Oranje Lost!

In what can only be seen as a must win game, Oranje – players and staff! – have let themselves and the fans and the whole country and the memory of Johan Cruyff down!

Bulgaria. The number 71 of the world.

I predicted a 0-3 win.

It was a disaster. Dreadful. Terrible game. Holland started slow, lethargic, uninterested. Poor Matthijs de Ligt got his debut.

He may have played 8 games for Ajax as a starter? With the memory of Ron Vlaar’s debut vs Italy under Van Basten. Vlaar needed 3 years to recover from the terrible trashing he experienced vs Luca Toni.

Wesley Hoedt was available. Veltman was available. Blind was available. Viergever. Van der Heijden. Denswil. Donk.

Why does De Ligt get his debut while Ake was overlooked when he was a key player for Bournemouth, week in week out.

Blind lost

I have defended Blind here at this blog for a long time. I think the attacks on him playing his son are ridiculous and believe he has been doing fairly ok with his choices. Because let’s face it: we did suffer a lot of injuries and we’re not having the top players at the moment…

But playing 17 year old De Ligt was a massive mistake. A big big mistake. Unnecessary mistake. A risk for the team, for our qualification, for this kid’s career and for Ajax. WHAT THE FUKC!

Playing Martins Indi is a risk in itself. Playing him with a 17 year old debutant next to him… Really?

Wesley Hoedt was the only player with criticism on the coach (between the lines) but he was the one who had to allow De Ligt to overtake him… “I accept the choices of the coach. He told me he wanted a left and right footed player in the centre. I think Van Dijk and Bruma – both right footed – did pretty well though. So I didn’t agree with his opinion. But, I don’t make the decisions, he does.”

Gini lost

I am not saying Blind should get the sack or resign.

I really don’t think a new coach coming in will turn things around. What is he going to do? Buy better players? Make our current squad stronger?

I believe – this may sound weird – it’s up to the players now to step up and support the coach by showing it on the pitch or telling the coach in private what they want to see. Like Cruyff and Van Hanegem in the 70s. Gullit and Van Basten in the 80s. De Boers and Davids and Blind (!) in the 90s. And Van Bommel and Van Nistelrooy in the 00s.

Players play. Players lose. Players win. If Wes and Arjen and Daley and Kevin feel Blind should stay, fine. Let him stay.

players lost

Btw, all big name players (Sneijder, Robben, Strootman) claim that sacking the coach is unwise and “what can you expect from another coach?”

Arjen Robben: “The new coach won’t be able to bring in new players. We need to face the music: we lost two more players in Janssen and De Vrij last week, it’s neverending. And we do lack quality in general. This is what it is. Sacking Blind will not solve this.”

But I expect Robben and Sneijder to say NO whenever Blind threatens to play Nouri next time for Oranje.

I don’t think Blind deserves all the criticism he is getting. Yes he picked De Ligt but players like Strootman, Wijnaldum, Robben and Daley Blind should by now be strong enough to take charge on the pitch. And they didn’t.

And now, the World Cup is drifting out of sight. The Russian trojka is disappearing on the horizon.

Robben lost

We are three points behind no. 2 Sweden. That match, we’ll need to win and we need to win all other games as well, preferably also away vs France.

This all comes at a terrible time too. Johan Cruyff is dead for 1 year exactly and is turning around so fast in his grave that he could power the whole of Barcelona for a year.

Hans van Breukelen is the technical director at the KNVB but they’re rudderless as there is no general director and Hans will probably not sack Blind without backing of his bosses. The board at the KNVB is currently working on a whole new structure for the KNVB organisation and this will take until the end of the year to manifest. I kid you not.

de ligt lost

The KNVB is in shambles, no one is taking decisions, JC is dead and our beloved Oranje is on road to nowhere.

I need your suggestions. Who will come to the rescue?

oranje fans lost

There is no clip with highlights in this post as there were none.

And I refuse to put the Bulgaria goals up here.

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70 comments

  1. sorry Jan, I have to vent it here (again):

    when he put in Sneijder, I thought that he won’t go 4-4-2. but then De Jong entered… I was like, what the hell… why don’t you put in Lens/Depay instead of Sneijder if in the end you’ll play 4-4-2??? look how Sneijder got hard time shielding and chasing ball.

    and anybody watching Klaassen? don’t tell me you didn’t see how many times he misplaced an easy short pass. look at how many times he messed up his first touch. if our NT wants to play classic Dutch football, Klaassen should stay on the bench.

    1. Robben-Sneijder have to play the next qualifier. plus someone who can draw defenders. Janssen, or even van Persie. offensively, I think that is our best and proven way.

  2. Ugh such a shame.. I won’t pretend to have solutions for all of you, but at this point I do think Blind really must be replaced.
    I don’t know who..
    but if we as a nation struggle with a problem of gap in quality and talent, then I think what we need is a strong charismatic leader who can organize us properly and inspire belief (Leicester can be an example) – but we see none of this.
    The players simply are not responding, whether he is a brilliant tactician or not.
    Blind has had lots of time and has been given the benefit of doubt as well, as it was always a near impossible task – but still, I don’t heap of the blame on him because after all he does not appoint himself.
    The clowns at the top have got to go!

    (and some of the clowns down here at the bottom have got to go too…😉)

    1. I have to say that I disagree with giving Blind the excuse that we don’t have the talent if teams past– that excuse works for games against France, but Bulgaria? It seems to me that a team of Dutch players who have not yet ascended beyond the eredivisie, if well coached and functioning as a true unit, should be able to beat Bulgaria, even without the worldies.

      I think the word Jan used in the post above that sums up my frustration is describing the players as ‘uninterested’. This hits the nail in the head and it’s a phenomenon that we’ve seen far too often, regardless of the player selection. To me, that’s a lack of leadership and inspiration at the coaching level. I understand your point, Jan, about the elder statesmen of the team taking charge, and I wish they would. But if they have to, it’s only because of the lack of the same from the manager.

      I’ve not been critical of Blind before now and I completely reject the idea the Daley only plays because his father is the manager. But something has to change, and I really think it should be him. There are plenty examples of club teams lighting up under new leadership and I think it could be the same here.

      That was a stupid lineup which was made worse by an entire team who looked completely unprepared (maybe the friendly should come first?!??) and then by poor substitutions.

      Strootman, in my opinion, was worse than Klaassen.

      BMI, not a good enough footballer to be on the NT roster (he’d be a star in MLS)

      de Ligt actually did pretty well (except for misjudging the awkward and unlikely through ball that led to the first goal.

      Hoedt, far better.

      Blind had a few beautiful balls over the top, which is why he’s on the pitch, because of his field vision.

      Dost- I just don’t see it. It’s like when ManU play Fellaini and suddenly the game devolved into ‘kick it to gigantor’

      Wijnaldum- I thought he looked better than Strootman but he was dropped too far back for me, so less effective than his Liverpool role and with less ability to be creative.

      This is all quite disturbing, ruined my damn Saturday. Bulgaria. For real. Sheesh.

  3. I am so disgusted that I don’t know what to say but Jan ur phrase sums it all up “Playing Martins Indi is a risk in itself. Playing him with a 17 year old debutant next to him… Really?”
    As if the history of Martins indi mistakes was not enough, he decides to play him along a kid who just started playing first team at ajax….. how in the world did he think they will function in defense….ahhhhhhhh
    This team already lacks quality all over so to make it worse they assign a manager who lacks quality too, they should’ve picked a manager who can make up for the loss in quality not who will add insult to injury….
    let’s kiss the World Cup goodbye and nothing seems positive when I also remember that Dutch clubs are getting hammered in Europe az vs Lyon and god know what ajax will do against schalke…
    I am so depressed footballistically… Peace🙏🏿

  4. Bringing back Louis van Gaal isn’t a bad idea, is it ? He has worked with this bunch three years ago, knows them well and he prepares a good defensive unit. For me that is what we have lacked since WC2014. We have leaked so many silly goals. It’s frustrating to see.
    It would be interesting to see what KNVB does of Blind in the next few days or weeks. But I really hope they sack him. These players can’t be inspired enough from Blind.

  5. I do believe the one to blame here is Danny Blind because under LVG players like Depay, Wijnaldum, Fer, Veltman, Cillessen, De Vrij, Blind performed like experienced players but with him they seem scared, they lack confidence, they don’t know what they should do.

    It’s obvious this team is not as good as previous generations but we have amazing talents. If used well they can give any team a hard time or at least they could beat Sweden, Bulgaria easily.

    We need a coack who can squeeze the best out of our players. Also a coach who makes the right decisions.

    I remember Advocaat playing Sneijder against Scotland for the 2004 play-off. It’s not the same to make a gamble with a creative player than with a central defender who is only 17 years old and has played only a few games of professional football.

    I watched Hoedt only on youtube and it’s obvious he is ready, he plays week in week out and the experienced he has should count for something.

    Blind has had bad luck with so many injuries but his decisions have been very poor so he must leave.

    Now it’s time for Koeman or LVG although I doubt LVG will take over.

  6. It’s a shame for Blind because he really loves the national team but it’s enough.

    Last night’s game was the worst I’ve seen any Dutch team play. It was sad.

    Hoedt’s criticism on Blind is something I don’t like but his feeling is justified. It wasn’t fair to him that he has played so many games with Lazio to hear the line up and find out a little kid with a few professional games would start instead of him or Viergever.

    It’s time for a change. Koeman is a coach I really respect he is a natural leader and I believe he could change things around.

  7. WOW, we lost to Bulgaria!
    I said on here when Virgil got injured that it would be devastating to our hopes, then throw in Bruma, DeVrij etc etc and you simply can’t recover as a unit.
    But how on earth do you make a decision to bring in a 17year old rookie with fuckall experience especially next to Bruno Martins Indi – please spare me!
    A 17 yr old should get blooded when you are up 3-0 with 15 to go against Bulgaria! Blind must take full responsibility for his decisions , to me it shows a real lack of plan “B”, the spine of your team is crucial to success and there were many better options to take than throwing the kid under the bus.
    We may still have lost who knows, it’s true that the players also need to be accountable for the results as at the end of the day it’s up,to them to perform on the pitch.
    I think to move forward Blind should go, we need another fresh start!

  8. Jan you have to look at over all picture here and not jus this defeat. you have to ask the question whether was this coming or not. Big time, Jan ,Big time.I have continously maintained this injuries are part and parcel of games and you always need to have proven reinforcement (back up)ready at all times for worst case scenario.you jus can’t gamble in the last minute and expect miracles to happen,contrary to what happened to De ligt.Now Danny went through the same sequence (causalities) during the euro qualification but yet he never take heed from it.there hasn’t been any qualification where he has not accounted for injuries, but did he account for those injuries before hand or mould players who could havr possibly replace them if injured. Simply no.this is where he has failed. If strootman gets injured, is there any proven player who can fill his shoes. No.well then Huston has got a problem,then why dont jus fix the F**ken problem
    It only when somebody gets injured,then danny will starting looking for players which is useless jus because they have neither played in that position or havnt featured at all like de ligt today.

    A smart and good coach will always prepare beforehand for rainy days.If danny would injected somebody else at DM after euro disaster, by now NT would have had a solid DM,further pushing strootman upfront (BTB) which suits him the best. If danny can give de Ligt start at RCB where he hasn’t played then why not Ake at DM or st Juste for that matter who can reinforce the team better and are all very versatile players.st Juste has played RCB,LCB,DM for Heerenveen and he the type of player danny should be injecting in friendly s to confirm where they ceiling lies not in qualifying matches like today.

    Then comes the balance in the team.This actually is taken from a article and it perfectly sums up the Danny’s selection vs bulgria and jus proves he is clueless.

    “distribution from the back to the strikers wasn’t great either. Aimless long-balls were thrown towards Primeira Liga top scorer Bas Dost, who displayed a total lack of quality on the ball. To be fair to the big striker, he was suffocated by a total lack of support. There were limited runs off the ball by the Dost’s ‘fellow’ forwards and a lack of creativity from midfield”

    “Once again, Blind’s decisions must be questioned, as although the midfield trio of Georginio Wijnaldum, Kevin Strootman and Davy Klaassen seems the best on paper, there is not much assertion nor creativity between them.Roma midfielder Strootman was clearly out of position and far too casual on the ball, conceding possession on far too many occasions. What the Netherlands need is a defensive wall à la Nigel de Jong who can break down play and deliver instructions to his teammates. Strootman needs to play with a more defensive-minded player, to bring out the best in himself.

    “The Netherlands were not helped out either by the nightmare display shown by Ajax captain Klaassen. The 24-year-old played like he was suffering from a Sunday morning hangover. Klaassen’s passing and positioning were poor and despite having the one good chance saved in the second half, did not give out the type of performance we are used to seeing every week for Ajax”

    All of the above have been debated here on this blog and the critics to have picked this up but yet Danny seems to think he can succeed like van gaal with Robben. He needs to learn that you need 11 players and not jus one player to win the game. I think he should go learn some more and maybe come back after some more coaching at Club level.

    He should jus leave in the best interest of NT because I don’t think anything will change and NT will continue to choke with any injury to his starting 11.

  9. Danny Blind surely has to go. I’m suprised to hear that the senior players like Strootman and Robben still support him, or they are just been diplomatic in front of the press.
    Many of the players come into this match in good form and being important at their clubs, still gutted to see how we can lose 0-2 to a Bulgaria team. 😱Just feel that the players no longer want to play for him.

    1. I think entire team understand that their coach is not a leader. Perhaps, they like him as a person, and do not want to hurt him and are dimplomatic in front of media. However, they express their protest by playing like they did yesterday.

  10. Danny blind definitely has to go sad to say. It’s gone long enough. The Dutch have the players to become a very good team, and give lots of problems to the higher quality teams. There’s no doubt!! But blind hasn’t been able to get these players’ heads into these games. Especially​ yesterday. Look at what van Gaal did to that 2014 team. Look at what Popovich does to the spurs (NBA basketball) every year yet they don’t have exactly the best quality around! Things need to change and the mentality of the players need the change. And it starts with the coach. I like blind. Assistant coach is fine. Not head coach.

  11. Just watching the first goal a few times has embarrassed me into believing that Blind is just horrible.

    Exactly the play to drop on the head of a kid out of his league in his first game. Just the sort of thing Blind should know would be tried.

    It’s the naivete that bugs me. The game was over before it began: Sofia is tough, and the minute our Wunderkind was smoked, we collapsed.

    Painful. Time for a Hail, Mary: Bring back LVG to run the KNVB?

  12. Jan, i think entire KNVB deserves criticism for appointing Blind as a head coach. With respect to Blind, he is just a bad coach. I do not know why you defend him with the foam in your mouth ( figuratively speaking), but there are no excuses to keep him any longer. Your comment on players taking a leadership makes absolutely no sense. In this case why do we, in general, need a coach! We need a leader inside and outside of the field. But outside of field leader (coach) is the one who inspires, motivates, and leads entire team. Perhaps we do not have now very strong personalities in the field, but we have good quality players who with a solid coach could play no worth than Bulgaria and Sweden. Unfortunately, Blind is not a solid coach and he becomes a liability for current Oranje, which makes him expendable.

  13. I’m gutted like all of you. The idea of not being at the WC makes me sick. I can’t stand World Cups without Oranje. Seeing the 10 top nations and 14 (or whatever) weak nations without the orange….? Aaaarggghhh….

    I get the criticism on Danny. I’m beside myself as well with his recent choices.

    I can’t blame him for the Euro miss. That was a terrible inheritance to have to work with.

    We did well vs Sweden but were unlucky.

    Against France we conceded thanks to a mistake of the goalie and we had a perfect chance to score on ourselves.

    This – for me – is the first game where Blind really failed.

    I do think he has fukced up but I also believe that the players carry as much responsibility for it. If they really support their coach, how come they didn’t show it on the pitch?

    I think the role of the coach at NTs is overrated, particularly at qualifications level. At a club, a coach can work all day with the squad, before a big tournament same thing.

    But Cruyff and Gullit and Frank de Boer took responsibility as captains in their days. Michels wasn’t as important or Van Marwijk wasn’t as important as many think.

    The question now is: who will be able to do better and salvage this campaign?

    Frank de Boer? I doubt it and I doubt whether he’d want another failure on his resume.

    Ronald Koeman will definitely not leave Everton in good form with a full war chest to come and save a sinking ship.

    I think Van Gaal is the only one who could contemplate doing it and who is able to make something happen.

    For me, the De Ligt selection was a key blunder, but we didn’t lose the game thanks to him. The whole team failed to perform, second balls, closing down, protecting the defenders. It was shite.

    And we didn’t create enough either.

    If we’re realistic, we should realise that no one will step up to resolve this. Not Koeman, not De Boer, not Foppe de Haan…. Only Van Gaal might be able to conjure something…

  14. Right now Oranje are training at Ajax youth academy behind closed doors, and without Danny Blind…
    Blind has said he will be on the bench to manage versus Italy, and after that consider his future.

  15. Oh, and I’ve been soft on Danny Blind because I know he has tremendous football know-how and is a good tactician/analist (normally). He’s a serious guy with good eye for the game. He presents well, communicates clearly and makes logical choices, mostly (the De Ligt decision a big exception to the rule).

    I also believe its a disgrace if professional players would work harder or be more alert if another coach would be the boss. You need to find the motivation in yourself.

    Quality is not just being able to dribble or hit the ball outside left foot. Quality is also energy, work rate, will to win, etc. Bulgaria had everything we lacked.

    I think therefore, that we simply aren’t good enough.

    We currently seem to have 6 decent centre backs and if they’re injured we need to fall back on weak(er) debutants, apparently. I think the only three really good centre backs we have today are Van Dijk, De Vrij and Vlaar.

    All the other ones are question marks.

    The problem Oranje has, is not a Blind problem or a De Ligt problem but a generic quality problem (mentality, youth development, training quality, etc)

    1. No Jan …you are wrong…
      1-problem is Blind coz he is Blind to real gutsy players..He always selects weak and lethargic players.
      2-klassen
      3-BMI
      4-Strootman
      5-Dost’
      6-Luuk
      7-Depay

  16. Danny Blind hasn’t got the experience , tactics and charisma to be a successful coach . he will never win the teams support . Compared to Marco Vam Basten, van marwijk he is was no where close to even.

    This has just to be end and blind has
    Already given the chances enough . he got to go !

    Also , what’s the point of having a friendly after this ? What a moron he is !

  17. I am gutted and lost …i knew klassen cannot do a shit either Dost…with BMI at back you are entitled to concede an easy goal…
    I dont blame much Blind for De ligt as luckly guy got a chance to play.just 17 year old and made a mistake,but i think he did well after that..even with snijder also result wouldnot have been different.
    We missed
    Lenz
    Toonstra and Bazoer and Solid LCB..i am not mentioning other players such as Devrij etc as i know many are injured…infact i just lost hope when i heard Haps,Williams,Bazoer,Mensah,St juste,Ake were omitted form squad that this guy not going to make it..
    klassen was like joker..
    But i was most annoyed by strootman ,as you are the captain and what you are doing in feild??
    Strootman–Wijnaldum pair lacks something ,it WONT CLICK…
    Gini needs to be in final third as he lacks vision…Anyways Blind and Gini were the best players we hand yesterday..

  18. I DONT KNOW WHICH stupid is saying changing coach wont do anything..
    Those stupids must see how chelsea is doing now under konte and how they did under Jose in last year..
    Orange has much better talents and we ARE STILL SUPERIOR TO SWEDEN AND BULGARIA.
    If Blind was good he could easily got us to even EC2016 coz he had 4 game sin hand..ironincally BMI made sure the we dont got to Ec2016 that time also..
    BLIND IS INTERESTED IN RINGa RINGa ROSE..

    1. For any new coach,this is the pool to look in to.
      ——-Zoet/Krul/Vermeer/Vorm———-Gks
      karsdorp–Kevindiks-Janmaat–Tete——Rbs
      Mensah–Bruma–Devrij————RCBs
      Virgil-Mensah–Kongolo-Blind—–LCBs
      Kongolo-Annholt-Willaims-Blind—LBs
      St juste–Mensah-De Roon-Bazoer–DMs
      Bazoer-Ginkel-Ramseelar–Toonstra-BTB
      Lenz-Annholt-Wijnaldum-Nauri–Promes-Williams—wingers
      Strikers
      Lenz–Janssen–Wijnaldum–Ginkel–

  19. Ok, let me comment. Tiju always is capable of presenting a perfectly sound opinion, only to weaken his own argument by giving silly examples.

    Haps and St Juste would not have done better. On the contrary.

    Also the Chelsea example… that is a club. A club coach and NT coach are different roles. Blind is not able to work like Conte. And the fact that the players didn’t wanna work for Jose anymore was known. Apparently the Oranje players all support (???) their coach.

    If I was a Chelsea fan, I would feel betrayed by the players.

    Blind didn’t have 4 games in hand for the Euros. That means he had four games less played. He had 4 games to turn it around with a team lacking confidence, with missing top players and no tactical plan that had worked before.

    1. We could have won those 4 matches,the turkeys,Icelands etc..Not Brazil.Arjentina or Germany..
      Blind repeatedly selects failed players…
      Then comes to Chelsea and coaching..
      Orange got humiliated under BVM and stupid had no idea wat to do next..There came mighty LVG he superbly did the job with eredivise players and lenz scored 5 gaols or so.
      Look at Crystal place under Big Sam..
      If it was not LVG We would have packed our bag just after group games..
      this is famous quotes perfectly fill the current senario..
      “”””””
      I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.””””””””””””””
      So coach has the biggest role..

  20. Blind is Blind!!!

    He has to go! He maybe a nice guy and well liked by the players and the federation. But at the end of the day it’s all about results.

    I was never convinced of his abilities to lead this team and meet expectations. His ability to lead, inspire, the strategy and tactics he uses, player selection etc have all been ineffective! The results so far have crystallized that belief beyond any doubt whatsoever. We already failed to qualify in a major tournament. This is a crucial point in this qualification. Another defeat may all but end the campaign for good.

    This is the final world cup opportunity for the senior members of the squad and I hope that they really pressure him in private to quit. It would be better if he can swallow his pride and quit on his own for the sake of the team, the fans, and the nation.

    1. The campaign is over my friend unless Sweden has some major choke. I am not counting on it. Sweden is a very methodical team. I would argue that even 3rd place is in danger , not that it matters.

  21. Blind should be sacked tonight at least or else Blind must appoint me as his no1 Analyst.and he must concentre on feild training and other things.He must stay away from selection of players in every game and picking up 23 squad also..
    This dutch team i mean not with (Klassen,BMI,Depay,Dost,luuk and Blind as LB strootman as DM and wijnaldum as DM)
    We have the lads who can beat HELL OUT OF bULGARIA AND SWeDEN IN home matches…

  22. Blind has to go for the simple reason that we needed to win yesterday . He places on defense a teenager with just a few games of club football in his resume and this kid is responsible for both goals. Not only this cost us a game in an almost empty stadium but chances are de Ligt will suffer long term mental nightmares and may suffer irreparable career problems. Blind is a retard, I said it. Who the fuck plays a kid with ZERO experience right next to a psychopath in the center of defense in a potentially WC decider?!

    1. Blind has to go for the simple reason that we needed to win yesterday . He places on defense a teenager with just a few games of club football in his resume and this kid is responsible for both goals. Not only this cost us a game in an almost empty stadium but chances are de Ligt will suffer long term mental nightmares and may suffer irreparable career problems. Blind is a retard, I said it. Who in his right mind plays a kid with ZERO experience right next to a psychopath in the center of defense in a potentially WC decider?!

  23. The players don’t trust Blind and that was obvious with the way they performed last night. Wijnaldum is doing very well with Liverpool and against Bulgaria he never even touched the ball, Strootman is one of the best midfielders in the Seria A and for Oranje he’s a ghost of himself. Even the great Arjen Robben who still is one of the best players in the world looked so bad last night!! It is clear that these guys don’t want to play for Blind anymore, so the nonexistent KNVB has two choices, either fire Blind and try to make a last attempt to salvage something or extend his contract until 2030 and turn the once mighty Netherlands to Luxemburg, Andora and San Marino.

    1. I do not think they do not trust him. It something different. I feel they like him as he might be a good person. I do not rule out that he is a good football theoretician. However, he is very weak in practice. Players understand that and they do not respect his decisions…Oranje is a special “animal”, if players sense that they are dealing with a weak coach, they will start solving problem by themselves.. .I still believe that we have very good quality players who need a strong leader who would invite them into exciting journey. D. Blind is by far not that person and everybody understands that, except KNVB management.

  24. OK, good. KNVB has very difficult task. Hopefully, they will not make any stupid decision….Can not even think who wold be a rescuer..It might be a team of coaches instead of one.

    1. Everybody talks about third arrival of LvG. I doubt he would come, he seems tired…Not sure about FdB. He is a strong man but I do not know how well he has recovered from his bad experience in Inter….I doubt any Dutch coach who has active contract abroad would agree to lead Netherlands unless they would be allowed to wear two hats. I think that would be ideal transition for Koeman. He can help Grim to lead Oranje now and then after his contract with Everton over, he can transition into permanent role at Oranje. I do not think any current coaches at Eredivisie have potential to lead the Netherlands. Otherwise, it should be foreign coach.

  25. I am personally glad that Blind is out, though i like the guy as a player and respect him. I never saw it in him to be a charismatic leader our team needs! Now we need a good plan to safe our sinking boat! Personally i would like to F. De Boer or perhaps a heroic return of LvG!!

  26. If it is true Blind is out, we should all be happy. He’s been a disaster. While it may be true that the next generation is a bit lacking in quality, Blind’s selections in too many games have been questionable and weak–and he is not a good leader. The squad was not motivated at all yesterday–it was very noticeable. It is the coach’s job to get the team motivated and ready to play. Playing the 17-year-old was absolutely mind-boggling. Strootman seems very overrated–the midfield yesterday was awful in the first half; Klassen was just plain bad. We can only hope they pick a strong leader to fix this mess. Koeman or LVG again would be good, IMO.

  27. hiddink is also availble, I would go for Hiddink and Guilt as co- coches. Hiddink to oversee guilt until such time he starts progressing. I think Hiddink resignation was as result of burst up with KNVB, and now with crew on the deck, things can be souted out.

  28. if KNVB can appoint Danny Blind with limited coaching experience, then guilt should be considered as well. but still not sure hows the relationship between them.

  29. Hiddink recently failed–why would they go back to him. Terrible idea.

    Blind used 47 players in 17 international matches, of which he won 7. That’s a lot of players–and not enough victories. The Netherlands needs continuity in its lineups; this has been a problem–always new faces in the lineup.

    1. For sure Koeman is the best choice, problem is how KNVB to convince him to take charge as we all aware that He’s very happy & receiving high salary at Everton now.

  30. And this is exactly the problem for me, people…

    I will write a blog post soon about this…

    The King is dead, long live the King.

    Or as Pete Townsend said it:

    Meet the new boss, he’s the same as the old boss

  31. I understand that Blind is out. From my viewpoint, it is late but necessay. Yesterday’s match was as bad as it gets, And I blame Blind for not having this team ready to play. I do not affirm his player choices,and when Bulgaria scored quickly, he just sat there as if the pathetic team play was OK! The current ranking is, now at least, higher than it should be. Can Bergkamp or van Nistelrooy help. Hi, Jan, glad to be back but sad about how the Dutch have fallen.

    1. That was awful…the selection of de Ligt was inexcusable; Zoet was not great either. Martins Indi has some responsibility for the second goal, too, no reason he shouldn’t have stepped up and taken away the turn to the right…Strootman is not the guy to sit alone in front of the defense. Offensively they looked impotent, no danger, no ideas. Robben would get possession and Bulgaria would layer three players in his path. No one else took advantage of the overload.

      But what bothered me the most was the apparent lack of fight in them. That can sometimes be deceiving because what seems like lethargy can be the product of uncertainty. Either way you have to lay that on Blind. He was in charge.

      But I’m not telling anyone of you who saw he game anything you couldn’t see, so take this for what it is: just frustration to get off my chest. 😉

      Anyway, its over. Nothing to do but turn the page.

      For no other reason than they probably think they have no other options, KNVB will likely talk to LVG first. My belief is that LVG will
      take the job if he thinks he has a chance of qualifying. Two related questions he’ll ask himself:

      1. Does the qualifying schedule give him a realistic chance to grab 2d in the group? Home games against Sweden and Bulgaria give them a chance and …they have to make up the goal difference against Sweden, they have to rely on France getting the expected results against Bulgaria and Sweden…but finishing 2d is not a mathematical longshot. And if they do rally, they’d go into the playoff with a lot of momentum.

      2. That leads to the deeper question he’ll ask himself: Does he believe he has the players to get the job done? He’ll immediately make them better organized, and there will be less uncertainty about their play. He’ll decide in his mind what is the best formation to get the most out of his talent. And then, he’ll decide whether, even with what he can bring to a team (organizationally and tactically), he has the talent to get there.

      I’d like to think that the answer to both questions is yes.

      I’m curious as to who others think is the man for the job. Koeman, to me, is a nonstarter—he’s not leaving Everton right now. If not LVG, I’d guess FDB. I think he and LVG are cut from the same pragmatic cloth.

      1. Andrew whom you are expecting to take the advantage of Roben marking??
        Dost?/
        Klassen???
        Luuk??
        none of them cannt even dribble pass a 5 year old kid…
        Blind made huge mistake by dropping Ramseelar,Bazoer type players who can dribble decently and make nuisnce in opponent half..
        Only one player who can do that was Gini Wijnaldum …Joker played him as defensive mid…what to do…We got to live with it..

  32. I am so happy Blind is out. He even said we were on the right track. Is he nuts? I respected him a lot before this comments. How can you be on the right track when you sit third of your qualifying group?.

    1. We were on the right track as we didn’t need to drop two points vs Sweden and were unlucky with the ref.

      And against France we could have had 1 point.

      I agree, it wasn’t going so bad after all. Until Bulgaria.

  33. It really depends on how far-sighted is KNVB management. If they think of this WC only and their goal is just to make to WC final regardless of the outcome of the competition, then they need a good tactician. LvG will server the purpose. However, if they are forward looking and truly believe that Dutch football is sick and some serious remedies are needed, along with other measures they need a young (mid 50s), highly motivated coach with an experience of coaching a club in top three European leagues. LvG will not serve this purpose as he seems very tired. Out of Dutch coaches, it is R. Koeman only, who will not come now as he is committed to Everton. This is very delicate situation, which is dangerous for any coach who would not like to spoil his reputation. Let’s see what type of changes Fred Grim will make for the game with Italy and how responsive players are going to be to those changes. I do not expect a lot from Grim but you never know…

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