Tag: Elia

May 12, 2018May 12, 2018 by Jan

Season end musings…

Crunch time in most leagues now. It’s the business end of the football season. Some trophies are handed out already, many still have to find an owner. And yes, I do think qualifying for EL football or not being relegated counts as a trophy too.

Let’s face it, the work coaches like Stijn Vreven (Nac), Fons Groenendijk (ADO Den Haag) and Mitchell van der Gaag (Excelsior) have done at their level might well be more impressive than what Cocu has done at PSV or Pep at Man City.

In these last weeks, there will also always be fascinating rumours of players coming and going of course.

The key news for us Oranje fans is the prelim squad for Oranje’s next two friendlies.

No big surprises for me. It’s nice to see Elia back in the prelim, as he is playing very well for his Turkish side (still in the title race) while Memphis might well start centrally, like at Ol Lyon. Allowing for another left wing player to join in.

Kongolo back in the squad is logical too. He’s holding his own at Huddersfield, who are safe now in the EPL. And he can play on three spots in the NT if needed.

A bit like Daley Blind, who’s also present and might make the definitive squad as Koeman will rely on him moving forward. Purely based on his recent performances, he doesn’t belong in the NT (as he didn’t have any performances) but he’ll need some rhythm coming back and he might need a mental boost. Koeman ignoring Daley now might make things worse for the ex Ajax man, who will probably leave United this summer.

The AZ threesome Til, Weghorst and Bizot are part of the prelim squad but I doubt that they’ll make it into the final squad. Koeman also invited some Young Oranje talent to the camp, as some players are still in the fold for silverware or other big decisions. Denzel Dumphries, the assist king of Heerenveen, will join, as will AZ’s Teun Koopmeiners, Groningen’s Juninho Bacuna, Feyenoord goalie Justin Bijlow and AZ’s Thomas Ouwejan.

Potential changes for the Dutch Eredivisie coming season…

PSV

At PSV, it seems Arias might be on his way to Juve, which would be a good move for PSV’s best player of the season. Jeroen Zoet wants to leave too, while TD Marcel Brands is on the hitlist to become Everton’s technical director. The former Feyenoord player has had a massive run as TD for RKC, AZ (won the title with Van Gaal) and now eight years at PSV.

Ajax

Van der Sar, Overmars and Ten Hag will stay on but heaps of rumours are going around for some of the key players. Ziyech wants to go and if he plays a good World Cup, he will land somewhere nice. Justin Kluivert has expressed his wish to stay, as his manager Raiola is making life hard for Ajax, in their quest to sign the youngster for a longer spell. He wants Justin to get 1,5 mio euros p.a. and 30% of any future transfer fee. Ajax says NO. Several Italian clubs (AS Roma, AC Milan) are in the race, as is Man United. Mathijs de Ligt can sign everywhere it seems and Man City seems to have the best papers to do so, but Barca and Bayern are after his signature as well. Frenkie de Jong is alleged to sign for Barca this summer, but will remain with Ajax for one more year. Goalie Onana is on hit lists too as is Neres, for whom a German bid of 27 mio euros is in the making. Zakaria Labyad (ex PSV) will make the move from FC Utrecht to Ajax to be reunited with Erik ten Hag. Fortuna’s central defender Per Schuurs already joined Ajax, as did left winger Bande.

Feyenoord

Jorgensen will have the focus during this World Cup and several English clubs are scouting him. Vilhena will want to move away too (Italy?) while Karim El Ahmadi might be in the position to make a big step for the last time in his career, particularly when/if Morocco does well vs Spain and Portugal. There is interest for Sven van Beek too and Steven Berghuis has had a sensational season for a right winger, with several Spanish clubs keen to jump in.

The wonderful performances of AZ will have caught the eye, with Wout Weghorst on his way out and Jahanbaksh (in the same group at the World Cup with Iran as Morocco) will definitely be swooped up (Lazio Roma? Napoli?).

There’s a lot of debate about this on Holland at the moment. Should Kluivert really go already? Is De Ligt really ready? Can Weghorst survive outside of the Eredivisie?

We’ve seen so many “top” players from the Eredivisie struggle in bigger competitions. Alves of Heerenveen for instance, scored for fun in Holland, never made it anywhere else. Kezman, top striker at PSV, didn’t score anywhere else. More recently: Depay at Man United, Janssen at Spurs, Luuk de Jong at Borussia and Newcastle, Van Wolfswinkel at Norwich, the list goes on and on…

There are some good examples too of course. Wesley Hoedt and Virgil van Dijk never played for a top 3 Eredivisie club and they did well. And a bit longer ago: Roy Makaay and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink of course. But Kluivert might do better just hanging a bit longer, as his first season at Ajax wasn’t that sensational.

Let the games begin!

In the meantime, Louis van Gaal claims to have an offer he can’t refuse (no one knows who that might be, but Arsenal fans held their breath when he made the statement), while Dick Advocaat is on the Zenit St Petersburg short list again. Peter Bosz – who played in France himself – is most likely moving to Nice.

In other news, Arjen Robben extended his stay at Bayern, while Belgian magician Luc Nilis will move from PSV to VVV as assistant coach. Stefan de Vrij allegedly signed a 5 year deal with Inter. Hans Hateboer is on the wish list of Borussia Dortmund.

May 6, 2018 by Jan

Memphis: bright star!

Memphis Depay was traveling with the Olympique Lyon Foundation last January, for some benefit dinner for the homeless… They drove past a Roma camp outside of Lyon, a desolate little community of old caravans and rotting huts. Memphis asked the driver to stop. He’d seen this before and was intrigued. This time, he decided to step out of the car and check it out. The Lyon forward started talking to some kids in the camp and asked about their plight. A couple of days later, Depay revisited the camp with several of his friends and went to deliver a huge trailer with clothes and food.

“The Bible says: love thy neighbour like you love thyself,” Memphis says now, a few months later.

This interview wasn’t about the visit to the Roma camp. This interview was about his return to form at Lyon. “I love myself, a lot. So I can love others a lot too. You too, everyone. God created us all.”

When Memphis talks about his faith, he is open and genuine. Spontaneous even. And this takes some time to process, as the street player from Moordrecht is usually stern, unapproachable and aloof. he does mention his faith, on his insta account for instance, but every time a reporter talks to Memphis, it’s a short talk and it hardly ever is about the Bible or loving thy neighbour….

It’s always about his football, his image and his ambition. And in those talks, he’s headstrong, unfathomable and sometimes downright annoying. “God was there for me, always, but I wasn’t always there to recieve. But it has changed. I haven’t changed so much, my personality is the same, but things are added to me, I learned things. I developed. I think I changed for the better.”

And, maybe a coincidence, Memphis is better on the pitch than ever. For months already. The player who seemed to play with a straightjacket on at Man United and in his first months in Lyon, looks like a player liberated. And it shows in his stats: 16 goals, 12 assist. But the metamorphosis is best observed by watching him play 90 minutes. He plays in a free striker’s role, and he plays wonderful and full of confidence. The Dutchman is involved in every goal threatening situation by Lyon and might well be solely responsible for delivering CL football to Lyon.

“I’m playing my best football, ever? I appreciate it. I do think I’m going alright, I’m on the right path, but I don’t know where my ceiling is. No one knows, really. Only God. But I don’t play with fear, with uncertainty. I play without the brakes on and I will get to a new level at some stage. That, I am sure of.”

His tone of voice is completely different compared to our last conversation, at the end of 2015. Memphis was just at Man United for 5 months. He was fired up, he was eager to show his skills and he had a lot of anxiety, impatience and swagger.

Back then, he said: “I’m not sure what it is, but I don’t want to be average. Mainstream is not my thing. You get hit by a car, on the middle of the road, hahaha. And you, my dream was never to become a football. My dream was, to become the best footballer. That is my goal. And I can manage that, the pressure will never squash me.”

But the former Sparta talent did struggle, in the years after. With himself. With the plethoria of tasks he got from coach Van Gaal, playing from the left. If Memphis even played. Under Van Gaal and later under Mourinho, Memphis drifted out of the picture more and more. The confident top talent became a doubter, and this was visible at Oranje as well. He was unreachable, or he was vulnerable, or he was not interested… When he moved to Lyon in January 2017, he made his debut vs Lille with a crucial mistake. Sport paper L’Equipe was devastating in their opinions about him.

Memphis was struggling and his circle started to get concerned. He might have the image of a rapper with a lot of tattoos and gold and a guy with a difficult personality, but the forward is also hyper ambitious and very serious about his game and working extremely hard to reach his goals.

Memphis is working with a small circle of advisers, for years already, such as his manager Kees Ploegsma jr (son of the famous PSV technical director of the 1970s and 1980s) and sport psychologist Joost Leenders. They know his specific character, and his complex background. They looked for different ways to reach Memphis, but nothing seemed to work.

Memphis now: “The people who love me and care for me tell me things that are meant well. I am always polite to people who mean well, but the last years, I have closed myself of a bit. I needed to fully focus on football.”

His current way of celebrating, two fingers in his ears, is the symbol of that. It doesn’t mean he’s deaf for criticism, as some think. He usually does his fingers thing, and then drops to his knees and points to the sky, in thanks. “I only listen to God” is what he seems to say.

“I’m not religious in a way that I go to church or make Catholic crosses. I am fine with others doing what they do. For me, God is everywhere. I have a direct relationship with God, not via a church. God is everywhere.”

His faith helps him. Helps him find a way through the complex jungle that is top football. His fiancee Lori Harvey is the daughter of American tv star and comedian Steve Harvey. The Harveys are a devout Christian family. And Memphis mum was very religious as well. As a teenager, Memphis wasn’t.

“I met someone who showed me the way. I am super happy with this and highly appreciative. Not everyone has that peace, and neither did I when I was younger. I see players go onto the pitch in fear, with fear of making mistakes. Not that I had fear, so much. But whenever I played one or two passes wrong, it would get in my head. And I would think, ok next time, I need to play without risk… I don’t have this now, my head is free.”

The ones close to him saw this changes earlier when he dropped to the bench at Lyon. Usually, he’d drown in his own frustrations, like at Man United, but now, as a sub, he had massive value.

“Against Nantes last week, I missed a sitter. And when you start analysing this, your game will be affected by it. Now I think, ok. I missed. There is heaps of time left for me to set that right. And I was able to. I want to entertain the fans, I want to enjoy myself as well. And it’s not just goals. It’s also assists or dummy runs. That does give me something extra.”

Memphis is in a good space. And it shows. Last, when Oranje came together with Ronald Koeman as coach, Memphis was a happy-go-lucky fella. He was joking around with a reporter, was smiling for his interviews. And debutant Guus Til (AZ) said after the practice session that Memphis had come up to him directly, to bid him welcome at Oranje.

And now, at Lyon, he’s no longer the stern and stoic player we know from the past, eyes down and mumbling responses. He is now calm and positive. “It’s not in my football that I made changes. It’s also outside of the game. I can tell I’m changing. As a human being, I grew just by relying on my faith.”

We will have to wait and see in what way Oranje will benefit from his current form. But for Koeman, it would be golden, as Oranje can use a new key player with special skills. Against Portugal, the new Memphis was already visible.

And funnily enough, that might have been the game that changed the rest of his season, also at Lyon. His coach Genesio was on the stands in Geneva, at Portugal – Holland. He saw Memphis shine as a false number 9 and the next Lyon game, he gave Memphis a similar role. In this new 4-4-2 system, Depay is making a tremendous impression.

“I love playing freely in space, I need to be able to follow my instincts. Not that I don’t want to defend but playing strictly as a left winger is to limited for me.”

His popularity in France and The Netherlands is huge, particularly with the youth. He’s a sort of king on social media, in street fashion and in football. He was the centre of attention recently in Amsterdam, when Under Armour – his clothing sponsor – opened a new store. “I love it, talking with fans. I will take the time for it, and they tell me everything. It’s special. I do love to be alone but at times I have to give back and connect with the fans. And I do realise I can inspire people. I don’t think I’m that special, apart from football, but I will aim to inspire people if they need me to.”

May 17, 2017 by Jan

Feyenoord, finally…. Champions!

Wow guys, I needed a couple of days to emerge again after the celebrations….

“It was 20 years ago today…”, The Beatles said, but it was actually 18 years and 9 days…

The desire and shear need to win the title was humungous in Rotterdam. Once, one of the richest clubs in the world. The first European Cup winner of the country. For decades, the biggest football temple of the country. The largest fanbase and most widely supported Dutch club, with one of the world’s best pitches…

But no title for 18 years! That hurt, in Rotterdam. Traditionally, it was always between Ajax and Feyenoord. In the late 1970s, PSV joined in and the Eindhoven club eclipsed Feyenoord for years.
Ajax has the most titles, that tremendous academy, the most European trophies, produced the likes of Cruyff, Keizer, Van Basten, Bergkamp, Krol, Kluivert and Van der Vaart, but their Hollywood vibe and their Amsterdam arrogance never pushed them to the position of the people’s favorite.

The last 20 years, Feyenoord had its last European success in 2002 under Van Marwijk. Since then, they only won the National Cup twice (2008 and 2016). As a result of consistent financial and technical mismanagement and high risk taking, Feyenoord was almost bankrupt in the mid 00s. A last ditch financial injection by the Friends of Feyenoord rescued the club and with a license losing threat above their heads the likes of Leo Beenhakker, Mario Been and later Ronald Koeman and Martin van Geel worked to turn that beat around.

After having to try and boost the club forward with some older big name players (Van Bronckhorst’s return, Makaay, Hofland), Feyenoord had to resort back to using talent from Varkenoord to survive. Young lads like Wijnaldum, Fer, Biseswar, Martins Indi and De Vrij Feyenoord battled with ups and downs, the infamous 10-0 trashing in Eindhoven being the lowest down of all. Slowly, Feyenoord managed to dig themselves out of a hole, using the money of the sell-out of Wijnaldum and Fer and using smartly scouted loan players and question marks (Guidetti, De Guzman, Pelle, Janmaat, Vermeer, Van der Heijden, Berghuis).

As big bonus, Feyenoord gets to play Champions League football again. This will result in a financial bonus of at least 20 million euros. Still, very needed as Ajax and PSV both have budgets at least 20 million above Feyenoord. The last time Feyenoord played CL football was in 2002/2003 when they competed with Juve, Newcastle United and Dynamo Kiev. And finished fourth in the group.

League leaders since day 1
Feyenoord dominated the Eredivisie from start to finish. The team was number one for 277 days on end. In 61 years Eredivisie, only AZ led longer in days, in the 1980/81 season. Feyenoord is the first team to be league leader in every week match week since Ajax in 11997/98.

Defeat against relegation club
Feyenoord 2017 is the second club to win the title after losing against the club that would get relegated. In 1964, it was Feyenoord managing the same feat, versus NAC.

Experienced titlewinners
The starting eleven of Feyenoord was just short of 28 years old on average. Feyenoord was only older in the 1989/90 season. Only two champs managed to field and older team: PSV in 1991/92 and DOS in 1957/58. Brad Jones and Dirk Kuyt pushed the average up for Feyenoord.

1-0 guaranteed the win
Dirk Kuyt scored the opener vs Heracles after 43 seconds. Which meant the game was played. Feyenoord was the only club this season to never drop points after being 1-0 up. They won 23 games after scoring first. Feyenoord won 26 of the 34 matches. The club record is 27 matches, reached back in 1972/73.

Ajax hangs in to the end
The last 5 times that the gap between champions and runner up was only 1 point, Ajax was always the number two.

Botteghin plays every minute
Eric Botteghin, the Brazilian defender who came to Feyenoord via FC Groningen played every minute this season: 3060 minutes. He is the first Feyenoord player to achieve this since the season 1970/71, when Eddy Treijtel and Wim Jansen did the same.

Only Cruyff older than Kuyt
The 36 year old Kuyt is the second oldest player to win the title with Feyenoord. The oldest champion was Johan Cruyff, 37 years old. This is Kuyt’s first title in The Netherlands, while Cruyff won eight titles before, with Ajax. Only goalies Pim Doesburg (43), Sander Boschker (39) and midfielder Leo van Veen (36) were older than Kuyt, when winning their titles.

Hattrick in championship match
Dirk Kuyt is the first player to score a hattrick in the championsmatch, since Arnold Bruggink who did this in 2000, when he scored three for PSV vs FC Twente.

Van Bronckhorst youngest champion coach.
Feyenoord won the title 15 times in Holland. Five times before the second world war and ten times since. All ten titles were won by ten different coaches. Giovanni van Bronckhorst is the youngest of them all, at 42 years and 98 days.

Jørgensen in footsteps Ove Kindvall
Feyenoord won the title and Nicolai Jorgensen won the golden boot (21 goals). The last time that Feyenoord won it and produced the top scorer was in 1970/71, when Swedish striker Over Kindvall found the net 24 times. The 26 year old Jorgensen is the first Danish player to win the golden boot and the oldest top scorer of the Eredivisie since Pierre van Hooijdonk (32 years old) in 2001/02. Jorgensen is also the most valuable pplayer (MVP) with 13 assists on top of the 21 goals.

This title couldn’t come soon enough for Feyenoord. The club needed it and the loyal fans deserved it.

Feyenoord was consistent, solid and clearly worked with one goal in mind. The team members operated close and as friends, supporting each other when times were rough (injuries Vermeer, Kongolo, the death of Vilhena’s mum). It takes a good goalie and a good striker to win trophies, they say. Brad Jones was a lucky, when Vermeer got injured, Feyenoord needed something. Kuyt remembered his old team mate from Liverpool and tipped Martin van Geel. Similarly, Kuyt met Berghuis this summer and simply said: you should be playing more. Why not come to Feyenoord? And it clicked. Jens Toornstra had his best season ever, Jan Arie van der Heijden, the Ajax reject, had a rough start but became a cult hero and Karsdorp and Kongolo are developing into European top defenders. Dirk Kuyt might have been captain of this team, the real leader on the pitch in football terms was El Ahmadi. The former Twente prospect is the metronome in midfield, with strong challenges and pinpoint positioning play. When King Karim starts the press, the whole team responds.

Will they manage to defend the title next season? Will they be able to make an impression in the Champions League? It depends, on who will go and who will come…

Some issues:
– Kuyt might retire, he’s not clear yet
– Berghuis might be called back by Watford
– Elia says he wants to make one more big move
– Jorgensen is on many a scout’s list
– Karsdorp same
– Kongolo appears to be fragile and injury prone
– Brad Jones will have to make way for Ken Vermeer

Surely, if a player like Jorgensen goes, he’ll cost at least 20 mio euros. That money can be spent on new players, plural. With Ricky van Wolfswinkel a serious candidate for the striker position.

Jean Paul Boetius, developed at Feyenoord, might be brought back in from the cold and Amrabat of FC Utrecht is high on the list to be signed as well… Time will tell if Feyenoord is able to make that step up. Getting to the top is one thing, staying there is another… Next post will be on Ajax!

May 6, 2017May 6, 2017 by Jan

Why Feyenoord wins the title!

Yes, this weekend it will most likely happen, after 18 years of drought. Sure, in 2002 we got the UEFA Cup and we won some national cups, but the title…the best of the country, access to Champions League… A historic year for Feyenoord for sure!

But, we do need to open this post with some words for Ajax. They have seen it all suddenly start to gel together. A bit late in the season giving Feyenoord the lead from day 1 up until the end. But Bosz had to take its time and is laying the foundation for another football miracle. Maybe… Fingers crossed. Who’d expected a Dutch club to reach the finals in a European competition? Earlier this year even, experts on telly and in the Voetbal International magazine repeated their mantra: “We will never have a European champion ever anymore!”. Well, they could well be wrong. In a demonstration of joyful, adventurous football, Ajax brushed aside the likes of Standard Luik, Celta de Vigo, Schalke 04 and hopefully Olympique Lyon as well. So bring on Man United!!

It might well be an even better result than Feyenoord’s title! Although the away game in Lyon might well be more difficult than we all hope…

But we’re allowed to dream, right? Ajax and Feyenoord in the Champions League next season! You’d almost want to ask Ajax to lose their next domestic match just to make sure Feyenoord gets in the CL and Holland can build up their points internationally…

And interestingly, it seems the National Team is in dire straits, mostly due to screw ups at KNVB level, but the clubs seem to have contrarian performance levels. PSV’s season was not great, but only last season they impressed at CL level (and won the title to boot). With youngsters like Karsdorp, Berghuis, Vilhena, Kongolo, Kluivert, Van de Beek, De Ligt, Bergwijn, Ayoub, Brenet, Hendrix, Tete and many others, our future looks quite bright, thank you very much. Add the internationals like Depay, Hoedt, Ake, De Roon and we don’t have too many reasons to be depressed.

Feyenoord deserves their party on the Coolsingel in Rotterdam, where a crowd of 100,000+ people will cheer the champions again. Last season, a dress rehearsal was executed with the National Cup (the pinecone) as the trophy, this year it will be a Shield.

Here is why:

Statistics

The majority (75%) of clubs winning the winter title will go on and win the actual title.

Experience from Kopenhagen

Kasper Dolberg might well be the new superstar striker in Holland with his stoic and ice cool play under pressure. Only 18 years old and destined for greatness. “He is a tremendous prospect,” says his compatriate Nicolai Jorgensen. He is not a prospect. He’s a man, 2 meters tall almost. And he has a string of titles behind him already. “I wasn’t here for those 18 years, so I don’t know what happened. But I’ve learned that if you’re not Bayern Munich, or PSG, you need to fight every match to get the result. And the foundation you lay before the winter. Go into the winterbreak with a lead, makes all the difference. It doesn’t need to be beautiful, but it needs to be strong. When you play bad, you still can and need to win.”

European Exit

In the season 2001/2002, Feyenoord won the UEFA Cup after having to exit the CL competition. Van Hooijdonk quipped: “This is a good thing. We will never win the CL but the UEFA Cup….”. He copped criticism for those comments. Pierre wasn’t motivated enough. But he was right. Feyenoord was able to win the UEFA Cup. Sometimes, not having to deal with midweek European games can have an advantage. Feyenoord’s exit from the Europa League after beating Man United might have been a blessing.

Old Men

Ajax’ fields a team with an average age of 21 years. Exciting! But also inconsistent. It’s the norm in Holland, where Utrecht, AZ, Twente and other clubs use youth to build on. ADO Den Haag is the only team “older” than Feyenoord but the experience of Brad Jones, Dirk Kuyt and Karim El Ahmadi proved to be pivotal.

The Coach

Giovanni van Bronckhorst won a prize in his first season. Finishing third and winning the cup would be regarded as a top performance for any coach, let alone a newbie. And Gio had to deal with a losing streak of seven games, a period he survived, partly thanks to Dick Advocaat. There is no shame in that. He’ll win the title in his second season which starts a nice series maybe for the former Barca star. The CL title next season? Any coach who is responsible for a season with the most goals scored and the least conceded in the history of the club deserves utmost respect.

“It took too long, it will never happen anymore”

Contrarian Co Adriaanse always used this particular statement, when confronted with bad odds for his team. “If it has taken so very long, it just means it’s just around the corner… Statistically, the chance of it happening will increase, not decrease.” AZ and Twente won the title recently, so surely Feyenoord can do it.

You win the title in Deventer

You win the title against the small clubs. And there are more and more small clubs in Holland. Feyenoord took four points against the two major rivals. They can win against any Dutch opponent. Feyenoord lost against Ajax, but that can happen. They also lost against relegated Go Ahead Eagles from Deventer. This clearly shows that Feyenoord’s only real opponent which they need to overcome, is themselves.

Dirk Kuyt

“It starts with belief,” is what Kuyt said when he returned to Feyenoord. Kuyt felt lonely at times, last season. But still, he stood on the balcony with the national cup. When he shows the shield this season to the fans, he’ll go down in history as the man who helped Feyenoord believe in itself again. Kuyt didn’t drop in quality this season. It is the rest of the team that made a step up. And Kuyt is annoyed when he doesn’t play, but he’s also very happy inside to see players like Toornstra stepping up and rising above their usual level. Gio, Elia and Kuyt almost won the World Cup only 6 years ago. These three know, you can only win as a team.

Resilient

Feyenoord does not depend on one player. Kuyt doesn’t need to play. Vermeer can be injured for a year. Van Beek can be absent for a season. And if Jorgensen doesn’t score and Kuyt doesn’t play, Toornstra or Vilhena or Elia will find the net. Hell, even El Ahmadi scores goals this season. And if it doesn’t work with Van der Heijden or Botteghin, Michiel Kramer is brought on to force a winner in the dying minutes.

Friends

Just like in 1993 and 1999 this Feyenoord is clearly a team of mates. When Tonny Vilhena’s mum died, the team had difficulty focusing on promptly lost their next competition match. No coincidence.

Wings

We probably haven’t seen the best of Feyenoord. Elia and Berghuis have not played together that often, as they both suffered from little knocks and injuries. When they both swing, anything can happen. Away vs AZ in Alkmaar, both players were present and showed how powerful they can be with their specific qualities.

Mentality

Feyenoord looks German at times. You only’ve won against them when you can see them drive off with the players’ bus. The number of times Feyenoord overturned a losing scoreline can’t be counted on one hand. They can get knocked down, but they get up again! It’s an un-Dutch thing and something the other clubs and particularly the NT might take some samples of….

Brazilian concrete

Usually the Brazilian players are there to impress, to swoon and to entice. Neres now at Ajax, Romario at PSV, Neymar at Barca, Coutinho at Liverpool… Matches you win thanks to forwards, but titles and tournaments are won by the defenders. And Feyenoord started to move up the ladder when Eric Botteghin was a starter. The most undervalued cog in the machine.

Rotterdam Realism

Feyenoord can even get better when awareness about their capabilities grows. Toornstra: “I’ve seen many players in my time, but in this team at Feyenoord there is no cocky behaviour, no ego, no arrogance. But we do have that feeling of “We are Feyenoord! We are invincible!”. When we won the cup we said “and now the title” and we led since day 1 in the Eredivisie and are still on top.”

The Goal keeper

You win the title thanks to the goal scorers but definitely also thanks to the goalie. Every home is built on a foundation stone. The UEFA picked Brad Jones as the goal keeper of the Europa League group stages. He has been around. Watched the big lads do it from the dressing room at Anfield, playing with Alonso, Suarez, Gerard and…Kuyt. He keeps Hahn and Vermeer out of the starting line up, two goalies who’d probably be starters at any other club in Holland.

Feyenoord season tix distribution heatmap of the Netherlands

The media, the experts, the officials, the fans….

Usually the media try to approach football from a neutral stance. Sure, Sjaak Swart wants Ajax to win everything. Van Hanegem and Boskamp want Feyenoord to win everything. But all the usually more objective pundits support Feyenoord this season. “They deserve it!”. Even the head honchos at the KNVB – much to Ajax’ chagrin! – have expressed to “be happy for Feyenoord to win it”. Johan Derksen predicted it months ago already and the fans…well the fans… the biggest club in the country has The Legion behind them. 35,000 Feyenoord fans traveling to an away game in Arnhem. Where do you see that? The support of the media and the many supporters will carry Feyenoord to the title.

Iron Rinus

The biggest cynic to ever play for Feyenoord and who coached the club later, Amsterdam born Rinus Israel, finally sees the glass as half full. “It might just happen this season…”.

Small print

Results from the past do not guarantee any result for the future

November 15, 2012 by Jan

Holland – Germany; my analysis

Daryl Janmaat had the best opportunity for the Dutch

I am pretty sure I start most reviews on friendlies with “I don’t like friendly games”…

And I still don’t.

What does it offer me? It offers excitement in the run up and then massive disappointment. Because if we lose against Germany, we lost against Germany. And if we win, it’s basically irrelevant as it’s merely a friendly…

And I hardly ever get entertained. There is no excitement in it. The only people who actually “enjoy” these games are the national team manager and his staff. And most likely the media.

Not me.

But looking at the game through the glasses of Louis van Gaal, I think there are some interesting conclusions:

1. Germany is further than we are. There “flow” in the game was better. They were more confident, played a higher pace and were able to find each other in time and space. And they created good opportunities using the wings and pushing forward.

2. Using players that hardly ever play together in these roles does not work well. Our team lacked any flow as a result. Huntelaar and Afellay play together at Schalke: LVG benches the Hunter. Why?? Schaken and Janmaat play well together at Feyenoord: LVG lets Van Rhijn start. Why?? The hub in Feyenoord is Jordy Clasie. He plays or has played with Vlaar, BMI, De Vrij, Janmaat, Schaken but LVG decides to use Nigel de Jong centrally in midfield…

3. Our youngsters surely have the goods. From Vermeer and Krul to De Vrij, Janmaat and Van Ginkel. Bring it on. It might now be said that Bert van Marwijk was a bit too slow using youngsters, which now results in Holland being behind Low’s Germany. And we know Maher, Fer, Narsingh and Strootman are waiting in the wings to come back. Our present time might not be world class, but our future most certainly is.

4. Louis van Gaal makes weird choices. Why does he risk getting on a bad footing with Huntelaar? Why does he play Nigel de Jong who offers so much in defence, but so little in build up?

My fear is that Van Gaal is merely another “rigid” coach, just like Van Marwijk. The latter held on to his 15 man squad and 4-2-3-1. Van Gaal seems to be married to 4-3-3 and likes to impress whoever (media? his wife? The opponents? The players? Danny Blind?) by making weird choices.

Playing against this Germany, he could have used the Ajax system, with a false striker. Don’t use Huntelaar when he’s out of form (is he really??? The Hunter is NEVER out of form… He always scores) ok, but maybe use a stronger midfield… And let Van der Vaart play as central midfielder behind Schaken and Robben… I probably would have picked Afellay over Schaken. Used Clasie in midfield. With De Jong and Van Ginkel. Second half, bring Emanuelson for Van der Vaart. Siem de Jong would have been the right player for that midfield too. He is in form. But being “in form” clearly is less important than being out form…

Anyway…too late now.

I’m just a bit concerned that Klaas Jan might lose it one day. Before the Belgium game, he is called the no. 1. After the Belgium game, Robin is the number one. Now, suddenly Kuyt gets the nod. And every player loves playing against team mates, so I’m sure Klaas Jan feels terribly humiliated. Smart move, Louis!

On a closing note: our width is improving massively. Players like Emanuelson, Van Ginkel, Elia, Janmaat, Fer, De Vrij etc have a lot to offer. I loved how the two Feyenoord defenders took the game to Germany (De Vrij and Janmaat).

So, all in all: I’m happy with our talent and future prospects. But I’m still on the fence with Louis…

Eljero Elia back in the squad

Marco van Ginkel shows lots of promise…

October 14, 2012 by Jan

Only Schaken will remember the Andorra game…

Ruben Schaken celebrates his goal in his debut game for Oranje with his idol Patrick Kluivert…

Through the ages, we have learned a great number of absolute truths: politicians lie, bacon goes with anything, foodwise and Oranje disappoints against minions.

And it’s not always fair to judge our elite on those “troubling” results.

Because to start off with: we did win. We did secure the three points. And we won with more than 1-0 (which is an embarassing result). I don’t think goal difference will really come into play in this group so the only reason we are disappointed is because we wanted more entertainment.

Playing with consistency, high paced circulation and flair is hard against these teams. Andorra players will consider this game (away against Holland!!!) as their world cup finals. And they probably would consider a 1-0 loss a victory.

So, they defend like horses and they will lash out at everything that moves.

If, like in this case, the coach (LVG) also decides to start with a B/C line up (Huntelaar is A for me, but at this point in time I regard Janmaat and Schaken to be C players more than anything else)…. No Sneijder, no RVP, no Arjen Robben… But more importantly, this team has never played together before. Huntelaar probably wouldn’t recognise Schaken if he’d bump into him in the elevator of Huis ter Duin.

And I guess that particular topic ( the starting line up) is – for me – at least, the topic we should focus on. Not the lack of sharpness of Klaas Jan ( yes, he could have scored three more) or the lack of creativity of Nigel de Jong.

They key discussion point for me is the decision making of our coach Louis van Gaal.

Eljero Elia is back

As Carlos already mentioned in his posts, he most likely would play with 3 defenders. As Andorra probably would start with…eh…zero strikers… I supported this style of thinking! Sure, 3-4-3. Creativity in midfield and skill in the final third.

But LVG decided on a normal back four but on top of that used two holding mids (Strootman and De Jong). I know Strootman is more than a holding mid and has good penetrative runs and passing etc but why did we need De Jong in this game?? To stop their world famous and ever dangerous playmaker??? Nothing against De Jong. You need him in big games, but I believe we could have asked Danny Blind to play against this Andorra…

De Jong saw a lot of the ball and wasn’t able to create a lot with it. If you have a player like Van der Vaart supporting the striker, you need a player sitting deeper with the ability to pick a killer pass. A player like Clasie, Maher or Afellay. The first two weren’t available but Afellay was. He played in the holding position before and has good vision.

We basically played with 6,5 defensive players ( Strootman is half half for me) and I wonder why?

Like I wondered why LVG used Schaken and Lens…. Both players are not renowned for their silky touch. And against Andorra you do need players who can take on a man in the confined spaces and master the one-touch-pass… Against Andorra, using Narsingh would have made more sense to me, and Lens would have been / is probably better suited to play the stronger and more adventurous Romanians… (Although they most likely will play like Andorra, but then like a better version of it….).

Those are the questions I’d like to ask LVG…. Why 4 defenders? Why Nigel de Jong? Why use wingers who need space to run into….?

Other than that…. whatever. Three points against Andorra. Let’s focus on Romania now.

A game in which we’ll most likely see Van Rhijn as right back, Van Persie leading the line and Narsingh for Schaken. The debutant Feyenoord winger left the Oranje camp with a knee injury while Van Gaal replaced Robben by none other than Eljero Elia, the one that got away… 26 international games, a World Cup campaign but hopelessly slipped away in the football swamp in Torino. The former Ajax and Twente winger is fighting his way back into the limelight in Bremen. Elia: “I was on my way to the wedding of a friend in Holland, when I got the call. Sensational! I knew I could get back to the top and I knew I was on the right track but that the call would come this quick was a big surprise… I’m overjoyed.”

Clasie taking Nigel de Jong’s spot?

Ruben Schaken won’t be replaced. Van Gaal will make do with Lens, Narsingh and Elia for the wings, knowing that Afellay can play there too.

Another lad being added to the squad is Young Orange player Jordy Clasie. The Feyenoord game-accelerator is most likely called up to add some much needed depth and finesse to the Oranje midfield (see above).

Van Gaal: “I had done what I could to improve the quality of the game against Andorra. It was not good. I even did a hair dryer speech in the half time break but the team couldn’t execute. It went well for 20 minutes and than it sort of came to a halt. I can’t blame the lads. They haven’t had much minutes together and Andorra is a very tough lot to break. You need to be 100% sharp and on the ball and we simply couldn’t deliver. I really wish we could have scored 5 or 6 and if we were totally sharp we could have… We had some 100% chances missed and a ball on the post…. Sad for the fans, but we need to know focus on Romania. I won’t go into this game much longer. We have the points, now we need to beat Romania. Which won’t be easy. They are in a flow and winning away against Turkey is a very good result for them. We can not be complacent.”

August 22, 2012 by Jan

The Dust is settling….

With Oranje’s and Louis’ first defeat behind us, the most important competitions have started… Eredivisie had weekend #2, the EPL has started (it takes time for me to get used to this…) and the Bundesliga and La Liga as well.

Game on!

Bring it on!

Breaking news: Alexander Buttner, the man who could have been Oranje’s left back at the Euros (ex-Ajax, now Vitesse), signed a 5 year deal with Man United!! Obviously, Robin van Persie’s signature overpowered the news of Buttner talking to the Mancunians, but Sir Alex (and Rene Meulensteen) believe Buttner is one of the best left backs in Europe. I’m sure he’ll be nicknamed Nicky ( after Nicky Butt).

The other BIG Dutch signing by Sir Alex: Buttner…

Interesting developments in Eindhoven, where PSV coach Dick Advocaat lost his first game, as a result of a lacklustre performance, and drilled a thunderous response from his team in the second game. But PSV might lose two key players before the end of the month, as Toivonen is put in the shop window and striker Matavz might go to Benfica. Good news for Wijnaldum if this happens, as the ex-Feyenoord talent will claim the number 10 position.

Ajax had an easy afternoon away at NEC, with the hosts gifting three goals in the first 30 minutes of the game. Impressive performances by some youngsters in the Ajax’ team (Ricardo van Rhijn, Mitchell Dijks’ debut) and a brace by new Swedish forward Sana.

Feyenoord and Joris Mathijsen look back at a disappointing debut together. Against Heerenveen, the ex-Hamburg defender got red-carded after a tackle in the area on the Heerenveen center forward. Despite Mathijsen playing the ball, the ref judged it to be a tackle on the legs of the opponent and gave Heerenveen a spot kick (and Joris a red). Earlier on in the game, the ref should have given Feyenoord a penalty kick for a blatant hand ball but didn’t. Ruben Schaken bulldozered his way through the Heerenveen defence in the last minutes and equalised so the match between mates Koeman – Van Basten ended in 1-1.

To quote my late friend Finnster: “A football player called Anita…??”

With PSV, Ajax, AZ and now Feyenoord dropping points, FC Twente leads the way as the only club with 6 points after two games. I saw all the top teams play this weekend and have to say: AZ looks REALLY good… They could won their game 9-0, with ease (only won 3-1 as it was). Altidore is a decent striker, he scores goals ( a brace this time) but misses a lot of opportunities as well. But so did Martens and Maher, to name two.

In Spain, excitement on day 1. Barca winning with Villa and Messi on target while Real Madrid ( sans Modric still) couldn’t get past Valencia. It’s game on there!

In Germany, Dutch goals. Luuk de Jong scoring against his own club in the European game vs Kiev… And Elia scoring for Werder Bremen last weekend.

In England, the first weekend is behind us and it does take some time for me to get used to Spurs without Modric, Van Persie in a ManU jersey and Liverpool without Kuyt. Everton doesn’t seem to miss Cahill and Drenthe, but I do… NY Red Bulls benefitted from Cahill’s goalscoring already and West Ham United apparently is out to sign Royston Drenthe.

Martin Jol’s Fulham and Newcastle (the new club of Vernon Anita) want to sign Twente’s Douglas while Assaidi received jersey number 11 at Liverpool.

All these movements will turn out for the best. Elia, Anita, Drenthe, Buttner…

I’m sure Oranje will benefit from all of this…

Elia in Bremen