Tag: De Roon

by Jan

How Oranje can beat Belarus

This coming away game vs Belarus could well be the one cementing our spot at the Euros 2020.

What a new sensation that will be. Talisman Memphis Depay will not be there to guide us. The Lyon forward with the dazzling stats has a hamstring scare in his thigh and decided to let this one go. Koeman: “It’s not good. He simply can’t play. It’s not a serious injury but we can’t risk it.”

And despite the importance of the former Sparta talent in previous games, we all think that Oranje should be able to beat Belarus without him, as we do have enough goals in the team anyway.

On Sunday, we’ll be playing against the sturdy and rugged Belarussians and against the pitch. Koeman decided not to train in the stadion to protect the pitch as it is in pretty bad shape. “October is typically a month where more rainfall and colder temperatures affect the circumstances here,” Koeman knew.

We might also be playing against ourselves again, as we did against Northern Ireland. Ronald Koeman has been able to repair the issues again, as he did before, but the former Everton coach admitted after the match that when the Northern Irish scored, he didn’t think a win was possible. He also gave credit to assistant coach Kees van Wonderen as he was the one who suggested some changes. Apparently, former Feyenoord captain Van Wonderen is focusing on Oranje’s play without the ball while Dwight Lodeweges focuses on Oranje with the ball. Van Wonderen found the subtle changes needed to regain control, last Thursday.

Koeman will need to find a replacement for Memphis and it’s not likely that he’ll start with Luuk de Jong. Sure, the Sevilla striker broke the deadlock for us but bringing him into the starting line up will mean Koeman foregoes Plan A and goes straight to Plan B. I don’t think he will.

He will either use Promes in the striker role (as the former Ajax talent did for Spartak Moscow and Sevilla) and keep Babel on the left, enabling him to bring Malen off the bench as impact player. Or he will bring Babel to the centre in Memphis spot and start with Malen on the left flank, rewarding the former Arsenal talent for his wonderful turns in Orange.

Ronald Koeman might not change much more. As Koeman isn’t one to change quickly. “I don’t have a lot of time before matches to try out different things. These qualification games are played to win. Not to try out stuff, or to experiment or to give another player a chance. We are playing these games to qualify and once we qualified, another situation starts. People who know me, know I won’t be changing for the sake of change. I trust the core group we have and I also look at – what I call – couples. It’s never about one player vs another player. It’s about the specific qualities of a player in combination with his team mates. That whole De Roon – Van de Beek discussion for instances. It’s rubbish, but it’s what the media do. I don’t mind, but I am not playing along. For starters, I don’t want to take the coupling of Memphis and Wijnaldum apart. So these two are in the team. Frenkie is a midfielder who wants to dribble and who wants to find space to roam into. With him, I simply want the other midfielder to hold the space. De Roon is very disciplined like this, like Propper. Propper is also a very good passer of the ball, while De Roon is better in the personal duels. Van de Beek however, is a different player. He also wants to penetrate and run forward. I can’t have this with Frenkie exposed. It is that simple.”

People here think Nathan Ake could be a better alternative than Blind. Could be. There is no evidence that he will. Ake is a strong header of the ball and a good defender. Blind is not a strong header of the ball, but a tremendous passer of the ball. Here we are comparing apples with pears. Blind is in the team, also because he is used to playing alongside Mathijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong (and Donny van de Beek or Promes should they play). That coupling, as Koeman calls it, is important for the coach.

Stefan de Vrij is seen as a top defender in Italy and the media there can’t understand why he doesn’t play. But Koeman will not bench De Ligt for one bad touch, and select De Vrij. Because if he does this, Koeman will have to be changing the team constantly.

So, Koeman is not going to replace Blind for Ake “because that could work”. Or De Vrij for De Ligt. That is not good enough. Blind is the experienced defender who has played most matches since 2014 and that experience will not be foregone by Koeman because he made an error. I think we only had one player in Oranje who hasn’t made an obvious error. That is Frenkie de Jong. De Ligt had a number of howlers.  Virgil van Dijk had one vs France (Giroud’s goal) and so has Dumfries, Babel and all others. Koeman will not replace a player for making a mistake. Football is a game of mistakes. Koeman will replace players only if an alternative has been significantly better for games on end than the existing player.

Now Koeman has to replace Memphis. This will probably make the odds that De Roon doesn’t play smaller. Koeman doesn’t like to change much. I do hope Dumfries will make way for Promes as wing back. Against Belarus (and Northern Ireland) we really don’t need a fourth defender. The space will be limited so Dumfries will not be able to play to his strength.

I would go for the following line up:

Cillesen

Promes – De Ligt – Van Dijk – Blind

Van de Beek – Frenkie de Jong – Wijnaldum

Bergwijn – Babel – Malen

Although I do think Koeman will play De Roon and start with Van de Beek from the bench. Wijnaldum will be #10, but with Memphis missing, I would opt for Wijnaldum in his Liverpool role as holding mid and Van de Beek behind the striker on #10.

The former Barca centre back said recently he does like to have options on the bench to bring in, so if Malen starts, I think Van de Beek will be used as impact player.

Tell me how you would want to see it?

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by Jan

Player Ratings and Future Stars

I had this post on future Oranje players getting ready to go and decided to start with some Player Ratings for y’all, as I am seeing so many Anti Blind comments…. I simply have to respond to that.

Thanks to all for joining in and I am totally ok with discussions and differences of opinions. That is all fine.

But some of you (Wilson being one, Tiju being another) simply keep harping on against – usually – one player. Like a hate campaign. As if that player can’t do anything right. Wilson has it with Daley, Tiju had it with Dirk. I think both had it with Memphis.

We can all safely say that Dirk Kuyt is a Dutch icon. Memphis’ stats are through the roof and Daley is the connaisseur’s player.

Yes, Daley made a defensive error this weekend vs Heerenveen (and they scored) but he also had an array of superb passes. Any coach will take the defensive weakness, as no defender is 100% tight. Look at De Ligt at Juve. Or this weekend Pique allowing two goals at Barca. Just score one more up front, guys!

Again, I am fine with people pointing out the negatives, but I believe it becomes a witch hunt when:

  1. they can’t add anything positive, but just keep on repeating the same old stuff… Wilson on Blind’s defensive weaknesses and Tiju did this with Kuyt’s lack of technique (both are wrong, by the way… Blind is a tremendous defender, but simply slow… Kuyt had magnificent match technique, but he wasn’t a circus artist, like Vanenburg or Davids)
  2. irrelevant things are brought into the discussion (like Danny Blind protecting son Daley)
  3. disrespectful arguments are used (“Sonny Boy” which points to the Danny – Daley family link)

Every player has negatives, apart from a couple world class players we have… That – for me – applies to Virgil and Frenkie. All other Oranje players do have some weaknesses… Memphis, Gini, De Ligt, Blind…all of them.

Coaches tend to pick the team which is able to 1)strengthen each other strengths and 2) compensate each others weaknesses… This is probably why all Dutch NT coaches pick Blind. His weaknesses can be compensated, while his strengths are really needed.

Frank de Boer, Louis van Gaal, Guus Hiddink, Ronald Koeman, Erik Ten Hag… what connects these coaches? Answer: They all rate Daley Blind really high.

Why? Because of his speed and his goals!

Just kidding. They rate Daley really high because of his 1) ability to read the game, 2) his exquisite passing range, 3) his thrifty possession, 4) his positioning.

Erik Ten Hag: “Daley Blind is my extension on the pitch. He sees what needs to happen first and gets the message across to the other players.”

Dusan Tadic (Ajax #9): “I love Daley Blind behind me. He is our Beckenbauer.”

Blind’s last season at Ajax (centre back) is considered to be one of the key performers for the Amsterdam club. By analysts, football commentators, supporters, ex-players and by coaches. The only two people who don’t seem to see this are Wilson and Tiju. Apparently. But who knows? They might have way better insights in football than Van Gaal, Ten Hag and Koeman….

Complaining about Blind’s lack of speed is like complaining about Overmars’ lack of header goals. Or complaining about Bergkamp not stopping any penalties. Or complaining about Dumfries not being able to dribble past 3 opponents. Or complaining about Memphis weak sliding tackles.

We should be grateful to have Blind in our squad, like the coaches are all grateful and most of the Oranje fans are. I’m fine with people not “liking” a certain player… I’m personally not a big fan of Strootman, but I am a huge Oranje fan and I support the lads and the coaches and I would never vomit all this negativity about players without any real substance.

So, lets have a look at our squad.

Jasper Cillesen

Maybe not world class (like Neuer, De Gea or Ellison) but definitely a top notch goalie. Good enough for Oranje. And with Vermeer, Krul, Bizot and Zoet all at the right age and a couple of youngster making their name (Bijlow, Scherpen, Kelle Roos) we should be ok for shot stoppers.

Daley Blind

World class versatile player. Master in reading the game and positioning. Great passing and distribution. He sent Memphis away for a corner and delivered it on Van Dijk’s head, leading up to the 1-2.

Virgil Van Dijk

Needs no further kudos. World Class with capital letters. Will win the Ballon D’Or. Strong. Tall. Quick. Composed. Leader. Concrete. Tower. Goal threat in the opponent box.

Matthijs De Ligt

On his way to become Virgil Mark II. Only 19 years old. Courageous. Tall and strong and quicker than you think. Great build up pass. Needs to develop tactically and in terms of positioning. Looked great at Ajax thanks to mentor Blind (something he’ll miss at Juve).

Denzel Dumfries

Still in development. Late bloomer. Strong body, quick, athletic, tall and good header. Still lacks smooth technique and is probably the weak spot in the current team. Alternatives Veltman and Tete lack the forward thrust Denzel offers. Karsdorp is probably a better option on all counts, bar the header capabilities.

Frenkie de Jong

The brains in midfield. Oozes class. Velvet touches, great dribbles and that winner mentality allowing him to win balls back. Explosive speed. Tremendous vision and courage.

Marten de Roon

Strongholder in midfield. More destroyer than creator. Has had great moments and has had terrible moments. Passing and technique are average. Work rate and tackling is top notch. A water bearer in the team. Good to have in the squad but we should have a player on his spot who can do it all (like Davids, Cocu or Van Bommel before him).

Gini Wijnaldum

Marathon Man. Strong in possession. Fierce without the ball. Amazing mentality and wonderful technique. Works and sacrifices himself without a problem. Needs a cooler head in the box and should score more. Does need too many chances for a goal. Could use a bit more vision to aid the team in the build up, Frenkie-style. When on fire, good for 1,5 player.

Quincy Promes

Jack-of-all-Trades. Good runner with and without the ball. Can score goals. Can assist. Can play alsmost everywhere on the pitch and never complaining when moved from left winger to right winger to right full back. Positive mentality and unpredictable. He is the first to have to worry for his spot with Bergwijn and Malen on the up and up.

Memphis Depay

World class potential, suffering a bit from ego and overconfidence. Can work magic if all goes his way and can be agitatingly annoying when things don’t work out. Sensational right foot. Confident. Cheeky. Wonderful vision and superb ball skills. Strong body as well.

Ryan Babel

The Come Back Kid. Had a great spell in his younger days, with his speed, his hip-shot and opportunistic playing style. Came back from the cold and is more a team player now. Covering the left flank, tracking back, supporting players with dummy runs and scoring important goals. Tremendous work rate and the wise old mentor in the squad. Might lose his spot in the starting eleven but Koeman will probably keep on selecting him due to his off-pitch qualities in the group.

Davy Propper

A light version of Frenkie de Jong. Has similar ball capabilities, has tremendous vision as well and great in the build up. Should score more (like Frenkie!) and lacks Frenkie’s explosiveness and speed. Should be player at a better club as he will definitely play better in a stronger team. Quiet achiever and in my view a better player to start with than De Roon.

Nathan Ake

The perfect 12th man. Can slot into midfield, central defence or left back. Perfect mentality, focused, more than average ball skills, strong header of the ball and great team player. Won’t get into the team as long as De Ligt and Van Dijk are ahead of him but a great utility player to have.

Donyell Malen

Brings something fresh and new. Very quick, with and without ball. The ability, smarts and willingess to make dummy runs and keep the opponent busy. Cold as ice in the box and has eye for the team mate in a better position.

Steven Bergwijn

All round attacker. Quick, good ball skills, dribbling ability and knows how to score a goal. Used as a winger, striker and #10 at PSV, and still looking for his best position. Might be the ideal stand-in for Memphis, or he might push Promes out of the team.

Patrick van Aanholt

Highly athletic full back, covering the whole flank. Defensively vulnerable but strong going forward and the ability to score. Has a canon of a left foot but tactically naive.

Joel Veltman

Versatile player, able to play right back, left back and centre back. Lacks length for the centre back role but still a strong header of the ball. Overall a good player, without any real apparent strengths. Focused and mentally strong. Lacks speed and won’t cover the whole flank. Tough in the personal duels.

Luuk de Jong

Wonderful header of the ball. Courageous and a real leader. Can score goals, but lacks speed and technical skills in the smaller spaces. Useful as pinch hitter, not as a starter. Beats Weghorst in the pinch hitter category. Good in hold up play too.

Stefan de Vrij

No nonsense defender. Fully focussed and mentally strong. Good build up pass and great header of the ball. Not the quickest but also not the slowest. Lacks the “Virgil” charisma but could well be a starter in the Oranje eleven. Keeps head above water as a defender, in the Land of Defenders.

Tonny Vilhena

Again, multi functional player. Can play in all positions in midfield and left full back or wing back. Will warm the bench (like Ake) without complaining. Will always earn his Heineken. Amazing energy and work ethic. Good left foot and tremendous drive. Sometimes over does things with his abundant energy and tends to run with the ball too much. Perfect team player.

Steven Berghuis

Top technical skills, wonderful vision and winner mentality. Lacks speed and wants the ball in his feet. Has a wand of a left foot and tremendous goal scoring and assisting abilities as a result. Lacks body and power at times and loses his temper easily. Still looking to find his ideal spot in the team. Not an out and out winger, but also not a real midfielder. Ideal #10 in a 4-3-3 with two holding mids. Probably never headed a ball in his life.

Justin Kluivert

Prodigal son. Wonderful speed and almost perfectly two footed. Can play left and right up front. Needs to play more consistently and decision making needs to improve (quite normal for a young player). Still a lot to develop but unpredictable and has great confidence and composure. This needs to be his season with Roma.

Kevin Strootman

At times a pitiful picture. Was considered the natural successor to Mark van Bommel and even given the captains armband at some point but two massive knee injuries took the sharpness away and Strootman without the legs to do what Strootman does best is not a good Strootman anymore. Lost his starting spot and might lose his spot in the squad once Van de Beek and players like Rosario or Eijting, Ihattaren and/or Stengs make their way into the squad. With De Roon, De Jong and Propper in the midfield, Strootman will not much longer be needed… Koeman does hail his attitude and leadership off the pitch and will probably not write him off until after the EC2020.

Are there players out there that should be in the squad in place of some player above?

I don’t think so. Wout Weghorst, some say. He would be used as pinch hitter, I don’t think Koeman will pick a team that would suit his “normal” game. And for pinch hitting tasks, I agree with Koeman: Luuk de Jong is better.

Obviously, I am not in favour of taking Daley Blind out. Within months, I do expect Stengs to take Berghuis position soon, while Van de Beek will push Strootman out, I think.

But it takes more than a list of names… It’s up to Koeman to pick the players that form the best team, not necessarily the eleven best players. And to concoct a tactics that works with the players, and offers us the best chance to win, while playing attractive football.

Future Stars of Oranje

We were so spoilt for choice in the past. We had Ruud Geels, Dick van Dijk, Johan Cruyff, Cor van der Gijp and other going for the striker role in the 70s. Or we had Van Basten, Boskamp, Kieft, Gilhaus in the 80, Makaay, Kluivert, Van Hooijdonk, Hasselbaink, Van Nistelrooy in the 90s and the likes of Huntelaar, Van Persie, Kuyt, Robben and more in the 00’s… Where are the world class strikers of today? Weghorst, Dost, Luuk de Jong? Nah… not world class.

Vincent Janssen? Nope. But we do see some amazing talent coming up, able to take some pressure of golden wonder boy Memphis Depay (just look at his stats).

Donyell Malen PSV (20 years old)

The obvious choice, after his amazing run in his first two matches for Oranje and the 5 goals he scored last weekend! Boom! Developed at Ajax, made his way to Arsenal and returned to Holland (PSV) to get some playing time. His key quality: skill in confined spaces, speed and the willingness (!) to keep on making the dummy runs!

Cody Gakpo PSV (20 years old)

Blessed with a right foot like David Beckham. Long legs, good stride. Amazing vision and a cool head. Like with Robben, you know he cuts back to his fave foot but he’ll keep on doing it and he’ll get away with it. Very elegant player, who could well go the same route as Phillip Cocu (from left winger to strong holder in midfield and ending up as skipper at Barca).

Myron Boadu AZ Alkmaar (18 years old)

Lightning quick player at AZ. returning from tough injury, but scoring easily again. Nose for the right spot and cool as ice in the box. Still missed easy chances so needs to work on his decision making. Very likeable chap too. Down to Earth. The real deal, this one!

Mitchell van Bergen Heerenveen (19 years old)

Was 16 years old when making his debut for Vitesse, the youngest player ever (for Vitesse). He ended up warming the bench and made a move to Heerenveen where he is a starter and he plays for Young Oranje. Compared to Robben when he broke through but his key strength is his speed. Mitch is one of the quickest players you’ll see, capable of scoring and providing the assist.

Calvin Stengs – AZ Alkmaar (20 years old)

A highly playful winger, a one-of-a-kind player whose perfect position needs to be found, as Stengs can play central striker (and score), play winger and provide and play midfielder and make the play. Very gifted, great vision, athletic and effective. Missed the Young AZ experience due to a terrible injury keeping him out a full season. Everything is effortless with Stengs and it’s only a matter of time or he’ll claim the right winger role in Oranje, like Ziyech plays that role for Ajax.

Mo Ihattaren PSV (17 years old)

Not a real forward, but an offensive midfielder / playmaker but for me, the most impressive talent since…well…Frenkie de Jong. Ihattaren’s name presented itself already some years ago when he impressed in Oranje under 15 and his reputation keeps on building. Once you have watched him play 45 minutes, you can see what a potential world class player he is. He is young, but he reads the game, plays without fear, has the physique of a 24 year old and has everything to end up at Real Madrid or Man City within 2 years and be a force at those clubs to be reckoned with. The only issues with him: 1) keeping him healthy, 2) keeping him grounded and 3) making sure he will pick Oranje to play for, as Morocco is very keen to enlist his services.

The next pack is on its way….

And there is more coming, in the group just below the lads described above. We know the names: Tahith Chong (19) at ManU. Joshua Zirkzee at Bayern (18), Daishawn Redan (18) at Hertha. Brian Brobbey (17, Ajax) and Naoufal Bannis (17, Feyenoord) impress as well and are on the verge of making more minutes in the first teams.

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by Jan

Oranje nicely on track for Euro qualification

Well, that title had to wait for years to be written again. After a failed Euros in 2012 and a missed one in 2016 (and a no-show at the 2018 World Cup), finally Oranje seems on track to qualify for a big tournament again.

This is mostly good news, but keep reading until the end, as I will finish this post with a horror scenario….

We lost vs Germany at home but got the points back by beating them even better in Hamburg (last Friday).

There’s a couple of smaller footballing nations in our group and every one knows, you can’t win trophies if you don’t beat the small opponents.

And Estonia away is one of those matches. We drew twice against them before (and those were the big highlights in their football history) and Koeman and Co were warned for another deception. Imagine grabbing 3 points in an epic match in Germany and spilling the points vs Estonia!?

The 0-4 was the result of a patient, focused and at times lethal Oranje, with Ryan Babel and Memphis as Men of the Match and special mention for Donyell Malen!

The PSV youngster got his first starting spot, after scoring as a sub versus the Teutons.

Koeman: “When you play the smaller nations, they will make the space limited and we’ll need extra depth and speed to break open their defensive structures. Malen is a player who can do this.”

Malen came in for Promes.

He also selected Propper for the midfield spot, over Marten de Roon: “Davy was a starter before he got injured and he’s proven himself to be a potential starter, like a couple of others in the squad. De Roon’s strength is repossessing the ball. That is what does so well. But vs Estonia this quality is less relevant as we will have most of the possession anyway and I can use a player like Propper more, as he has the same passing qualities and fleet of footness of Frenkie de Jong. Davy plays simple, but he also has an eye for the forward pass.” Propper for De Roon in other words.

The last member of the right flank – Dumfries – was also sacrificed for Joel Veltman. “Veltman has better ball control. Denzel lost possession a tad easy and got us in trouble as a result. We won’t be needing Denzel’s runs forward, as we won’t have the space vs Estonia. So I prefer a more thrifty player, who also has a very good cross, which could be useful.”

Tactically, Oranje set up differently to the Germany start line up. Ryan playing more to the left, keeping the field wide, while Malen was the ideal distractor with his runs, contribution in particular to Babel’s second goal, with a superb run.

It was two defenders with the first opportunities to score, early on. Virgil tried it with a blistering shot from distance, just sailing past the post and Joel Veltman broke the line once but ended up in offside and a second chance came to him when the goalie boxed the ball right towards him. His side-footed attempt sailed over the bar.

It was Frenkie in the 16th minute who found Daley Blind on the left winger position with a nice pass, and the left footed Blind placed the ball with a curve right in that danger zone between defence and goalie, allowing for any hungry forward to have a tap in. It was Ryan Babel, 32 years old but playing like a 22 year old, who was first at the scene: 0-1.

The Galatasaray forward was already one of the better players vs Germany, this time he got his reward. All the potential excitement about the game was gone early in the second half, when Babel scored his second after a great attacking move. Malen set it up, and made a forward run into the box, pulling a central defender away from Babel… Memphis got the ball on the right flank and crossed it in sharply in one go. Babel is not known for his heading skills but he nodded the ball with great composure into the corner: 0-2.

Great stats for the former Liverpool winger, but the King of Stats is still Memphis, who played a super game yet again. He saw a gap, ran into the space while De Ligt carried the ball forward. The former Ajax skipper recognised the opportunity and passed the ball perfectly into Depay’s stride. His first touch was brilliant, the turn was as well and with his left, curled the ball into the corner: 0-3.

The objective was reached. And from that moment on it was important for all to keep their ankles and knees healthy. Late in the game, a fourth goal was scored, Memphis with the assist from a set piece and Wijnaldum nicking the ball from Virgil’s forehead and heading in the final goal: 0-4.

Memphis could have had 2 assists AND 2 goals but he kicked a sitter just next to the post, otherwise his stats would have been even better!

Koeman allowed Berghuis 15 minutes, with Strootman and Luuk de Jong getting playing time as well.

Donyell Malen does deserve a special mention even though he didn’t score and didn’t have an assist. From the first minute onwards, Malen did exactly what Koeman required from him: making runs in behind, even if only 10% of these runs get rewarded with a pass his way.

Usually, the forwards will be facing their own goal (and back to opponents goal) when the opponent parks the bus. Memphis will make runs in behind, and Wijnaldum will attempt this now and then, but with Malen we have a player who will do this all day long. And his running actions will add to the chaos at the back of Estonia and in particular with the 0-2 you can see what the value is of an unselfish dummy run.

There is one aspect though, that will potentially give us all a headache!

Koeman’s contract ends formally in 2020, after the Euros. There is an evaluation moment in the contract, allowing both Koeman and the KNVB to part ways. With all the successes Koeman is having and with the fact that he still has Barca blood in his veins AND the fact he knows exactly how to use Frenkie de Jong, it’s quite likely that Barcelona will knock on his door once Valverde is done and dusted in the Camp Nou.

Examples above and below of the typical runs Donyell Malen kept on making….

And will Ronald Koeman have the strength to say no? Probably not.

He had two dreams as a coach. One, to coach Holland (tick!). And the other, to coach Barca.

Should that second dream be close, he might accept abandoning dream 1 (with a Euro title?) and hop on the Barca-train (to use Koeman’s expression).

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by Jan

Resilient Oranje thrashes Germany

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

NOTE: English highlights at the bottom of this post!

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

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

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

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

Marathon Man Gini

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blissful contributions by Babel

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

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

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

Orange jersey suits Malen really well

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eat this!

And the result of all of this is quite good…

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

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

We worked on our confidence and flow.

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

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

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

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

I will post more on the talent coming up soon!

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

And share your thoughts below!

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by Jan

Another Germany – Oranje…

Dutch football is on the rise. Ajax’ campaign in Europe last season was unheard of. And the resulting interest in some of the Dutch top players a logical next step, with big moves for De Ligt and De Jong, Champions League football for De Roon and Babel, a new adventure for Cillesen in Spain… In the usually so challenging August month, 4 Dutch clubs impressively reached the group stages of the European competitions and Virgil van Dijk was awarded the European Footballer of the Year award… ahead of Messi and C Ronaldo.

All wonderful news. And on top of that, Ajax managed to keep Onana, Mazraoui, Ziyech, Van de Beek, Tadic, Neres and Blind on board with disappointing striker Kasper Dolberg leaving for Nice. Lasse Schone, for years a loyal key part of the different Ajax teams was allowed a final money move to Genua. Ajax’ investments in new players will definitely prove to be a gift for the Eredivisie, with Dutch international Quincy Promes amongst the new signings.

PSV is looking sharp (and young) with Malen, Gakpo, Ihatarren, Dumfries and Bergwijn as regular starters while Feyenoord seems to take shape too, slowly but surely, under Jaap Stam with Steven Berghuis in the leader role and former Oranje players Karsdorp, Narsingh and Leroy Fer back in Holland to revitalise their careers.

And the Dutch flag ship team, the Lions, are set to start their season as well. And why not against Germany? A good opponent to kick the season off with….

It’s the fourth meeting in eleven months. The games were all considered “tactical matches” by Ronald Koeman and in the third edition (2-3 loss), it was Joachim Low who outsmarted his Dutch counterpart.

Koeman is not all too relaxed when faced with Germany again. “They are problably one of the strongest teams around. Forget their abysmal World Cup campaign and forget the victories we had over them in the Nations League. This Germany oozes quality.” Their strength is, their flexibility and ability to change their style mid-game. They have speed and guile upfront, a couple of killer strikers and a lot of movement.

In the last meeting, Koeman went for a 4-2-3-1 system, with Babel and Promes on as striker partners for Memphis.

Holland doesn’t get a grip on the game, though, as Gozetzka is successful in shielding Frenkie de Jong. The movement is too much for Holland’s midfield and Koeman goes back to the 5-4-1 he used in the first victory over Germany.

Quincy Promes played on the wing back spot (as did Babel) and the former generates to opportunities for Babel at the start of the second half. The Germans seem rattled but soon find out that now the space is to found in the axis of the field.

Koeman brings Bergwijn for Promes and changes again: this time to a 5-3-2 and the two striking partners (Memphis and Bergwijn) keep pressure on the German defence and allow the midfield to take more control. Wijnaldum takes on the job to cover Kroos from De Roon and the Liverpool midfielder manages to contain the Real Madrid playmaker. The result is that Germany starts to play the long ball to bypass midfield and as a result, Virgil and Matthijs can play to their strength, winning the aerial battles.

Oranje fights back from 0-2 to 2-2 and it seems another draw is on the cards. A series of communication errors after a number of subs results in players being unmarked allowing the Germans one more attempt at goal: 2-3.

The infamous note of assistant Dwight Lodeweges for coach Koeman

Koeman is fuming after the match: why didn’t he make a final change to make sure the 2-2 wasn’t further endangered. He concluded that the number of players in defensive roles wasn’t the issue, but more the series of wrong decisions made….

A key conclusion after that game is: Holland isn’t as good as we hope / think we are. We still have steps to take. The coach is still important in the changes he makes. When the team gets stuck, it needs the changes from the bench to repair the problem. The next step is that this team (De Jong, Propper, Van Dijk, Memphis) will see what needs to be done for themselves.

For the match coming Friday, Leroy Sane – one of the trouble makers in the last match – is missing with injury. But on the other hand,  Germany has multiple options to deal with this omission as Low is able to use Reus, Brandt, Havertz and Werner he could use to good effect coming from the flanks. We’ll know it 30 mins before the match…

Eight internationals made a move this summer. Lets zoom in and see how they faired.

Ryan Babel – Galatasaray

Babel went from Fulham in the EPL back to Turkey, to play for Galatasaray. After 6 years without a call up, he made his way back into the orange jersey under Koeman. On the left, Babel covers the whole flank, doing his defensive duties and supporting Memphis in attack. Babel played central striker in the first competitive matches and has his first goal already too.

Jesper Cillesen – Valencia

Cillesen was a highly regarded goalie for Barca for 3 seasons but wanted to play every week. And with Valencia, it seems he has that opportunity. His new employer hasn’t started too good but Cillesen was able to stop a spotkick by Denis Suarez and secured the #1 spot (for now).

Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld – Bournemouth

The youngster went from the PSV Academy to NEC in the second tier, because he wanted playing time. After one season, Club Brugge picked him up and now Danjuma made his debut for Oranje and signed a super deal with Bournemouth. Danjuma hasn’t played a minute for Bournemouth as a result of a foot injury. Eddie Howe is frustrated: “We did every single test on him and didn’t find a thing. And now this. We don’t even know how serious it is!”

Frenkie de Jong – Barcelona

The most talked about transfer of the summer. Frenkie had a super pre-season with the club, making an impression. In his first Liga game, Barca loses, partly due to the man marking Bilbao had for Frenkie. He can’t get rid of the marker and needs the help of Rakitic to get some joy on the ball. In the second game Frenkie is the left midfielder in the Betis game where his contributions on midfield resulted in three Barca goals. In his last game for Barca, he plays on the left again but can’t avoid a draw. He had the least contacts of the whole team in that match, a strong indicator that he is not yet firing on all cylinders.

Luuk de Jong – Sevilla

PSV attacking leader and goal scorer Luuk de Jong tried in a bigger competition for the third time. Failed at Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany and Newcastle in England, the Spanish are quite taken with the header specialist. De Jong hasn’t scored yet but was crucial in two instances, and two goals. The Sevilla fans have seen the value Luuk can bring.

Matthijs de Ligt – Juventus

What appeared to be a longwinded transfer soap opera ended with a move to Juventus. Not as predictable as Frenkie’s move, but the young Ajax skipper proclaimed to have been a Juve fan from childhood and a big follower of Italian defenders. Surely, Cristiano whispering in his ear will have helped too. His pre-season wasn’t too great, with some clear adaption issues (and an own goal). He didn’t play in Juve’s first match but got the nod when Chiellini got seriously injured for the top match vs Napoli. His direct opponent scored and according to the ruthless media, De Ligt defended as a girl and was guilty of three goals. Juve did win that match, to soften the blow. Ronald Koeman laughed the criticism away: “I had a horrific start at Barca as well and if you ask the people there today about me, I don’t think anyway will mention my start. Matthijs was at fault of one goal, not three. I am not worried.”

Quincy Promes – Ajax

The young former Ajax talent made his way to the top via FC Twente and Go Ahead Eagles, making his name at Spartak Moscow. His move to Seville wasn’t a success as he was mainly used as stand in for the wing backs. In Amsterdam, they expected the exit of Ziyech, Neres and Van de Beek and they signed the former Russian top scorer early. Now, with the Ajax three signing on for more, Promes started on the bench and even getting a nasty foot injury. He started for Ajax last weekend and managed his first Eredivisie goal vs Sparta.

Tonny Vilhena – Krasnodar

The Feyenoord version of Edgar Davids was named in transfer rumours for years. Bundesliga, Serie A, EPL (Leicester City), they all came and went. For personal reasons (his mom was very ill), Tonny didn’t move away from Rotterdam until this summer and brows were raised when it was Krasnodar. Vilhena scored and assisted one in the shock win over FC Porto in the CL-qualification game. Vilhena plays either left or right midfield for his new club and Koeman knows the youngster can also play left back or left wing back. That versatility is a big plus for Koeman who loves players like him, Ake and Daley Blind who can offer the coach options.

Ronald Koeman claims he has the ideal eleven in his head for the match tomorrow. The full squad is fit as it is and it is expected he won’t change anything in his defence and midfield. The injured Bergwijn needs to be replaced and the experienced Promes is the most logical option.

Oranje is way behind the leaders in the group but this is because of Holland’s Nation League campaign. Winning or drawing vs Germany is not essential but losing does mean Oranje can’t afford a single misstep.

I believe we’ll win this match 1-3, hitting the Germans on the counter, with a key role for playmaker Frenkie and goals for Memphis, Promes and sub Donyell Malen.

 

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by Jan

Oranje: still a lot to learn!

There is a lot of positives to say about this Oranje. A lot of great stuff, good performances, quality talent, etc. So much great stuff to look out for.

But.

We also need to be honest when it was not so good. Or bad.

And the Nations League finals vs Portugal, was bad.

The whole bloody match was pretty bad, from both nations. Portugal does like to play like they did. Their tactical set up is like this. Their DNA is like this. And they do it well. They played better than us, had more shots on goal / target and ended up winning it.

Holland played far below par.

And sure, we will spend a lot of time hailing our boys, talking about the future, the talents, Frenkie, Virgil’s Ballon D’Or, our performance in the Nations League, Weghorst, how tough it was to miss two tournaments, De Ligt’s next club, etc etc but it has to be said.

We didn’t play well. And we need to analyse why.

I normally despise it when after a bad loss or a bad game, players (and coaches) say: “It’s best to quickly forget this game and move on to the next!”.

No, I say. No! It’s important to analyse WHY you lose. Why you played bad.

And I have an idea. I think we lost on three counts.

And two counts are on Ronald Koeman. Our coach.

Yes, he’s excellent. He is experienced. He is well liked by the players, etc.

But he is also old-school. He’s not from the modern generation, like Pep, Tuchel, Ten Hag, Nagelsmann… He’s more like Michels and Hiddink combined.

The  three reasons I think we lost.

The Team needed fresh legs after the England game

We had one day less to prep for the finals. We also played an extra 30 minutes in a tough physical game. Some or our lads came out of a tough and long competition. Ajax, Liverpool, Atalanta Bergamo, Lyon…these clubs played a massive number of games and I think Koeman should have allowed some fresh players to play.

And don’t think I come up with this after the match, I said this before the finals already.

Ryan Babel, 32 years old, played tough matches with Fulham in a relegation battle. He should have been left out. I probably would have picked either Promes or Van de Beek in his place (with Van de Beek in Wijnaldum’s role and Gini playing as a false left winger / midfielder).

Marten de Roon had a tough competition and it was great to see how easy a fresh Davy Propper fitted into the team vs England. Propper didn’t play much in the final stage of the EPL season due to an injury. Why not use his qualities in midfield, vs a team that is used to turn games into chess matches…?

 We were outplayed tactically

Potugal doesn’t play as open as England. They stack the midfield and tactically astute Portugal would always focus on De Jong, to stop him (and Oranje) playing.

For me, the solution would have been using Davy Propper instead of De Roon. We would always win the midfield battle if we would have had one more player there with build up skills (Propper) and – see above – a more midfield style forward on the left, as opposed to Babel. We allowed Portugal to play us like they wanted to play us and we simply didn’t have the physical strength to take them on. This is where Koeman should have been smarter.

Some Players didn’t reach their level and should have been replaced

It didn’t take long for us all to see that Denzel Dumfries was not in great shape. He had a tough game vs England already, but vs Portugal, they allowed him acres of space and he didn’t do a lot with it. Dutch TV showed a clip of highlights lowlights with terrible touches and passing by the PSV right back. Now, don’t get me wrong: I think Dumfries will turn into a great full back for us. He’s strong, quick, tall, he has balls and – usually – a good cross. But when he plays like he did, why not replace him? The best option for Koeman to replace him with? Quincy Promes!

He plays wingback for Seville at times and does so very well. He would have been as vulnerable defensively, ok, but offensively he would have done so much better.

We needed some smart and balls by Koeman and I fear he let us down.

Memphis didn’t have “it” either but Memphis will always be a threat. He didn’t play great vs England but was still able to create three goals!

And obviously, we should spend a lot of time here applauding the lads, applauding the team, the coach, the clubs, our revival into the big time! Of course.

Some lessons from the past Nations League Matches…

Who will assist Memphis upfront?

Memphis Depay was the leader upfront, with three goals and five assists, he was involved in 8 of the last 9 Oranje goals. When Memphis is on song, Oranje has a bite. When he’s not, the wingers Babel and Bergwijn need to step up. The framework is there, but once the creativity on the ball in an attacking sense is faltering, we need Plan B or C.

It’s not Memphis Depay who is the symbol of this Oranje rejuvenation.

It’s Daley Blind. He was seen as a top player in the Ajax youth. Once he stepped up to the first team, there were doubts. He was too soft. Too slow. What position is his? A good player on several positions, but on none of the spots was he the absolute star.

Last season Blind played 17 matches for Man United as filler. His career was on a crossroad. Another EPL club? West Ham? Interest from Italy? Ajax swooped in and paid a lofty sum for the introverted Blind but his Ajax season is symbolic for Dutch football. He played 60 odd matches and was one of Ajax’ best players this season. He was also one of the few Oranje players who played really well vs England and Portugal.

“Daley Blind isn’t a talker in the group, he’s not loud. But he is our tactical brain n the pitch. He sees situations quickest of all. He is always positioned well. I use him on the pitch as my assistant coach. I only need to use a few words and he gets it and deals with it,” says Ajax coach Erik ten Hag.

Blind is a top player, not just tactically, also technically, mentally and physically. He only missed on national cup match vs the amateurs of Te Werve.

He was one of the mid 20 players who were supposed to lead Oranje, under Guus Hiddink and Danny Blind. Strootman, Wijnaldum, Blind, De Vrij, Memphis…

But they weren’t up to it. Then.

Now, combined with new Oranje leader Virgil van Dijk and cocky youngsters like Frenkie and Mathijs, the generation Blind/Wijnaldum is stepping up, just like Memphis has re-juvenated his career.

Frenkie’s threatening and penetrating play was stifled successfully by the Portuguese, but he demonstrated many times before (vs England and with Ajax) how capable he is. He is constantly able to glide away from opponents, he has an eye for time and space and is able to dictate the rhythm of the team. But also, when losing possession, De Jong is a force to be reckoned with. He is quick, he reads the game, he can defend and tackle and most importantly, he is able to perform a technically perfect sliding. Frenkie drives the opponent mad.

And with De Ligt also making his way to the European top, one can only assume that our team will improve as a result. Donny van de Beek might follow while Bergwijn and Cillessen are also nominated to make a move up.

Eleven matches ago, Koeman fielded his starting eleven for the England match we lost. Only four players are still in the starting line up: Van Dijk, De Ligt, Wijnaldum en Depay. And none of them playing on the same position now, as Koeman abandoned the 5-3-2 for a 4-2-3-1.

Strootman started as the vice skipper in Oranje and was one of the pantomime villains under Hiddink/Blind. Today, he’s sixth choice, behind De Roon, Propper and Van de Beek. The midfield issues Oranje had are solved. De Roon is playing CL football next season, while Propper is clearly too good for Brighton and on his way to bigger things: Ajax or another EPL club….

This summer will be huge for Oranje. Koeman has rejected any suggestion that he’d go to Barcelona. He’ll stay. Bergwijn, Promes, Berghuis, Propper, Weghorst, De Ligt, Van de Beek, but also Malen, Kluivert and Weghorst…what will they do?

Lots of questions! I can’t wait for the answers….

 

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by Jan

Oranje’s eye on the prize!

What a season! We saw some incredible football this last season, both domestically as internationally… and we have all the right to be excited about our lads, as our season isn’t even over. Who would have thought: Ajax to progress so far in the CL and two Dutch players lifting the CL trophy, while Oranje is in the race for a real prize as well?

Ironic how the CL finals, between two exciting teams, was so terribly disappointing!

So all the focus is back on Oranje now and the Nations League. Most players are keeping mum about any transfers as they all want to deal with that first trophy first…

So what can we win?

This Nations League is a real prize and reward, for the nation that wins it, but it will not result in a Euro tournament ticket! It’s important to keep reminding people.

The qualification for the Euros is a separate competition and Holland has 3 points after 2 games (win vs Belarus and a loss vs Germany). As Holland won the Nations League group, we are entitled to play offs should we not qualify organically. That play off ticket has nothing to do with the upcoming games though.

Prestige and money are the only things at stake now. Today, the Nations League doesn’t mean a lot, but in 1960, when the first European Championship was played, that didn’t mean much either. In 1960, there were only four nations competng. And the Soviet Union won it. But, today that tournament is a big thing and the Soviets are really in the history books. This Nations League might grow into something like that too and why not win it if you can?

The Dutch FA has already made 4,5 Mio Euros by reaching this level. We can earn another 6 Mio Euros if we win the whole thing. We can also add more coefficiency points for Dutch football if we do well, that is also important!

Oranje will go into the games (England on Thursday evening and the finals or losers-finals on Sunday) with a lot of positive vibes. Ajax did ever so well. De Roon and Hateboer will be buoyant, Gini and Virgil obtained legend status, and for most players, the season prior was really good.

England will have a mix of disappointed and tired players (Spurs) and confident players (Chelsea, City, Liverpool). Overall, England might be a tad more leggy, as all their players do play in the toughest league and most also played a World Cup last Summer… That might just be the difference.

Oranje will be fresh and eager, England might be a bit more tired. We’ll see

Fact is that coach Southgate has done really well with his young squad and he’s moved away from the 5-3-2 he used against Koeman’s Oranje in the first match the former Barca Snowflake coached for us (lost 0-1). England is now all 4-3-3 with speedy forwards (Santo, Sterling, Rashford), a strong hold up player / target man in Kane and offensive full backs.

Koeman will most likely play the 4-2-3-1 to counter the Poms and it’s highly likely that Gini and Virgil will start.

Ronald Koeman was briefly the topic of a debate in Holland, when news seaped through from Spain that Barca might be eyeing the former defender as the new head coach. Koeman always said it was his dream to one day coach the Catalonians. But, he also said coaching Oranje was his dream, so… Only two days ago, he ended the debate, saying that he gave his word to the KNVB and will not abandon Oranje mid project. Good on him!

“It’s about time we start and play a match. I am getting antsy. We had time with half the squad in Zeist, we went to Portugal to prepare too. Everyone is keen and fit and we can’t wait to finally start the game. Virgil and Gini will start, they won’t feel any fatigue or knocks, not after winning the CL. And yes, I will have to disappoint some lads. That is what it is. It’s the job. If I couldn’t do this, I would be fit for a coach,” Koeman said.

And he went on: “We are looking good. I think as a squad we made progress, we play well together and we can play different systems. The players all have developed further individually as well and the spirit in the team is excellent. We are keen, we are hungry and we know who we are, again. England is a touch opponent though, as they are not much different from us. Young players, creativity and flair, they are hungry too and are capable of playing different styles and systems. I think England will be one of the favorites to win the EC 2020 actually.”

Koeman is positive. “I think we can beat them, sure. We didn’t have to lose against them two years ago, even. And we only got better and we are very eager. If you win and things go well, you don’t feel the fatigue. In 1988 I won the European Cup with PSV and we went on to win the Euros too. Yes, it’s a long season but you live for this sortathing.”

Mathijs de Ligt is constantly asked about his future. The young Ajax skipper has decided to keep his mouth shut until after the Nations League. Rumours abound, of course. Koeman: “This lad.. he’s only 19 years old but plays like a 25 year old. The sheer fact he is captain of Ajax and has players like Schone, Tadic and Ziyech who allow him to lead, that says a lot. And he’s smart. Eager to learn and to keep on doing extra work. I have talked to him about his future, yes, but that remains between us. I just hope he moves to a big club, he’s ready for it.”

England midfielder Declan Rice caused some controversy when he said earlier in an interview that he will stop Frenkie de Jong from playing “even if he has to get dirty”. Koeman doesn’t think England will resort to negative play though. Koeman: “I think he didn’t mean it literally. I think he simply talks about maybe man marking Frenkie. There is no real opportunity for dirty play anymore as there will be a VAR anyway. But if he means physical, I think Frenkie won’t mind, as it will give him opportunities. And we have players who can hold their own in that kind of play.”

It is going to be interesting to see who Koeman will use… He usually sticks to the core he has. As we saw with the squad… A player like Weghorst will have to do a lot, to replace Luuk de Jong. That is part of how Koeman works.

With Donny van de Beek having such a sensational season, a lot of people expect Koeman to replace De Roon with Van de Beek. I am not sure. Playing England will probably mean Ronald will want to make sure the balance is right. I can see Van de Beek starting from the bench, and once we reach the finals vs Portugal, he might decide to use Van de Beek. Portugal will probably play reaction football and we might not need the extra “destroyer” in midfield.

On the other hand, hardworking and dynamic Donny might be the right man to cover the left flank, should Sterling play there. To assist left back Blind.

I think we’ll see Cillesen in goal, De Ligt and Van Dijk centrally in defence. We’ll probably see strong, tall and quick Dumfries on the right and Blind on the left. We might see Donny left on midfield, with Frenkie centrally and Wijnaldum on the right… Upfront, I’m pretty sure Promes will play on the right (more in a controlling role) and Babel and Memphis a bit more forward.

Next post will be about the England game… I do have quite some good stuff awaiting you: interview with Donny, interview with Ten Hag and some more goodness…

Below, the interview with Koeman before the England game we lost, 2 years ago… With some old footage and subtitles..

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by Jan

Oranje and blog are back!

Hi all, my deepest apologies for leaving you by yourself for so long… It’s just life, I guess. Work was crazy and on top of that I relocated from the most Westerly point in Australia to the most Easterly point. As if you go from West Ireland to East Ukraine. It always takes its toll.

But with Oranje back, so am I. I hope you didn’t miss me.

Lets dive in!

In the past months we have seen some incredible progress in our players, and our teams. Really good to see how Van Bommel is injecting PSV with some venom, and with a lot of young exciting players! Also just amazing to see how Ajax is doing in Europe and how the international media and football world is paying attention.

At the same time, our lads abroad are establishing themselves well, with an exception here or there (Memphis in Lyon). But Cillessen, De Vrij, Virgil, Wijnaldum, Ake, Klaassen, Promes, our lads in Italy, most players are doing really well!

And the optimism around this Oranje is well deserved. We have been winning again and we see players with smiles on their faces. That is what we want.

The 4-0 win over Belarus was exactly what the doctor ordered. And it allowed Koeman to put some sharpness into the team by criticising them afterwards. Typically something he borrowed from JC, Van Hanegem and Van Gaal. When the team disappointed and the fans are down, you build them up. When the team cruised past an opponent, scores goals and excels in backheels and trickery, you talk them back down to Earth.

Because…. Germany is waiting!

In this qualification series, Germany and Holland are the two main contenders. So, winning once again Germany and simply winning all your other matches will get you safely to the first Pot of the Euro draw.

Koeman decided not to tinker. He thought the De Roon / De Jong partnership worked well and decided to start Propper off the bench. He also believes in the triangle of Babel, Memphis and Gini with Bergwijn as the free wanderer in the Promes role.

Oranje started on the front foot and Man of the Match Memphis scored within the first minute after a sloppy backpass. The Lyon striker still had a lot to do and took on the goalie, to finish off with a curvy snooker shot, inside post: 1-0.

The 2-0 was set up by Wijnaldum. He took the ball under pressure, found a free runner on the right and it was Dumfries who had the pre-assist, crossing the ball to Memphis, who backheeled it into the path of Wijnaldum again: 2-0.

With more than 30 mins to go in first half, Koeman wanted his team to be more business like and kill the game off. “I wasn’t happy in the break. I saw a confident and cocky Oranje, but it wasn’t time for gallery play. With 2-0, they can always get back into it, with a lucky deflection or something and then it is game on. You need to kill the game off: 3-0 before the break. Then 4-0 after the break and then you can play your backheels. I don’t think this stadium (Feyenoord stadium) ever saw this many tricks in one match!”

Memphis is one of the leaders of this new Oranje. Koeman made that clear when he started and he will not share in the doubts, expressed by Lyon’s coach. “Memphis is remarkable. He is top class and I don’t doubt him at all.” Koeman has the frame of the team in place, and he will be very happy indeed. Jasper Cillessen is in top form, even if he is #2 at Barca. De Ligt and Van Dijk are world class, Frenkie is key and with Memphis we have a forward leading the line with all his specific qualities. He can shoot from distance, he can dribble, he can pass and move, he can find the killer pass… He is the total package.

Around that axis, Koeman has wonderful options. Bergwijn or Berghuis. Different type of wingers. Then there is Promes. Babel. The two youngster Dilrosun and Danjuma and more coming through swiftly. In midfield, Propper, Klaassen, Vilhena, Van de Beek, Rosario and more in the ascendency. And the same can be said for our backline. Nathan Ake and Stefan de Vrij are our benchwarmers. That tells the story.

For the Germany game, Koeman had to call up Hans Hateboer of Atalanta. Dumfries is not 100% and Tete had to leave the pitch vs Belarus (after coming on as a sub) with a hamstring issue. I can see why Koeman wanted Hateboer over Janmaat, to take on Sane. The mercurial left winger of City is the biggest danger (with Reus) and Janmaat probably lacks the speed and defensive nous to deal with Sane. But with Dumfries not 100%, I think I would have called Janmaat anyway.

So far so good! We’ll probably see almost the same 11 play against Germany, as Koeman will want to work towards a team with some solidity. De Roon was taken off vs Belarus as he was yellow carded but I do expect him to be in the team again, as an extra safeguard in midfield, so Frenkie can play with some more freedom.

 

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by Jan

The Big Ronald Koeman interview

It’s a tradition. Every last week of the year, this blog has an in-depth one on one with the most important man in Dutch football: the NT manager.

This is also my way of saying: Happy New Year and thanks for following the ramblings on here… It’s highly appreciated.

At the bottom of this blog post you’ll see a video with the highlights of this Oranje year.

I’ll follow this post with some nice predictions for the year to come.

Until then, please drink a lot of alcohol on New Years Eve and then enter an amount in the paypal option on this blog to support another year of the Dutchsoccerblog and press “DONATE” so I can also buy food and water for New Years Eve….

For Ronald Koeman, 2018 was the Year of the Resurrection. 2019 is the year we will really have to show what we are worth. Thanks to the AD Sport papers and VI Pro.

The big photo on the table shows a group laughing and cheering Oranje players. Young lads celebrating the second goal vs France, Depay’s Panenka. The goal scorer is the beaming centre of the grouphug, with Frenkie de Jong, Tonny Vilhena, Virgil van Dijk and Daley Blind as his rays. Matthijs de Ligt is seen in the background. Koeman looks at the photo and smiles: ” This is what we aimed for when we started. Have fun, enjoy yourself and radiate happiness to be part of the Oranje team. And all this, is visible in this picture.”

The photo does summarize the year Oranje had. The resurrection, the new swagger. Four wins, four draws and only two defeats in matches against top nations. And the first spot in the difficult Nations League group. “No, I didn’t expect all this,” says Koeman. “If we would have lost 6 games, it would not have been odd. That was a scenario I worked with as well.”

Koeman is at the KNVB Sports Centre, the new home of Oranje. After the abysmal results with Hiddink and Danny Blind, not qualifying for two major tournaments, Koeman decided to bring his squad to the forest in Zeist, as opposed from the holiday seaside town of Noordwijk. “I spent two to three days per week here. They had the KNVB Christmas drinks thing the other day, obviously I felt I had to be present for that as well. As a kid, 13 years old or so, I came here with the North Region rep team and also later with the Oranje squads. This is the hub of Dutch football. The facilities here are good but not as luxurious as what some top clubs offer their players. It’s quite impressive what is happening at Man City, Liverpool, Everton and Barcelona. We can’t offer that quality yet, so I had my doubts… How would the players respond to what can be seen as a step back, but the players actually loved it. There is more bonding going on, they tend to spend more time together playing games, and having fun. In Noordwijk, we had this one floor in the hotel but that place was so big, you could easily decide to be alone and not see other players. When you wanted to hang with another player, you really needed to coordinate that. Here, the rooms are closer, the communal areas are in the middle, you constantly see each other and have those impromptu little circles going on, players talking, playing cards, checking moves out, etc.”

Does this generation need that?

“Well, it’s mainly good for the image of the team. People always say “they make so much money and they don’t really work for it”, but these lads are focusing on football 7 days a week. The programs they run through, the nutritional aspects, the body work, it’s so different compared to my time as a players. In my days, we had Jan Molby at Ajax. His warming up was shooting 20 balls on goal. That’s it. Today, that would be unthinkable. So, this environment is the right one for the way the players today work, live and operate. I can’t see any other sport being more intense than football, as it used to be…”

What are your thoughts re: Memphis, the central figure in this photo?

“It definitely applies to him too. He does everything for his sports. We all had the idea, me as well, that he was a bit complacent. I met him in Liverpool when I wanted to get him in on a loan deal from Man United. And ever since that meeting, my view on him changed. I really feel a click with him. I mean, yes I see the Instragram clips and think, oh well… That cigar wasn’t needed for me, but at the same time, I think…so what? Leave him be. Players these days are constantly in the spotlight. Whenever they go out for a drink or a meal, it’s going viral on the net. So if Memphis enjoys doing those little clips: fine. Let him.”

In the past, you clashed with the young Wesley Sneijder and Rafa van der Vaart. This is now the more experienced coach talking?

“Yes, I guess. I was a young coach back then and I wanted to project my ideas, my values onto these lads. I was too rigorous in that, yes. Coaching is an experience craft. I have learned to see that everyone is different and that younger generations are different.”

The current Oranje players are of the same age as your kids. Doe that help?

“For sure! My kids love following Memphis and the others on social media. They are used to it, and it’s part of today’ sports culture. So yes, I sometimes check in with my kids to ask their opinion about things, and at times they simply tell me what they think and I can see more and more how things work for the younger generations.”

Ronald Koeman is not just the NT coach, he is now also the figure head of Dutch football and spoke at the NL Coach Congress recently, using an example of what happened at Ajax – Bayern Munich… “I used it as an example, but Bayern coach Kovac had two experienced bench players, Hummels and Martinez and he let them warm up in the second half, for at least 20 minutes. He needed something to happen, as Ajax was in front. When he finally wanted to use his third sub, he turned to Renato Sanches who was sitting on the bench. He hadn’t done a warm up. He used him, and Sanches went onto the pitch cold. I watched Hummels and Martinez, who looked at each other with confusion and a wry smile. That sort of thing has an effect. On the coach, on the vibe in the squad, the mentality of these older players, the hierarchy. Lets just say, it wasn’t smart of Kovac to do it like this. These are the little things that can work against you in terms of player support and team spirit.”

Wat did you do to re-establish a new hierarchy with Oranje?

“That happens in a natural way. Memphis doesn’t want to be the designated leader but he leads due to his way of playing. Virgil is a natural leader because of his age and his position on the pitch, his charisma and experience. Gini Wijnaldum, Jasper Cillesen and Kevin Strootman are key players as well. They play at big clubs, they’ve been around and share their experiences. And the technical staff is also about clarity. If things are unclear, we want players to speak out. If things are not clear, players get nervous.”

Was it important too that dominant personalities like Robben, Sneijder and Van Persie are no longer part of Oranje? Wijnaldum mentioned something like “a gap in the squad”?

“I guess so. But for clarity’s sake: I have asked Robben in the early phase of my role here, to come back to Oranje. He is still so good. But yes, with the big lads gone, there is space for the younger players to step into that space and show what they are made of.”

And with the rise of talents like De Ligt and Frenkie de Jong, the jigsaw puzzle suddenly seemed complete?

“Ha, I read somewhere that this coach has a golden dick, hahaha. But yes, a coach is only as good as his material and these two are really good. I actually spoke to Pep Guardiola about both, some while back. He is completely smitten with midfielders like Frenkie and he wanted to know everything about him. Frenkie has really made a contribution to Oranje. He is biggest quality, is that he can postpone his decision on the ball, just another couple of seconds so he can give that pass that another player wouldn’t be able to give. And everyone goes: damn! That was amazing.”

About the past couple of years… we thought our football was in crisis. Was that a knee-jerk response? Were we really that bad?

“Well, something had to happen for sure. We need to do more to get to the top. In Holland, we always thought that with our talent, we just need to play some good football and then we’ll get there. But the nations in Europe and beyond have learned as well, and developed. Countries like Iceland, Wales, Uruguay, Japan, Australia are no longer walk-over nations in football. It’s the same at club level. Look at Ajax in the past 10 years in qualifications of the CL tournament! It has become harder on all levels to get to the top. Belgium was a nice example for us. They can play re-action football like they used to do, and use the turnaround moments, but they can also dominate and play the “Dutch way” for lack of a better term. They are flexible within their format. I like that. And like Belgium, we have the players to do both, as well. And in 2019, we will face Germany again, for the Euro qualifications. I’m already thinking about how to approach those games.”

Oranje went from underdog to the favorite again. 2019 is a year with heavy expectations.

“I do wonder, if we can extrapolate the way we played this year, to next year. We will start vs Belarus and can we play like we did this year, against a ultra defensive team? Can Memphis be as important? Or, do we need to use Luuk de Jong as central striker and make some changes? We never had to do this as we only played strong, domineering teams but I do realise that in 2019, it really starts. I wouldn’t have minded another friendly before we start for the Euro qualifications against an opponent like Northern Ireland.”

Some players dropped in the hierarchy. Kevin Strootman seemed to have lost his starting spot. How do you deal with that?

“Well, Kevin will be part of the squad as long as I see that he wants to be. He’s important for the group, he’s in the players council. I will always check the dynamics of the players on the bench. Do they celebrate goals of the team or do the join in after a won game? That sort of conduct is taken into account.”

You once mentioned how Rinus Michels decided to take players like Hendrie Kruzen of FC Den Bosch and Wilbert Suvrijn of Roda to the Euro1988, as they were players happy with a bench role and still giving 100% at training. Does that influence your way of thinking?

“Absolutely. You have to take personalities into account. And particularly at a big tournament. You are so close for weeks. Look at Belgium again: Nainggolan wasn’t part of their squad. Judging from a distance, I suppose it has to do with hoe he deals with not starting a game. In our case, the Euros are still a bit away. A lot can change. Transfers, injuries, development of players. Take Promes, he started as a wing back at Sevilla! That could be an interesting development for us.”

Did you also ignore players in your selections to give them a sign?

“Yes, take Steven Berghuis of Feyenoord. He is a great player. With the ball. Without the ball, he needs to do more. I saw him recently play against PSV, and he was fantastic. That is what I want to see week in week out. He knows this.”

Now you’re back in Holland, after a number of years in England… Is there anything you like from what you see here, in our competition?

“Holland will always bring talent early. Recently, Orkun Kokcu at Feyenoord. 17 years old. In England I have Ward-Prowce, who was a bit older but our board said: he can’t play more than 10 games per year. In England, they see young players as a risk. We don’t. And I’m certain that in 10 years time, we’ll have the next De Ligt or Frenkie de Jong, chomping at the bits.”

You worked at the top 3 in Holland. Which club do you think is the hardest one to manage?

“I have to say Ajax. I think particularly today, with that trophy drought. Ajax invested heavily into more expensive players as well and sacrificed Keizer and Bergkamp. The pressure is on there. And Ajax always has several streams of important people behind the scenes, trying to pull strings. It’s always a difficult club. They also want to see attractive football. When De Boer won his fourth title in a row, he was criticized for the boring play. That would never happen at PSV. PSV is different. Similar top sport climate, but more a gentleman’s club. Whereas Feyenoord is hard because of the lack of resources and the enormous expectations and hunger of the Legion but the love and support of the Feyenoord fans is undying. So I have to say Ajax.”

It’s good for Dutch football to see Tadic and Blind back in the eredivisie, right?

“Absolutely. I worked with Tadic at Southampton and I saw what he did for his fitness, his rhythm. He is so fit and strong and has a great mentality. It’s so good for the youngsters to have him, for at Feyenoord to see Van Persie and before him Kuyt. The young players will learn a lot from that.”

You mentioned something you picked up from the Dutch women’s team…?

“Yes! I wasn’t even NT manager when it happened. I was invited to give them their award some while back, best sports team of the year. I said I loved to see them, and that their appeal was so broad because they clearly had fun. They played with a big smile on their face. And they are accessible and down to Earth. I think supporters like that. And when I compare that with the internationals I had at Southampton and Everton… They’d return from their Oranje stint and I didn’t see any enthusiasm.”

You turned it around quickly.

“But that isn’t my work. It starts with the players. And they are being developed and coached daily by the club coaches. By Gio, Mark van Bommel, Erik ten Hag, etc. I also realised that Danny Blind and Guus Hiddink had a lot of bad luck. And I don’t mean that Bas Dost goal vs Sweden, alone. Also all that drama at the KNVB, with the technical director, the decisions made by the board, assistant coaches leaving, there was no consistency, no positive vibe and when it storms at the top, when you’re on the ground you will feel the rain and get wet. The whole vibe around Oranje was negative.”

Did it all turn around? Or do we still need to make structural changes?

“The times we live in are different. This applies to society, but also to football. In the past Robben or Rep or whoever was our winger, could take 10 mins rest per match. Stay up and wait for that stray ball. Today, wingers are the first defenders. The physical demands are so much higher now. I am not sure if we have incorporated that into our development and you could even say, that culturally, we don’t like doing this. We seem to be a complacent and lacklustre, in general. Listen to all the players that make a move to a bigger competition. All of them, no exception, will tell you: wow, they work so hard, the training is so intense, we don’t see a single ball in the pre-season, it’s just running and weights…. That is such a clear signal to me.”

These days, the laptop coach is making his way. Using stats and simulations… do you work with this?

“Yes, you will always find ways to incorporate it, but it’s not leading for me. The interpretation is key. We had a lot of this at Everton. We played Chelsea and I took the stats and saw that Diego Costa made significantly more runs in behind than Lukaku. And we constantly had to go with him. So I used this in my prep with Lukaku: look mate, this is Costa, and this is you!”

“But the essence of coaching, is management of people. We have 20+ top players. All alpha males and they all need to go into the same direction. They all have their own ideas, they all have invented it and they know everything better. And to lead that, you can only do that by creating a bond with them, a mutual understanding.”

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by Jan

German victory for Oranje…

Oh the irony… Gary Lineker once defined football as a game “between two teams of eleven and at the end of the game, Germany wins…”. Last night, Lineker tweeted: “Who ever said that doesn’t know a thing about football”…

We can immensely enjoy the result vs the Germans and we are clearly not alone. The English can always appreciate a good German thumping.

And what a hammer blow it was. Because let’s be honest: we didn’t deserve it. Germany played well. Didn’t have a big game 4 days ago. Played at home. Nothing to play for, but their coach and their reputation. Low fielding a number of highly talented youngsters and they took the game by the neck.

Good goals, good attacks, lots of movement and the right tactics.

The Germans populated the midfield. In their 3-4-3, Holland had trouble taking on their midfield and was second best on all levels. The only thing worse than Oranje was the pitch. Terrible surface, not doing us many favours.

But we got the draw in the end, and we won the Division A, a group where criticasters believed we had no right to be in. And would never be able to top. While only 5 months ago documentaries were produced to show how terrible the state of football was in The Netherlands and how every expert (bar some) proclaimed how Holland needed to go to Germany or France and learn from their ways of working. Because we lost our edge and didn’t know what we were doing…

And very untypical for the Dutch, we now got the wind in our back and where everything turned against us under Hiddink/Blind, under this coach, everything seems to fall in its place. The Germans could have scored 3 more but failed. And we were able to grab the point we needed in German fashion right at the death.

Euphoria and joy, after 94 minutes.

But pointing fingers, screaming and gesticulating after 20 minutes. Ronald Koeman sees how badly his team started. Lethargic. Slow. Lack of communication. Wijnaldum picks up the signs from the desperate coach and receives instructions. He brings the messages to his team mate, but not much improves. In the first 20 minutes, we concede two goals, only have 40% possession and did not have a single opportunity to put Neuer to work.

Stats that do remind us of the Hiddink/Blind era. Koeman had to go for Plan B. Which was Luuk de Jong as target man and Virgil van Dijk as his partner striker.

That tactics was handed to Koeman, on a little note. “I didn’t come up with this. Apparently my assistants Kees van Wonderen and Dwight Lodeweges were talking in the first half how to force a beakthrough. They gave me this during the second half and we went for it.”

The comeback does fit the trajectory Oranje is in, under the new coach. He’s pragmatic, he can switch systems, created a good vibe between the players and he makes his own luck.

Germany starts with an aggressive tactics. Three forwards, playing close together, with two wingbacks playing high up. And one v one at the back. The four midfielders had the better of the Dutch midfield and in particular De Roon on the right hand side was constantly forced to decide: do I press high and take on Kroos or support Tete and allow Kroos space to penetrate? He did both and in in each scenario was Germany able to score. The central defenders weren’t capable to press up, as the third forward would have a free run into space. In the second half, partly due to injuries (Dilrosun and Babel), Koeman switched it with pushing Frenkie back as centre back and using a 3-4-3 to mirror Germany.

Promes scored Holland’s first from a central position. “The coach told us in the half time break, if we don’t concede anymore and score 2-1, we will go and make it 2-2. He was right.”

Promes played as Steven Bergwijn was injured (ankle) and wasn’t in the selection. Dumfries wasn’t 100% either so Koeman decided to switch the pair. Tete, considered a better defender than Dumfries, was brought in, in particular to take care of Sane. The Olympique Lyon defender had a bad night as Sane showed Low why he always needs to play.

The Man City player demonstrated his quality with the 2-0, when he slipped away from De Ligt and got a lucky deflection to score 2-0. Holland really didn’t have a lot to say. The only opportunity we had, was a header by Sule on a Blind cross, which cleared the bar.

In the second half, Germany kept on going where they left off. Wijnaldum played an invisible match and was subbed for the energetic Vilhena. Holland started to play a bit more ballsy and with Luuk de Jong for the unfortunate Dilrosun, there was a swagger coming into the team. The Frenkie de Jong block tackle on Sane’s attempt, followed by an excellent shot by Memphis on the German goal gave us a snippet of what was to come. In the 86th minute , Holland was patiently trying to find an opening when Luuk de Jong laid off to De Roon who passed into Promes. The Sevilla man used the body of Hummels as a shield to curve the ball into the corner: 2-1.

The final minutes were electric. Koeman pushed Van Dijk forward next to De Jong and it was the energy and belief of Vilhena, who played well as a sub, which kept the ball alive. He took it off Kroos’ foot, dribbled close to the corner flag to whip it in with his powerful left. Kimmich got a nothing header flick on the ball, making it a tad harder for Virgil, but like Marco van Basten, he volleyed the ball brilliantly out of reach of Neuer: 2-2.

And so: Holland wins this Group 1, and will go to Portugal next summer, with Portugal, England and Switzerland.

Not a fantastic performance, but an exhilarating battle all the same. Van Dijk was the hero, but we did see more good performances. I thought Blind was important, with his composure on the ball and his experience in the final minutes of the game. Frenkie didn’t shine as per usual, but again demonstrated guile and elegance. De Roon for me was one of the key man in the team. Totally understandable why he’s on the pitch, but I do think he’ll have to battle for a spot with Davy Propper.

Promes, Memphis, Babel, they were ok. Worked for the team, were threatening. Wijnaldum and Tete appeared to have a bit of an off day, while Vilhena and Luuk de Jong both had a great turn in the team, lifting the energy and belief.

Add Dilrosun, Danjuma, Van de Beek, Rosario, Bergwijn, De Vrij, Ake, Janmaat, Van Aanholt, Propper, Klaassen, Berghuis, Kluivert and there is quite a solid squad in the making.

We can have closure this year, knowing that despite missing the World Cup, Dutch football is back at the top. We have it all to play for with a very young and talented team and a pragmatic coach who taught us what winning is again. And who made us remember how fun it is, to win.

Now lets win that Nations League next year, as the money the KNVB makes at that tournament can be put to good use, to help clubs with artificial pitches in Holland to throw these out and go back to grass again. How it is supposed to be.

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