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  16. you know, ola john has like a mental block, he doesn’t always have the anticipation and plays it too safe,

    Team is doing well. Sending a message to the world

    1. http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1049/Oranje/article/detail/3389600/2013/02/06/Rapportcijfers-Maher-uitblinker-in-fris-en-fruitig-Oranje.dhtml

      Here is a rating site. I could not disagree stronger with Maher getting an 8. Clasie is much too low and the fact van Gaal said Clasie almost played a perfect game underscores this.

      Maher is for me a 6 and Clasie an 7.5. Clasie was only substituted as a result of a groin injury.

      De vrij deserves a 7.5, but the goal makes me give him a 6.5. De Vrij was pretty damn good in the football department, but he will never become a killer.

  25. We actually played really well. Howeber it was the classic “if you don’t put you chances away…”

    I though Ola John was useless and Kuyt as per usual. There’s nothing to learn from playing Kuyt in a friendly. He’s in the twlight of his career, he’s no Pirlo or Zanetti.. drop him!!!

    Glad Heitinga, Vlaar and Matjhissen never entered the pitch, 3 more useless players.

    However was pleased with Jermaine Lens, Blind, Robben, de Vrij.

    RVP did ok in the first half but really him in front of goal rather than deep. But overall decent performance and at times pinned the Italians back.

    1. I think Dutch media are doing their fan boy thing. I see this guy miss chances, I see him pressing softly at times, I see him making stupid passes and finally Maher delivers that pass on Kuyt and we have to single him out as man of the match?

      Always gets under my skin, this media pushing.

      Van Gaal: Clasie played almost the perfect game.

      He only had to be taken off as a groin injury hit him.

  29. personnally dont rate maher either..seems like another afellay…gives the impression he is gud..but not actually effective or useful in any way…clasie strootman much better…and de guzman luks class

  30. I think mainly Left back is a big concern, and so it left wing, beyond that, every other position is solid enough that we can do well with it all.

    I think janmaat proved that the right back position is his for the taking, someone’s gonna have to take it from him.

    Maher was not that great, but in a few years who knows.

    Clasie and strootman ballin

  31. That Italian goal was a huge disappointment. We deserved to win this match. I can’t believe how lucky some teams are (Italy, Germany): they always seem to win or draw even when they haven’t earned it.

    I was quite disappointed to see Kuyt in the game. I think he had a wonderful career with the Oranje, but he is not able to contribute anything to this new, refreshed, invigorated Dutch team. Some players like Robben and Van Persie are at the top of their form and still perform wonderfully, but unfortunately Kuyt does not. Just let him retire, one less variable to worry about.

    I liked how the Dutch played tonight, with speed, precision and a real hunger to win. I do not like those last minute mistakes and I hope this is the last one I see from this team!!!

    1. > That Italian goal was a huge disappointment. We deserved to win this match. I can’t believe how lucky some teams are (Italy, Germany): they always seem to win or draw even when they haven’t earned it.

      That’s a repetitive quality you need to answer to though if you want to win a title. They won’t hold back in a World Cup or Euro. The mentality to do just that, will be present then also. Manchester United do it all the time in EPL. It’s a quality.

      On top of that I would like to say that de Vrij does this often for Feyenoord as well. Those slips and lack of killer instinct. It’s in the game of the player’s van Gaal selected to let this happen and it happened. So the score is a good representation of the quality’s and weaknesses of the Dutch players to me.

  32. On a different note: van Gaal was right.

    Eredivisie > Serie A.

    The Eredivisie kids outplayed the Italian players.

    🙂

    But seriously, I am pretty content with the way we played. Fresh and with more guts.

    1. his picks and non picks are being proven right

      Janmaat over van rhijn BMI in the center over vlaar, and others

      No heitinga, no anita, no van der wiel

      Got to trust that his vision is taking shape and in a year it can be a whole new level of play good enough for the world cup

      I wonder where sneijder fits into the team, if at all.

      and when de jong is healthy, and sneijder plays more consistent, afellay, where will these guys play?

      I mean if you keep the team that played today together with a few minor changes like van persie (age) blind left back, and maybe another keeper, we could have a dominant team winning a lot of trophies

      1. As much as I liked Sneijder in the past, I don’t see him fitting in this new team. He is static and lazy. The midfield today reminded me of the good old days of 1998-2000 when they suffocated the opposing team and won the ball before it got to our defense. We need a Davids type of player in the midfield. A fighter that constantly roams. If Maher keeps it up, he can be such player. In fact, I don’t see most of the old guard contributing much to this team with the exception of RVP, Robben as starters, VDV and NDJ as super subs. I’ll be content with the rest never being called to international duty: Sneijder, Kuyt, VDW, Heitinga, Matheijsen, Vlaar. I still think that Stek is better than Krul.

  33. One thing I forgot to mention: if there’s one thing that Van Gaal has, it’s huge balls. I think there are very few head coaches that would put this young and inexperienced team against a superpower like Italy. And for that I say “well done!”. The young chaps held their own, even dominated the game and it could’ve easily been a 2-0 victory instead of 1-1.

    If I ever had any doubts about Van Gaal, they are all gone after this game. (Well except maybe the question of Kuyt…)

  34. I didn’t find Clasie too good, he played correct for me. Like De Guzman in the second half.Maher showed some good things, John was boring, I was disappointed cause I really like this player, but sometimes he seems to be scared to skill, try things etc.

    We really have a good future in defense with De Vrij and Martins Indi, especially the first one, really effecient defender, very few mistakes. Janmaat and Blind weren’t so bad, but I prefer Van Rhijn and Willems currently.

    I think we need a real “6”, I hope Nigel De Jong will reach his best again when he’ll be back, cause Strootman, Clasie, Fer etc. are good midfielders but no one of them is really able to defend and to keep a player, tonight Pirlo and De Rossi could play easily forward.

  36. The hell with Italy’s goal: This was a friendly, for pete’s sake, and we dominated hell out of it.

    I’ll rewatch to see what all the fuss is about Maher. He looked ordinary at times… which is saying a lot for a 20-year-old.

    God bless Dirk Kuyt. He looked out of sorts from the moment he came on.

    Our kids are awesome. May they soon grow into champions!

    And may they learn to finish. 😉

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