Tag: Cillesen

June 6, 2018 by Jan

Koeman: Questions and Answers

In the last years, heaps and heaps of questions arose around Dutch football, the national team, our development and football vision and more.

When Koeman came on board as the new NT coach, we expected him to come up with the answers, at least for the NT.

Koeman wanted to use the four friendly games, to come up with clarity, to give the answers.

Now, with those four matches behind us (1 loss against WC contenders England, 1 victory over Euro champs Portugal and two draws, both “games with two halves”), it is time to make up the balance. And lets look at the questions that were answered and the questions that remain…well….questions.

The system

It’s clear that Koeman opted for the “5 at the back” system from day 1 and he wasn’t going to be persuaded to change that. It is a good system to use (5 in defence when loss of possession, 4 in midfield when in possession) and a system for which we definitely have the players.

The mental strength and desire

Koeman was also clear about the mental attitude of the players. “You really need to want to play for Oranje”. And Koeman is the man to send players home who are not committed. Memphis Depay was the typical example of the rogue lad, the larrakin as we say in Australia, who didn’t take discipline to seriously in the past. If he is someone to go on, it seems the players take their coach and their own job seriously now. Memphis is open and friendly to the medium, can be seen laughing at practice and is coaching and supporting is mates on the pitch. It seems he’s also developing a nice partnership with the older Ryan Babel.

The Goalies

It seems to me Koeman will go with Cillesen. The Barca goalie might not play every week but when he does play, he’s solid as. More so than Zoet, who should have stopped that England goal. And Cillesen distribution and footwork is just top class.

Apart from these two, we will have enough young goalies coming through to act as third goal keeper, should we ever make it to a tournament again….

Central Backs

From what we’ve seen, it seems De Ligt has the future under Koeman. He played all four friendlies. Van Dijk is captain and most likely a cert as well. De Vrij, as a right footer, will be duelling with De Ligt for the right centre back position, while Blind will most likely have the upper hand on Nathan Ake. Ake did get the equaliser for Oranje vs Italy, which was nice for him and he does have a bright future. Voted player of the year for Bournemouth of course and a very able player indeed. For now Blind is more solid in his build up play and football intelligence but Ake might fancy the battle with the slower Blind. For De Ligt and De Vrij, it will be interesting to see what De Ligt will do with his future. When he came into the media zone after the Italy game, 14 Italian reporters cornered him to ask if he will pick Juve as his new club. According to the rumour, Barca, Bayern Munich, Man City, Spurs, Juve…they all want De Ligt. Should he decide to go for a big move, he might not get the playing time he needs to get his starting spot in Oranje.

Other candidates to keep in mind for the CB role: Jeffrey Bruma, Terence Kongolo, Karim Rekik, Sven van Beek and Mike van der Hoorn.

Left Wing Back

Vilhena and Van Aanholt were the players used most recently, but Willems and Erik Pieters are candidates as well, as are Nathan Ake and Daley Blind. This might simply come back to the opponent we play. Van Aanholt has more speed and seems to penetrate more. Vilhena is probably better on the ball but lacks the real depth and speed in his game. Pieters is the solid defender but not as able on the ball. Willems is a weak defender but has a tremendous left foot. Terence Kongolo is an option here as well.

Right Wing Back

Daryl Janmaat made a difference coming on for Hateboer vs Italy. The Atalanta right back had a tough first half and still lacks a proper final ball. Janmaat is definitely the better crosser of the two and seems to have more football intelligence (experience). Kenny Tete is definitely a candidate, as is Fosu-Mensah, although Rick Karsdorp, when fit, might have all the tools of the trade for this position.

Midfield

This is the weak spot of the team at the moment. We do have a lot of midfield options, but they are all a bit similar. Wijnaldum for me is the best of the bunch. The opinions were mixed with is game vs Italy, but I think he did well. Mentality is top, his touch impeccable, always knows what is where and won’t lose the ball too often. Strootman to me is less solid might well lose his spot. Propper is another player I rate. Wonderful vision and technique, and developed very nicely in the physical and tactical side of the game. But, add Vormer, Van de Beek, Van Ginkel and De Roon to the mix and they’re all solid team players but none of them has the world class you’d want to see in a team like Oranje. Where’s our Sneijder, Ronald de Boer, Seedorf, Davids, Van der Vaart, Jonk, Van Hanegem, Cocu, Jantje Peters? I think Van de Beek can make the step up. I’m convinced Frenkie de Jong could be that player. We need at least one. Vilhena can play in the midfield of coure, and Ruud Vormer has demonstrated to be an option as well. And who knows, the real Adam Maher might even find his mojo again…

For now, I’ll go with Propper, Wijnaldum and Van de Beek. In due time, Frenkie de Jong will take the position of one of these three…

Forwards

I think Memphis will be the sure fire choice for one of the two strikers. Babel has something special but Promes has the future. Agile, skilled, quick, can score goals. His partnership with Memphis will need to improve but I have faith. Nothing wrong with Babel as pinchhitter. The former Ajax and Liverpool man can play anywhere up front.

We do have some exciting players that can bring some spice coming off the bench. Elia is always unpredictable and Bergwijn might have a similar profile. Steven Berghuis seems to be the victim of this 5-3-2 system but everytime he comes on, something happens. He’s all class with his left foot. Looking for the top corner or finding a team mate, as he did with his assist on Ake vs Italy. Against Slovakia, he had the assist on Vormer who aimed straight at the goalie. Luuk de Jong, Wout Weghorst and some others might well be useful in certain emergency scenarios. And who knows, Vincent Janssen might move to a team where he can play, score and remain fit…

After the Italy game, Ronald Koeman said this: “I got a lot of clarity after these four friendlies. In certain positions and with certain players, I think I know what to do. But, there is now a summer and pre-season ahead of us and then also a transfer period. I will not make any public statements until September. Too much can change and I will talk to the players first, in September.

May 29, 2018 by Jan

And it’s Oranje time again!

Ok, here’s the highlights of the CL finals, Liverpool – Real Madrid:

– Ramos illegally wrestles Salah to the ground and dislocates his shoulder, Salah needs to come of

– Karius fucks up: 0-1.

– The first and only proper corner kick by Liverpool: 1-1

– Bale’s epic bycicle kick: 1-2

– Karius fucks up again: 1-3

End of the game.

So, back to Oranje.

Ronald Koeman is back being National Team Manager of Oranje after a little stint as Feyenoord’s Legends Coach for Dirk Kuyt’s Testimonial.

Three teams playing in De Kuip… Friends of Dirk (Ruud Gullit coaching the likes of Raul Garcia, Steve Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Emre), Feyenoord Legends (coached by Koeman, with Patrick Pauwe, Robin van Persie, Pierre van Hooijdonk) and the NT Legends (coached by Van Gaal, with Nigel de Jong, Rafa van der Vaart, Wes Sneijder, Wilfried Bouma and Van der Sar and more).

A nice little party in De Kuip. But that’s all entertainment.

The real deal is happening in the coming weeks, two Oranje friendlies, against Slovakia (31 May) and Italy (4 June).

Koeman has a fully squad now in camp, bar Virgil van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum, who will come in later due to the CL finals. So with Ruud Vormer, a debutant at 30, with Terrence Kongolo and Eljero Elia. The latter played his last international game in 2012. Bergwijn and Luuk de Jong are injured while Kluivert and Til went on the Jong Oranje trip to the US.

Ronald Koeman stated at one of the pressers that he initially needed 4 matches to determine what, where and how with Oranje, but he saw after two games what we all knew… Koeman will stick to the “three-at-the-back” concept. “The defensive shape can and will be different per opponent, of course, but basically, we want to be able to play compact and use the wing backs on the flanks.” Koeman deliberately selected some different lads this time, to get a full picture. “Once we start with the Nations Cup, I need to be free of question marks. I need to know what is what.”

Asked about Van Persie – who recently said he will never say NO to an Oranje call-up – Ronald Koeman said this. “It’s going to be hard. In principle, we don’t follow him. Due to physical reasons, he hasn’t played a lot but, when he plays he is important for Feyenoord. His class is unmistakably there. But, I will focus on others. But should he become really fit after 6 weeks of pre-season prep, well…who knows. Never say never.”

Kluivert’s current stance re: Ajax has nothing to do with Koeman not selecting him this time. “Of course not. That is not my business. I wanted to give Bergwijn a shot, but sadly he got injured. And now with Elia, we have another player who can play on that wing. I am intrigued with what Justin’s next step will be and whether it’s a smart one. I think young players should focus on playing time. I do discuss this with the lads, also with Weghorst and Mathijs de Ligt.”

Bas Dost got a mention as well. The lanky Sporting Lisbon striker is unhappy with his role in Oranje and decided to give the jersey a miss. “I do regret that he’s no longer with us, I did see a role for him. But he made his decision. He’s a grown up. I won’t go and call him and ask him to stay, or whatever. I respect his choice.”

Davy Propper is one of the players who got his name flashing on the radar. His move from PSV to Brighton made some eyebrows frown, but he proved to the doubters that he made the right choice. The somewhat complacent elegant attacking midfielder turned into a hard working, solid defensive mid, with as high point his game vs Portugal last month. Where Davy Klaassen made a big money move to Everton but never got to play, Propper only missed three games in the Premier League, and that was due to suspension. Brighton played with grit and fighting spirit to remain in the league and Propper demonstrated that intelligence and a smooth touch are really helpful for a defensive mid. The stats don’t lie. His passing accuracy and his interventions are up there with the best of them. “In my role at Brighton, I need to do what Koeman wants from me as well, be open constantly, and swiftly move the play from left to right, or from back to front… I do this well, but sadly haven’t scored a single goal all season. And scoring is always special.”

Another player highly popular at his club is Jasper Cillesen. The former NEC talent wasn’t used that often in Camp Nou (only in the Copa del Rey where he impressed) but has been told that the club won’t let him leave. “I am not happy with the number of games I played and do hope something will change, but the club was adamant. They will not want to sell me. I did sign for 5 seasons and life is very good in Barcelona, so I’ll see what comes my way.”

Here is my ideal line up, based on today’s squad.

Let me know yours….

Jasper Cillesen

De Vrij – Blind – Van Dijk

Janmaat Propper Van de Beek Van Aanholt

Promes Wijnaldum Memphis

March 31, 2018March 31, 2018 by Jan

The Hand of Ronald Koeman

It’s that typical question, when a coach takes over at a club or nation: “Is the hand of the new coach visible already?”

Well, Ronald Koeman clearly puts a line in the sand lets the past be the past. “That is the only way for us to qualify.” And he did so on the second anniversary of the death of his friend, mentor, former coach and neighbour, Johan Cruyff. During the press conference before the Portugal game, Koeman said: “I miss him a lot. There is not a day that goes by on which I don’t think about him. He’s in my heart.”

But, the heart is not the head. Maybe 3 seconds later, the former Everton coach says that all Cruyff stood for is currently not so relevant for Oranje. Not because Koeman doesn’t want to play the JC style, but simply because there is no alternative. “You have to play according to the abilities you have.”

Any NT coach knows this, you’re totally dependent on your material. As a club coach, if you miss a good left winger, you can sign him. Or several. Not with the national team. “But, what we can have and must have, alway, is the right attitude, mentality and focus. We need team spirit, first and foremost. Look at Iceland. Look at Wales. Greece in 2004. They compensate lack of top quality with mentality, focus and team spirit.”

The first signal Koeman gave to the players, was the move from the loose Hotel Oranje to the more enclosed “East Germany” style camp of Zeist. Most internationals hated the move, prior to experiencing Zeist. They like what they know. But Wijnaldum said it well, after their first week: “It was actually great. In Noordwijk, players go to their room or stroll with their mates on the boulevard. This time, I actually had to hang out more with players I don’t know so well. And it was fun. Now, we just got the room to rest or sleep and the rest of the time, we’re together. We play cards, we play darts. I had my thoughts prior to coming here, but it’s actually really good.”

Koeman had to start somewhere and this is was his first step. “But, we need to see it on the pitch, at the end of the day. A coach is right when he wins and he’s wrong when he loses.”

The first demonstration against England was a losing one. One of the worst international games Oranje played. Solid in the organisation but not creating anything. And sure, Jeroen Zoet should stop that Lingard shot and in that case, we’d have a 0-0 draw vs a strong England. Not that bad.

But 4 days later, a rejuvenated Oranje counters the arrogant Portuguese off the pitch, in 45 minutes. Koeman does see that Oranje is a quick learner. The ex Barcelona libero saw some aspects to hold on to.

Security

Against England and Portugal, Oranje didn’t give away a lot. “Against two top nations, I think that’s positive. Our central defence played really well. You do need to start with the fundaments at the back and I’m positive. We have two more games of course, Slovakia and Italy and I do believe we will see more progress. We have more good players for these positions (Van Beek, Rekik, Bruma, Van der Hoorn) so I’m happy with that.”

Discipline

Koeman was satisfied with the team discipline. He worked on the training pitch with them and he did see the results in the game. “Tactically, we did well, against England as well by the way. I focused on certain aspects and I saw that come to life in the match. And sure, we still make mistakes, but I am not complaining.”

Player Development

Matthijs de Ligt was one of the guiding lights vs England and Portugal. With Van Dijk and De Vrij/Ake at his side, he was fantastic. “At that age, he is remarkable. But we have more great talents. The key is to use them properly and allow them to grow.”

System

Koeman picked seven different players against Portugal but the most important change, was the set up of the team. Against England, it was a 3-4-3 with two wide players, resulting in two midfielders to cover the midfield. The 3-5-2 vs Portugal resulted in three midfielders and these three bossed the game. But individually, the differences were significant as well. Davy Propper has grown tremendously in England, from an elegant attacking mid at PSV to a leader and controlling midfielder at Brighton. Donny van de Beek and Wijnaldum at his side, a bit further up the pitch, all three players who can control the ball under pressure. All capable of one/two touch football and all players with good awareness of what’s around them. Both Tete and Vilhena played very disciplined in their wide roles and Ryan Babel appeared to be much better in holding up play, than Bas Dost. And obviously, the team played more compact and defended and attacked as a whole. With key roles for central defenders De Ligt and Van Dijk in the attacking moves.

Koeman can be highly critical and he wasn’t happy with the lack of response of his team, whenever Sterling of England dropped to midfield to strengthen the England engine room. None of the central defenders pushed up and the two wide backs (Hateboer and Van Aanholt) were playing too high up the park. Koeman adapted the system in the second half, letting Promes drop into midfield and go with two up top (Memphis and Dost), but Holland couldn’t play compact enough to control the game and was constantly one step too late.

After the Portugal game, he was unhappy with the fact that Oranje couldn’t capitalise on the red card for Portugal and create even more.

Koeman watched both games back on video with his analysts and realised that in possession, Holland still can’t impress. “When you’re on the bench you see the game as a coach and as an Oranje fan. I thought we did ok in possession. When I saw the games again on video, I realised we have a lot to improve on that. We need to improve in the football playing, but then again, I am sure we have the right players who will become available (Daley Blind, Frenkie de Jong, Vincent Janssen). We do have time to build on this.”

Holland isn’t the only nation to have to rebuild significantly. Germany had to do it from 2000 onwards. Portugal had a failed World Cup in Brazil and ended up winning the Euros. England was played off the pitch vs Germany recently and made drastic changes. “I think we’re at that same juncture. We need to make changes, we did, and now we need to build on this. I’m not satisfied, but I’m optimistic. We will keep on working on the 3-4-3 and the 5-3-2. Against lesser countries, we need to play 3-4-3, against the Germanies, Spains, and Frances of this world, we need to adapt.”

An analysis of the different players Ronald Koeman used.

Cillesen vs Zoet

Jeroen Zoet repeatedly voiced his frustration how he – as a regular- was bypassed by Cillesen, a benchwarmer. Cillesen got his change against Portugal and was one of the key players, with six saves and in particular the stretched reflex on a C Ronaldo header. Zoet was less tested by England but he did allow a goal that seemed very stoppable. Lingards shot from outside of the box passed Zoet by 1,5 yards. Any goalie should stop that shot. Of the 7 goals Zoet conceded in Oranje, 5 were from outside the box…

Tete vs Hateboer

In Koeman’s system, the wingbacks need to cover the whole flank. Enter Hateboer, who impressed at Atalanta with this style of playing. Tete is always seen as the typical defender and has always been seen as a weaker offensive back vs Karsdorp, Janmaat and now Hateboer. But the stats say differently. Tete had 5 assists and 1 goal for Lyon whereas Hateboer only had 1 assist and zero goals in the Serie A. Both backs were both playing well for Oranje, with Hateboer winning more duels and Tete being more precise in his passing. With Karsdorp and Janmaat also in the running, we’ll have options here.

Ake vs De Vrij

Even though there was not to cheer about re: the England game, the back three played very well. De Vrij is probably more complete and more experienced than Ake, but Ake does have to left foot. De Vrij and Ake won all their personal duels vs England and Portugal respectively. De Vrij intercepted more than Ake and his passing accuracy was very high (92% vs 80% for Ake).

Van Aanholt vs Vilhena

Vilhena is normally a midfielder although used by Gio as a left back every now and then. Koeman picked up on this and Vilhena played a perfect first half vs Portugal. Van Aanholt has tremendous legs and lungs and also knows how to score. Having Vilhena as another alternative (Kongolo, Willems, Pieters, Daley Blind) will be a plus, as the Feyenoord youngster might just have more in his locker in terms of positioning play and ball control over Van Aanholt.

Strootman vs Propper

It remains a mystery. Strootman is a leader in Roma’s midfield. He’s seen as a key player and has been for 7 seasons in the Italian capital. But in Oranje, we hardly see that player. Strootman has excuses of course, for the England match… No midfielder would have impressed in the set up Koeman chose, as England created a man more constantly. But Strootman does seem to slow the game down and does go for the obvious pass. His first touch needs a lot of work. Propper on the other hand is a real gifted technician, with good vision for the forward pass. He was constantly open, his first touch impeccable and his head always up.

Van de Beek vs Dost

This is not a fair comparison as they played in different roles of course. But with an extra midfielder instead of a striker, the positioning was much better. Dost’s problem is that Oranje doesn’t play to his strength. He’s a classical centre forward, needing service. Whenever Dost drops back to midfield, he’s arguing with the ball. With Van de Beek, Koeman gets what he wants: dynamic movement between the lines and a player coming into the area instead of a player statically waiting there. Donny’s runs even got us our first goal vs Portugal, when his failed attempt was turned into an assist by Memphis.

Babel vs Promes

When you can’t play dominant football but want to use the turn-around to counter, you need speed. Ryan Babel, not having played in the jersey for eight years, does have that versatility. He’s fast, strong in the duels and can score, with his left and right and with his head. Babel’s relationship with Memphis is developing well and he was key in blocking Portugal’s build up. Promes and Memphis weren’t as helpful in that part of the game and Promes – key for Spartak Moscow – was never able to impress in Oranje, in the two recent friendlies.

Yes, these were conclusions based on two friendlies and particularly Promes, Hateboer, Ake and Van Aanholt will surely have more value for us in the future. With the likes of Daley Blind, Steven Bergwijn, Frenkie de Jong, Jetro Willems, Calvin Stengs and Vincent Janssen on the fringes, this Oranje can only become stronger and better.

I personally am still a fan of Adam Maher. He got lost at PSV and is currently playing relegation football with FC Twente, but with the right club/coach, I think Maher might surprise us all still.

And if we do need a strong central striker in games vs lesser opponents, lets not forget the qualities of ( a fit) Robin van Persie.

March 26, 2018 by Jan

Oranje experiments vs Angstgegner Portugal

For the non Germanic speakers amongst us. An Angstgegner is an opponent that seems to always get the better of you. An opponent that instills fears in the hearts of the Orange Lions. An opponent we share a history with, and usually with not-so-good outcomes. In English it would be “anxiety opponent”.

Obviously, it’s Portugal I’m talking about.

Ronald Koeman will not be worried about the end result. He wants to keep on trying out new players and see other faces. Apparently he might change the team on 7 spots. Jesper Cillesen will definitely start, as will Tete in place of Hateboer. Ake might step in as centre back. According to the spies, Memphis and Wijnaldum will start for sure, as may Ryan Babel.

Koeman will keep on working on the system he started with at England, but will demand more “compactness” from the team without possession and much better quality in possession.

As he said after the England game: “You can’t expect us to just play England off the pitch in our first match.” I think a similar comment will be applicable for this match: “You can’t expect us to play European champions Portugal off the pitch in our second match.” And rightfully so.

The game will be played in Geneva, by the way, for some reason. So not as festive as a game in Holland, but also not as annoying as a game in Portugal…

I personally believe this 3-4-3 is not that ideal if you don’t have the players to execute it.

To sum it up, we need at least one central defender to be able to join in in midfield, with good passing abilities. For me, De Vrij/Van Dijk/De Ligt are too similar. I’d like to see Daley Blind in there.

I also believe that we need more leadership in midfield, from a tactical standpoint.

Against England, Henderson would drop deep which took Sterling back to midfield. They stretched Strootman and Wijnaldum who again had difficulties with the amount of space. We had a player over in the back and were lacking one in midfield. This Tottenham Hotspur system works well for the Spurs, but they have players like Son, Alli and Kane… We don’t…

Stefan de Vrij might not play, as his head might be a tad on his move to Internazionale, if we have to believe the Italian media. Apparently, Barcelona and Man City have shown interest as well and the Milan behemoth wants to do business quickly. I would normally suggest any Dutch player to sign with Barca and stay away from Inter, but as De Vrij is a defender, Inter might actually be great for him…

Ronald Koeman about his “system”: “I don’t use this system as a response to the opponent or something. I want to use this as our autonomous system, meaning we need to create things as well. Not just stop them. We didn’t create a lot against England, but then again: neither did they. I hear the English media were negative about us, but if we’re that bad, why didn’t England score four goals or more? I see this compact way of playing as the key to qualifying. I have gone from man to man marking to zonal marking and that is a big shift. We do need some more games to perfect it. We have four games to do so, before the real deal starts.”

Asked whether the debut game vs England was a failure, he is resolute. “Absolutely not. One has to start at some stage. If we would have picked Andorra or Luxembourg, we could have won and be proud and speak of a successful debut. But I don’t care about that. I care about perfecting the style we want to play in and against a strong opponent you know two things for sure: you can really test your strength, and you may lose… I don’t care, I want to see the progress and I want to see our players perform under pressure.”

So Monday evening, it’s Portugal. We don’t have very good stats vs the Portuguese…

In 2004, at the Euros in Portugal, we lost 2-1 in the semi finals. Ronaldo and Maniche score in the first hour and the Andrade own goal didn’t do much for us. Portugal got into the finals and got embarrassed by Greece.

In 2006, the Battle of Neuremburg happened. The Russian ref Ivanov produced 20 cards in total and I think he red carded one player twice. Or he yellow carded a player thrice. Or he sent a birthday card to Van Basten, I can’t remember. Again, Maniche scores for Portugal. No one knows where it went wrong. Oranje was tight as a string, following some internal issues (Van Nistelrooy, Van Bommel) and Cocu famously hit the bar, as Tiju famously keeps on ranting about how Kuyt cost us the tournament. Or something. Or Memphis. Can’t remember that either. Trying to block this game from memory as I do with Tiju.

In 2012, Holland has a chance to progress but it needs to win vs Portugal, after having lost against the Danes and the Germans. Rafael van der Vaart scores the first one and hits a similar shot on the post. Two C Ronaldo goals from a counter later and Holland goes home.

In 2000, I think we lost against Van Gaal as well. Two qualification games vs Portugal. We lost 0-2 at home. Famously, the right full back Reiziger played on the left and his misplaced pass ended up in the feet of an opponent. The other goal came when the Oranje defense stopped playing as some moron (Tiju??) blew a whistle on the stands. The Dutch players thought the game was stopped, the Portuguese players didn’t. In the away game, we took revenge and were 0-2 up with 10 minutes to go. Van Gaal was keen to kill Portugal off and brought two extra strikers in the last stage of the game. When the last whistle sounded, it was 2-2.

Didn’t we ever win against these guys?? Yes we did. In qualifying for the EC1992 in Sweden. Portugal had won at their home, 1-0. And it was Richard Witschge who scored the winner for us in De Kuip, 1-0. Enough for us to qualify.

Lets add another win tonight.

I say: 0-2 for Holland. Memphis scoring and a debut goal by Justin Kluivert…

November 8, 2017November 9, 2017 by Jan

Friendlies Schmiendlies for Oranje…

I have been having a go at friendlies for years… I do see the point of them, for sure. But it’s not for us, so much. It’s usually for the coaching staff and players to test things, to get rhythm, to play together. Sometimes it’s a benefit game for something…

Holland will now play two friendlies in this international break without any meaning whatsoever. And it shows. Numerous absentees… And the media turning this into a “Farewell for Dick” kindagame.

Farewell for Dick? Gimme a break… One farewell for Dick (in 1994) was more than enough for me.

Yes, he did what we felt he should be doing, at least. Lose vs France, win the rest.

But he didn’t qualify and he made some awkward mistakes in the games played. Not that he is to blame for the Big Mess, but he definitely didn’t do a great job, all in all.

Dick Advocaat was even giving silly soundbites at the press conferences… “I will tell everyone after the two friendlies what I will do!”. Huh? What do you mean? It’s not up to you, Dick, to see what YOU want to do.

The KNVB needs to 1) appoint a TD first, then 2) the new TD will select a coach. No one is interested what you want now, because your contract is done after Romania. Don’t flatter yourself.

Dick is starting to take himself very seriously.

And to make it even funnier: Ruud Gullit let slip in another tv program, that he will stop as assistant coach “and go with Dick”. So, Dick is trying to keep us in suspense, for some reason, while Ruud spilled the beans.

Does it ever stop?

So now the squad has to travel to Scotland. To play on that paddock of a pitch in Aberdeen. In the cold. Against a bunch of Bravehearts! And then we get Romania. Because there is no real football nation anymore in the world keen to play against us…

I can totally understand that players like Janssen, Locadia, Dost, Hoedt and Tete decided not to come. Some are desperately trying to get playing time at their clubs and can fully appreciate a week off, instead of being knocked about by some Scots in kilts or Romanians. Some are obviously actually injured. But if we played the play-offs this weekend, I’m sure Dost and Janssen would be present.

Advocaat got Tim Fosu-Mensah in as replacement for Tete and Luuk de Jong for the striker position.

Gini Wijnaldum has a point to prove. For starters, he’s a regular at Liverpool so no worries there but in Oranje, the former Feyenoord junior needs to step up. With an ankle injury on the way out, he came to the Oranje camp. “I told the coach I wasn’t 100% but I want to be here and play with Oranje.”

Some players are keen, on the other hand. Steven Berghuis wasn’t part of the Oranje squad for a spell but the right winger is in top form for Feyenoord and Oranje does lack its regular right winger. What’s his name… ? Eh… Robben! Steven Berghuis: “I’m really happy to be back. I feel good and Oranje can use a new right winger, right? Not that I’m Robben… There will never be a new Robben, he was off this planet, but I think I can offer my qualities for the team.”

Memphis Depay is another player happy to be in the Oranje camp. “I want to show myself. I had a difficult time but I’m getting stronger and stronger. I enjoy playing in Lyon and I am important for the team. I want to do the same for Oranje. I still feel so much joy when I’m on the pitch or even in training. I am very eager to play and very grateful to be here.”

With the key strikers missing, the big question is, how will Dick staff his forwards?

Some options.

Luuk de Jong, the obvious choice. He’s a classic number 9 and won the golden boot in the Eredivisie in the past. He had a goal drought for 8 months but scored last weekend again for PSV. He scored for Oranje in the past vs another British nation: Ireland (1-1).

Memphis Depay, not obvious but he has played central striker before. He played there for PSV and he played there in Oranje. Against Italy in the friendly right after Blind’s exit. And that went well. He’s eager, he can be physical and is always threatening.

Quincy Promes, quite obvious. As he scores prolifically in Moscow and plays easily in different roles in different systems. He might not have shone as much in Oranje, but he would definitely suit the #9 or #10 role.

Ryan Babel is the fourth option. He is “a typical winger” said Dick Advocaat last time around. But, the tall athletic forward has played in the striker role for Ajax and he demonstrates week in week out that he can score goals.

The final option is: no striker. Using the space for the running man/men. Memphis, Promes, Wijnaldum, Sneijder… Oranje might be able to play more compact and use that pocket to come into, instead of being there already.

Another big name is Virgil van Dijk. Belonging to a big guy, with a massive future. The 26 year old seems to have the right attitude, physicality and role in the team to become our next captain. With Arjen Robben gone, the hierarchy is going to change. “I have always coached and stimulated colleagues. I play central defender so I will have to. Whether I wear the band or not. But yes, if the staff thinks I’m ready for it, I won’t say no.”

The last word is for the current captain. Wesley Sneijder, he doesn’t know when to stop… “I won’t be seeing these friendlies as my farewell. I will stop one day, but that day is not now. So I will not answer any questions about that any more. This week is not about me or my final match.” Arjen Robben said his farewell after the game against Sweden. “I would have loved to be there for that. Well, also to play of course but it wasn’t to be. We had a wonderful partnership all these years. But hey, I didn’t play, so that is all behind us now. I play now and I’m fit and eager. It hurts not to be there but it also stimulates me even more to make my mark now.” He’s not open to what his future will hold. “I want to play as long as I can. Simple. And yes, the next big tournament is in 2020, I’m 36 years old then. We’ll see.” And on the question who he’d like to see as his new coach. “I want a coach who can bring us to the next big tournament. Whoever he is. Ronald Koeman? Great choice, but I would say that about any name you bring up. Because it’s up to the KNVB, not me.”

October 6, 2017 by Jan

The moment of truth for Oranje….

In 5 days we’ll know. Whether we’re out of the World Cup or whether we are still hanging in.

It’s been a while, since Oranje missed both an EC and a WC. Tension is rising and the Dutch media (and people) are edgy.

Dick Advocaat has not made the ironclad impression we are used of him. At PSV, his earlier stints at Oranje, the Sunderland escape, the Zenit successes… The headstrong and confident sly fox has been slipping up since taking over from the much maligned Blind and his current choices also result in frowns all around.

Against France, he failed to make defensive changes when we were 2-0 down and without a hope in the world. The search for a late goal resulted in two more goals conceded with the known impact on goal difference. After the match, it appeared as if Dick was unaware of the goal difference importance. His gamble to hope for a Van Persie moment of brilliance also didn’t work out, with the Fener striker out with a knee injury.

Against Bulgaria, with 25 minutes to go, again, Dick failed to make changes. This time, offensive changes were needed as every goal counted and we could have gone for a 5-1 win, for sure.

Surely, Dick is now fully aware that every goal scored counts, but after a courtship of Klaas Jan Huntelaar, the Ajax striker saw his name omitted from the squad. Dick didn’t believe in too many central striker and he opted for Janssen and Dost, with either Babel or Locadia as the pinch hitter. Babel deserves his call up for me, but Locadia only impressed once this season with his four goals vs an unlucky FC Utrecht.

And now Dost is sidelined thanks to a practice injury to the knee, Huntelaar would have been a great option B for the striker position. Too late.

I personally believe we have one defender too many (Veltman?) and we are one forward/midfielder short. Locadia won’t be the Oranje saviour. I would personally always selected Sneijder, if he’s fit. The fact that he hasn’t played for weeks… Against France, I would not have used Sneijder (but would have opted for a 4 man dynamic midfield of Vilhena/Van Ginkel/Klaassen type players. But against Belarus, surely, Sneijder could be of use for the last 25 minutes? The opponent getting tired, bring in Sneijder and let him play his passing game. His corner kicks and free-kicks will always be threatening. I’m convinced he doesn’t need weeks of match-play to hit a dead ball.

His leadership off the pitch will be missed too. He’s been our talisman for so long and Oranje’s true skipper.

Another player I’d like to see asap, is Frenkie de Jong. Maybe not as a starter, but this kid has something unique (like Sneijder). His first pass is always vertical and he has the balls to play with risk and pizzazz.

According to the media, Cillesen will start. Janmaat and Blind will be full backs and Hertha’s Karim Rekik and Virgil van Dijk are the central defenders. The midfield will consist of Vilhena, Propper and Wijnaldum, with Robben/Janssen/Babel up top. As you know, Strootman is out.

I can see this work. Robben and Babel will keep the central defenders busy allowing Janssen to roam. The full backs will provide the wide option, like Blind demonstrated versus Bulgaria and like Janmaat does where ever he plays.

Wijnaldum will play in a controlling way, like Vilhena, with timed runs into the box. Propper again, will play the false striker behind Janssen.

I believe a 0-4 win will be possible, but the circumstances aren’t great. The team lacks cohesion, confidence is brittle and we lack options (Dost, no Huntelaar, no Sneijder). And it’s cold in Belarus. Very cold.

If we score in the first 20 minutes, we can get to a 0-4 or better score, but if it remains 0-0 for a long time, we might have to keep the fingers crossed for a 0-1 win.

It’s tempting to believe that Luxembourg will contain Sweden (in Sweden) but it’s wishful thinking. Normally, Sweden will win this game with at least 3 goals difference. And don’t think France will slip up again. Won’t happen.

There is one thing I’m uncertain about. The rules are not that clear. Once the group games have been played, the results against the worst nation will be scrapped. Including the goals. If that is Belarus – which makes sense if Holland beats them with good numbers – the goals will be taken out of the equation. Sweden scored 8 goals vs Belarus. Which means we will have a better goal difference than Sweden, provided we beat Sweden coming Tuesday. Which is also not a cert, by the way.

But this does mean that we need to look at the different scenarios, because Luxembourg could also be the last in the group. We took 6 points from them, while Sweden drew against them. We will lose more points in this case.

I am not sure if this is all correct, so I’m open to your comments.

But even if we end up second in the group, we could well be the worst second of all. In which case, we won’t get a chance to go to the World Cup. Otherwise, we do get this play-off game and we’ll most likely get an opponent of strength (Italy for instance, or Portugal). Qualification is still a long way out.

August 11, 2017 by Jan

The 2017/18 Season is upon us: predictions!

Well people, the waiting is over. It’s all going to go ahead again.

Let’s look in the crystal ball and see what will happen.

Oranje

We will suffer the least from the summer break vs France. Les Blues have talent to spare but they are rusty in their home game vs Holland. We will hit them on the attack. 1-3. We score first (Depay on a break) and when France is fighting to get back into the game, we score a second (Wijnaldum). They get back to 1-2 but in the final stages a risk-taking France concedes a penalty, converted by Janssen. Oranje is flying high and we won’t lose any qualification game after that. We’ll go to the WC2018. We’re not going to win it but we’ll get some swagger back.

Eredivisie

Ajax is vulnerable. A young squad, an inexperienced coach and when Sanchez and Ziyech are sold, there is not enough leadership and experience to have the time fight for the title. Like with JC’s first season as coach, this will be a “development season”. The fans won’t like it but I do believe Ajax has gold with De Ligt, Kluivert, Van de Beek, De Jong and will grow to a peak performance in the coming seasons. They’ll finish 2nd.

PSV has lost their spirit. The new hierarchy in the dressing room takes time. Willems is not properly replaced and something seems missing in Eindhoven. They’ll have an abysmal season. They’ll finish 4th.

Feyenoord is in the winning mood. They won’t be making waves in the Champions League but the new kids gel into the squad with ease and Feyenoord wins the title again. Quite rare for that to happen. Boetius has a super season, Jorgensen wins the golden boot again and Labayad is the coming man in Feyenoord’s midfield. Feyenoord wins the title.

The surprise #3 in the Eredivisie will be Vitesse. With good, neat pass and move, they upset most opponents and get to rub shoulders with the Top 3. AZ and FC Utrecht are just behind, with PEC Zwolle again impressing. VVV will drop back immediately.

It will be Kluivert’s real break through year, like Hendrix will snatch a starting birth at PSV.

EPL

Man City will win the title. Man United will again disappoint. Liverpool will do well in the CL as cupfighters. Newcastle will finish mid-table. The lads in England will have a mixed season. Janssen and Klaassen will struggle to get time. Blind, Wijnaldum and Fer will do very well. As will Nathan Ake. Van Dijk will move to Liverpool and will become their rock for seasons to come. Crystal Palace under De Boer will also impress with Riedewald and Van Aanholt on the wishlist of the bigger clubs.

Elsewhere

Cillesen will get the #1 spot for Barcelona. Lens will impress in Turkey, like Promes will do in Moscow, if he doesn’t get a transfer before September 1. Karsdorp, Strootman, De Roon, De Vrij, Hoedt will keep on delivering the goods in Italy, while Robben will have one of his best seasons. Sneijder takes Nice by the horns but will finish fourth, behind PSG and Monaco. Lyon will finish third.

Dutch football will make the comeback we all hope for. We’ll have most players at mid-level European top clubs. No more Juve, Barca, Real or Chelsea but the mid-range players will form a solid team when they wear the Orange and the squad will only grow in quality with players like Van de Beek and De Jong of Ajax joining in.

Sneijder and Robben will lead the pack and young talents like Karsdorp, Memphis, Vilhena, Promes and even Kluivert will add to the recipe. It will be all good, my friends. I’m just still sad that Appie Nouri will never wear the Orange jersey….

June 5, 2017 by Jan

Viagra for Big Dick and some for me…?

Viagra being a metaphor for some positive energy. The end of the season…only a key qualification game for us, a Champions League finals and some (Turkey) last matches on the roster. And some friendlies and testimonials.

Which means the different blog suppliers ( template, server, domain name) are sending me their invoices again.

So this annual request for some support is upon you! If you enjoy the blog and would love for it to be around longer, I would highly appreciate your contribution. If you can, of course. The donate button is on the home page ;-).

My gratitude to all of you for your support, in spirit, in postings and in dollars as well…

While you’re grabbing the last pennies from your piggybank, I will help you celebrate our win over Ivory Coast.

It has to be said: you know I dislike friendlies. But if we win a friendly 5-0, I actually take the friendly serious, all of a sudden.

And yes I know, Ivory Coast is not as strong as they used to be (but that applies to Oranje as well). And sure, what does Ivory Coast care, really? For Oranje though, it was a key game. We lost a lot of goodwill amongst the fans, we embarrassed ourselves in this WC qualification round, so much so that a Dutch football icon – Danny Blind – was ousted of the job, without any Plan B in the drawer. The joke that was (is?) the KNVB is still not finished (although we all heard the punchline, and you know what? It ain’t funny!) as former NT Manager and former assistant manager ~~Scrooge~~ Dick Advocaat comes back in.

But the team is fighting hard to get some pride back. To show to the fans – and to themselves! – that they can do it. Five qualifications games to go and ideally five wins are needed to secure a ticket for Russia.

We have skills, we have some very good players and one out and out world class star. We also need some grit, some willpower and some belief, and then it will all come good.

Some of it was on display vs Ivory Coast. We scored 5, we conceded zero (great save Jesper Cillesen!!) and the fans gobbled it up. A lot went well, some didn’t go so well. Ivory Coast were able to cut straight through the centre of the park on occasions and a strong Cillesen and some fortune meant we kept a clean sheet.

We played 4-3-3 in possession and a compact 4-5-1 when we lost it, with lone wolf Janssen up top. I think we can safely say that Vincent Janssen is the Oranje #9. He is the ideal target man, always hussling, strong in possession, creating havoc and trying to find either a team mate or the target. He created the penalty for 2-0, he assisted Klaassen’s goal and scored the fifth as a real poacher in the box. Yes, he has limitations. Lacks speed, lacks the silky touch, but that can also be said of a certain Gerd Muller. Six goals in 12 internationals and a couple of assists. Not bad.

Robben, Memphis and Promes all three look like starters. Memphis is threatening, has moments of magic and will always bind two defenders, as will Robben. Memphis didn’t play at his best, but the curler to the top corner was another example of his potential. Robben on other hand is enjoying his second (or is it third?) wind and was instrumental again, with his runs, his assist and his immaculate penalty.

Strootman played a strong game in midfield again, while Propper still seems too light for this Oranje. He’s a good player on the ball, velvet touch and good vision, but it’s all too much in one pace and he lacks a bit of venom in the challenges. He might step up still, but he probably needs to move to a higher level. Or not, and he’ll stay on the level of PSV Eindhoven (top of Eredivisie) for the rest of his career. Klaassen is a wonderful player of course, does a lot of work, smart running and positioning and always head up. His goal was a typical Klaassen goal: recognising the opportunity, busting a gut to get in the box at the exact right time. But as a number 10 I think he’s not top notch enough to replace the aging Sneijder. Promes might be the ideal player on that spot.

Kenny Tete and Rick Karsdorp will do nicely as right backs and Joel Veltman is a good player, who fits well in the centre back role as long as the opponent doesn’t play with Andy Carrol and Peter Crouch. Daley Blind was one of the best on the pitch, yet again, with solid interventions, great positioning, good runs in the channel and it was his little solo into the box that got us the corner which resulted in the 1-0. Blind can play centre back, left back and even holding mid. He will never make you weaker, unless he’s up against fast counter-attacking teams. But he didn’t get into trouble against Ajax in the EL finals and actually didn’t get into trouble all season.

The only weak spot for me is Martins Indi. He didn’t really get into trouble but at times he looks a bit clueless and he’ll still mix up beautiful long cross passes with more short range passes that float over the byline.

Viergever, Propper, Ramselaar, Berghuis and De Roon were let go after these two friendlies. Spoilt for choice in midfield (Propper, Ramselaar, De Roon) with Ake, Toornstra, Vilhena as other options. Viergever isn’t needed either, as De Vrij and De Ligt will return to the squad. As right winger, Advocaat prefers Lens over Berghuis, a player he knows very well of course, from his Fenerbahce days.

We will beat Luxembourg and I do think we’ll win all the games coming up, with France as the key one. If we play as we did today (which we won’t), it will be hard. But if we can lay down a solid performance, with a fit and tenacious midfield (maybe a 4-5-1 with Promes up top, Janssen as super sub and some body and running in midfield) I don’t see why we couldn’t beat Les Blues!

Oranje does need to applaud the work of Peter Bosz (and indirectly Jonk, Bergkamp, Cruyff). It was clearly visible in the Ivory Coast game at times how Bosz’ lessons dripped into Oranje. With Tete, Veltman and Klaassen at times hunting and pressing. Wijnaldum will gladly chip in and once De Vrij and De Ligt are back, the intensity of our game could well be helped by the football style of Ajax’ success coach.

The 5-0 could easily have been 8-2. Cillesen needed to show up with saves and Janssen, Wijnaldum, Depay and Robben all had opportunities to score and there were several breaks where the killer pass didn’t eventuate.

With all the joy of the victory, Wesley Sneijder had his private party for eclipsing Van der Sar’s record. Finally! And I’m convinced he’ll play a couple more minutes/games before he retires from Oranje. Hopefully after a WC campaign in Russia. He lacks speed, he might not make it for the full 90 minutes, but on the ball he’s still killer diller.

Joel Veltman played CB and scored a brace. Doesn’t happen a lot. His first was a shouldered goal, totally unmarked while his second was a tap in from a Robben cross…totally unmarked. “We didn’t play great, but we were efficient. We know African opponents, we know they’re physical and good on the ball but their organisation is lacking. We knew how to use that. I had a couple of knocks at decided to stay put in defence in the second half. And yes, I was totally unmarked on both goals, but it does help when you have Memphis and Arjen on the wings. They can find your adam’s apple with the ball. Playing centre back was a challenge to be honest. It’s been a while. But Bruno made sure I stayed in position whenever I drifted to the right, hahaha.”

Jesper Cillesen had a smile from ear to ear: “God, I needed this! It’s been a year since my last Oranje cap. It was important for me to show the coaches I’m ready. Yes, I didn’t play a lot, but I train on the very highest level and I think I improved. That last save was a top one, right? Got the ball straight on my nose. Luckily I have a big one.”

Captain Arjen Robben was critical, despite the comfortable win. “I try to look at the whole picture, not just the 5-0 win. And I think we need to improve. At times it’s not quick enough. We release the ball too slow. We need to play with more intensity to really break down the opponents in the serious games. I do think Oranje suffered the last years with all these injuries and changing starting line ups. It’s key now to keep this squad together and to keep on building.”

And so, the reign of Fred Grim ends on a high, per Tuesday coming week, Big Dick and Cool Ruud are in charge.

My friends, I’m positive! I’ve seen enough to see that we simply need to win all our games and can win all our games. A good Oranje can win four, if Oranje is great vs France, we can beat them too! Play Nathan Ake on Pogba and De Vrij on Griezman and we’re in business.

May 31, 2017 by Jan

Oranje gets Big Dick

And it needs it! In order to really have a go and reach the World Cup, we need good potency. I always felt Advocaat is a big of a dick, with his greed-oriented behaviour. He disappointed so many clubs and nations (PSV, Australia, Belgium, Sunderland, KNVB) and all for a bigger pay-check.

But, he does get things done and we do not have many highly experienced and willing coaches left in Dick’s age-category. Van Gaal isn’t interested, Van Marwijk is happy in the sandbag, Van Hanegem and Jansen not willing, Stevens not willing, Michels is dead… Time for a new generation (Ten Hag, Bosz, Cocu, Gio, De Boer) but all these guys are happy to work with players on a day by day basis.

Big Dick will join the squad later, with assistant Ruud Gullit. Until he does, Fred Grim and Frans Hoek will keep the reigns and manage Oranje past the two upcoming friendlies… Morocco first. Ivory Coast on Sunday.

The Dutch squad is becoming complete today. Wesley Sneijder traveled late from Turkey, directly to Agadir. Grim already stated that he’ll give the 32 year old captain playing time. Wes only needs two more games to topple Van der Sar as the most capped Dutch player ever. He’ll get that record, with two friendlies on the roster. The Ivory Coast game is actually on his 33rd birthday. What an accomplishment for the little playmaker!

Jesper Cillesen came late to the camp too, as he had to play (and win) the Spanish Copa Del Rey with Barca. A look at three players who had an exciting but not necessarily good first season at greener pastures…

Nathan Ake – Chelsea:

“It’s fun to be part of the Dutch team for the first time. I’ve played in all Oranje rep teams as off under-15 and now it’s an honour to be part of the big Oranje. Marc Wilmots is the team manager of Ivory Coast, who called me as well. He wanted to know if I was happy to think about playing for the country where my dad is born. And I said, yes I will. But Holland is my first choice and I think Wilmots understood. I still have family in Ivory Coast, by the way, but I’ve never visited. My mum is Dutch, we’d go to Ivory Coast when I was 18 years old but I’m 22 years old now and it hasn’t happened. Should I get official playing time versus Luxembourg, the decision will be made. My parents support me fully.

This was a good and interesting year. I was loaned out to Bournemouth. I didn’t play a minute in the first months but I got my chance and took it. Coach Conte called me personally to say he wanted to get me back in the winter. I think I can now determine myself, what will happen. Next season, I will get my chance and I want to play as much as possible. I can play on several positions but my favorite spot is the left central position. But we’ll see whether Chelsea will offer me playing time… Time will tell.”

Vincent Janssen – Spurs

“My first season at Tottenham is behind me now. I don’t think it was what I hoped for, in terms of playing time. That is quite clear I suppose. But I do notice I have grown as a player. Last year around this time we had an Oranje camp in Portugal as well, and I can feel I’m much stronger and quicker in my handling the ball. The last few months I was much more settled at Spurs but hey, we won 12 out of 13 games in the EPL and were in good form, so the coach didn’t have much reasons to give me more time. The team was doing so well. What will happen the next season? I am not sure. It’s not just me who determines this of course. The coach didn’t do a personal assessment with all the players, he basically just thanked the group. Individual talks is more a Dutch thing I suppose.

I hoped the KNVB would have gone on with Danny Blind. This is the first time in career I deal with the sacking of a coach. And I still owe a lot of gratitude to Danny Blind for his confidence. He allowed me my debut and he let me play ten international games. I spoke to him after he was let go. I haven’t spoken to Mr Advocaat yet, but i worked with him earlier, when he was assistant and he’s very present, dominant and had numerous tips for me.”

Jesper Cillesen – Barcelona

“I’m happy that I could finish the season with Barca winning a prize I actually contributed to. The cup tournament became my tournament. And I do like some more of that taste. It will be an interesting summer, you never know what to expect in the summer. Anything can happen now, with Valverde coming in as the new coach. It’s been really intense. The step from Ajax to Barcelona is quite big. On the pitch, but also off the pitch. In terms of tactics, mentally… I had times where I hit a wall.

But I have become a better goalie. I’m dealing with the best forwards on the planet. When I first started in practice, Messi would hit the target with a venom and precision I didn’t get at Ajax. In those first weeks I felt like I was in 2011, when I became part of the Dutch squad while still at NEC! But, I do stop shots by Neymar, Messi, Suarez on training. I am used to the pace now. I’m ambitious though, I want to become the #1 goalie here. Even though Ter Stegen has just renewed his contract, I’ll will go head to had with him. I feel good about it.”

Frans Hoek (right) amazed by Martins Indi’s haircut
Daley Blind, Davy Klaassen, Jeremain Lens, Arjen Robben, Kevin Strootman, Stefan de Vrij and Gini Wijnaldum also made it later to the squad due to obligations elsewhere.

In total, Oranje has 28 in the group to prepare for the friendlies. Dick Advocaat: “We decided on a bigger group as some players will come to the training camp later due to obligations. We don’t know how fit they will be. We need to prepare for the worst and at this stage it won’t be harmful to have a bigger group with some younger, fresher players as Oranje is in transition.”

By the way, Hakim Ziyech (Ajax) will not be part of the Moroccan squad. The playmaker who could be so potent for Oranje decided to go for Morocco but the relationship between him and the French coach of Morocco is troubled. Renard first ignored the former Heerenveen talent for the Africa Cup, now Ziyech decided to sit the NT out until Renard is removed…

New boys Jens Toornstra and Sergio Padt (goalie Groningen)

Other “Dutchies” in the Moroccan squad: King Karim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord), Nordin Amrabat (Watford), Mimoun Mahi (FC Groningen), Sofyan Amrabat and Yassin Ayoub (both with FC Utrecht).

There is one player not selected who did make some headlines. Ryan Babel (ex-Ajax, ex-Liverpool) is now 30 years old and found his second wind, winning the title in Turkey (under Big Dick’s nose!) with Besiktas. The former Oranje winger tweeted: “Disappointed that Oranje doesn’t seem to need my services”. He said later: “Somehow in Holland people think my career is over. I’ve been under the radar too much probably, but I’m back at my best now. I think I am able to support Oranje in these crucial times.”

Ryan Babel screams “Whyyyy Dick???”

March 21, 2015 by Jan

Oranje keen for some Turkish Delight

And we’re back!! After a long pause, in which yours truly had to muster the energy to keep on going as well.

A long spell without Oranje and some serious side effects getting used to an Oranje sans Van der Vaart and sans Van Persie. With Van Gaal gone and Hiddink not yet having a handle on the team and with our former heroes struggling with fitness (RVP, Fer, Strootman), relegation (Van der Vaart) or even playing time (Afellay, Stekelenburg, De Zeeuw) I really loath watching EPL games with not enough Dutch names in the teams. Janmaat, Krul, Blind… That’s about it. I will have to make do with semi-Dutch players like Bony, Eriksen, Vertonghen and Chadli.

But, it’s starting again. And I’ll give it one more go.

I do ask for your support yet again as I can use it very well these days. The cost are always there before the benefit (traditional Dutch saying) and times are lean. So please find it in your heart to drop me some coins to sustain this adventure.

Two major topics, as far as I’m concerned!! The game vs Turkey and the Future of Dutch football.

Oranje has a good balance against Turkey. We played against them eleven times and won five, while we only lost two. We blocked their qualification for the WC Brazil in 2013. Arda Turan, Turkish playmaker in Atletico Madrid’s service is suspended. For Holland, De Jong, De Vrij and BMI are in danger of missing the next game when booked.

Arjen Robben had to take a break the last week due to a slight injury but Hiddink does expect the Bedum winger to play and carry the team.

Team manager Hiddink has added Bas Dost to the to the definitive squad, along with De Guzman and Klaassen. The latter two were not part of the prelim squad. RVP is not part of it, neither are Van Beek, Elia, Promes, van Rhijn, Vlaar (injured) and Jeroen Zoet.

Oranje will perform their away games in a classic tribute to the seventies. All white jerseys with the iconic lion on the chest. The shorts are very contemporary though. Orange with white stripes, resembling speed, according to Nike. “This new style is a tribute to Oranje’s style of play and is symbolic for speed, movement and energy”. Oranje will not wear this versus Turkey though, as Holland plays at home in the usual Orange kit. The friendly against Spain on March 31 will be the first opportunity for us to showcase the new kit.

Until De Kuip is renovated, the Amsterdam Arena will be Oranje’s home ground and the KNVB has sold 48,500 tickets for the qualification game. As per usual, there will be a lot of Turks living in the Netherlands cheering their team on.

Hiddink will not link his future to the result vs Turkey. “I did that against Lithuania. That is a small football nation. We should always win that. But Turkey is different. This is a big nation. Any team can lose against the Turks. But losing against them means we do lose grip on our qualification and that will be bad. But I am convinced we will get the result. ” Hiddink was a bit vague about his future after the last qualification game. “On purpose. For me it’s not just the football. I needed to get a better handle on things around the team. The broader organisation. I had to have a number of talks internally. And we did. I’m currently really pleased with my situation and the circumstances of the team.”

With Ajax’ exit from Europe, Guus was quized about his views on the Dutch clubs in Europe. “It’s a disappointment becaue we can do better. Sure, Zenit has a higher budget and AS Roma is a big club, but you can compensate that with effort, energy, spirit and smarts. It’s about taking those opportunities and giving it the extra 10%. But having said this, we have tremendous talents still coming through and if you see players like Van Beek, Bazour and Kishna, it’s ok if they make some mistakes. They’re still young. Oranje is still being carried by players playing abroad. Our next generation of players there, like Fer, Dost, De Vrij, De Guzman, will need to grow to the level of players like Robben, Sneijder and Van Persie.”