Tag: Fer

March 23, 2017March 25, 2017 by Jan

Update: Oranje back in Action!!

Well, the Janssen-Dost debate is settled. By the flu!! It seems Kevin Strootman and Vince Janssen exchanged some saliva maybe?

The Spurs bench-warmer stays in Holland and Luuk de Jong is ordered to come to Sofia to be the designated pinch hitter (behind Bas Dost and Jeremain Lens, who arrived late from Suriname).

The key question now is: will Stefan de Vrij be fit enough to play?

And it doesn’t look like it. Which means, Oranje will most likely play with a debutant as center back: De Ligt or Hoedt.

De Vrij has had a big knock and an internal bleeding in his leg. Yesterday, he wasn’t able to move his feet. But, as Blind said at the presser: “These things can improve massively overnight, so we’ll see.”

More Danny Blind: “I don’t like to play with two left footed players centrally (Hoedt and Martins Indi) as the build up will be slower than when you have a left and right footer. But it is an option.”

Blind: “There’s always something. First Van Dijk and Bruma and now De Vrij. But luckily Strootman is completely recovered. It seems Janssen has it bad, a throat infection and high fever. Not good at all.”

As for Dost: “Well, it makes my job easier when players fall away, in terms of decisions, but I rather have it hard. I want to have all our positions doubled up. And Dost is a different striker than Janssen, so we’ll need to make some tactical changes.”

Gini Wijnaldum was asked about the knock on his head: “It’s all good. I can head the ball, I am painfree, no dramas. And yes, it’s a bit disappointing dealing with all the injured players but we can’t keep on moaning about it. Other players will need to step up, it’s as simple as that.”

Blind: “I do have a very good feeling about where we’re going with the squad. I’m confident, even with those injuries… It’s simple: we need to get six points in the coming two matches. We know what we need to do and I’m confident we will.”

The last training session did not give a lot away in terms of set up.

It will be a 4-3-3:

Zoet

Karsdorp – De Ligt – Martins Indi – Blind

Wijnaldum – Strootman – Sneijder

Robben – Dost – Promes

Some Bulgaria stats: Holland lost the so-called farewell match in 2012 (before that dreadful Euros) under Bert van Marwijk at home against the Bulgarians. An omen of what was to come… This actually was the first and only “farewell” match before a bit tournament that the Dutch lost. Jetro Willems made his debut in that game, at 17 years old. And now has 22 to his name and if he goes on as he does, he might well become the Dutch record international.

Humphry Mijnals made his debut against Bulgaria as well by the way and was the first “coloured” Dutch international back in the 19whatevers.

Holland played Bulgaria 10 times and only won 4 matches…

Tonight’s game is played in the Sofia Savili Levski Stadium. Oranje never won a match there. The Dutch only “didn’t win” more matches in one other venue: San Siro in Milan. We played there five times and never won.

Bulgaria is tough to beat anyway. They didn’t lose at home in 14 qualification games! The last country to win in Bulgaria were the Czechs.

Bulgaria’s biggest claim to fame was reaching the semi finals in the WC1994, beating Germany spectacularly in the quarter finals. Current NT coach Hubchev was in that team.

Currently, Daley Blind has as many caps for Oranje as his dad Danny. If he plays tonight, he’ll surpass him and will have 43 international games for Oranje.

Bas Dost is 2017’s top goal scorer. He has 15 already, this year, with one Lionel Messi on second spot with”only” 13 goals.

Our Dutch Lions are up for two matches in the coming week and strangely enough, the first match is the WC qualifier vs Bulgaria and three days later we have a practice friendly, versus Italy… That really confuses me? Why would you program this? Isn’t it logical to do the practice game first and then the official one? Must be me.

And we do live in confusing times… I will not go into Trump vs Hillary, Trump vs Putin, Erdogan vs Wilders, Wenger yes or no or anything like that.

We have our hands full with Dost vs Janssen and who-will-be-our-goalie…

The AD newspaper poll says 90% of the people voting, feel that Dost should start. The former Heerenveen striker can’t stop scoring in Portugal and will well be on his way to bigger things, if he keeps going like this. Janssen scores as many minutes in the first team as Dost scores goals per month.

But super striker (and also super sub) Pierre van Hooijdonk, who knows what it is to be in the “Bas Dost Position” remarkably say: “stick with Vincent”!

Pierre: “You pick a certain style of playing and for this you need certain players. Janssen is different to Dost, and if using Dost means you have to change the whole tactical plan, I’d say: don’t do it. Use Dost for additional power coming off the bench.”

Van Hooijdonk had to endure Kluivert and Van Nistelrooy in pole position. Easier to swallow for sure. “Yes, the difference between them and me was different to the Dost-Janssen situation, I can see that. But Blind sees Dost in training, he follows him in Lisbon… And Dost failed against Luxembourg. That will count too. If he would have left a smashing impression, it would be different now.”

It does seem like Blind is on the same page as the former Feyenoord man. The mantra is: let Janssen do it in Oranje, until he fails in Oranje. As long as he doesn’t, leave him be.

Blind: “I am sorry but I don’t take the public’s opinion into account. If I would do that, because I can limit the criticism on myself, I wouldn’t be worth this job. I would have to be polling and checking twitter trends daily to make a line up. That is not going to work, of course. And as for the striker, I have made up my mind. I don’t see it as a hard decision to make, it is what I call a luxury decision.”

Blind also has hard data to use for fitness purposes. “I can easily see if a player is mentally and physically fit. We measure this and we have data from the clubs. And Janssen is top fit. He trains daily and hasn’t had major injuries, so that is not a drama. He lacks match rhythm, that is all. But we all know that Janssen and Wijnaldum probably have the most demanding physical programs of all Oranje players. They’re top fit!”

Van Hooijdonk: “The key thing is, will all this have an effect on Janssen’s style of playing. If he plays, I’ll watch his behaviour closely. If he gets through for instance, and has a chance but Karsdorp is totally free before goal, what will Janssen do? He’ll need to pass it to Karsdorp, but sometimes strikers under pressure will go for their personal glory. No matter how big the desire for some success, he’ll need to think of the team.”

Matthijs De Ligt on the left

By the way, Dost will only join Oranje today, as he was at the funeral of his grandfather this week. Same as Jeremain Lens who is in Suriname as his dad actually passed away. He will join Oranje Thursday as well.

Today, Stefan de Vrij and Gini Wijnaldum left the practice early with some issues. De Vrij with a sore ankle, and Wijnaldum got a boot against his head. Robben trained in full despite some smaller issues. Kevin Strootman spent his days in bed with the flu.

Danny Blind: “Everyone is fit, it seems, at least for the game starts. The usual little knocks and things. De Vrij’s knee is dry, as the medical staff calls it. He’ll play and I have options next to him of course. Martins Indi is doing well at Stoke, Hoedt plays next to him at Lazio, Viergever can play in that role, Daley as well. And Promes can play on the wing, on the #10 but also as striker. He plays at a very high level and luckily Memphis is playing really well as well. We’ve got choices again.”

Blind won’t say much about the goalie choice. “We have good goalies and I’ve made up my mind, but you’ll need to wait for that one.”

Stefan de Vrij is back!

Martins Indi left the Oranje squad after his red card vs Iceland. Is the relationship Blind – Martins Indi repaired? Blind: “Well it was never broken. We have discussed this immediately after Iceland. And when he returned to Oranje we have had a good conversation as well. He’s playing now, he’s got rhythm, he’s making the move from Porto to Stoke. All good. And it’s good to have choices. We’re missing Van Aanholt, Van Dijk, Bruma, Kongolo… But we don’t have to panic as we have options.”

Blind is mostly impressed with Wijnaldum’s development. “Gini is becoming a very important player for Oranje and I don’t want to mis-use him like I had to do vs Belgium, when he played right wing back almost. I need to use him like Liverpool does, in that key role in midfield. He’s been excellent.”

Matthijs de Ligt will make his debut in the Oranje squad. A lot of people criticised Blind for that selection. “I know him, I have spoken with him. I’ve spoken with Peter Bosz and Marc Overmars. He’s very mature and learns really fast. I think he will be a full fledged Oranje player and probably a top class defender. But he won’t start. He needs to listen, learn and digest. People felt I should have gone with Van der Heijden (Feyenoord) but I have enough lefties in defense, I really need a right footed player behind De Vrij and that is De Ligt.”

Wesley Hoedt battling with Janssen

It would make sense for Wesley Hoedt to get his debut in Oranje. He plays next to De Vrij at Lazio and faces top teams and strikers every week. “I think I earned my spot in Oranje, based on the 52 matches I played in the Serie A. I have definitely become a better defender compared to my time in the Eredivisie. And here with Oranje, I feel good too, even though it’s my first time. But I do know some of the lads of course, so that helps.”

Next week, Oranje faces Italy, with a number of players Hoedt faces weekly. “Yes, I played against Belotti last week. I think people in Holland look down on the level in Serie A, but the teams in the top half are really good. And Juventus is a class apart even. The way they are organised. A player like Chiellini for instance. I’m sure he would never make it through the Academy at Ajax or Feyenoord. They’d send him away. But in Italy, they see defending as a pure quality. I like that.”

The friendly vs Italy is 5 days before the Classic, which will most likely decide the title. Blind: “I have not made any agreements with the clubs about the players and how I use them in the Italy game, no. They still have 5 days to recuperate. This is professional football.”

Debutant Wesley Hoedt

About the strikers: “I have three good options. Lens can play centrally as well. Dost is hot which is great. I think we have a luxury issue, which is nice for me. A couple of good strikers, I can’t complain about that!”

Arjen Robben came later to the Oranje camp with a swollen foot. “I thought OH FUCK there we go again, in bed after the Gladbach match. But it all came down nicely and I have no problem. Saturday, I’ll be 100%. I want to show everyone I’m still here but I won’t do anything silly or over the top to prove myself. But I feel shit that I have to cancel many matches due to injuries. Last time vs Luxembourg I was back and again had to leave the pitch injured. I am so done with that! I really want to play every second for Oranje but I’m 33 years old. I do have to monitor my fitness but as long as it feels like I can, I will….”

Yesterday, Oranje had a so-called open training day at Quick Boys in Noordwijk, but a closed off training session in De Arena today. On Friday, they fly to Sofia with a practice session and press conference in the late afternoon.

On Saturday, the match. Sunday, flight back with late practice at Ajax’ youth centre (closed off again) and on Monday a partly open session in the AZ Stadium in Alkmaar, with another presser. Tuesday evening we take on the Italians in a friendly, in the Amsterdam Arena.

Memphis is happy again

February 24, 2017 by Jan

Dutch company goes all Moneyball on Football!

Most of us will have seen the movie Moneyball, with Brad Pitt? Based on a true story, a baseball team in the US picking and signing players purely based on specific qualities, which together would form a winning team. The club would sign a miss match of cheap or even unknown players, causing frowns in foreheads of other managers, thinking: what are they smoking? But it worked. For a spell. We do need to add that the club actually never won the World Series, so it’s not like it’s a guaranteed recipe for success, but they did get attention.

A Dutch company seems to step into the shoes of Messrs Pitt and co. to revolutionise the way we look at new players and valuable players. In these past week, clubs, managers, scouts, players were busy trying to sort deals in the winter transfer window. Busy times for Giels Brouwer as well. Who? Giels Brouwer: the founder of SciSports, a Dutch company keen to make the difference: “I believe it with all my heart: math will be the foundation of football!”.

So what do they do?

SciSports uses date to generate new insights into football. They have developed three products:

1. BallJames; allowing them to use real-time images into 3D data
2. SciSports Intelligence; develops algorythms to make this data visual
3. DataScouting is a virtual football consultant and talent scout

SciSports is located in Enschede (East of The Netherlands, where FC Twente is) and employs 45 people. Their database has stats of 300,000 players, up to the 2nd division.

He himself runs on Saturday afternoons along the sideline as left winger of Terschuurse Boys 4. “I can’t play, really”, the 27 year old says, when he joins Marcel Brands of PSV, or the Arsenal management or the technical committee of the Belgium football federation. Or when he travels to Silicon Valley on the invite of the European Union.

His company SciSports is seen as a potential unicorn. A company potentially worth billions in the future. “It’s so surreal. On Saturday arvo, my coach benches me because I’m not good enough, the next day I’m in San Francisco with a self driving car next to me at the traffic lights, or I’m presenting my products before the board of Man United.

Brouwer (left) with co-founder Babic

So please explain: Justin Kluivert is hot now. What do you know about him that I don’t?

“That’s too hard. He hasn’t played a handful of starting games. We need 15 to 20 games to make a good indication of a players’ potential. We don’t have a partnership with Ajax, so we don’t have his data from the youth academy. With PSV, we are at that point. Based on the youth data of PSV, I can tell you here and now that Kenneth Paal will be a top player for us.”

Who?

,,Haha. In our reporting, it appears that teams play better and get better results with him. He’s in our National Team of the Future. We help clubs identify players. A club can ask us: “We want a type of player like Memphis!”. Then we try to find players like Depay who are affordable. We have a database of 300,000 players and we can determine the impact of a player on a team. Not unlike Moneyball. Trying to find the new Kante or Vardy.”

SciSports offer more than data. “Clubs can also ask about negative aspects of a player. Was he drinking and driving? Has ie been suspended by his club? Did he injure a team mate. We have all these data. But it’s only a part of our service. Our core focus is the performance and statistics.”

In 2007, Brouwer commenced his studies at the Technical University in Enschede. Joop Munsterman, CEO of FC Twente opened his eyes during a guest lecture. “He told us about Twente’s technical management and how they did their transfer decision making. I was flabberhasted! I was a big player of Football Manager and I thought this was how it went in the real world. But Munsterman said it was all intuition! There are so many ways to scout a player, but FC Twente was doing it all in 1920 style. So I thought, I’ll build a Football Manager system, for the real world.”

In 2012, it all started for real. “I was in Ukraine for the Euros and I got a text message from a Twente scout. “Do you know a good player for us?”. And I thought, fuck it, I’m going to do this!”

Last year, SciSports assisted with 13 transfers, for Sparta, Vitesse, Twente, Heracles and Genk. At Heracles, they’ve installed 14 3D cameras which collate data for SciSports. “It’s all so basic still, but we’re moving fast. I hired 3 more people last month.”

What was the first big name player you found?

“Wout Weghorst. He was told FC Emmen didn’t want him anymore. But based on our data, he was excellent. Always scoring important goals, always on the right spot. The rest is history. SciSports brought him to Heracles and now he’s the new striker of AZ and no one misses Vincent Janssen. AZ is not his final station, I can alert you to that now.”

So the Dutch Eredivisie has a lot of potential still?

“Without any data to support this statement: Kasper Dolberg. But if you check the data results, Joey Groenbast of Go Ahead Eagles, the right back. And El Azzouzi of Sparta has potential. But the most influential player in the Eredivisie is Joel Veltman.”

Veltman??

“You wouldn’t think that, but yes, based on his stats. I would not have expected that either. But when he plays, Ajax doesn’t concede a lot and he’s always involved with the build up leading to goals. Our main question is always: what is the impact of a player on the team. That is key. Data will never replace the usual football processes of course, it doesn’t say anything about group dynamics. But it helps with generating insight to improve the game. It supports the coach. We help clubs by taking the noise out of the stats. It’s also confirming the ideas of scouts or giving them the devil’s advocate angle. I do believe that math can be the foundation of success in sports. It’s not perfect, but it’s less imperfect that the eye of the individual.”

Any tips for clubs?

“If any club is looking for a winger, I’d go watch SV Eupen in Belgium and sign Henry Onyekuru. A top player!”

SciSports is going like a rocket. But only a couple of years ago, it looked bleak. Two co-founders decided to leave the company and go for a job while Giel realised his savings account was as good as empty. In 2015, the turnaround came when Rapid Wien came and needed help finding a player. That made the penny drop. “We were focusing on the Dutch market but now realised we could easily expand internationally.”

Today, SciSports works for 50 clubs, from Heracles to Valencia, from Besiktas to Lazio Roma. SciSports offers monthly subscription for data reports and analyses to more than a dozen clubs, and counting.

“The Big Clubs such as Man City have their own data teams. They don’t need us per se, but lots of clubs can’t afford that so they are our target market.”

The Dutch National Team of Tomorrow (according to SciSports)

Then there is the captain of Heracles, Mark Jan Fledderus. He visits SciSports regularly to analyse the qualities of his direct opponent of the up coming match. The BallJames service focuses on details. Like the first touch of a player, or the power of the player’s headers, or the running patterns of teams… Ball James is still an infant, and a loss making activity. “But that will change, I’m sure. The potential is amazing and we are getting so many requests. all football clubs I talk to want it.”

Brouwer is now a player in the world of football. He has lunch with Bryan Roy, has weekly phone calls with Mark Overmars, receives signed jersey from Robin van Persie and rubs shoulders with Silicon Valley based investors.

“I didn’t start this to become a millionaire. It’s nice if it happens, but my aim was and is to make the football sports more beautiful….”

January 28, 2017 by Jan

Ridge Haps wants to be Oranje’s left back

It seems we are doing nicely now, developing defenders and defensive minded players…. Some while back, it seemed we were great at developing wingers, strikers and playmakers… We always complained about the defensive strength of Oranje. Since the 1970s (Israel, Laseroms, Suurbier, Krol, Rijsbergen, Mansveld, Drost, Hulshof) we were never able to develop world class defenders. Frank de Boer, Danny Blind, Reiziger, Wijnstekers…all former attackers. The only real defender with world class capabilities was Jaap Stam. Now, with all that focus from the past decade on “better defenders”, we seem to have a list of potential world class players, from Van Dijk and De Vrij to Strootman and De Roon. From Rick Karsdorp to Riedewald, from Tete to Kongolo and Nathan Ake.

A player who escaped the spying eyes of most big club scouts but who is regularly touted as the coming man for Oranje by analysts in Holland, is called Ridgeciano Haps. Which I will call Ridge Haps from now on :-).

He’s the 23 year old left back of AZ Alkmaar, playing under the guidance of experienced defenders like Ron Vlaar and Stijn Wuytens and part of the weekly core group of players discussing football and tactics with coach John van den Brom.

His Roots

“I was born in Utrecht, like my sister. My parents are from Suriname, but they studied in Holland. My dad used to play football in Suriname but not at a high level. My mom was a very good basketball player. She did play high up, as a playmaker. Fierce and quick. I’m probably more like her, to be honest. She’s a very industrious type. Worked for Abn Amro for 40 years and always giving me advice.”

Early Start

“I didn’t play at a club or anything. My parents didn’t want me to. But I played school football and after one game a guy walked up to my parents and asked where I played. He was gobsmacked I didn’t play for a club. So my parents decided to give me a go, with the Zwaluwen in Utrecht (Swallows). After three weeks, Feyenoord came! I did a six week period there, with Karim Rekik and Annas Achahbar. They were allowed to stay, I wasn’t. I didn’t care, I think I was too young to really care. I went back to the Zwaluwen, I liked it there.”

Ajax

“A year later, Ajax and PSV wanted me. I was delighted! I picked Ajax, as it’s closer to Utrecht. Every day, my dad drove me to Amsterdam and my first season was great. But I think my second season disappointed as Ajax let me go. This time, I was shattered. I felt like a failure. I thought my future as a pro player was gone. My parents helped me a lot. They said “stick the course, keep believing…” They were convinced there were other avenues to the top. That helped.”

“With my Ajax background, Elinkwijk wanted me. That is one of the best amateur clubs in Utrecht, with good youth development. I went there and the funny thing was that I was playing in a competition with AZ and Ajax as opponents. AZ immediately asked me for a test period. They had this tournament and I went along and played that with AZ. I was voted as player of the tournament and made a move to Alkmaar. By then, my parents decided to relocate to Amsterdam to support my life as a player. I played left winger and I was really good at that age. But after a couple of years, they moved me back, first to midfield, then to left full back. I was pissed off! I didn’t wanna play defender! I was a winger. Everyone started to explain it to me and all that, but I would not listen. Were they crazy ? I would not play in defence. I was horrified. Insulted. I needed to force myself to go to practice and decided to leave.”

AZ Again

“When I left, I got several calls from pro clubs but I had had it with them. I wanted to regain the fun of playing football. AFC called and I decided to go there. A top amateur club, playing against pro club youth teams. Still a good level. But I said: I will come, only if I am allowed to play left winger! And they said: sure. So I did and had great fun there. And at the end of that season, we played a friendly, against… AZ. It ended 4-4. I scored three goals and had one assist. The next day, the AZ Academy director calls me up. “Do you want to come back?”. And I did… I missed the pressure of a pro club. I wanted to reach for the top. So I went back and 7 months later I was offered my first real contract. I made it. I was a pro player. I played for Young AZ as a left winger which means you train with the full senior squad.”

Gert Jan Verbeek

“After half a season, first team coach Verbeek wants a meeting. He said: “I like how you are developing, but I think there is a wonderful future for you as left back!”. Bam! No, not again… I had to process this. But Verbeek explained why he saw it like that. How left wing backs are the new wingers. How modern wingers play on their wrong foot and move inside. How I would have the ability to go for glory 10 times per 45 minutes. Running, crossing, dribbling… I took some time, and learned from games, focusing on Alba, Lahm, Zabaleta, that sort of players… Dani Alvez… And I saw that Verbeek was right. I realised that position allowed me to do what I want. I have a lot of energy that I need to get out of my system. You can do that on the back spot. I was 19 years old when I made my debut for AZ 1, versus PSV Eindhoven. I knew it then and there: I am a left back!”

The Future

“I’m a lucky guy. I have a good friendship with Max Huiberts (technical director of AZ) as he was my youth coach, years ago. And he was a creative left winger of course. He has a good relationship with my manager as well, I’m with Raiola’s cousin. And the plan is to make a move when the time is right. I’m ambitious. My contract runs till 2019 and I think by then I’d like to move to a Dutch top club, if they want me. And after that, when I prove myself there, maybe something in a bigger competition… But if the top 3 isn’t interested, well… I might make the move away earlier. Money is not my motivator. I want to reach as high as possible. But, the Championship in England these days is also interesting. I do think my game fits a bigger competition. And who knows where my ceiling is…”

Oranje

“Am I the left back for the future in Oranje? Well, I don’t know but I sure hope so, hahaha. Oranje is one of my personal goals. I haven’t progressed past Oranje under 20. But, I think it’s realistic to think I’m close. Playing for AZ means you are on the radar, I’m sure. Schaars of Heerenveen, Vlaar who’s with me at AZ… I think I’m playing well this season, but as a team it’s not consistent enough. That doesn’t help of course. A step up will help me with my chances in Oranje as well of course. I think I’m close but not good enough yet. Btw, I’m happy Terence Kongolo is in the squad. He’s a good friend, we played together in the U20s and I think he’s doing really well. I told him, you’re doing so well. And he’s a lovely guy. He said: so are you hahaha. I really like it for him and wish him all the best. But, I’m ambitious and I will go for the left back spot in Oranje!”

January 7, 2017 by Jan

De Kuip (The Tub) will become Feyenoord City

My friends, I had plans to write this article for months but constantly delayed it as we had more pressing, current football matters to discuss. I got the question on the blog to actually do a post on the subject and I have put aside my caution and decided to do it now. Writing about sacred ground is daunting. It’s like a catholic having to write a piece on the Vatican… can you do it justice?

So lets start with the magic, before we go into the facts. The Feyenoord Stadium, lovingly called De Kuip (The Tub, as it resembles a big bath tub), has been a sacred temple for me from when I was very young. Living in a little town outside of Rotterdam, I was lucky to share my street with legends like Willem van Hanegem, Wim Jansen, Dick Schneider and Peter Ressel, to name a few. Dick Schneider became a good friend and he gave me a season’s ticket from when I was 12 years old. I played football on the streets with Van Hanegem’s son and had Wim Jansen visit our games regularly. If Willem van Hanegem joined in, he would go on goal and score goals from goal kicks, curving the balls into the top corner of our goal (these were smaller pitches of course).

When driving into Rotterdam from the south side, you’d have to drive past De Kuip. The iconic stadium was visible from afar (Holland is very flat) and you could see the stadium for most of the trip, from my village to the centre of Rotterdam. The Stadium has quite some history. It was built in the depression era and Van Eesteren (the builder) used out of work construction people, offering them work and pay, while the city was gifted this wonderful sports arena.

Up until the year 00’s, De Kuip was the home of Feyenoord and Oranje. The Dutch national team enjoyed playing in Rotterdam as the capacity of the stadium was much bigger than that of rival Ajax’ old stadium (De Meer) and the Feyenoord pitch has always been top notch. The Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam was not too popular as it had an athletics track around the pitch. When Ajax moved to the Arena, however, the KNVB started to favour that futuristic site as the main home for Oranje, mainly for the VIP boxes and restaurants and parking. The Amsterdam Arena pitch (now actually the Cruyff Arena) was always pretty poor, however and most players (even the Ajax ones) preferred to play in Rotterdam. The KNVB decided differently: without renovations there would not be any big game played by Oranje in Rotterdam. Even the UEFA bypassed The Tub for European finals.

De Kuip has magic. There is no other site in Rotterdam so engrained in emotions, both happy and sad… hope and despair. Hate and Love go hand in hand (comrades) and the euphoria of a victory is closely partnered with deep sorrow after a defeat. A sport temple of steel and concrete.

And whenever Oranje does play in De Kuip, it’s an amazing site to see the Orange Fans walk to the stadium, singing and chanting. From De Achterhoek (“back corner” meaning the East of Holland), to Limburgers (from the South), fans from Utrecht, Den Haag and even Amsterdam. There’s even horse pulled carts from Barendrecht coming to Rotterdam South.Whenever the pride of Holland, the national team, plays at home, the weirdest people leave their homes and caves to cheer them on. Wearing the most outrageous outfits. Someone has a helmet with windmills, or orange Pippi Longstocking ponytails and another has a orange hairdo, like Scottish darts player Snakebite Wright. The pitch in De Kuip is the best in Holland and potentially one of the best in Europe. It’s not for nothing that former Feyenoord groundsmen were signed by behemoths like Arsenal and Barcelona. The pitch is our thirteenth man (the Oranje legion being the 12th of course). And players like Sneijder, Klaassen and Blind get a boost from this little lawn, the usual working space for Kuyt, Vilhena and Karsdorp.

We’re at home playing Belarus. And we win 4-1. Is it a coincidence that after all sorts of stumbling and hiccups, Oranje gets a nice home win in Rotterdam. What if we had played all our home qualifications games for the Euro 2016 in Rotterdam? Out of that pressure cooker pan in Amsterdam, back to the football temple in Rotterdam. Sure, there are scruffy toilets, the bitterballs are too cold and parking is a problem, but hey… it’s about football!

We lost the next game in Amsterdam, against France. The KNVB should avoid all risk and pick Rotterdam as the venue for the home game vs Sweden. Enjoy the magic of The Tub.

So, with all the changes made to most stadiums around the world (Emirates, Arena, Alliance Arena, Anfield), the Kuip in Rotterdam is becoming an ancient relic. Yes, the pitch is brilliant, yes the atmosphere in the stadium is gripping, but the infrastructure is old, the hospitality areas are out-dated, parking is a drama and the practice and training facilities and youth academy are across the road (highway) from the Stadium, meaning that every day, the squad assembles in the players’ home and then have to literally cross the highway to the training pitches. At least twice a day. Sometimes four times a day. Not a very good process for a top sports team.

The plans to renovate or rebuild have been there for more than a decade. Financial woes, lack of city council support, lack of consensus kept the discussion going much longer than needed. Over the last decade, ferocious debates were held as some people (supporters, ex-players, club icons) wanted the current stadium to be renovated, while developers, city-council and sponsors opted for a totally new venue, with added facilities and entertainment options. Many architects and construction companies from all over the world stumbled over each other to present the best option and decision making was dramatically slow.

But finally, Feyenoord City – as it will be called – is going to become a reality.

And the plans look awesome. A new, revolutionary stadium an iconic football temple on the banks of the Maas river. The current Kuip will be the inspiration for the new design.

Architect Gianotten: “This sports complex will become The face of the city. When you cross the Maas on the Brienenoord Bridge or look south from the city, you will see this Stadium. It will be an iconic platform and everyone will know: that is the new home of Feyenoord, the football temple of The Netherlands.”

David Gianotten of the OMA buro (Rem Koolhaas founded) is quite outspoken about it: “This should help Feyenoord to get back to the top of the Eredivisie, in a structural way and enable the club to become a mainstay in the European sup top.” The master plan for this development is done. With as a binding factor, a raised strip of ground – actually called The Strip – which will go from the current monumental Kuip towards the river. There, we’ll find the three ring stadium, offering a seat to 63,000 people. An exclamation mark on the left bank of Rotterdam, with activities seven days a week!

Feyenoord aims high with Feyenoord City. The new stadium will cost around 365 mio euros, and it will be the home of the Feyenoord Football Club, a beer brewery, apartments, a mega cinema, hotels and a village of 1600 dwellings. “This plan has everything any city would wish for,” says counselor Visser, at the presentation of the plan.

However, the 365 mio euros will need to be found still and financial support from the city will be key. The club hopes to get 40 mio euros from the city which will attract other sponsors and investors to join in. The city of Rotterdam seems to agree but the final plans and agreements are not there yet. The city prefers to offer the money as a loan, whereas the Feyenoord City board would love to offer shares in return.

All of this will need to further strengthen the club. The Feyenoord board expects to be able to double the players’ budget as a result of this mega move, allowing Feyenoord to compete with Ajax and PSV. “This plan is unique for The Netherlands and quite rare for Europe, actually.”

The ambitions are so high. Is a project like this affordable for Feyenoord?

Gianotten: “The construction of a stadium can be highly economical. The area it covers might be big, but it doesn’t require a lot of material. The volume of concrete and steel are not that high. But yes, it is a big investment for sure. But it won’t be a luxury item. It will have all it needs to have. And it’s quite unique, if you look at the setting, on the banks of the river.

“There is always discussion about the roof. What will this stadium get?”

It will get a movable roof. It won’t become an indoor pitch or something, but we can cover the stadium with a rain cover made of a plastics type, which will fold in / out from two sides. A fully sound proof roof would be too expensive and there are not that many huge stadium gigs anymore. You’d invest a lot for three or four events per year.”

How about visibility? Everyone needs to be able to see the game?

“We have used this as a design principle. Everyone needs optimum viewing from any seat. We started our design with the pitch, then the seats and after that we created the stadium shell. That is doing things the wrong way around, hahaha. The blocked view from the three rings are kept to a minimum. You won’t look at the bottom of the ring above you, anywhere in the stadium.”

With 63,000 seats it will be an immense stadium. How can you make sure it won’t be too massive?

“The stadium will be segmented. The building will be on a raised level, so we can lower the first level of seating. Then there is a first ring and on top of that a second ring. Each ring will have it’s own structural columns. It will look less massive this way. The Strip will also arrive at the venue on a higher level. Cars will move under the strip, the pedestrians will use the top level.”

It seems that the Stadium will be free-standing in its surrounding?

“Yes, there won’t be fences. Fences will invite aggression. Our crowd control will be done differently. The first wall you encounter is actuallty the outer wall of the stadium, or the escalators. The space under the stadium will be taken by restaurants and shops and supporting facilities for the club. On top, on the outside rim, we will have more restaurants and a night club with stunning views. This whole venue will be used 24 hours a day, every day!”

The current Tub is on the other end of the Strip, what will happen with this iconic temple?

“The Tub will be the anchor point. The monument will stay. We will have the Sport Experience there, the Museum and the supporters home. We’ll have a beer brewery there, athletic tracks and on top, we’ll have apartmentes. With windows looking in, towards the pitch and out, towards the city and the river.”

The end goal is to allow the budget of Feyenoord to match that of Ajax and PSV?

“Yes, the budget needs to increase structurally. PSV has more securities now, more funds. Ajax even more than PSV. Feyenoord needs to get to that level. And we count on the tremendous fan base here. The number of 63,000 is not a random number. We can probably guarantee a 100% occupancy. In some situations, we might have fitted even more people in, and in some case maybe less.”

Does the new stadium have a name?

“We currently call it “the new Feyenoord stadium”. Not a very catchy name. But usually people will create a fitting nickname for any place. And obviously, it will get a sponsored name as well.”

The new football temple will most likely be ready for the 2022/23 season.

December 1, 2016December 1, 2016 by Jan

Wim Jansen: revolutionise Dutch football – pt 2

This is part 2 of the Wim Jansen story on the KNVB strategy “Winners of Tomorrow”.

A big number of football “experts” were engaged in this big think tank platform for the KNVB, but funnily enough, a number of them have asked to have their names removed from the report. Dutch football wants to go back to the top of the world, but Wim Jansen thinks we’re taking the wrong exit on our way.

Wim Jansen was also invited to join in on the broader debate for a new model for the Eredivisie. Wim asked if the number of clubs was on the table, as a discussion point. He was told “No”. The number of clubs – 18 – was fixed. For Jansen, having debates about a new format were useless if the KNVB wasn’t open to debate that. Wim Jansen doesn’t take prisoners. He might have been the quiet one on the pitch, off te pitch he only lives his own truth and is happy to tell people about it. Jansen: “I have no personal ego or agenda in the game. I want to do what’s best for football in Holland. But if I share my thoughts with the a bigger group of people, with vested interests, it will become chaos. If you really want to improve the quality, the first decision needs to be: no more artifical surfaces! Real grass. It seems Holland is the only “major” football nation allowing artificial pitches. You don’t see it in England or Spain. And we have around 4 clubs in the Eredivisie with those artificial pitches and they’ll need to either redo them or leave the competition.”

Success at Celtic but Jansen left the club due to difference of opinion on future

But that’s not all. “I also want to propose a 10 club competition and I would like to see clubs play each other four times instead of two. Four Feyenoord – Ajax classics, four PSV – AZ Alkmaar fixtures, etc. This means every week you play a tough game and every week players need to step up.” He realises this plan is seen as a bomb by the general assembly. “Of course! The boards of Roda and Excelsior and Go Ahead Eagles will be devastated. I get that. But if you want to reach for the top, you need to start creating resistance at domestic level. All other solutions are compromises. People doing their best to please other people. That is not what a top league needs.”

With an eye out for the new top leagues the European top clubs are contemplating, Holland needs to prepare for this new future. The Oranje midfielder goes on: “It’s alarming that the best youth of the country in the under 13s and under 16s are not in the same competition! It’s ridiculous. In particular in our little country. Now, PSV doesn’t meet Ajax and Feyenoord! No wonder they win their regional competitions all the time. The D pupils and B juniors (first years) of Ajax and Feyenoord also don’t compete against each other. All three top clubs are in separate competitions. Sometimes the coaches organise something amongst themselves on a Wednesday afternoon. Not good enough! The biggest talents of the country need to compete amongst each other! Then there is the national cup competition. The winner of that competition plays Europa League football. Why do we allow amateur clubs in that? Now, the pro clubs need to play three rounds against – potentially that is – amateurs. How does that make them better players?”

The KNVB amateur division has a strong power base in the federation. And Jansen knows that the amateur wishes count for something. “I get that, but the result is that these shenanigans will be hurdles on our way to the top.”

Former national team manager Bert van Marwijk and former Ajax and Chelsea coach Henk ten Cate already publically withdrawn their support for the KNVB plan, while football legend Clarence Seedorf and physio Raymond Verheijen have had their names removed. At Feyenoord, they were quite surprised to see the name of under 13 coordinator Gerard Rutjes in the report, in the “revolution in youth football” chapter.

Rutjes did participate in the meetings but he was strongly opposed to the new Twin Game approach. The report claims Rutjes was a supporter of the plan. Wim Jansen: “Rutjes had the loudest voice against this plan!”

At those Twin Games on small pitches, you see results like 55-3 and 1-39! And they play without refs, so the bigger lads will win the games. In matches where the fittest wins, football talent is not longer focus.

Jansen gets worked up now. “I am so baffled about the fact that the KNVB doesn’t want to disclose who is behind all this? Someone came up with this revolution and must have used scientific research? But the KNVB doesn’t wanna tell… Where is the proof?”

Jansen hit in the eye with iceball when returning to De Kuip in an Ajax jersey

The first thing new Technical Director Hans van Breukelen wanted to do, when appointed, was appoint a so-called Performance and Innovation Manager (PIM). But in the golden seventies, when Oranje reached two world cup finals, this role didn’t exist. Same in the late 80s when Holland won the Euros and there was no PIM to be found in 2010 and 2014 when Holland won silver and bronze.

All the successes were reached without some innovation manager. And in a period of complete chaos – no more board of directors, no management team, two assistants left, a team coordinator has to leave – Hans van Breukelen is pushing for this new and vague role.

Wim Jansen feels the KNVB should first focus on getting their own stuff together. but instead of structural improvements and organisational clarity, Van Breukelen is focusing on football technical matters, together with director amateur football Van der Zee.

Jansen: “Dutch football is now being flooded with psycho-babble. They’re talking about re-thinking. Quotes like “with a draw, both teams have won”… They want to create a winning mindset amongst youngsters and visualising victories and all that. But I try to stay closer to the game, with these kids. The best way to innovate football is to develop good players. Football was never improved by scientists, therapists and even coaches. It’s the players. You know who was football’s biggest innovator in recent decades? Johan Cruyff. He changed the game as a player. He made Ajax and Barca into what they are. Then he went to evangelise in the US. When he was 34 years old, he returned and won two titles with Ajax again. Then he moved to Feyenoord and won the double. Ben Wijnstekers was already in his early 30s when he played with Johan and he told me: I learned more in that one season with Cruyff than in the 12 seasons before him.”

Jansen and Cruyff as team mates for Washington Dips in 1979

Cruyff became a legendary coach as well and he kept on teaching his players how to see the game, develop their vision and see the spaces. Football is a simple game, but playing simple football is complicated, was his motto. In one of Jansen’s recent discussion with JC, before the #14 died, was about how the pro clubs develop talent. Not the federations, not the amateur clubs. “The number of pro players in the different competitions developed at big clubs is stunning. There’s approx 40 players in the Dutch competition who started at Ajax. Probably around 30 from Feyenoord. Same with Man City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern Munich. We need to empower the big clubs to keep on investing, instead of using the recreational bodies – like the national federations – to see if they can create talent wholesale. It won’t be possible.”

Jansen about Van Breukelen’s plan: “Hans wants to focus on youth football with mental concepts. No! Let’s focus on football. On skills. On developing your weaker leg. And once we get there, focus on other aspects. Van Breukelen was a goalie, he wasn’t a midfielder or forward. He had an amazing mentality. He also wrote two books, about winning. Psychology stuff. But paper has patience. However, you win matches on the pitch. Not on paper. It’s decided on the pitch.”

The KNVB is considering opening up a whole new department focused on winning mentality. “The KNVB thinks you can create top players by working on their mentality. It’s the world turned upside down! Talent needs to be developed. How do we teach them the details. How can coaches improve in that, is a factor as well. You cannot focus on 300,000 young amateur players, which is what Van Breukelen wants to do. The Federation is going to educate and train 41,000 youth coaches for recreational football. But for Oranje, you’ll only have approximately 50 players who will reach top level. If you want to play top with Oranje, you need to focus on the top talents. Instead, they’re paying lipservice to the broader community.”

Hail to the Chief in 1974

“They recently added the second and third division to the two pro leagues. Why? Will that improve the quality at the top? Of course not. It’s just shifting with boxes instead of improving the quality.”

The big sponsor of the KNVB – the ING Bank – is also involved. They will go past amateur clubs with a whole circus of buses to make young players physically stronger. Doing push ups, more long distance running… Jansen: “This won’t make better players… Sigh… This is a sponsor campaign. The ING Bank is focused on the masses. Good on them and I don’t want to stop them. I’d love to see these initiatives for recreational football and as far as I’m concerned they do get more coaches and more different games and practices. Fine. But we need the disctintion between top level and recreational level.”

This distinction is not made by the suits of the KNVB. According to Jansen, most people at Federation level are not equipped for top sports. Amateur football director Van der Zee for instance, recently said “Jansen didn’t have a lot of understanding of youth football” until he realised who he was talking about. Jansen couldn’t care less.

“I’ve said it years ago, the FIFA, the UEFA, the KNVB, they lack vision. They’re an old boys network with the key focus on keeping their job and their perks. These suits are there for themselves. And you wanna know the big irony? The KNVB wants to create a winning mentality, but their chairman – Michael van Praag – …he lost everything in the last two years. He wanted the Euros in The Netherlands? The bid failed. He wanted to become a head honcho at FIFA and UEFA, he didn’t get elected. Then he went on to clean up the KNVB? Well, the board of directors is gone, the management is gone, we are missing two assistant coaches for Oranje and our team coordinator is asked to leave! His main focus was to get 40 countries to the World Cup, instead of improving the quality of football. And that focus of his, was purely focused on getting votes to become a top man at FIFA.”

Two Dutch football warriors, Cruyff giving his opinion with gesture. Willem only needs a look

Jansen keeps on going: “The KNVB has the monopoly on coaching licenses. There is no other avenue for anyone to get a license for The Netherlands elsewhere. So if that is their core business, they should focus on improving those courses. Instead of thinking they can develop talent. We need top coaches at all levels. Now, in this new plan, they want to bring players from under 15 till under 19 to Zeist for more training sessions. So they take the players away from the club, but it has always been at club level that talent was developed. The Federation should facilitate. They need to provide strong coaching courses and strong competitions. That’s it. One thing I can see, is that there’s always players at amateur level who develop late. We have seen many examples. The current Sparta striker is one of them. He’s 29 years old and only played at amateur level. Last year he was the top scorer in the Jupiler League. That bridging role I can see for the KNVB.”

Feyenoord winning the UEFA Cup in 1974, with Wim Jansen as skipper, over two legs vs Tottenham Hotspur.

October 13, 2016 by Jan

Oranje adds character to its armour

For years, the Dutch national team was synonymous with class. The passing of Sneijder, the dribbles of Robben, the trickery of Van der Vaart and the wonderful goals of Van Persie… In a somewhat more distant past: the guile of Van Basten, the touch of Bergkamp, the elegance of Rijkaard… Or maybe the magic of Cruyff, the intelligence of Van Hanegem and the unfathomable solos of Rob Rensenbrink…

And sure, we had grit. And fight. In midfield or defence, there was always a Johan Neeskens, Edgar Davids, Jaap Stam or a Nigel de Jong. But these players would be in service of the protected prodigal sons.

Jaap Gladiator Stam

We still develop great talents, but all nations around us have developed their technical and tactical skills while keeping hold of their specific national “traits”. Defensive strength of the Italians, the mental strength of the Germans, the physical strength of the English and of course the all round athleticism of the French… Playing shrewd can also be seen as a quality aspect, as the Portuguese have taught us many times over.

Holland needs to add some character, some intent to their game and at times we have been able to. Van Marwijk used 6 players in service of the Big Four, with Van Bommel and De Jong offering grit. Van Gaal did it with his tactics and bravado.

Under Danny Blind, a new chapter seems to be in production, trying to incorporate the best of all worlds… Technical skills (Promes, Sneijder, Wijnaldum, Blind), tactical smarts (Blind, Strootman, Sneijder), guile (Janssen, Karsdorp, Van Dijk) and…character…

Rick Karsdorp, Vincent Janssen, Kevin Strootman… They had to acknowledge that beating France at this stage was basically a bridge too far, but with courage and character thrown into the mix, we can go a long way. Again.

Johan El Torro Neeskens

Let me take you back: it was an icecold wintery Monday evening in March 2015 when a livid Karsdorp pressed his forehead against the face of referee Stieler. The German ref gave Young France a third penalty for a foul on super talent Benzia. Young Oranje is being taken to the cleaners and Karsdorp loses it. He would tell the Dutch media days later “never to have been played off the pitch in his young career as on that day, by the frickin’ French (4-1)”.

We’re 1,5 years down the track. The impatient Benzia decided to play for Algeria, as the French coaches overlooked the youngster for the senior team (hello Hakim Ziyech). And Rick Karsdorp? He was one of Holland’s best players in the senior game vs France in Amsterdam.

Karsdorp’s story is one of falling and getting back up again. Showing character when things turn bad. Biting your lip, instead of giving in. In that Young Oranje match, there was another youngster who doesn’t know the words “giving up”. Vincent Janssen, striker of Almere City, was a sub on that night in North France. He was looking to stake his claim after Feyenoord told him he didn’t have what it took to make it at Feyenoord.

Karsdorp

And Janssen was also impressive, against the French at the highest level. Every time, people would say he was too light for the top. Karsdorp and Janssen are currently the role models for technical director Hans van Breukelen, who keeps on emphasizing the fact that Dutch football “might have the best technical skills, but is lacking the winning mentality”.

After Karsdorp’s clash with Laurent Koscielny, the medical staff of Oranje urged the Feyenoord back to come off. Joel Veltman was warming up already. But Karsdorp wouldn’t think about it. “I couldn’t even lift my arm up, but leaving the pitch? Never! I really wanted to finish the game.”

“Of course I know Dimitri Payet. I saw him play for France at the Euros and when he was subbed, I felt even stronger. Against Belarus, I felt my legs cramping up, 20 minutes before the end. But now, I could have played three more matches. Despite my shoulder.”

This month, it’s actually two years ago when Karsdorp was in tears in the Feyenoord dressing room. His first sub turn at Feyenoord and his mistake led to Rijeka’s goal in Croatia in the Europa League. It seemed his career for Feyenoord was over before it began. Fred Rutten, then coach of Feyenoord, was responsible for taking Karsdorp from Feyenoord 2 – the playmaker! – and putting him on right back in Feyenoord 1. Not only that, Rutten predicted that Rick would be the next right back for Oranje! A day after the match, Rutten talked with Karsdorp: “It is up to you. If you now succumb, yes… you career is over. But if you stand up and straighten your back, you will have a big future ahead of you.”

Karsdorp grows when others run for the exit. “After two years since that situation, I know what I have in me”.

Janssen doesn’t take shit from nobody

Vincent Janssen will be able to empathise: “I can find the positive in everything. Like this match. Yes we lost. That is a disappointment but we are a team again. All noses point in the right direction. We can build on this!”.

In recent months, apart from the likes of Janssen, Karsdorp and Berghuis, Quincy Promes emerged. Developed at Ajax, sent away by Ajax, back in the lime-light at FC Twente and after one year transferred to Spartak Moscow. Where he is a star. Since last week, he now also is a man to reckoned with in the orange jersey.

He had the misfortune of flipping his ankle early in the France game, but Promes lives up to his promise, finally (apologies for the pun).

When talking to Promes (24) you know there won’t be a silence in the conversation. The Spartak forward talks as fast as he takes on Russian defenders. He renewed his deal this summer and will be with Spartak until 2021. “It was a conscious decision. I’m not ready for a step up. I’m developing well in Moscow and there is more to come. Making the right move is not going to be easy. In terms of price tag, I’m expensive now. The mid-tier clubs in the bigger leagues won’t just buy me like that. Should I go to a big club, I run the risk of coming for the bench. I rather make more of a name here at Spartak.”

Promes vs France earlier on

This career path is remarkable for a lad who left Holland after one season at Twente. For an adventure in Russia? “I never wanted to leave Twente. But they were in financial dire straits. They called me in and said there was a massive deal on the table for me. They needed to sell me. I was pushed out.”

Scoring 18 goals in his first season, he did have to take a hurdle before scoring in Oranje. “I’m simply not the key man in Oranje. I play in the number 10 role for Spartak, protected, and the ball comes to me a lot. In Oranje, I’m more a winger. But listen, I know I can score. I wasn’t in doubt. The key thing is not me scoring, though. It’s Holland winning. Who ever scores. It’s not about me, it’s about Oranje making it to the World Cup.”

And the fact that the World Cup is in Russia is special for Promes. “Sure, it is. I’m happy to be on the team sheet always in Moscow. That makes it easy for the coach to select me. And I’m super proud to play for Oranje. Whenever I pull on my jersey, I get goosebumps. And I want to go to the World Cup.”

You are a very proud lad. And there is always that line in interviews or articles saying “sent away at Ajax”…

“I was a very difficult lad when I was young. I won’t lie about that. Super selfish. I played in Ajax youth and the arrogance comes with that. You think you are da man. But in all honesty, you’re not. You only sniff at the opportunity. At Ajax, at some stage, they had enough. And I could leave. I am grateful to them though. It changed my life. It opened my eyes. I should not be praised, I should always be pushed to fight. Then, I’m able to give my best.”

So what happened after Ajax? “I went to Haarlem but they went bankrupt almost immediately. FC Twente came and Patrick Kluivert was my coach in Twente 2. That man did something to me. They loaned me to Go Ahead Eagles and (current FC Utrecht coach) Erik ten Hag was there. He gave me the key to success. He was super strict. I didn’t get that at all. Until I suddenly realised he did it to help me. He turned me from a piece of coal into a diamond. I started to score goals at the Eagles and I was off. Next season, it all happened at Twente and now I’m with Spartak.”

So Kluivert and Ten Hag made you what you are now? “And Alfred Schreuder at Twente. I also became a dad at Go Ahead. Seeing that little one changed me tremendously. For the first time I realised I had responsibilities. I stopped living just for myself, I now work and live for my wife, my daughter. Well, daughters, we have two now.”

Quincy at Go Ahead Eagles with mentor Erik ten Hag

How is life in Moscow? “I don’t live in an apartment anymore. Moscow is really a cool city, just very cold in winter. I will never get used to that. But Russians are typical people. They’re not very open or social, but once you break through that veneer, they will do everything for you. It’s not like in Amsterdam, where you can just borrow a cup of sugar from the neighbours. In Moscow, they won’t open the door even.

Would Spartak Moscow win the title in the Eredivisie? “Hmm, don’t know. PSV and Ajax are strong teams. But I don’t think Spartak would finish lower than 3rd or 4th. We are no Utrecht or PEC Zwolle, with all due respect.”

Speaking about Ajax, it was always your dream club. How is that now? “I’m from Amsterdam. Which means you want to play for Ajax. But, I’m not sure whether that’s ever possible. Probably not. But…you never know.”

And to finalise our portrait of winners… Kevin Strootman is renowned for his mentality. And in typical Strootman form, he was very angry at the player who made the mistake against Sweden, allowing them to score. This player was Strootman himself.

“The will to win is strong in me. Very deep. Fighting for the team. I have always done that. Friendlies, practice games… I find it hard to deal with mistakes that cost us points. And when I’m the one making the mistake, well….”

Strootman came in front of the cameras after the Sweden game and was super critical on himself. He came to the Oranje camp for Belarus and France with a thigh injury but played a decent game vs Belarus. In the France game, he was again partly at fault for the goal conceded.

Did the Sweden mistake play around in your head? “Well, yes, for a couple of days. Sure. But once you’re at the club, there is that rollercoaster ride of games and you can put it aside. But when I came back to the Oranje camp, it immediately popped up again. We looked back at the Sweden game of course and that blunder was on the big screen again. I looked away. This simply cannot happen.”

This self criticism is part of your personality. Did you have this in the Sparta youth as well? “For sure. But listen, you have a job. If you make a crucial mistake in your job, you’d take it home with you. I think every player has this, but maybe not all players show it.”

Really? I doubt it. “No, I am telling you. This was an obvious howler. A pro player who’d try to talk his way out of this would be ridiculed for days. I made a decision against France. The Pogba goal. It was the wrong decision in hindsight. But it was calculated. I didn’t think that was a blunder. We were out of position. If I bite, and Pogba goes past me, he’s in on goal. I rather have him take a shot from 30 meters than from 15 meters. I forced him to go to Maarten’s right, which is his strong side. Sadly for all of us, the ball was too good. In hindsight, yes, I might have done better to close him down, but that’s all irrelevant now. You make a quick decision and sometimes you’re wrong. With the Sweden mistake, I could live with that better if Bas Dost’s goal would have been allowed. Making a mistake but winning is not that dramatic.”

Strootman is skipper in the absence of Sneijder and Robben. He was positive about Oranje’s development. “We controlled the game versus Sweden and Belarus, bar 20 minutes. The France game, we knew it would be tough to control them. But overal, it’s more stable than – say – 5 months ago. We seem to be able to execute all the tasks the coach puts on us. We don’t give a lot away, we coach each other and work hard. The way we defend dead balls is also much better. Everyone is focused. These are key moments in top football. You got to “stand right” as they say. I remember the Iceland away game. Two moments of loss of focus and we’re 2-0 down.”

The only way is up. “We can play much better even. I think the vibe in the group is excellent. We are a team, we fight for each other. I am sure the rewards will come. And you know what, I think it’s a good thing that we can’t be certain to beat Sweden or Belarus, like we did in the past. We now know we have to give everything against so-called smaller nations. Holland used to qualify with ease. That is behind us. I actually think it’s a good thing. Sneijder said recently, “There was a time when we got out of the bus and said to each other: let’s win this 3-0. That time is over.””

Louis van Gaal allowed Strootman his debut four years ago, against Andorra. He got the skippers band at 22 years old. And everyone thought: Strootman will have 50 or 60 caps when he’s 26 years old and will have played three or four big tournaments. The 2018 World Cup will be his first big tournament, should Oranje get there.

Edgar Pitbull Davids

“Well, I was at the EC2012, but I didn’t play a single minute. The World Cup 2014, I watched on TV as a result of my injury. And we missed the last Euros. I really want to experience a World Cup now and play. It’s a huge motivation. I’m 28 years in two years time. It’s about time I start to present myself on that stage.”

Strootman’s massive injury problems started with a game vs France. Did this play in his head? “Well, I did get a slight knee injury in that game and was subbed. But the real injury happened in a game vs Napoli a week later. So, no. It didn’t cross my mind. I now was troubled with a muscle injury, but the knee will always demand attention, for the rest of my career. I need to work through a schedule constantly, but when I do I am free in my head to play the match. And the more I play, the stronger the knee will get. Your whole body, basically. And the more confidence you build.”

Do you experience the game differently now, post injury? Do you look differently at your career? “With regards to the game, no. And it’s not so that I am less serious about my game, or less frustrated from mistakes. I don’t think I’ll look at my career until it’s over. No time to do that now, hahaha. And football life in Italy doesn’t allow it. You need a top mentality in Italy. In Holland, when you’re injured or a sub, you still get guidance and attention from the coach and the club. In Italy, if you don’t play, you need to make sure you stay fit and that the coach keeps seeing you. It’s tough.”

Is Kevin Strootman the leader of this new Oranje? He shuffles on his seat uncomfortably. “I am one of the players. I’m not bigger or better or more important. I’m a player in service of the artists. I won’t dribble past 5 players to hit the ball in the top corner. Sadly. My qualities are to keep the balance. Fill the gaps. I will lead by example, not with words. I will fight and battle and go into challenges with all I have. I want to win. That is deeply engrained in me.”

But, there is a chance that in a year or so you are the first captain of Oranje? That surely is an honour?

“But do you know what that means? That Arjen is still not fit. That Wesley isn’t available. That is not something that would make me happy at all! It wouldn’t be good for Oranje, nor for me. No no, please let me be the third skipper for a while, behind these two. All good!”

October 6, 2016 by Jan

Oranje getting ready for Belarus and France w/o Robben

Amidst all the shenanigans at federation level, Danny Blind is keeping his focus on the games ahead. He shrugs off the problems with management, the influence of new Tech Director Van Breukelen and shows confidence for the matches vs Belarus and France.

Danny Blind is not to be envied. Key players missing, overall quality below par, lack of support of his management. But he still finds time to joke. At the press conference last week, Hans van Breukelen was missing due to a wedding party. Blind: “I told Hans he should go nice and early to be ahead of traffic.” Which invoked laughs from the media present.

Asked if he felt the pressure: “I know there is pressure. Just like with any other game. We need wins. Whether I’m working for Oranje, or coaching Ajax 2. Also as a player, we wanted to win every game. That pressure is normal for me. I don’t feel the pressure of needing to win to keep my job. That is counter-productive pressure and I’m fortunate not to have that stress. I don’t do anything for this, it’s just how I am.”

One of the key talking points is Arjen Robben’s fitness. “We all want a fit Robben to play for us. But you have to be realistic and we also have a responsibility towards Arjen. I need him for the full qualification series and for the World Cup. I don’t want to take risks, and neither does his club.”

With all the attention going to the missing Robben, the return of Stefan de Vrij is almost overlooked. It was basically one year ago almost to the day that De Vrij stayed behind in the break with a knee issue.

The Lazio defender is impressing again in the Serie A and is keen to get minutes in his former home, De Kuip. “I am so happy to be back. I so missed this. My first focus was getting fit for Lazio and now I can play without pain, I’m top fit and keen as. Playing for Oranje is amazing and to be able to play on my favorite pitch in my home stadium gives me the goosebumps just thinking about it.”

And here is probably the best news football fans in Holland can get, apart from Robben being 100% fit and ready. Oranje is back in De Kuip. In 2012, KNVB general manager criticised the Feyenoord home as being outdated and obsolete. He copped a lot of criticism from the fans, as De Kuip used to be the home of Oranje for decades. The more sterile and theatre like Arena in Amsterdam was chosen as it has more VIP rooms and restaurants for the sponsors. But De Kuip is a true football temple and one of the most intimidating stadiums of Europe. The fans are close to the pitch, the pitch is arguably the best in Europe – 100% grass, no synthetics – and somehow, De Kuip is always full when Oranje plays (in contrast with half empty Arena and Phillips Stadium experiences).

Youri Mulder: “I scored the winner vs Belarus in the 90s in De Kuip and it is indescribable what happens when you score in De Kuip. It’s like you’re in a cyclone. The energy, the noise, the whole experience. I can only describing it to making love to the girl you have been in love with for years and she never really noticed you. Until suddenly, she does and you meet and fall in love and…magic happens…”

Former Feyenoord striker Peter Houtman: “You enter the stadium from the tunnel and the energy grabs you by the throat. Immediately. Players can’t hear each other. Coaches can’t reach their players. It’s loud and all encompassing. Even now, coming into the stadium, without playing yourself, it’s massive.”

It’s fitting that De Kuip is the new home of Oranje. Feyenoord is the leader in the Eredivisie and was victorious versus Man United in the EL. Rick Karsdorp was part of the Oranje squad twice before, but hasn’t broken his duck yet. “It’s great that we are doing so well with Feyenoord. We are in good shape and the team manager will take notice of that. My career is going from strength to strength. I’m grateful to Fred Rutten for this. He recognised a right back in me, whereas I played playmaker in the youth. But the game has changed and they demand a lot from full backs these days. Build up, speed, tactical awareness and assists.” Karsdorp believes team spirit is the secret for Feyenoord and hopes this can channel into Oranje. “We are like family at Feyenoord. We enjoy playing together and are tight. This is how new players like goalie Brad Jones and striker Jorgensen can adapt so easily. It is not the sum of the individuals, it’s more than that. I hope to get that feeling with Oranje as well.”

Despite the fuzzy warm feelings Karsdorp and co are hoping for, Blind approaches the games very business like. The coach: “Belarus is a tough opponent, yes. Most players are in the Russian league and it’s a tough league to play in. But, we play at home and we have players playing in the EPL, the Serie A, the Bundesliga, Turkey and Portuguese league. I demand a win and I think I am allowed to. The players need to cope with that pressure, because they can. Belarus is a tightly organised, defensive thinking team. They won’t give a lot away, but we need to be on the front foot and win the second ball. Snuff out their counter and keep pressure on. At home, we always want to win and that is the mission.”

For the France game, Blind doesn’t have a different aim. “Again, playing at home, you need to be gutsy and confident. I analysed the friendly against France and they were better. It will be different than playing Belarus. France wants the ball and wants to play. This will give us opportunities.”

The former Ajax captain doesn’t wanna give much away regarding the line up, but it is clear that De Vrij, Dost and Karsdorp are making it hard for him. Veltman didn’t impress earlier and seems not in great shape for Ajax either. Dost scores as if he played for Sporting for years and Stefan de Vrij impresses in Italy again. Janmaat being injured, Karsdorp might start. “He is playing well and it’s an advantage to play in De Kuip for him. It’s his home and he’ll feel confident.” He is not planning to use both strikers. “Dost is not a Plan B player alone. He could easily start. I will pick one or the other. I did take Siem de Jong along for an all or nothing hail mary end of the match, if need be.”

Wesley Sneijder didn’t come to the Oranje camp without issues. A muscle injury in his thigh got him subbed for Gala. “Sneijder seems fit now, but with muscle issues, he could actually be in trouble after 10 minutes. It’s a scenario I need to keep in mind. And prepare for that.”

Oranje in training

September 22, 2016 by Jan

Prelim Schrelim Oranje Squad. The point being…?

Our heroes: invisible Michael van Praag (left), ~~new leader~~ leader-in-waiting Gijs de Jong (second from right), visionary Johan Lokhorst (right)

Now here is one of those mysteries in football for you. The Preliminary squad. Where did that come from?

Who started this? And when? And why? There is no rule, Fifa or Uefa, obliging federations to publish these… But it suddenly appeared. And when it did, suddenly the media made it headline news. There are press conferences. Press releases. Twitter debates, forum discussions… For what purpose?

It is not so, that once a prelim squad is announced, the coach HAS TO pick the definitive squad from the prelim. We saw in the past that when a player got injured and had to leave the definitive squad, the coach simply picked a player who wasn’t even in the prelim squad. Bypassing other players on that same position who were!

Coach Blind can pick players for the definitive squad from anywhere, as long as they’re Dutch. I have as much chance as being selected as Leroy Fer. Vurnon Anita might be dropped from the prelim and if Strootman gets injured (God help us), Fer could suddenly make his way into the squad.

Danny, on the bench alone….

What nonsense is this? Who is helped with this? The players? The KNVB could easily let them know via the clubs. Why this media humbug?

It just adds to more confusion, once Blind decides to pick Memphis thanks to his glorious performance in the League Cup.

Just another example of KNVB madness. The chair of the board resigned last week. The guy, successful CEO of a gingerbread company, was ridiculed week in week out. When Hiddink was sacked and Blind took over, he held a press conference. The question put to him was: “What need to happen now, what strategic vision do you have to bring Oranje back to the top?”. His answer, after some nervous fiddling and shuffeling on his chair: “Now, we need to do everything we can to win every game we play!”. Great vision. Great strategy. Great leadership.

De Vrij is back!

He allowed Van Oostveen to mess things up, he allowed the board to appoint the number 2 at KNVB to be promoted as general manager, without any accountable due process in the selection. The clubs, the media, everyone has a gut full. The full board is expected to clear out. And the clubs have vetoed the appointment of Gijs de Jong as the new general manager.

Gijs de Jong

The Ship of Fools is without a skipper. Unless you think Hans van Breukelen is able to steer the boat?

No management and no board means Blind cannot appoint new assistant coaches. With Marco van Basten on collision course with the KNVB about his exit, it seems San Marco will be asked to clear out asap and Blind will have to go the next games alone. What a mess!

Daryl Janmaat is two weeks out with a shoulder injury. The Watford wingback played the full 90 minutes against Sweden, but on October 7, vs Russia and October 10 vs France (for real!), Danny Blind will most likely use either Kenny Tete (sub at Ajax) or Rick Karsdorp on the right full back spot.

Janmaat tackled by Martial’s head

Some positive news then: 90 year old Kees Rijvers, the legendary forward of NAC, Feyenoord, St Etienne and Oranje fame released his book “Prof” (English: “Pro”) this week. This must be a good read. The little wizard coached FC Twente and PSV to success in the 1970s and was Oranje’s coach in the famous 2-3 win in Ireland, when one Marco van Basten and one Ruud Gullit came on at half time to turn the 2-0 scoreline into a 2-3 win.

For the youngsters under us: here is a highlights clip of that game:

August 28, 2016 by Jan

Dutch football debacles continue: Ajax out of CL!

It has been quite a disappointing week – again – for Dutch football. Not a good way to start a Dutch Football Blog. Our disappointing Euro summer was even compounded with disgraceful antics at the Olympics in Rio. Not so much athletes being drunk, or orgies at the Olympic village or coaches groping young boys… But the Dutch mission chief; first sending gymnastics gold medal candidate Yuri van Gelder home after he decided to spend a night on the town with his girlfriend and missing a training session…as if this athlete (world champion) doesn’t know what he’s doing… And then this moron sent all the “losing” athletes home prior to the closing event, on what he deemed “the loser flight”. Taking away their once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of the Olympics Closing Ceremony. People who train four years or more for their big event, who already were disappointed with missing any trophy. To put insult to injury, “our” Chief decided to punish them further by sending them home, like little kids! The Dutch sports fans are irate (as I am) and nothing is done about it of course.

We also saw money grabbing Dick Advocaat leaving the Oranje camp, for some extra euros in Turkey and when the KNVB approached Ruud Gullit to take Dick’s place in the backroom staff, he happily said “he would love to be of support to the Oranje team”. But only a couple of days later, he returned the invite to the KNVB’s technical director Hans van Breukelen, saying he was insulted with the package offered to him.

Gullit wanted to be a full blown staff member and was keen to be able to scout the Dutch players in his preparation for his job. The KNVB felt it wasn’t needed. Gullit was not required at meetings, would not get a travel budget to see games. Might have been a way to simply let him decline the job, for PR reasons (the KNVB is under a lot of pressure) and as Gullit also demanded a clause in his contract allowing him to jump ship when a better deal would come by. Not a strong thing to demand, if Dick Advocaat just used this clause to find the exit. Gullit, allegedly, also demanded to be promoted when either Danny or Marco decided to leave… Another clause Van Breukelen wouldn’t agree to. So, two days after the news got out that the former AC Milan and Oranje legend would join the team, he did not…

All in all, frowns were visible on the foreheads of many analysts in The Netherlands. Danny Blind, team manager, simply does not have a lot of experience as a club coach. He coached Ajax in total for 14 months or so. Marco van Basten had one year at Ajax and some seasons at a lower level, only to conclude that “head coach wasn’t this thing”. As an Oranje team manager, he didn’t do so badly, by the way.

So the KNVB decided to pick a seasoned, experienced coach to support Blind and Bassie. And Advocaat fits that bill. With the Dick leaving again, suddenly Ruud Gullit was seen as the perfect replacement. Say what? The last time Gullit was club coach was 10 years ago, and his work at clubs like Newcastle, Feyenoord and LA Galaxy can not be summarized as “successful”. How on Earth does that KNVB work…. Anyway, Gullit is out and now Blind and co will get their second assistant after the Greek friendly.

Hans Jorritsma, key in all organisational aspects of Oranje

On top of all that, the KNVB has decided that Hans Jorritsma will have to make way. The team manager and former hockey coach (winning gold and world titles) worked for the KNVB for 20 years. He reaches retirement age but was definitely not unwilling to stay on. Danny Blind was keen to have the man on board. “Jorritsma is one of the best organisers I know and with Russia 2018 on the horizon, his experience could be vital. I was not heard in this decision and I am not happy. I will let the federation know.”

Jorritsma has been hailed by former coaches (Van Gaal, Van Marwijk) but was allegedly “used” by the KNVB to help sack Guus Hiddink (technically, his boss), which helped Blind into the job, of course.

More to come I’m sure.

The new technical director, Hans De Breuk Van Breukelen. Lost two assistants in the process already…

In the meantime, Danny Blind has to gel together a team to play the key first qualification game vs Sweden in a week and a bit. Robben still injured, Van Persie not really in great form, De Vrij not match fit, Memphis hardly used, Eljero Elia injured and many other regulars not in great shape (Janmaat, Martins Indi, Veltman). The transfer period is still open and the likes of Bas Dost and Jasper Cillesen are with their heads and hearts involved in relocation plans, finding homes, learning languages and other logistics.

We seem to do alright with goalies of course. Stekelenburg had two great games for the Toffees in the EPL while Jeroen Zoet is doing well after his quality progression last season. CF Barcelona’s new goalie Cillessen had a pretty shitty start this season but it still a good goalie of course. Blind might decide to start with Zoet or Stekelenburg to keep the new Barca keeper out of the wind a bit.

Defensively, Van Aanholt impresses again at Sunderland. Daryl Janmaat made his move back to the EPL (Watford) and might play himself into the limelight again. Daley Blind and Van Dijk perform well, as does Ron Vlaar but the Ajax defenders have been disappointing. Willems also hasn’t reached his level of before his injury and might also be trying to make a late transfer deal.

In midfield we see similar issues with the Ajax contingent playing below par. The PSV midfielders have impressed, and so much so that Tonny Vilhena is not part of the current squad. Jorrit Hendrix joins the squad after a good start with PSV, while Propper, Wijnaldum, Sneijder and Strootman seems to be mainstays by now for Oranje. I hope.

PSV prospect Jorrit Hendrix

Up front, Huntelaar and Memphis have been dropped. New Spurs strong man Janssen will lead the line with Luuk de Jong and Bas Dost as pinch hitters and Promes, Berghuis and Narsingh vying for the winger roles.

Blind: “I spoke with Huntelaar and told him Vincent would lead the line and he agreed with me that he is not the ideal pinchhitter. I have Dost and De Jong for this and we decided to not work together at this stage. It was a pleasant conversation. Klaas-Jan was ok with it.”

The team manager also spoke with Van Persie: “He still is not in great shape. He is fit, but not match fit. Now Advocaat is his new coach he might well get more minutes. Last weekend he played 70 minutes as a starter, so who knows. I have not written him off.”

Stefan de Vrij is also not yet part of Blind’s plans: “He was out of contention for a long time. He just made his return at Lazio. I told him I need him to focus on getting rhythm back and once he has established that at Lazio, it’s a new situation.”

Memphis Depay simply hasn’t played enough. “I spoke to Memphis too. He was disappointed of course, but he only played 1 minute, I believe. I think his main concern should be to get into the 18 player squad for Mourinho. Then he will get more minutes and once he is back in regular game time, we will assess him again.”

We are all nicely focused on Oranje of course, but you will all be aware of Ajax’ failure – again! – to reach the CL group stages by beating an opponent in the qualification stages… This time, Rostov seemed to strong. I can’t remember all the other teams that blocked Ajax in reaching the millionaire’s ball, but it was teams like Salzburg or Augsburg or Prague or something like that… Not Juventus, or Chelsea. Rostov… Don’t have words for it, really.

Ajax is not Ajax anymore. They got their asses handed to them and suffered their biggest European defeat since…. 1732?

I think Frank de Boer, heavily criticised for his conservative and boring game plans despite his titles, was aware of the lack of brilliance, class and leadership in his squad. This is why Ajax played un-Ajax football in the last seasons. He covered it well. They won 4 consecutive titles in the 6 seasons he was there. And in the earlier seasons at the helm, he even had Vertonghen, Eriksen and the likes at his disposal.

With Peter Bosz as coach, Ajax wanted to play like Ajax again. Bosz seems the right coach for this job. His teams always played adventurous, ballsy and at times almost suicidal… With Hendrie Kruzen (former 1988 Oranje squad member and Euros winner) as assistant, he made an impression at Heracles, Vitesse and recently at Tel Aviv. The former Feyenoord skipper failed as technical director at Feyenoord but seems to be more at home as coach. But Ajax’ Eredivisie start is horrendous, with Feyenoord already 5 points ahead of their rivals. The CL campaign could have fixed the early pressure but with the dressing down of the Sons of Gods, the pressure is on!

Ajax assistant Hendrie Kruzen with head coach Peter Bosz

A quick analysis of Ajax tells you that 1) they lack leadership and build up qualities at the back (Viergever is not Blind, Sanchez is not De Boer, Riedewald is not (yet) Rijkaard, 2) too many similar players in midfield (Bazoer, Gudelj are not playmakers) and Klaassen is the man who needs to play the killer pass and be on the other receiving end of it, 3) forwards lack class (El Ghazi is not Finidi or Van ‘t Schip, Younes is no Overmars or Roy and the center forwards are no Van Basten or Kieft).

Ajax has close to 150 mio euros sitting in the bank account, after Milik’s and Cillessen’s departures (32 Mio + 14 Mio). That money is getting close to 3% interest without a doubt, but Berghuis is now at Feyenoord, Ziyech is still at Twente and Haps is still at AZ…

Latest news of course, is now that Ajax got done by Rostov, Mark Overmars is frantically renegotiating with FC Twente and Ziyech’s manager to get the winger/playmaker to play for Ajax. A bit late. But very much needed…

We’ll see how things will develop…

May 31, 2016May 31, 2016 by Jan

Captain Robben addresses Oranje!

Arjen Robben has been there too. Top talent in the Groningen youth. Made his debut at 16 years old. Was on the hitlist of many top teams at a young age. Decided to stay in Bedum with his parents while signing for PSV. He played one more year for Groningen, so he could finish his high school. Dad was in education and Arjen was always a serious lad. Ajax and PSV had the best papers. Both clubs sent their reps North to discuss with the Robben family. Ajax came across arrogant. PSV wanted what’s best for Robben. Frank Arnesen (technical manager of PSV): “We would always beat Ajax in those days. We actually cared about what was best for Arjen. It was a very positive experience, the Robben family had their wits with them.”

Arjen wanted to finish his high school, because “you never know if that football dream would pan out.” Robben spent three years at PSV under Hiddink. He had some weaknesses. He didn’t do anything but stand on his right leg. And he was a whiner. A sissy. When he was young, everyone in Holland thought he was to weak, to soft, to become a big player.

And look at him now. World class. In the same category as Zlatan, C Ronaldo, Messi and Rooney.

Captain Robben was sorely missed during the Euro campaign. To say we didn’t qualify because of this is a bit strong. But fact is, that he carried us during the WC2014 campaign. And he is still not fit. But he definitely is at the Oranje camp right now. Not to train, or to play. But to inspire. So there was suddenly a hint of world class in the Oranje camp. At last. “Passion, professionalism, mentality, this will have to come from the players themselves, for 90%” Danny Blind asked Robben to drop in and the captain was happy to oblige. “Not because of guilt or anything, but we are in front of a big big year. I made it work with my recovery program, so here I am.”

What are you going to say to the group?

“For starters, don’t blow this thing up out of proportion ok? I am not here to tell everyone how it’s done. I don’t have a list of players I want to talk to or something. We have four professional coaches here with massive experience and the role of leaders starts on the pitch. I’m now a captain on the side of the water (beste stuurlui staan aan wal, Dutch expression). I am not even training with them so let’s not overdo it. But I do know this: if you start thinking about the away game vs Sweden in September, you’re too late. We are not starting against Andorra or Malta. It’s Sweden away. We don’t yet have a firm line up so we need to start the work now. Today.”

How did you experience the away game vs Ireland?

“I heard from the coach that the boys trained really well last week and that it was a bit strange that they couldn’t make it happen in the first hour. It was sloppy. That is not good. And also not after a disappointing season or right before the holidays. How can I explain… Everyone is happy to go on a break, sure. And one player got relegated, another player missed the title on the last day of the competition and another player had a disappointing season… It’s all influences, sure. But it can’t be the excuse. You have to a be a 100% pro. No matter how bad you feel, you need to find the will to play a top game. And Wednesday against Poland and Saturday vs Austria. I hear people are complaining about the coaches but that is bullshit. It’s the players. If you need a coach to motivate you, you don’t belong at this level.”

Asked about his own career, Robben said his mental strength was key. “Sure, I am talented. But I played with lads who were as talented as me, in the youth. And in the Oranje rep teams. And where are these lads? You need to be balanced and you need to really want it. It takes more than talent to reach the top. When I was 18 years old I went with Louis van Gaal to the youth World Cup in Argentina. We had good talents there, players like Stekelenburg, Huntelaar, Theo Janssen, Van der Vaart… Van Gaal was so different, so intense. He was constantly on our backs. I remember most players having great difficulties with this. Theo Janssen would go nuts! I loved it… Every day I would challenge him and he would challenge me. He wanted to make me better and I wanted to become better. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I played my best football at Bayern when I reunited with him, after Real Madrid. That is what players need to learn, to invest in themselves, all the time.”

Danny Blind said in a press conference, that he rates Poland higher than Ireland. “Sure, Ireland is tough, they play physical, they’re a real team. But Poland is shrewd, they’re like East Germany in the olden days. Tactically strong, agile and with two pretty decent strikers (Milik of Ajax and Lewandowski of Bayern). It will be a real test.” Asked about the line up: “I will make changes. But not because of disappointment in players or so. But because I want to see different players perform. I will probably make a change in every line of the team.”

Asked about Memphis’ antics off the pitch. “I won’t discuss players individual in terms of their off pitch behaviour. Not relevant for me to discuss publically. Memphis is working hard in his own way. He is not in his best form but he’s young. He has a lot of talent and he will get back at his usual level. I am not worried.”

Danny’s son Daley will not play for Oranje at all this trip. The calf injury he ended the Cup Final with, is too hefty and might result in an early summer break for the Man United defender. Marco Asensio Willemsen will make his debut in the National Team of Spain. The son of a Spanish father and Dutch mother will make his debut because Spain will be without the internationals of Atletico and Real Madrid. Asensio is not selected for the Euros. In October, Danny Blind approached the midfielder for Oranje, but the kid felt he was more Spanish than Dutch and wants to go for his chances with Spain. He did leave the door open for Oranje. Should the Spain national team not be interested, he might still pick our colours. The 20 year old player is on the pay-roll of Real Madrid but plays on loan for Espanyol, where he had 4 goals and 10 assists. If he does play this friendly, he can still decide for Oranje, until Del Bosque actually uses him in an official Spain game.

Danny Blind is working on a new hierarchy, with question marks behind names like Huntelaar, Van Persie and Sneijder. In the Ireland game, he had seven players with ages between 24 and 29 years.

Advocaat: “Some people say we need to build this Oranje around the PSV core in the squad. But when you have players like Bazoer, you won’t go there, right? He’s one of our brightest talents.”

Blind is happy to confirm, that at least seven or eight players out of this current squad will need to become firm starters for the WC qualification. “We need a fixed framework for the September game.” Coach Blind: “Strootman is important for us, not per se as a player, but his personality is that of a leader. He is a born skipper. He has very high standards, applies them for himself and his colleagues. And he expresses that loud and clear. This is an area where Daley and Wijnaldum need to make steps quickly.”

Strootman was pleased with the skippers band but also said: “This captain’s band was given to me before the knee injury. I am now post injury. I will need to earn my stripes again.”

Blind uses Advocaat’s opinion after every session. A quick word, a quick glance… Blind: “Advocaat has done all this before. He observes sharply and sees things I might miss, and vice versa. So we always have a quick chat after a certain practice. We need to work towards a new team and hierarchy and personality is important.”

As for Danny Blind and his job, a question was asked about the selection process…. Well, the answer is simple. Danny Blind is national team manager. He is end responsible for all decisions re: the first team. To even think a “panel” would be selecting players is a bit silly. As if Hiddink, Van Gaal, Van Marwijk etc would EVER accept this :-). You are being sacked because some panel decides to bring in a player you don’t want? No….

But, there is an advisory panel. It’s called the assistant coaching back room staff. People like Mourinho, Van Gaal and Hiddink would not want dominant people in there. So these coaches pick you ex-players with good insights but also happy to learn and take the second fiddle as we say. Less experienced coaches, like Gio van Bronckhorst, Frank de Boer, Danny Blind and Frank Rijkaard usually pick experienced coaches as assistant. De Boer > Spijkerman, Gio > Jan Wouters, Frank Rijkaard > Henk ten Cate and now Danny is picking Dick Advocaat.

So, there’s probably not more than 30 players abroad of any substance. The Oranje youth scouts will have lists of young talents coming through. And there is the club coaches who are consulted. The Oranje staff will have around 60 players they follow on a week by week basis. Reports, footage etc. Once you’re “in” the system, the players communicate with Blind and co. via email on their fitness, nutrition, etc. And based on their performance and the feedback from coaches / scouts, Blind makes his decisions. Every Monday/Tuesday the coaches meet and discuss the performances of all players. They keep track of their findings and know exactly what stats are relevant to the players. Tackles, passes, forward passes, back passes, mistakes, etc.

Blind picking Memphis for Oranje despite his lack of game time has everything to do with his status. He already is an Oranje player, he demonstrated before that he can perform (WC2014) and they probably feel there are no real rivals to Memphis on the left flank. Elia? Maybe. Locadia? Not really a left winger. Afellay? Not a left winger and not always effective in that role? Etc etc… Same with Van der Wiel. Janmaat not available? Tete not tested yet? Van der Wiel didn’t have a lot of game time with PSG when he was selected for the Iceland home game, but at least he has played big games for Ajax, PSG and Oranje and he’s fit. So why not use him instead of Karsdorp. Who never played big European games and mainly deals with left wingers of Groningen, NEC and Heracles….

In hindsight, it’s easy to criticise. But as Robben says above: desire and passion need to come from the players. Not the coach… It is like Rooney said it in the Cup Final post match interview: “I am grateful for the coach helping us to win this game.”

Last word is for Van Gaal. It seems club icons like Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Alex Ferguson, Eric Cantona and Ryan Giggs are not happy with Mourinho coming in. These people all believed in the reason to bring in Sir Louis. To get Man U to play more exciting, to work on the youth academy and football philosophy. I think they all agreed that this Manchester United season was not great, but with 1) less injuries next season (Jones, Shaw, Schweini, Valencia) and 2) better players coming in for next season, all were convinced the club would go on the up and up. Sure, replacing Van Gaal is not necessarily a bad move, but replacing him Mourinho….? According to insiders, the corporate money men in the club want trophies, whereas the football people in the club want performances. Ronald Koeman, like many other Dutch icons like Blind, Frank de Boer and Van Hanegem, believe the way Van Gaal was sacked and left hanging for months was ManU-unworthy. “A disgrace, really. To read rumours for months, being left dealing with the media without support or honesty from the board is really bad conduct. No one deserves this, and most certainly not a seasoned coach like Van Gaal.”

Post Ireland presser by Danny Blind (in Dutch). Very funny, because at a certain point, the wall behind Blind collapses which results in the interviewer to say “Wow, the most exciting event of the evening!” 🙂