SORRY GUYS! HAD TO MAKE BRIEF BUSINESS TRIP. ENDED UP STAYING AWAY FOR A WEEK. AND HAD LAPTOP ISSUES SO COULDN’T POST.
APOLOGIES BUT ALL GOOD.
Well, in all honesty… We came third this time, so the only way is up!!
I am dead serious! I am totally in awe of what this team has achieved. With the emphasis on TEAM!
Let me rant a little ok? I have seen all World Cups Holland was involved in, from 1974 onwards.
Granted, the 1974 one was not really on my radar. But we happened to be on a holiday and everyone stopped whatever they did to watch the World Cup so I was drawn into it and when Holland beat Uruguay in the first match, I didn’t know better or we were simply winning as per usual.
As Ajax and Feyenoord already sat Europe alight with their dominance in the UEFA competitions, winning all our games (sort of) at the World Cup was actually considered to be normal. By me. At that time.
And the way they played might have been incredible for many non-Dutch people, but kids like me – grown up with seeing Cruyff, Van Hanegem, Van der Kuylen and Drost play – knew what we were capable of.
The 1978 World Cup was different. For starters. many Dutch people didn’t want the team to go as a result of the Argentinian junta government. When Cruyff and Van Hanegem didn’t travel to Argentina, my personal interest dropped as I couldn’t see Oranje do well without them. And when the group games were quite abysmal and the media coverage poor, I sort of lost interest until we saw those rockets by Arie Haan and Ernie Brands… The finals vs Argentina was one of the most intense matches I have watched, ever, and that shot on the post haunts me as much as it does Rensenbrink…
The 1980s were my glory days in football support. I played football, I was friends with a number of pro players in Rotterdam and I started to work for companies that sponsored football…and right at that time Oranje has a poor patch. I loved the 1982 and 1986 World Cups but not thanks to Holland. After our 1988 win, I expected a lot from the 1990 World Cup but a child could see that the circumstances were wrong.
The players – and we are talking big name players like Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard and Koeman – were ignored by the KNVB management and that is never a good thing. Cruyff, as a player, would have walked out of the training camp, as would have Van Hanegem. The 1988 generation didn’t and subsequently played a horrific World Cup. I do have vivid memories of the Germany game though. The spitting incident between Rijkaard and Voller is always highlighted which is sad, because Oranje actually played really well and deserved more in that game. We ended up losing 2-1 and Germany ended up winning the whole thing of course.
By then and by 1994 I had lost faith in the KNVB. They ignored Cruyff in 1990 and played some silly game in 1994. I was never and Advocaat fan and the 1994 World Cup has proven me right. He mistreated Gullit who this time did walk out. And the preparation for the weather conditions in Floriday were non-existent. We played tough games in the group but had a fighting chance against Brazil. The final free kick for Brazil shouldn’t have been awarded to them, but to us. The Brazilian clearly smacked Overmars in the face before he got tackled.
Anyway, Holland didn’t make it beyond the quarter finals and to make matters worse, Advocaat was gloating with pride when he came home….
The 1998 is also a favourite amongst us Oranje fans. Because we made it to the semis of course, but also because we played pretty exciting games. The Belgium game with the Kluivert red card. The Mexican draw. The late Davids goal. Pretty impressive stuff overall, with the Argentina game and Bergkamp goal really lighting up our adrenaline more than the semi final goal vs Brazil. Although that goal can be considered a classic too! A thumping header by Kluivert on a superb cross by Ronald de Boer.
2002 was a black page in our history, credit to Louis. A black page he tore out of the book this summer and was able to replace with a new chapter… 2006, I still consider a freak tournament for Oranje. A good group campaign, under an exciting young new manager, derailed in the Portugal match.
2010 was a tournament where I sort of expected Holland to do well. The performance of Robben, Sneijder, Bommel, De Jong pre-tournament… The winning mentality brought in…the tremendous qualification campaign… I had high hopes for Oranje and what disappointed me a bit was the lack of real quality in the tournament and of course our loss vs Spain.
This time around….expectations were not high altogether. I don’t need to remind you that De Vrij was considered a huge liability by many. Vlaar was considered slow. De Jong was considered over the hill. Sneijder was a risk. Kuyt was considered superfluous. Etc etc etc. Not just here, mind you, this was echoed in the Dutch media and internationally, no one rated Oranje.
On May 31, I wrote this :
The Group Games
I believe we will got through as #1. And I think it’s either Chile or Spain as #2.
I think Spain is a little bit rusty. The players of Spain all had massive seasons and I believe some of them will lack the real desire. Holland will play as if they are replaying the 2010 finals and we will win this, with a masterful Sneijder and Robben.
In the second game, Spain will have to attack Chile, who will have beaten Australia. Chile will absorb the pressure and counter attack to a win. I can see Chile make it as number 2. We will beat Australia and get the full victory over Chile as these lads are already happy to be through and Oranje is on a roll.
I don’t need to gloat of course. But I also predicted us to play Brazil in the finals and we’d score three goals and win it. Little detail, in real life it was the “little” finals and not the big one. Final, schminal.
So Louis did extremely well. That is bottom line the conclusion.
I followed him closely these last two years as I have always been intrigued by him. From my first meeting with him, from me admiring him as a player and later as a coach while also bewildered by his antics and his thick-skull as he kept on making the same mistakes. In public too.
I went back to scan old posts on this blog, about Louis. And I found that we could have seen this success coming. His relationship with the players was good from day 1. His choice to go with young Eredivisie talent paid off in the qualifications and in February 2013 after the Italy game, I wrote this:
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.
And as we all knew, as long as Van Gaal leaves his antics in the bottom drawer (this applies to his time now at ManU as well), he can be extremely successful.
So in March 2013, we can see the potential in what he is doing with Oranje. Check this post of end March 2013:
….but despite my criticism on LVG, one has to admit that less than 12 months after the Euro 2012 debacle, we have a renewed, rejuvenated and exciting Oranje!
Blind, Janmaat, De Vrij and Martins Indi. Add Van Aanholt, Willems, Pieters, Buttner, Bruma, Van Rhijn and Van der Wiel to the mix and we have quite a nice little group to work with for defence.
And with Janmaat and Blind, we also have two players who can contribute massively in offence.
Our midfield is improving too. The mediocre De Guzman and Strootman played a good match against Romania and it must be sweet for Van Gaal to know that whenever he brings Clasie, Maher or Fer, this team will not lose any quality.
Van Persie and Robben are all class (when in top form or even when they’re not).
The team was spirited, worked hard, there was great understanding between most of the lads and they looked like…well….a team.
… you read it here first: This team has a shot at the gold in 2014.
I am sure the doubters couldn’t see it and many analysts in Holland were adamant we wouldn’t be able – ever – to reach a World Cup finals ever again. Well….eat this Johan Derksen!!
Its sad that LVG left after only one tournament!! With the young players that our team has we had a big chance to win Euro 2016 and why not World Cup 2018. I can’t complain too much about it though cause with Hiddink as our coach we can still beat everyone out there.
Hup Holland Hup
I too am sad van gaal is gone so soon.
When van marwijk was fired, to me, only two men were right for the job. Van gaal and Hiddink.
We got van gaal, and it turned out almost perfectly. A bit better luck in penalties, and robben and van gaal would have destroyed germany.
So now hiddink comes in. I have full confidence in him, its just i want van gaal to continue with what he has built.
The bar is set so very high for hiddink, he must reach at least the final match of euro 2016.
I’ll be missing LvG’s Oranje, of course from his last tenure. it’s really delightful to see such a gelled team.
btw, it’s now Elia’s Werder Bremen vs Van Ginkel’s Chelsea. Bremen up by 2 goals to nil, Elia scored from spotkick. I really hope Van Ginkel retain his place when the season starts. He’s been ever-present on the pre-season.
Poor first half Zwolle vs Ajax with very few chances from either side. Ajax youngsters look very nervous with several bad passes especially from Kishna and Ligeon. Only Boilesen and Viergever had a decent first half in my opinion, with the latter going out injured some minutes before half time.
Zwolle win 1-0. Ajax better in 2nd half but still very weak. Lots to do for De Boer!
This is embarrassing, Ajax loses to Zwolle once again this time in the ArenA. Ajax has lost star players like Eriksen, De Jong and they replaced them with kids from their second team…and to make matters worst we might lose Blind as well and probably replace him with some average player. Some of the signings the past years have been awful! Why would you sign Van Der Hoorn?? Duarte??
I know that we might still win the league (cause the Eredivisie is too weak) but our goal this year should be to make it past the group stage in Ch.l. and with what i have seen so far i don’t think this team can achieve that.
Hopefully I’m just overreacting…
I had a similar reaction after yesterday’s match. Very poor. Let’s hope it was just one bad match.
I sure hope so my friend!!
Well thank goodness, you’re back Jan!
Maybe I need to fill my life with other things outside football, but it’s been killing me to not have something to read and talk about on here, I’ve become an addict!
As for your post, I too was very happy with Oranje in this WC14, we can profess about what might have been against Germany (possible 4-0 loss) but I prefer to revel in what we did do and we brought respect back to Dutch Football when everyone was writing us off (globally and on here).
Van Gaal has really earned my respect and praise and I look forward to following him closely at Man U , I wish him well even though I’m a Spurs fan.
I’m excited about Aussie Guus and I look forward to your first post about the next chapter in Dutch Football, I think we are in for a great 4 years.
Anyhow welcome back Jan, you did deserve a relaxing Hieneken or two!
Welcome back Jan the Man! 🙂
According to “La gazzetta dello sport”, it seems Lazio wants to go Dutch. After De Vrij and Braafheid, they are pursuing Vlaar. Aston Villa dropped their asking price from 10 to 7 million Euros. I think Vlaar would be a steal for that amount. It’s not sure yet where he will end up going, since Juve, ManU and Southampton are after him as well. I do hope he goes to Lazio to play alongside De Vrij. It will only help the Oranje. The alternative for Lazio is Jeffey Bruma. They’re monitoring him in case the Vlaar deal doesn’t go through.
http://www.gazzetta.it/Calciomercato/03-08-2014/lazio-vlaar-aston-villa-fa-sconto-tare-blocca-marquez-9031325346.shtml
I really wish Vanginkel gets a rift with Jose and leave that shit money club.though Jose is person i admire.Ginkel must go back to dutch league if he wants to be a legend.Ajax with Franc would be ideal for him or LVG with MANU is another good option.
Bruma must stay with Cocu.
Wijnaldum must focus as winger though he is so versatitle to play any where,coz we lack quality wingers,Depay is no Roben or Overmars.We need better trickery and better strentgh and better team player up front.
Reikik also must stay for another year in my book with PSV.
As dutch fan since 1994..i was so gutted after loss vs Arjetina,we should have killed them off before 90 minutes.LVG was the best coach in Brazil WC2014.he was the most intelligent coach of all.if we dont win under LVG then who can lead us to Final glory???.
That Coaches of mexico and Costarica showed Sabella that Defensive approach is the best way to stop Orange and sabella did it with mascherano.Dutch were awesome compared to the over hyped Latins,very few latins could match the intelligence of the dutch and Germans.
I understand that RVP and Dejong were unquestionably the starters when they were fit.i think LVG wanted Messi to be silent for that he trusted Dejong and he did well.But RVP was replaceble with Depay or Hunter.anyways past is past,what makes me sad is Arjetina played 1 more final and Germany got 4 WCs.we are still 0.
another one down the drain…
Promes transfers to Spartak Moscow (6th in the Russian league and not even Europa League worthy)
Promes is lesser when comes to intelligence on feild,So its not bad at all.There are many players like him in african and latin teams.
Napoli joins Fiorentina and Porto in Clasie Persuit.
Van Dijik back on Newcastle Radar. He should make the move given the current situation at Celtic and with Dutch compatriots at Newcastle, siem De Jong, Krul, Anita, Janmaat would be good chemistry for NT (Future).
Tottenham set to hijack Man United Bound Depay
Read on ESPN… A statement from Barca. Hopefully Afellay gets a move on now
Former Arsenal midfielder Alex Song and Dutch winger Ibrahim Afellay have been told that they will not feature in Luis Enrique’s plans at Barcelona at all this season and have been encouraged to find new clubs.
v.wolfswinkel deal to St Ettiene official… 1 year loan with option to buy
Besiktas 3 – 1 Feyenoord.
Ba Hatrick doing the damage. The Transfers have taken a huge toll on feyenoord. No chance in eredivise too.
QPR Lining up Leroy Fer
Tottenham have reportedly agreed a deal for Depay with Chadli going to in swap deal to PSV. Huntelaar is also being eyed by the north London club
Van Gaal Wants De Jong and Blind transfer to be completed before the first EPL game.
It seems like Van Gaals wants to use the same strategy at Man United as the one he used at the world cup. I guess only time will tell whether it will work or no
Pieters scores in Real Betis Friendly.
Celtic also gets duped out of CL. Van Dijik should move to PL now. Newcastle or Southampton.
Clasie could also depart Feyenoord after they loss to Besiktas with Southampton/Man United/Napoli/ Porto all on high alert.
Guys,
As Dutch league starts this weekend, I am looking for a reliable site where I could watch Eredivisie games. I normally watch at firstrowsports, but this site gives tons of pop-ups, viruses, and spyware. Any suggestions? Thank you.
download the google chrome browser. make an account with them. click the button on upper right hand side which is 3 horizontal grey stripes. go to setting click it. then on left hand side click extensions. search for and download ad block plus its free and prevents all popups which give viruses.
if you want to get an anti-virus for free you have windows defender or you can purchase kaespersky, webroot, or trend micro up to you.
with ad block plus you wont get any ads
thanks, onzie
Spurs are trying to sign Vorm on loan and Klaas Jan Huntelaar on a full time contract. Vorm is temporary, Klaas is permanent.
Didn’t Spurs already signed Vorm last week?
Vorm signed a four years contract two weeks ago but what were you seriously expecting from Srinjoy ?
I don’t even know where he gets such informations, this guy is just strange. He wouldn’t even wonder if Vorm being loaned to Tottenham makes sense or no.
He just writes shit without thinking about how realistic it can be, like for the malaysian plane…
You, of all people, would know something about writing shit, wouldn’t you, Laurent.
Do you have any example ?
Don’t mix having a specific opinion and position about dutch football and writing shit and giving wrong informations like Srijoy is doing every day. That’s two different things. You won’t see me writing that Van Rhijn will be the 3rd choice for the RB position with Ajax, that I worry that Jan and DRB could die in a crash plain that concerned 0,001 % of dutch people and that Vorm signed a temporary contract with Tottenham. The guy doesn’t even know what he is writing, in what world would Swansea first keeper be loaned to Tottenham ? lol Would Barcelona loan Messi to Real ?…
There was nothing shit about saying that Holland wouldn’t make WC 1/4. That was what the bookmakers and most of people were also thinking. Surprises happen.
So please give me an example of something really ridiculous and wrong that I could write here.
Laurent
August 7, 2014 at 7:10 pm
“Do you have any example ?”
Laurent
June 13, 2014 at 8:58 pm
“I swear I’ll stop writing if Holland go to quarter, copy this text and save it on your computer.”
Ha ha! Very good. Football puns, what will I see next..! 🙂
Depay is not at starting 11 with PSV. I assume PSV management will not let him play in Europe until his retain/sell status gets confirmed. Stupid….
@Laurent mate – I pity your special needs French English.. it was a pun and you wrote 35 lines trying to make yourself sound smarter than a pun….ROFLMAO!
Good one, s. It was a slow burn for me, too. 🙂
Probably my english isn’t good enough to understand your subtility, but you saw that vanfadly also didn’t get it.
And many people who would read this blog without knowing your geek personnality would wonder about Vorm, about Van Rhijn, about you saying that Wilshere signed to Feyenoord…
Can’t you write something interesting and normal with more than 5 lines ?
depay looked uber confident/arrogant almost!
twente beats ajax to mokotjo for 600,000 million
That must be a record signing!
The blog is becoming more about personal comments between you , guys. Please stop it.
You’re ruining the blog and ruining Jan’s work.
Let’s only talk Football.
Some intersting events has been happening since the World cup ended ,
Feyenoord is losing eredivise points in Europe , and is out if CL. So expected after selling almost all of your back line. When I watched Mathijsen , I did thank Louis from my heart for not calling him in the WC. Horrible defending. However , I liked van beek as a CB in the home game , it will be nice if feyenoord played with Beek and Kongolo in the center and signed two young fullbacks.
Elvis Manu looks really promising. Very speedy with great control and dribbles. I want to see how he will develop.
I remember I read somewhere prior to the WC that he may represent Ghana , I checked again on the web but nothing seems to be official , so I hope this wasn’t true.
Promes to Spartak Moscow is such a disappointing move in my opinion. I hope he excelles there so that he doesn’t stay in Russia for more than one season. I need him to be ready for the NT in the Euro.
I wonder why our players don’t go even to mid table teams in Germany , Italy or Spain. They are the best clubs for our young talent development after Eredivisie. Pity.
Hiddink is officially now in charge of NT , I read some of his statements in the conference ; It caught my attention the most when he said that Dutch clubs must do their best in Europa League , as it enhances young talents development. I hope something changes about Dutch clubs attitude in Europa league after this statement.
It also seems we will keep up using the 3-5-2 formation , at least in the next few months. Let’s wait and see.
One the other hand , I hope Depay stays this season with PSV a lot. I know how hard it is to stay with all these offers , but I still have my hopes. I am sure he knows the best for himself. I also think Rekik’s return for one more year on loan will be a great booster for him to stay. Hopefully Marcel brands will be able to get Karim again. Also , I want Hendrix to be developped as a no. 6 , which will be easier with Karim’s playing in the back 😉 .
Mohamed I’d just advise you to go to bigsoccer if you wanna talk dutch football, read and write long and interesting parapraphs…
You wrote a long post about dutch clubs, but who is gonna answer it ? Srinjoy ? LOL I’m sure he doesn’t even read it.
Since DRB left there is no conversation anymore here
Don’t know why you’re so bent on driving folks away from Jan’s blog, Laurent — especially since you “swore” a couple of months ago that you’d not even so much as post here anymore.
There’s no need to carp and bitch at other commenters, or denigrate Jan’s blog, is there?
I’m not denigrating Jan’s blog, I have absolutly nothing against him. But this place isn’t made for debates, or at least not anymore. And it’s not my fault at all.
I’ve wrote so many analysis here, going about football, and it started on personnal attacks against me and some other members etc. for nothing. You can read topics from 2012, beginning 2013, we were talking with DRB, Mohamed, Tiju and many others without any problem or lack of respect. Well sometimes I was teasing a bit Tiju but nothing disrespectful.
The problems started when I was denigrating the politic and making fun of Ajax results, which is my right. Jeff started to calling me idiot, to tell me to go away etc. and the multitroll followed. Personnal attacked started from this moment.
And when I said that ajax got the jewish greedy mentality, I’ve been insulted and lynched by many and started to get hated. Who started to insult me for that ? Jeff, Srinjoy…And you and some others after. The same persons that I’m mocking today. I don’t mock everyone.
So I’m just advising people who wanna talk about football with freedom of speech and without being personnally attacked to go to another place.
I’m not denigrating Jan’s blog, I have absolutly nothing against him. But this place isn’t made for debates, or at least not anymore. And it’s not my fault at all.
Don’t know if you remember but some months ago, I’d say in febuary or march, the troll came here and said that this blog was getting boring and advised people to leave and go to “footballoranje”. He also said that Jan was writing an article every month and mocked him. I defended Jan that moment and said that this blog is interesting. Few months later, after the game against Australia during the world cup, the troll wrote a long post about the game where he insulted me at the end. Jan copied it on his next article like a reference post lol…So maybe he agrees with trolls coming here and insulting other posters ? You can go to check all this if you want.
I’ve wrote so many analysis here, going about football, and it started on personnal attacks against me and some other members etc. for nothing. You can read topics from 2012, beginning 2013, we were talking with DRB, Mohamed, Tiju, Yourself and many others without any problem or lack of respect. Well sometimes I was teasing a bit Tiju but nothing disrespectful.
The problems started when I was denigrating the politic and making fun of Ajax results, which is my right. Jeff started to calling me idiot, to tell me to go away etc. and the multitroll followed. Personnal attacked started from this moment.
And when I said that ajax got the jewish greedy mentality, I’ve been insulted and lynched by many and started to get hated. Who started to insult me for that ? Jeff, Srinjoy…And you and some others after. The same persons that I’m mocking today. I don’t mock everyone.
So I’m just advising people who wanna talk about football with freedom of speech and without being personnally attacked to go to another place as long as it stays like this here.
PS : I’m writing that with another name cause Jan is apparently blocking my comments…
g
I’m not denigrating Jan’s blog, I have absolutly nothing against him. But this place isn’t made for debates, or at least not anymore. And it’s not my fault at all.
I’ve wrote so many analysis here, going about football, and it started on personnal attacks against me and some other members etc. for nothing. You can read topics from 2012, beginning 2013, we were talking with DRB, Mohamed, Tiju and many others without any problem or lack of respect. Well sometimes I was teasing a bit Tiju but nothing disrespectful.
The problems started when I was denigrating the politic and making fun of Ajax results, which is my right. Jeff started to calling me idiot, to tell me to go away etc. and the multitroll followed. Personnal attacked started from this moment.
And when I said that ajax got the jewish greedy mentality, I’ve been insulted and lynched by many and started to get hated. Who started to insult me for that ? Jeff, Srinjoy…And you and some others after. The same persons that I’m mocking today. I don’t mock everyone.
So I’m just advising people who wanna talk about football with freedom of speech and without being personnally attacked to go to another place.
I’m not denigrating Jan’s blog, I have absolutly nothing against him. But this place isn’t made for debates, or at least not anymore. And it’s not my fault at all.
Don’t know if you remember but some months ago, in march, the troll came here and wrote that this blog isn’t worthy anymore, advised people to go to “football-oranje” because Jan is writing only an article per month. I defended Jan and the blog that time. Few months later, during the world cup, just after the game against Australia, the same troll wrote a long post where he insulted me at the end, Jan copied this post as reference on his next article and agreed with…So maybe he agrees with trolls insulting posters here after all.
I’ve wrote so many analysis here, going about football, and it started on personnal attacks against me and some other members etc. for nothing. You can read topics from 2012, beginning 2013, we were talking with DRB, Mohamed, Tiju and many others without any problem or lack of respect. Well sometimes I was teasing a bit Tiju but nothing disrespectful.
The problems started when I was denigrating the politic and making fun of Ajax results, which is my right. Jeff started to calling me with bad names, to tell me to go away etc. and the multitroll followed. Personnal attackes started from this moment.
And when I said that ajax got the jew greedy mentality, I’ve been insulted and lynched by many and started to get hated. Who started to insult me for that ? Jeff, Srinjoy…And you and some others after. The same persons that I’m mocking today. I don’t mock everyone.
So I’m just advising people who wanna talk about football with freedom of speech and without being personnally attacked to go to another place.
I’m not denigrating Jan’s blog, I have absolutly nothing against him. But this place isn’t made for debates, or at least not anymore. And it’s not my fault at all.
Don’t know if you remember but some months ago, in march, the troll came here and wrote that this blog isn’t worthy anymore, advised people to go to “football-oranje” because Jan is writing only an article per month. I defended Jan and the blog that time. Few months later, during the world cup, just after the game against Australia, the same troll wrote a long post where he insulted me at the end, Jan copied this post as reference on his next article and agreed with…So maybe he agrees with trolls insulting posters here after all.
I’ve wrote so many analysis here, going about football, and it started on personnal attacks against me and some other members etc. for nothing. You can read topics from 2012, beginning 2013, we were talking with DRB, Mohamed, Tiju and many others without any problem or lack of respect. Well sometimes I was teasing a bit Tiju but nothing disrespectful.
The problems started when I was denigrating the politic and making fun of Ajax results, which is my right. Jeff started to calling me with bad names, to tell me to go away etc. and the multitroll followed. Personnal attackes started from this moment.
And when I said that ajax got the *** greedy mentality, I’ve been insulted and lynched by many and started to get hated. Who started to insult me for that ? Jeff, Srinjoy…And you and some others after. The same persons that I’m mocking today. I don’t mock everyone.
So I’m just advising people who wanna talk about football with freedom of speech and without being personnally attacked to go to another place.
Laurent… Please look up “ad hominem,” and work to understand that such rhetoric has no place in debate. (And look up “debate” while you’re at it.) I struggle with such words in other languages myself, so I can understand your confusion about what the word “debate” means.
I’d be happy to debate with you, if I didn’t already know so much about you. That you swear one thing one day, and another the next. That you’ve shown no honor, and insult myself and others with regularity. That you believe your “right” to “free speech” includes the right to troll without consequence. Debate? Without honor and respect, it’s just arguing.
You also have a lousy track record. All one has to do is check the prediction standings from the World Cup. 😉
There’s just no reason to engage with you, as I have now, other than to warn casual readers that you’re a long-time troll who’s so disliked by so many that you’ve more than once promised to leave.
If you think folks should leave this blog, please lead by example.
@ Mohamed, what if Holland continue to improve on the world scene playing 532 formation, will Spain copy? In Australia the Football Federation adopted 433 across all platforms for youth development and stressed that all teams in the elite leagues play 433 with wing backs playing out from the back, I wonder whether this will change if 532 proves to be the new Total Football.
As for Depay, I think the temptation of the EPL will take hold of him, I’m hoping Tottenham sign him so that he can play in an attacking style with Poccettino as his new coach, he must get some assurances of “game time” though or he could end up spending too much time in the stands. At some point in time players have to play in the best leagues, unfortunately the Erdedivise is not one of the best anymore, look at the player exodus this year again!
Being young will have its benefits as he will learn quicker than a 24 yr old coming in, sometimes the older player can never adjust to the speed and physicality of the best leagues, so I don’t mind if Depay goes now.
It’s like playing the gifted 10 yr old in the under 12 competition the learning curve is massive however not always a success.
Anyhow bring on the new season, I think it will be a beauty!
@Laurent : I’d be happier if you guys return to Jan’s blog again. I agree with you , Since DRB left the blog and the football discussion level here has dropped a lot. I’ll be waiting for him to post here again soon.
@Van Banger :
I don’t think Oranje will keep up using the 3-5-2 formation till the euro actually. It’s like euro 88. We won this tournament with 442 formation , but we didn’t continue and evantually returned to our tradtional 433.
I think , for this new generation , 3-4-3 a la Ajax 95 team formation will be the best.
We have good defenders for the three back line.
Ajax 95 under LvG played with this formation :
___ Van Der Sar ____
Reiziger__Blind__FdB
_____ Rijkarrd ____
Ronald de boer __ Davids
________ Litmanen ___
Finidi __ Kluivert __ overmars
Davids and Ronald de boer used to cover the Left and Right flanks defensively , and return to the midfeild on possession and atttack.
Litmanen used to drop to the midfeild to help rijkaard in the midfeild.
of course both over mars and Finidi have their defensive duties , too.
Blind senior used to play the sweeper role and he was pretty damn good in it.
Anyway , I think we have enough quality to play with the same strategy in Oranje in the next few years.
_____Cillessen/Vermeer/Krul ____
____Nigel de jong/Hendrix_______
De Vrij/Kongolo ____ Blind/Rekik
_________ Ake/Ayoub___________
MvG/Wijnaldum_____Strootman/Sinkgraven
________ Depay/Promes_________
Narsingh/Manu________ Boetius/Kishna
_______ Robben/Ghazi__________
Well , I know not all of these players are ready to step for the NT right now , But I’d like to see this team playing in the next Euro or next World Cup. I think both Robben and N.De jong will be with Oranje in Russia.
Hendrix and De jong will be both great in the sweeper role since both have enuogh skill and quickness in their feet and speedy turn to fulfill this role.
Strootman and Ginkel shall be our leeders in the midfeild and the two with the most tactical rules and duties.
Depay and Promes will be a joy to watch in the playmaker role. Many may disagree with that but I think they will end up playing there. Robben may lose a bit of his Speed but his experience and desire for glory will hopefully only increase 🙂 , so I put him as a striker to lead the team.
I hope Ghazi and kishna both grow into strikers , but by the next WC , I think Kishna who is a bit faster will stay as a winger , EL ghazi will be hopefully another young less arrogant Ibra 😉 .
Cheers
We also have Ziyech , Lens , Vlaar , Duarte , Viergevr , Veltman , Klassen … etc.
I hope all of them step up in their development. This was just an example of how I would like to see Oranje.
Thanks Mohamed, you make some good points and I agree that we have some young talent coming through that will become key players in our future, MVG and Depay for example.
PSV reached an agreement with Man City on getting Rekik for one more year loan . Also Depay will improve his contract and become one of the highest paid players in PSV.
Cocu said : “He is hugely important for us and we should show it”.
Well done. This is so pleasant news 🙂 .
Atletico Madrid may be interested in signing Georginio Wijnaldum.
How do you rate this move guys ? Chances of Georginio to be a regular starter with the team ?
If this deal goes through, then it’s going to be awesome!!
Agree
Excellent article on LvG:
https://decorrespondent.nl/1418/6-secret-traits-that-make-Louis-van-Gaal-the-humble-genius-he-is-and-mainstream-media-fail-to-see/39977674-3ae85e9b
Thanks, nice article.
News in Greece say that Barcelona and Olympiakos have reached an agreement for the transfer of Ibrahim Afellay!! He is expected in Greece Saturday to agree personal terms and sign a contract with the Greek side. Honestly if that is true, wtf is wrong with Ibrahim?? Why would you go to a team like that? He has the option to join any other team in a better league and he chooses to go to Greece!!! A million times better would have been to see him back at PSV where he’s gonna have a chance to get called from Hiddink.
I don’t think it’s that bad of a move. A pretty good one actually. The fact that he’s finally gotten out of Barca is a positive sign.
The most important thing is he’ll be going to a team where he can get minutes, and be a starter. Another plus is they play CL football.
You mention big clubs, but I’m pretty sure his options were limited. In the last 3 years, he’s only played 15 games. He’s also been injury prone, so I could understand why clubs wouldn’t take a gamble on him. And anyways I’d rather see him be a starter then sit on the bench all year and be used sparingly in a bigger league.
If he wants playing time, I’m sure that all 3 of the big teams in Holland would be more than happy to sign him but he clearly stated that he is not interested in to going back to Holland. I never said anything about him signing with a big club cause like you said clubs don’t want to take a gamble on him but i simply said that he could have gone to a better league. Honestly Sam its not playing time he is after but its his salary….No other team will offer him what they offer knowing the injury problems that he had. Throughout his career Afellay has made bad decisions, first Barca where he knew he would never play and now this garbage!!
How can you consider million times better to go to PSV rather than Olympiacos ?
In one hand you have a greek club that is playing CL every year and very seriously, and building a good team.
In the other one you have a dutch club in crisis which plan to sell its best players and which may disappear from europe before Xmas once again.
The fact that PSV would give him more chances to be called with NT than Olympiacos is probably true, but silly. Hiddink, Van Gaal and all the other coachs should pay more attention to the dutch players in Dynamo Moscow, Olympiacos etc. than to PSV and Feyenoord ones. Simply because those clubs are better.
The main reason is that Hiddink will take a close look at him and also the fact that the Greek league is terrible.
Olympiakos is a absolute shit club who have players like Abidal in their first eleven…its better not to play in the champions league then to play for what could be the weakest team and most likely whipping boys in the tournament! it is a cruel joke on a very greedy man! Well Deserved though!
F***** troll, hey Goldstone do you defend that ? Is saying that Olympiacos is a absolute shit team an opinion ? They just did CL 1/4.
What a disgrace to have Abidal in your squad…Especially knowing that he has been brought only for the experience and won’t play more than half of the games due to his physical condition.
CL 1/8
Olympiakos in Europe have done absolutely nothing!! Just because they got a favorable draw last year and they managed to go to the best 16 doesn’t mean that they are good, by they way on the last group-stage game they needed 3 penalties and Anderlecht was playing with 3 red cards and they still struggled to get past through them in order to qualify. We are talking about a team that has participated in the C.L as many times as Bayern and up until last year no one knew they existed. Honestly i have no respect for this team because of the fact that for the past 20 years they manage to win the Greek league with every possible way…Their president is accused for match fixing scandal but no judge in Greece has the balls to do anything about it. Also he’s main goal is NOT to make his team stronger but to make its rivals weaker mainly arch-rivals (Panathinaikos) but also Aek and Paok. His team is not aloud to lose….even in the games that they struggle they are gonna get a pk or 50 fouls near the penalty area because the referee otherwise would be banned. If you watch one of their league games you’ll realize that the smallest touch on their players is a foul, or every time one of their players falls then its a definite foul! Last years top goal scorer in Greece Panathinaikos player Marcus Berg (you might remember him cause he played in the Eredivisie with Gronningen and PSV) had 8 yellow cards throughout the season and all 4 starters from Olympiakos defense had only 6 combined!! They control the Greek Federation of football and most of the times they appoint the referees that they want in their game. This is some of the many many things that they do in order to win the league and get the 15 millions for participation in the C.L
I would hate to see any Dutch player play for these bastards!!
The favorable draw was to beat benfica, did any dutch team beat benfica in a tournament last 10 years ?
I used to hate olympiakos for their defensive playing but they changed their style and bring good players. If srinjoy mocks them for bringing abidal, what about feyenoord bringing boulahrouz? Lol
Calling them shit club on a dutch football site is ridiculous currently, they have more ambition to any dutch club
Did you watch the game against Benfica?? Their goalkeeper had the game of his life, saving 5 one on ones and many more goal scoring chances. Benfica deserved that win, Olympiakos just got lucky, nothing more to it. As far as ambition goes, take a look at the teams that they had to play in the group stage the past years and compare them with the teams that Ajax faced.
I watched the return against Benfica (1-1) and it was balanced.
Also I’ll remind you that Olympiakos beat them 5-1 in 2009 in EL. That same team of Benfica that beat PSV twice and AZ last year in EL.
About Ajax and draws, do you think that the Lyon team of 2012 was stronger than Benfica ???? Ajax couldn’t beat them.
Ajax is the most undefendable team, they lost against the shittiest team ever in europa league those last years. From Dinamo Zagreb to Copenhague, going to Steaua, Spartak Moscow and Salzburg…The worst is that they often even took 2-0, 3-0…No excuses for them.
So yeah the point isn’t to say that Olympiakos is a big team, they’re not. But to call them shitty on a dutch site actually is just a bit funny as they passed the group stage of CL and are bringing some good players, two things that dutch clubs don’t do for 8 years.
1) It was balanced because the field was a piece of shit….you couldn’t even kick the ball in that game and that of course suits Olympiakos more than Benfica.
2) That was a terrible Benfica team they finished the group that year in last place with only 1 point!!! Sure as hell the Lyon team of 2012 was better than them. Also Olympiakos played Lyon 2006 in the group stage and lost both games 1-4 in Greece and 2-1 in France.
3) Ajax did just enough that year to qualify but they got eliminated because Dinamo Zagreb let Lyon score 6 goals in the second half (1-7 final score) to eliminate Ajax and make Mr. Platini happy.
4) We at Ajax don’t care enough about Europa League thats why you see us losing to shitty teams like that, our first priority after the C.L is to win the league because thats gonna guarantee us participating in it next year and that means money, something that Dutch clubs desperately need.
5) Dutch teams don’t bring good players because they have plenty of talented players in Holland unlike Greece. Greek teams usually sign famous players that are almost done with their career, Saviola, Abidal etc.
The benfica of last year that reached EL finale was much better than Lyon 2012, and Olympiakos beat them. No matter what the circumstances were. Olympiakos played also well against Anderlecht (won 3-0 away), beat 2-0 Manchester United…They played an attacking and interesting football last year. Lyon of 2012 was total shit, they lost to Apoel Nicosia just after.
When you do 0-0 two times against Lyon, you don’t do enough to qualify. That’s why Ajax can also feel guilty no matter what happened in Zagreb. You don’t have to count on other teams when you don’t beat Lyon yourself.
They beat Benfica because luck was on their side. As far as beating Man United, surely that was a big win for them but lets not forget that that was the worst Man U team in the past 30 years and Olympiakos proved in the second game what a small team they are by losing 3-0 and getting eliminated.
How was Lyon of 2012 total shit with players like: Lloris, Cris, Bastos, Lisandro Lopes, Gourcuff, Kallstrom, Lovren, Gomis?? Also Apoel that year had a pretty good team with a very solid defense and some good attacking players. It took Real Madrid more than 75 minutes to break their defense.
No one said that Ajax shouldn’t feel guilty for not beating Lyon in Amsterdam but that doesn’t change the fact that Dinamo sold the game. If that didn’t happen Ajax would have been through….
But talking about project, do you see what Olympiakos is doing and what dutch clubs are doing ? You said that Abidal, Saviola and you could add Dominguez are old players, ok, but they also brought Kasami from Fulham this year who is 22, they brought many players from Spain last years such as Miguel Torres, Botia, David Fuster…Even if those are not top players, signing 24-28yo players from Villareal is already something dutch clubs cannot do.
Of course they cannot have top players yet even with offering big money, because the greek league isn’t attractive enough, but they are really trying something interesting. And if Afellay signs, that will be their first “big” deal, considering that he isn’t old. And if that works, you’ll see many good players signing coming years.
What are dutch clubs trying to do ? Every year the clubs get weaker and weaker, look at Feyenoord against Besiktas, look at Twente now without Tadic and Promes, not even sure they’ll beat Qarabag, the biggest salary in the league is about 1,5 mo I think, results in europe are shameful…No project at all.
Laurent, Olympiakos sold their best player 6 months ago Mitroglou for 15 million to Fulham also they are very close on selling their best defender Manolas for an amount close to 10 million + 20 million they made from C.L last year, equals to 45 million. Of course some of that money is going to be used to new signings but the reality is that out of all that money they made, they haven’t paid more than 5 millions (including the signing of Afellay) for new players. I heard that Abidal went there on loan (not sure if thats entirely true) and Fuster has been with them for a long time, he’s just about done now….Miguel Torres was signed by their coach Michel cause he knew him from Spain but failed to impress in his first season. Botia was recently signed as a replacement for the staring defender that is leaving.
Ajax had plenty of Spanish players like Bojan on loan (who by the way recently rejected an offer from Olympiakos) and before him Gabri, Oleguer, Cuenca (on loan) but lets be realistic none of them really impressed. Im sure that these players can do better in Greece because technically the league is not that good and the pace of the game there is very slow but I’m not really sure the Eredivisie needs average players like that. If you take a closer look, most of the teams in the Greek league, have a Spanish player!!
I will agree with you though on what you are saying about the Dutch teams that are getting weaker year by year but for some of these clubs is very difficult to reject a big offer from England, Spain or Germany. Also lets not forget that the young players cannot resist a big move to Chelsea (Van Ginkel, Ake), Man City (Rekik) and many many more.
Laurent stop trying mate..you are getting massacred by Tomy14…haha the blog is interesting again..same story..everyone bullies the deluded, disrespectful french crybaby
No idiot. I’m having a debate with Tomy14, a guy who gives arguments and to whom I’m answering with others. That’s how this blog should always be.
You’re the faggot here with your little posts containing no argument or sense. Haha what a shame for Olympiakos to buy Abidal !!! A guy who was in Barcelona some years ago and Monaco last year. I’d teach you that Olympiakos offered 5mo per year to Abidal, that’s clearly showing ambition even if he is an old player. Being able to offer such money will attract some good young players in the future. Olympiakos is doing good, Afellay would even not negociate with this club three years ago. Like he doesn’t even negociate with dutch ones today.
Seriously Laurent, not again. Why do you need to insult people all the time? Now it is “faggot”. Grow up and use reasonable arguments instead of insults. I am sure it would do you a lot of good.
Do you have something to teach me about arguments and insults ?
Jeff :
June 13, 2014 at 9:15 pm
ok this time really f*** you Laurent. Go and poison another website. You are a true piece of shit. Go to fucking hell. Let us enjoy this victory.
Do you have something to teach me about arguments and insults ?
Jeff :
June 13, 2014 at 9:15 pm
ok this time really f*** you Laurent. Go and poison another website. You are a true piece of shit. Go to f**ing hell. Let us enjoy this victory.
Since we discussed the difference between debate and just arguing earlier, this may be an instructive for you: Your post to Jeff — “Do you have something to teach me about arguments and insults ?” — is an example of a logical fallacy. It’s called “tu quoque,” and it’s a cheap shot in debate, a deflection on par with “nyah, nyah, what about you?!”
“Tu quoque”: look it up.
http://www.fallacyfiles.org/tuquoque.html
(Your mother may have taught you “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” Same logical underpinning. 🙂
Again, the real point of contention is your, Laurent’s, behavior. Not Jeff’s.
Can’t you be a bit more objective Goldstone ? Don’t you wonder why I never insult you despite of your wish to see me leaving for months ?
Go to read how Srinjoy and Jeff started to talk to me, how is called letting someone to insult you in public without reacting in debate ?
More objective:
http://tinyurl.com/qgfj45l
This is getting ridiculous
I agree we have no talk about the new eredivisie that started this weekend. Just this fighting . It is becoming sad this place was so good. Apart from Jan’s posts there is not much good comments to read
The problem that Olympiakos have and will have is the same than russian and ukrainian clubs are currently having. Even with showing ambition with big financial offers, they aren’t in a powerful position compared to the big leagues.
Let’s to give you a realistic example : Let’s say that Narsingh will have a good season with PSV, and will get some interest from abroad. Olympiakos will win the battle : 8mo for PSV, and 4 years of contract with 2,5 mo per year for Narsingh. He’ll play good two seasons with them, and then ? They know that most of english sub clubs are able to offer him 3/4 mo per year without any problem. And that PL is more attractive than the greek league. They have two choices :
– Give him another big contract > 3/4mo, which is quite hard
– Try to sell him before that he lose value or leave for free.
That’s why they sold Mitroglou to Fulham and may sell Manolas now. Manolas has two years on his contract, now they’re getting an offer of 10mo, but what if Manolas plays bad next season or get injured ? Clubs will offer 5 mo max next summer. And if no one wants him, he’ll go for free in two years.
As long as 5 big leagues are more attractive and able to offer at least as much money as them, they can’t do much.
The goal is to try to keep quality in the squad by selling players and buying new ones. And while a club like Ajax is always replacing leaving players by young unexperienced local ones or unknown swedish one who will cost nothing, a club like Olympiakos is trying to get quality and to stay active on the market.
Look at Shakthar those last years, they also have been obliged to sell Willian, Fernandinho, Mkhitaryan…because they wouldn’t renew their contracts. And they paid much to get Taison, Bernard, Wellington Nem to replace them…Same for Benfica or Porto, they sell players but keep buying ones. I think they spend maybe 60 % of what they get with transfers to buy new players. That’s fair.
Olympiakos also seems to follow this path.
Afellay joins Olympiakos on loan from Barcelona
Thanks Goldstone. I am afraid Laurent will never learn. Anyway, to go back to football, I just came back from the Amsterdam Arena where I watched Ajax-Vitesse. I was also there last week for the JC trophy. What is especially interesting is that I had great conversations with Mark Van Bommel and also the CEO of Ajax, who is the best friend of my long time friend from San Francisco (former coach of Univ San Francisco). Both said that Duct clubs are at a huge disadvantage because of the self imposed salary cap (not to exceed 1M Euros). They can’t run into debt by law and don’t have the market to grow their income. Ajax gets approximately 10M euros of TV money from the contract with Fox. Guess what Swansea or other mid- to lower-table Premier League teams make? Closer to 50-60M. There is the root of the problem. The CEO of Ajax said their goal is therefore to become the best youth team in Europe. Trust me, my son and I pushed him by asking tough questions (Laurent would have been proud!).
For example, why does Ajax not buy the best Dutch talents cheaply like Bayern does in Germany (not cheaply there of course)? He answered that they want to develop their own talented players and they think they have what it takes. So I asked, why not buy Ziyeh or Mokotjo (1-2M euros max)? Well he says we have Bazoer, El Ghazi and Kishna so why buy them? We kept on going like this back and forth. I asked about the ambition of the club. He seemed resigned to making winning the Eredivisie and reaching any European competition in January as the main goals; not only achievable but really a must. Then he added that once in a while we will be able to have an older player (Poulsen or Rijkaard-like) who will want to come back and then they may reach a slightly higher level. But this is it guys. To be honest I was a bit shocked because it looked like there was no grandiose plans or ambition.
But Mark Van Bommel said the same thing. It is really tough for Dutch clubs. He is trying very hard to convince Depay to stay but he, himself as the future youth coach of PSV, does not know what he will do.
I will be coming more often this year and now that i have a direct link with the CEO of Ajax I should be able to report more on the topic. Finally, proof is in the pudding as we say since the attempt to get Etoo is perfectly in line with that new defined policy. The only issue is whether Etoo will agree to play for a mere million Euros…
Jeff admit that you were the first one to call me idiot etc. because of my anti ajax attitude. I was negative, mocking ajax and all you want, but I wasn’t attacking you or anyone else.
To talk about your post, I’m delighted that you talked with them and are honest enough to share the feeling that they had no big plan.
Bringing Eto’o would be something really great, first he can score those crucial goals in CL that Ajax always failed to score those last years, and second he’ll give some buzz and put the club under the spotlights again. Even if he stays only one year or doesn’t perform that good, just the fact to associate his name to Ajax will put some gold on Ajax name.
I am always happy to discuss football and especially Ajax. I do it in an honest way because that is how I am, always direct and straight forward. I do not like to play games. I respect and cherish opinions from the die hard fans. My friend from San Francisco and I always discuss the issue of Ajax direction and frequently question it, but we love the club and will always support it. We may criticize but we do it “with love”! I feel the same about the Dutch team. What I don’t like is endless cynicism and negativity especially from non die-hard fans.
Now regarding Eto’o, I totally agree with you. He would bring a lot of attention to the club and could nurture the young. I also know Ajax may break their 1M Euros rule…so let’s hope he comes. Maybe he would join for 1.5M.
Great Geff,You can advise the club CEO to develop Ajax fans in India by starting academy in Kerala.This would make the Club and dutch national team more popularity and offcouse big sponsors will come one by one..
“To be honest I was a bit shocked because it looked like there was no grandiose plans or ambition”
This is indeed very shocking Jeff..I thought Cruyff’s velvet revolution has well and truly kicked off. I was under the impression that the club, besides remodeling the youth development program, was also planning to restructure financially.
Did you ask about the remodeled youth program which is supposed to lay more emphasis on individual development rather than on collective effort?
Yes I agree that the air of resignation is disturbing. But I heard the same from Van Bommel. Regarding the youth, I asked that very question ie that we had heard Ajax were in the business of developing young talents as opposed to focusing on winning. Well they believe they are nearly there with lots of talented players coming through such as Menig, Becker, Bazoer, Anderson, Tete, Van Der Hart, Nouri etc. So that is how they keep their optimism by making sure they form really talented players. Interestingly though at the JC trophy, the KNVB gave its awards for best youth team, best youth academy, best youth players from the A1, B1 and there was not a single Ajax player. I also pointed this out. But the answer was “we know best”. We will see…
Thanks for the update Jeff! 🙂
Cheers!
Thanks very much, Jeff. I’ve learned more from a couple of your posts about Ajax than I have elsewhere in months. 🙂
You are totally welcome and thanks for the compliment. One reason to be optimistic is to watch the highlights of Jong Ajax from this past Monday
http://www.ajax.nl/Ajax-TV/197726/Highlights-Jong-Ajax-Telstar-1.htm.
I know it is always a bit difficult to gauge the value of players on highlights but nonetheless some of these Ajax players are very promising and they are mostly Dutch (Andersen is the only non Dutch on the team). Becker, Menig and Zivkovic are impressive offensively. So let’s wait and see.
Andersen is gona be the main man..though ..he seems to be absoulte class..the way he glides about the pitch…was so surprised to see Serero picked ahead of him..Serero is a bundle of energy..all hustle n bustle…but anderson…my goodness.he can get out of tight paces, dribble past 2-3 players and play a peach of a lofted pass while adjusting his hairstyle!!
With the upcoming Left/right footed wingers and midfielders who can can play on the left flanks, I dont think we will need Afellay any more. the guy has got serious issues and it s better we jus leave to him.Depay,Kishna, Wijnaldum,Boetius, Promes,Lens we jus have too many talents that can do the job and with the current level in four years they will be at their peak so its no use concentrating on someone who jus is not a team players and is more self centered rather than being more materialistic. he will jus rot at Olympiakos jus like Royston Drenthe
Monaco signs Stekelenburg on one year loan. Good for him especially with euro 2016 round the corner.
van la parra had a brilliant debut for wolves today and helped them beat norwich city today. 1 Assist and also he was pulled down when thru on goal by edwards who was sent off for it!
Premier league: code to join this league: 1342101-313747
The league is called YAYA YAYA YAYA
barclay’s premier league… Who is in?
@Jeff – wow how cool is it that you can give us on here some real insight into what is happening not just someone’s opinion. I spoke with my Bro in Law today in Holland and he was really pissed for the first part of the Ajax game as he said that they missed too many chances although by the end 4-1 was a good result.
@laurent- I see no value in a good player going to Greece to play if the player has any ambition or real talent, Affelay is doing it for money, and in Greece he will surely be getting paid lots of extras under the table. Greek football is not mentioned in any discussions when it comes to philosophy, skill or technical ability , hence going there would be akin to coming to play in Australia ala Del Piero, Hershi, berisha. They are either too old, too young or just not good enough to play in the top leagues hence they can make a dollar doing what they love without having to work too hard.
As we know there is little money in Holland for football, comparatively speaking, but the quality of the youth has and will always be very strong and as such clubs like Ajax, PSV etc will rely on the youth and develop them for the big leagues, it’s actually a great problem to have!
Guys dont forget to join Biterballens League
Premier league: code to join this league: 1342101-313747
The league is called YAYA YAYA YAYA
barclay’s premier league… Who is in?
Sad Reality of our league:
Porto midfielder Steven Defour has opted against a move to PSV and will join Anderlecht instead for a transfer fee of €6 million.
Would be a good player for the league but wasn’t necessary at PSV as they already have Schaars, Hiljemark, Hendrix, Maher, Wijnaldum (who may stay one year more as he just extended his contract)…
Would be better at Feyenoord or Ajax
Good to see another player after Depay knocking back a move to stay in the Eredvisie to get some more experience…
PSV midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum has rejected a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
The French champions are still browsing the transfer market for attacking options, after deeming Angel Di Maria “too expensive”, though the Netherlands international has no desire to move to the French capital just yet.
De Telegraaf says that Wijnaldum is determined to stay in the Eredivisie for at least one more season and recently extended his contract as he is eager to win the Eredivisie title.