Tag: EURO

by Jan

Young Oranje’s puzzle

Coming Monday, Young Oranje plays their quarter finals vs France in the Euros under 21. Coach van de Looi will have to make due without his top performers Cody Gakpo, Noa Lang and Teun Koopmeiners.

If Van de Looi could pick any player that fit the prerequisite, he would be able to field a team wih Gakpo, Lang, Gravenberch, Koopmeiners, Timber, Wijndal, Geertruida, Mo Ihattaren, Zeefuik, Ludo Reis, Donyell Malen and Mathijs de Ligt. Van de Looi would be licking his lips. But this is the fate of a coach at the Young Oranje level. You’re not the priority.

Team manager De Boer and injuries are spanner in the works and the former Groningen coach will have to make do with what he has got. He will stick to his 4-2-2-2 system, with which he played against teams that appear as strong as us, or even stronger. This week he will be finalising his jigsaw for the France game, coming up.

In the group phase, Ajax goalie Scherpen was the number 1 between the sticks, although Paes and Bijlow were the choice goalies during the qualifications. Bijlow suffered some injuries but he will most likely take the #1 spot as he has been without mistakes at Feyenoord, while Paes is still the second goalie at Utrecht. Scherpen was one of the men of the match in the group stages but his outing in Ajax 1, in the EL, didn’t go as planned. Scherpen needs more playing time and with a move to Brighton, this might well be on the cards. Or not.

In defence, I don’t think Van de Looi will change much. Never change a winning team, although the coach has some good options. Jordan Teze at PSV had a top season and Doekhi was one of the key performers at Vitesse. Van de Looi likes to play with the two towering centre backs Schuurs and Botman. No one will complain about Botman, as he just won the title in France with Lille. But Schuurs seems to have dropped in the Ajax hierarchy recently. Still, they used to play together at Young Ajax and both have been goal scorers for Young Oranje as well, so I can understand Van de Looi’s choices.

Left wing was usually Mitchel Bakker’s spot but he’s been quite vulnerable lately and hasn’t impressed with PSG either. Tyrell Malacia is in great form all season and deserves a look in. On the right side, Zeefuik is usually the first choice, but he’s injured. Teze might be the man for the job, as he will most likely replace Dumfries at PSV, should the skipper get his transfer this summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if the coach picks Devyne Rensch for the role. The 18 year old Ajax defender has been raising eyebrows in the past months, with his runs, his defending and his goals!

Van de Looi has been sticking to his firm squad, which also resulted in Jay Gorter (Go Ahead) and Pascal Struijk (Leeds United) not getting a spot, but he might now change his ways and allow for players in form to come into the team.

“We’re at the end of a tough season, and some lads have been playing a lot of games for the first time in their career. We need to see how everyone is, in terms of fitness and energy. Intensity will be key against an opponent like France.”

In the 4-2-2-2 the crucial roles are in that holding position. The engine room. In an ideal world, Erwin would play Gravenberch and Koopmeiners there. Now, the coach needs to pick his B options, although it’s not a fair label to push onto Abdou Harroui. The Sparta midfielder had his break out season and is on his way to a big transfer. He’s a light footed tackler, with lots of feeling in both feet. With Harroui, you get football and you get security.

Other options are Ekkelenkamp (Ajax), Matusiwa (ex Ajax, now Groningen) or Kadioglu. Dani de Wit can play there too but the coach expects to need him up front. Kadioglu is highly praised by Van de Looi and Ekkelenkamp is also a player who is able to squeeze good performances from the 4 forwards, thanks to his passing range.

Up front, there is two blocks of two. Two so-called half-10s and two strikers. Calvin Stengs is a cert for one of the half 10 roles. Noa Lang would probably be a shoe in for the other part. Up front, Justin Kluivert seems to be the firm choice with either Boadu or Dani de Wit next to him.

The former Groningen defender copped criticism for using De Wit as number 9. “He might not be a typical striker, but Dani has these penetrating runs, and you don’t see these enough. We missed that in our games vs Romania and Germany. Due to Noa Lang’s injury, the solution offers itself: Stengs and De Wit as half 10s and Boadu and Kluivert leading the line. Kadioglu and Dilrosun could also play in the half 10 role and if need be, Van de Looi also has Kaj Sierhuis at his disposal. This is a physically strong typical #9, which can work against a physical side that is France. The draw back is that the former Ajax striker hasn’t played much for Reims and when he did, he hardly scored.

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by Jan

Final Oranje Squad

The bullit is through the church, as the Dutch saying goes. Marco Bizot, Steven Bergwijn, Anwar El Ghazi, Hans Hateboer, Rick Karsdorp, Jeremiah St Juste, Kenny Tete and Tonny Vilhena are not needed.

Cody Gakpo, Jurrien Timber and Teun Koopmeiners are the chosen ones. For the PSV winger and the Ajax defender it will be their first Oranje selection. Wout Weghorst is part of the Euro squad too, returning after 1,5 years. Maarten Stekelenburg is the nestor of the group, with his 38 years.

Bergwijn is the biggest shock, for many as he was a firm mainstay in the Oranje selection and often times starter under Koeman. Bergwijn lost his spot in the Spurs first team and the last two starting births were not enough for De Boer to change his mind. Marco Bizot’s bad luck is the return to the first team of Stekelenburg. The lanky Ajax goalie is known for his exquisite technique, his chilled out personality and his experience. Karsdorp has reason to be disappointed. He played 46 matches for AS Roma with seven assists and reached the semis in the Europa League. And he might have felt to be the best option for Oranje in a 5 man’s defensive line up. Tonny Vilhena could have beeen an option for the left wing back role, a position he holds with his club Krasnodar as well, but De Boer is content with Van Aanholt and Wijndal and if need be Blind.

Frank de Boer only has two weeks to prep for the Euros. Ridiculously short and for this first stage, he only had the prelim group of Dutch and Russian internationals, and two players from England (Krul and Veltman). If all goes well, Daley Blind will join this coming Friday.

Blind’s ability to play is of key importance to De Boer. The experienced lefty is usable on three positions. For years, Daley played left back for the Oranje, but ever since Van Dijk’s injury and Owen Wijndal meteoric rise, the 77 times capped player is centre back. Just like he does at Ajax. With a fit Blind, De Boer is capable of changing the system like that. In a 3-5-2, Blind will be the ideal build up man, and he’s also accustomed to the usual 4-3-3 both as defender and as midfielder.

De Boer demands tactical fluidity of this team. In his first match as NT, against Mexico, he changed the midfield set up and broke with Koeman’s line of thought. Koeman used a 4-2-3-1 and De Boer went 4-3-3, with one controlling mid. Against Bosnia Herzegovina, De Boer reverted to the trusted system and in the game against Italy, De Boer opened his bag of tactical tricks and went with 5 at the back. He was a spectator when Oranje played the Azzurri at home and he was facepalming all the way through the thrashing we got in a weak tactical performance. In the away game, he played Van Dijk, Ake and De Vrij and with two strikers (Memphis and Luuk de Jong), Oranje seemed more capable: 1-1.

In De Boer’s first weeks, we saw the three faces of De Boer’s Oranje. He wants to go from 4-3-3 to 5-3-2 to 3-4-3, even in one match. And he demands similar things from individual players. Wijnaldum was strongest in Oranje when he played as a 10, close by Memphis. He had goals and assists and was Oranje’s most prolific player under Koeman. De Boer changed it and used Wijnaldum as a box-to-box player, in a more serving role. Frenkie de Jong can play central mid in a controlling manner, he can play centre back and he play the playmaking left midfielder too. Koopmeiners has demonstrated to be able to play centre back and midfielder, while Klaassen and Van de Beek are capable of playing on the 10 spot, as box-to-box player and if need be as holding mids.

Up top the expectations for Memphis are high. Koeman used the Lyon forward as a striker. Under Frank de Boer Memphis need to be satisfied with a role from the left side. This allows for De Boer to use Luuk de Jong, an out and out number 9. As a result, the prolific duo of Wijnaldum and Depay is no longer coupled as a duo.

De Boer likes to see the Wijnaldum of Liverpool, just like he wants the box always to be “manned” by a number 9. In this way, Memphis has the freedom to roam and play where he feels he has the most threat. De Boer: “Players of that quality will always shine. You underestimate Gini and Memphis when you think they have to play close to each other to be excellent. Nonsense.” De Boer doesn’t want to push Memphis in a defensive role though. “It’s of course not the plan for Memphis to have to chase after Kyle Walker. Playing strong opponents might well mean that we will adjust. This is the flexibility I require.”

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by Jan

De Boer on his Euro plans

The competition is done, in The Netherlands. The biggest shock probably Emmen’s relegation. After a dramatic return to form the popular club fought themselves back into a relegation play-off and after 90 minutes of attacking and creating dozens of chances vs NAC Breda, they failed to score and got relegated after losing the penalty-series. The big leagues will all be done with competition football this weekend so it’s time for a look at the Euros, with Frank de Boer.

“It’s key to create a good vibe. We’ll be together for weeks and having a good atmosphere or not-so-good atmosphere will be key. I have been around when the vibe was not good, in 1990 and 1996 and look at the results. Whereas in 1998 we had a real connection in the squad and we overachieved.”

Johan Cruyff liked to use the conflict model to drive players to higher levels. Frank thinks it’s an outdated concept. “You can use the conflict model with individual players. Not everyone responds well to it. But overall, I am a fan of the Deschamps method. Any coach would want Benzema in his squad but Deschamp left him out for many years, as he would be toxic in the group. No Benzema in 2018, in other words.”

Louis van Gaal tweaked the traditional Dutch 4-3-3 for the 2014 World Cup after realising that Oranje couldn’t beat the strong teams in that way. Arjen Robben back then was the only real winger in the top of Europe and different playing styles were needed. Bert van Marwijk was also a pragmatic coach and Frank de Boer soaked it up when he assisted Bert in 2010. “I will definitely sit down with Bert before the Euros to revisit that World Cup. He got the maximum result out of the team and we weren’t the favorites back then.”

How long would you want the squad together prior to a tournament?

“I’d say, ideally 3 weeks. Now it’s less than two weeks. We have four days between our friendlies vs Scotland and Georgia. But…”ideal” is out of the window. Ideally, we have full stadiums too. You also see big droves of Orange coloured fans marching towards the stadium, that is all not going to happen. Or maybe at least a bit.”

How do you look back at that Euros in 2000, also in The Netherlands?

“Very positively, actually. I don’t see those two missed penalties vs Italy as my trauma, no. I think we are all proud of what we did, despite that match. And playing in our own country. And now again, three games in Amsterdam. We are favorite in the group, I get that. We won’t skirt away from that. But, Ukraine kept France at 1-1 and also beat Spain 1-0 in the Nations League. The same Spain that embarrassed Germany 6-0, you know? And Austria, they do have quality players from the Bundesliga in their squad. You may have heard of one David Alaba?”

What is the objective for Oranje at the Euros?

“I want to say semi-finals, at least. That is where I think we should aim for. Final four. But, everything needs to work with us, no injuries, no silly red cards and key players in form. Anything beyond semi finals would be a tremendous results. Our first 13 players are all top class. And I see we’re homogeneous, as a team. I can see parallels with the 1998 team. And we have some exciting youngster on top of the 13 and some great utility players. The mix is excellent. We can reach far but I think we are not the real faves. I think we’re an outsider. Belgium, France and Spain are top favorites for me. And don’t underestimate Portugal, England, Germany and Italy. I think we belong in that second series of 4 nations.”

How will we play?

“We’ll vary, I want to be able to shift systems instantly, during games. I want to move from 4-3-3 to 5-3-2 or 3-4-3. We will work on this in the prep period. I have discussed this with the players already and some of them, those 13, are used to this already with their clubs. As a coach, I used to play 4-3-3 predominantly. We want to be dominant. Holland isn’t a team that parks the bus. Also, counter football is not our thing as we lack pure speed up front. Whether it’s Memphis, Luuk de Jong, Berghuis or Weghorst, speed is not their weapon. Only Malen has that in his arsenal. But we need to make decisions. What happens if we lose possession here. Or there, you know. Do we have the lock on the door? Is the rest-defence properly organised? Turkey away, for instance… What went wrong? Two goals conceded from a turnaround moment in the game. That is completely unnecessary. In Poland, same thing. One moment of concentration loss and boom, you concede because you’re wide open. That needs to improve. When we played Italy in Bergamo, we did way better. The Italy version of Oranje, and whether you call it 5-3-2 or 3-5-2, I want to use these systems and want to switch during a match, if need be. But not in the first round. Only when we play tough opponents who want the ball even more than us (Spain?) We also need to assess which players are top, which are truly fit, after this long and tough season. And then find a way to have your best players excel. The good thing is, all players, even the youngster, have played with a back three, so no one will say “Wtf is De Boer cooking up for us now??”….

What will be Ruud van Nistelrooy’s role?

“Well, among other things he will work with our forwards. If there is one player who knows what it takes to score, it’s him. He is also a very good analyst, so he’ll do scouting and analysing for us as well. I also want him to talk about 2008, under Van Basten. We played a sensational set of group games, only to lose focus afterwards. And in the first knock-out match, we get beaten. Ruud has seen it all.”

How was your own debut in 1992 and what did you learn from that?

“I was never coached or guided by the older players. What can you expect, how to behave, what to be aware of, etc… I want to do things differently. Back then Michels said: “You’re in the squad. Do your thing.” He never said how he wanted me to play, for instance, what the plans were. But also 1998 was a big lesson. I remember thinking “Wow, we’re playing a nice tournament!”. But the team focus was never “We can win this!!”. We were quite happy with ourselves and when we lost the semis vs Brazil, we even felt like “Wow, being beaten by Brazil…yes, that can happen…”. Now, I look back and think: we should have approached that game differently. And many 1998 players look back at that match and feel the same way. We were satisfied with playing the semis. That is not good enough, hahahaha.”

What does it mean for the hierarchy in the dressing room, now Captain Virgil isn’t present?

“We will miss him dearly. His leadership, his charisma and of course his football qualities. But the hierarchy… there won’t be a vacuum, don’t worry. Wijnaldum is very vocal in the dressing room, Memphis as wel. They’re leaders. Then we have players who lead by example, like Blind and De Ligt and Frenkie. We have enough leaders. Our training sessions will be intense and no one will pull out of a challenge.”

Did you not select Weghorst in the past because he might disturb the vibe in the squad?

“Huh? No… I never thought about that, with him. Never looked at it like that. No, Weghorst position was already doubly booked, so to speak. Babel and Malen on the left, Stengs and Berghuis on the right and Memphis and Luuk de Jong centrally. End of story. And Wout is doing so well, he is a top striker and whether he is an asshole in the match or not, I don’t care. But as long as he’s an asshole to the opponent, hahahaha.”

You know already which 26 players will be selected?

“I have a couple of players where I am not 100% sure yet. I still need to lay that egg. I also considered bringing Virgil as one of the three additional players, even if he couldn’t play, just for his presence in the squad. But I won’t.”

How will you deal with the social media stuff?

“It’s part of life now. Players do a lot with this and it’s all good. We do have someone in the back room staff who will take care of films and photos, so the players 1) don’t have to worry about that and 2) can be assured they’ll look good on the pic, hahaha.”

Do you support a mandatory vaccination policy for the players?

“No! That is an individual decision, people should be free to decide for themselves.”

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by Jan

It was 25 yrs ago today, Oranje taught the world to play

Most Oranje supporters simply have to be masochistic. Playing brilliant football (sometimes) and hardly ever winning the prize.

Over the last 7 years, we have covered all the upsets, the highs, the magical, the drama and we will keep on doing this for years to come….

Hopefully amidst future tournaments where we can harvest some silverware too. I for one, am not one of those supporters who secretly enjoy being the “loser”. Even if I am a Feyenoord fan….

So, 1988.

As most of you know, I lived in Holland back then and I was pretty convinced we would do well. As I am always convinced we will do well.
As you know, a broken clock is correct twice a day :-).

I remember the lead up to the Tournament really well. Rinus Michels in charge. Ajax was doing really well. Johan Cruyff had won the 1987 Europa Cup II with Ajax (Van Basten scoring) and Ajax played the finals yet again, this time against Mechelen. Mechelen, with Erwin Koeman, won it this time, but Ajax had a strong side with Jan Wouters, John van ‘t Schip, John Bosman, Arnold Muhren and Aron Winter. Danny Blind was the right back in those days.

AC Milan had the “three of Milan” and although Marco was injured and struggling to be the starting striker in Milan, we all knew that these three were exceptional. PSV had just won the Europa Cup 1, with Koeman, Wim Kieft, Hans van Breukelen, Berry van Aerle and Gerald Vanenburg. Adri van Tiggelen played for the grand Anderlecht side in Belgium and Dutch football was doing really well.

But, Oranje missed out on the three big tournaments before 1988 and the last tournament we played ( 1980 in Italy) was a bit of downer.

Some people didn’t expect much from this young team and when Michels clearly didn’t know how to start the tournament, lots of fans lost faith. Marco van Basten was hardly used by Michels as a result of his injuries and when he was fit he missed the decided against Belgium as a result of a suspension.

So, Michels wanted to start with Bosman as center striker ( a very cool finisher in the box… A sort of Huntelaar, for the young ones under us). And John van’t Schip played on the left wing (he played right wing or midfield at Ajax), but Schippie was perfect two-footed and was able to cross from the left with his left. Gullit and Vanenburg competed for the right wing, and Gullit was the type of player some coaches didn’t know where to put. At PSV he even played central defender, while in Milan he was one of the two forwards in a 4-2-2 system.

Arnold Muhren and Jan Wouters played in midfield with Vanenburg on the right, behind Gullit.

Not a very well balanced team.

And future superstar San Marco van Basten was not amused. He felt fresh. He was fit. And super motivated. But Michels almost didn’t select him. Kieft and Gilhaus were a lethal duo at PSV. Bosman was a killer. Piet de Boer of KV Mechelen just scored the winner in the ECII finals. Michels had options. But he did pick Van Basten and gave him the number 12.

The ambitious striker was livid. How could he not get the support from the Ajax legend? And he went to his close friend, surrogate father and former coach Johan Cruyff to vent his anger. And to tell him he would gracefully thank Michels but no thanks. I am not benchwarm material.

 

Marco van Basten

Here goes….

But Cruyff told him to shut up, to pack his bag and go. There was no pressure on Bassie and JC knew that Michels would be using him in the tournament. “Be patient, await your chance and take the opportunity when you can”.

The rest is history. Oranje lost against the USSR in the first group game. The 4-3-3 Michels concocted didn’t work. So he changed it for the England game. The team needed more balance.

 

So Erwin Koeman came in to support 37 year old strategist Muhren and Bassie came in to play with Gullit in a 4-4-2 set up. Bosman and Schippie took the bench.

A hattrick against England, a freak Kieft goal (off side) against feisty Ireland and a true battle in Hamburg vs West Germany and before we knew it, Oranje got a second chance against the USSR in the finals.

In the Olympic Stadium in Munich, with yours truly sitting right behind Dasaev when “that moment” occurred….

It’s 1-0 (Gullit’s only goal of the tournament, the Oranje skipper was walking on his gums…) and pressure from the Russians. Van Tiggelen breaks out, passes the ball to Muhren who wants to reach Van Basten but he overhits the ball. Van Basten has three options… Option 1: control the ball and wait for midfielders to come closer…with a couple of defenders on his toes… Option 2: pass the ball with one touch to the penalty spot where Gullit should be. Van Basten took option 3.

Now this goal made history. It’s one of the best goals ever! It is certainly the best goal ever scored at an EC.

Muhren: “I felt I overhit the kick. I was trying to launch him in space, but I overdid. He could only do one thing, or so I thought. Take it down and start the build up again.”

Van Basten: “You don’t think about this. The ball comes, I saw a defender closing me down, I felt I was fairly isolated. What do you do? You don’t think, you simply do. It works only in practice normally and it wasn’t against some shabby goalie either.”

Jan The Blogman: “I was sitting behind the goal with some other Oranje supporters and when the ball was in the air you could tell by Marco’s body movement that he was going to hit it. And we all stood up, arms raised up in the air because we could see in our minds’ eye that yes, there was a small chance he would score from there. And he did.”

Now the freaky thing is, that the AD Newspaper traced something really cool.

Oranje practiced before the EC 1988 against an amateur club. They won that match 8-1, but the amateurs scored as well. And the way they scored might have inspired Marco….

Take a look at this! His name is Michel Dreis.


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by Jan

Let's get to know one another…

Dear friends, you all know that thing will get pretty hot very soon!! Before you know it, we are cheering, dancing, yelling, singing, celebrating, cursing, screaming and crying together. We will stand shoulder to shoulder and will sing hand in hand ( comrades). We will experience our wins and our losses together and even though it’s only virtual, only via this cyberhangspotforcooloranjefans, I think it’s cool if we would get to know one another a little bit… I mean would you jump into someone arms crying, without being introduced properly?

Right!

My name is Jan. A typical Dutch boys’ name. But I live in Australia now, where Jan is a…well…girls name. I grew up in Hendrik Ido Ambacht, close to Rotterdam. A Feyenoord town. Many Feyenoord players lived in our village. I played my football at ASWH – currently Hoofdklasse amateurs – and spent my weekends in De Kuip. I worked in marketing and sales in Holland and Europe before we immigrated to Australia. Why? Why not! Climate, space, lifestyle…

I’m married, have two daughters (who love football) and two labradors who love footballs. I live near Byron Bay on the east coast of Australia. I am in business and apart from football and writing, my hobbies are reading, watching movies, acting, playing the guitar, cooking (and eating) and playing sports (tennis, football, baseball).

The first tournament I watched in Oz was the EC 2004. I lived in Western Australia then and there was no coverage in tv. A friend of a friend in Oz taped the games of the commercial cable channel – not available in WA – and mailed it to us. We’d watch the games two days after they were played. But we watched them in the evening at least… I still remember the game against Czech Republic… Robben played great! Until Dick Advocaat…well…you remember.

I could watch the WC2006 live, early in the morning, after we moved to the East Coast. Which is when I found this site and not much later was asked to join as moderator.

Football background: Limited, was a talented but lazy left-footer, have had interesting connections to football (via players, managers, businesses)

Favorite clubs: Many… Feyenoord is in my blood, but I respect Ajax. Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool, AC Milan. But Oranje tops the list!

Fave players: Again, too many to mention: Cruyff, Van Hanegem, Nees, Van Basten, Bergkamp, Litmanen, Mario Been, Hoddle, Eder, Zico, Overath, Antognoni, Paulo Rossi, Richard Witschge, Edgar Davids, Gary Lineker, David Ginola

Fave players of our current Oranje: Raf van der Vaart, Mark van Bommel, Robin van Persie, Tim Krul

Fave moment of Oranje: The Van Basten goal in 1988, which I witnessed in the stands, behind the goal…

Sympathy for other nations: I do like Spain and have a soft spot for Italy and England. I truly wish Belgium will get their axto together for once!!

Bold predictions: Spain won’t survive the first round. Germany will but will be knocked out in the first knock out. Sweden will get far this tournament

How I watch Oranje: It’s bloody 4 am in the morning in the freezing cold here, so I watch with uggboots on and a blanket around me eating muesli and yoghurt where anywhere else in the world they party with beer and bitterballen :-(. Oh, and I’m obviously doing live webcasts for us all 🙂

One thing no one knows about me: Oh dear… Something secret…? Ok, I made my money in ICT and I currently blog like crazy but I’m actually the biggest computer illiterate you’ll find, hahaha…..

Anyhow, here’s a pic of me presenting a Johan Cruyff boot to the world… The guy next to me is actually the legendary no. 14

 

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