World Cup 2010 was a high for most fans, but at the same time a bit bittersweet. We reached the finals and if it wasn’t for Casilla’s toe, we would have won it.
But we didn’t play great football. We didn’t dazzle. And even JC started to detach himself! We expected to improve but the next big tournament was a disaster!
While in 2008, we showed so much promise with this squad.
Still, in 2008 and 2010, we impressed also with the fact that Oranje was such a family oriented group. The lads all had little kids and it’s no secret that Raf van der Vaart’s son Damien has garnered interest from different clubs while little Van Persie almost was snatched up by Chelsea!
I’m pretty sure Van Bommel has a couple of little brats, so does Gio van Bronckhorst… Van Nistelrooy…
With Daley Blind, we have the eigth international making his debut, just like his dad did before him. The 22 year old Ajax defender started against Italy last week. His dad, Danny Blind, is assistant team manager and has 42 caps behind his name. If he hadn’t been in the same generation as Ronald Koeman, he would have played at least a 100 internationals.
Martin Koeman, Ronald’s dad, played only one international but he can boast to have two sons in the orange jersey. Ronald played 78 caps and Erwin played 31. The older Koeman was brought into Oranje at the Euros 1988 and helped Oranje win it.
Johan Cruyff, the most famous Dutch player (and one of the best if not The Best in the world ever) only played 48 international games. His son Jordi was a good player but lacked his dad magic. Still played 9 internationals and excelled at the Euros1996 in England under Hiddink.
Other father/son combinations are Wim van der Gijp and Rene van der Gijp. The Sparta/PSV winger didn’t play that many internationals. A bit more serious living would have increased this number. Jan Mulder, striker of Anderlecht and Ajax reached the Dutch team, like his son striker Youri (Twente, Schalke 04). Jan Everse senior and junior both played for Oranje (and Feyenoord) and Jerry de Jong (PSV) and Nigel de Jong ( Ajax, Hamburg, Man City, AC Milan) wore the jersey.
Then there is the brother connection. We have had 18 pairs of brothers in Oranje, in the past 110 years. Ola John was the last, as his bro’ Collins made his debut in 2004 under Marco van Basten. He played two games in orange. The first brothers were Tonny and De Kessler. The most famous ones were most likely the Van de Kerkhof (Rene and Willy in the 1970s), Ronald and Erwin Koeman (in the 1980s) and Frank and Ronald de Boer (in the 90s/00s).
There there is the Witsgche brothers (Richard and Rob), the Muhrens, the Van der Gijps and most recently, Siem and Luuk de Jong.
Feel free to add to the list in the comments below :-).
Ola John is also the eleventh international to be born outside of Holland. Siem and Luuk de Jong are in that group too (Switzerland).
Jonathan de Guzman was born in Canada. His brother Julian still plays for Canada. But De Guzman is not the first Canada-born player wearing the Oranje jersey.
Pop Quiz: Which Dutch forward was the first Canada born player to grace the Dutch National Team?
John Van ‘t Schip
Was it that easy?
I remembered it from Canadian soccer articles I read talking about all the Canadians who choose to play for other national teams
Not as impressive as Eidur Gudjohnsson being subbed on for his father in an international game. They never got to play together, but I’m sure that’s as close as anyone has ever come.
I don’t know how you think but this generation brings too many hot prospects more than many other generations or am I just too excited? lol 😛
Well only taking the midfield triangle, it starts to allow the coach to make many different nuances in personnel to carry out his game plan for any specific opponent. At the moment we have a controlling midfielder, a midfield runner doing a bit of controlling and a bit of attacking and we have a midfielder that is more attack orientated and fulfills the creative spark.
For the controlling midfielder role we have:
* Sober but solid option in Nigel de Jong. Was the best player against Russia Euro 2008 and also Germany Euro 2012 IMO. He was also very good against Juve for Milan recently before his injury.
* More dynamic, more pressing, slightly more attacking option in Anita (bonus: speed)
* More attacking option with Clasie, thinking forwardly and having the creative pass forwardly.
For the midfield runner role we have:
* Strootman, bringing metal and good long ball distribution with reasonable box to box ability
* Afellay, bringing less defensive ability but who is a bit more technical and able to go 1 vs 1.
* Van Ginkel, a box to box player with a balanced game being defensive able and having an attacking spark.
* Fer, the muscle variant with great stamina, goal scoring ability and battle power, but less handling speed and short passing ability than all of them.
For the attacking midfield option:
* Sneijder as a pass master, short long, great for the counter and ability to raise the general Dutch game.
* VDV as a pass master, but just a level below Sneijder.
* Maher for great all round play with a dynamic component. Very technical, good in the small spaces, so that he can play close to RVP and do dangerous wall passes. That is clutch if you press high as you play with 21 men on 1 half at times.
* Lens is an interesting attacking option especially behind RVP with his flicking and through ball ability. Lens being the more penetrating option of them all.
General players:
* Vilhena is also an up and comer, but for him it is still uncertain where he will evolve, more as a controller or as an attacking midfielder. Koeman left that open in a recent interview.
* De Guzman with great distribution. Came in for Clasie as Clasie was a bit injured, but can easily do both other midfield roles.
Van Gaal certainly has options and can also really select on fitness now. I mean Fer was not that good in his first season for Twente. Strootman dipped big time second half last season. Clasie is now past his dip of first half of the season. van Ginkel had a strong start of this season and became ready. De Guzman went away from a relegated club, where he was bench material at times, to play in a very nice and relative successful club as “Swanselona”. Maher matured and was under van Marwijk not really ready yet.
For me it’s a mix between these players already being in the pipeline to be ready for the senior team in time (Strootman already was of course) and van Gaal also giving many players chances. BMI for example is a van Gaal try out and it worked, but with another coach I am not sure he was already picked. BMI is not doing that well on left back at Feyenoord IMO. Van Gaal gave him trust and now he has surpassed Mathijsen. Many other coaches would have gone for Douglas instead of de Vrij. Van Gaal does play his role in “this burst” of new talent. Once players are tried and they leave a good impression, people experience that as a burst of new talent, but mind you. Loads of players are able to leave a good first impression after their first caps. Then the question comes, if they can keep up. Quite some players that now are given chances will be gone quickly enough.
Interesting post, I don’t really believe Anita has a future with the selection, he did a pretty good work with Ajax, but he is no material. His first games with the selection (as left back) were awful, even worst than Braafheid, and he isn’t doing it so well with Newcastle and won’t keep his place, especially with all the players who just came, it’s possible that he leaves next summer. Anita runs a lot, but his short passing is quite bad, and he always gets stressed with the ball, he is really two tons under N.De Jong and one under Clasie.
Schaars is also an interesting player when he is in form, he doesn’t play in the best club to express it, but I always liked this player, good balance defense/attack, good long balls, good shot, good controls…And while everyone seems to want young players, I think guys like him and De Guzman who are 25/27, can keep a good balance in the team, not too young, not old.
You didn’t put Van der Vaart in the midefield runner but he played many times at this position with Oranje and Real, he can defend more than Afellay, and he is much better technically than Strootman, Van Ginkel or Fer, he’s a good link between the defense line and the attack, can keep the ball, give long and short passes etc.
>>> “I don’t really believe Anita has a future with the selection, he did a pretty good work with Ajax, but he is no material. His first games with the selection (as left back) were awful, even worst than Braafheid, and he isn’t doing it so well with Newcastle and won’t keep his place, especially with all the players who just came, it’s possible that he leaves next summer. Anita runs a lot, but his short passing is quite bad, and he always gets stressed with the ball, he is really two tons under N.De Jong and one under Clasie”<<>>Schaars is also an interesting player when he is in form, he doesn’t play in the best club to express it, but I always liked this player, good balance defense/attack, good long balls, good shot, good controls…And while everyone seems to want young players, I think guys like him and De Guzman who are 25/27, can keep a good balance in the team, not too young, not old.<<>>You didn’t put Van der Vaart in the midefield runner but he played many times at this position with Oranje and Real, he can defend more than Afellay, and he is much better technically than Strootman, Van Ginkel or Fer, he’s a good link between the defense line and the attack, can keep the ball, give long and short passes etc.<<<
The division I made is not absolute. There will be exceptions, like there are exceptions with using right footed players on left positions and vice versa. Vlaar is right footed, but played left center back under van Gaal. However van Gaal said repeatedly that Sneijder, VDV and Maher belong to the same profile sketch, so I did not look at where he played at Real, under van Marwijk or at Spurs (sometimes right wing), but what van Gaal has in mind and how he categorized him with his laptop full of profile sketches under his arm. Then the game is for journalists is to find inconsistencies in his set of rules and there are always one or two. For example last time they selected Leerdam for U21 (van Gaal, Pot and others discussed that with the whole group), while Leerdam does not play at Feyenoord. For van Gaal players need to play for their club, yet the dip in quality was too big to consider other options. I guess that under pressure also van Gaal deviates from his rules.
Cheers
Laurent you can disregard this post. After I hit “submit comment” half my story was not posted or mixed up.
>”I don’t really believe Anita has a future with the selection, he did a pretty good work with Ajax, but he is no material. His first games with the selection (as left back) were awful, even worst than Braafheid, and he isn’t doing it so well with Newcastle and won’t keep his place, especially with all the players who just came, it’s possible that he leaves next summer. Anita runs a lot, but his short passing is quite bad, and he always gets stressed with the ball, he is really two tons under N.De Jong and one under Clasie”
Laurent can I ask you for a specific game or moment in DM from Anita where he disappointed you? I agree with left and right back position, but the thing with Anita is that he jumps levels, once he is played as single DM. I liked him there for Ajax and they went on a 14 game winning streak once he took over, collecting their second title in a row. Anita at the end of their first title winning season was also important. I think Ajax never lost a game with Anita in DM. Newcastle is a hoof team that only “pass and move” so now and then in the game or not even that. Now they bought all big strong players and Anita will suffer. I hope he moves to Swansea this summer.
>Schaars is also an interesting player when he is in form, he doesn’t play in the best club to express it, but I always liked this player, good balance defense/attack, good long balls, good shot, good controls…And while everyone seems to want young players, I think guys like him and De Guzman who are 25/27, can keep a good balance in the team, not too young, not old.
Well van Gaal was AZ coach when Schaars was there and they liked each other, so never say never. However I think Schaars lacks handling speed. That became painfully obvious in a friendly against England where the game ended in 2-2 IIRC. Not the time he was as a left back option. I have always had a soft spot for Schaars as he is leader material. However I recently read this:
http://www.fcupdate.nl/voetbalnieuws/227158/schaars-ik-was-opvulling-bij-nederlands-elftal/
He talks about being fat up with his role in Oranje and would probably not have settled for his marginal role in the team anymore. In that role he does not really see a future for himself. So Schaars does not look back that happy on the NT period he had. If he really means that, then it will be very problematic issue for Schaars to be part of the Brazil 2014 campaign.
>You didn’t put Van der Vaart in the midefield runner but he played many times at this position with Oranje and Real, he can defend more than Afellay, and he is much better technically than Strootman, Van Ginkel or Fer, he’s a good link between the defense line and the attack, can keep the ball, give long and short passes etc.
The division I made is not absolute. There will be exceptions, like there are exceptions with using right footed players on left positions and vice versa. Vlaar is right footed, but played left center back under van Gaal. However van Gaal said repeatedly that Sneijder, VDV and Maher belong to the same profile sketch, so I did not look at where he played at Real, under van Marwijk or at Spurs (sometimes right wing), but what van Gaal has in mind and how he categorized him with his laptop full of profile sketches under his arm. Then the game is for journalists is to find inconsistencies in his set of rules and there are always one or two. For example last time they selected Leerdam for U21 (van Gaal, Pot and others discussed that with the whole group), while Leerdam does not play at Feyenoord. For van Gaal players need to play for their club, yet the dip in quality was too big to consider other options. I guess that under pressure also van Gaal deviates from his rules.
Cheers
TFC Ajax’s answer.
Vermeer is injured. Does anyone know how bad? Amsterdam will be the venue for Europa League final. Wonder if that is enough incentive for Ajax to play well to make it to final.
I like the Kerkhof, the Muhrens, the Koemans. I think Oranje do well with the brothers in the team. Perhaps both De Jong Luuk and Siem may make it in 2014 or 2016.
If LVG can bring the WC, he probably will laugh at JC and anyone who doubts him. It’d be interesting to watch his interview after winning the WC. Sorry I am dreaming too soon.
Some results of the past weeks from the youth teams:
U16 did not win the tournament in Portugal. Final table:
1. Portugal 3-9 (6-2)
2. Nederland 3-4 (5-3)
3. Oostenrijk 3-2 (2-3)
4. Schotland 3-1 (2-7)
last game Netherlands lost from Portugal with 2-1. In that game the following names:
* Yanick van Osch;
* Jeffrey Neral,
* Keziah Veendorp,
* Calvin Verdonk,
* Mauro Savastano (53. Rick van der Meer);
* Danny van Haaren,
* Marlon Slabbekoorn,
* Laros Duarte;
* Ezra Walian, (scored)
* Dani van der Moot,
* Anthony Berenstein (68. Vince Gino Dekker).
Walian and Moot are the great finishers of that class. Slabbekoorn gets quite some buzz as a great attacking midfielder in the making and is from Feyenoord.
U17 Had a draw, a loss and a win in their tournament as preparation for the elite round to qualify for the Euro. The finished third (with 4 points) behind Portugal (5 points) and winner Germany (7 points)
The Draw: 1-1 vs Portugal
* Groothuizen;
* Sanhieze,
* Van Bruggen,
* Loof (Mirani/80),
* Riedewald,
* Amin, (scored)
* Ouwejan,
* Vissers,
* Kada,
* Stokkers
* Mohamadi
Vissers is a midfielder with potential.
Then the next game was lost against the Germans with 3-1
* Houwen,
* Gronsveld,
* Mirani, (scored)
* Bulut,
* Owusu (Riedewald/72),
* Dos Santos Souza (Ben Mohamadi/72),
* Nieuwkoop,
* Paal,
* Gootjes,
* Idrissi
* Mathieu
Paal is the attacking midfielder that gets quite some buzz. Idrissi is a name I here quite some time as well and is more an attacker.
Then the next game was won against England with 1-0:
* Groothuizen (Houwen/50),
* Gronsveld (Owosu/50),
* Van Bruggen, (scored)
* Mirani (Gootjes/50),
* Riedewald (Lartey Sannieze/58),
* Amin, Vissers,
* Paal,
* Kada,
* Stokkers (Ouwejan/50)
* Idrissi (Loof/50)
Many subs I see and Stuivenberg (coach of U17) really used this tournament to get to know people and play the best team in the elite round.
Next team is U19 who won from Scotland U19 with 2-1:
De Jong (Feyenoord),
Disveld (NEC),
Van Beek (Feyenoord),
Rekik (Man. City/c),
Woudenberg (Feyenoord),
Dogan (Sparta),
Achachbar (Feyenoord),
Aké (Chelsea), (scored)
Talsma (Vitesse),
Overeem (AZ)
Depay (PSV). (scored)
Rekik, Achahbar, Ake, Depay being the big ones but already known from the U17 title.
Next the aspire team losing 3-0 from Scotland:
Van der Lei (Verhulst/46),
Te Wierik,
Letschert (Veltman/46),
Van de Pavert (Denswil/46),
Bakker (Van Ooijen/46),
Drost,
Ziyech,
Jansen (Foor/46),
Slagveer (Lukoki/46),
Schalk (Valpoort/46),
Elbers
Many subs and this team normally is filled with players that are never going to make it. I think Denswil is the only big talent in this group, being a left central defender and Lukoki has an outside chance to make some appearances for the senior team.
Finally the U21 team winning with 3-2 from Croatia:
* Zoet (Bizot/46),
* Leerdam,
* Van Dijk (Van der Hoorn/46),
* Nuytinck (Bruma/46),
* Van Aanholt,
* Van Haaren (Bruns/46),
* Duarte,
* Bacuna (Vilhena/46) (scored),
* Van la Parra (Jozefzoon/46),
* De Jong (scored) (Locadia/46) (scored),
* Wildschut (Boëtius/46)
Van der Hoorn is a new face from Utrecht that is getting rep lately as Utrecht do well in the Eredivisie. 1.90 right footed central midfielder. Also dangerous with dead ball moments. Steady grower.
We also see the Feyenoord boys Vilhena and Boëtius making their debut and so did Locadia. Vilhena and Locadia both scored. This group will look drastically different when they go to Israel for the Euro.
Cheers
Found a video from the Dutch U21 game vs Croatia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rKpMBfFlmow
Appreciate the report DRB.
Interesting thing is that Kenneth Paal looks to be the youngest player in U17 team born in 1997,while that guy that many poeple talk about-Slabbekoorn is also born in 1997 but not selected for the team;still playing for U16.
Paal is the big talent of PSV. He shares football characteristics with Slabbekoorn. Both should be developed into surging attacking midfielders with acceleration. Nouri is a pass master. Paal has also been left winger and Slabbekoorn can also play more in attack. In the youth these kids are put everywhere at times. Nouri has even been striker at Ajax IIRC.
Those 3 are big ones from 1997 and could form a very good hart of the team. Then there are the finishers like Walian and Moot. I like players that can create something on their own though.
Tonny Vilhena, Super Passes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dlSZgtRkNQ
http://odds.football-data.co.uk/football/england/premier-league/specials/pfa-player-of-the-year/
Dammit, Bale is closing in on RVP to become PFA player of the year. With those stupid tomahawk free kicks peoples mind get into brain freeze and think he is the second coming of Ronaldo. On “match of the day” they already started to link Bale with Ronaldo/Messi by association (just as important for Spurs as those two for their teams), now his coach AVB just goes for a flat out equation with the Portuguese winger.
RVP will have to double his efforts as there is no bigger bias than the English bias towards their own or in this case a player from a cosy part of GB. One more of those free kicks and RVP will have to win CL, FA cup and the EPL on his own to stay ahead. That’s pretty much the bias we are talking about here.
And yes that is Lampard getting the same odds on that list as Suarez. Yes he is.
when they choose “PFA player of the year”??
Great article as always Jan… Lets hope that the family traditions continue with alot of the current Dutch NT stars having sons.
Just saw Cillessen’s saves from the Ajax Europa game. Gee!! He really did make some massive saves. Apparently in his 5 appearances across the Eredivisie, KNVB Cup and in Europe… he has not conceded a goal
I personally would rather see Cillessen in net for Ajax than Vermeer.
I disagree but really rate Cillesen..he is ahead of gks like velthuizen zoet mulder waterman!!! IMO
this is messed up if true , inter milan messing things up
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2013/02/14/wesley-sneijder-confirms-man-united-made-17m-bid-and-that-he-wanted-old-trafford-switch/
just in case so you guys get the games going on
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?)
Two minutes into the Galatasaray game, and Sneijder made a huge mental lapse… a lazy short pass was intercepted for a fast break. No goal scored. But Sneijder looked ridiculous.
Yikes.
i don’t know if he’s saving up for the champions league or what, but he is absent from this game
Waiting for Drogba? Maybe second half…
Nice pass from Sneijder to set up the second goal, slotted a tap back for Drogba into the box.
Sneijder is Sneijder but he also has to adapt to Turkish football and he can make mistakes he hasn’t played for a long time he still has to find his form.
Robben didn’t play for bayern today again, maybe they rest him for Arsenal game.
Robben come in 79 minute, and score in 90′. good for him, he go to find himself maybe./
I have a question I have wanted to ask for awhile and I can’t seem to find an answer, maybe this is the best place. Can someone please tell my why Cruyff has never coached the national team and why it is so certain that he never will? He is constantly questioned about squads and tactics etc., but he has never coached. Why?
In case of 1990 there is this article that explains it:
http://tinyurl.com/3s2w842
You can use google translation for the details, but basically Rinus Michels did not want Cruyff as NT coach. He asked the players, then the players wanted to vote, they voted and Cruyff was the choice, then Michels overruled that vote and appointed Beenhakker. Why Michels did not want Cruyff? Probably out of jealousy.
In 1992 Michels did it again, so blocked Cruyff himself probably.
In 1994 there was a money issue. If you want the exact details, then press the link under this post and use Google trasnlate (can only submit 1 link per post on this website). It was simply about salary and his % of the profit in case Netherlands won in 1994. Maybe Michels pressed to play hardball behind the scenes there as well, I don’t know. Looking at the negotiation time span it’s pretty short, so maybe Cruyff thought he had time and leverage as he was popular under the general population and had a strong case and then the Dutch FA used the deadline very strict to do what they wanted. I think you can put blame on Cruyff for 1994 as I like how van Basten reasons. It must be an honor and not be about money in the first place. Whether Cruyff was played there with a fast pull or not, he should have never started to play hardball as him was offered the highest honor. Hiss loss.
http://tinyurl.com/bt9f78c
@Donkersloot: maybe lack of love for his country? I mean he didn’t go to the 1978 WC and he didn’t want to coach his country.
In my opinion there are 3 hypothesis:
1) He wanted a loooot of cash $$$$$.
2) He was scared of failing.
3) Simply doesn’t feel as honoured as other coaches to work for his country.
>I mean he didn’t go to the 1978 WC
will give you the most likely answer. The oranje under JCs leadership were doing worse and worse, example is the 1976 EK. Just like every other system invented by man, total football was less and less effective. JC has plenty of ego, he wanted to be remembered as the king of soccer for what he did in 1974 and he cared about his legacy … He probably thought based on decline and the bad circumstances looming (junta, etc) that the oranje had no chance in 1978 and he simply didn’t want to risk a bad performance…
Alas, Krol Haan and Happel had a different opinion though 🙂 and the 1978 was one of the toughest and best playing ever… A perfect balance of ability almost like the 74 and toughness like the 2010…
JC and Van Hanegem made a big mistake then, especially Wim….
Also his family was kept hostile at gun point for a few hours that season when playing for Barca. A crazy man got into their apartment with a gun and it was a very serious situation also with his kid(s) being there. He promised after that incident to his wife to stay the summer with the family. Made a big impression on the family and they wanted to put it behind them by spending the summer as a family together. Many superstars get into divorces, but Cruyff is still with his wife. Things like this have contributed to that I think.
I am aware of the story. Although it could have been a factor I am not sure that was the real reason though.
http://futbol.as.com/futbol/2013/02/15/internacional/1360958809_746552.html
Ruud to Inter to replace Milito?
Please excuse if this is a repeat post. From last week:
We fixed it! Peru senator claims 1978 World Cup game against Argentina was rigged
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2098970/Argentina-cheated-World-Cup-1978-says-Peru-senator.html#ixzz2L2PQsqsc
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2098970/Argentina-cheated-World-Cup-1978-says-Peru-senator.html
“…now former Peruvian Senator Genaro Ledesma has confirmed the shock result was agreed before the match by the dictatorships of the two countries.”
When i saw RUUD last time he was like a ghost of his own.Was very slow…i wonder about this rumour…may be its just a rumour.
I have nothing against Wesly,vaart,heitinga,Joris,Bula,Afalley,kuyt if Van Gaal brings these guys again we wont see fluid football again,more likely they would brake the rhythem.Vaart was able to play as holding mid ,but it was PAST.Now he doesnt have the lungs and legs have for that.lets pay thanks to vaart and give him a good farewell..it applies to many in Euro2012 squad members.not only to vaart…Wait and see how wesly does with Galatasray.
let be fix with Leory,Stroot,Clasie,Deguzman….
Jan can you write an article about Zenden. He seems like a player who never really achieved his full potential with Oranje and for some strange reason has less caps than he should have…
One of my all times favorite wingers . I always believed Zenden was under-rated .
I’ll do my best
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhac1NkIPPo&feature=player_embedded
Watch this galatasaray highlight
Sneijder’s name was mentioned in almost every gala’s attack
I dont think he played bad
He played much better after that give-away in the first two minutes. Akhisar isn’t a big town, but the crowd was intense. He rose to the occasion, esp. in the second half, and worked well with Drogba. Class showed.
It’s going to be fun to watch them work together.
did not see the game, but apparently stekelenburg had a great game shutting out juventus to win 1-0 for as roma
I’ve seen the game , Stek wasn’t really tested . he only saved a free kick by pirlo in the 1st half , made a bad mistake by the end of the game could have changed the result to 1-1 , but he was lucky .
anyway he will be better by time . he has to regain his confidence .
VdV scored an incredible goal today for his team .
@Mohamed: thanks for the updates. It’s good Stekelenburg was in the starting 11 but was the other goalkeeper injured or suspended? or do they have a new coach?
No they have a new coach , Miguel .
they have sacked Zeeman 2 weeks ago.
Quote Tiju: “lets pay thanks to vaart and give him a good farewell”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyUktXuoHyM
Did you write that before or after the game? Otherwise I was going to say maybe he read your comment before the game. 😛
Personally, I don’t think the VDV/Sneijder period is over just yet (seeing Sneijder’s highlights as well from Kelvin’s highlights). Heitinga needs more playing time perhaps, but I wouldn’t count him out either (remember Ooijer’s performance against Brazil/Fabiano in 2010? and the guy was playing at Blackburn at the time for crying out loud, don’t even remember if he was playing every game but everyone on this blog, including me, was counting him already out of our team, or not really talking about him unless to point out a weakness in our team, let’s put it like that, I only considered him for when it was raining or a very bad pitch, but he did very well under normal conditions).
Vaart is a class player…mercurious with ball…but iwas concerned about team balance and fluid football,and helping in defence etc..Vaart has lost his lungs…We need that..happy to see his goal…
oops, actually Ooijer had already returned to PSV and moved on to Ajax, he wasn’t playing much. Blackburn had already discarded him for being an old man. That’s sort of why I was thinking about Blackburn (in other words, he wasn’t even good enough for Blackburn anymore, so if Heitinga is still good enough for Everton…).
Cruyff missed his chances in 1990 and 1994 (see others’ comments above for possible reasons). After Barcelona time, he had surgery and his health is not good enough for him to coach competitive soccer anymore. His family may force him to make a promise not to coach again due to his health. I believe they may ask him again in 2006 and he recommended Van Basten.
It is good to see Stek, Wes and VDV show some good forms.
What happened to Feyenoord? how can they lose a game to zwelle. they disappointing me
Feyenoord conceded close to 20 of their total of 31 from dead ball situations (I believe the exact number is 18). Today they conceded 2 against Zwolle. This is a huge defensive weakness. Today also Pelle did not cover his man well enough to prevent him from scoring from a corner and Mulder the keeper was miscalculating with coming out of his goal. So it’s not only the backline, also other players just not carrying out their defensive duty enough.
Then they have Immers behind the striker as the most advanced midfielder who can’t convert chances. The volume of the clear cut chances Immers failed to score this season has been enough to make Feyenoord already champions had he converted them all. Chances will always be missed, but Immers takes things to another level.
Then other players joined Immers in missing big chances, like Verhoek and Vilhena. Especially Vilhena’s chance for the 2-3 at the start of the second half would have been perfectly timed.
IMO Koeman is to blame. He puts it on his team in his post match interviews and always on the people already pulling more than their own weight, making sure the real weak team components are out of the spotlights to continue to play them.
IMO Immers is a weak factor and needs to be replaced by a better chance converter. He needs to focus on set piece defense as an old defender. He has 4 Dutch internationals at the back. If he can’t get it out of their game, then he does a lousy job as a coach. Many coaches have to work with less material and do better in this regard.
Koeman said that if Martins Indi doesn’t do better as linkback, he would put him on the bench cause he is satisfied with Mathijsen…
Really silly from him to say that, I don’t know how Martins Indi will react.
Tnx DRB300. 😉 U R best
Stekelenburg’s news are great to know. How can a WC finalist and great goalkeeper be on the bench? Roma’s last coach was obviously an idiot.
You can ask Mourinho the same question 😀
Haha
LOL 😀
In my opinion it’s Psv or Ajax, can’t imagine Feyenoord making it, losing to Psv next week might be fatal for Koeman’s squad. I agree on Immers.
I watched Roma juve fully yesterday, and I have to admit, I was always a big fan of steklenburg as our first choice for oranje! The guy has the look of a great goalkeeper look, with all due respect for krul, but skelenburg is more complete! Krul is good in certain areas and not that great in others, meanwhile steklenburg is a real monster! If it wasn’t for his extraterrestrial save against kaka in that quarter final, oranje game with brazil would’ve been over that day in South Africa ! This is a link for his save against pirlo free kick yesterday, it was low and tricky, he did great!! http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Ar14dNM8u4I&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DAr14dNM8u4I
Onzie thanks for the schedules. I luv them
Defense is a collective effort,i think Feynoord defense is not Gelling with old Joris..De vrij would do great if he get BMI as his center partner..i think joris is the issue there.BMI would do well in center.As for natonal team.Annholt is on the way to world class,speedy,trickery LB,he was awesome in last match, we have in him and Blind is not bad either..Koeman should bench joris and should play with BMI-Devrij in center and should find a replacement for immers.then he have a chance..
Defense for Nt
Annholt-Blind as LBs
BMI-Bruma as LCBs
douglas-Devrij as RCBs
Rhijn-Janmaat as RBs
Bruma is doing well with hsv though he got card in last match.
hooold on. Bruma as LCB?
@Van fadly..This guy Bruma is lacking a good coach.i wish he was in feynoord with koeman..He has speed and a man of ferocious tackles.he would brake CR7,Messi leg in clean tackles.All he need is support..He can contribute a lot to NT than Afellay,Elia,Narsingh,Schaken,kuyt,Joris etc.At presnet Bruma is not worst than Vlaar or Joris so why not him?..thats why i poinetd out that.In addition to this he has dextrus feet like wesly..He can even play as LB but that would be too much…Bruma is a Big loss for national team…its IMO
no, my point is, he is a right-footed player.
I know that he’s capable of playing on RCB/RB. but LCB?
Hah ha Manshitty is fu$$%ed up without DEjong
An interesting stat about Nijel….i doubt we will see the old nijel again after injury…
look at this link…Nijel is way too ahead of others..
http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/8394
It’s shocking that a great ex-center back like Koeman can’t recognize that BMI is a CB and not a LB. If Koeman benches BMI because he’s not doing too well as LB that could f**k BMI’s career.
I agree with you Miguel. I think Koeman is making mistake with that comment about BMI. I do not see how Joris is better than BMI.
Feyenoord is a little thin with left-footed defenders. LVG was right.
If Koeman doesn’t use BMI at left back, there aren’t many other options. So he may be right: The team could be stronger with Joris LCB and Bruno LB, given the options.
Given more depth at LB, Koeman might feel differently.
its not just they lack the players,Joris quality as LCB became poor now.BMI is also affected by joris and he is not as fast as Van annholt etc in LB.infact this leads him to underperform..Overall defense will get shaky coz of one bad defender..its collective unit of minimum 4.Put joris on bench and find a new lb or put a new player as LB.this will work.
Nelom and Kongolo are capable of playing on LB, right? and they’re left-footed players.
I’d rather strengthen my centerbacks rather than fullbacks. I mean, fullbacks mainly need speed, and Nelom+Kongolo have it. BMI would contribute more on LCB.
Are Nelom & Kongolo injured?
Transfermarkt.com says Kongolo has an “intraarticular ligament knee crack” or somesuch.
He just turned 19 and is back in training. Soon will be able to play again. Good, as he is more talented than BMI.
just reading the name of the injury already makes me scared.
Stek’s last performance highlight(1st and 2nd half Roma-Juventus):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSXL4q7sgmI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUPcZ2klujw
Well Joris has also played as LB he is slower than ever but it’s another option for Koeman.
Roma-Juventus highlights 1st and 2nd half (Stek was good).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSXL4q7sgmI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUPcZ2klujw
——————Stekelenburg——————-
—–Janmaat—-De Vrij—-BMI—-V.Aanholt——
———Sneijder—-Strootman—-Clasie———
———-Lens——–Persie——Robben———
Awesome line-up , Miguel .
2nd team :
krul,vorm
van rijn __ vlaar _ pieters( LCB or LB )
maher_fer_van ginkel (+ anita , de jong or VdV)
john_dost_elia
Mohmed peiters needs to re discover his form,Untill then we have Blind who is wise player though he is not speedy as PVA..
there are few players who has to prove they can play 120 minutes those are Vaart,Wesly,Nijel and peiters..i think wes is almost back in that level..untill then we need to go for other options…
i like ur line up..but i have some questions for u ok?
Who is better Janmaat or Rhijn as first choice???
We need pressing and fluid football isnt it?
Is wesly is fit and fast like maher?howmany distance he cover on pitch?
We know roben is not at back tracking and his fitness is also questionable Will it affect team balance????
@miguel,
I love ur team man, u just think like me;)
van aanholt, and back in form steklenburg will give a very solid defense all together
You guys keep talking about V.Aanholt. Did he get even one start yet for the national team?
I wondered the same thing, hien. Don’t think so, although he looks really talented.
@hein that is not his fault.BVM always ignored the young talents,i dont know how much he wasted some of our young talents.i think if he had gone with Fer,Annholt,Bruma,De guzman,clasie,Lenz and Dost for EC12 it would have been a lot different for us.
Now PVA is playing very well and i have never seen him playing bad.i followed him with covetry city and newcastle..always he looked better than Williams,.He is athletic and speedy can pocket any speedy trickery Messi or CR7,,I doubt that with Peiters/williams.or Blind…
Butner had a good game for Manu VS reading..he is a candidate too..it getting complicated in LB spot..At present it looks like
Van annholt>Blind>Butner>Peiters>williams
I have excluded BMI from LB spot coz he is LCB material and we him as LCB……..
Yes you are right V. Aanholt hasn’t played for the senior team but I think a lot of us see in him great potential and there’s enough time for him to make his way into the starting XI…I mean if Willems played last EC why can’t V.Aanholt? lol
Sneijder and Robben are right on time to get their top forms back 🙂
The way I see it we have 3 headless chickens at left back:
1. Jetro Willems
2. Patrick v Aanholt
3. Alexander Büttner
All three can attack and have the speed and stamina to make forward surges, but are suspect at defense.
Then there is BMI, who lacks the attacking ability of the first three, but for country has been pretty solid at left back (for club less so lately).
Then there is Blind who is a good footballer and also improved positionally this season, but is not build to do the job. Just lacks speed and is for international standards mediocre in the pure defensive dimension of 1 vs 1.
So there is no perfect option as of yet. However I put my money on Jetro Willems. Recent games I have seen of him, where pretty good. Last game he maybe went through hot and cold moments but I just see very high football ceiling stuff from him at times. His passing is hard. The way he brushes aside 10 year older men is impressive. His stamina for an 18 year old is wonderful. His personal technique brings a smile to my face. This guy went on doing nutmegs last game in a key moment with very few people behind him in case it would have gone wrong. Is that stupid? Hell yes. But it does not worry me one bit. He is 18! Next year the plain idiocy is already out of his game and he will channel his self confidence in more constructive ways. Positionally he is a headless chicken and his cross needs to drastically improve. However Büttner is 5 years older and is positionally even more clueless. PVA pretty much the same and also older.
PVA brought this on himself. People are probably right that they see potential. PVA was the biggest talent in the PSV academy at one point, but made the fatal decision to go abroad. Finally now he is growing in Netherlands of course, but he has to make up for many years of aimless Chelsea academy games and championship football. Luc Castaignos scored 15 goals in Eredivisie still being a child and now he has come back from his Inter adventure and everybody asks themselves what the hell has happened with the boy that left? Same with Bruma. Biggest defensive talent while BMI had far less expectations surrounding him. Now Bruma is bench material at U21 and BMI played against Pirlo and co for the Dutch senior team, while simply being less talented. All these talents choose early fame and money instead of development.
Willems stayed in Eredivisie, makes his hours in the first team and that gives him a huge advantage compared to PVA and that is why on the long term I see Willems claiming the left back spot.
That having said, at this point nobody is really better than the others. 3 headless chickens, 1 left back that is not build for the job and 1 left back that can only fulfill the defensive dimension of the position.
Next Eredivisie game is Feyenoord vs PSV, so then we can see how Willems carry’s out the job and how BMI does his. Good match to determine how far Willems is (I remember a certain game where Schaken turned him inside out not that long ago) and if he already does better than BMI. However that game is interesting for more reasons, so certainly one to watch.
Agree that 3 might be headless chickens..but there are many in our national team like Elia,Afalley,schaken,Narsignh etc..At LB PVA looks better tha others though he is not wolrd class.
THIS IS GOING TO STOP(EMBARASSING YEARS FOR DUTCH CLUBS IN EUROPE)WHEN YOU STOP THINKING ABOUT OLA JOHN IN BENFICA SNEIJDER IN GALATA,ROBBEN IN BAYERN ETC AND START TO THINK ABOUT ROBBEN IN AJAX, SNEIJDER IN AJAX AND ALL THE BEST IN HOLLAND TO STAY IN HOLLAND.PORTUGAL CAN IT, HOLLAND COULD BE IT BETTER.BETWEEN 1988-1996 AJAX SHOULD BE TAKE 7(3 OLD AND 4 NEW) TROPHY CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BUT THEIR PLAYERS BE SOLD IN MILAN,BARCA,INTER,LACIO,GENOVA…ETC.( WITH 7 TROPHY AND THE DOOR WORLD CUP WOULD BE OPENED.)THEN JOHAN CRUJFF ALL THE BEST IN HOLLAND GAVE SPAIN AND IN FINAL 2010 HE SUPPORT SPAIN. IS IT NORMAL. HE HAD EDIP COMPLEX BY R. MICHELS AND DESTROYED HOLLAND.INDIRECTLY. (I MEAN 3 OLD TROPHY AND 4 NEW(STATISTICS:1990,1992,1994,1996)ON THE TWO YEARS. I SUPPORT VAN GAAL BUT I PREFER FOPPE DE HAAN,COR POT,MAYBE FRANK DE BOER…CO ADRIANSE.. VAN GAAL IS MUCH RISK,MUCH RISK.THIS IS NOT TIME 1985-1995.HOLLAND IS THE COUNTRY OF THE RING.FRODO.REMEMBER IT,AND FORGET MY ENGLISH . I DONT KNOW ENGLISH.REGARDS FROM SERBIA. GAME OVER WHEN IS GAME OVER.GAME IS NO OVER IN FUTURE. AJAX NO WIN IN AMSTERDAM BECAUSE AJAX LOST IN BUCAREST . FULL MOON IS VERY DANGEROUS IN ROMANIA….