Tag: Germany

by Jan

Oranje withstands strong Germany

We went into the 2nd match of the Van Gaal System Change process with optimism. We played well versus the Danes and this Germany would be a real test, Van Gaal thought.

There was a slight chance we would end up in Pot 1 for the World Cup draw: Holland needed to win over Germany and Portugal needed to lose their play off versus North Macedonia. Portugal won, Oranje drew. Pot 2 it is.

Van Gaal didn’t want to change too much, as he wanted to give this team another chance to gel. Only two changes: Malen for Bergwijn and Malacia for Ake (but Malacia as left wing back and Blind as left footed centre back).

Our main man

The thinking was probably that Bergwijn can’t play two matches in a row at full capacity? And the thinking was to test Blind as left centre back while giving Malacia a chance on the flank.

Nathan Ake is solid as centre back, so Van Gaal didn’t need further convincing from him.

He also felt that two full matches in 4 days would be too much for Ake and Bergwijn, who both lack rhythm.

I personally would have wanted to see Danjuma in place of Memphis and someone like Klaassen instead of Berghuis. I feel and felt that against Germany, we need more physical strength and running in midfield and we need less of the creativity Berghuis offers.

Van Gaal threatening red carding Blind

Time and space would be at a premium in this game.

It was clear from the start that Germany meant business and wanted to dominate the game. It seemed we were a tad too slow at times, a bit too hesitant and when in possession we were simply not solid enough in possession, wasteful with stray passes and way to hastily in execution.

It might be that Malen felt he is competing with Bergwijn and needed to score two goals as well, (as Bergwijn did versus Denmark) because every opportunity he got he pulled the trigger. From good position and not so good positions.

Memphis could not get into the game and he was hardly found and the German midfield bossed ours. Their forward pressure was strong and Oranje was not able to play out of it. The good thing is, Germany didn’t get a lot of opportunities and the Germany goal was given to them by a Dumfries mistake.

Only Frenkie seemed to be able to stay at a good level and he would end the game as Oranje’s best player.

From a system perspective, this match didn’t teach us much new. Any system is merely a schlystem when the execution is poor. And we played poor in the first half.

One of the strengths of our 5-3-2 (at the Euros) for instance, were Dumfries and his blistering stampedes on the right. We didn’t see it against Denmark and we didn’t see it versus Germany. The one time he did go, Frenkie spotted the run and Bergwijn’s 1-1 was the result.

The German goal was completely unnecessary but Holland snoozed off hoping for a half time break whistle. Frenkie allowed his man to go into the box, the cross wasn’t dealt with and two Oranje defenders didn’t want to put their bodies on the line to stop the Muller shot: 0-1.

I expected some changes at half time. I personally would have brought Danjuma for Memphis and De Roon for Koopmeiners. Wijnaldum was the man brought in and as much as I loved him throughout his career, I was not impressed with what I saw. He seems too slow, he hasn’t got the ability to see the one-time pass forward and with Gravenberch, Struijk, Joey Veerman and others knocking on the door, I fear for his Oranje career.

Heads go down after conceding

I am not sure why Danjuma didn’t get a look in. Maybe because Van Gaal is convinced of him in a 2 man attack (as he plays in a 4-4-2 for Villareal).

A good break by Holland resulted in a penalty decision by the ref. Memphis was ready to pull the trigger and Kehrer went for the ball but first took out Memphis legs. The VAR saw it differently and suggested ref Pawson to change his decision.

In the remaining 20 mins or so, Oranje had the best of the game, thanks to renewed energy via Klaassen and Bergwijn. Klaassen and De Ligt had chances to score but the ball simply didn’t want to go into the net, at both ends of the pitch. Another key but subtle switch by Van Gaal was to have Daley Blind move up a bit and cover the movement of Thomas Muller, in this way taking the edge off for Holland. This is also why Ake played left back, for Malacia, to allow Blind to play on Muller.

Blind’s forward pressure from the back gave Oranje more grip on that last stage of the game.

All in all, very useful matches for Van Gaal I am sure. The Oranje faithful in the stands will always sing and applaud their heroes, but it does seem realistic to say we are not there yet.

No penalty!

From all I have seen, I am bit concerned about Wijnaldum, Berghuis and Daley Blind. Is it a dip, or is this the best we can get.

Gakpo might be better suited for the 10 role. Bergwijn made an impression of course, but I think Danjuma could well be our key man moving forward.

Our midfield of Koopmeiners and Frenkie de Jong (with Klaassen or Gakpo or Berghuis as attacking mid) looks ok, but showed weakness versus Germany.

I don’t think De Roon will be our solution here, but Gravenberch or Donny van de Beek might well be.

Defensively, I can live with the choices, and of course I do count on De Vrij as well. Even with Daley Blind as 12th man, the back line is ok. Only Dumfries will need some solid competition on the right and for me, that needs to be Karsdorp.

Our goalkeeper issue will be sorted once Cillesen and Bijlow are back. Flekken is not a bad goalie but he still looks a bit out of place at times.

Frenkie was our guiding light again, everything that was good started with him, from playing out of the press or creating our equaliser.

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by Jan

Naive Oranje falls in German trap. Again.

When Ronald Koeman criticised his team for playing gallery football vs Belarus, he was clearly trying to temper the optimism in and around the team… Good goals, no goals conceded, some nice gallery play… Oranje will win the Euros AND the World Cup.

Koeman knew, that with a vengeful Germany coming to Amsterdam, he needed to get his team to be sharp and forget about Belarus. I mean… Belarus!

People in Holland were already claiming Oranje would beat the dreadful Germans 5-0!! As if. And Germany was never in the same situation as Oranje recently. We didn’t qualify for 2 major tournaments! In a row. That is not the same as an older Germany team that disappointed at the World Cup.

And that is what we saw in the Holland – Germany game. There was nothing mediocre about Germany.

On Saturday, before the game, Koeman already predicted that it was going to be a tactical game. “You never know which Germany shows up. They have been trying at least three systems in the past year… We don’t know who he’ll play or in what system he’ll play.”

Koeman is another coach in a not so long list of coaches who adapts his team and tactics to the situation. 4-3-3 was sacred for a long time. Van Basten made some changes in that system, Van Marwijk followed him and stuck to 4-2-3-1 for a long time. Van Gaal even went a step further with 5 at the back. A system Koeman tried and tested too.

Just like in an earlier match vs our neighbours, Koeman needed a tactical switch at half time to get his team to respond to a very good playing Germany.

The first 25 minutes…

Koeman already emphasized before the game that it was ridiculous for people to be too optimistic about the result. Oranje was tremendously effective in that 2-2 match, which Germany didn’t deserve to draw and decided to use Promes for Bergwijn, as the former has been playing as a wing back for Sevilla and doing really well in that role, allowing for more flexibility in his team. And with the tactical trick Low came up with (Goretzka playing as offensive mid to make Frenkie’s life hard), this was a good thing too.

Oranje without possession

Koeman and Lodeweges jotting down new tactics for 2nd half

When Oranje doesn’t have the ball, they revert back to a 5-4-1. With Babel (right), Promes (left) and Wijnaldum and De Roon in the mid section behind Memphis. Frenkie de Jong would drop back as third centre back, just like we did against France. De Ligt and Van Dijk can pressure forward when the situation arises, in this set up, as Gnabry and Sane love to wander and drift. Once Oranje loses possession for a spell, Holland plays even more compact, with Promes dropping back as left back, Blind squeezing inside as centre back and Frenkie de Jong pushing into midfield to put more pressure on the ball.

Oranje in possession

When Oranje does have possession, they stick to the 4-2-3-1. The main issue in this situation, is Goretzka, as he interrupts the passing line to De Jong, which blocks a quick and direct build up for Oranje.

Build up to the 0-1

The lack of grip in the first stage of the game is apparent in te 15th minute. A long ball doesn’t arrive, Gnabry drops back to midfield, plays into Kroos who has the field in front of him and without real pressure on the ball. Then, it all goes quick for Germany. Kroos launches Schulz on the left flank and his cross is expertly finished by Sane. De Ligt slips, which is a bonus for Sane, but Oranje’s centre is complete played off the turf by the running patterns of Sane and Gnabry. And even with Frenkie and Daley assisting Van Dijk and De Ligt, it simply isn’t enough for Oranje to get grip on the dynamic Germans.

Minute 26 – 45

Midway the first half, Koeman makes changes. Babel moves to the left and Promes will play on the right, converting to a classic 5-4-1 once Germany has possession. A copy of the tactics from Gelsenkirchen when Holland wiped the 0-2 off the board, to finish 2-2.

Oranje when Germany in possession

This seems to work wonders. In the first 5 minutes, Babel gets two massive opportunities, both presented to him by Promes. Germany realises quickly, by realising that they can now find space via the axis on the pitch. In the 34th minute, Gnabry benefits from this, when De Ligt doubts whether he should press on. Van Dijk has similar doubts with Goretzka. Rudiger recognises the moment and plays over the top to Gnabry. Van Dijk seems to push him to the left wing, but he doesn’t do enough. Gnabry turns inside and curls the ball into the top corner: 0-2.

Minute 46 – 87

In the half time break, the situation seems desperate. Holland is 0-2 down and has no control over the match, whatsoever. The biggest pain points: De Roon can’t get close to Kroos. And Gnabry is continuously unmarked while Oranje has no alternative for build up if Frenkie de Jong can’t be reached. Frenkie de Jong: “Our biggest issues were in midfield. Gnabry, Sane and Goretzka were constantly free. We were simply not positioned right and didn’t press on well enough. We also didn’t press Germany to the side well enough.”

Koeman brings Bergwijn for Babel and that was the difference. Holland switches to 5-3-2 and goes toe to toe with Germany. And suddenly, Germany is struggling to find the free man.

Another switch was made by Koeman in midfield. Now, Wijnaldum takes care of Kroos and he does a much better job. And Memphis and Bergwijn manage to push the ball to Ginter, which stops Germany using the strong left side (Schulz, Kroos, Sane). And Germany resides to long balls forward, which is bread and butter for Van Dijk and De Ligt.

These are all the ingredients needed by Oranje to stage a comeback.

It helps that Holland gets the 1-2 very early in the second half, from a super cross by Memphis onto the head of De Ligt. His first Oranje goal.

A good attacking move, started by Blind and executed well by Promes before it reaches Memphis via Wijnaldum, and Memphis scores the 2-2. Low tries to regain control by bringing Gudogan for Goretzka but Holland controls the match, as it is easier for the Dutch to forward press with Frenkie in midfield and Daley as third centre back.

But, as per usual, it is the individual class that will determine the end result. In this case, its Marco Reus. He surprises De Roon on the inside and passes the ball to the forward runner Schulz. It’s a combi of Reus’ class and miscommunication in Oranje that causes this goal, with De Roon ending up as right back and Dumfries completely lost.

The loss was unnecessary. Also something Koeman realised. “I am to blame. I could have made the change. It was 10 minutes before the end, I considered bringing Ake for Promes and cherish the draw. But we kept on attacking and Promes looked fresh and I figured we would win this 3-2 at the death. But we lost it.”

But the loss is not that terrible. Oranje should win all other matches and get a result away in Germany. Why not? And matches like this are necessary for the team to learn to self adept. In stead of waiting for the coach to come up with the solutions. Daley Blind, Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong, Gini Wijnaldum… You’d expect some initiative from them too.

With Davy Propper fit again and Donny van de Beek chomping at the bits, I can see Marten de Roon lose his spot. I also believe we have better right backs available… I hope Karsdorp will have a string of games soon as I believe he is better at this point than Dumfries…

Source: The Excellent VI Pro

 

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by Jan

What is the Nations League?

I had a nice analysis prepared for today, focusing on Oranje and Koeman’s options but AZ Forever mowed the lawn under my feet! (Dutch expression)

In case you wonder: why the Frenkie de Jong pic for this Nations League post? Well, because from all I have seen, Frenkie makes the difference. He makes the team flow. He makes it look easy. He moves constantly, he sees the ideal solution, is flawless in his passing and he’s moving the team forward.

If I was Koeman, I would say Van Dijk Van Schwijk, Memphis Schmemphis, De Ligt De Schmigt, Cillesen Schmillesen: Frenkie is the first name on the team sheet.

That is what happens when you’re 10 hours behind (actually: in front, but in practice: behind due to time difference… I can only see Oranje matches the next day really).

So now Oranje analysis but a look at the Nations League and what it is.

It’s a new tournament for national teams, basically.

The UEFA realised that friendlies aren’t really helping a lot. The quality of the games are inconsistent and mostly poor. So this Nations League is an upgrade from friendlies, with a link to a ticket to the EC/WC tournaments.

There will still be friendlies, like the Peru – Sneijder farewell match, and in the run up to big tournaments, of course.

Every two years, we will have a Nations League tournament, in the odd year. So now we have the European Championship, World Cup, Confederations Cup and the Nations League. A bit much?

Surely, we will go to some big tournament again??

We will have the first edition now, with six match games in September, October and November. It’s also an alternative route to the European Cup. Four of the 24 competing nations will qualify for the EC2020 via the Nations League.

In March 2020, the 16 group winners will compete in play offs, within their division. Should the winners have qualified for the EC2020 already, the next best placed in that division will get the ticket for the EC.

This will be done based on position in the group, number of points, goal difference, number of goals scored, number of goals scored in away games, number of duels won, number of away duels won, Fair Play and finally the coefficient table.

Long story short: per division, the four best nations who haven’t qualified for the EC2020 will play the play offs. And it’s a knock out system. It’s a chance for countries missing out on the regular qualifications to still get to the EC.

The normal qualification games will start in March 2020 and not, like in the past, straight after the World Cup. This competition will result in 20 of the 24 competitors for the EC. The two top teams per group (10 groups). The final results in the Nations League will also be impacting the position in the draw for the EC.

So, in June 2019, we will have a mini EC played. There are different divisions and the 4 winners of Division A groups will go to the Euro2020. The winners of Division B will move up to the division up, while the last in the Division will get demoted down.

I think some people got their doctorate coming up with this system, but hey… more football, so….

Anyway, Holland is in the group with Germany and France. They both played already and drew.

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by Jan

Germany: Don’t mention the VAR!

Dear friends, I’ve been withdrawing from writing and blogging as work and World Cup took over priorities. But, now, with the group stage behind us, it’s nice to revisit the blog and share some thoughts. Expect more posts to coming sooner again by the way.

Thank you for the ongoing support! It’s always very nice and highly appreciated to see the support come in. You know who you are ;-).

As for the Tournament, I think we can all be quite comfortable with the recent events. For years we have been debating the decline of Dutch football, the development of lesser nations based on our football heritage, how the Germans stole our ideas, how Sweden and Iceland are even better than us, etc etc.

Well, the exit of Germany tells the story, I think. And as a result, we can now immediately stop focusing on “innovation” or “new identity of Dutch football” topics… It’s mostly the ebb and flow of football.

It’s talents coming up, or not coming up. It’s generations at the peak of their game and generations slowly becoming lacklustre, complacent, fulfilled…

Germany was killer diller in 2014 and completely at sea in 2018. Joachim Low was the meister in the past and he will be the failure moving forward.

Germany’s exit – very entertaining for us Dutchies – tells the story. A coach who can’t accept that his favorite sons can’t do the job anymore. A coach underestimating the bad run up to the tournament. Who failed to recognise why Tony Kroos is the King at Madrid and not in Der Mannschaft. A coach who wasn’t able to let the counter striker Werner shine in the more dominating national team. A coach who relied on veteran and unfit central defenders and who simply couldn’t find automatisms and patterns for his creative forwards, Ozil, Reus, Mueller… And to add to that: who felt he didn’t need Leroy Sane.

Germany uncharacteristically exposed vs Saudi Arabia

The Germans have been a mess, really, from November 2017 onwards. And their exit is a clear sign for the Dutch that if it can happen to the mighty, it’s not strange it happened to us. And just as the Germans will be back, we will be back.

And…look at Argentina! They have Messi, Angel di Maria, Aguero, Dybala… and it’s not much. Look at Brazil! Definitely not firing on all cylinders. Italy? In the same boat as us.

And from the likes of Sweden, Iceland and Switzerland, surely, we consider them to be inferior football nations to us, and they are only able to make an impression with muscle based defensive, compact football. There is hardly any creativity to be found in those teams and hey, if they can play at the World Cup, surely we can as well?

Australia, led by Bert van Marwijk and Mark van Bommel, were unlucky. It started with a bad draw, and slightly unfortunate matches vs France and Denmark. When they really needed to shine, vs Peru, they couldn’t, lacking a killer in the box and some composed decision making. Still, Bert made the Socceroos proud.

Ronald Koeman: “Based on what I saw up until now, I think Oranje would have done well at this World Cup. We’re not worse than at least half of these nations! We just need to qualify and once we’re in, we can always out perform our own expectations.”

Do we see any interesting trends?

A key one: dead ball situations. Lots of penalties thanks to the VAR introduction. I am good with that. Even though the esteemed VAR refs still missed a couple of huge ones (Mitrovic of Serbia, Berg of Sweden) and maybe handed out some soft ones. But it’s a step up.

Lots of goals from free kicks and corner situations. Stuff that can be practiced. Time and time again. With some creativity and hours of work, I’m sure we can dramatically improve in this area.

So, I’m quite positive moving forward to be honest.

My predictions for the final stages of the tournament? I fear for Messi and Argentina. I think England might cruise to the semis but Croatia will reach the finals, I believe. On the other end of the draw, it will most likely be between France and Belgium. With Dutch Bjorn Kuipers as ref and Danny Makellie as the VAR ref. The latter did well for his country :-).

Danny Makkelie impressing as VAR referee

In other exciting football news:

Dujan Tadic returns to the Eredivisie and signed a 4 year deal with Ajax.

Mark van Bommel takes the PSV job, while Phillip Cocu signed for Fenerbahce

Rafael van der Vaart will join PEC Zwolle pre-season for fitness purposes but Van ‘t Schip doesn’t rule out signing the artist up.

Morocco got the sympathy from lots of people, despite their disappointing run and Ziyech (Roma), El Ahmadi (France) and Nordin Amrabat (ex PSV) will surely be rewarded with a nice move somewhere else.

Juninho Bacuna of FC Groningen signed for Huddersfield Town.

 

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by Jan

Holland – Germany; my analysis

Daryl Janmaat had the best opportunity for the Dutch

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

And I still don’t.

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

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

Not me.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anyway…too late now.

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

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

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


Eljero Elia back in the squad


Marco van Ginkel shows lots of promise…

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by Jan

Ajax appoints Edwin van der Sar. Smart? Or…

It might seem that this Oranje blog is on its way to become an Ajax blog, with all the Ajax focus of the last weeks. But not to worry. It’s not so. Ajax has done pretty good though, to be still “in it” in Europe and taking 4 points against the England champs, right?

But Holland – Germany is on its way and I will be publishing a cool article on PSV soon too.

But, with Edwin van der Sar in the lead to land the Ajax general manager’s job, it’s probably timely to look at this piece of news. Because it begs the question: Does the former goalie have what it takes to lead Ajax? What if Ajax cops a 15 mio euro loss and hooded fans assemble with rocks in the main building to ask for an explanation?

Former Ajax goalie Piet Schrijvers: “Sar’s candidacy fits with Johan Cruyff’s plans. Ex-players in the club management. I like it. Edwin has always remained cool and collected. Never had much bravado. He always analysed situations before he acted. He has most likely learned a lot about club management in England, with Man United and Alex Ferguson. He might have exactly what it takes.”

Former IBM manager and ex Ajax general manager Frank Kales. “It’s very original to make Sar general manager so quickly. Very original and remarkable. But not a good idea. He is a well balanced guy but you will only find out if he’s strong enough in a crisis. And that is quite a risk. What if Ajax ends number 8 and Frank de Boer’s position is at stake?”

Arie van Eijden served his club in that role for 6 years and was board member for 10 years. “There is no education where you can learn to be Ajax general manager. There is only the real thing. It’s not a bad plan to give Edwin the job but the practice will have to teach us if he’s ready for it. One of the hardest things in this role is to deal with all the different blood-types within Ajax. That is a tough job. It’s not something you can do from one day to another. It takes time. Some groups in Ajax have a more “hidden” agenda or are not that easy to approach. I know the man Edwin van der Sar. As a goalie, he was the best but as a man he’s quite a good bloke too.”

Joost de Wit is general manager at RKC and was Van der Sar’s teacher at the Cruyff University. “Edwin was a very good student. He saw the links. And he’s got all the experience in football as a player of course. That is a good foundation. The past has shown us that a long experience in business or an academic background does not serve as a guarantee for success. I do hope Edwin will appoint experts in specific fields to support him. In Cruyff’s philosophy, it all starts with passion. That is more important that a certificate or diploma. Edwin has that passion and he understands football. On top of that, he’s a very nice and open guy. I think he’ll make it.”

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by Jan

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe….

And it’s less than 24 hours to go before Holland and Spain kick off for the Euro 2012 finals.

A revenge game for the Dutch after their tragic loss in 2010.

But, coach Bert van Marwijk said this in the press conference after the last practice: “We already took revenge. We took in on ourselves. The fans and media never liked our gameplay at the World Cup and the whole squad plus the staff were keen to make a strong impression here. To return to Total Football. We are very hungry and have all the desire to win this finals, but if we end up losing, this Euros does feel better than the World Cup already.”

Let’s track back a bit.

1. The Preparation for this tournament
Bert kept his cards close to his chest this time around. He had some intense meetings with the key players as he realised that some players expected to have a better position in the hierarchy. Oranje did lose a couple of warm up games, but Bert didn’t care. “I wanted the boys to relax, feel good and to find their feet amongst themselves. In the meantime, I worked with Philip Cocu on the mental state of our lads.” Key in the preparation was Bert’s meeting with Klaas Jan, explaining him well before the tournament that Robin would be the key striker to start off with. And he did the same with Rafael. Van der Vaart was key in the Sweden qualification game we won and expected a starting berth as a holding midfielder. Bert flew to London in May on a mission and unbeknownst to many, he asked Frank de Boer to come along. Frank and Rafael go way back and Bert got Rafael on board for the new mission.

With Emanuelson as left back ( with Stijn Schaars as stand-in) and young Nick Viergever in the squad as central defender, Bert felt the balance was there. “I was really tempted to take Jetro Willems along, but I felt it was better to put Urby to the test. With his experience, he can handle this better than a rookie 18-year old. Willems’ time will come…” Also, Fred Bouma didn’t make the cut. Bouma: “I would have pulled out myself if Bert would have selected me. I was never really fit and for these top games in a short time span, you need to be 100%.”

Bert also added: “Mark played in a different role for AC Milan. Much more static. We want to press forward and play Dutch style football so I do fear for Mark’s fitness. I spoke to him about it and despite him being our skipper and being important off the pitch, he might have to accept a different role.”


Robin keeps on scoring

2. The Denmark Game

Within 5 minutes of play, Holland silenced the world with how they burst into the game against the poor Danes. It was Urby who found space in the first minute to push up and test the goalie from 30 yards out. Bert gave Afellay a starting position on the wing, with Van Persie centrally up front and Robben on the right. Nigel de Jong and Van Bommel played in midfield with Sneijder as the playmaker on the left side of the field. His pass to Afellay caught the Denmark defense off guard and with a typical futsol / practice goal, Van Persie opened his account. A low pass to the first post, and a clean inside foot finish did the rest. Oranje kept on swinging and a neat combination between Robben and Robin got the Bayern man into the box… Despite Sneijder and Afellay showing up for support, Robben hammered the ball in the near top corner and within 15 minutes, Denmark was down for the count: 2-0. When Heitinga found Sneijder with a long ball, he passed the ball to Van Persie, who in typical Arsenal style used his right foot to position the ball in front of the left and the goalie never even saw the ball. Van Persie’s second and Oranje’s third…

The Danes were all over the place and with 32 minutes on the clock their goalie gifted the ball to Robben – put under pressure – and again, with some team mates confusing the defense with some good runs, the Robben left did the job. Curling the ball past the goalie, inside post. Both Robin and Robben on a hattrick.

Before the Robben goal however, Denmark did benefit from a mistake in defence when Krohn Dehli found a way into the Oranje box. And while Heitinga allowed to former Ajax prospect to cut the ball away, it was Stekelenburg who couldn’t close his legs in time and Denmark got an early consolation goal…

Bert started some fresh legs in the second half. Afellay was struggling after 45 minutes ( to be expected) and Huntelaar came to join Van Persie up front. Van der Vaart came to replace Van Bommel who was starting to look less fresh as well. In the second half, the game was played already, but the team clearly wanted Huntelaar on the score sheet as well.

A tremendous outside foot pass by Sneijder reached the Schalke man who cleverly chipped the ball over the unexpecting goalie: 5-1. Van Persie and Huntelaar walked back to their own half with their arms around each other shoulders… The former Feyenoord talent finally got his hattrick when Sneijder reached him with a through pass into the box and his diagonal low shot was a perfect executed strike, with his whole body in perfect balance: 6-1.

Late in the second half, a high ball into the box for Huntelaar was handled by a Danish defender twice and the ref even joked after the game he considered giving two penalties to the Dutch. Van Persie is normally the first penalty takes in the squad but he really wanted his buddy Robben to overcome his penalty anxiety so Arjen got this hattrick as well: 7-1.

It did become a bit of a Sunday morning park game with Sneijder and Van der Vaart going for goal from every possible angle but with 7-1 the final score, Holland immediately instilled some fear into the rest of the pack at this Euro2012 tournament.

3. The Germany game

A lot can be said always about our games against Germany. For this match, the only thing the Dutch thought about was to beat so we could win the whole thing and to beat them to set the record straight of that 3-0 loss in the friendly…

Holland started very strong again and like in the 1974 finals, it took some time before the Germans actually touched the leather. Mark van Bommel started again and his early ball over the top released Van Persie who didn’t have any trouble beating Neuer with a cool inside foot placed ball in the far corner… Holland did it again! Full on attack from the word “go” and an early lead. Germany looks a bit shocked and only 5 minutes later, Van Persie – still on fire after his sensational season – is sent away again and again hits the ball in the far corner past a flabbergasted Neuer!! 2-0 in the first ten minutes!

Germany gets back into the game with an Ozil snapshot hitting the post and ten minutes later a defensive mistake by Holland allows Gomez to score the 2-1. His first touch of the game, it seems. Holland becomes a little complacent and Germany turns up the gas. Van Bommel has difficulty closing gaps and Schweinsteiger finds Gomez yet again… The Bayern striker hits it well but Stekelenburg doesn’t look sharp: 2-2.

In the second half, Huntelaar and Van der Vaart come on again ( for Narsingh, who couldn’t impress and Van Bommel who looks spent) and the game flows better. Van Persie on the right wing, Robben on the left. And it’s his cross low to Van Persie which offers the Arsenal striker a second hattrick. His low kick in the corner defeats Neuer and Holland is 3-2 up!
Germany is clearly beaten and it’s their central defender Hummels who gets the best opportunity in the second half as no one picks him up. But Stekelenburg is doing his job.

The Oranje attacks are cutting through the Germany defense and Sneijder gets a clear shot on goal after a good Robben dribble. Instead of hitting the ball first time, he cuts the ball away, allowing Boateng to slide past and Sneijder can find the best corner of the goal to place his ball. Neuer doesn’t even dive for it: 4-2!


Best of mates… The Germans are green with envy in the background…

Then Van Persie scores his fourth after what is probably one of the best little plays of the tournament so far. All one touch football. Heitinga to Van der Vaart. Vaart to Sneijder. Sneijder to van Persie. tick tick tick. And Van Persie decides to have a go at goal. Why not. He hits the ball through the legs of Hummels and Neuer does see the ball a tad late. With Robin’s right foot. 5-2 and the media are convinced. This is clearly the new Euro Champs.

Bert, after the game: “Let’s not get too excited. Germany was clearly not too strong. Ozil, Schweinsteiger, Khedira, Muller…. they don’t look fit. And their coach made some strange decisions. But when you create many chances like we do and you convert them, you win games. It’s a simple as that. Now we want to beat Portugal. We have scores to settle.”

4. The Portugal game

For this game, Bert decided to let Narsingh and Afellay on the bench ( “it’s a lot to ask of young players, to play 2 top games in four days) and started Huntelaar and Van der Vaart. Van Bommel started on the bench and Raf skippered the game.
Portugal needed a win but they couldn’t make the play even if they wanted it. Oranje bossed the game from the start and it was captain Van der Vaart scoring his goal after 20 minutes of play. The game turned a bit cagey with Oranje trying to press and create but Portugal was getting better and better on the counter. Again, it looked like we can not really kill games off if we don’t really have to. C Ronaldo scored his first goal ( too little too late) for Portugal but in the second half, Holland took the reigns again. Ron Vlaar scored his second goal for Oranje after a precision cross by Sneijder. The tall Feyenoord man was unmarked and hammered the ball to the far corner, via the ground. Unstoppable. With 2-1 down, Portugal had to take the game to Holland and got the equaliser via another C Ronaldo counter. The Dutch squad did seem to get some agitation as a result and it was – again – skipper Van der Vaart who led the way. This time using his right foot, he curled the ball again in the far corner. Like a mirrored copy of his first goal. The ball hit the inside of the post and made sure Holland got the 3 points and could avoid the Spanish until the finals, by winning this group.


Vlaar scores again!

Germany finished second in the group and would eventually be beaten by boring Spain.

5. The Greek Game

From now onwards, Holland was focused to get to the finals. The Greek were merely an annoying stumbling block. Holland played with Robben-Hunter-Persie upfront and Vaart-DeJong-Sneijder in midfield. The Greek had their moments breaking away and trying to put Holland under pressure and after Samaras was sent off for collecting two yellows as a result of continious snapping at heels, the Greek blocked the goal off with all they had.

It took a pinpoint cross by Sneijder on the head of Huntelaar to break the spell and with a disappointing and forgettable 1-0 win, Holland faced Italy in the semi finals…

Bert: “I have learned to be flexible and I have sort of experienced my coaching-version of total football. I need to be able to change and adapt and the team has responded really well to my progression as a coach. We won ugly this time against the Greeks and I guess in every successful campaign you are allowed one ugly game. We had ours.”

6. The Italy game

Italy had progressed with great football. A simple system, really. Two brillant strikers, one brilliant playmaker, one crazy goalie and 7 anonymous workers. Asked if he would change anything to take Balotelli and Pirlo out of the game, Bert smiled: “You’ll see.”

The tactical wizard played Kevin Strootman against Italy and used him to guard Pirlo and to make Pirlo follow him, instead of the other way around. In order to contain Balotelli, Bert used Ron Vlaar. And the trick he played was this: he sent Ron to the hairdresser and made him come onto the pitch with the exact same hairdo as the childish Balotelli. This shook the tall striker visible and whenever Vlaar won a duel against the flamboyant City man, Vlaar would assume the stance Balotelli used after beating England. With him out of the picture and with Heitinga torturing Cassano by constantly being in his face like a bag of cocaine, Holland got the better of Italy. When Pirlo was subbed after an hour of play, Strootman could be named Man of the Match already and it was his run into the Italy box that gave Sneijder an opportunity to play the pass of the tournament: he hit the ball behind his standing leg which such a curve that it bounced off the referee’s head into Strootman’s stride. His shot was bloked by a nervy Buffon but Hunter was at hand to slot the ball home: 1-0, with only 15 minutes to go.


Winning. Business as usual for Bert and Wes…

Italy started to play all balls on Balotelli allowing Vlaar to easily grow into a force of nature and it was a counter attack Italy-style that sealed the deal: a long header forward by Vlaar, Robben on full speed past two Italian defenders and wonderful pass to Van Persie who scored his 8th goal of the tournament and made sure that the Italians could convincingly engage in their Teatrico Dell Arte antics. Balotelli was red carded after hitting Vlaar smack in the face and Prandelli asked Van Marwijk after the game who his taylor was…

Holland reached the finals yet again. With fresh, total football.

I would like to read your version of the final game against Spain :-)….


After the Euros, Bert will focus on getting younger talents in the team…

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by Jan

Portugal Preview

Bert van Marwijk practiced behind closed doors. And with a grim look on his face attented the press conference: “We will play 100% attack! We need two goals more after 90 minutes, so that is a clear mission.” And: “I wish the vibe in our camp was as bas as it allegedly is in the Spain camp. They won 4-0, despite their internal strife.”

Van Marwijk is on edge. It’s do or die for Oranje. Not winning with 2-0 or more ( and Germany not winning vs the Danes) means Oranje will go home and Van Marwijk will most likely go home. And the next job won’t be Tottenham, Liverpool or Valencia but West Brom, Freiburg, Salzburg or Tenerife.

Skipper Mark van Bommel looked back at the Germany game: “I played a good pass onto Robin. He missed. Not much later, I missed Schweinsteiger and he allowed Gomez to score. I could have been the king, but I ended up the joker.”

“It’s football, isn’t it? I haven’t the “son-in-law” comment for many years but now things are going bad, everyone mentions it again.”

Asked if he believes that he can’t manage the midfield role anymore? “I can. But I do understand these criticisms. The first Germany goes was totally my fault. But our midfield is too stretched for anyone to cope.”


Ironic pic: Mark and Bert creating history together…

The skipper had this Euros as the last big trophy with Oranje on his wishlist. After a Champions League with Barca and titles in four countries ( PSV, Fortuna, Barca, Bayern and Milan).

“The vibe is a bit different now, that is true. Players like Van der Vaart and Huntelaar were benchwarmers at their clubs before the World Cup and are established players now. Dirk was a starter at Liverpool but a benchwarmer now. But we are still one group. We are mates and we support each other. If we would have won twice, no one would have concerned themselves with Van Persie making that phone-call, simply because he didn’t have connection in the dressing room.”

Van Bommel did see his team lose it tactically and physically. “It was like playing in a wok. It was so hot and humid. We couldn’t keep on pressing. Why we didn’t pick a hotel in Charkov? I have no idea. I believe we decided to pick good hotels before the draw and Charkov didn’t offer what we needed? But that was not my call.”

Van Bommel has a positive outlook. “Italy won the World Cup in 1982 after three dreadful group games. And in 2004, The Czechs beat Germany with their B-team. Allowing us a trip to the quarters…”

Portugal has a tremendous record against Holland. Of the last 10 games, they won 6. We won only one. And three draws.

Belgium might be historically our foe. Germany might be traditionally our arch enemy, but is Portugal then our “angstgegner”?

The last time we won was in 1991, in the qualications for the 1992 Euros. With a Richard Witschge goal.

But….

These statistics are flawed. Let’s look at the last four games.

May I remind you that we should have won twice in the World Cup 2002 qualifications when we didn’t win (lost one, drew one) because Louis van Gaal had his moments of madness against them in both games? We lost at home because Van Gaal played Reiziger as left back an some moron in the stands had a referee whistle. He blew on it, Davids stopped playing and Portugal took the ball and scored. Ouch.

In the away game, Holland was 0-2 up when Van Gaal brought more forwards to humiliate them. Within ten minutes, Davids was sent off, Figo scored from that free kick and they equalised in the dying seconds.

The 2004 Euros game we lost was a deserved loss. Portugal was better.

The 2006 World Cup in Nuremberg was a disgrace. We lost, but not because we were not good enough. We had a massive Van Persie chance he fumbled, Cocu hit the bar and Kuyt choked one on one with their goalie. With a tad more luck, that game would have been ours.

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by Jan

Oranje – Germany; what went wrong?

It’s 24 hours after the Germany game. The Day After.

We are not yet out of the competition. It’s a simple calculation. If Germany wins against Denmark and Holland beats Portugal with two goals difference, Oranje is through!

So, let’s first analyse the Germany game.

What happened exactly?

We needed a win. Germany would have been happy with a 0-0. So Holland starts with some intent. Indeed, the first 20 minutes were fine. Not great, but we did create opportunities. Robin van Persie on a good long Van Bommel pass, Van Persie with another opportunity and Afellay with a cross to Van Persie which he basically squandered by playing it behind Van Persie.

The pace was good, the passing was ok, but when Germany had one opportunity, they scored. 0-1.

And fear entered into the frame. The defence stayed back. The midfielders drowned, the wingers didn’t get a good ball and Van Persie was on an island.

And when Germany had another option of slicing through our defence (another Schweinsteiger pass for Gomez) it was 0-2. And Oranje was chasing the game.

In the second half, Huntelaar and Van der Vaart came on and late in the game Dirk Kuyt came on for Robben. One great one-touch attack and Robin van Persie was able to score the consolation goal. Sneijder had an opportunity to score the equaliser but Boateng risked his ribs blocking this attempt.

Let’s look at what went wrong:

Tactics
Our 4-2-3-1 doesn’t work if it’s not executed well. Our defence kept on tracking back while our forwards wanted to push forward. Space between the lines was huge and our holding midfielders drowned in that space. Our full backs didn’t do anything on the overlap. While our wingers lacked the form (Afellay!!) to make a dent.

The Goalkeeper
Stekelenburg actually had a couple of good saves. The Ozil ball on the post. The Badstuber header. The weird high ball falling almost under the bar. But he didn’t look too good with the second Gomez goal. The angle was astute. And for some reason, Stekel decided to go to ground before Gomez even hit the ball… Why?? If Stekelenburg would have stayed on his feet, he could have simply caught the ball.

Defence
Our defence is atrocious. Willems is a very young, inexperienced left back. Who did ok. He made mistakes, but that was to be expected. Where was the support for the young Sparta prospect? Heitinga and Mathijsen were both guilty for allowing Gomez all the space to score two goals and didn’t have the balls to pressure forward. Van der Wiel, like against the Danes, was invisible. Didn’t add any value to the game.

Midfield
Both Van Bommel and De Jong seemed dinosaours. Too much space for them to cover, not enough balls or dynamics to push forward and play tightly within the team. Both Bommel and De Jong did not offer any added value and with defence were the “six players tracking back” while the forwards were focused on attacking.

Forwards
The four forwards were again focused on attacking and scoring goals. But Robben and Afellay did not have the form while Sneijder had problems making his mark in the first half. He played a better game in the second half when Afellay made way for Huntelaar and Sneijder had more space on the left wing. Van Persie had a number of chances again, but he failed to convert them, while the Germans did.

Individual Form
Too many players lack the form needed to win gold. Robben, Afellay, Van der Vaart, Huntelaar, van Bommel and De Jong and the whole defence seemed to be seriously under par.

Physical Condition
It’s hard to say, watching a game, what the status is of the physical condition of the players, but it does seem like the energy oozes out of our players a bit quicker than with other teams. It could be result of being deflated due to the results… It could also simply be the result of the pitch being too long for our players to cover. But both Morten Olsen and Joachim Low stated that Holland didnt look fit. And of course this Raymond Verheijen character is yelling this in tweets as well. But then again, if you have 5 players in your line up that are not 100% fit (Willems, Van der Wiel, Mathijsen, Van Bommel, Afellay) is it possible to play this high energy game??

Mentality
In a way, the mentality seems to be fine. Players like Van Persie, Robben, Sneijder, Huntelaar and co play top football for years already and are used to pressure and playing big games week in week out. Jetro Willems also doesn’t seem to be fussed playing with the big names, on the big stage, against big opponents. One thing that does puzzle me, is the fact that we have players who said a number of times already “we don’t have the form now, but once the tournament starts we will flick the switch and be ready”…. I don’t think that actually works like that.

Dynamics
The Dutch total football school is based on dynamics. JC everywhere on the pitch. Van Hanegem placing the ball anywhere. Krol being left winger. Rep center forward. Haan playmaker and Neeskens running from box to box. Etc etc. This worked with Gullit and Vanenburg and Muhren. And Erwin Koeman ran from box to box. And with Cocu, Bergkamp and Davids ran from box to box. But where are our dynamic players and patterns? Robben and Afellay? Predictable. Van der Wiel and Willems? Limited overlaps. Two central backs. NEVER pushing forward. Holding mids? Static. Just like Sneijder… Lots of dynamics in his passing, but doesn’t pull his weight in yards covered like Iniesta/Silva/Ozil/Modric… In my view, we lack penetration. Who runs from box to box? How many times did we see a potential cross (ok, they were mostly shite) but only Van Persie in the box? Maybe time for Strootman!

Sharpness
Gomez only needs 4 chances to score 3 goals. Van Persie, Robben and even Sneijder seem to be overzealous or maybe lacking sharpness… amongst ourselves, we might have had 15 good opportunities? Only 1 converted. And with his right! Is it lack of sharpness or too much will, too much eagerness… Did you see Arjen Robben’s face and grimace when singing the national anthem? Was he impersonating Jack Nicholson as the joker (Heath Ledger for younger generations) or does he simply want to it too badly?

The Run Up to this Euro Tournament
Before we started the WorldCup 2010, most of our players came out successful seasons. This time around, Sneijder has had his problems, Afellay hasn’t seen a ball, Van der Wiel was injured, Mathijsen was injured, Robben had some dramas to process and Huntelaar now has to accept that he’s not a starter.

History
Everytime Oranje played a good tournament, the next tournament was played crap. In 1974, we were vice world champs, in 1976 we made a mess of it. In 1978 we were vice world champs, in 1980 we were sent home after the group. In 1988 we won the Euros and in 1990 we ended in shame. And now we are the vice world champs, so this tournament might be the next drama…

Available Players
Looking at Germany, one sometimes wonders what kind of squad Holland could have if our country was bigger. If we has 30 Mio in stead of 15 Mio people. I’m not saying “Let’s invade Belgium”… But if there ever was a reason to do this, this is the one!! Add Vertonghen (left back), Vermaelen (CB) and Kompany (CB) and we’re laughing all the way to shake Platini’s hand. If we need to rely on an 18 year old lad who played Emmen and Helmond Sport last year….well….

The Coach
So, summing all the above up… Our coach is obviously responsible for this all. For team selection, for fitness, for tactics, for team motivation, etc (not for history, ok….).
He might be a great guy for a focused campaign when all the players are on a high and fit (2010) but maybe the wrong guy for a campaign where we need more tactical flexibility, more balls and more empathy. Who will tell him? I am guessing that we will….

Let’s create some solutions for the Portugal game!

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