Tag: Jan

by Jan

Meet Tarcisio – your new Blog Czar

You know that when a Brazilian guy prefers the Dutch Oranje over the Seleção Canarinho, you have a really cool and special dude in your tribe!

I have been speaking with him for months and it was clear to me he was and is the ideal guy to take over from me.

I mean: you try and find a Brazilian guy who would admit Cruyff was better than Pele, right?

Here is a first interview with our new playmaker.

So, Tarcisio, welcome! Tell us a bit about yourself?

Tarcisio: “I was born and live in Recife, the capital of Pernambuco, a state located in the northeast of Brazil and which has a very particular history with the Netherlands. Between the years 1630 to 1654, our state was colonized by the Dutch and Maurício de Nassau was the governor of our state during that period. He brought many improvements to our state, but “unfortunately”, the people managed to expel the Dutch from here. And I say that it is unfortunately, because when the Dutch left Pernambuco, they went to the United States and colonized New York. I believe that having the Dutch here would be better than the Portuguese who came to steal our riches and did not think about developing our region, as Maurício de Nassau did while he was here. In Recife, I live with my sister and mother. I’m 27 years old and since I was 16 I’ve been following Dutch football and I started to fall in love with it. Initially, I liked the country. I liked the things I read about the Netherlands, the culture, the history and that’s when I got deeper into football. I love Holland, I really do and don’t ask me why, things just happened and the next thing I know, I was completely in love with the country. But I’ve never been to Holland. My life goal is to live in Holland.”

This is Tarcisio’s Oranje Office, where the blogging-magic will be happening

Did you play football yourself?

“When I was younger, I played football for Sport Recife, one of the big clubs in my region. Today, I don’t like to play, I just like to watch.”

But you probably do adore Pele? Like we do Cruyff?

“For many, Pelé was the best and greatest player in the history of football, but for me, nobody has ever surpassed Johan Cruijff. What he did and what he left for football was much greater than any other athlete. Alongside Rinus Michels and many other legends, he revolutionized football. To this day, we see his legacy being upheld by Josep Guardiola. Pelé was a great player, but he didn’t leave the legacy for the sport that Johan Cruijff did. And I’m scared how the Dutch don’t appreciate Johan Cruijff. He was simply a genius and greater than anyone else.”

Do you follow the Oranje only, or also the Dutch clubs?

“I follow all Eredivisie and Keuken Kampioen Divisie matches. Every weekend I watch Dutch league games. I just don’t watch amateur division games, because they aren’t broadcast here in Brazil. I don’t speak Dutch, it’s one of the languages I want to learn.”

Which tournament stands out for you, re: the Dutch National Team?

“In my opinion, the 1974 World Cup was the Dutch team that impressed me the most. I didn’t have the opportunity to watch it, but from everything I’ve read and watched on videos, it was supernatural. But if you only analyze the competitions you watch, the 2014 World Cup was the coolest. We didn’t win the title, but we arrived discredited and reached the semifinal.”

This is where he lives and where we will all gather once we win the World Cup!

Do you support a particular Dutch club?

“I support Ajax, but whenever a Dutch team is on the field against any club from another country, I will support the Dutch club, because I want to see our football prosper. It’s not good that only Ajax can play the Champions League frequently. I want to see PSV and Feyenoord playing in these tournaments and showing the strength everyone has, just like the main teams in Portugal can do.”

Any favorite players?

“My list of favorite players starts with Johan Cruijff (it couldn’t be different), Ruud Krol, Wim Suurbier, Wim van Hanegem, Johan Neeskens, Rob Rensenbrink, Piet Keizer and Johnny Rep. Players like Wesley Sneijder, Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben are also on that list.”

How did you find out about the Dutchsoccersite?

“I found the site through Google. I was looking for Dutch football stories and reviews and Google introduced me to DutchSoccer. When I started reading, I fell in love with the content and tried to get in touch with you, to praise the high quality of the reviews. You were very humble and always open to help, and that made me even happier. I met a Dutchman who told me that people in Holland are not that friendly, but so far, the Dutch people I’ve met, I have nothing to complain about.”

Do you have any particular plans with the blog?

“I won’t be able to bring the quality and special touch that you’ve built over all these years to the site, but my idea would be to bring the daily updated news about Dutch football, from the top clubs to the clubs in the second division. . I want everyone to be able to get to know and follow the Dutch club by heart.”

And somewhere down there is a pub where we will get drunk on the success of our World Cup win!

How do you see the future of Dutch football?

“My perspective on Dutch football is that we can see clubs growing more and more. I hope that the directors understand once and for all that it is necessary to assemble competitive teams and compete strongly in European competitions, after all, they are what will bring money to our football. One thing I’ve learned over the years following football in the Netherlands is that the Dutch really see football as fun, unlike here in Brazil, for example. I think that’s the big difference and that’s why we can’t see Dutch football grow more than it can.”

Guys, it’s official now. The blog is in his able hands.

Say hello below and maybe also introduce yourselves? Say something about your age, where you live, how you came to become a fan of Oranje, and anything else you like to share.

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by Jan

Dutch Soccer Site Meeting in Holland!!!

I never thought I’d actually write that title :-).

But there it is. It so happens, that I will be in Holland for a short visit. And it so happens that I hear that some other bloggers are traveling through Europe. And I know, that some of you actually live in Holland (you know who you are…Goose…Alex….Suzanne….Niels…DRB300….). And who knows, you might want to fly to Amsterdam from China, Dubai, Canada, Mexico or Fiji. Why not?

Because I am going to host a beer and bitterballen get together.

On Monday October 1, sometime around 6 pm ( or whatever works) we could find a nice little Dutch cafe (kroeg) and get to know one another, talk football, share stories and create a new Oranje yell. Well probably not that last thing…

I’m not sure about locations and all that, but I’d say Amsterdam is most likely a good spot? Or The Hague? Or wherever you guys are.

So, please… let me know via the comments if you want to be there and can be there. Then we can determine where there is…

I have saved some beer money from the wonderful donations, so I’m happy to pay the first round :-). And maybe the second too…. But that depends on how many people show up, hahahaha… Still Dutch.

But seriously, lets have some fun and lets hang out.

In the meantime, please check out the donation option on the home page… If I have to feed all these people, I do need some help…. 😉

Arjen Robben won’t be there. But he will be everywhere…

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by Jan

My evaluation of Bert van Marwijk

The KNVB will evaluate Bert van Marwijk in the coming weeks.

We will do it now!

I believe Bert should go.

Not that he should be fired per se. I think Bert should resign. But despite everything ( weak defense, egos, blablabla) it is his job to keep it all in check and manage it. That is why it’s called team manager.

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!

He did well in 2010, we all say, but maybe it was the team carrying Bert to the finals, more than the other way around?

There is a number of aspects I can not pass judgement on. And I won’t. But I will mention them. The players’ fitness. What could Bert and co. have done about that? The weird 1300 km travel program for every game? Was that really necessary?

Things I can judge are:

– Squad & Team Selection
– Tactics
– Subs
– Team culture

I’d like to bring in some stuff I overheard in the post-Euros debates on Dutch telly. One fairly well positioned ex-player said that he had some off-the-record debates with Bert about Oranje and he got the impression Bert saw this implosion coming. Bert apparently lamented the fact that we had such weak defenders. Apparently, Bert felt that the Eredivisie central defenders ( incl Vlaar, De Vrij, Marcellis, Viergever, Gouweleeuw, Brouwers too) were too weak in footballing sense to support the gung-ho midfielders/forwards. The mismatch. According to this ex-player ( Rene van der Gijp), Bert was pretty desperate about this. ( “You tell me, Rene! You tell me who to pick!!”)

Can I start with Team Culture? The so-called camps and rifts? I think that is all a bit exaggerated. These camps and rifts are always there. 23 guys who are all machos and winners. You’re bound to get that. Even during the World Cup 2010 campaign I’m sure some players had issues, but we never heard. Because we were winning. Once you start losing, these things come out. Camp Sneijder Camp Schmeijder. Who cares. They are all cocky little brats. Let them sort it out. It’s of course something Bert needs to manage, if possible, but as we don’t know exactly what went on, I think it’s hard for us to judge Bert on this.

As for Squad and Team Selection, I do believe Bert is to blame for some of the grieve. Wilfred Bouma? Really?? Why? Why wasn’t Brouwers or Viergever or De Vrij ever tested? Is it really so that a 34 year old spent benchwarmer at PSV is a better option that someone like Viergever? If you haven’t tested it, how do you know?


I wanted to avoid Spain and I managed to do so…

Urby Emanuelson played left back for Ajax. Plays left back at times for AC Milan. Is experienced. Has 100+ pro games under his belt. Plays in the Serie A. Surely, he is at least as good as Willems? Don’t get me wrong: I like Willems. But an 18 year old rookie can only do so much in a team that is dysfunctional. Put Willems in Spain or Germany and he’d be great. But what do we expect from him in this Oranje. Knowing how badly out of shape we are/were, Bert should have protected him. In the Portugal game, he played horrific. Also, three top matches in 8 days is a lot for any player, let alone an 18 year old rookie…

I like Schaars a lot. Another player I like to see more of, but if you have De Jong, Van Bommel, Strootman, Afellay and Van der Vaart for the holding mid role and if Schaars himself declares left back is not his thing, why select him? Why not take another player who can play or is willing to play there? Vernon Anita for instance?

And why bring a real winger like Narsingh with many assists under his belt to the Euros and not play him? At all?

Why putting so much faith in a player ( Afellay) who hasn’t had 18 minutes of play in the last 6 months? Why play him in two games in a row? He’s not even a winger? Against Germany, a real left footed winger would have found Van Persie, but Afellay screwed up a relatively simple pass over 6 yards by playing it behind the Arsenal striker… And like Willems, everone knew Afellay would be able to play 3 games at top level in 8 days!

And any coach with Hunter and Van Persie in the squad would gladly play them both. The whole nation ( incl. Cruyff and Van Hanegem) pleaded with Bert to use them both. Put Sneijder on line back (on the holding level) and use Van Persie behind Hunter. At least try this out once! Bert never did. The only chance Huntelaar got was with Van Persie and Van der Vaart as wingers. Goodness gracious me! No wonder Hunter is pissed off! Bad management, Bert.
But if you do play Huntelaar, you need players on the flanks that will cross in. So, Robben on the left, someone else on the right. And you really want to play offensive football: Narsingh. If you are fearful of the balance ( or lack thereof): Kuyt.
And if you need legs to go from box to box, why not play Strootman instead of De Jong? Why not test these concepts?

So we’re evaluation tactics now… We played our best match in the qualifications with Van der Vaart on the holding mid spot. Why not continue on that path? Why resort back to the couple Bommel/De Jong? So many questions on line ups and tactics…

The most important one, the role of Arjen Robben. Robben in top form is in the same league as C Ronaldo. Just under the Messi league :-). He can tear you apart. But if he’s not ( the dribbles didn’t work, the left foot shots were all wasted), maybe he should play on the left wing. So he can serve up crosses. In particular when Hunter is on!

And we have all seen how the team was divided into a group tracking back and a group pushing forward. Leaving huge gaps for Danes, Germans and Portuguese players to have fun in. This is something the coach should fix. ( I think it’s something the players should fix too, but they clearly weren’t able to). And our coach wasn’t able to fix it. Too bad. Really sad. But that is a big no no of course.

We didn’t play too sexy in 2010. We wanted to fix that. But did we ever practice this? Do we actually have the back four to do so? Shouldn’t we be realistic and realise that without Xabi Alonso, Busquets, Pique, Ramos and Alba we can’t play that kind of football?

If Bert sees that Van der Wiel is not in top form, Mathijsen is not fit and inexperienced Willems is in the team, shouldn’t he be asking the lads to play sexy and attacking football?

I think Bert became the victim ( and the players too by the way) of good intentions: trying to appease the fans, trying to impress the world, trying to keep the “mates-vibe” in the squad intact….

Maybe Bert should have said: I can not play total football with this group. We are not good enough for that. We have no Krol, Rijkaard, De Boer, Stam. We will play like we did in 2010. Go for result. Win the Euros. And hopefully club coaches will develop some better defenders…

To top if off, I believe the substitution actions of Bert said enough. Bringing Vaart and Hunter changed the whole make up of the team. It affected too much. After they were on, it was chaos. Nothing was created, really. And bringing Kuyt late in the game had no function other than making sure the number 14 in the hierarchy got some minutes. Against Denmark, we needed Luuk de Jong. Against Germany and Portugal, we needed Narsingh.

In summary, I think Bert made many mistakes. And these mistakes tell me that tactically, he is limited. He only knows one system and has no ability to improvise or be flexible. He basically hoped and gambled that Oranje could repeat the 2010 trick. With lesser full backs. Non-fit Mathijsen. Rusty Van Bommel. And an unfit Afellay.

These mistakes, for me, mean that he needs to go. Let someone else have a go.

Bert deserves a statue. But he doesn’t deserve the job anymore…

So, the question arises: who now?


Is this our new ambassador??

In my book, no Ronald Koeman.

I don’t have any reason to believe Koeman is “The Man”. Why? He was great as a player but mediocre as a coach until now. He played 4-4-2 with Ajax! He got into trouble there with everyone. Including Sneijder and Van der Vaart! He left PSV for Valencia. Where he made a
mess of things. Some Valencia officials still wake up screaming “Koeman!!” when they had too much to eat that evening… He almost destroyed that club. Then he landed at AZ where they kicked him out before the season was over… There is no indication whatsoever that Mr Koeman can handle this. He has had one good season with Feyenoord. That is all!

Also, I think it’s wrong for the KNVB to approach coaches who are employed by memberclubs of the KNVB. Not done!

We need someone with:

1. Authority
2. Proven experience in getting results
3. A passion for total football, attacking football
4. Dutch nationality

In my book, Van Gaal is out. He screwed it up once. He, like Koeman, is thrown out everywhere as he’s a dick.

Van Hanegem won’t make a good team manager. He’s probably good as an assistant.

Cruyff won’t do it.

Rijkaard probably won’t do it.

So the best candidate is Co Adriaanse!

He has done tremendously well with Ajax, Willem II, AZ, Salzburg and Porto. He has authority. The players look up to him. Sneijder and Van der Vaart rate him as their best coach ever. He is great as a figure head, supporters and media respect him and most importantly, he has the balls to play attacking football. And he’s available.

End of evaluation.


My balls are this big!!

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by Jan

Post Match Shenanigans

Quite a blow for this new blog too!! And no player even mentions that post match! But…not too worry. Dutch football will carry on. Expect more interviews and analysis and in the coming weeks loads of stuff on Holland as we bounce back and we will keep on following all our heroes during the season. All of them. Like… eh…Willems… And…the others.

Seriously, we have columns from guest speakers, surveys, games, talent analysis and what not. In particular what not!

KNVB general manager Bert van Oostveen calls the humiliating exit of the Dutch national team “Oranje unworthy”. He didn’t want to comment on Bert van Marwijk’s future at the football association. “That wouldn’t be appropriate.”

“Zero points at a final tournament, I don’t think it ever got this bad…”, he mused. “This will be thoroughly evaluated, with all involved. Head coach, technical staff and team manager (Hans Jorritsma). And we will do so quickly as we have a first game on August 15. You can expect our communications before mid July and I will manage the evaluation myself.”

Van Oostveen didn’t want to speculate about an exit of the former Feyenoord coach. “We will also evaluate the fact we won silver on the World Cup and the fact that Van Marwijk cruised through the two qualification series with the team.”

Last December, Van Oostveen extended Van Marwijk’s deal till the WC2016. But there are evaluation points and specific clauses in the contract. Van Marwijk didn’t want to comment. “I am totally gutted now. The last thing I’m pondering is my career…”


Bert van Oostveen, Van Marwijk’s boss…

Van Oostveen did add that Oranje booked a positive result financially. “But only just. And with the team performing like this, the ticket sale will hurt.”

Gregory van der Wiel describes the tournament as a bitter disappointment. The right back had a tough night against C Ronaldo and the Portuguese star scored twice against Oranje.

Two years ago, he played the World Cup finals, now he goes home with zero points. “I wonder what happened. I didn’t play my own game. I love attacking, playing football, creating two-against-one situations. This Euros it feels like I had to defend constantly (sic).”

Van der Wiel: “No idea what went wrong. I was unmarked a lot but simply didn’t get the ball. Today I played a guy who didn’t track back. But still I couldn’t support the forwards.”

“We started good, like in the other games, and after 20 minutes it’s started to pivot. Portugal is deadly in the counter. It’s hard to pinpoint where the problems came.”

Ron Vlaar’s name suddenly popped up on the team sheet. The Feyenoord defender replaced John Heitinga.


Flop of the match vs Man of the match. Flop on the left.

The tall defender was disappointed. “We knew exactly what we needed to do. We scored early and we didn’t even know the scoreline at the other game. But we started to play more sloppy and Portugal was constantly threatening. But even when they scored, we felt we were in it. But when they scored again, it was game over.”

“We had to take risks. And with Ronaldo and Nani, they have to super assassins in their team. At a certain point we only had three defenders.”

Vlaar saw his starting berth approaching. “I felt I was close. I had some good weeks. But who cares now? I’m disappointed. I wanted to perform. Maybe sometime in the future I can look back at this and feel good about it. Certainly not today.”

Reality is harsh. These are words Arjen Robben uttered after the Portugal game. “We lost three times at the Euros. That is quite a message. We all need to look very long and hard into the mirror. We have all failed. And there were some incidents within the group but I won’t mention those. Those will stay internally.”

On the pitch, Robben could be heard yelling “Shut your mouth” to Bert van Marwijk a couple of times, when the coach instructed the winger to track back.

“Ir’s hard to explain it all. Some things are so hard to explain. Again, we started good but we didn’t keep on playing our game. And then we concede and we sort of disappear.”

Mark van Bommel didn’t want to speak on behalf of the team, only for himself. “I can’t look into their heads, but I do believe the vibe was different this time around. The situation was different too of course. Some players have a different status now…. But whatever, we can’t say a thing. It was simply bad. In particular the results.”


Robben on his knees…

The new PSV signing did defend his coach and father in law, Bert van Marwijk. “Bert is a fighter. He will land on his feet. I don’t think he deserves too much of the blame. And whatever he or the KNVB decide, that is for us to respect.”

Wesley Sneijder was open, as ever, after the game. “Do we need to fire Bert? What? Come on man! Chin up! We reached the finals with Bert two years ago and now he can’t do any good anymore? Do I see a future with him? I certainly do.”

Sneijder was part of the pre-game discussions with Bert on tactics, but admits he didn’t get his way. “Well, we needed to change certain things, I was with that. But I don’t feel too good on the left flank. I don’t get to see the ball enough and I can’t do all I want to do, but that’s what it is. I played there, did my best. You have to do what’s best for the team, right?”

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by Jan

Let's get to know one another…

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

Right!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

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