It’s almost that time again. March 2014. Back in 2013 we were fantasising how Van Gaal would work towards a fixed squad for the World Cup from the France game onwards…. It looked so far away.
But it’s upon us. Only 3 more nights… And it does feel we are getting close….
Lots has happened over the last months. Except for a lot of blog posts by yours truly, hahaha. Well, that will hopefully change. Still flat out like a lizard, as we say in Oz, but will endeavour to post some more inbetween the different obligations.
Lets start with the State of the Orange Union.
Louis copped some criticism lately, as he was becoming overly flippant and negative about the team manager’s role. In one interview he even said he hated the job. This is probably a badly articulated job advertising slogan as he means to say that he adores working with a (club) squad on a daily basis and he is probably hoping to woo one or two club boards here and there ( as long as it is in England). But the choice of words didn’t go down well with the fans and media in Holland. As I said before (a couple of times): it feels like everything LVG does is for LVG. He is coaching the Dutch team not because he feels it’s an honour but because it “fills a gap in his resume”. Pathetic. You know what you sign up for and if you don’t like the job, than piss off, right? Wouldn’t we all give an arm or a leg (of Louis of course) for this role?
Anyway, now the ball starts to roll again, LVG will focus on positive things I hope.
He recently created another little media flare up when Feyenoord made the fans believe they were courting Louis as replacement for Ronald Koeman. But Van Gaal crushed that story by saying he immediately told Feyenoord he wasn’t interested. “They know I won’t go to Rotterdam so why they keep on telling the media they want to talk to me is a riddle to me.”. Which prompted the Rotterdam club to announce they will now go for Co Adriaanse.
Koeman’s exit was to be expected. He has not been capable of turning this talented team – together for more than two seasons – into a winning machine. Agreed, they do play good football at times, they play typically Dutch total football with 3 forwards, and attacking full backs like Oranje but they have trouble killing games off. If it happens every now and again, fine. But Feyenoord has lost 8 games in the Eredivisie in which they scored first. and they appear to concede a lot of late goals… Concentration? Fitness? Tactical discipline? Who knows. But LVG won’t be too happy with his main defence provider being so sloppy.
Some people believe that this squad led by Van Gaal would have been the leader of the table and with Co Feyenoord will have a good second best option.
Van Gaal set his sights on the EPL. He has won titles in three leagues/countries ( Holland, Germany, Spain) and is hoping to add England to the list. Spurs seems to be the most likely to sign the man, but rumours claim that Davis Moyes may be out of a job soon and then LVG might be considered by Man United… Interesting indeed…. Latest rumours claim that Frank de Boer is named as Van Gaal’s righthand man, should Moyes be fired and Louis being courted.
A quick check up on our top guns.
It does seem we could do with some good fortune for ManU, as Van Persie clearly isn’t happy there. He complained about his team mates not having the tactical smarts which prompted Chicharito to sneer at him via Twitter. Van Persie has had some fitness issues as well which could be a blessing in disguise for Oranje, of course.
It seems Van der Vaart is also on an uphill battle. His club is not fairing well and he is struggling with his fitness (as per usual). Arjen Robben seems to be very happy under Pep and he is firing on all cylinders. Lets hope he stays fit. Sneijder is clearly making progress. His fitness is at top level, one would say, witnessing his performance against Chelsea. He looks fit, works hard for the team and has impact. If he keeps on going like this, he will make it to Brazil.
Van Gaal has announced that he likes Sneijder’s performance on the left flank in Istanbul but also added that the little general will never play in that role in Oranje. “Gala plays 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. We don’t. Sneijder will never play on the left flank in my team.”
Van Gaal suggested that Mancini plays Sneijder on the left for a reason. “The way creative midfield players have to play nowadays has changed. Look at Wilshere, Kroos, Iniesta, Silva and Oscar. Players who can make a difference with the ball and who can work for the team without. It’s key to me how Sneijder performs, not in the first 15 minutes of the game, but also after an hour of play. When fatigue hits, when tactical discipline gets less and the space on the pitch gets bigger….”
Strootman had a blast this season and will definitely make the plane, provided he remains fit of course.
Jeremain Lens is a question mark for me. Haven’t seen much of him and don’t hear much of him. With Boetius, Depay and other youngsters making an impact, who knows what LVG will decide. I’m also not sure on Vlaar. I like the guy, he is strong and solid. But not the greatest football player, slow and with Villa basically playing relegation football….
Having said that: our other center backs are not impressing either. Bruma, Rekik, Veltman, De Vrij, BMI…. Can’t say I’m overly confident. I do believe Virgil van Dijk deserves a call up but somehow Van Gaal doesn’t agree.
I like the development of Daley Blind. I have mentioned his name here years ago already (probably on the other blog….) as one of Holland’s biggest talents and it is really coming to the fore. He can play left back, center back (although he is too small, really) and defensive mid. I do like the way Vernon Anita is developing too mind you.
Van Gaal uses Blind as left back and feels that Holland needs some better options there. Jetro Willems and Patrick van Aanholt have not yet impressed Van Gaal. Van Gaal also believes Blind’s ideal role is in central midfield – like De Boer does – but due to his left back issue, he will not use Blind there. LVG has Nigel de Jong and Clasie for the central midfield role as well.
I see Nigel de Jong play for Milan regularly and to me he is still the best central midfielder we have. I like Clasie, I think he is the future but with our vulnerable defence I do believe we need Nigel the Destroyer on that spot.
Mr Van Gaal has named the final 23 and there are not a lot of surprises for me. Louis did call up some new players. JP Boetius (19 years old) is doing really well as a typical left winger and scores goals and makes assists for Feyenoord. Clearly a promising talent for Oranje and rightfully picked. Karim Rekik is following up from his roles in youth rep teams in which he always was skipper. The Man City defender (19 years old) has the goods and gets a chance to show them to LVG. Davy Klaassen is a shoe in for a role in Oranje, but maybe not for the World Cup 2014. The Bergkamp like midfielder would be on LVG’s radar as he knows him well due to their shared Ajax background (and Danny Blind’s). Klaassen (20 years old) can score, can play the Strootman role, has work ethics and like Bergkamp has a velvet touch. The last newbie is Quincy Promes (21 years old) of Twente. Smart penetrating midfielder, with a nose for goals (like Klaassen) and important for Twente’s surge to the top.
Rekik has been selected earlier on in the pre-selection but had to bail due to injury.
Remarkably enough, Van Gaal didn’t pick Nigel De Jong. His comments were ambivalent: “I know what Nigel can and cannot do. I want to see Clasie and Schaars this time.” Stefan de Vrij is also left out. “I need to present a list of 30 players by end of May. I want to have players now that have made a name for themselves recently, to get a clear picture.” De Vrij’s partner in crime Martins Indi has been called up.
Jeremain Lens is not part of the squad because he is suspended.
“I’ll say it again Danny! If you want the top job, you HAVE to start wearing your hair like me! That is what the young guns respect. Modern hair, spikey and upright!”
Bruma didn’t make the cut either (injured) and Fer, Siem de Jong, Propper, Stekelenburg and Vermeer were left out too. The absence of Tim Krul surprises me. Surely an experienced goalie from the EPL is more valuable than a talent from a struggling PSV?? LVG actually said that Ken Vermeer fits the job description best. “He is very athletic, fast, courageous and a good football player. He fits our style best.” But he won’t be selected because he doesn’t play at the moment. “But I haven’t forgotten him….”
Lastly, Paul Verhaegh had to pull out due to a nasty injury and it remains to be seen who will replace him. With Daryl Janmaat and Gregory van der Wiel, it seems we have enough right backs….
I will never agree with Van Gaal fully, I suppose. I don’t see it in Zoet (yet) but I am a big Krul fan. I doubt Vlaar but otherwise we seem to have the best players in defence that we can get.
In midfield, I can understand his doubts re: Sneijder (and Van der Vaart) but I don’t understand why Schaars is ahead of Nigel de Jong in the hierarchy. Nor can I understand the presence of Dirk Kuyt… I have always been a big fan of Kuyt, for his lion heart and his mentality. But he is the number 3 striker behind Robin van Klaas Jan. And thus shouldn’t be in squad. As a winger he simply is not good enough. Not when we (will) have Lens, Wijnaldum, Boetius, Depay, Robben, Promes, Narsingh… My 2 cents at least.
Beyond the World Cup, the Euro 2016 draw is out. I won’t go into it now. And I might not ever. Even the best number threes qualify so what is there to say…. Guus Hiddink and his shortly to be announced staff (incl Ruud van Nistelrooy) will not have a hard time to qualify.
Danny Blind will step into the “Joachim Low” role at Oranje. Meaning that he will assist Hiddink, who will be the shield for two years, until 2016 and after that Blind will assume the end responsibility towards the World Cup 2018. Most likely a good decision of the KNVB and there will be milestones in the contract to allow for adaptations should the results require this….
Manchester United interested in De Vrij.Now Manchester United has already had rumours with Van Dijk, Denswil, Veltman, Van Der Hoorn, De Vrij. Maybe there are trying to build a squad to lure Van Gaal?
Manchester United linked with De Vrij. Now Manchester United has already had rumours with Van Dijk, Veltman, Denswil, Van Der Hoorn, De Vrij. Maybe they are trying to build a squad to lure Van Gaal?
Another goal for Dost..very nice.
Jan, nice article right on time! Thanks!
Nice Feye vs Ajax game. Feyenoord didn’t deserve to lose though. They did control possession and piled some amount at pressure on Ajax for some period of the game. Pelle’s goal was probably the best moment of beauty in the game. Veltman and Moisander did not look too good against the Italian. Also, Veltman looks too lightweight against big centre forwards like Pele.
Neither team was very impressive, but I was more impressed with the Rotterdamers and thought Ajax didn’t deserve the win (a draw would have been a good reflection of the overall play).
@Van Hessilbaink, I slightly disagree with you. Feyenoord scored its goal when Moisander was out getting treated for a head injury. But granted the goal was a nice one. But the 2 moments of pure class in the game were the move by Kishna for the equalizer and the shot by Klaassen that hit the post. Other than that, Yes Feyenoord had most of the play but no creativity and mostly long balls to Pelle. I also disagree with you about Veltman. I thought he did a great job handling Pelle the entire game. Don’t forget Pelle elbowed him (I am sure this time Pelle will get suspended by the KNVB) and he scored the winning goal. SO all in all not bad for a central defender.
Veltman is absolute top class. He makes a few mistakes here and there but he is absolutely superb.
Jeff, i canoot see the game. what ur point for Klaassen, Veltman and Kishna?? are they play good totally??
Yes, for NT fans, seeing Kishna blow past BMI was both wonderful and horrible at the same time. Kishna is a very exciting player. BMI was paced out of his boots.
Huge “shout out” to Berghuis for those two goals. The second one was a thing of real beauty…nice to see him taking his starting role this season with two hands.
Klaassen played pretty well and I thought Veltman was outstanding. Kishna created the magic that was needed. He is technically incredibly gifted, fast, tall and physically imposing. He also appears super confident and has lots of flair. He is the first attacking legitimate Dutch talent emerging from the Ajax academy in years. I think he will be able to play a lot more during the rest of the season with Fischer out and now Bojan injured as well.
considering the talent he should be selelected as RVP back up striker like michal owen screwed arjetina in 1998WC.
that will never happen as kuyt and hunter as back ups..sad but truth…
Kishna is finally a fast and technical forward coming in dutch football. He is a mix between the technical of Van Persie, with the speed and penetration of El Shaarawy, and he seems to be stronger than both.
Probably our striker for 2016/2018.
Now I don’t think it’s a good idea to select him for the coming WC, first because he has no experience and I doubt that such a young player would make the difference in a crucial game, and also because RVP is the same style. Better to take two players with different profiles. Castaignos would be the best option for his depth, but Van Gaal won’t select him.
So it’ll be indeed Huntelaar or Kuyt. I don’t really mind them if they only play 15 last minutes, but let’s just to hope that RVP don’t get injured or a red card, otherwise I would even prefer to use a winger as striker instead of both.
sachin played at 16,pele at 18 so on,talents are not limited to age,we can only dream of kuyt and hunter does his kind of moves even at the age of 30.kishna is fit he must get the node coz he is a difference maker not kuyt or hunter..
I agree with your comments on Kishna but I think that he was brought in from ADO, not developed in the Ajax academies.
True REVENIRE but he came to Ajax at the age of 15. He was injured the last 2 years.
VDV back in the squad but WHY??? He has made some contributions but enough of him already!
We need to transition to a new team and develop our youth! It will be a tough task for Hiddink to drop many of the old guard and replace with the younger guys.
Totally agreed with you Bitterballen, VDV needs to drop off the squad already, he plays in a shitty team and he is nothing but slow at the moment.
Lets hope he will be a super sub of Sneijder of only 20 mins top!!
Cheers!
Sneijder and VDV are our best number 10s.
The others are wishful thinking.
VDV is our best weapon on corners and free kicks, and that’s not to neglect, especially as our the CB are tall and can score.
We have more chances to score against Spain on a undirect free kick than with trying to play a beautiful football whereas we can’t really do it anymore.
if vaar doesnt start vs spain we are sucked…..IMO
Van der vaart is still a top class player, and produces for the dutch when he’s in the squad. They can’t just drop him
Even though we’re three months away from the WC I feel like we haven’t settled down on a definite CB pairing yet. Of the possible pairings I like Vlaar/Veltman the best.
I think Vlaar should definitely start because of his experience and because he’s familiar with Silva, Navas, Negredo, and Soldado having faced them before in the EPL. Likewise with Veltman vs. Barcelona.
One thing I really admire about Vlaar is his willingness to go in for tackles. That’s something I don’t see as often with Rekik/BMI/De Vrij. Veltman also shares that same attribute, and I thought they did excellent vs. the speedy players of Colombia.
Bacuna scored for Aston Villa….
Tiju…….Owen went to the world cup in 1998 with 40 appearance and 22 goals under his belt. How many games has Kishna played and how many goal has he scored. he might make waves in future as matures but in the mean time he its too esariler for him to be considered and should concentrate more on his development. Luc Castaignos and even Locadia seem to be head of him in Eredivise at this moment. I dont know why you guys pull the trigger too eariler.
@Wilson..i am fed with kuyt and huntera s strikers,we need better ones,i just dont mind who it is wther its a 10 year old boy or not …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzpH5-qWkL4
Stunning performance from Robben
I watched Milan and PSG today. It is clear that both VDW and Urby should start at right and left back. VDW plays every game with PSG and is outstanding. Urby had a really good game today both defensively and going forward. They are experienced players who would fit in well with Veltman and Vlaar or BMI.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lck6NtBydNM&list=UU58LMAlfwtGRNR6Xpd4DlSA&feature=c4-overview
VDw assist
Agree Jeff if we want to add experience to the backline thats an option. Seedorf has been giving Urby alot of game time regardless of his performance since is arrival and this might be factor. For me I think Blind is more defensive than offensive and his contribution in that area is limited. Wiel is the other round more offensive and forgets about defensive…tracking back so all and all they have same flaws…..I dont know about Janmaat. Its a pity that Buttner is frozen under Moyes becausre what he brings to the game is more pace to burn the flanks and link with the wings creating extra man on attacks. I hope he will find agood team in the summer and will be contender in 2016
I like this dude man…..
I agree about VdW he is also experience of the last World Cup were he played well is a big thing. Let’s hope he starts the game against France and can cement a spot
I think we will lack height if Vlaar and veltman are chosen at CB
Ha! Veltman is 1.83 m. Vlaar is 1.89!
oops wilson…those are our tallest CBs …try again
Rekik – 1.86
BMI – 1.87
Van Dijik – 1.93
De Vrij – 1.88
Bruma -1.85
Veltman could be exposed in aerial balls
Didn’t realize Van Dijk is that tall!
bruma is taller than martins indi,reikik etc for sure
Bruma is as tall as Ron vlaar
Yes Bruma is 1m89
Don’t forget Douglas who is 1m92
Any two combination has better control of aerial ball than Heitinga and Mathisen. Veltman’s positioning is great. If you watch the Columbia game he was always forcing Falcao to bad positions.
what???
Heitinga was 180 and joris 1.81…
Now vlaar is 1.89
Bruma-1.89
Virjil-1.92
Douglas-1.92
not but least
Devrij-1.88
BMI—1.86
Reikik–1.86
we have plethora of tall CBs now then what are you talking though Veltman is also tad taller than past generation defneders.???
Gabriel…. when it comes to Sneijder and Vaart you have to realize what they bring to the plate. Sneidjer played better against Chelsea beacuse of the formation Mancini played him. he choose to cross more and run less because of limited option he had on the flank. and I think that was a great tatic from Mancini amd it worked out perfectly leading to the equalizer and I wont be suprised if he again uses him at the same position in the second leg. I only watched the first half of the game and sneijder never dared to take on Ivanovic one on one on the outside and instead chose to cross inside before getting into contact.In 4-3-3 formation he jus doesnt do that when needed the most.
I dont like Sneijder on the flank, I want to fast winger, for me is Robben and Depay right know, I like more Depay than Boetius or Promes, he seems more commited to the game, lets see vs France who plays better. Vaart is done mate, very very slow, no attitude, no winning mentality.
Sneijder has improve a lot his fittnes and he will be key in Brazil for us, not Vaart.
Seems like no cares about De Guzman having scored three goals three last games.
Nope.no.one cares, none of the goals were pure strikes nor where they self made, very mediocre player
Oranje home kit launched for Workd Cup
http://www.dmarge.com/2014/03/nike-unveils-nederlands-knbv-world-cup-jersey.html
Nice home shirt. Thanks for sharing.
im just happy they will wear white shorts again
Virjil van dijk is fast,strong and is good on ball.its bad thing to drop him for no reason.
Ricardo kishna over kuyt at anyday..those are bad selection we have
——–final 26 should be
Stekelenburg/Vorm
Krul
Cillessen
==================
Janmaat
vanderweil
Reikik
BMI
Virjil
Bruma
PVA
Urby Emmanuelson
===================
Nijel dejong
Blind
===================
Strootman
Clasie
Sneider
Vaart
Klassen
===================
Roben
Wijnaldum
Promes
Boetius
===================
strikers
Van persie
Lenz
Kishna
==================
Some updates:
Feyenoord signs Fred Rutten as successor to Koeman.
On Twitter: “Yesterday Feyenoord lost the title of 2014. Today, Feyenoord loses the title of 2015, by signing Rutten” hahahaha.
Van Gaal and De Boer to ManU will never happen. Louis is to autocratic and De Boer wouldn’t accept that. But Meulensteen / De Boer could be an awesome combination.
Van der Vaart in the squad is a good thing. He struggles in mediocre HSV playing relegation football (Van Persie would too) but he always shines in Oranje and with his record, he deserves a call up.
very true.
Jean Paul Boetius seems really to be a nice and clever guy, it’s uncommon to see a player answering seriously to questions and smiling as much during interviews.
Exactly laurent he has got brain,he is focused too.
his pass to BMI was visionary and quick yesterday for pelle goal vs ajax.To realese the ball quickly and efficiently players requires brain and calculative speed.he has it with vision.depay is not close to him in that aspect so are some of the hyped dutch players like afellay,Braphied,Elia,etc.
Jan,
incorporate a share button so that we can add the fantabulous articles to our tweets and fb pages. The world cup is on… lets get the fever running, cheers
nice to see u mate
yeah, bro, its been a long time
I thought the reason LVG did not call up Krul or Nigel because he wanted to test other players at the same position. Our CB and defense are still the weakest and without Nigel, I would be worried.
Blind will start the WC as LB. I can see that if we ever get into extra time and LVG wants to win in extra time instead of penalty shootout, he can withdraw Nigel, push Blind up to play DM, add in another attacker, switching 4-3-3 to 3-4-3?
I still do not understand Van Dijk is not called up. The quality of Eredivisie players worry me because except for AZ still playing in Europa League, the rest of players will not have positive or much European experiences. The core players are still those playing in other leagues.
I rank Fer and De Guzman above Schaars, and Schaars got the call up.
Who is the backup LB? PVA, Willems, Urby were not called. LVG’s decisions confuse me sometimes.
Yes, these seem to be the folks LVG doesn’t like. There’s a small flock of quality talents he won’t consider… just like with BVM, some young players are simply shut out.
Van Gaal says the LB position is tsill open, but yet he still refuses to call other options. It really doest make much sense to me either. If guys like Pieters, Urby, PVA or even Viergiver are all not at the level to be called up now, when will they? At the end of the season?
DEFENDER – Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa)
Ron Vlaar
I don’t know who the candidates are for Aston Villa’s player of the year, but one of the nominees must be Vlaar. I can’t imagine where Paul Lambert’s side would be without the flying Dutchman. After a poor start for Villa against Norwich, the centre-back steadied the ship and got them back on track. It’s been an excellent season by an excellent captain.
Did you know? Aston Villa have only taken one point from six league games without Ron Vlaar this season.
DEFENDER – Leandro Bacuna (Aston Villa)
Leandro Bacuna
There are two kinds of full-back: one that loves to go forward at every opportunity but panics in the opposition box; and the other who used to be a winger, wasn’t good enough in that position, but still loves scoring goals. I don’t know if Bacuna was ever a winger but he’s always looking to get on the end of things and his finish against Norwich, in a 4-1 win, was sensational.
Did you know? Leandro Bacuna has scored in all four of Aston Villa’s home league wins this season.
Its great to see Rafa back in the squad. He and Wesley are our best two AM and both must be on the plane to South America. There is simply no other options that we have that are as good as these two. They have not aged well and when one considers that they were not the hardest workers in the first place, its obvious that we wont get the best work rate out of them, but their skills and experiences make them way ahead of all the others.
http://www.football-oranje.com/liverpool-and-manchester-city-battle-for-feyenoord-ace/
Its just crazy that we still see these kids who desire to leave the homeland so early despite all the recent examples of guys who left too early.
I just hope that he is simply holding out on Feyenoord as a means of getting a relatively fat deal and that he doesnt really wan to leave.
His older brother is getting his opportunies and he should wait on his also.
When will our kids learn!
that to plastic clubs which have hell of money tp buy players from all over the world……….it is idiotic mistake…
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1979985-gif-robin-van-persie-performs-filthy-nutmeg-on-michael-vorm
just a little something
———————Cillessen——————-
—–Janmaat—–Vlaar—-BMI—–Blind———-
———Sneijder—-Clasie—-Strootman———
———–Depay——RVP——Robben————
I like the new home jersey I want to
…I want to buy it 🙂
what about the away kit…..
any links to the game…… pliz the exact link….the last time I went through the link that was posted on the blog… a whole lot of other links popped up make it hard to choose which one is the right link.
Feyenoord really needs to find a better RW than Schaken during the summer transfer window.
3 goals in 24 games is a horrid stat. He has the same number of goals as Stefan De Vrij.
Also, Janmaat’s crosses are excellent. I’d love to see him on the pitch with Huntelaar at some point in the France game. I think those two would mesh well together.
with Promes……Robben on left
Yep.
lets do pre anaylsis of the game and how will this affect the selection of final 23 to Brazil. On paper NT looks a decent team going to Stade de France when compared to France who arguably have better Midfielders and Back 4 than NT. The only department that NT are better is in the forward department and with Ribery not playing I think Robben and RVP can do the damage if only they are provided with quality balls . I dont think Benzema and Giroud can pose much treat as both at international level are not as clinically as at club level but I do admit that have a lot of talented options in and off the bench which might be factor come the outcome of the game. The danger up front might come in the form of Remy and Griezmann and if the french Midfield click then we might be in for a hiding.
If we win it will be moral booster for the new guys especially with WC around the corner and this will also provide Van Gaal the opportunity to lock on players that are ready for WC and if if we lose I think this will really be a turning point going to world cup with the time that is left to come with our best lineup. Again this will have critical impact on Van Gaals selection and other players who were overlooked by him.
guys if you follow netherlands football team official page on FB you can see pics of the players in france….
now.:
i hope LVG used all 6 subs and tries out ALL new players… makes no sense to call up these youngsters and then sit them the entire game…
things i’d like to see.:
– Schaars at LB. i know he isn’t the greatest but it make sense against certain teams.
– A center DF pairing of Rekik-Veltman (might be something for the future)
– Wiel @ right
– Urby on the bench (let’s face it, he isn’t making the plane)
– Zoet on the bench (he isn’t making the plane either)
– JP, Memphis, Klassen all getting solid minutes
– Van Persie playing 60-65 mins
BTW, it might be a blessing that our players get eliminated from European competition early this year so they get ample rest for the WC…
Winning should NOT be our goal tomorrow, testing our team should be our goal
I disagree with you bitterballen on a couple of points.
First off, winning should absolutely be a goal for tomorrow. Winning is a skill in itself that can be learned, and we need to be able to win even if we don’t play well.
Schaars at LB will not work and won’t be tried. If you watched Go Ahead- PSV last weekend you would have seen the number of times Schaars got exposed in that part of the field. Too slow and not in form- he shouldn’t even have been called up.
I have noticed you aren’t a fan of van der Vaart, which is fine. It strikes me though that he gets doubted every time he gets called up (including qualifiers) but he always delivers. He is a player that can pull something magical out of his arse when the team is playing like shit and not creating anything.
As for Zoet, I think he is farther than Cillessen, but because Cillessen plays for a team that wins its hard to notice. Zoet picks up points for PSV, Cillessen does not for Ajax. I would agree that he is better with the ball at his feet than Zoet, but in terms of actual goalkeeping ability Zoet is better. And a penalty killer. Just a thought.
Zoet is a nonsense shot stopper..don’t spew nonsense and misinform unsuspecting readers
we should join the community as well……
Primo, totally disagree about Cillessen. He does make at least 2 crucial saves every single game. He is clean and technically top class. His only mild weakness is on crosses at times. But please don’t be another one trashing an Ajax player. I saw Zoet play at the euro u21 and he is good but not the best GK in Holland. It really should be Cillessen. And this has nothing to do with the fact Ajax is winning the league. It is purely based on talent. Pay attention to his positioning, distribution with his feet, comfort on the ball, how clean his catches are (rarely if ever does he drop a ball), and on. I remember when he first appeared at NEC, everyone in Holland (unanimous) thought he was the best GK since possibly even Jan Van Beveren who for me remains the absolute best GK ever produced.
Jeff, I would hardly say I was trashing him. I was merely giving an opinion. That you think he is better is clear, because you are a die hard Ajax fan. I think he is an excellent goalkeeper as well, and we should all consider ourselves lucky that we have several talented, young goalkeepers coming up through the ranks that lets us have this conversation.
And I also don’t doubt that van Gaal will select him for Brazil, but I find that people are unfairly assessing Zoet’s ability based on the performance of PSV as a team. Zoet has been a very good goalkeeper this season, and pulls miraculous and important saves on a weekly basis. He should not be dismissed as quickly as people on this blog (including Jan) are prone to do.
Cillessen distribution is good ? Don’t know what you were watching last week there was Ajax-Salzburg, and his distribution was absolutly awful.
But I’m not surprised by your faculty to answer every negative comment about an ajax player here with saying “I disagree”.
That being said, I don’t know who is the worst between Cillessen and Zoet but what is sure is that Krul, Stek and Vorm are by far the best dutch keepers and should be the ones in the plane. No need to discuss about eredivisie keepers.
I’d take Cillessen over Vorm. Vorm was AWFUL vs. Estonia in the second leg.
He was many times awful with NT, he also makes many mistakes with Swansea, but his reflexes are unique.
And I don’t see any point that would allow to say that Cillessen is above him, look the goals Cilessen took against Japan.
because you are blind and only watch one game
You are Jeff’s brother.
Vorm has been impressing England last years, his first season with Swansea he was named among the best keepers of the league. Even if he makes mistakes, with NT, with his club, he has still good references and good experience with two seasons in PL, EL with Utrecht and Swansea.
Cillessen is a guy who was Vermeer’s sub during two years, he took the spot randomly, had some good games, and now big hype from Ajax fans.
What more Cillessen has done than Vorm to deserve the spot ? Explain me, he’ll start against France while having taken 6 goals in one week against Salzburg, dutch football is being so impressive, really…
Failed to see Cillisen‘s distribution ability shows how blind you are. Haha
Haha continue your troll, french speakers have been doing jokes about his distribution, saying that french players should pressure him cause he is unsafe,only you and Jeff are supporting this guy.
Tell me more about Klaassen’s vision also please
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k_uVL5VMKs
Great video but actually he did much more. I’m sure we can make a video of 45 minutes with all his dribbles.
What is impressive is how he changed his style through years. Started as a dribbling winger which was often criticized for too much fantasy and not enough efficiency, and ending at a striker spot with being one of the topscorers of PL, playing more sober. He took another dimension last years, but sometimes I miss the RVP 2002-2009, he had crazy skills.
Also two things he was very good at and doesn’t really do anymore : taking free kicks and corner kicks. His free kicks vers lethal before, and Adebayor, Gallas, Bendtner etc. scored so many goals on his corner kicks.
Moyes has taken him off the corners this season, that is true. Last season under Ferguson he did take them and Evra was at times benefiting from that. Vidic and Evans also IIRC.
There were also situations where his corner was not an immediate goal with 1 poach or header from somebody in the box, but created so much havoc, that seconds later it turned into a goal anyway. No assist contributed to RVP, but his influence from the corner was big anyway.
It would be interesting to see United’s goal scoring percentage from the side RVP used to take them last season vs the percentage from that same side this season. The other side was taken care of by Rooney and still is when fit.
His free kick development has surprised me. At the beginning of his career I thought it would end up great with him, but he never took it to the next level IMO. Was thinking in the direction of Pierre van Hooijdonk as he was around when making his debut for Feyenoord. To bad.
However I am only disappointed in 1 thing. He never really goes 1 vs 1 against a defender to get past him and just score a goal. Bursting the line and score a goal totally on his own. Maybe at times he get past players from the side (also shown in the video), he scores goals on his own threatening the 18 yard box and curling it in. That is still not what I mean. I probably mean what Kishna did against AZ. Just turn around, 1 vs 1, make a goal after leaving behind his marker. I think that has also been part of his transformation and something I pity. Maybe his injuries have also been a reason to stop doing that, I don’t know.
Anyway he is one of the few players I enjoy these days.
Thanks for posting that clip DRB, I really enjoy watching players with the sorts of skills that we only dream about having. RVP gets too much flack from the pundits in my book. I know this year has not been his best but I think there are a few factors which have contributed to that, like injury and particularly Moyes.
His feet may be a little slower these days but just look at Pirlo play, not so flashy anymore but still brilliant despite his age, I think RVP still has a World Cup dream within him and with the help of Robben we might just surprise a few people.
My glass is half full!
dutch could play sensational football if we play following line up vs france,i mean many eyes will get potruted if we play with following line up.
————-Cillesen————–
Janmaat——Vlaar—Reikik——–BMI
—————–BLind—————-
——Clasie————-Strootman—–
Roben/promes———-persie——–promes/roben
How are you going to create chances without a real AM?
Did Ajax create a chance against RBS playing with two “real” AM ? LOL
Now it’s pity Nigel isn’t in the squad cause I was waiting to see Nigel-Strootman against Matuidi-Pogba.
It would be also interesting if Clasie starts, to see what he can do against such physical players. But I don’t want to see Blind as DM after his games against RBS.
We played Wijnaldum- Vaart – Strootman vs portugal and it turned out perfectly. I think we should go with clasie in Wijanuldum position and Strootman and vaart as point in front formation. Also remember that Wijnaldum was also the man of match in that Game
——————- Vaart—————–
Claasie—————————–Strootman
Portugal midfield was Ruben Micael-Ruben Amorim- Veloso…
Wijnaldum was so strong and fast,so he was bale to contain any portughese player.thsi cannt be said abt clasie ..
Robben is injured and will probably miss the game.
VDV is finally off, Van Gaal brought Siem De Jong…
I’ve never found the NT as weak technically honestly, too many average players.
And talking about form of players/clubs is ridiculous. Ok Van Ginkel and Afellay weren’t smart not to ask for a loan, but they are still better than all the eredivisie players in the list, no eredivisie players in the squad would play with Barcelona or Chelsea.
Now, if Robben doesn’t play, I doubt Van Gaal will start with two of the three young wingers (Depay, Boetius, Promes), he will more likely use Sneijder as LM and Klaassen/ Siem as OM, pretty boring in my opinion.
Huntelaar, Kuyt, Siem, Klaassen…That’s too much slow and technically limited players for one list, I really don’t believe in NT for coming WC.
The worst would be :
————-Strootman———–Klaassen————-
–Promes/JPB———–Siem DJ—————Sneijder
———————-Van Persie———————-
I’m sure he can do it, would be poor defensivly and boring offensivly
No no this one
————Vorm————
Weil—–Veltman–Vlaar—–Blind
———-Schars————
—Vaart————Sneijder—–
Kuyt——————-Depay
——–Hunter——————
Coz we have almost equal defnedres i had to put veltman,vlaar and Blind..these are only good ones in th team….
^ you two idiots should get a room together.
hahahahaha!!
just curious, why do you come to this site?
no-one cares about your crackpot theories, and everyone laughs in your faces.
i’m not suggesting that you leave – it is far too hilarious reading your amateur analysis everyday – i’m just curious why you would stitch yourselves up so badly and so frequently!
I have to agree with Henk
I remember before EC 2012, I was not posting here but I was reading, and one guy was predicting that Holland will finish last, giving arguments everytime about the bad form of players etc. People were making fun of him, insulting him etc. now, what happened…I think the world laughed more about the dutch team in that tournament that you would laugh about my crackpot theories.
Negative comments have always been usefull, remember about french revolution, if philosophers hadn’t open their mouth to criticize, people would still eat rotten bread today.
So if you want to read that Cillessen is a top keeper, Klaassen a top midfielder etc. and get kicked out before WC 1/4 because of some players level, it’s your problem.
I won’t cry or feel bad for my part, cause I’m expecting it. Problem will be that people here will be unfair just like Jeff after Ajax humiliation, they will write that Holland simply had a bad game LOL
Germany v chile
A good measure to one of our group rivals.
Watched van Der wiel v. Marseille. He was great. So many great crosses and an incredible assist. Extremely impressive.
Hello guys.
With no Robben , Vaart and Nigel who are cornerstones IMO , I think we shall have a difficult game against France.
I prefer to start with Cillessen ; VdW , vlast , India and blind ; clasie , Strootman and Wes , promes , persie , Depay
2nd half ; Vrom ; Janmat , Veltman , vlaar and Indi ; Blind , Strootman and Wes , Depay , Hunter and Boetius.
May be Klaassen can get 15 minutes for Wes. Same with Rekik for Vlaar.
I don’t know what makes Zoet better than krul or even out of form Stek. This choice is just abnormal !
Honestly Laurent, Primo, whoever else…all I can say is whatever. I never said that Vermeer had to play, but yes Cillessen is really top class. This has nothing to do with the fact he is at Ajax. He is an NEC product for God’s sake. You guys are really losing it. You bring all this infighting between clubs into the national team. Boy am I glad you are not the coaches!
Laurent, as a physician I am prescribing for you some much needed valium, a dose of joy and happiness, a very small amount of added tolerance and positivity.
Maybe you would do well to reserve some of your scathing comments for your personal close friends and spare us here on the blog. We are all trying to be positive but you are always so negative. No wonder France has not been able to evolve since the French revolution. In fact I am quite certain they regret having killed the king and especially the queen.
Seriously Jeff, without provocating or whatever, I don’t know you in real life, I have nothing against you but what’s your goal trying to be positive etc. for you as an ajax fan ?
I would understand if you were supporting Andorra but you support a club that is clearly making fun of his supporters every year with using 1/10 of his total money, how can you stay positive with the awful results and philosophy ?
I think that equalling the most consecutive eredivisie titles under one manager since a technical redirection indicates that Ajax are moving in the direction all top eredivisie clubs should be doing. If you were referring to UCL results as being bad, ajax has consistently put in a respectable shift in the UCL group stages against huge teams. Remind me of their last easy group please? Similarly, people have always questioned arsenal’s approach to using a very youth orientated setup and rightly but this season they have all clicked and grown together enough for them to become title contenders. Ajax will have players blossoming at the right time. Players like Siem de jong will be displaced soon enough and the improvements made in the academy and in scouting will be seen on the pitch soon enough.
Puyol is finally leaving Barca… at 35. Puro Catalan. It was LVG who promoted him to first team back in the day.
Someday the Netherlands will have a foundational, homegrown defender like that again. Maybe, just maybe, LVG has already promoted him. 😉
Any guesses?
My money is on BMI – I think he will be top class.
Gotta like Bruno…
…and, for all his early goofs, I like Veltman, too.
it makesthings clear that you have no idea about puyol..i am not surprised at ur intelligence.
@samny
Don’t know what the obstacle is to keeping things a bit more positive here.
There’s just no recreational value for me in insults.
i see here. Cillesen just need 0.01 point to beat Clasie to win the best dutch player of the eredevise 😉 Jeff
http://www.vi.nl/gpk.htm?gpk_input_speelronde=-1&gpk_input_positie=-1&gpk_input_club=-1&gpk_input_leeftijd=-1
@laurent
And As a pharmacist I will dispense that medication that Jeff will prescribe for u:) just kidding!
It is too bad no robben tomorrow, but at the same time it is good to see the new wingers playing at this level and see how much they can support persie in attack!! Would
It be depay-persie-promes???
Thank you Alaa. I knew you would dispense those meds for him lol.
You see Laurent there is your problem. Without the ability to remain positive and hope for a better future, there is nothing to live for. That’s why I left France mon ami. I wanted something more. Yes Ajax could do a lot better and yes I am frustrated that we no longer compete at the top level but that does not mean I should give up hope. At least I support a club with a defined history and philosophy, one that has been quite successful in the past. After 3 eredivisie titles in a row, I think the club is in the right direction. It takes time. Look at Dortmund. At the very minimum, the club stands for something unlike most clubs in the world. No rich magnate is involved and it is quite nice to see former world class players intimately involved in the club’s affairs. Finally I am loyal to my yoiuth. I fell in love with Ajax in the 70s as I did with Holland and both will always be part of who I am.
Now can you drop your hatred and nasty comments once and for all so we can discuss football!!
Ajax will win the eredivisie this year again but I really wait for next year.
Ajax economical plan is to win the title (which is about 10 mo euros), qualify for C1 group stages (about 8,5 mo), and sell players. Those last years the club gained about 30/40 mo every summer with selling players. Knowing that the Europa league winner wins 9,9 mo, you see where the priorities are and you understand why players were walking against RBS and have been so poor every year in EL.
But I’m curious about coming summer, no Ajax players worth more than 10mo, there is no Suarez, no Vertonghen,no Eriksen…Players who may leave are : Van Rhijn, Moisander, Siem De Jong, Sigthorsson…None of them would bring more than 7/8mo in my opinion, all are more likely around 5. Clubs don’t trust eredivisie anymore, look how PSV couldn’t sell Toivonen and finally let him to Rennes for 2,5 mo…Only russian and ukrainian clubs can do big offers.
I really don’t think that Ajax will have more than 15/20mo this summer with transfers, and I wanna see what they will do coming year in eredivisie (not in europe cause we already know). The next hit will be Kishna, but except him, the club is struggling to produce his young players to sell, even Fischer won’t bring that much IMO.
So coming years will be crucial for the club, if they have nothing to sell, they may change their plan and it will finally be interesting.
Just imagine a realistic scenario : Ajax sells around 15 mo next summer, buy almost no one, and doesn’t win the eredivisie coming year, doesn’t qualify for C1.
Tell me what they will do to get the 50/60 mo they’re used to get every year ?
Look what PSV had to do after being not able to win the eredivisie anymore and missing C1 every year : Taking money from the municipality…
Toivonen has an expiring contract. Plus he played terribly this season. Starting him at AM instead of Maher was a sin for the first half of the season.
His contract was expiring because he didn’t want to extend it. PSV was trying to selling him for two years, but no one wanted.
I’m actually glad Robben is not playing… we all know what he can offer and we need to know what the team can offer without him. I think Robben is the best Dutch player since Marco van Basten.
There always will be controversy on NT team selection and LVG still have a few more friendlies to finalize the squad. Using the Canada’s men hockey team success at Sochi Olympic as the example (controversy on players selection, did not blow out opponents as many expected, overcame adversity/difficulty, coming through at clutch time/winning ugly, won all 6 games compare to 7 for the WC) here are what I would like to see in NT in order for us to have a chance winning WC:
1. Players believe in the coaching staff’s tactic and execute it.
2. Players play with a strong will to win, confidence, tenacity, chasing the ball with heart and determination when do not have possession, put team success above individual success, play for each other. At the end, I would not care about which player score the most goals, but which team wins the WC.
I am not saying the sub players are not important, but it is critical that our best 11 players are healthy and the sub players can come in a game or two (when the starting player is slightly injured/yellow card situation) then we will be fine.
IMO, Krul, Janmaat, Blind, Nigel De Jong, Strootman, VDV/Sneijder (starting/sub and vice versa), Robben and RVP should secure the starting spot. Nigel starting or not depend on the opponent. I hope these 9 are healthy and fit for the WC. I cannot read on our CB and one winger, but I would like LVG to take a few younger players (Boetius, Depay, Promes, Klaassen, BMI, Rekik, Veltman, whoever raise up their performance from now to the WC) to this WC. They do not have to be starting players. They may break through and becomes a pleasant surprises and benefit NT in 2016. We have a good chance, not as one of the favourites, but still has a good chance to win WC.
evrything is possible with CHRIST,with HOLYSPIRIT we will win it.evrything starts from heart..so lets make our players heart pure..evrything will happen then….
Its so sad to see theo janssen retire, i really liked him. He is definitely one of the best players never to leave the eredivisie
the problem with jansen was he had lion heart and got strong balls.
Too dissolute.
I am very disapointed that Robben and Rafa will not play . We need to win this game to boost our confidence going into June. It will be a great opportunity to start youngsters like Promes, Beotius and Depay, but winning is most important. Robben is our only real x-factor and I lose a lot of confidence when he is not in the team.
I agree Steen. He was a good player whom I liked. I still remember his debut under Van Basten in August 2006, the first game we played after the 2006 WC. I think guys like Urby, Huntelaar and Schaars all got their debuts in that game also. I remember think that Theo would make it into one of Europe’s big leagues soon.
Euro 2012 was easy to predict for me..with snijder RVP was never goin to click,he had an additional pressure form own media and hunter to perform well,psycholgically this killed RVP.another guy was kuyt thank God he didnt played bar Germany match.even if he plays we will get a rebound or so if some other player had a woodwork shot etc.Anotther one was van bommel who was pretty static in mid,basically due to his age.Also Gio retired and left back was a problem.So it was easy to predict unless roben shine nothing will happen,sneijder will never score like what he did in Wc2010.most of his goals were luck though his eye for goal is pretty good.but i expected a 0-0 draw at least from denmark game honestly,am sure kuyt will never score like krohndelly did vs us.but kuyt played for liverpool and krohn dehly played for a lesser club.thats how life is.
I hope Sneijder, VDV, Robben and RVP realize that this may be their last chance to win the biggest trophy as I do not see them in WC 2018. It was frustrated for me to see RVP missing many chances or Sneijder kept shooting from distance and forgot to pass in the past.
Kuyt can be our 3rd striker behind RVP and Hunter. I take Kuyt over RVW, L and S De Jong, Dost or any striker you can think of. We need Kuyt in the dressing room for his mentality and other non football skills. With uncertainty about Lens, we can take 3 wingers out of Boetius, Promes, Depay, Narsingh, Ola John or Wijnaldum to Brazil.
We will be playing a world class team tomorrow wihout, Nigel, Van Ginkel, De Guzman, Rafa, Robben, PVA and Afellay (I know he isnt playing at Barca and could not have been selected, however he would have been in the team if he was playing and in my opinion he would have been useful).
I simply have very little to no confidence in our team when we are going up against a top team without Robben (our X-factor), Nigel (our best pure defensive mid)and Rafa (our best AM for the system & personnel we are using). But I will still sit back and enjoy the debuts of guys Promes and Beotius. Plus it is always good to take in my favourite fullback Janmaat.
Mistah Irie from Jamehka!
I disagree, for some reason we always do well and at least draw when we play our youngsters. It’s nice to see fresh hungry legs on the field. Many of the names you mentioned have barely played for Oranje or have been injured recently for their clubs so I am not sure they would make such a big impact anyway (PVA, Afellay, Rafa, Van Ginkel).
Also, don’t forget we need to look ahead and transition our team for the future!
Let’s save Nigel & Co. for when it matters.
I do agree we should kick back, drink a cold one and enjoy the not-so-friendly friendly 🙂 RESPEK Wah Gwan
Did you watch the game Italy VS Netherland?
yes, of course. we almost won that game but they scored in the dying minutes.. why do you ask ?
Your Jamaican is great Bitterballen..lol
Big up yourself!
I second Laurent & Tiju’s point of view, I’ve been a silent reader all through and am a big fan of Jan’s blog and enjoy reading all the comments. However, it hurts to see this never ending outburst on difference of opinion and being a little critical.
Having said that, our squad for the friendly looks weak but I am going with a 1 – 1 draw (RvP scores for me).
Peace!
Holland’s home kit is up for sale now boys.
http://www.worldsoccershop.com/61663.html?utm_content=bufferda39e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer#caption
awesome! thanks for the link Sam. What about the players numbers? anyone know when that will be out?
any links…..
With Robben out…. this might be a perfect opportunity for Promes, Depay and JPB to showcase their potential at international level and prove that there are ready for world cup. cant say the same for Klassen and Siem, both are like playing kuyt in the midfield. battle might be between Fer and Klassen But I remain optimistic that Wijnaldum and Van Ginkle will make the cut in the remaining 2-3 months. I know some of you dont agree about Van Ginkle, but his talent is what matters the most and if he is 100% fit he shouldn’t be overlooked regardless of where he is playing. It is no surprise why Chelsea were quick to snap him before other came around hunting for him. the other and the most importantly is the cb department, the CBs have to be authoritative to the max and stamp their mark and if they fail then we for surely will be in hot soup come around in the WC. Forgot about the Clasie….. my man….
Before EC 2012, I had predicted that Netherlands will finish last in the group but will get 1 point with a draw against Denmark. However, they went one step fur he and ended up with 0.
I do not see any scope of an improved performance in this World Cup. They won’t reach the second round. They will lose 0-2 to Spain, 1-3 to Chile and draw 0-0 against Australia.
Other than a few players like Robben, Sneijder, Van Persie who all unfortunately are past their prime, Netherlands simply does not have any world-class footballer. NONE. Add indiscipline, ego, a rude self-centered manager, incompetent KNVB and a recipe for disaster is ready. Just compare the level of young players in Spain, Germany, Brazil, Argentina and compare them with those from the Netherlands. No comparison whatsoever.
I am sorry but I do not see any improvement in the situation unless they go back to their grassroots. What happened to the Ajax Academy? Why are there no quality players coming out from there anymore? Time to ask these questions and find a solution. Maybe in 2018 World Cup, we will do better.
I don’t feel very good making this prediction but I simply don’t have any hope that it will be wrong. Feel free to criticize me like last time however.
Situation is way different now with all that new blood. EC2012 was the same team as WC2010 with all those players that didn’t have anything to prove any more and boy did they ever do just that. A lot of these new kids might not have the quality of those from other countries but with the right chemistry, good coaching and a bit of luck a lot of confidence can be gained and a winning team forged. And aside from some talented players in the other teams, they’re just as fallible as Oranje.
Pretty sure for tomorrow:
Cillesen in Goal!
Rightback – van der Wiel – Certainly overshadowing Janmaat
CB’s – Vlaar – Certain + Rekik ? Indi ?? Veltman ????
LB – Blind (van Gaal stated so its certain)
Midfield – Strootman + Sneijder + Schaars (Certain)
Attack – Huntelaar (No Brainer)
Wingers – Depay (Certain) + Boetius (LW) vs. Quincy (LW)
I meant Quincy (RW)
Another prediction:
World Cup 2014 will have a first-time winner. So it won’t be Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina, France or Spain.
yes that winner will be holland
Chile vs Portugal in the final then?
Both of them can beat Spain (even though Chile has only gotten close, but multiple draws in friendlies and now they’ll have the ‘home’ advantage), and if there’s any South American team out there that can beat Brazil it’ll be Chile, Argentina or Uruguay and you already excluded the latter 2 from winning the WC so that leaves Chile. Portugal is the most popular team in Brazil after Brazil probably because of the language and heritage/connections (and Ronaldo’s popularity in particular and other South American teams being more rivals).
I guess Brazil vs Portugal with Portugal winning the WC would also lead to a first-time WC-winner. I don’t know if they’ll actually make it (Chile and/or Portugal) but I do know that both are underestimated by many based on WC-history and not based on the recent teams and ‘home’ advantages (I personally tend to give them some points for marketing value as well, which seems to have some effect on referee decisions, or in other words, I wasn’t surprised in the slightest way when Portugal beat Sweden in the play-offs and France beat Ukraine).
realistic first time winners are holland, belgium, chile, portugal, colombia, japan, ghana
I think Holland and Portugal stand out in that list as the only realistic ones. Chile would be a major upset, but quite a story (and I like their style so I wouldn’t mind, they remind me of Uruguay leading up to 2010, a very offensive quick passing and Barcelona like movement/tiki taka, but taking risks at the back/leaving spaces/chaotic games with lots of up and down the field chances back and forth, lots of goals cause their keepers aren’t that great either, a more historically typical South American team, whereas Brazil looked more like Italy in 2010 with their strong physical defenders and Inter Milan’s keeper, defensive stronghold of Europe, they’re still a bit like that but have more offensive tactics and added more offensive players now).
You guys who believe that Oranje will suck and suck and suck some more should be rational.
If you believe that:
1) You can quickly find another blog.
2) You can buy Jan great big beers for trying to make this blog an “I-told-you-we-would-suck” circle jerk.
3) You can get clinical help for being such a klootzak.
These are the options that make sense.
Staying here, a fan blog, to mouth off doom-and-gloom like this is just irrational.
in reality its just guys wanting to feel better about themselves by trying to be experts, reality is this, unless they put money or a professional reputation on the line its easy to make predictions ignore when they are wrong, boast wen they get it right. perhaps its some belgians on here pretending to be fans. in the end anything can happen in football,
You are right Onzie, the first goal of every human writing something is to be right and to feel being an expert.
But why then not to make it in the other sense ? Dutch clubs are awful, NT is worrying, why wouldn’t I make predicts about dutch clubs winning european games and NT surprising during WC ?
In the current situation it’s really normal to feel that dutch football is going down, that’s conform to the reality and facts.
the real goal is not to be right, but to feel important, every human being has an innate desire to feel important, and some people think that by making predictions that turn out to be right they in turn are made important, in the end i’m a dutch fan no matter if they are 1st in the world or 101st in the world.
on top of that, it’s as if people put their personal self worth into how a team plays, in the end sports are entertainment, and nothing more, so enjoy the show, and try not to ruin it for others
it’s perfectly rational they just aren’t dutch fans, possibly belgians, mad that their country hasn’t achieved what holland has done, so they need to lash out and try to ruin things for others, faux experts who boast when they get something right, ignore and don’t mention when they are wrong. how many people said holland wouldn’t go far in world cup 2010, or that they would be finished in the group of death in 2008, ok, we had a bad euro, but historically we do well in groups of death. there are soo many factors that influence the outcome of games it’s march, the games before the world cup will show whats gonna happen more than this game today,
Without Robben and Van Persie it will be boring for sure. It’s really pity cause I was waiting for Holland vs France since that Euro 2008 game, but now I’m not even sure to watch the game…I have many debates with french people, for example about Jetro Willems, people found him really weak during EC 2012 but I keep telling them that he has a good potential, and impressive dribbles, but he won’t play. I praised De Guzman also, he won’t play. I praised Janmaat, it’s not sure that he’ll play. I praised Van Ginkel, he won’t play, I praised Fer, he won’t play.
Instead they will see Van der Wiel that they all know, Huntelaar…The subs will be Kuyt and Siem De Jong. Really boring.
Remember that friendly Germany-Holland (3-0) where Robben, Van Persie etc. were missing and where Huntelaar, Kuyt etc. started, all the bad results and bad mood in 2012 started with that friendly game, now if Holland loses to France tonight and lose invincilibity you can be 200 % sure they’ll do nothing during the world cup.
I bet that’s the kind of talk Van Gaal will use in his prep. Whoever sucks today will stay home. Then he’ll have to find 11 or more players for Brazil.lol
so everyone is like why did lvg only bring one left back to the squad, but he actually has two, bruno martins indi and blind, so having martins indi try left back, is maybe conceding that his center back pairing is more set than we realize.
so you guys should post what you guess van gaal is going to put on the field, not what you would put.
my guess is
gk:cil
def: vdw,velt,rekik,bmi
mid:clasie-blind-stroot
promes-huntelaar-depay
I have my doubts about Rekik in that line-up. I also think vGaal recognizes the value of having either Sneijder or VDV start, so I’m not worried he won’t use either. Sneijder will play, so will vPersie if he’s fit (which I think he is).
my (2nd) guess is (I already did this before, but now I’m using your line-up with adjustments):
gk:cil
def: vdw,velt,bmi,blind
mid:stroot-clasie-sneijder
robben-vpersie-depay
Hoping he’ll try Boetius before Depay, Boetius DOES seem more clever like others have mentioned, a stat-comparison alone already shows that Boetius is much more effective with his shots, so he picks his moments better and doesn’t waste so many opportunities giving the ball back to the opponent (Depay is trigger-happy like Ronaldo, without the same quality in his scoring attempts) which might not have such a big impact in the Eredivisie, but it does against Spain and Chile where giving the ball back to the opponent shifts pressure and impacts the flow of the game, gives confidence to opponents instead of panic/nerves (“shots” is the key statistic).
Depay: 25 games, 9 goals, 6 assists, 123 shots
Boetius: 21 games, 8 goals, 7 assists, 43 shots (that’s a big difference, 3 times as few shots)
just to compare (other wing)
Promes: 23 games, 11 goals, 7 assists, 74 shots
Robben: 18 games, 10 goals, 3 assists, 50 shots
and because I mentioned him
Ronaldo: 22 games, 23 goals, 6 assists, 168 shots
Messi: 19 games, 15 goals, 8 assists, 98 shots
(compared to Messi, Ronaldo has always been pretty trigger-happy as well, many months ago I did a comparison of strikers and included Ronaldo, Messi, vPersie, Hunter and Zlatan in that comparison and already noticed/confirmed my observation that Ronaldo was trigger-happy which sometimes can work in your advantage if he’s having an off-day, with Depay you don’t get the same quality/goalscoring ability, but he’s a nice dribbler, if he could learn a bit more patience and shrewdness he can be useful to us)
from what i understand van der vaart got the same bug that rvp, and vorm has, and will miss the game
oh, well np, Sneijder and Hunter are ready to go and show some of their goods in an attempt to prove some of the doubters wrong. I hope Hunter gets the full 90 minutes then.
As long as no more players drop out, we should still be in fine shape.
VDV is still somewhat struggling with his ankle btw (nice Colombian, was it Arias?), so that’s probably why he wasn’t selected initially. Him dropping out shouldn’t be a big problem.
Perhaps Rekik can get some time in in the 2nd half, when the game has settled down. In that case I’d like vGaal to try a late 2nd half line-up of:
gk:cil
def: vdw,Vlaar,Rekik,BMI (too many changes? forget about Vlaar then or only if we’re leading)
mid:klaassen-strootman-sneijder
promes-Hunter-boetius
Messi’s shot statistic is higher than I’m used to, which is possibly an indicator of his earlier struggles this season (trying to make up for it by shooting more often).
strootman and sneijder are a disaster waiting to happen, a repeat of the estonia game, too many lefties on the field, the biggest thing is to avoid predictability, no matter how much more talented the youngsters on dutch clubs are over their competition, the style of play is predictable, one guy has the ball, the others stay still, one person makes a run and that is the one who the ball will go to, now add in sneijder and strootman both lefties who will pass the ball there and occupy the same space, and you have an uneven attack.
veltman right footed
needs to be paired with bmi or rekik
vlaar right footed
sneijder left, nigel de jong left, schaars left, strootman left, rvp left, robben left,
clasie uses both feet, which makes him perfect for the def mid, and so is blind which is probably why van gaal prefers blind to play that spot
so for even distribution of ball and more unpredictability in attack holland should field
—————hunter———-=-
depay——————-jpb/promes
——stroot——-klaassen
———–clasie————–
blind—bmi—-veltman——vdw
Don’t forget to watch U21 guys. Today against Israel. 18:30 in the time zone of the Netherlands. Could be a fun team to watch.
Selection (alphabetical):
Nathan Aké (Chelsea), Yassin Ayoub (FC Utrecht), Sven van Beek (Feyenoord), Luc Castaignos (FC Twente), Stefano Denswil (Ajax), Kyle Ebecilio (FC Twente), Warner Hahn (FC Dordrecht), Mickey van der Hart (Ajax), Mike van der Hoorn (Ajax), Ola John (Hamburger SV), Ricardo Kishna (Ajax), Terence Kongolo (Feyenoord), Jürgen Locadia (PSV), Adam Maher (PSV), Terell Ondaan (Willem II), Mustafa Saymak (PEC Zwolle), Doke Schmidt (Go Ahead Eagles), Tonny Trindade de Vilhena (Feyenoord), Mike te Wierik (sc Heracles), Jetro Willems (PSV).
Hahn-Schmidt-Kongolo-Denswil-Willems-Ake-Ebecilio/Ayoub-Vilhena-Kishna-John-Castaignos
Would be good.
DRB 300 any links the france game
Wiziwig.tv
Long time reader…I happen to be stuck in koblenz tonight. Anyone knows a place here that might show the game? Thanks
http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=249121&part=sports