Rick Karsdorp: “Me, arrogant? Hmm…maybe…”

Rick Karsdorp burst on the scene. Only 21 years old but already one of the driving forces in Feyenoord’s campaign and on the verge of snapping the RB spot in Oranje. All that, will big European clubs eyeing the development of the former playmaker. He’s one of the rocks Feyenoord leans on and the key question is: how good can he become?

Rick Karsdorp thanks two people in particular for his stellar development. His dad, will always be the first one he mentions and honours. Karsdorp senior raised Rick and his brother alone. Another broken family, working class, in Rotterdam. Dad Karsdorp is a no nonsense working man, mechanic, and dedicated his free time to his sons. Rick wanted to be a football player.

The street smart kid was a decent playmaker in the youth. Played on the #10 position in young Feyenoord and impressed with through passes, dribbles and goals. Being a Feyenoord player in the youth teams living in Rotterdam, a kid can get easily distracted. Karsdorp lived the live of any young teenager and school work suffered. Rick became a problem kid. When Rick was 15 years old, dad intervened. Grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and took him off football, for him to focus on school. He managed to get his high school diploma, but had lost 1,5 years of playing. When his dad told him he was able to return to football, the youngster refused. Karsdorp senior: “I don’t know exactly why. He lived for the sports, but I think he was afraid. Insecure. Afraid to fail. He hadn’t played at level for a long time and he’s a winner, afraid to fail and lose.” Karsdorp turned his back on football and was a bit lost. Until one day, when his old team was playing a friendly, dad took Rick to go and watch. It was a set up. While the team was getting ready, Rick’s dad grabbed Rick’s gear from the car and said: “Get changed, go out there and go and play!”.

Rick did and never looked back

rick2

However, getting towards the senior level, it seemed there would not be a lot of opportunity for the playmaker to get into the team on his favorite position. Maybe not good enough? Maybe Feyenoord needed to rely on more experienced players in that role? Feyenoord used to play with a deep sitting central midfielder (Clasie) at that time and used a more penetrative runner on the #10 position (Lex Immers, now Dirk Kuyt). But when Fred Rutten analysed Karsdorp, playing in the B-team, he did see what he liked: mentality, drive, speed, tough in the duels and great in build up.

So he picked Rick as a right back, when the other choices were not able to deliver. And he told Karsdorp: “You might not make it as a playmaker, but as a right back, you can reach the National Team!”. Rick Karsdorp remembers the talk. Vividly. “Man, I was livid. Angry, felt humiliated. That message was like being relegated from being a promising good player to a failure…” Karsdorp debut was dramatic. In a Europa League qualification game, Karsdorp made an error. A howler. The team lost thanks to his mistake. He was shattered. Spent minutes alone in the dressing room crying. Felt humiliated. And was again, ready to leave it all behind.

Rutten: “These are defining moments. I told him. You walk away now, that blunder will have defined your short career. But get up on your feet, climb back on the horse and take the lesson.”

Again, he didn’t look back.

rick3

Karsdorp now: “Rutten saw the game well. Not just because of that message to me, in general. Great coach. And he was right. He said: most of the attacks these days start with the full backs. They’re the new playmakers. The typical number 10s are not the ones with time and space anymore. And with my energy, he said, I could boost the team.”

And rightly so. French player Duplan was the assist king of the Eredivisie last season, but Rick Karsdorp was runner up!

Today, he is one of the most photographed Feyenoord players. The tattoos, the hairdo… Rick is popular. When a press photographer aims his long tele lens on the right back, the players snaps at him: “Hey, don’t take pics man, I don’t like it!”

With a big smile he arrives at the table, an hour later: “Did you see the face on that guy, hahaha! He took it serious didn’t he? I was just having a go, he’s allowed to do what he wants. It seems the media like to get pics of me without my hair up in a man-knot, hahaha. I don’t mind, doing your hair everyday takes up sooo much time, hahaha.”

He is considered to be one of Feyenoord’s gems, along with the likes of Vilhena, Kongolo, Hahn and Van Beek. Fred Rutten: “I could see he had it all. He’s a very complete player. I didn’t just tell him he’d be perfect as RB for Feyenoord. I told him he can be one of Europe’s best. If you analyse him, you’ll see he has it all.”

“But… when players break into the team and do well for a spell, the temptations and distractions come… How will he handle that? The money, the attention, the glamour, the girls, the parties….” Jean Paul Boetius used to be one of those gems. Came like a rocket. Impressed week in week out. He once said: “When you just come into the team, you’re invincible. You can handle everything. Every one pats you on the back, wants a pic taken with you, they tell you how awesome you are… But then… when you start to struggle, they’re all gone. That hurts!”

Karsdorp

Karsdorp recognises it. He is still in the first stage. His first game for Feyenoord was the disappointment, since then he went up and up. Not yet saw the freefall. Are the temptations an issue for Rick? “I’m still young, and afraid of no one. Boetius is right, that is how the world works, but I have to say…I’m not a target so much. I don’t think there’s people wriggling themselves into my life. I have small inner circle, whom I trust fully. My dad, my brother, my girlfriend. That’s basically it. I don’t live in the city but away from it all. I don’t need to surrounded with distractions.”Another temptation exists too. When you play well for Oranje vs France, with the likes of Martial and Payet, you might return to De Kuip with a different mindset? Maybe too cocky? “Getting too big for your shoes, kindathing? Well, obviously, when you are a starter for Feyenoord and play for Oranje, you do feel different. That’s normal, yes? But even in the academy, I was a player who would ask questions. I’m the guy who’d say “Why?”. I question things. And as a kid, I got a lot of “hey you snotty kid, shut your mouth” and all that. I just needed to know and understand. And the more you play, the more you will bring your personality in it as well. People might think you get arrogant, but I don’t see it like that.”

Talking about the days when his dad took him off football… “It is very strange. I always knew I would be a pro player. That was all I wanted and in all honesty, it’s all I can do. I can’t work with my hands, I have no real skill other than football. I’m not a reader or study person. I can’t sit still… I told my dad: I will be a football player or …. Nothing… I can’t even remember what I did with my time when I was not playing that one year.”

People close to the team do believe he has a whiff of arrogance about him. The hand gestures to coach Van Bronckhorst during the away game vs Zorja. The discussion with the ref after a challenge on him, while being yellow-carded already…

Karsdorp flashes another smile. “Me arrogant? Hmm yes… I do hear that sometimes. And yes, I can see why people think this. I experience the match in an intense way. And now, I’m under the magnifying glass of course. I changed my hairdo and suddenly it became a “thing”. But, as long as my dad and girlfriend don’t tell me off, I’m not worried, hahaha.”

So, how good can Rick Karsdorp get: “I don’t know? The sub top abroad? Who knows… I know I can play better than I do. Better than against France and Belarus. Much much better!”. Another big smile. There is quite some interest from Italy, England and Germany for the right back. Is he ready for a move? “Well,” another wry smile: “I will not go until I lifted the champions shield on De Coolsingel for Feyenoord…”

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77 comments

  1. Nice story Jan, he looks like a true prospect long term, wingback really suits his game I can’t see him playing in the middle of the park, he looks like a player who needs space in front of him as he can then take advantage of his attributes.

  2. Nice one, I’ve really become an admirer of Karsdorp!
    Was our most productive RB last season, along with Verhaugh (who was with him on average because he takes pens for Augsburg), with his 10 assists. Strong offensively again this year with a goal and 6 assists but he has also become better defensively – or rather, Feyenoords backline has been playing better together.
    At this point my top RB for oranje.
    Brenet has also been solid, and can also do a job as LB, and Hateboer has also been really good so far this season. Looking forward to them all hopefully continuing to improve, will need to see them perform in better competition before too long, but this seasons been good to them so far.

    Speaking of this seasons performance data, I made a couple lineups for fun.
    which team do you think would win?

    TEAM A // an offensive 433 – so the players with the best offensive records for their positions, again only in the first half of the season, and with the best keeper based on clean sheets and goals against averages:

    Zoet
    Hateboer-St Juste-van Dijk-Sinkgraven
    de Roon
    Klaassen – Sneijder
    Robben – Dost – Lens

    TEAM B // a defensive 433 – using the players with the best defensive records in their positions, but with the second best offensive players for the front 4, along with the second best keeper statistically.

    Vorm
    Brenet – Bruma – Rekik – Kongolo
    Clasie – Hendrix
    Vormer
    Promes – Zivkovic – Elia

    Robben v Kongolo would be interesting, I think Promes would shred through Singkraven though!
    WOuld be cool to see what that midfield battle would look like, would love to see an oranje v oranje friendly sometime haha

    1. (just to clarify, those team lineups created were NOT ideas I think we need to try, just funny lineups sequenced by ranking of performance data by the criteria mentioned and not by my opinion…)

    2. “”””Zoet
      Hateboer-St Juste-van Dijk-Sinkgraven
      de Roon
      Klaassen – Sneijder
      Robben – Dost – Lens””””””””””
      this team has weak points those are singraven as LB,klassen in mid,Dost upfront lacks quality..Sneijder is showing age…Roben too…with in 60 minutes they will be forced to do 2 subs for both Roben and Sneijder…
      Kongolo can handle anything..he has got power,speed ,inetlligence and awareness…
      Kevin idks is way better RB than Brenet..Brenet has talent but kevin diks has class..

      1. maybe you failed to read the criteria, there was no intention to make a team which had no weak points.. the players on team A have the best points (goals + assists combined) per game then any other of our players in the first half of the season.

        as for your opinions, have you any data to back those up?
        Dost and Klaassen have had better production than any other player in their positions.
        Sneijder and Robben are playing 90 minutes for their clubs.
        Diks does not even play – curious, have you ever even watched Kevin Diks play a game?

        1. i look for Quality,…total involvement in game and how dominant their team is,how their contribution to over all game etc…For striker i do look in to their finishing ability than their asisting capability..
          I dont look in to nere stati and numbers…
          I know that its not ur line up its based on stats…so argument about it…
          i often see both gets subbed…when did Roben played a full game???of recent?

          1. I don’t think anyone cares what you look for, or cares about your fantasy opinions of players.

            That team is not arguable – it is dictated by actual performances.

            Sneijders last 3 games before their break (1 goal, 3 assists):
            Gaz – 90 minutes
            Osm – 89 minutes
            Ala – 90 minutes

            Robbens last 3 games before their break (2 goals, 2 assists):
            Mainz – 90 minutes
            Wolfsburg – 90 minutes
            Liepzig – 45 minutes (up 3-0, tactical switch for Robert at half)

          2. also – why do you refuse to answer my questions?
            (yet another similarity with you and wilson)

          3. Kevin diks made a wrong move..he is suffering..i watched him in vitsee..he was really good,drbbles,defense,vision,speed,accuracy in pass etc…blending with team etc etc….So i liked him….He was in eredivise team of the year…that doesnt come easily…

          4. Your point was that “in 60 minutes they will be forced to do 2 subs for both Roben and Sneijder”. and also your lazy question of “when did Roben played a full game???of recent?” suggests that they do not even play 90 minutes at their clubs.
            Although it is a pointless speculation since we have no games at hand, I thought those opinions seemed ill-informed.

            So I simply looked at the last 3 matches for each of them and see 90 minutes in 2 games each, confirms to me that although they are older they can still play 90 mins, and I have also answered your question, so youre welcome.

            so no actual data to back up any of your weird opinions?

            just look it up yourself next time before you make things up

  3. what really surprised me going over the eredivisie table and statistics was how good PSV have actually been defensively this season, with only 8 goals allowed in their 17 matches. Maybe that surprise was just highlighted by the disappointment in the air around the club right now being on 3rd.
    Definitely their toothless offense is the reason they are 8 pts off the top.. besides the lack of finishing from Luuk de Jong it seems, Propper and Ramselaar have been big let downs for me, but maybe just failing to really click just yet.
    But we’ll see what happens with van Ginkel and Hendrix returning, and no european matches.
    Exciting second half of the season comin up!

      1. Ya! Had a slow start before he was injured, but he definitely ‘should’ help them in their attack once fit.. but more likely on LW again since that where Cocu seems to prefer him (although Luuk has not yet been this low in form since he’s been managing PSV), and because it has worked for him.
        young Bergwijn has not got the partnership with Luuk de Jong which Locadia did last season, but as he has been creating most chances there recently maybe that’s another push to give Locadia some time in the middle.

  4. This is what I was saying regarding how it should be done. Sweden were very active in the winter break. Janne Andersson had two friendlies with Slovakia and Ivory Coast. He completely rotated the squad that played in qualifiers with new incoming players.he also gave Alexander Isak (17 years old) raising star his debut and he indeed rose to the occasion and scored the opening goal vs Slovakia. This guy knows what he is going and what he wants.clearly he wants a good depth in the squad and hence is keeping doors open to everyone in the wake of transition.

    This is something IMO Danny has failed to do.I know Danny doesn’t have much say in how many friendlies NT should play but if you look at most of the friendlies NT has played,if not for injuries he hardly has rotated the squad or given opportunities to some of the individually talented players to prove themselves at big stage. As it is Danny has limited core players that he he wants to confine to but come injury to the core players,he always finds himself in dilemma and hence ends up using hopeless options like make shift positions and player choices.(France)

    I also see that Sweden and NT is last fixture of the Qualifers.bit nervy looking at the approach of the two coaches and as to what will unfold given it may turn out to be the decisive game.

    1. For Blind to do play winter friendlies and ignore players who play in England, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Eredivisie, Turkey, Portugal, Scotland, Belgium and Russia then he would have to make a team up using only players from the Eerste Div mixed with some lesser U21 and U19 players.
      hey, why not?!

      It would seem to me as though there is more data to suggest that Blind (and NTs in general) get better results with less changes (and not forced changes, like injuries).
      But I’m not sure, myself – have you got any actual data to back up your opinion that a NT would be better off if they rotate more than Blind has (and how much has he?), and to give more opportunities to unproven/uncapped players that have nice highlight reels (even if not doing it at the same levels as they players they should apparently replace)?

      Probably young or untested players are the only ones who would show up for these friendlies, haha – is that manager actually searching for more players and adding depth to his team, or is his team just dictated by all the good players refusing to play?

  5. I think Sweden has a 3 month winter break or so. Makes sense to play friendlies. It wouldn’t be smart for Danny Blind to do this. Some of our players have games (EPL) and the others only short winter breaks. Would be utter foolishness to try this with Oranje.

    Our top strikers?

    Dost, without a doubt. Kuyt? Ricky van Wolfswinkel? Wout Weghorst? I couldn’t even come up with a fifth :-).

    As for Sybe’s fantasy line ups… Interesting indeed! I think team B would win this. Purely on work ethics. The three upfront will do more defensive work compared to team A?

    1. Jan the summer tour was in the space of 9 days where they played 3 games.eredivisie had a break of One month,same goes for Bundasliga,and some other leagues are still on break So don’t think it would have been utter foolish.don’t think this would have hindered the club preparation either.

      1. Doesn’t matter Wilson. Clubs have their winter breaks and want their players to have time off. KNVB would not get away with it, whatever Blind would want.

        1. Not really Jan.many teams were engage in club friendlies or had camps abroad where they played local sides.PSV played Dortmund and Freiburg in Spain.Ajax played RB Leipzig in Portugal. Feyenoord also played Maniz in Spain so don’t think the players had time off.

  6. Good points on our right backs.

    I’ll post an interview with AZ Haps soon. Our future left back? Although Kongolo, Van Aanholt, Willems and Blind still have a lot of good years in them :-).

    We’re spoilt for choice in defence. I’m more worried about our wingers and central striker. Where are the young talents???

    1. Here are some youngsters (under 20) I am hopeful on!

      Bergwijn (19)
      Lammers (19)
      Dekker (19)
      Sierhuis (18)
      Adekanye (18)
      Chong (17)
      Kluivert (17)
      Vente (17)
      Malen (17)
      Nunnely (17)
      Baars (16)
      Redan (16)

    2. And I don’t think it’s necessarily too late for some others in the 20-25 category
      Castaignos (24)
      Weghorst (24)
      Locadia (23)
      Achahbar (23)
      Janssen (23)
      Memphis (22)
      Boetius (22)
      Kishna (22)
      El Ghazi (21)
      Zivkovic (20)
      Dos Santos (20)

      Maybe we will just have some late bloomers! 😉

  7. Hah again van Ginkel scores in his PSV debut, and of course Propper scores as well – I should be critical of players more often! 😜
    PSV win, as they should, beating Excelsior 2-0, strong defensively holding them to only 1 shot on Zoet, got the job done but still miss a couple big chances.

    1. No surprises for him there. Started where he left of. Hopefully he remains injury free and with a good DM NT will be all set.

      Van Ginkel- strootman

      St Juste/Ake/ Riedewald

  8. Dost with another two goals for sporting.13 goals in 14 appearance for him making him the top scorer. Looks like the Primeira liga is no match for his standards.probably he should move to a tougher league or should have stayed at Wolfsburg.

  9. Gervane kastaneer has also secured the move to Bundasliga side Maniz. Good talent. Still 20,made his debut for Jong Orange under new coach Art Langeler.

  10. Here were our best 5 performing dutch strikers so far (based on minutes per goals for club) this season.
    Was very close at the top spot:

    1 Dost (140.64)
    2 van Persie (141.00)
    3 Weghorst (157)
    4 Zivkovic (163)
    5 van Wolfwinkel (164)

    (this did not include Dost’s pair of goals or Zivkovic’s failure to score yesterday)

    If the same list was extended from ‘only strikers’ to any players:
    Robben (149) sneaks into 3rd
    Babel (130) and Boetius (137) would sneak into the list as first and second best as well, but maybe I would exclude them since they played so few minutes by comparison..

    Our best midfielder (again, only production-wise so looking at goals and assists per match) would be everyone’s favourite:
    Davy Klaassen
    Interesting how much criticism he gets in the last 2 seasons when he consistently producing goals, not to mention his teams’ captain..

      1. Does Klaassen has creativity?

        Does Klaassen has Speed?

        Is Klaassen productive?

        Another player Danny is wasting his time on. At eredivisie level he looks like an above average player simply because he sneaks in with goals and also latches on to loose ball that comes his way too score long range goals. Apart from this he has no qualities of a CM.can ask any Ajax Fan who follows his every game about what they think about him. You will hear the same sentiment,goals and goals only.this where he balances his average performance per game. It all comes down to the dynamism or overall qualities that propels you efficiently when playing at top level and not just one. At NT level Klaassen will always find it going tough especially in high tempo games or when facing versatile midfielders.

        Again I think running midfielders like clasie and Van Ginkel are better suited for that position Van Ginkel showed this the season before when he was at PSV and again he has started with a bang on his return.

        1. Again, like Sybe says, if everyone is fully fit for Orange, I don’t think he gets in.

          To answer your questions:
          Davy is not the fastest. I don’t think anyone said he was.

          Creativity? Again, no one says he’s Bergkamp…

          Productivity? In league this year – 16 games, 9 goals.
          In europe – 9 games, 4 goals. To me, that is productive.

          To your accusation that he looks better than he is because he “sneaks in with goals and also latches on to loose ball that comes his way too score long range goals”…

          I’m confused here. Are you saying that someone who happens to be in the right place to score from a loose ball is not valuable? We all loved Bergkamps lobs, or van Persie caressing one in with his left boot. Beautiful goals are… beautiful. But, at the end of a match, goals count. Whether they are a result of a 50 pass move, or they bounce in off of Davy Klaassen’s ass. There is something to be said for a player that has some level of consistency in scoring those type of goals.

          By the way, did you see his goal against PSV? Outside the box, outside of the right boot, into top corner. Some real skill there.

          Again, i’m not saying he should be first choice for the national team. But ‘another player Danny is wasting his time on’?

          1. thas the only bright thing i see in klassen,he is brilliant and has vision…he is in the right spot to shoot,often he fails while shooting …
            He cannt hold the ball and play in the box.
            He is not a dependable star
            He lacks winning mentality and toughness..
            He doesnt balance the team..
            He is defensive skills are poor..
            He is little ball loser like Depay but since he is more productive than Depay i dont blame him much for it..

      2. I like Klaassen too, but I don’t think he would be in my best Oranje team if we were 100% fit and in form…
        Having said that, to deny how valuable he can be for teams that haven’t got tons of depth would be totally ignorant.

        1. I don’t think Klaassen deserves any criticism.

          He’s a fighter, a leader, smart mover, allround really.

          Works hard, runs a lot without the ball and is a good team player.

          He’s not in the league of Sneijder or Van der Vaart, agreed, but a good team player.

          He works his socks off and should be praised.

        1. well I dont think anyone is a clear first choice CB/LB for mourinho haha, and dont worry I am not saying Blind is.
          but you said ‘vs strong team’ which to me suggests he does not start v strong teams, is that true?
          maybe it will be later, but he played in the 0-0 v liverpool in and 2 times v City too. didnt start the first spurs game, and was a sub v arsenal as well – then Utd scored haha. seems even, or am I forgetting games?

          and iirc the liverpool match last weekend was the first time since going to United that Blind did not start for consecutive matches? not sure.

          I am still surprised hes played so much under Mourinho!
          I did not expect him to play so much, and now I think he will play a lot this season yet.
          but we’ll see. even with his more limited starts, only Haps, Pieters and van Aanholt have played more minutes, and Pieters and van Aanholt are not that far off and their teams are awful! haha

  11. Ex-Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal to retire for ‘family reasons’

    https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jan/16/louis-van-gaal-manchester-united-retire?CMP=twt_gu

    LVG “told Dutch newspaper the Telegraaf on Monday that “events in his family” have persuaded him not to despite the chance to earn a lucrative salary overseas.

    The report states that one of Van Gaal’s daughters lost her husband last month and that has weighed heavily on his decision to quit.”

  12. Bothe Ramseelar and Clasie are better than klassen as playmakers.coz both can hold ball in their feet and make a nice pass…KLASSEN IS SHIT in that…
    End of the story for playmaker…
    Then on wings…yes we lack quality there..but klassen hell no he lacks speed over there….
    Then Holding mid spots 2????
    We have plethora of better quality players there like Strootman,Ake,Juste,Raidwald,Wijnaldum,Bazoer…thats so much quality we have…No klassen again…
    Only psot he can compete is
    Janssen Vs LuukV ZivkovicVs Babel Vs klassen…

    1. The playmaker argument is an old fashioned one. The #10 role like Antognoni or Van Hanegem or Overath had doesn’t exist anymore.

      It’s more the playmaker from the central mid deep lying position: Fabregas, Pirlo, Carrick.

      Clasie is a good distributor of the ball. Klaassen is more a penetration midfielder (runner).

      Apples and pears

  13. It would be awesome if Babel and Ola john cn come back..Both has better quality than Depay and Klassen….Both are real team players who can produce goals by assist or direct goal VS STRONG OPPONENTS and when we need victory..
    Corpot team Isreal
    OLajohn—-Luuk—–Wijnaldum
    ———-Maher————-
    —-Vanginkel—Strootman——-
    Blind—BMI—-Devrij—Vanrhijn
    ———–Zoet————–
    ===================================
    that was really balanced team they won first 2 matches…i eman that point of time..
    while the second 11 got humiliated by spain…
    Replace Luuk with janssen
    BMI with Vrigil
    Blind with Kongolo
    Maher with Clasie/Ramseelar
    Wijnaldum with Roben
    Ola with Annholt/Williams…
    You have another excellent team…

  14. @ van den Berg.

    “Productivity? In league this year – 16 games, 9 goals.
    In europe – 9 games, 4 goals. To me, that is productive”
    If this is so than Weghorst (10 goals) and wolfswinkel (9 goals)
    are also productive players.isn’t it.well this is your sentiment, I’m jus improvising it. You see how F**ked up it looks when say by scoring you become productive.
    As I said earlier productivity comes with being versatile, able to create,assist and score. ( dynamism). Lewis Baker,Jens toornstra,Karim Al Ahmadi,Hakim Ziyech,Dirk Kyut,Andreas Guardado.

    Goals matters,yes in eredivisie too,but unfortunately when it comes to NT,whats happens in Eredivisie jus remains in eredivisie and the scoring part jus hangs loose. This is what has being happening to him. Well off course he might score with teams Like belarus ,Luxembourg, Bulgaria but come the top guns,he will simply be a spectator on the field simply because he will be looking for the right place at the right time

    Right time,right place, scoring goals is maybe the only reason why he turned down the offer to join Napoli because certainly he would have not scored goals with his ass in Series A.

    He will jus end up like Siem De Jong who also used to have the same kind of impact for Ajax during his days.

    https://www.statbunker.com/competitions/MostAssists?comp_id=520

    1. Could I ask you a favour. Just so I can understand.
      What does “productive” mean to you?

      Just keep your explanation simple.

      Maybe break it down a bit was far as position.

      What is a productive keeper?
      What is a productive defender?
      What is a productive mid-fielder?
      What is a productive forward?

      Can you do that?

      And while you are at it, do the same with dynamism.
      What does that word mean to you, in the context of a footballer?

      Thanks

          1. @ van den berg
            work rate,output,efficiency – this in corporates what I said earlier above. this is my definition of productivity in football in generally whether its a defender,midfielder, or a forward.

            but once again its looks like you and syber pals are in the same boat and dont understand simple English.might wanna find the difference between production and productivity in context to football.

            As for dynamism, one again as I mentioned early, all the qualities put together resulting in better workrate and enhanced output.(productivity)

  15. @Goldstone,

    Yes. Very cool. Thank you.

    Re: Klaassen. As pointed out above, the real question is who might have been left out for him. For the fall qualifiers, so many offensive players were out at various times—Robben, Promes, Sneijder, Van Ginkel, Janssen, Elia—that it is hard to think of a time where he played in preference to someone who should have been out there…don’t get me wrong, he missed some notable chances to score for the NT, and had that me yelling his name in frustration. And if all the key players are fit, I don’t see him as a starter right now. But, there is no denying that he did put himself into position to score…sometimes a player just needs to have success, and then more follows. Confidence is everything at that level.

    1. Jens Toornstra, is one player I can think of.

      but again how can thrive your confidence level if you spend the whole game looking for the right place at the right time.

      1. Hi Wilson,

        I’m not sure I’m following you. I think all players spend the game trying to be in the right place at the right time. But I’m guessing you are using the term more specifically than I’m understanding, so I’m interested in hearing what you mean by it.

        As far as confidence goes, I’d say that goals do wonders for confidence.

        1. In terms of scoring goals yes it does comes down to positioning and timing but only specific players are able to excuate this . Huntelaar is a good example,he is not an all rounded striker but when it comes scoring goals ,he jus knows where to be if only he gets serviced. We have all seen what happens to him when he doesn’t gets serviced. He gets isolated and is jus running.

          “Goals does wonders to confidence level”.again it can be different for different players and the level which they are preforming can be a big factor.
          RVP had the best possible start at the WC 2014 when he scored the superman opener vs Spain but after that game he jus faded away.

          1. Looking at RVP now at Fenerbahce,it would make no sense saying that his confidence level is back since he is scoring, when most probably its jus because of quality of the teams and players he plays with in Turkey.

      2. Would love to see Toornstra have another chance, he’s also been v productive this season so far – though more from the RW than at AM.
        And I can’t really see him rivalling Robben haha

    2. “”And if all the key players are fit,”””””
      Yes THATS IMPOSSIBLE so he will play right??
      Even against Luxumburg Borh Roben and Sneijder couldnt play 90 minutes..
      Give the klassen spot to Bazoer you will see the difference…Challenge me on this…

  16. “Challenge” you on what, Tiju? A game of Fifa 2016? A game in your imagination?
    I was having a good conversation with Wilson. Anyone, of course, is welcome to join. But there is no reason to inject silly, aggressive posturing. (“Challenge me on this…”)

    [btw Wilson, good point on Toornstra.]

    But, okay, lets talk about a selection of Klaassen v. Bazoer. First, its not “impossible” that the key players will be fit. Robben, Promes, Sneijder are all fit now. But lets say one of them gets injured and Blind has to choose an attack minded player. Bazoer doesn’t play that role. There was a period of time that, like a lot of people, I liked what I thought Bazoer could develop into. But he has lost his spot at Ajax. What has he done this season to warrant a place in the NT as an attacking mf?

    I go back a long way with you on this site—back to the time when Guus, and Carlos and Finn and Ferenc were regulars, and I’ve never been disrespectful to you (or anyone). So, I don’t appreciate being the object of your lashing out. If you want to say how you think my football opinions are wrong, please do so. I’m always open to hearing what people have to say. But if you decide that the only way you can respond is with anger and vitriol, don’t bother.

    1. @Andrew,,i really sorry that if u felt in that way…the word challenge i just used coz of excitement…We are seeing klassen for long time in Ajax and NT..he has proven nothing special,and yes he is better than Depay,propper etc…But we need some one who can run with ball and make pass..Bazoer can do it,Ramseelar can do it,clasie can do it…Klassen cannot do it…So spending time on klassen is waste of time after seeing his Ajax games…

      1. @Tiju, Understood. I can see what you are saying. My mistake, too, then. We’ll call it square…still don’t think Klaassen is a waste of time, though. 😉

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