Resilient Oranje thrashes Germany

blog Euro 2020 WC2018
by Jan

This post is dedicated with gratitude to my dear friend Bob. You know why :-).

NOTE: English highlights at the bottom of this post!

We all like to say and think that Dutch football is on the way up, but at the same time…we’re all still quite vulnerable… Frenkie isn’t playing on his favorite spot at Barca, De Ligt makes a number of obvious mistakes at Juve, Memphis wasn’t able to make a move to a top club, Promes isn’t really making it hard for Ten Hag at Ajax and has to work his way into the Ajax team, and more.

So when Arch Enemy #1 Germany is on the roster, a lot of people would watch the match with an extra set of diapers on… The Germans… they always have a tough team to beat, they always develop talent and they know how to win games…

In the Volkspark Stadium in Hamburg, where Oranje dealt with West Germany back in 1988, Holland started sparkling. Forward pressure, high up the park, quick pass and move play while Germany clearly was playing compact from a more deeper position.

Germany playing counter football in their own home? Deja Vu to the 1980s?

Marathon Man Gini

But despite Holland getting the first shooting opportunity (Memphis testing the fists of Neuer), it’s Germany again, countering to 1-0 in the first 10 mins of the game.

A series of “mistakes” allow this to happen… No pressure from Wijnaldum on the ball (Toni Kroos!), Blind and De Ligt pressing forward – even with Koeman explicitly telling them not to “bite” to early – while Van Dijk drops back a bit and blocks the offside trap!

And Promes not realising Kloostermann was sprinting away from him, just on-side, and preparing the Gnabry goal… Cillesen did his best but the rebound was too much.

With the 1-0, Germany even sat deeper still waiting for more counter opportunities (which did come and Cillesen had to act with a strong hand to keep Werner from scoring their second).

Oranje had the ball but failed to really create chances. The flow wasn’t there. Reasons? For starters, Koeman’s tactical trick didn’t work.

The idea was to have Babel as centre striker (like he did at Galatasaray) and Memphis in a free role. Promes was supposed to cover the left flank – as Blind doesn’t do wingback – while Dumfries was supposed to cover the right flank – he does do wingback. De Roon would drop into the right back zone to cover for Denzel and to assist in the build up.

Blissful contributions by Babel

This is where it went wrong. The Germans were happy for De Roon to build up and allowed him the ball. And De Roon is a good player, but not a great play maker or passer. What definitely didn’t help either, was Dumfries inability to keep the ball and/or do something solid with it.

The PSV right back is lauded for his strength, his mentality, his legs/lungs, and his fighting spirit… But he is also known to have “hard feet”. Meaning…lack of technique. And it showed.

Dumfries was launched into a very promising opportunity by Memphis, getting into the box but almost stumbling over his own feet. Most of his actions failed on the flank, and it was clear Oranje’s right flank (De Roon, Dumfries, Babel) wasn’t working.

Orange jersey suits Malen really well

It happens. We’re not going to suddenly crucify Dumfries for being who he is. But we do need better quality. If Holland wants to win trophies, we do need top notch players on all positions. De Roon and Dumfries might just be lacking in that. They’re good, but not world class (like Memphis, Wijnaldum, Frenkie and Van Dijk).

When Propper and Malen came on (and Promes moved to the right) in the second half, there simply was more pizzazz and class in the team. And with De Roon suspended for the next game, I expect Propper to come in and stay in (maybe until Van de Beek is fit again).

The switch in the second half to bring Babel back to the left worked, with Wijnaldum now having more space to work with.

What a photo! Memphis at the top of his game!

Oranje remained patience and was fully focussed on attacking Germany when they looked vulnerable, with Babel and Wijnaldum setting traps all the time. And it was Babel who was instrumental in getting Holland back in the game, with a cross that was finished by Frenkie in perfect style. A wonderful first touch, followed by a side footed controlled finish: 1-1.

We love emphasising how good we are, but truth be told, Germany defended horrifically. New central defender pairing Ginter and Tah made a mess of most situations and a corner and Virgil header was the prologue to another howler. Memphis brought the ball back into the 5 yard zone, Babel did some silly step over – back heel trick (that failed) and Tah decided to stick his leg out: 1-2. Babel walked away with a sheepish grin on his face.

I was personally confident that my 1-3 prediction was going to make it, but not long after the 1-2 the ref decided to help the poor Germans a bit, with the execution of a poor new hand ball rule.

Part of the problem. Five Oranje players high up the pitch against a compact Germany… Hardly any space to operate in, with a disappointing partnership between Babel, Gini and Memphis.

“Every hand ball in the box is now a penalty” is the new rule, apparently.

So Matthijs de Ligt blocks a cross successfully. The ball goes up in the air. De Ligt loses sight. The ball drops on the ground but brushes past De Ligt’s arm. There is no way the German player could have re-capture the ball. There was no threat, danger, whatsoever, but the ref decided: penalty.

Cillesen is starting to become a better penalty killer, but there was no stopping Kroos’ decisive spot kick: 2-2.

Germany seemed to think the 2-2 was fine. The pace was slow, they were sloppy and Holland simply wanted the win more. And did more to force the win.

And boy, did we have another trap ready for them. We took the ball high up the park, on the left hand side, again. Babel playing his part, Memphis slotted the ball through to Wijnaldum who – under pressure – was able to flick the ball perfectly to Donyell Malen who was able to celebrate his first goal in his debut game for Oranje: 2-3. A brilliantly worked goal!

The German goal: no pressure on the ball, Blind/De Ligt pressing forward while Virgil drops back and ruins the offside trap while Promes is surprised by the run of the full back….

Germany needed to find a third wind, to salvage a point and in doing so was vulnerable even more.

Koeman felt 2-3 was good enough and took Babel off. The veteran did his job and Nathan Ake was brought in to secure the win. Blind moved further to the left and Malen and Memphis played upfront, with Frenkie, Propper and Gini Wijnaldum in midfield.

A wonderful interception by the fresh Ake resulted in a wonderful pass to Memphis, who saw in his peripheral vision one of the strongholders of Oranje making a 60 meter dash – we are talking the last minute of the game!! – into the box. Memphis pass was pitch perfect and Wijnaldum only needed to put his side foot to the ball: 2-4.

A perfect final chord from one of Oranje’s key performers.

Eat this!

And the result of all of this is quite good…

The result is perfect: 3 points and in the bilateral match up, Holland now edges Germany and might win the qualification.

We also demonstrated to the world that we are a team to be reckoned with.

We worked on our confidence and flow.

Koeman will have seen that it’s time for a better right back and time to have a player like Propper back in the starting line up, versus workman De Roon.

Oranje under Koeman seems to be strong in coming back into the game after conceding and Koeman impresses with his subs, but…one could also say: stop coming back from behind by not conceding in the first place and start the game with the right eleven! Hahahaha :-).

The future is bright, with Rick Karsdorp getting back into full fitness (my preferred RB option), while Kenny Tete will also be back soon. Hateboer and Janmaat (when back in the starting eleven for Watford) will also be options, as is Hoeve.

As for the midfield, Van de Beek will make his return, Ihattaren will be a great prospect  to have and on top we also have Eijting, Stengs and even Adam Maher as options.

I will post more on the talent coming up soon!

For now, lets enjoy this one more day and then focus on that ever difficult away game vs Estonia!

And share your thoughts below!

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99 comments

  1. If you can’t enjoy Oranje now, there’s no hope for you! What a great time for Dutch soccer. Yesterday’s match had moments of pure joy.

    Thank you, Jan. Great match, great write-up.

    OHG! (Oranje Heeft Overwonnen!) 😉

    1. Fun to see ze Germans spiral into a rare crisis of self-doubt after getting their butts kicked: https://www.welt.de/sport/fussball/article199869972/EM-Quali-Der-schwierige-Reifeprozess-der-deutschen-Nationalmannschaft.html

      OHO!

      And to explain: O.Z.O. (Oranje zal overwinnen) was a rallying cry for the Dutch resistance in WWII. If you’ll look at the banners at most Dutch-German games, you’ll see someone has brought an OZO banner. Homely, simple, like the banner from Zutphen.:)

    2. Yesterday was nice so was past months for Orange.Some people Here desperately want a Titile for Dutch..We are closing in on that its 23 men wins not 11…We need couple of players who are efficient enough sort out our gaps..Leroy sane and Rudiger would have made the game difficult for us..i mean individual player quality matters..Remmeber the game vs Portugal we were schooled except in defense..So it is better to stay grounded and finding the replacement for Blind,Dumfries,immediately..
      What will happen to us if Virgil or Dejong gets injury..???We need 23 players i am sure we have it…we are short of 5 players..

  2. Great article, analysis, Jan. Thank you.

    I can’t see any reason to change the lineup for Estonia from what it was after the Propper/Malen substitutions. No reason to start Dumfries against an Estonian team that will likely “park the bus.” Better to start with an extra offensive player from the outset.

    1. Just wanna ask a question? How do you think the depth in the team will increase without rotating players. For the record this is not bashing but straight forward overview of whats happening.As much as the results are coming in dutch favour, lets dont forget what happened in 2014 prior to the world cup under van gaal. I see the same resembles in this team as well and a injury to either van dijk,frenkie and depay will easily trigger the off balance in the team like what happened in 2014.

      Looking at a bigger picture here and not just the estonia game and even if the dutch go on to top the group, you have look at what happening to other top teams in other pools and how they are shaping in context to being contenders of winning the euros?

      For the germans its pretty clear , they have crisis on hand in their backline and probably with sane and Rudiger they will strengthen further.otherwise they will be back in no time. Cant believe Low overlooked Sane for the world cup. His all holes must be open now.

      Portuguese will be definitely favourites along side the french.the nations league has laid the perfect platform for them and I cant see any position where they lack depth and this time around even without Ronaldo,they have the backup players who could do the job for santos. Joao Felix being one of them and Guedes as well whom I think will be star man for them at euros.

      The french as mentioned, nothing much to say but with abudance of talents they have at the moment they could easily have 3 teams all capable of winning the euros.the headache job for Deschamps would be whom to start especially with likes of Lacazette,Martial,Dembeles,Laporte whom could all feature and bring something different individually.

      The Italians, I have talked about them alot and mancini rotates the squad like changing underwear everday. Thats the only thing he has done nothing else.tatical wise he way down the ladder. The good part about rotating is it has really built a considerable depth in the team with different options to go with different set of players. For instance moise kean and Zainolo were both left out of the squad for unprofessional behaviour, Insigne pulled out with injury but still he had the luxury of backup players who capabably replaced them.the CBs could be problem area for them after Bounuccis ACL injury. That’s the only position mancini has used chellini and bonucci extensively and replacing bonucci will be a headache for him.

      Spain, I must say this is new and after keeping tabs on them, they have come out of no
      where and are looking a very polished team under new coach Robert Moreno. The barcelona and real dominace has ended and players players outside of la liga are finally being recognised,Ruiz (Napoli),Alcacer (Dortmund),alcantara (Bayern) and sarabia (PSG). The rise of the valencia has also contibuted to both the tracjtory and the depth of the current squad as well. Rodrigo could be the next Raul for them and not forgetting Rodri hernandez who has taken above in midfield. Once again they are looking very polished even with out Isco,Asensio,Morata,Costa.

      From a neutral perspective if I had to add NT in this list who are also on a rise there is only one thing I would say and that is Van Dijk. He is the spine of the team and a injury to him at a critical stage will be like three legged chair.only time will tell how koeman will cope up with either frenkie or van dijks injury. They need more amour, more depth to be contenders for euros.

      1. @Wilson, No did not take this as bashing. You’ve written at length previously about you concerns for depth, and the need to rotate players. I respect your opinion, but I guess I just have a different view.

        To me, the depth comes from the pool of players available, and 60 minutes against Estonia or Belarus isn’t going to make a difference in the quality they’ll bring on the pitch if called. Using the NT starting lineup against Germany as a baseline, any of the potential replacements such as Ake, De Vrij, Karsdorp, Van Aanholt, Propper, Van de Beek, Malen can be slid into the team and perform regardless of how much time they get in the NT.

        Of course it is not one way; it is good for guys like, or any of the others to get on the field for the NT, especially the younger players, but I don’t think its crucial. The NT, with its intermittent gathering for practices. and games isn’t a setting where the work of developing players takes place; that happens at the club level.

        I’ve heard people say, well what happens if Van Dijk or De Jong gets injured. Indeed, what happens? These guys are unique talents. They re not going to be seamlessly replaced. The only thing you can hope for is that Koeman has a plan for how he wants to play without them, and I assume that he does.

        1. ok this is what Im getting from your statement. correct me if im wrong. if this is the case “To me, the depth comes from the pool of players available” then obviously there is concrete depth in the team beacuse koeman has extensively used the the same squad throughout, to which I dont agree.

  3. Im really hoping Inzaghi start giving adekanye minutes at lazio. Suprised as well why he was not selected for the u21s while Chong made it. He could be a good upgrade to promes.with the internationals going on, had a hattrick for lazio in club friendly even though it was against minor club. I really keeping fingers crossed on this guy. With Lazio in europa as well, hopefully Inzaghi will rotate him upfront. Im expectating him to be following the same road as Danjuma. Once this guy gonna hit off the blocks, there will be no stopping him.

    El Ghazi is also on my list that could add something different to attack upfront.with some more games for aston villa and if he continues his current form, it will be hard for koeman to
    ignore him. Again im not sure if kluivert was the right guy to replace bergwijn in NT. I mean epl- Serie A, serie A – Epl, how do you make it a case to answer.or how do you wiegh both options.club,ability,form,statusetc.

    1. Kluivert, I have been saying a lot about him previously.

      I think one of the reasons why Koeman chose him to replace Bergwijn is because of his match fitness. Seriously, KLuivert is playing a lot of minutes (although he is still not scoring any goals).

      And at the moment, it is hard to find another winger/striker that could be said to be “in form” .

      I am sure once Javairo Dilrosun , Danjuma Groenevelt are back in shape and start scoring the goals, we wont see Luuk’s name anymore, and soon Vilheina, Strootman’s names also.

      1. Kluivert surely has worked his butt off at Roma but by no means his fitness level was something koeman was monitoring hence giving him the call up.

        Kluivert time will come for sure, but El Ghazi is sombody who looks matured and is in good form regardless of club he is playing at. If Kluivert has to go to epl now and El Ghazi vice versa,I wonder what will be the outcome.

        El ghazi has played in eredivisie,Ligue 1, Championship and now epl. I mean what else you need to make it a case to answer.

  4. Once javairo Dilrosun and Danjuma are back, Koeman will have lots of options at the frontline. (Don’t forget Stengs and Bouda also) Plus Redan , Adekanye, Sam Lammers etc ..what a strikeforce we will have.

    On the other hand, I do hope that Koeman will realise that Dumfries is not the ideal one, as well as Blind eventually for 2020.

    I actually like Van Aanholt better as he is quicker and more powerful. It is sad that Koeman never gives him a single minute and that’s very unfair.

    In the middle, on a good day Wijnaldum seems unreplaceable. But I still think that we will have someone better to replace him, either Van de Beek, or eventually Ihatarren who seems more talented/skillful.

  5. Tahith Chong – Lastly, as for Chong, i’m really sorry to say this, but I think he made a bad mistake to stay in Man Utd for another season.

    These Big clubs (and famous big clubs) like Man Utd, how many Dutch talents have they destroyed?

    Chong needs to get 1st team min, and sadly at Man Utd he wont get this.

    He was lucky to have given his chance, but I think he screwed it during the pre-season tour. (Greenwood was the only one who grabbed it).

    I think he will end up like Tim Fosuh Mensah. Again, I hope i’m wrong!

  6. Cody Gakpo,Stengs,Mallen,Danjuma and Berjwin are miles ahead of tahit chong,Elghazi,Adkayne,kluivert and Co
    All we need to discuss is that is stengs better than luuk De jong and kluivert to include in final 23?? irrespective of starting spot..Answer is yes..Stengs is way better than both.We dont need a slow static striker at NT.Those days are long gone..
    Ditto Goes with Cody gakpo…Addition of Cody Gakpo and stengs will add mercurious threat to attack..

  7. Other discussion point is Dumfries…Whom we will have…Ki jana Hoover is excellent so is Rick karsdorp..i Would say fast tracking of Ki jana is need of time..He cannot be worst than dumfries..also i hope karsdorp will take back his spot…There should be ranking system in every spot..
    I hope serghino Dest will get the call as well
    Karsdorp=Ki Jana hoover>Dest>…

        1. Its kind of funny, koeman selected tete last time around when he was warming bench at lyon.this time around when he is playing he doesn’t get call up.I wonder if it is because of that incident where he suffered that pull muscle in hamstring after seconds coming on for Dumfries. I think if tete gets minutes at lyon, he will be one of the RBs to the euros.

  8. We have stumbling and circling block with Blind as LB..We will be always under threat as long as he plays there…NO ESCAPE against good teams..Teams are targeting him..
    Luckily we have options there with Annholt,kongolo,owen winjdal,Tyrell malacia..We dont have to worry about talents we have enough there,But Blind is the stumbling block and people cannot think it with out Blind…

    1. Bullshit.

      If you make these statements you will need to show up with facts.

      Which games in the past 4 years in Oranje, Man United or Ajax was Blind outplayed by the opponent?

      He played vs Sane, Aguero, Griezmann, MBappe, Ronaldo and many other top forwards.

      Which opponent made Blind look like…eh…you?

      If no one can answer this, I suggest we all shut up about Daley Blind and accept the opinion of Van Gaal, Koeman, Frank de Boer, Guus Hiddink and Erik Ten Hag and accept him as a proper player.

      FFS

          2. I watched a few of these, Wilson, and just don’t see what you’re on about.

            Also, if you’re going to queue up this much video, you should make the link to the specific moment you want us to watch. Do you want us to spend half an hour just watching your silly clips?

      2. FFS..i think u are not watching or may watching hime against Belrus or Estonia or poor teams…
        1Sane had hovac against us.
        2-Mbappe was manhandled by Deligt.
        3-Gnabry F@###ked him.
        4-Griezmann toyed him
        5-CR7 was handled by Deligt…
        He will hide against Top players,He is so lucky that he has Virgil and Deligt with him..i wont blame him alone,dumfires is worst than him..

  10. Veltman will start as right back. Also malen and propper will start tonight. But i cannot see kluivert again. We know what babel can do, why we dont get a chance to kluivert in estonia game?? 🙁

      2. Against Poor Estonia both Blind and Veltman play upfront ..its joke to watch…One time Blind couldnt cop up with estonian player as well..Too sad this guy stays back when we need attack against strong teams coz of his lack of speedy,.Becoming a tiger against weak teams..Pathetic way for survival in the team..

          1. I dont doubt blind attacking capability at all.He simply stays back when we play against good teams and not much contributing to attack,winger gets isolated,he comes out vs weaker teams..Coz of him Virgil or Deligt has to take extra care of Griezmann,Mbhappe,Ronaldo etc…Thats limits our game..At any time He can get exposed as well,There is a reason He went back to ajax as he cannot play EPL…Only quetion is how long we hide him???
            the moment Vrigil or Dligt is absent Blind will be terribly exposed as a defender..Watch the links Wilson send,plenty of it…However i would rate him above dumfries..

  16. @ gladstone

    yeah good assist but that was never the question. and also van Annholt could terrorize the flank as well.

    Also on the top (Video) I have given the time to watch and if not the goal in which he is directly involved but that was more to reply on jan post. take some time out and watch it slowly.you will see where Im coming from.

  17. ok 4-0 beating estonia in their country is not bad. also germans win against north ireland and it means north ireland need 6 poisnts from their 3 games. 2 games with netherland and 1 other their games is with germans and it looks 6 points are impossible for them.

  18. Babel has proved alot of people wrong and looks like is man on a mission. I hope he can maintain it till euros. they were comparison of him with Shanice van de Sanden

  20. After watching all the latest matches (including the nations leagues games), I am more certain that we need talented , skillful players in the midfield.

    Ihatarren is one of them , I really hope Oranje will nail him down. cannot allow another Ziyech incident happening.

    Ihattaren is only 17 and already showing how much potential he has. Can you imagine after 3-4 years time how strong he could become.

  22. THanks for the work on finding clips that show how vulnerable and bad Blind is. I will check them all out.

    As I need to see it myself.

    Until then I will not respond specifically.

    In general, I do have to say I am terribly disappointed with the lack of respect for our guys.

    It’s mainly one poster here, who believes he is a true supporter but he is not. And he does not have a great deal of understanding of the game.

    1. The USA one is 5:28.correction there but I recommend you just go straight to this one.

      https://youtu.be/XoEQcGdP0vU

      2:27 and 2:59.again a friendly but my emphasis is on under what kind of circumstances or the type of individual players he is vulnerable against. Van Dijk wont be there to bail him out everytime. We already saw what Giroud did against van dijk,as well as Sane or was it Gnabry in the first leg.

      As a defender you have to prepared for everything and anything.

      You look at the estonia game, he had freedom and luxury like he was on vaccation but in big games and with explosive wingers it wont be case.

      This is just one part of it, what Im more critical about is why no competition.again you loo k at the Estonia game.veltman was waste of time and van annholt could have esaily played on the left.

      1. 5:14 is another good example where he is in no mans land. Off course if somebody else looses the poesession while in attack, he is putting the whole team under pressure,but then you simply need faster players who can cover back and stablise the situation,isn’t it.

        1. Any coach will juggle the pros and cons of any player.

          When you replace Blind because of his lack of speed, you also lose the strength that Blind brings.

          I suppose all the Dutch NT coaches made that decision in favour in Blind, but you seem to want to make a case that you – Wilson – see it better than them?

  25. This is the qualification match vs Turkey: we lost 3-0

    Daley was indeed guilty of one goal here. As any defender no matter how good or bad at some stage will get dribbled past.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYVmAR5jM9o&feature=youtu.be

    In all honesty, most of the Dutch (Van der Wiel) played a shocker in this match and even though Daley was at fault, he wasn’t beaten for pace. Just taken on by a crafty forward who beat him with skill. It’s football.

    Verdict: Mistake Blind but not due to his lack of speed

  26. This is Everton Man United: -3-0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo7_2jiXqmE&feature=youtu.be

    The whole team is caught when Everton breaks. Daley is back in time (!) but decides to not tackle the Everton player because 1) another Man U player is trying a tackle already and 2) it was in the box.

    It looked clumsy but his decision not to tackle is understandable and it has nothing to do with Daley’s lack of speed.

    Verdict: BS again! It’s becoming a pattern….

  27. Oh yes: United vs City 1-2

    The infamous one.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kijec6fkK7k&feature=youtu.be

    So here, United doesn’t have pressure on the ball (Pogba!!), Valencia doesn’t win the header and it leaves Blind all alone. The forward just passes the ball past Blind and is off.

    There were many mistakes in this sequence, but Blind’s can’t even be called a mistake. He didn’t do anything wrong, but he was just played out of position.

    Silly to blame Blind and this again has nothing to do with his lack of speed.

    Verdict: More BS. We can feed the whole blog on BS soup if it goes on like this….

  28. Friendly vs France 0-2

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoEQcGdP0vU&feature=youtu.be

    Blind has no role to play in the first goal. With the second, France counters and is off. The right winger outruns Blind into space and crosses the ball before Blind can challenge. The cross results in the second goal.

    A normal goal to concede, in the turn around, we all got done with speed by the French counter.

    Verdict: Blind was outpaced, as was the whole team and this was just a good counter attacking goal. Any full back would have been beaten.

    Therefore: BS

  29. I think we can all safely say that Tiju and Wilson are brothers in arms in a witch hunt against Blind, simply because they don’t like Danny, his dad, who failed to qualify.

    This is in no way the behaviour of supporters.

    Daddy Danny is a legend in Holland and respected for his full career.

    Daley is considered one of the most sympatico players in the squad always earning his Heineken.

    It is Van Gaal/Hiddink/De Boer/Koeman/Ten Hag/Jan vs Wilson and Tiju.

    I go for the Dutch coaches, if you don’t mind.

    I ask you all to quit this brainless witch hunt.

    It’s pathetic and drags this blog down!

      1. @Wilson, we all are guests of Jan.

        Please, when he writes “I ask you all to quit this brainless witch hunt.”, take the hint and lay low for a while.

        Thanks

        1. My friend, I dont think I have said or written any thing that might offend him. Just speaking my mind from what I see,read and hear. Everybody has different opinons. I also have it and try to correlate it with whats happening around.

    1. Couldnt complete,

      What a defender can or cannot do determines his credibility and thats what is under spot light.like I said above you are basing your argument from buid up perspective, hospital pass,lossing possession and etc but at the end of the day a good defender will be able to defuse a threat regardless of whats happened on other part of the field. If you can prevent a cross from being executed which could potentially result in a goal, then thats it .case closed. Thats what he is suppose to do. Not turn around and blame who ever lost possession somewhere in opposition half.thats stupid.

      Blind credibility has always being a question mark and the videos prove it, lack of speed,strength factor etc.if you want see it from another perspective, I have no problem with that.

  31. Just out of curiosity, what would be your ideal scenario Wilson? Taking off blind from the first team or from the squad entirely?
    Since you’ve given a comprehensive analysis, including videos of his shortcomings, I would be very interested to know if you have a better solution besides rotating the LB position.

    2. Terence kongolo,owen Winjdal,Annholt and pretty good and athletic than Blind,We wont get F@#ked by Gnbrys…also Virgil and Babel will hve lesser headache..and we will have 11 players..instead of 9..

  32. @wilson

    I think this is enough . What are you trying to prove ?

    After all , it’s a game of football and there is never an absolute right or wrong

    And I agree we should pay some respect to Jan here .

    This board is mostly free and this is “his house “. As a guest , I think you should just shut up right now because you have said enough. We all hear your opinion already

    If you are not happy , you can Simply leave.

    2. -1
      i like Wilson, and he know many thing about dutch football and everytime i learn from him and jan. i think the beauty of this blog is people from different county and their diffierent opinin. anyway, im not fan of Blind and many times in ajax game like wilson i think his lack of speed but at this time i think BLind experience is really good and he is clever, so i will take him in in my starting 11 till Euro.

    3. @Yan Wilson has a point here,Blind stays back against Strong ones and this limits our attack..He wont come out for attack like he did like in final vs portugal.Because he knows if he comes out kahboooommmm.its done.He need cover from Babel and Virgil all the time.Thats too bad.Mistakes can be forgiven as everyone makes mistakes,But getting authentically out done by opponent is not acceptable at Orange level..
      I dont know how many of you know about Finnister who was on this blog and died with out seeing trophy for orange..Our Coaches always plays an off player in the team in crunch matches to loose against good teams..Wilson wants to see u lifting a trophie,The Golden generation of Virgil,Deligt,Dejong,De beek,Memphis Deserves a trophy that cannot be spoiled by Blind or Dumfries…Blind is Good against Estonia and Co..agreed..but that counts very little..
      VERDICT…Blind is REJECT from top league Manchester united,So it proves he is not good enough to compete title.LOGIC is as simple as that..
      no matter how much YOU JUSTIFIES HIM ,IT DOESN’T CHANGE TRUTH..
      Just give Chance to Kongolo,Annholt,and Owen Winjdal…Lets see ..if they are crap Go back with Blind…End of the story…

      1. @Tiju, I don’t agree. In the tough games, against the big opponents, Blind is one of the more dependable offensive players—in the Nations League opener against France (in Paris), didn’t he make the pass to Babel for he tying goal? Look at his performances with an unbiased eye, he is in on alot of the scoring chances the team generates.

        He may be judicious about coming forward, but there is a big difference between reading the game and choosing the best time to come out of the back, and a player hiding back there because he is scared of being beaten. All I heard going into the France and Germany games was how MBappe or Sane was going to “torch” him, or “put him to the sword” or whatever colorful language people like to use. Didn’t happen. Nor did it happen against Portugal or England. Is he perfect? Of course not, but then again Van Dijk gets beat at times, De ligt gets beat at times. The whole notion that a defender can simply put an attacker “in his pocket” all the time is ridiculous. Players like Robben, Mbappe, Messi, Ronaldo, Sane, Sterling (and you can name many more) will beat even the best defenders at some point. Why dwell on Blind? Clearly, Koeman sees something that he brings to the team on a regular basis, and it seems to me that the only way not see his quality is to not want to see it.

        You say, Blind is a “reject” from a top league, and that “proves” he cannot compete for the title…Well, using that definition, so is Depay. Babel no longer plays in the EPL, he was terrific in the last two games. So to me, that proves nothing.

        In the last 12 months, the NT has beaten France (and played them close in Paris), they’ve beaten Germany twice, they’ve beaten England. Those are superb results, and during this time Blind has been an integral part of the team. So, the results don’t bear out your premise—that he is holding the team back.

        1. @Andrew..u are answering something else,No one questions Blind capability in attack or Brilliant pass..His credibility as defender is at question..NT has beaten France,Germany,portugal this down to Babel return,Depay,Virgil,Frenkie,and Deligt..Blind is just Band wagon rider WHAT was he doing when he played all matches in ECQ2016 and WCQ2018???Even when he had Roben..So dont Bring that..
          The Guys Owen windal,Kongolo and Annholt are doing really Good as LB..on reguar basis..We need to take our head out from Blind A@@S…
          Depay is the most important player in lyon attack ,French league is higher than eredivise…
          Babel is so born talent ..i still beleive had we played Babel or Vaart in 2010 final we would have Destroyed spain.FFF kuyt and his non movement and backpasses…i still canot forget it.Babel is so strong he so good at holding ball,Even against germany he F@##ked Jonathan tah in last match..While Blind gets F@#ked by Gnabry..thats the differenece.

  33. i think nothing will change if we talk about blind all days and etc. we haven’t better option than him now. van anholt has 6.98 point in whoscore and blind score 7.12. who score rate blind better player than van anholt.

    1. No Faraz,We have kongolo whom i rate better than Annholt..Owen windjal is amazing as LB..they are regulars for their clubs..So why not give them a shot against small teams???Eventually vs Big ones..Kongolo did play great under LVG for Wc2014..lets not close th door only for Blind,As if Blind is the best LB in the world…

  34. Guys,
    I would suggest to stop this argument. Everybody reads the game differently. The fact that we are all Oranje supporters does not mean that we have to idolize all Dutch players.Vice versa if we criticize a player that does not automatically makes us anti-Oranje. I really respect what Jan does in terms of supporting this blog for many years, writing beautiful articles with unique information. At the same time I always appreciate Wilson’s knowledge of football and his ability to pinpoint weak and strong sides of the players. I also sometimes disagree with him on how he sees Boadu or Stengs and that is good! I also sometimes get upset when you guys disregard my boy, Vinsent Janssen, but at the end it is your opinion and I have to respect it. Bottomline, arguments are great until they get too offensive. Let us enjoy this great moment of Dutch football – we do not beat Germany every year on their soil!
    We can not here praise all Dutch players only because they are Dutch. That is the beauty of this blog that everybody can express their opinion without a fear of being judged. Please, continue supporting Diversity and Inclusion principles

  35. Been a while since I have posted but I’ve been lurking. Great wins in nations league and Euros. Also good wins for Dutch clubs in Europe.

    Too bad my team, PSV, couldn’t make the group stages.

    Can’t believe the argument over Blind…such a run of the mill professional player. Weird to hate on him.

    Almost like hating on Dirk Kuyt…

  36. https://youtu.be/f6d0izhtBoU

    Big win for the u21s in euro qualifers and big performance-from AZ contingent as well. Wijndal,De wit,Stengs and particularly Koopmeiners. Unfortunately for him he will always be overshadowed by frenkie in the midfield. Im not sure if both can fit the same lineup given both play the same position.

    Redan and Chong both came of the bench but had little impact.

    2. @Wilson
      Koopmeiners can be that substitute for Frenkie if the latter gets unavailable for any reason. Teun is physically more powerful compared to de Jong. In other words he can give that depth to Oranje midfield that you have been always talking about.

  37. Just wanted to give a shout out to Jan. Must be terribly frustrating to bang your head repeatedly against such lack of understanding of the game and appreciation of what players such as Blind bring to the team. Keep up the good work!

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