has such a bad fitness or any worse than Wesley. Take a look at his covered distance in the match from last week:

      http://i.imgur.com/Ge5vbOv.png

      He is putting these numbers out all the times I have looked at them. His number of sprints is low though. Maybe Sneijder is beating him in that regard. I don’t know.

      1. if you took a real look to his game, you would realise that what made him able to cover such length is his habit to frequently drop back to even his own half to pick up the ball or drawing opponents forward. he don’t have to sprint a lot because he is always well positioned to receive the ball. VDV said it himself that he doesn’t possess great speed, so he has to make it up with reading the game, put himself in the good position before anybody else.

        and such kind of play won’t deplete stamina so quickly, so it’s smart.

  35. If we show some guts and forget some old players ,there are PLETHORA of talents awaiting for us in each and evry postions.They all doesnt lookk lesser to the old ones.In fact they play better,fast,fluid football than the old ones.
    GKs
    Erwin mulder
    Geron zoet
    Defence
    Terence kongolo
    Jefrry bruma
    Karim reikik as CBs
    i belive Bruma is a n able back up if BMI as LCB or in couple of years we could see kongolo and rekik there.
    for hold mids
    Nathan ake- would be ready with in 2 years
    Trinidad devilehna-would be ready with in 2 years
    then comes
    Anas achabar
    Jean paul boetius
    Memphis depay as wingers..
    striker spot..
    Jurgan locadia is the new kluivert..

  36. RVP-Maher combination is pretty simillar too Roony-Rvp combination.Difference is rooney is more experienced…
    Rooney runs a lot like kuyt with very good skills.Maher also doing same thing,he defends and attacks and his runs are brilliant like rooney does.RVP need a Brillaint,skilled hardworking man with him.Maher absolutly fits that role.while other candidates doesnt.if Maher is injured then it should be Ginkel or Clasie.

  37. A Clasie intervew that I found in the net translated.

    “Clasie (169 cm) gives the smaller soccer player hope”.

    How Feyenoord delivered tailor made work with the education of the half-pint in the Youth Academy.

    Clasie (169 cm) gives all small soccer players in the Netherlands hope. Professional soccer is attainable too with a shorter length. But in his case it took a radical turn around in thinking. In Feyenoord’s Youth Academy Clasie (now 20) for years purposely practiced less than the rest of his team mates.

    The 2006/2007 season is a few months on its way and a pattern becomes clear. At the Feyenoord B1 Jordy Clasie has a lot of problems to play the full stretch of the matches. In the course of the second half he slowly fades away and in the last 15 minutes the little fellow gets cramp in his calfs. The reactions are easily predictable. So young and than already tired of a little match? Exercise harder little kid, or else you are done with quickly.

    The head of the Academy, Henk van Stee, a few years before already honestly advised Clasie to look for a nice club in the vicinity of Alkmaar, close at home. And a lot of youth coaches think that way. But when he isnot tired, Clasie shows on the ball things that make him the talent that as a first year B-junior is allowed to practice with the batch of the under-17. So Raymond Verheijen, than just started as an exercise physiologist at Varkenoord (the Youth Academy Grounds), turns his attention to the question if it still is possible to design a plan for Clasie.

    In consultation with the B-youth coaches Cor Adriaanse and Jan Gösgens a tailor made exercise scheme is made. Clasie is not going to exercise more, but actually less. A lot less.. Football conditional excercises of his team from then on he literally only participates for half the time. Little matches of 11 versus 11, the thing soccer players love the most to do, for him are restricted to a maximum of two times 8 minutes, after that the rest often continues for a while. ( See the training scheme that will be in the next part).

    “With Jordy all conditions were in place to being stretched to his limits as a kid”, Verheijen says when he picks up the exercise schemes of those days. “He was of small stature and traveled very early in the morning all the way from Haarlem to Rotterdam to go to school and exercise. That all costs a lot of force. Cramp is a logical signal from the body that it cannot cope with the full load. By letting him exercise literally half less Jordy kept enough energy to execute better what he was doing. Now he did not have to deplete his reserves, with the result he started every exercise fresh. The purpose of exercising is to attempt every time again to act one percent faster than the time before that. Only by turning 100% time after time into 101% a youth player develops himself. But when you start the exercise already at 95%, you never will get to that 101%.

    From that moment on also at the matches, a settled protocol was established. Clasie is regularly substituted on purpose about twenty minutes before the final whistle, also to keep him fit and fresh. “Because that way he never got injured, ultimately he made on balance on a year’s basis more exercise hours, “according to Verheijen. “When in 2008 he had to promote to the A1, we took the same approach. Giving him ample time to get used to the higher level and after settling in slowly increasing the load. But he always kept doing less than his team mates. That way we kept him injury free all those years and could he develop as a football player. Thanks to the current Academy head Stanley Brard at Varkenoord now “The survival of Football talent” rules and not “The survival of the Fittest”. Verheijen calls Clasie the example of how we should deal with all small youth footballers in the Netherlands. If you have the little ones do the same as the rest than you drain them in such a way that you create structural tiredness. As a result their speed of acting is not going up, but only downwards. They cannot follow on and that way a lot of unknown Clasies did not make it. Verheijen in hind sight puts a lot of credits with Cor Adriaanse and with Jean Paul van Gastel. The current assistant coach of Ronald Koeman was Clasies’A1 coach. “Adriaanse and Van Gastel took the trouble to deliver coaching made to measure. And not only with Clasie. At first they had to go against the current as football is a very conservative sport. Van Gastel to me is the example of a new generation of coaches that arenot only well versed technically and tactically, but also have the knowledge to gear exercises to one another. Because of that this generation can do fitness exercises of a team themselves. For years I say that clubs shouldnot put that in the hands of athletic coaches. That’s the origin of accidents, because football in the load and in the patterns of movement call for a different approach than athletics.”

    Van Gastel at Feyenoord 1 now is in control of the “periodization”, the exercise build up during the season. As a A1 coach he has mastered that. Verheijen: “See the results, all season long there are hardly any injuries, and because of that Feyenoord can exercise and play a lot with it’s strongest team. The contrast with Ajax is enormous. Alex Pastoor is also such an example of that new generation.”

    With Jordy Clasie everything turned out well. Before he last year under Alex Pastoor warmed up his engine at professional level with Excelsior, he ended up as a regular basis player in Van Gastels’A1 team. That team ended as 2009 and 2010 champions of the Netherlands.

    “To me the winning of the 2009 title was the finest moment in the 3 years I was involved with the Academy”Verheijen says. “In that A1, besides Clasie, there were more little ones. And it also was a team that became champions with almost only first years A juniors.”

    Clasie:

    “I was not so much aware of how they were handling my exercise load,” Clasie says. When you are that young you just think the coaches have the best intentions with you. I also was in a batch with a lot of talent, so always playing everything was not obvious. I indeed did not have any or hardly any injuries in the B1 and A1. That will not have been a coincidence.”

    Cheers!!

  38. Hi guys,

    Can anyone which knowledge of eredivise give us brief of our future forwards, the list I’m interested are forwards under 20 and have become regular or got some games at least this season, some have scored and assisted others.

    How we rate them as our next attacking forces?

    Jürgen Locadia Centre Forward
    Luc Castaignos Centre Forward
    Anass Achahbar Centre Forward

    Memphis Depay Left Wing
    Jody Lukoki Right Wing
    Jean-Paul Boëtius Right Wing
    Jeroen Lumu Left Wing

    1. > Jürgen Locadia

      Hard shot with left and right. Underestimated speed. Medium handling speed that needs improvement. Decent header. Eye for his teammates unlike many box strikers. He is actually a bit more as a box striker, even called an Adriano kind of striker. I think he is not quite that but something in between. Can reach Dutch NT senior team and I even think that in time he could become first striker if the competition becomes Dost and de Jong in the future. Difficult, but not impossible with those 2. Lens is of course also there, still pretty young, but Lens is a striker that needs 10 chances to make 1 goal. Such a shame as he has pretty much everything else. I rate Locadia.

      > Luc Castaignos

      Counter striker, with proper speed. Mediocre technique, mediocre hold up, mediocre header, mediocre finishing so far. Don’t like his character, disturbed self image. Will need to improve big time even to not fall in the category of being a failed transfer for FC Twente. Either he has having just a really bad first year or he will never become Dutch NT senior material. I don’t rate him highly.

      > Anass Achahbar

      The waiting is for the moment the “click” comes. Great technical ability, but being able to do everything with a ball in the small spaces is not the end all. Needs to improve in crosses, build a bigger fuel tank to cover bigger spaces and basically have a higher goal and assist output. His speed is not impressive. This is a guy with big fans, but there are also quite some people thinking he is not really going to make it. It depends and it is too early to say something about him. His big talent is easily visible, but not getting out at the moment. Let’s see what the next season brings.

      > Memphis Depay

      Good speed, big bag of tricks, good technique, good shot, gusto, but an ego too big. He often plays his own game, rather than with team mates. Is very focused on his action even of it is not his day, he continues his solo efforts. He is a bit of a Suarez kind of player, he could also play striker IMO. Last season he had already a good goal/minute ratio. He has proper finishing. His problem is not his talent, but his character carrying it. Can he become a balanced person? Does not enjoy the trust of Advocaat at the moment and is not getting many minutes at PSV. However I rate him highly and see him as future Dutch NT material.

      > Jody Lukoki

      One dimensional (blind) horse and not sure about him tracking back so well. Insane speed, but does not have a plan B or C. It is option A with him and that’s it. His cross is mediocre and maybe he makes the Dutch NT in the future, but do not see him as anything permanent.

      > Jean-Paul Boëtius

      Wrote the following by mistake in the comment section of the previous article:

      Video analyses of the last game of Boëtius:

      http://eredivisielive.nl/video/113515-piero-de-klasse-van-boetius.html

      They are very impressed by his first touch, vision and distribution ability.

      This guy has all 3 in abundance. If he starts scoring and giving assists, then we have new Dutch NT material on our hands. I saw in a show he also topped the week’s Gilette ranking. According to Ronald Koeman he has become starting material and has played pretty consistent in the past 4 months. That is a special, as most wingers are inconsistent and young players are even more inconsistent. Yet, Koeman typifies him as consistent so far.

      What defines attacking players on international level is a players return. How many assists and goals can he produce per game or per minute if you will? That part is not well developed yet.

      But speed, first touch, vision, distribution accuracy and tracking back are all part of this players repertoire, which is already a lot.

      I rate him quite high and see him as future Dutch NT material. “Future” could come sooner than people expect.

      > Jeroen Lumu

      Too early to tell for me. I let someone else answer this one.

      1. @DRB really Lenz need 10 chances??????how about his goal vs italy on 6 th feb?????I really dont think kuyt would be scoring from receiving such kind of pass/rebound and i doubt he would be able to score that kind of goals.but kuyt has played for 8 years for NT.if kuyt can ,then definitly lenz can and lenz is a better finisher than kuyt…We might have better guys than lenz or we may get better ones later,but lenz is no less to kuyt(Even at kuyt’s prime).I was not a fan of lenz,i thought many of his goals were bit of luck..but Lenz is a step ahead of Afellay,Elia,Babel,Schaken, and Narsingh.ie he scores and he is effective and has better brain to play with RVP,Wes,Maher,Clasie etc…he must keep workhard,that is the only condition i have for him.

        1. > @DRB really Lenz need 10 chances??????how about his goal vs italy on 6 th feb?????

          Well my reply would be that a few games in Orange do not represent the same sample size that he has with his club and that’s where I have build up my impression about him.

          For country he has played around 575 minutes and scored 5 times. That is 115 minutes per goal, which is pretty close to Huntelaar and better than RVP, while often even operating from the wing.

          http://tinyurl.com/bg95yvz

          His score rate in Eredivisie is 1 goal in every 240 minutes.

          Note however that this these are score rate statistic, not his chance conversion rate statistics!

          It still does not tell the whole story about Lens. For that, one has to look at his games and the way he is able to fumble one big chance after the other.

          Jermaine Lens is a scorer of great goals, but not a great goal scorer. For that, he misses too many clear cut chances and his prolific run for country does not brush aside a sample size he has build up in Eredivisie for years.

          However you do not have to convince me about Lens. I have already written in 2012 that I prefer him in striker position over Huntelaar in the form Klaas was and still is at Schalke. Lens could also play behind RVP, where Maher played against Italy. He is a pretty versatile all round good footballer. Great to have him.

          As for all the other names you bring up, I do not see the relevance when discussing intrinsic qualities of a player.

          Cheers

          1. @DRB i was thinking and comparing the situation we had with kuyt.they both play in same postions and so they are comparable in terms of effectiveness/result/produtivity.Lenz may require more chances to score a goal so is kuyt,so is Afellay and So is luuk..In past we played kuyt in so many matches.i would like to have the kuyt goal/minute ratio of kuyt for liverpool and orange.since we have bared kuyt ,we can bare Lenz.thats what i was telling in the end.Lenz has grown a lot..thas what i was pointing out.
            cheers

          2. Sure, I think Lens is very much a valuable player. I think with Narsingh out injured for a long time, he is first choice for the right wing. Second choice after Robben for the left wing. Not sure about his striker status, but I would argue that he is close to Klaas Jan Huntelaar at the moment, but behind RVP of course.

            Lens is not up for discussion for the rest of this season in WC qualification games.

            My worry is that he will make a wrong club choice. He is pretty full of himself, but underestimates how business like they are in the bigger competitions. In the Netherlands we appreciate his overall game, but over there they want many goals out of him. If he starts playing for a mid size team, then he must be prolific with the few chances he gets. At PSV he gets many per game, at his new club it won’t be the same. Then his sloppiness in front of goal will really start to shine and could end up on the wing and then on the bench. Why? Because Lens plays like 75% good games in striker position, but only 50% or less good games on the wing for club. So I worry for a slippery slope scenario. Not enough goals as striker can force a manager of a foreign club to play him on the wing, then on the wing he plays often bad games and he puts him on the bench. Then on the bench he stops being an option for the Dutch NT, while I want Lens to develop well for Brazil 2014.

            I think Luuk de Jong and Dost are going through a deep learning curve in Germany. I think both will have a better second seasons than their first in Bundesliga. Both are much more clinical than Lens, but don’t have his awesome speed.

            Talking long term though, all 3 players have their weaknesses and that is why I think Locadia can start competing with them in the future.

            Cheers

          3. What would be a wrong choice of club for you ? The problem with Lens is that he is already almost 26, not a young player. I don’t think a club like Chelsea or City can be interested in him, maximum he’ll get Tottenham or Everton in England.

            I think some russian clubs will have interest, it wouldn’t be bad for him to pick a CSKA, Spartak or Anzhi. And also not bad for PSV, I think such teams are able to spend 10/15 millions for such a player.

          4. @laurent

            I think Lens should look first to the teams who have proven over a longer time to play 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2. He should opt for the spot behind the target man. The target can be strong and stupid, but a technical target man would be even better.

            I looked around and all of the sudden I came up with Fulham who play this system most of the time. They have Berbatov as deepest striker, who is a little genius with the ball and keeps it with him. Then comes up the problem of Ruiz, but at FC Twente he played many times from the wing, allowed to come inside. He could also switch with Lens all the time in cases they want to. Then there is the Jol factor though it is always tricky to look at a manager as he can be fired tomorrow. However as long as Jol is there, he understands a Lens. I think he could be sensational with those 2 other players and who knows, with Urby at the left wing. That would be best for him.

            Then the question arises if that enhances or reduces his chances to play for the Dutch NT as van Gaal wants players to operate in Orange where they play for their club. I think Lens behind RVP can be something special. We play with an attacking midfielder and 2 DM’s (one controller and one runner), so why not put Lens behind RVP instead of Maher? Lens is one of the players with the best dual power in Eredivisie and can put in a defensive shift if needed. Then he has the kind of speed we all dream about. Like 2 times faster than Maher. His overall technique and handling speed is also proper and he can do 1 vs 1’s as he has speed. Did I already mention he has speed :)? I remember well against Italy he simply ran past an Italian defender who could not believe the pace and Buffon barely saving with one hand. Now imagine how RVP would launch Lens operating behind him doing 1-2’s with flicks and heading high balls through like he did for Kagawa tonight against Madrid. Contrary to the Japanese he would be able to leave defenders behind him and have plenty of shots on target.

            Then Robben on the left, Boëtius on the right and we burn speed, while also having pretty clever guys at the front with some vision. Clasie launching one player after the other with the creative pass or to RVP, who flicks it or wall passes it to fast running players around him who make a run. Every turnover would be an headache for an opponent. I’m already warming up to see this.

      2. Even though Lukoki is one diamentional..he is very effective.ie .hell of speed and he often get pass his defender or we can say able/effective dribbler like Roben.Not like Afellay.
        Castaginos-is lost,dirty attitude,dumb
        luuk de jong is better version of kuyt,not world class.Not a world cup/euro cup winning finsher or skriker.it would be wise we drop him earlier than later after spoiling WCs and Ecs.
        Locadia=Can join NT if he works had,has many attribute to be in dutch national team.i have better hope in him.
        Anas acahbar-Hell of an intelligent player with fighter attitude.Physically so small and he must follow the way of ineasta like a winger ,if Andre was left winger ,Anas can be great like him on right wing..it would be very hard for him for a striker spot…i wish very best for him.
        Memphis depay–Hell of talents but intertesed is tattoos and other things.i hope he develops weel by dropig his other interests..
        Boetius–this guy is right track,wise and open to learn,luckily he is with wise koeman..i think if he goes like this we will see him sooner in NT.

          1. only thing i got is a google search that he’s training with celtic first team, and on youtube got some goals he scored

          2. Yes I became aware of him 2 or 3 years ago. When RVP came to United I started to read Redcafe so now and then and kept en eye on the youth academy discussions. Gore’s name came up so now and then, but he was more of a sub player.

            Have not seen a single game of him, but his father is U17 coach of Scotland and is probably behind the Celtic link. He was selected for a Dutch youth team once or a few times, but I don’t think he is anymore.

  39. Thanks DRB300 for the video.

    The world will be watching Madrid vs Man U and I wish RVP has a good game. Everyone is talking about Ronaldo but they seem to forget about Robin and Chicharito 😛

    1. @Miguel…Manu defnce is having some issues,thats the worry point..i hope at least they get a 1-1 draw in madrid.if Manu wants to win every one of MANu should be in their top.RVP is a heall of genious player while ronaldo is more talented.Manu player are more clever compared to Madrids.Alonso,Ozil,khedira are the brilliant players of madrid.kaka would start in bench…Mardid defnce is slightly better than Manu.Varane,ramos are speedy and athletic defnders.Rooney and RVP will have some trouble with them..

  40. Over 30 years old:

    van persie 1983 30
    huntelaar 1983 30
    dirk kuyt 1980 33
    joris mathijsen 1980 33
    boulahrouz 1981 32
    john heitinga 1983 30
    stekelenburg 1982 31
    michel vorm 1983 30

    Under 30’s:

    wesley sneijder 1984 29
    arjen robben 1984 29
    ibrahim afellay 1986 27
    van der wiel 1988 25
    nigel de jong 1984 29
    stijn schaars 1984 29
    ryan babel 1986 27
    eljero elia 1987 26
    ron vlaar 1985 28
    leroy fer 1990 23
    jordy clasie 1991 22
    kevin strootman 1990 23
    adam maher 1993 20
    jeremain lens 1987 26
    ola john 1992 21
    narsingh 1990 23
    de guzman 1987 26
    wijnaldum 1990 23
    jetro willems 1994 19
    erik pieters 1988 25
    martins indi 1992 21
    daryl janmaat 1989 24
    stephan de vrij 1992 21
    vurnon anita 1989 24
    luuk de jong 1990 23
    siem de jong 1989 24
    bas dost 1989 24
    van aanholt 1990 23
    daley blind 1990 23
    bram nuytinck 1990 23
    van rhijn 1991 22
    van ginkel 1992 21
    alex büttner 1989 24
    nick viergever 1989 24
    douglas franco 1988 25
    tonny vilhena 1995 18
    boëtius 1994 19
    luc castaignos 1992 21
    memphis depay 1994 19
    wolfswinkel 1989 24
    urby emanuelson 1986 27
    tim krul 1988 25
    kenneth vermeer 1986 27

    This list includes 51 players and has an average of 25 years so it’s a good generation with lots of future.

    Only 8 players are above 30!!! with Robben and Sneijder below that age I guess they still have a lot to offer I don’t get why some people say Sneijder is done!!!.

    It might not be too accurate but I hope you like it and of course there might be some names missing.

    1. That means this is the peak time of Deguzman,urby,lenz etc.i think they are underutilized..Many says Afalley is young and will improve he is allready 27 and when he is goin to improve?RVP is in mid of 1983 and he is actually 29.but he looks fitter than Wesly..
      When i looked at age of 1998 squad players it was amazing
      davids,Clarence,kluivert,gio and mnay were on 21/22/23 at that time with some 28s those were Deboer,bergkamp and Stam…so it was a splendid squad…we didnt had much aged players so we played better football.
      it is the high time to use Clasie,Fer,Deguzman,Urby and lenz…also this should be the starting point of blind,van annholt,Van rhijn,Maher,Ginekl ,Ola etc…

  41. This was a comment i found interseting in goal.com….
    i used to like barca but now i need to rethink..i just hope WC gets ripped away from spain..
    FARCELONA, HOME OF DOPED CHEATING SCUMBAGS

    -Pep Guardiola was already caught doping while playing in Brescia himself for using nandrolone. There was a legal dispute in which he was absolved of the charges by Brescia, but there has been a general controversy about the way he was absolved, with some anti-doping Italian officials claiming that the investigation should have continued.

    -Guardiola’s same doctor from Brescia while he was caught doping is now working in Barcelona as one of the head doctors.

    -Barcelona doctors are infamous for extensively using “vitamine shakes” for the players. It has been part of the Barcelona culture for quite some time, and there are rumors that such shakes contain illegal substances that are hard to detect.

    -Formerly injury-prone players such as Xavi, Messi, and Iniesta rarely get injured anymore despite playing nearly 90 minutes of every single Barcelona match. Pep is known for barely rotating his squad (which is generally very thin), and the amouunt of injuries the team gets is notoriously small considering how much they play and former physical fragility of various players.

    -Barcelona players appear to be almost as fresh at the end of every match as they are in the beginning. It is always said that this is because how much posession they always have, but it is nevertheless suspicious that players that aren’t known for being particularly that athletic manage to run as much as they do and with as much intensity in every game, especially since they barely rotate and are involved in all competitions.

    -Barcelona always travel the same day to every away game, which is said to be triggered to reduce the chances that there is a surprise drug test by UEFA officials.

    -In Spain, drug tests are done much less frequently than in other leagues. Teams always get to know in advance when they will be tested, and blood tests are rarely done. The number of players tested every season is also significantly low.

    -The infamous Doctor Fuentes has been heavily linked with being involved with Barcelona in the past. A few months ago there was also an allegation by a fellow prisoner (Fuentes was in prison at the time obviously) that Fuentes had confided in him that “if people actually knew the truth, the World Cup would be taken from Spain immediately”

    -In the last 18 months, Barcelona has “conveniently” suspended two training sessions before a UEFA drug test, one which led to a fine to the club by UEFA officials.

    blood doping enables his energy to last longer, and for him to recover more quickly.

    that would certainly be beneficial in retaining skill longer into game, and in making that run into the box that others can’t make.

    1. -Barcelona players appear to be almost as fresh at the end of every match as they are in the beginning. It is always said that this is because how much posession they always have, but it is nevertheless suspicious that players that aren’t known for being particularly that athletic manage to run as much as they do and with as much intensity in every game, especially since they barely rotate and are involved in all competitions.

      LOL … ball handling speed my ASS !

        1. haha mate love to see u back..i was concern about the stamina of Barca players,No other club players run like them…Every one are running like edgar davids,is it down to pure practice or drug???thats question i have..No disagreement over their talent and intellignce.

          1. i stop the discussion here. no one can change my mind,especially not jelaous real madrid and other fans’comments on goal.com or blogs creating conspiration theories about everything and anything.

          2. Don’t mean to upset anyone.

            The Spanish doping trial is big news… but the judge won’t even reveal the names of the players involved with Fuentes.

            And I have good friends who stuck by Lance Armstrong till the bitter end, insisting that the charges were all drummed up by jealous haters.

            Sorry this rubs you the wrong way, Ferenc. I don’t wish to offend anyone.

  42. Are you suggesting spanish players are not tired, like Lance Armstrong? I wanted the 2010 WC title back. If Tour De France title can be stripped then so is WC. We need someone to come out, like Lance Armstrong’s teammates.

    1. Hien,

      don’t you think it was incredible how the Spaniards accelerated in extra time during the WK2010 final? I mean, we had fatigue and some yellow cards to deal with, but these guys came back fresh like the game had started from the beginning…

      That is curious and I don’t think it has anything to do with ball handling speed 🙂

  43. Nathan Ake (17 years old) is in the squad selection for the European game of Chelsea tomorrow. He takes the place of David Luiz, who is suspended. So he might get some minutes, who knows.

  44. Demi, it is hard to argue against them. Even if they use drugs, the way they have possession, those analysts often said that they make the opponent chase the ball. So what if opponent chase the ball, they still have to move. If the doctor is linked as goldstone informed, well, eventually the truth will come out, just like Argentine-Peru in 78.

    I like the way Van Persie can hold the ball and sometimes reading the play well (like his 3rd chance in 2nd half). 3 good chances, all on target although he should have converted the 2nd chance where Real player cleared on the line. Could have been the difference!

    1. agree 100%. I am not disputing their skills, they do have good skills. But, their stamina is curious to say the least … 🙂

      Somehow we are always at the receiving end of injustice… I can’t think of better NTs than our 78 and 2010 ones… And we didn’t choke at the finals, we gave the 100% … What can I say, part of our destiny to suffer before the final victory …

  45. ANOTHER HUGE CHANCE! Now Alonso plays Van Persie onside as the ball is chipped in to him near the penalty spot and after taking it down, the striker can only poke a meet shot past Lopez, allowing Madrid to clear off the line.

    UNITED HIT THE WOODWORK! Van Persie is played in to the right of the box by Rooney and slams a fierce shot against the bar via a touch from Lopez!

  46. UGE CHANCE FOR UNITED! Van Persie chests the ball down on the left of the box and pings in a wicked shot that appears to be heading for the far corner before Lopez throws out an arm to send it wide.

  47. * RVP choked with Arsenal with that chip that he should have rammed into the goal.
    * RVP choked against Denmark with his first touch in front of goal.
    * RVP choked today with that huge chance.

    I had hoped he had grown at United, but for me there was another choke moment. If he would have that chance on training, would he have missed it? No way. But in this game he did.

    For me this game was the RVP grow test and for me he failed the test.

    That bothers me as I am a bit of a RVP fan, and it is not like he had his contribution, but I need to be honest here.

    1. * and it is not like he *didn’t* had his contribution. 🙂

      Also that ref was horrible for United. Ramos dived like a proper Spaniard and gives RVP and Valencia a yellow, but Varane is allowed to not only stay on the field, but get away with not even a yellow or free kick after that break through situation. What a joke.

      On a side note, I am harsh on RVP for own interest. He needs to grow at United to lead the kids in Brazil. If he starts to choke on this level, the kids can not look to him as the cool collected ruthless example they count on. Sneijder was such a player, RVP is not (yet) IMO.

    2. DRB, I have same impression about RvP. It seems to me like he has reverted to his old wasteful self the past 4-5 games. He is missing very simple chances. I hope this ends soon and doesn’t become a habit.

    3. How u think like that. he had 3 chances and 2 of them was 50/50. he did very well about two of them, i can bet if rooney was there also he cannot shot on target( the last chance) his shot was too good, and wonderful also when he hit the post, he had just 1 very very good opportunity and he was unlucky, u see goal keeper cannot do anything but alonso was there, i think van persie was awesome totally, he played well. DRB u disappoint me from urself i think u just saw 1 of his shot, and u think he had get goal from anywhere when he shot. i think he have to get 3/5 like other Man u players, better than Rooney who was totally awful, and behind Superstar De Gea.

      1. http://nos.nl/video/473893-van-persie-had-moeten-scoren.html

        Don’t know if you can speak a bit Dutch, but in this interview he actually admits he has to make chance number 2 of the 3 chances he got yesterday.

        I agree with you he had a good game apart from scoring. Good hold up play, good dribbling, good key pass on Wellbeck, good flicks/headers to Kagawa making deep runs, good defensive header clearances, good work rate.

        However that ball, let’s call it chance nr 2 of 3, had to be a goal. Simple as that. Why do I not let it slide? Because before the game I had my own definition of what success would mean. Why? Because of what he did against Denmark and him disappearing on the WC. Was in front of goal and messed up his first touch, after that, they scored and we lost the game. After that, every game becomes hard and must win games. This needs to get out of his game and we have every right to demand from our striker to be clinical. In Brazil many top teams will have more quality in many positions, except in striker position where we have RVP, but then he must be clinical and deadly when the opportunity comes. Goals also create air for the kids to play easier football. For that, RVP needs to grow first as so far he has a choker history on international level. He has the return leg as another grow opportunity.

        I don’t give a damn for what United fans think as they don’t represent my own interest and that is the Dutch NT. Playing 1 game for the Dutch NT is more important than the entire club and history of United. I look at a game with that own interest in mind and with my own metric of success.

        I am not here to disappoint or make people happy, I am here to give my honest opinion. Don’t try to change my mind by saying I disappoint you, playing with giving and retracting respect. I made an observation and observations do not always feel nice. Do you agree with RVP and me that the chance that Alonso cleared from the line should have been a goal?

  48. missed the van persie game, heres the schedule for next week

    Friday february 15 new york -5:00 gmt time

    Spain
    3:30 or 15;30
    Sevilla vs deportivo de coruno (maduro)

    Germany
    2:30 or 14:30
    Wolfsburg vs bayern munich (bas dost, arjen robben)

    Turkey

    13:00 or 1:00

    Akhisar Belediye vs Galatasaray (sneijder)

    Saturday february 16

    2:45 pm or 14:45
    As Roma vs Juventus (stekelenburg)

    9:30am

    Hamburg vs Borussia monglendbach (van der vaart, bruma, luuk de jong, roel brouwers)

    Mainz vs Schalke 04 (huntelaar?)
    Werder bremen vs Freiburg (elia)

    3:15 or 15:15
    Gil vincente vs Sporting lisbon (van wolfswinkel, boulahrouz?)

    Sunday february 17

    10:00am

    liverpool vs swansea city (vorm, de guzman)

    3:00pm or 15:00

    Soucheaux vs psg (van der wiel)

    6:30am
    Vitesse vs Gronigigen (van ginkel, van aanholt)
    8:30am
    Pec zwolle vs Feyenoord (clasie, boetus, de vrij, BMI, janmaat)
    10:30
    rkc waalwijk vs Ajax

    3:15 or 15:15
    Benfica vs academia (ola john)

    Monday february 18
    3:00pm or 15:00
    Manchester united vs Reading

    Tuesday february 19

    2:45 or 14:45

    Arsenal vs Bayern (robben)

    Wednesday february 20th

    2:45 or 14:45
    Galatasaray vs Schalke 04 (sneijder, huntelaar?)

  49. I agree with DRB300. RVP is great week in week out but when it comes to big games he misses too many opportunities, his 2nd should’ve been a goal!!! and with that goal Real was almost dead.

    Although I saw Robin with more determination than in other games so that’s good and with Sir Alex he has a winner not like Wenger who WAS a winner.

    1. how u talking about it? what have he do for hise first and third shhot? his shot was powerful and go the best side of the target, Lopez was lucky for first one and good for 3rd one.
      i cannot undrestand u gays? how can score about 1st and 3rd shot? u know better side of target than van persie to choose? he wasn’t one on one for his two chances, and shot with power in target, i think Man U fans satisfied with Persie, but Orange fans not never satisfied if they cannot win, if van persie score a goal and miss those Opportunuties in second half u shots like he did, u all said he was wonderfull. Orange fans just see who score, nothing else, U disappoint me Miguel and DRB about ur analys. just go and read a little what Man u Fans think.

  50. Yesterday RVP started slowly,Ramos gave him an yellow as usaul like a spanish bastard.No one in than united team had the leavel of RVP in terms of intellignce and skills.Roony played crap,so is kagawa.It was Welbeck and Persie doing evrything thing.I forgot to add that roony did some help in defence.I saw many corners were cleared by perise.So he was in defnce too.
    Lopez saved madrid from persie 2 times..Once fierce hit he saved and it hit the bar.then another full diving saving in the end o0f the match.It was true that RVP could nt time well for the shot which alonso saved from line..But that happens with everyone.RVP gave plenty of oepninghs for his team mates.But they were nuts/or not enough t finish that.so why blame RVP???

  51. I think RVP doing not too badly, even though Im disappointed he did not score. All given 3 opportunities he has tried his best. 1st and 3rd he hss his best shots, but GK made very good saves. I don’t think he can do better for the 2nd as GK has come forward and madrid players were behind him and made RVP in wierd position to shoot. I do agree he is not messi or c ronaldo or even drogba.

    1. @Jake RVP is a Genius of a player ,i agree that he doesnt have the skills of Messi and CR7.But he is way to better than Drogba in any aspect except power..Drogba was a powerful forward.With out injury RVP would have scored more number of goals than Drogba thats for sure.
      Messi is blessed to play with Xavi and ineasta.Both are genious of players and both are much more intelligent than messi.Thats why messi chockes in Arjentina.Its not messi’s fault.U need good clever team mates to win anything or fiding more number of goals.football is played by 11 players at a time.It is team game.U need some 3/4 brilliant players with skilled and hardworking players to win a trophy..
      Same goes with Ronaldo,but Ronaldo has more pace like roben.So if we take individually i think CR7 is the best.he has carried MANU,Portugal and Real..While messi couldnt.Ronaldo is deadly when he combines with deadly Angel de Maria and Ozil.its unstoppable.i really wonder how MANU could stop such agile,speedy,trickery players for 90 minutes.When u compare Ronaldo’s attacking partners and RVP’s u can see a huge quality difference.
      ———–RVP–Benzema————–
      Kagawa-Demaria—-Ozil-Rooney—–Ronaldo-Welbeck…
      Now u tell me who has more potent attack????????
      its simple RM has the edge but they loose that in defence..I really wonder if it was RVP was playing with
      De maria—Ozil and Ronaldo–Manu would have conceded 4 goals.
      MANu was lucky that Benzema was/is always a shit and overrated..

  52. I cannot just Undrestand how u think Arsenal Game Man City Game Chelsea Game was small game for Man U. maybe u know better and u can told me about Big game in EPL. i think u think EPL is small league, and just Man u – Real Madrid Is big game :))))))). no other one.

  53. I think guys you’re being so harsh on RVP . Actually i think he was good yesterday .
    He should have scored , however , he played very good football with great skills and ball control .
    Persie , aside with wellbeck and carrick , they were the best players in MAN U .

    Perhaps Messi and Ronaldo are more talented , but in my humble opinion Persie is just as effective as them .

  54. persie wasn’t as bad as some critics say. de gea was the best united player. the game wasn’t too exciting. on the other hand,tuesday night i was hugely impressed by juventus. alongside barca and bayern i consider them the biggest favourites of the champions league.

    1. Juventus played terrible in my opinion. Scoring on counter attacks against celtic is not a great display of dominance in my opinion. Barcelona, Bayern and Madrid remain the favorites on my book.

  55. I actually liked RVP and maybe I didn’t express myself well enough 😛

    He had 3 opportunities but the only missed was his second because his 1st and 3rd he did everything well and as some said he was maybe the best player for Man U with Welbeck and De Gea.

    In my opinion RVP is at the level of Ronaldo and Messi but he is still not considered to be at that level for the general public opinion and maybe that’s why some of us (including me) are too harsh on him because we know that if he scores in these type of games consistently he’ll be considered to be at the level of Ronaldo and Messi.

    1. @miguel…
      i think its about popularity,RVP is less popular comapred to messi and CR7.if u go to india they would know messi and ronaldo only..its kind of marketing the name.do u think beckahm is greater than persie???no way…There are only few genius football lovers are in this world they will know the value of this genius player…like SAF etc..Most of the CR7 and messi fans are bit ignorant than RVP fans…
      RVP ‘s poplairty is incresing after his arrival in old traford

    2. @Miguel. RVP cannot and is not on the same level as Ronaldo or Messi. These 2 guys deliver every game and at highest level. RVP choked yesterday, Ronaldo scored and created a number of his own chances. Remember Everton game last weekend? If Heitinga kept RVP goal out it would have counted as another bad choke. Weak hit and unlucky Heitinga to slip at last moment. Minutes earlier RVP hit the side bar with an open goal at his mercy. Including yesterday’s misses I see a pattern here that I hope is momentary. If he doesn’t score the next game against Real and Man U is eliminated then his reputation would take a big hit.
      Of those 3 chances yesterday, first one was a good shot of with his right foot, second SHOULD have been a goal I don’t care how many players were surrounding him a genius like him should have found the way, the 3rd shot at 92 min could have been hit much better as he has done so from that position many times before.
      If it wasn’t for DeGea Man U would have been eliminated already. I predict a 2-2 for second leg.

  56. PSV tweeted they’ve signed Farshad Noor:

    PSV A1-speler Farshad Noor (18) heeft vanmiddag in het Philips Stadion zijn handtekening gezet onder zijn eerste profcontract bij PSV. #psv

  57. Rekik is off to Blackburn Rovers. Is going to learn how to play hoof football and nurture the art of kicking the ball as hard as possible into the stance whenever getting pressured a bit.

      1. I should have mentioned that it is a loan deal, but looking at Nastasic, his direct competitor for the left center back spot, I do not understand how he thinks he can improve his football ability in that division. Nastasic is so comfortable on the ball that I think that Rekik should try to become just as good in that department.

        Boggles the mind what these kids and their parents think in terms of optimal development.

        1. blackburn is 6 points off the pace for qualification to the playoffs for promotion to the premier league, and 7 games to go, so hey if they make the -playoffs with rekik, i would so see the games

          1. Look for the reply. Don’t remember the assist; came after nice footballing. Ajax has been working the ball very well today.

            Van Rijn finished with composure.

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