Ryan bleeds Orange

blog
by Jan

Hey my friends, remember I asked you to send me some personal thoughts or anecdotes or memories or simply cool stories about our team, our players, your dreams or whatever?

Ryan Brown is getting to be assistant moderator real soon, after taking very cool pics back in 2008 and now contributing this cool blog post.

I am waiting for you to send me stuff to: netherlandsworldcupblog@gmail.com.

“Hey my name is Ryan Brown on the blog im known as OranjeAussie or Stijnis, here is my story for you about my love for dutch football and the Netherlands in general and why i bleed Oranje, I hope you enjoy.


This is the only disappointment about this bloke: he’s an Ajax fan 🙁

To get started, of why i have such a love for The Netherlands and Bleed Oranje is that my Mother is Dutch, born in Amsterdam and moved to Australia when she was around 10 with her family. Stijnis is my mums family name, my mums name is Mieke (very dutch) so thats where it all starts.

i was born in 1984 i grew up with a strong Dutch up bringing as my mums Aunties and Uncle’s all decided to move here and we where part of small Dutch community in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne mainly Brighton and Hampton. Unfortunately i never became fluent at the Dutch language but can understand it quite well. Living in Melbourne, Australia i grew up loving and still do our national game AFL (Australian Rules Football) where i follow the Essendon Bombers who coincidentally enough have the most famous dutch expat to play AFL known as Paul van de Haar who was a cult figure in the 80’s known as the “flying dutchman” for his fantastic aerial marking abilities.

As well as my love for AFL you could often find me in the back garden of my Opa & Oma’s house having a kick of the world famous round ball with my Opa who would also tell me stories about the Dutch national team and his beloved Ajax and the days when he would go to the famous “de Meer”. at the time in Australia there was not as much exposure of the game that ruled the world except a highlights show of the Premier League on a Monday night and a Serie A highlights show on a monday morning as there a a lot of Italian immigrants living in Australia.


Ryan with his Dutch oma….

But it was in 1994 and the World Cup in the USA which was my first time to watch Oranje ply there trade and from then on i was hooked. Within two week’s i had my first dutch national top its was a kit made by Lotto and of course i got my hero’s number on the back the one and only “Iceman” Dennis Bergkamp who to this day is still and i think will always be my favourite dutch player. I dont want to blab on and bore everyone to much with my background so i will get onto more of my memorable football moments of why this country and team mean so much to me.

To keep it short and sweet i will just name my top three most memorable Oranje moments going from 3 to 1…

3. Euro 2008 and the games against France & Italy, its simple the way we totally destroyed two of the worlds soccer powerhouse’s was lovley to watch it had me going crazy even if i was watching the games live at 4am in the morning.

2. Would be the 2010 World Cup and if things had of been different and we where to change the final result. i agree we didn’t stick to what Oranje football has always been about which wasn’t nice, but for me personally living in Australia if you said when it comes to great soccer countries in the history they would say Brazil, Italy, England, Germany and Argentina, The Netherlands would not even get a mention so the success that the dutch had brought a great deal of respect for dutch football and its significant history in creating the most attacking, creative and exciting football the world has seen revolutionising the game to what is today.


Ryan in Orange, looking like the deer with the headlights, etc… 🙂

1. I have two joint number 1’s. Firstly is my hero Dennis Bergkamps wonder goal against Argentina, Yet again i was watching the game live at the early hours of the morning on the edge of my seat in my Oranje top it was a game with everything lows, highs and a dramatic finish. i had my older brother who was drivng to the snow on his mobile the whole of extra time doing the best i could to be a commentator… and when that long ball came to Dennis and his cut in and goal all i can remember screaming on the phone to my brother GOOOOAAAALLLL! it was amazing all the dutch fans behnd the goals the comentary and Bergkamps celebration will stick in my head forever. sends shivvers down my spine thinking about it.

1. Take 2… was when the Dutch team travelled to Australia i decided two buy four tickets in the Dutch end of the stadium of course, i convinced some mates to join me on the trip to Sydney. I went up early hoping to catch a training session but was unable too. the only dissapointment was a nil all draw but that isnt where it ended me and my mates decided to head out after and went to Sydney’s hottest nightspot The Ivy… halfway through the night and many drinks later across the packed nightclub i see a short statured guy at the bar and who else could it be then Mr Sneijder himself enjoying a drink with Cocu, i didnt even think i went straight up and offered to by him a drink he declined, saying to me… ill get you a drink opening his wallet filled with cash i was speechless i talked about my dutch background and love for oranje, after the chat he said to me would you like to come up to the Ivy’s famous private pool bar on the top of the hotel to meat the rest of the players… i met the whole team and they even came down to the club and met my mates, they where just like any other guys it was surreal… i had my camera in hope that something like this may happen and it did and they where more then happy to take photos partying with me… at the end of the night i even had help Johnny Heitinga and a few of the boys get a cab as they where finding it difficult….. It is and will always be one of the greatest moments of my life.

i dont want to go into to much about the disappointments but all i can say is my life will not be complete if i dont see this great country win a world cup…

Anyway to finish up i love oranje so much even at my Opa’s funeral my Oma in her eulogy talked about his grandkids and when she talked about me, “Ryan the second oldest grandchild is as dutch as any dutchman i know and would always make his Opa proud that i will continue the families strong dutch traditions” i was extremley proud.

Anyway thats me and my story of how i Bleed Oranje….. I would just like to finish with a big thank you to Jan who has brought all us passionate dutchies together he keeps me in contact with everything Oranje and without the job he has done here i dont what i would do. and a second thank you to all the other contributors on this website, everyone is so informative and makes the website what its is today, thanks guys hope you enjoyed

HUP HOLLAND HUP

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0 comments

  2. Totally cool story, start to finish. And to meet the whole Oranje team in such an environment! Which soccer fan, no matter from what country, would be able to brag about that?

    1. Ryan,

      I can only say “WOW”! Thanks for sharing the amazing experience of meeting the Oranje squad.

      I’m really glad to read that they are not j@ck@$$es (like they look sometimes on the pitch) and I have to salute you for having the b@lls to offer buying Wes a drink! If it were me, I’d have been so star-struck and frozen.

      HUP HOLLAND HUP!

      –H

  8. I enjoyed reading this post. The end story where Ryan is able to get into a comfortable conversation with the Dutch squad members down and upstairs, Sneijder immediately pulling his wallet to get him a drink, make photo’s together and interact with mutual respect is exactly how I would like my Dutch NT to behave when meeting their fans on these occasions.

    I also liked to hear the background story with the picture of Ryan and his Dutch grandma.

  9. @Ryan excellent story… I am so happy for you (and jealous too) jajaja!

    I enjoyed read it, thinking what should be my reaction if that thinks happened to me!

    It was so nice when Sneijder invite you a drink and to introduce you to the rest of the team! Cocu, Snijder, Huntelaar and Gio!!!What an experience!!

    I really hope you see fulfilled your dream, and make your life complete, because It´s my same dream: win a WC!

    1. Excellent question.

      The current stadium has a lot going for it ( pitch is superb, history, charisma) but it’s also old. It’s not very hospitable ( 3 toilets for 50,000 people) and can’t be used for many many other type of events.

      I believe Feyenoord will use the new venue to get out of financial difficulties as it will be multi functional and will be used for concerts, international games, might incorporate a mall, a cinema, offices etc like the Emirates stadium in London.

      Today, the KNVB does not like to plan Oranje games in Rotterdam and there haven’t been any concerts to speak of there.

      I remember watching U2, Dylan, Bowie, Springsteen and Michael Jackson in De Kuip… (not all together mind you).

  13. And remember: you don’t have to have a similar story as Ryan (Dutch ancestry, Ajax jersey, meeting the lads)…. Any cool story reflecting on your bond with Oranje or memories or what not…. Let’s liven this place up 🙂

  14. Have already told Ryan I hate him so many times over this incident and soooo jealous as I was also at that match and missed the boys at the airport by 5 min @#$#@# !! Great Story mate !!

      2. I’m afraid he ends up at the right wing at Spurs. I would like him to start operating and developing from center more. However it’s his choice.

  20. As a Melbourne man myself I’m filled with bitterness towards you Ryan, haha, jokes. What a night that would have been, happy for you. I look forward to the next time the Dutch have a friendly here in aus, I’ll make sure I’m there.

    Sounds like afellay to schalke on loan may be a done deal, good move to play alongside the hunter

  21. What a fantastic story, I´m full of envy.

    Btw,
    what a bunch of hypocrites Barcelona are. They buy Affelay with a lot of high expectations, then unfortunately gets injured. When he´s back, do they give him a chance? NO they go for Tello (who is full of c**p, admitted even by die hard barsa fans) and send Afellay packing his bags.
    Barcelona use to be famous for its Dutch and Brasilian taste, but now its quite clear the direccion and bias towards locals (understandable of course, its all about politics) but when they go for Tello or even Pedro (ok, he can run but in terms of skills I think Ibi is better) instead of Ibi. Maaan, I wouldn´t accept a loan, I would request a transfer….

    1. Afellay is on his way to Schalke:

      http://www.vi.nl/nieuws/226968/Afellay-op-weg-naar-hereniging-met-Stevens-bij-Schalke.htm

      Personally I don’t think it is wrong that Barca give their own a preferential treatment. IMO football is deeply rooted in local pride. For me football always was the boys from town A vs the boys of town B. Same goes for nations. Football in that way is a form of self expression for a local community. For me it would be the goal to do it with your own guys (though La Masia is full of kids form all over Spain and even the world). Cruijff taught them to develop their own youth based on the Ajax method and play the same in all teams to finally play according a certain attacking philosophy with a lot of ball possession and pressing. In a certain way, the Dutch are victim here from their own success.

      That having said, I think Dutch education is lacking, maybe even regressing. We see now a 40 million Euro transfer of Martinez to Bayern yesterday. We see Mata being important at Chelsea. We see Silva being big at City. We see a crazy young de Gea in the goal of United. These are not even players locked for the Spanish first 11 bar Silva maybe. If you look at those players they often fulfill the fluid and creative role in a team. Even de Gea has a better distribution than many number 10’s in the EPL. Compared to Spain, Dutch football education has plumbed. Maybe unpopular to say here, but every improvement starts with an honest analyses. We need to wake up.

    2. @Gio. It is well known Barca’s preference towards local players which I think it is wrong. But still the fault lies at the player himself. Nowadays they all run towards money and fame, Afellay is one of them. I can’t stand Tello, I find it shocking that he is even on the bench for Barca. But Afellay may not be much better either. Some of Tello’s headless runs remind exactly of Afellay at Euro 12. To me they’re the same kind of gargabe at the moment. I hope Afellay moves away from Barca and from Spain hopefully to England or Germany but he won’t be guaranteed a spot in either place if he doesn’t deserve it.
      Spain is a bad place for Dutch players. Except for RVN I don’t remember any other dutch to have made a name in Spain. Ah, also Roy Makaay many centuries ago.

      1. I disagree. spain used to be a very good place for dutch players and coaches. cruyff,neeskens,r. koeman,reiziger, cocu,kluivert,makaay,ruud and davids was brilliant in the six months he spent at barca.
        the six (or seven?) dutch players at madrid was a special case,and with perez everything changed. i still think sneijder could be there,he’s better than ozil. huntelaar is better than benzema,he’s at the same level as higuain. robben was always injured,drenthe was not real madrid material.
        affelay: i agree with barca that they give a preferential treatment to masia graduates. it’s normal and it should work everywhere this way. but i also think that tello (who is one of the rare barca players i dislike) is not better than him,i get angry watching his “headless runs.” on the other hand when ibi arrived barca didn’t needed too much hi,probably they bought him because only costed 3 millions. usually players arriving in winter never get the same attention as summer transfers. if you buy someone for 25-30 millions he obviously get more playing time (sanchez). in his first half year ibi didn’t play often,but his performences (especially against madrid in the cl semis) were promising. his two injuries,especially the second were catastrophic. at the beginning of the 2011/12 season he was fifth in the pecking order, behind messi,villa,alexis and pedro. no cuenca and tello were close to the first team. with villa’s long absence,alexis’permanent injuries and pedro’s injurie/bad form ibi could have become an almost starter,regular,because we only had messi and usually midfielders played in striker-roles (cesc,andres,etc.). guardiola had to find a solution,and cuenca and tello came. with the return of injured players and an in-form pedro,plus tello he has no future at barca. he could have stayed,but with his playing time the schalke-deal was the best possibility. better than tottenham,because there he could have faced the same problems. i don’t think he will ever return to barca. it’s bad because he’s a sympatethic and talented player,he was really unlucky with the injuries,but as a matter of fact even in his best form,at least messi,villa and pedro are better than him. yes, pedro too because his goalscoring ability is far better and we are talking about strikers:-) ibi could have competed with alexis and pedro. choosing between being seventh in the pecking or playing regularly in a lesser team is not that difficult. there is no one to blame in this story,the circumstances were too bad.

        1. ferenc, I should have mentioned that I was referring to a later time than Cruyff and Neeskens. And yes I agree that Koeman had a great time in spain, Cocu and Reiziger had a good one but I don’t agree on the rest. Especially in the last 10 years things have changed so much in Spain that it is not as encouraging for dutch players.
          And YES, Afellay’s move to Schalke is excellent and much better than going to Tottenham.

  22. But, in a way I wouldn´t advice dutch players to go to Spain cuz its a bipolar (madrid-barsa) league.
    An exodus of dutch players should drawn the english league. Its much more competitive, quick, a good developing ground, refs are not too strict on fouls-lets play go on, I say a multipolar system (well, top 5-7 teams at least).
    And a second league would be the German League, just avoid Spain altogether (well, at least the actual league)

  23. I re-watched the game vs Belgium.

    Some additional notes:
    1. Hunterlaar added nothing
    2. Maher too young and inexperienced to be on the bench even
    3. Steks is prone to errors
    4. Marten’s indi provides more going forward than Willems, but Willems is a better, smarter and stronger defender.

    1. lol, the coach everybody loves to hate. He’s a real character that one and pretty smart too, both on and of the field. The world of soccer is more colorful with him and one of these years he’ll win a third CL and write history.

      As for Ajax, who knows, maybe in a few years, when clubs have to balance their books, they might gain in influence and stature with their youth development strategies. Right now all they need to concentrate on is perfecting what they’ve been doing and wait for their time to come, while the no-brain big-money spending clubs are clearing the field.

  28. All I can say is that next week Oranje has to start winning. Losing points at home can be very expensive latter on. For me these are the players that are playing better at their clubs and should start against Turkey in a 4-3-3 formation according to LVG system.

    1 Steks ( Krul pushing strong)
    2 Van der Wiel
    3 Douglas
    4 Vlaar
    5 Willems
    6 Fer
    7 Schaken/ Narsingh/Kuyt???
    8 Strootman
    9 Huntelaar
    10 Sneijder
    11 Robben

    Douglas and Fer are needed, they are having a great start of the season at Twente with Fer scoring every game. Heitinga is benched and Mathijsen is done so it is time to try a new central d but too early for lads like Bruma, De Vrij and Viergever. What do u guys think about this line up I mention?

  31. this draw is too bad for ajax. from some other groups they could qualify for the next round,but against real,city and dortmund it’s mission impossible…

  35. Faraz, I am with you. I am totally devastated. It is the 3rd year in a row that we are in the toughest group. This is ridiculous, almost a curse. There is no chance we will make it even to the EL. This will be a bad year for Dutch football. Our coefficient will be very poor. We already lost Vitesse and now Ajax will get 1 point if we are lucky. Truly insane.

  37. Bad luck Ajax. Tough to be a Dutch Football supporter when you have such bad luck.:)

    Btw,watching Psv in Europa league to cheer me up,I am realising just how much potential Willems has. I know they are playing against a weak club (it is 5-0 in the first half) but Willems is by far the bast player so far. Amazing crosses,something Van der Wiel could learn from.
    Great going forward,dribbles,passing,vision. In attack he is great already! Now I am not too good analyzing defence,but he is only 18,and he is a fast learner.

    1. Petrovic – re-watch the belgium game. He was very solid on defence. There was one pass early on that he defended that was a split defence pass. He ran faster than the Belgian player and cut the pass and protected the ball with his body. That boy is good.

      1. He had an interesting game, some nice pases, great shooting ok dribbling. He never played for our youth squads?? According to what i saw i think he deserves a shot in the U21 squads

  40. THis is so bad for Dutch football. Heerenveen, Feyenoord out. AZ soon to be and Twente as well. Ajax has no chance. So it will be left to PSV. Our coefficient will be 1 this year. Very bad.

  45. @Jeff: well if Ajax thinks like you do indeed they are out but if they think they have the possibility to advance from the group stage they might go through.

    I also think it’s so hard because they are facing 3 champions but anything is possible.

  46. It’s really disappointing that Az, Feyenoord and Vitesse (couldn’t they buy Janssen in time for Anzhi???) crushed out so early. Twente had sold Assaidi Narsigh and Dost so no surprise there (Djurcic is still class though!). Really happy for Twente, they put in a tremendous effort! They could have scored 5-6 goals in extratime alone! They like getting in trouble…
    The good news is Psv and Twente are both top seeds for the group stages, and the former is a wonderful outfit, Champions League material by far (and, hard to say as an Ajax fan, the strongest team in Eredivisie).

  48. Great win from Twente, un-lucky for AJax.

    Nigel De jong to AC milan – see this as a good move, will receive many more minutes there

    Jerson Cabral to Swansea, not sure when this happened so im sorry if it happened a while ago, does anyone know much about him? i have not seen a lot of him. Will he get any playing time there??

  49. really bitter about the UCL draw for Ajax. and c’mon isn’t this the 3rd consecutive year Ajax drew in the same group as Real Madrid? give us a break!

    1. wow great twente highlights!! One questions that i think some of you should be considering. Is Fer better than strootman?? Or just a different kind of player. What you guys think??

  51. I have a clear idea of how the CL drawing works, and eufa is more intelligent than I am. But when you have Real (champions of Spain – second best league) and Manchester City (Champions of England – first best league) in one group, its just silly. The should give an exception and provide some discretion. Yes its based on merit and in a “democratic” fashion, but Arsenal’s place should have been for City on the basis that the champions of two of the best leagues (according the uefa) shouldn’t be placed in one group

  53. van Gaal’s Choice – be Surprised !
    Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord), Bas Dost (VfL Wolfsburg), Urby Emanuelson (AC Milan), Leroy Fer (FC Twente), John Heitinga (Everton), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04), Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord), Tim Krul (Newcastle United), Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahçe), Jeremain Lens (PSV), Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord), Joris Mathijsen (Feyenoord), Luciano Narsingh (PSV), Robin van Persie (Manchester United), Ricardo van Rhijn (Ajax), Arjen Robben (Bayern München), Wesley Sneijder (Internazionale), Maarten Stekelenburg (AS Roma), Kevin Strootman (PSV), Nick Viergever (AZ), Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa), Michel Vorm (Swansea City), Jetro Willems (PSV).

    2. Well,I am surprised! No Van der Vaart,no De Jong,no Douglas(I think he is not the kind of CB Van Gaal is looking for),no Afellay! And very few midfielders!

      Now we probably know that Van Gaal will go back to two defensive midfielders(or one defensive,one center,and one attacking),and those two will be either Strootman-Clasie or Strootman-Fer.

    3. It’s great! We’re probably going to see Clasie-Sneijder-Strootman Midfield, which is great in my opinion! Or the impressive Leroy Fer in place of Strootman or Clasie!

  55. Sadly one of the 2 coaches that made progress for dutch teams is an englishman. All other “promising” dutch coaches failed against some lousy opposition. Sigh.

  56. I am glad Clasie is in the final squad. He is the kind of player who can make others around him play better,and he himself can play better with great players around him. I think he will not have any problems settling into the national team. And he must not,because there is a high chance that he will play from the start against in the next game.
    But I was hoping for Douglas in defence,he is faster than Vlaar. Unfortunately we will probably see Heitinga and Mathijsen together again.Maybe Vlaar and Mathijsen,which is a shame,because that is VERY slow. And Janmaat instead of VDW!? That is strange…

  58. I don’t like the defense at all . Vlaar and mathijsen are very average .
    Biulahrouz is doing great with Sporting Lisbon . Same with Ricky who is more gifted than dost .
    No Elia , No Depay . Mark my words , Depay will be the best dutch player one day . Better talent than Maher imo .
    Douglas will add a lot to defense . Definitly better than mathijsen .
    No vdw who started to gain his form . Janmaat ??

    Let’s wait and see .. But honestly i don’t think any dutch fan will accept a 5th defeat in-a-roe

  59. Calm down people!!

    According to a tweet that I read (I don´t know where) Douglas has a minor injury. But I don´t know if it´s true. Probable not.

    According to Mohamed Moallim journalist (@joucacule) LVG said something like VdV, NdJ, VdW and Affelay should focus on their new teams and something about their physics conditions, but that they have the door open to come back to Orange.

    Look the positive side. It´s high likely that we will see the midfield that we wanted: Sneijder (10), Strootman (8) and Clasie/Fer (6)….

    1. That is wha LVG said about why he didn´t call NDJ, VDV, VDW, Affelay

      “They have not played much and are busy with transfers. You have to be fit in order to perform well and these guys have not played enough. The door is still open for them, though,” explained Van Gaal at a press conference.

  62. That is the way I see the team:

    RB——-RCB——-LCB ——LB
    RvRhijn-Heitinga-Viergiver-Willems
    Janmaat–Vlaar—Mathinsen–B.M.I

    8(mix mid)-6(holding Mid)-10(creative)
    Strootman–Clasie———-Sneijder
    Emanuelson—Fer————?????

    RW———–CS——LW
    Narsingh-Huntelaar-Robben
    Lens——RvP——-Kuyt
    ———-Dost——-

    Conclusion:

    1. THE TEAM IS UNBALANCED: They have one midfield left and an extra central striker. The team need another creative midfield in case we need to replace Sneijder (Maher?), and the team doesn´t need 3 central strikers.

    2. LEFT AND RIGTH CB: Clearly LVG is still loyal to the concept to play a left legged player on LCB and a right legged player on RCB.

    3. DINAMIC MIDFIELD: He likes a midfield than can rotate and all the players can play all the roles: build up, attack, and defend. I think we will see a very dynamic midfield, something like Ajax midfield.

    4. YOUNG TEAM: LVG wants rejuvenate the team. That’s why he chooses Janmaat over Bhoularouz to replace VDW.

    Personaly reflexion: I don´t like the wingers so much. Of course Robben is out off discussion, but Lens? Where are our extremely faster wingers? We need time to develop our wingers. I think in 1 or 2 years Narsingh will have a lot for competition with Depay, Lukoki and maybe Cabral. On the left wing, we need that Elia and John gets better to have more option and play with our classic faster wings.

  64. I am positive that this team can return to winning ways. It is clear Van Gaal wants the in form players and that is why he left VDW, VDV, DJong and Afellay out…something that Van Marwijk was afraid to do. But these players will have to demonstrate at their new clubs why they deserve a call up. It is pretty clear what we will see next week

    Goal: 1) Stekelenburg / Rome
    RB. : 2) V Rhijn. / Ajax
    CB. : 3) Heitinga. / Everton
    CB. : 4) Vlaar / Mathijsen / Aston Villa , Feyenoord
    LF. : 5) Willems / Martins / PSV, Feyenoord
    RM : 6) Clasie / Fer / Feyenoord, Twente
    RW. : 7) Narsingh / PSV
    LM. : 8) Strootman / PSV
    ST. : 9) Huntelaar / Schalke 04
    OF MID: 10) Sneijder / Internazionale
    LW. : 11) Robben / Bayern M.

    I like the team although I think Douglas should have been selected. If he is injured I understand it but if not I think Van Gaal made a bad choice considering central defence is our biggest pain. On the other hand many of this players have not played together so it is a questionmark of how can they operate in this tough game. And frankly, I won’t miss De Jong, Afellay, Van der Vaart and Van der Wiel. New blood and hunger are what Oranje desperately needs.

    1. Nope, not a single teardrop for NDJ, Afellay, VdV or VdW. Good riddance.
      It is disappointing that Mathijsen is still called but I guess this is just for the transition period so that younger players can get their footing.
      I like the players and crossing fingers for a convincing game and 3 points.

  65. i honestly don’t think LVG knows what he’s doing… he is trying too many different tactics at the wrong time and we should not hold our breath…

    Why on earth would he select Mathijsen and Heitinga if we are in ‘rebuilding mode’? The other defenders need to be given as many chances as possible to mold and grow.

    I see another epic qualifying collapse ahead and until I see success with my own eyes I won’t expect it.

    It’s tantamount to 1 step forward 2 steps back…. He is selecting quality midfielders and giving new talent a chance to shine but then LVG throws it all away in defense where we need to improve the most.

    This is sad and pathetic… I miss Bert! I vote for Frank De Boer, Guus or even Bert!

    1. With all respect I disagree.

      You can´t change all the team only in 3 games. It will be too risky. You need experienced defenders on a classification game. This is not a friendly.

      As you, I don´t want to see Mathinsen anymore, but, what choice LVG has? Viergiver? How many times Viergiver played under Bert? Never. Not only once. And on my point of view is not wise to change all defence in a classification game, it will be too risky.

      At least under LVG Viergiver and De Vrij made their debut. But I don´t know if they are ready to be first option. I really hope that LVG choose Viergiver as a fisrt choice, but I will understand if the doesn´t.

      Heitinga is a very good player. Yes, he has a very bad EC but on contrast he has a good WC. And again, what choice LGV has instead of him? Vlaar? I rate Heitinga better than Vlaar. De Vrij? Gloweeleeuw? They are too young.

      I really want to see new defenders, Bruma, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Glouweeleeuw, Douglas, etc., but I know I need to be patience, that the defence rebuild will take time.

      I truly trust in LVG project. Lets give him time!

      1. eduardo, i understand we need to be cautious. that is why the friendly against belgium should have been a major test for younger players. heitinga and mathijsen shouldn’t have played one minute of that game regardless of the outcome.

        we might lose a few WC qualifying games but at this point it’s worth the risk to have a solid backline by the time the WC comes around. how many friendlies do we have between now and the WC? not many. we need to continue to rebuild using new parts.

  66. Bitterballen, I do not miss Bert. Yes, he was succesful in the WC but EURO2012 was a fucking joke, he leaves Oranje after making a mess and now Van Gaal will have to fix all this. I do not if Van Gaal and his team can be succesful but he is selecting the best players at the moment. There is not much better material out there and if you have it perhaps you should manage Oranje. Van Gaal is an experienced coach and has won many titles in his career, he can fail again but at least he has big balls to say yes to this huge challenge.

    1. i am not saying i want him to fail, i bleed orange and obviously want the best. but he should be ballsier and make better decisions regarding our defensive unit seeing that that is our biggest weakness.

  69. Agree with Mario and Eduardo…you can’t chage the whole team in your 2nd game in charge!.

    —————–Stekelenburg———————

    —-V.Rhijn—Heitinga—Viergever—Willems——

    ———–Sneijder—Fer—Strootman————-

    ———Narsing—Huntelaar—Robben————-

    *I haven’t seen Clasie that’s why I choose Fer over him.

    We talk a lot about our defense but in my opinion our midfield was just a f**ed up as our defense in EC 2012.

    I like LVG’s approach of leaving some big names out of the team. That way he’ll be able to play new players with a lot of hunger to play.

  74. Honestly what do people think would be the best combo of either Strootman, Clasie and fer alongside sneijder? I ask this because i dont get to see the eredivisie week in week out and i somehow get the feeling fer doesnt dominate like he used to.

  75. i think LVG
    ———–Steke—————–
    Rhijn—–heitinga–vlaar—-martins indi
    ——-Fer—-strootman—clasie———-
    Roben——-Persie——-sniejder
    we will win tha match by 3-1
    So no worries

  76. More news:

    Ajax sing Babel for free

    Twente sing Cabral and Feyenoord sing Verhoek

    Anderlech sing Nuytink. I don´t like this too much. I thin Nuytinck should stay in Eredivisie in order to develop.

    According what I see last year, and that Strootman and Fer are similar players, I would choose Sneijder-Strootman-Clasie.

    And i will not giving much time to Emanuelson.

    It will be interesting make a post comparing our new midfield players:

    Strootman, Fer, Clasie, Anita, Maher.

    1. Anout Nuytinck,keep in mind that Anderlecht is playing in Champions League,so that is great for his development IF he can get into the first team!

  77. Manchester City just paid 20 million for a “nobody” Javi Garcia from Benfica (ex Madrid). These Spaniards are just killing the market right now, I hope the level of dutch players will soon rise and be back where they belong. Its obvious that they value this guy and Javi Martinez to Bayern (40 m) because of all their latest successes, it happened to French players once. It really shows what an influence national success has on your players, one thing that the KNVB need to think heavily of…
    Btw
    for the game, I think Van Gaal should focus all his energy on attacking and scoring goals. Its useless and unproductive to hope for a miracle for all our defensive woes, let time heal this on its on.
    The dutch need to have a player who can control and keep the ball, Sneijder is a one touch-killer pass type of guy so Van Gaal needs to find somebody else who is willing to take control and distribute the ball and direct the game.
    I agree either (Casie or Strootman or both), they will be important so will be the role of the wingers. So then Sneijder and VP or Huntelaar to make the killer punch. This is where I think the dutch can win games, lets just forget about defense and focus on this. If we can go 2-0 and then the defense makes their usual blunders (hope not) I wouldn’t care but all the focus should be on developing this strategic area where we have an advantage

  78. Buttner will play his first game for Manchester United this Sunday against Southampton. They were pleased with the way he carries himself and how he performed in a game recently for the second team of United. Evra is rumored to have some kind of injury, though I can’t find him on this list:

    http://www.physioroom.com/news/english_premier_league/epl_injury_table.php

    Hope he will have a great debut for United, with some usable crosses on RVP.

  79. I’m still worried about the CB/defense. We cannot say “let’s forget about defense”. I like the idea of outscore the opponent but the Belgium game showed us that the defense failed us even if we scored 2 goals. It is sad that we still rely on Heitinga and Mathijsen, not having enough friendly games and not trying enough CB. Let’s hope for a miracle on Turkey game. Perhaps Turkey will “lose” the game (rather than Oranje “wins” the game).
    From LVG’s selection, I think he considers Emmanuelson as Sneijder back up. I would not expect this to happen but perhaps he may try Strootman as CB and use Fer, Clasie and Sneijder for midfields? Perhaps Fer and Clasie are similar players, but they can play together better than Sneijder-Van der Vaart? Like Xavi-Iniesta… Just a thought.

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