Tag: Janmaat

April 25, 2017 by Jan

Oranje, where to….? (Part 1)

We were able to focus a bit on fun stuff here (Fosu-Mensah, Ruud Krol, Tiju) but we need to face reality again.

Amongst the incredible performance of Ajax in Gelsenkirchen (semi-finals baby!!) and the long overdue title for Feyenoord (dare I say it!?) it seems Oranje is still in a mess.

Before we go into solutions, I think it’s cool to do an overview of insights, opinions, criticism and more from a number of Dutch football icons (and former team managers)…

Analysis:

In Sofia, for the Bulgary match, Blind had some choices to make. Wesley Hoedt, next to Martins Indi? The Lazio defender plays on a weekly basis in a top league, so why not? Joel Veltman was an option too. With Tete and Karsdorp as right backs in the squad, Blind already suggested that Joel could play the CB role for us. But Blind picked De Ligt. A 17 year old talent from Ajax. With only 7 games under his belt in Ajax 1 and with two major mistakes in two of them (Kopenhagen, Excelsior). Nine days before his selection, De Ligt was asked about Oranje. His response was telling: “Oranje? That is very presumptuous. I just made the prelim squad of Jong Oranje. I think I should maybe start there?” The 17 year old was more realistic than the team manager of Oranje. How can one experiment in such an important game? Blind played Russian Roulette. And we now how it ended.

Blind got lost in romantic musings of a time where youngsters like Kluivert and Seedorf were able to make their way into the top with Ajax, while very young. But Blind forgot that these players were surrounded with quality and made their debuts in teams that dominated and played top football. Blind’s main reason was the combination of left (Martins Indi) and right (De Ligt) footed players in the central back role for a better and quicker build up.

And this is exactly the problem Blind had. He thought in terms of posssession, of build up, of dominant play. But reality is, the key moments in the matches (post 2014’s WC) are those moments where we turn possession around and lose the ball.

But, the match in Sofia also showed that the team let De Ligt down, just like the team let Blind down. We didn’t lose just because of De Ligt. In the weeks before the game, Blind made a trip to Turkey (Sneijder), Italy (Strootman) and Munich (Robben) to discuss matters with his three “certainties”. But Sneijder wasn’t picked for the Bulgaria game, Strootman was clueless and Robben did not get the support from his team to shine and was facing 3 or 4 opponents whenever he finally got on the ball. Strootman, is a soldier. A very good one. In a strong midfield (Roma) he can shine. But he’s not the general. He won’t lead the way.

The Strootman role (#6) is a key role in football. It’s the bridge between defense and attack but also a guarding role. It’s the metronome, the man who decides when the press is on, or when to pace the game down etc. It’s Carrack at Man United, Fabregas in his glory days, Lasse Schone at Ajax now and El Ahmadi at Feyenoord.

Blind lost the support of this players, it seems. In every line of the team there was at least one player not feeling supported by his coach. Jeroen Zoet was axed after Sweden away. Martins Indi was publicly criticised for his red card vs Iceland at home. Wijnaldum, who was one of the better players in the series, was always the first one to be pulled off the pitch. Even against Bulgaria he was one of the “least worse”. He wasn’t pleased. And up top, Bas Dost was quite aware that Vince Janssen would have played if the Spurs striker wouldn’t have the flu. The chemistry was gone. Klaassen, Strootman, they weren’t able to lead the team while Daley Blind doesn’t play on a position to do so (left back).

Originally, Blind wanted to go back to Van Gaal’s 5-3-2 of the 2014 World Cup and abandon the Dutch 4-3-3 which the KNVB pushed onto Hiddink. We won against Wales, but after an abysmal first half vs France, he abandoned the system again. Experts, ex-players and colleagues all praise Blind for his insights into football, his analysis skills and ideas. Van Gaal relied heavily on his support during their time together, but a good consiglieri doesn’t necessarily make a good Godfather. For months, he had been prepping the Bulgaria game and he “felt really confident” about it. During the game, his house of cards collapsed. No patterns, no energy, no inventively and most tellingly: a lot of personal mistakes and bad performances.

Blind will go into the history books as the team manager with a short reign in a period of mediocrity and his inability to get something out of it.

The analysts:

Ronald de Boer (ex Ajax, ex Barcelona, ex Glasgow Rangers): “It was a snowball effect. Once the ball started rolling, you know it gets bigger and you can’t stop it. It was a series of blunders, starting under Hiddink, with that Janmaat mistake. And it didn’t stop. Daley Blind vs Turkey, Martins Indi vs Iceland, Strootman vs Sweden and now De Ligt. So much bad luck, it’s not a coincidence anymore. It was laughable at times, if it wasn’t this serious for us. Tactically, I also think we were second best. The 4-4-2 of Bulgaria should have been countered with a 3-4-3. You could see the problems in the first ten minutes but Danny needed till the break to change it around. And now what… You can throw bad wine out of a beautiful bottle but if you replace it with more bad wine… Frank (Ronald’s brother) isn’t keen. He’s a club coach, still. A foreign coach is a risk, but it could work, as long as his English is ok. The best leader, for me, is Louis van Gaal. Get him to take the team in those last 5 games and then promote him to technical director.

Pierre van Hooijdonk (ex Feyenoord, Celtic, Benfica): “There was never a moment of rest for Danny. All those shenanigans at the KNVB… But also, we know, all of us, that our level has dropped. We are not longer a dominating force in football. But I don’t see that translated into our vision and thinking at NT level. We still wanna play Dutch School and Total Football and have possession. Wake up! Van Gaal gave us the right example in Brazil, to play better without the ball and hit the opponent on the turnaround. We still have not landed, we’re still in dream land. We need to be humble and adapt our playing style. Everyone rants about how we develop such good coaches and trainers. Oh really? Where are they? But even then, we are still better than Bulgaria. That game should have been done and dusted. And then our most experienced midfielders are letting us down the most. We want to see leaders in Wijnaldum and Strootman, but they aren’t. They are water bearers at their clubs. They’re important but not key. Where are the days of Davids, Ronald de Boer, Wouters, Rijkaard, Van der Vaart, Van Hanegem? World class, all of them. I think we should go for Henk ten Cate. Experienced, Dutch, and he can be tough as nails. And let’s use someone like Seedorf as his assistant or Gullit. But we need a mental shift, the time we could dominate and put fear into opponents is over. The roles have been reversed.”

Arnold Bruggink (ex PSV, Mallorca, Hannover): “I think Blind was a doubter. A tinker man. Van Gaal had clarity and confidence. It seems Blind was constantly trying out new options. But Blind isn’t the only one to blame. Th KNVB has screwed up big time. And, it’s a fact that our core of players should be good enough to finish above Sweden and Bulgaria, surely? And Hans van Breukelen? Lovely guy, but his way of communicating generates so much agitation. He’s not clear, he’s rash, he isn’t always straight. There were a lot of things, decisions, that worked out really badly.”

Ronald Waterreus (ex PSV, ex Manchester City, ex Glasgow Rangers): “Since Van Gaal left in 2014, it was a mess. The appointment of Hiddink and then Blind… Hiddink is totally different than Van Gaal. Van Gaal is on top of everything, where Guus is really laidback and laissez-faire. Then we had the issues with the assistant coaches. Players need clarity. And we are not getting that for years now. Hans van Breukelen added fuel to the fire and had a false start. I personally don’t think he’ll be around much longer. I think we need to try and get Frank de Boer and Phillip Cocu to do it. To commit to Oranje for 6 or 8 years. Build it back up. They’re mates, they trust each other and can work well together, as they did as Oranje assistants under Van Marwijk. Another option is Fred Rutten.”

March 31, 2017 by Jan

Dutch Football looking forward…

While us here at the blog could debate the positioning of Stekelenburg vs France or the Dost disallowed goals vs Sweden for weeks on end, the Dutch have shrugged off the Oranje drama and are all looking forward to what comes next!

Which obviously is the Classic, this coming Sunday. I have to say “classic” actually. The Capital C should be reserved for the home game for Feyenoord, in De Kuip. Playing in the ~~Amsterdam~~ Johan Cruyff Arena is simply not the same. And definitely not without any Feyenoord supporters allowed in…

So, the debate within the KNVB is going to go on ( will Louis van Gaal become the newly created CEO role? will Hans van Breukelen survive the assessment about his functioning? which coaches can we expect on the short list?) and I’ll keep on informing you about all that.

In the meantime, the media are focusing on the clash of the two Titans. And the key players in the Dutch classic encounter, are not Dutch players, but Moroccon! and interestingly enough, they are close friends, on opposing sides.

King Karim El Ahmadi vs Seer Ziyech

They could have played for Feyenoord together by the way. When Ziyech (24) left Heerenveen, Feyenoord wanted to sign the playmaker but he picked his career path with care and brushed Feyenoord off. And picked FC Twente. He does make funny choices. On the pitch, he’s all class. Off the pitch…. He picked Twente and they got into trouble soon after (unrelated) which meant Hakim Ziyech ended up leading a pack of juniors, with the aim to not get relegated. And he also picked Morocco over Oranje (due to an alleged conflict with ex-coach Van Basten and lack of warmth from Blind), but his headstrong personality resulted in the current Morocco coach to ignore him for the national team. El Ahmadi (32) was the midfield man for them in the Africa Cup, while Ajax was able to utilise Ziyech domestically.

Character vs Class

Not really, though Ziyech oozes class but has character for sure, while El Ahmadi is the symbol of Feyenoord’s resilience, but the younger El Ahmadi was definitely a creative artist when he was at Twente. But his days in England have turned the flegmatic midfielder into a leader. Not unlike Phillip Cocu’s metamorphosis, from inconsistent left winger to hard working midfielder.

El Ahmadi was the moral victor in the last meeting between the two. Ziyech was signed for 12 mio euros from Twente to do exactly what he is aiming this Sunday. To put Ajax on top again. El Ahmadi, who was rested last week by the Morocco coach as a gesture to him and Feyenoord, knows that a win will mean they got the title.

El Amhadi will not have the Robin to his Batman in midfield. Tonny Vilhena is suspended for two games. Toornstra or young talent Nieuwkoop will complete the eleven.

Another interesting clash is the meeting of two white elephants in goal. Brad Jones and Andre Onana. At the start of the season, it was not even conceivable that these two goalies would become fan favorites and key in their respective teams’ game plan. Tim Krul was supposed to succeed Cillesen and Ken Vermeer was #1 in De Kuip with recovering Bernard Hahn as second in command. But Onana shrugged off the mistakes he used to make in Young Ajax and the 20 year old has established himself firmly in the starting line up. The Cameroon born player still likes to display his football skills (as he did away vs Groningen), and sometimes it goes wrong… But versus Groningen, he was fouled (not seen by the ref). Despite this, in front of the cameras, he admitted that despite the referee’s mistake, it actually was situation he should have avoided. The youngster also kept a cool head vs Feyenoord, when after Kuyt’s goal, Kramer tapped the mourning goalie on the head. He didn’t react.

Ajax wants to go on with this youngster. Krul is now at AZ and Overmars and co are currently negotiating with Onana for a continued stay as Ajax’ #1 goalie.

Brad Jones has had many clubs in his life. From playing some CL games for Liverpool he went to mid-table club NEC from Nijmegen where the aficionados recognised a classy albeit aging goalie. Confronted with Vermeer’s major injury (and Hahn not fit), Martin van Geel picked up the transfer free Aussie and with his experience and more importantly, his Australian Rules football experience, the keeper rules in the Feyenoord box and has had a massive impact on the success, with his composed and controlled nature.

Coach van Bronckhorst made it clear some months ago: whatever is happening with Vermeer and his return to fitness, Jones will be our #1 goalie this season! This message resulted in clarity and harmony in the Feyenoord camp. But the expensive Kenneth Vermeer (31) will most likely return to the number 1 spot next season, while the free agent and 35 year old less expensive Jones might well have to find another club. “I do not worry about the future. I understand how these things work. My focus is winning the title. The rest will fall into place.”

Here are some classic Classics…

1964: Feyenoord – Ajax 9-4

Ajax with Cruyff and Swart took the lead twice but Hans Venneker scored 5 goals this match for Feyenoord. It’s 5-2 at half time.

1983: Ajax – Feyenoord 8-2

Cruyff switched sides and took his new team to Amsterdam to be humiliated by the kids he helped develop. Van Basten, Vanenburg, Jesper Olsen allowed Feyenoord to get to 3-2 before they rant riot. After the game, interviewed for national television, Cruyff said: “It’s just three points. We will still win the title”. And they did.

1995: Ajax – Feyenoord 1-2 quarter finals national cup

The year Ajax beat everything and everyone and took the Champions League. But in the quarter finals, it was cult hero Mike Obiku who scored the winner in extra time. Feyenoord would win the cup that year.

1995: Feyenoord – Ajax 2-4

Half a year later, Ajax is King of Europe. Feyenoord starts ferocious and leads 0-2 in the first seven minutes of the game. Ajax straightens its back and scores four times to take the three points.

2005: Ajax – Feyenoord 1-2

The last time Feyenoord won in Amsterdam. Kalou and Kuyt the goal scorers for the visitors. Feyenoord would win the home game as well (3-2) and that impressed so much that a documentary and two books were made about this feat.

2012: Feyenoord – Ajax 4-2

John Guidetti’s year. He loves Feyenoord and despises Ajax, as he demonstrated recently playing against Ajax with Celta de Vigo. The loanie from Sweden scored a hattrick and is a Feyenoord legend forever.

2015: Feyenoord – Ajax 1-0 third round national cup

Ajax rules in the Eredivisie and withstands Feyenoord’s pressure until the dying minutes. A last free kick in the 95th minute is swooped into the box and Joel Veltman allows the ball to ricochet into the goal. De Kuip explodes and Feyenoord would end up winning the Cup again. The festivities are insane at De Coolsingel but will fade compared to the party that will ensue when Feyenoord beats Ajax this weekend yet again.

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….”

February 19, 2017 by Jan

Gini Wijnaldum: I feel stronger than ever…

Next month Georginio Wijnaldum will celebrate 10 years on the highest level as pro football player. But the Liverpool midfielder is only 26 years old! He might have another 10 years ahead of him, who knows. The AD interviewed him on Mersey-side.

The interview is executed at the Hilton Liverpool. The waiter comes checking on him again. Every couple of minutes. “Is everything alright sir?”. Wijnaldum has a wry smile. “Yes, I’m fine, thank you…” It’s probably Wijnaldum’s life motto.

It’s almost 10 years since we saw Wijnaldum make his debut. The 2006/2007 season. Feyenoord vs FC Groningen. Coach Erwin Koeman allowed the youngster (16 years and 149 days old) his debut. Now, he’s active in the top of the EPL (like his former Feyenoord coach, who’s assistant coach at Everton). He looks at a photo from his debut, in De Kuip. “Hey look, it’s Karim Saidi! And there is Lindgren…wow time flies!”

Making his debut for Feyenoord at 16

We’re 10 years further now. And between the first coach – Erwin Koeman – and current coach Klopp there were a number of other coaches of repute. Still, you feel Klopp is the best?

Wijnaldum: ,,Yes he is. He is so intense, so passionate. And he’s real. Authentic. He does make players and teams better. Not one or two. All of them. The way we play, with lots of movement, high press, creating space, the pace of the ball, you need to be top top fit! Our practice sessions are seriously tougher than the match. Literally, everything we do, we do at match-intensity.”

You worked under Louis van Gaal as well. But Klopp is better?

“Yes, but I didn’t work with Louis van Gaal at a club. It’s different. His practices were very good too. But I work with Klopp on a daily basis. They’re both real people, they both love their players. You can feel it. Van Gaal is simply amazing. When we started our WC campaign in 2014, he said: Gini, you might start in a controlling role in the team. Danny (Blind) says you are able to do it. I’m doubting it, but we will give it a go.”

Is that not a bit too honest?

“Why? I think it’s cool. He says what he thinks. And you could always debate him. I never saw him angry or pissed off. The WC in Brazil was special, unique. Before the match for the 3rd place against Brazil he called me out. He said “Shouldn’t you get on the score sheet now?”. And I did! I spoke about this with Leroy Fer. We grew up together. We’re very close. And we both scored at a World Cup. That is pretty special.”

With buddy Fer in Oranje U17

You say Klopp and Van Gaal are top coaches, and you immediately talk about their honesty?

“Well I have not worked with any coach that I couldn’t deal with, to be honest. And I am proud of the coaches I worked with: Erwin Koeman, Bert van Marwijk, Gertjan Verbeek, Leon Vlemmings, Mario Been, Dick Advocaat, Fred Rutten, Phillip Cocu, Louis van Gaal, Danny Blind, Steve McClaren, Rafa Benitez and Jürgen Klopp. Not bad eh? When Advocaat was coach at PSV, he once put Toivonen on my spot, the #10. I was pissed off then. I still am, hahaha. And I told him last summer at Oranje. But Advocaat followed his truth and was honest and open about it. I can accept that. Mario Been put me on the #10 role, that was special. Everyone in Holland said I didn’t have the vision, I was too individual but he saw it. And he took the risk with me and Leroy. Fred Rutten is like Klopp. The way he organises training sessions, patterns etc. But no one has the passion Klopp has. Wonderful.”

He’s German. Does this mean training really hard?

,,I think of all the players in Oranje, Vincent Janssen and I train the hardest of all. I spoke with Pochettino of Spurs before Liverpool came. It was a really good talk, lovely man.”

The Rotterdam-born midfielder chose Anfield over White Hart Lane in the summer, although strictly speaking there was no choice as Tottenham Hotspur did not meet Newcastle United’s £25m asking price, and has settled seamlessly into a team of increasing substance.

“I had great conversations with Pochettino and Klopp,” says the Dutch international. “But in the meeting with Jürgen we had a laugh and did not speak only about football. He was interested in my personal life and that was good for me. He was not only interested in Wijnaldum the footballer but Wijnaldum the person. When you’re not out on the football field you have to communicate as people and it is good if you know something about how the other person is. It makes things easier. So I didn’t really get an offer from Spurs, but I do speak with Vincent a lot. And he has had barely a day off at Spurs. I don’t think I had one day off from December 21 till end of January. I hardly give interviews, simply coz I don’t have time for it.”

So no comparison with Holland?

“No! In Holland we don’t really train. We simply maintain our condition. I didn’t realise this when I was in Holland. At PSV I sometimes complained but our physical coach Kiesouw said it always: you don’t train hard at all. If you go abroad, you’ll find out what training is.”

Could it be that some players will decide not to want to play for these types of coaches?

“Well, if you don’t want this, you should not want to be top. Then you need to play at a lower level. If you want to reach the ultimate, this is the way.”

Some people say: Liverpool and Tottenham will collapse in March/April. Injuries, fatigue. You guys didn’t start well in 2017 because you’re too tired?

“I don’t agree. I never felt this strong. Sometimes we have to run a kilometer in 3 minutes and 50 seconds. Then directly we need to go and play a match on a small pitch and immediately after that, another kilometer in the same time. And that goes on for the whole session. Trust me, you’re dead after that. But you need to be able to find a way to remain tight in the passing, to play the right ball, to pass with precision. Klopp tells us we can manage to control the last stage of the game.”

Things are looking up for you at Liverpool. How’s the National Team going now?

“I didn’t watch the Euros, I only watched the final. I wanted to spend time with my family and friends instead but, to be honest, I was done with football for a few weeks because everything had gone wrong. Personally it was a great year but when you don’t achieve things with your team, and especially if you get relegated (with Newcastle), it is hard. I was a little bit done with football but Moussa [Sissoko, of France] is a good friend of mine so I thought I should watch him in the final. The Euros was a really big disappointment but relegation with Newcastle was for me even bigger. Before I went to Newcastle I spoke with the manager and the people there and they had big plans to bring good players in and play for titles. I was really disappointed because I wanted to achieve something with Newcastle. Even if it was not a title I wanted to help the club get back to fifth-to-10th place to start with, and maybe get the club back into Europe again. Unfortunately it didn’t go that way. It went totally wrong. That was the biggest disappointment for me last season.”

Wijnaldum talks more Oranje: “I am quite confident we can build our national team up to a good level. We might not longer be the dominant force, or a title candidate, but with players like Robben, Strootman, Van Dijk, Blind and other, I’m sure we can make it hard for any opponent. We just need to have our key players fit. There is so much young talent coming through. And I know what Memphis is capable of. He’ll get back to good form, I’m sure!”

Four months into his Liverpool career and Wijnaldum has rediscovered the feeling he had during his final season at PSV Eindhoven when, as captain, he led Phillip Cocu’s team to their first league title since 2008. He will not say whether Liverpool can end a much longer wait for a league title this season. To do so would run contrary to everything Klopp demands of his players, indeed the entire club, in his quest for constant improvement, although the midfielder admits Liverpool have confidence they can win every game at present. “There is no chance of us getting carried away,” he says. “That comes from the manager. Even if we have played a good game he still wants to work on the things that didn’t go so well. Every time you have to give 100%. It’s the same every week and in every training session. Every exercise we do he asks us to do it at 100% and never less.”

Wijnaldum adds: “I feel like I did at PSV. The most important thing is to enjoy football because you don’t know how long your career is going to last, but it is difficult when things don’t go well. It was difficult to enjoy last season. You are losing games, everything is going bad, you don’t play well and in the end you get relegated. That was hard.

“This season I started to enjoy it as soon as I knew Liverpool really wanted to sign me, especially after the meeting with Jürgen. I came away from that with a really great feeling that I could train with a good manager, a really good team and make myself a better player. I’m probably enjoying it now more than I did before because I have seen the other side of football where I was losing a lot of games and got relegated with Newcastle and didn’t go to the Euros. These are better days.

Scoring on his debut, for Oranje
“Every training session we do is to improve you as a player. That’s different to what I’ve experienced before and I’m really happy with it. The manager gives you confidence. He’s not a manager who yells at you or gets angry with you whenever you make a mistake. He will only get mad if you don’t do the things you are good at so, for example, [Sadio] Mané is a good player who can dribble, [Philippe] Coutinho is a good player who can dribble and if they stop doing that there’s a chance he might get mad and upset because you are not using your quality. Against Southampton last week he wanted me to make a run. I did it but it was too late and he said something about it. But sometimes, if I lose the ball easily, I expect him to be angry and he’s not. You can hear his voice easily enough – he’s quite loud. He is really passionate and not only in the game. People might see him during a game and think that’s an act. It’s not an act. He’s like that in training. For me that’s a good thing because it keeps you sharp and, from his side, he is doing everything he can to make the team ready to win games. That’s a good thing.”

The Holland international has a more defensive role at Liverpool than at Newcastle, where he operated out wide or as a No10, but Klopp did not outline a specific role when they met in the summer. “He explained his way of playing and said that I would fit in. From that moment I was very excited,” says Wijnaldum who, for his part, neglected to mention inspiring Newcastle’s 2-0 defeat of Liverpool at St James’ Park in December. “At the time he still had to make me an offer so I thought it is probably best to say nothing about that game, although it was a good one for me.”
Wijnaldum admits that “in different circumstances” he would have “loved to have worked longer” with Benítez. “But I had my plans in my head and we both went our own way. He said he wanted to keep me to get promoted and that the right offer had to be made before I could leave. Once everything was done he said Liverpool was a wonderful club and that he hoped I’d enjoy it here.”

Big money move to PSV (to aid fledging Feyenoord) and with new look

A more formative influence currently resides across Stanley Park. Erwin Koeman, assistant to his brother, Ronald, at Everton, was the Feyenoord coach who gave Wijnaldum his debut in April 2007; the midfielder became the club’s youngest debutant, in a team featuring Pierre van Hooijdonk and Angelos Charisteas, Greece’s European Championship-winning striker, against a Groningen side featuring one Luis Suárez.

“The game was on the Sunday and he told me on the Wednesday that I would be playing,” he recalls of the elder Koeman. “That was a really special moment. I realised that not every trainer has the balls to let a 16-year-old play in the first team and things were not going so well for the team at that time so they didn’t want to take the risk with young players. I was 16 years and 148 days old. That is why I always respect him as a trainer, because he made a decision that other trainers would have been scared to make. He told me I could tell my grandma, who I was living with at the time, but asked me not to tell anyone in school. I was still at school and he wanted to keep it a secret. You know how it is with reporters. It was very difficult to concentrate on class.”

While Wijnaldum is effusive in his praise of past and present coaches, it is his grandmother Francina to whom he owes the greatest gratitude. As he explains: “I wanted to be a gymnast when I was young, I used to do backflips and all those things in the street and at home, but my grandma said it was dangerous and made me stop. Now my daughter is doing gymnastics and I’m a little bit jealous of her because she is doing all the things I wanted to do when I was young. I had to stop and concentrate on football but I’m happy about that now.”

First senior goal Wijnaldum

February 8, 2017 by Jan

2016, the Oranje year in review

Oops, I should have posted this already in January… It’s one of those things. The Oranje Year 2016 in review. Well, always nice to have an Oranje debate (broader than just Memphis, Daley and St Juste). I’ll add my own 2cents and after this I have some amazing posts coming up… Good interview with Peter Bosz, Ronald Koeman, Rafael van der Vaart, Stefan de Vrij and much much more….

I: Vincent Janssen, Oranje’s striker for the next decade?
‘So cool, really amazing, I’m going nutso on the inside!”. Janssen can’t really fathom what’s happening when NT manager Danny Blind takes Janssen up in the prelim selection for Oranje. When the AZ striker hears that he made it to the final squad, he “was definitely on Cloud #9 for an hour!”. He doesn’t even dream of his actual debut, but a month later, Janssen is allowed to make his first appearance in the friendly against France (2-3) which is mainly played in the memory of Johan Cruyff, who passed on before the game. A couple of days later, Janssen is a starter vs England at Wembley. And he impresses. He’s fierce in the challenges, works and hussles, keeping the English defenders busy. And when the ref gives Oranje a spot kick in the 50st minutes, it’s Janssen who collects the ball. Janssen, becoming the Dutch topscorer for AZ that season, scores a beauty. Half an hour later, the striker has the assist for the winning goal by Luciano Narsingh and the whole of the nation is sold. This man went from Almere City to Wembley within 12 months. Oranje has a new goal scoring hero.

Note Jan: As of a couple of months, Vince is struggling at Spurs while Dost and Van Persie seem in great form. I think Janssen will struggle in the NT to keep his spot. Between you and me: Wout Weghorst is NOT a candidate for the NT. Yes, he scores goals, but that is in the Eredivisie against weaker teams. I don’t see it in him.

II: The End of a Golden Generation?

The rise of Vincent Janssen in Oranje has had an impact on the Oranje career of Klaas Jan Huntelaar. The Schalke striker was convinced that when Robin van Persie would be thanked for his services, he finally would get his chance as leader of the line. But Blind wants to test younger players: Luuk de Jong against France and Janssen vs England. When Huntelaar refuses to come onto the pitch at Wembley, a row is born. The striker: “It’s not exactly like that. I didn’t say I wouldn’t come off the bench. I’m happy to start on the bench and come on to make a difference. But not in the last two minutes!”

The friendly vs England is remarkable, as it is for the first time since August 2010 that The Fab Four are missing. Sneijder and Robben are injured, Van Persie and Van der Vaart not needed. The absence of the Fener striker causes a national discussion. Blind makes a clear statement that “a fit and in form Van Persie will have a place in the squad” but at this stage, it’s a little bit “too hot and too cold” with the former Feyenoord man. Throughout 2016, Huntelaar and Van Persie are not in the picture.

Van Persie is awarded the rare Golden Shield for 100 caps for Oranje. The KNVB does not want to honour him in a full stadium “as to not give the impression that we are organising a farewell for him”… Instead, the European post collects the shield and cap and medal in Zeist and transports it impersonally to Istanbul.

Note Jan: The NT is over for Van der Vaart. But Sneijder, Robben and potentially Van Persie are still valuable. The latter is making a difference for Fener and seems fit. Huntelaar is still struggling with fitness. At this stage, I don’t see the Hunter making a return.

III: Oranje impresses as sparring partner

In May, Blind states that in his view the NT has not given the farewell to Van Persie and Huntelaar. But a Robben and Sneijder need to let the end of season trip pass, Oranje will go to Lagos for their trainings camp without the big guns. Dick Advocaat, moonlighting a bit with Feyenoord, is added to the technical staff of Oranje, at the request of Danny Blind. Like with Feyenoord, there is an Advocaat effect with Oranje. As sparring partner for three Euro nations, the NT shows an ascending form. A draw vs Ireland results in biting criticism, but winning vs Poland and Austria results in the question what Oranje might have been able to do at the Euros if only… Kevin Strootman: “I can see a good trend developing. We can see a team forming and a winning mentality.” Virgil van Dijk: “We might not be world class but if we are prepared to work our socks off, we can make it hard for any opponent.”

And to the surprise of most, Danny Blind selects benchwarmer Steven Berghuis for the friendlies. He’s on a holiday in New York when he receives the call from Blind. On the pitch, he creates the Janssen goal for Oranje vs Poland.

Blind: “We had Steven in our group earlier and he impressed with his vision and delivery. I know he hasn’t played a lot at Watford, but whenever he came on as a sub, he created something. A through ball, a distance shot, a cross. He has a rare talent and we lack good wingers, so the options are few and far between.”

Note Jan: It’s all about team. Not the individuals. Messi never won a big trophy with Argentina. And even C Ronaldo was not present in the finals of the Euro vs France. It’s the team. If the mentality and tactics work, and we can add the special qualities of Sneijder and/or Robben, we can play a role at any stage.
IV: chaos at the Dutch football Federation

Advocaat’s return to the KNVB has a good effect. We see it more often: a seasoned assistant supporting an inexperienced coach (Spijkerman > De Boer; Brood > Cocu; Wouters > Van Bronckhorst). But suddenly, in August the serial club hopper says goodbye to the NT. The “challenge” (paycheck?) in Istanbul can’t be ignored. Blind and the new TD Hans van Breukelen are dumbfounded and unpleasantly surprised when Advocaat books a ticket to Turkey.

What develops in Zeist in the weeks after seems to be written by the Monty Python team. New director Van Breukelen fights a public bitch fight with Ruud Gullit, who doesn’t want to work with Van Breukelen as he is “untrustworthy”. General Manager Van Oostveen also takes a hike and the chaos is complete. Popular team manager Hans Jorritsma is forced to retire, without the consent of Danny Blind. When Marco van Basten is lured away by FIFA, the chaos is complete. To Van Basten’s credit: he stays with Blind until he has found a new assistant in former Ajax goalie Fred Grim.

Blind adds Van der Hoek to the staff as well, two assistants who will remain loyal, Blind expects. The criticism that he now has two ex goalies as assistants and an ex goalie as his boss is laughed off by the legendary Ajax skipper: “at least we won’t be conceding too many goals!”

Note Jan: Since this debacle, the consultancy team brought in by Hans van Breukelen has been exposed as a bunch of frauds and the KNVB chair has acted on that by cancelling all their contributions to the Dutch Federation. The very media focused Van Breukelen has been quiet and the next discussion centered around the football development approach, with Van Breukelen’s “mental angle” directly opposing Wim Jansen’s (and others) “skill angle”.

V: Pressure on position Danny Blind

At the press conference prior to the Greece friendly and the key WC qualification game vs Sweden, Blind has to respond profusely on the KNVB chaos. The exit of Van Oostveen, he calls “bad timing” and he hopes the run to the exit doors of his staff will end soon. He also tells the media he received a lucrative offer from Asia. The only man who is loyal to Oranje feels the noose around his neck when a sloppy Oranje loses the friendly vs Greece. If Oranje loses vs Sweden, Blind will be out, the media claim.

The results aren’t too good and after Blind took over from Hiddink it also doesn’t seem that the football is improving. After a failed experiment with 5-3-2 vs France, Blind falls back on the traditional 4-3-3 but dictating a match is not on the cards. Eyebrows are frowned also when he picks a young talent from the Eredivisie over a big name abroad or when he decides to fall back on a benchwarmer. Blind refuses to resign should Oranje lose vs Sweden.

Note Jan: Blind is still being criticised by the consensus in Holland is, that with the material we currently have for the NT, any coach would be in trouble. Yes Blind is inexperienced, and yes he may have made mistakes, but is there a guarantee someone else would have done better?
VI: No Justice in Sweden

Oranje returns home from Sweden, chin up and chest out. It played a decent game, got a draw and should have had the three points. In the second half, Oranje played it’s best half of 2016. Sneijder corrected a rare mistake by Strootman but Klaassen and Dost fail to bring Oranje the full loot. Blind: “We should have won 1-3 or 1-4. We created enough but lacked the sharpness.” And when Dost does find the net late in the game, it’s the referee who spoils the fun, believing Dost fouled his opponent.
Oranje feels aggrieved with this decision but has luck that France draws 0-0 vs Belarus. But Blind isn’t sure what it means for his future. “What will this mean for me? I have no clue”, he quips. The team manager has reasons to complain about his lack of fortune. He inherited a team lacking confidence, and lacking results. He also had to deal with a continuous flow of injuries amongst key players.

Bas Dost scores the winner as the pinchhitter vs Sweden, but the ref claims he pushed Lindelof in the process. Blind: “Here it was the referee stopping us from scoring. This was a bad mistake.”
VII: Arjen Robben, eternal problem child

Of all the injured absentees, Arjen Robben is missed most. Every time Blind announces his squad, prelim or otherwise, Robben is the topic for the media. And when he returns to the fold in Munich, in October, Robben even becomes a hot topic. The team manager puts his trust in Bayern coach Ancelotti (“A good guy, he’ll do the right thing”) but he only sees his skipper return a month later, vs Luxembourg. The world class player scores immediately but leaves the pitch after one half.

There is no criticism on the KNVB coming from Munich anymore. This was different in the past, when Robben forced himself for Oranje, but Bayern had to deal with an injured winger. In 2016, it’s Roma that is aggrieved. AS Roma coach Spalletti claims that Strootman was butchered by the NT. A day later, Blind hits back. “We are conscientious with our conduct. We are responsible people.” Spalletti confirms later, grudgingly, that Blind is correct.

Note Jan: Robben, when fit, will play for Bayern as Ancelotti adores the winger. And he’s still super good.

VIII: new stars shine

Blind is correct more often. In the run up to the Belarus and France qualifiers, the NT manager has to explain again why he keeps on selecting Quincy Promes, who seems to be struggling in Oranje. The coach: “I see him play every week for the full 90 minutes and he is one of the key players every week. Clearly you don’t watch him. The lad is really good.” Days later, Promes repays the trust by scoring two international goals vs Belarus.

It’s the new generation that pull their weight in 2016 in Oranje. Van Dijk is a rock at the back. Janssen is important with four goals in 10 games and is Rick Karsdorp with his strong performances vs Belarus and France the best candidate for the right back position. Blind allows eight debutants to wear the orange and when he recalls Memphis in November as a result of more injuries, it is the former PSV winger who decides the Luxembourg game.

Quiny Promes is the man when Oranje plays in De Kuip . In his 15th international game, the Spartak Moscow forward finally scores twice. The first victory for Oranje on the road to Russia.

Note Jan: Promes is returning to full fitness. De Vrij is returning to full fitness. Berghuis is playing better and better, Wijnaldum is improving, Ake is back at Chelsea… With a more 3-4-3 approach (with Karsdorp on the right and Willems/Van Aanholt on the left), we might be able to utilise the special qualities of Robben/Promes/Memphis up front, Chelsea style…

IX: Goal keeper musical chairs

One spot in the team which symbolises the changes in Oranje 2016: the goalie. Cillesen starts the year as the regular starter but after his transfer to Barcelona, he currently is third choice. He loses his place in September vs Greece to Jeroen Zoet, who also was between the sticks vs England and Austria. Blind: “This doesn’t mean that Zoet is my first choice for the WC campaign.”

And so it is. A month later vs Belarus is Maarten Stekelenburg the number one in goal. The 34 year old Everton goalie “makes a better impression”. But Blind also confirms it was a tough choice to make. Naturally, Blind cops criticism for this choice. What if Stekelenburg screws up? And that is exactly what happens. The experienced goalie misjudges a stoppable attempt from Paul Pogba, from distance. “Maarten should stop that shot, and he knows it,” says Blind. Who also says he doesn’t regret making the choice.

Stekelenburg defeated by Pogba. Oranje wouldn’t be able to turn it around, although Memphis does try late in the game with an audacious turn in the box.

Note JR: Cillesen is not making a big impression, Stekelenburg is back on the bench, Krul just started playing, Vermeer is not 100% match fit…as it stands now, Jeroen Zoet is the only logical candidate for Oranje.

X: Arena cursed for Oranje
Stekelenburg’s mistake causes Oranje’s defeat vs France. The mighty French are the fifth to win in the Arena on the trot. The stadium seems cursed for Oranje. A month later, Belgium is the guest in a friendly and could make the series six in a row. The Red Devils are better than Holland and get close to a win, after Klaassen’s opening goal and Carrasco’s late equalizer.The debate re: Oranje’s safe haven and home is further fueled when Oranje for the first time in 860 days plays in Rotterdam. The atmospheric football temple is the ground where Oranje has an emphatic win over Belarus. The first home win in 1,5 years. This says as much about Oranje as it does about the Arena. In 2017, Oranje starts as the number 22 on the FIFA ranking, just behind Iceland (!) and just in front of Ireland (!). There is much more going on than a mere stadium curse and the WC is definitely not in reach yet.

Davy Klaassen zet Nederland in de Derby der Lage Landen op 1-0 uit een strafschop, maar België is in het restant van de wedstrijd de baas. Het oefenduel in De Arena maakt ondanks de uitslag eens te meer duidelijk dat Oranje niet langer tot de mondiale top behoort.

Note JR: Like all the international players and football experts, I believe the vibe in a venue and the quality of the pitch should be leading. If the players feel most at home in De Kuip, play there. Screw the sponsors.

January 23, 2017 by Jan

Van Basten’s innovative plans for FIFA

Marco van Basten. Icon. Legend. Saint. Super striker.

Johan Cruyff was one of his biggest fans and supporters. He considered Marco as a son. And he pushed and motivated the striker where he could. After his playing career ended, brusquely, he disappeared for a while, only to return to football as a youth coach for Ajax. With his best friend John van ‘t Schip. Interestingly enough, Schip was the head coach, Marco his assistant.

Johan Cruyff always claimed San Marco had a tremendous brain for analysing and understanding football. He would debate with Van Basten for hours, something Van Hanegem enjoyed doing too. The cool and collected Van Basten could be seen squinting his eyes when he watched the Ajax youngsters play, while the more animated Schip would be coaching and pointing and yelling…

When Cruyff was invited by a clueless KNVB (what else is new?) to assist in selecting a new team manager in 2004, after Dick Advocaat failed to impress at the Euros 2004, and Van Gaal’s failure in 2002 (another experienced club coach) Cruyff pushed Van Basten/Van ‘t Schip to the fore. His other protege, Frank Rijkaard, did well with Oranje at the Euros2000 and JC wanted another young innovative coach at the helm. Without any experience as club coach, Van Basten was the pick for the coming 4 years. And in typical JC style, he suggested Marco should be the head coach, with Johnny as the assistant. As Marco would be a better figurehead for the media, in the pr department.

Cruyff: “A national team manager doesn’t need to have extensive club coach experience. It’s probably even a disadvantage, look at Van Gaal’s results… There is no guarantee. You need someone that has gravitas, good vision and tactical understanding. Marco knows football like no other.”

Van Basten wasn’t able to produce the results, but did manage to inject some excitement in Oranje. The group games at the 2006 World Cup were promising, but some internal strife (lack of managerial experience, for sure!) and a horrific match vs Portugal resulted in Oranje being exited from the WC, with egg and mud on the faces… The group games in 2008 were actually quite amazing, with football analysts across the world hailing the performances of Oranje vs France, Italy and Romania. Stuff got undone vs Russia when an ill prepared Oranje lacked the intensity to deal with the opponent and the aftermath of Boulahrouz’s personal drama (loss of baby).

Marco didn’t cut it as a club coach. Not because he lacked the skill. But because he got fed up with the shenanigans that go along with being a club coach. He turned away from Ajax in disgust, after being personally harassed and insulted by the Ajax supporters. And at a lower level (Heerenveen) he missed the professionalism he needed around him to feel at ease. At AZ he realised being the head coach is not his thing. Not unlike Willem van Hanegem, another big influence on San Marco, he despised press conferences and he had no patience with obstinate players. So he stepped back. Became Van den Brom’s assistant. Just wanted to work on the pitch, with players and a ball.

Some quotes: “If I see Frank de Boer coaching, you can see he was born to do that job. I wasn’t. I think football comes naturally to me, but a lot of the managerial tasks… I had to really work hard for that.” At Ajax, he once said: “Ajax deserves a better coach. I’m not good enough.”

And the perfectionist in him couldn’t deal with it. As a player, he was able to focus on his strengths, while others in the team covered up for his weaknesses. Even with a crooked ankle, he was able to add value, coz he was part of a bigger unit. In coaching, it all comes down to you. You’re alone. So he looked in the mirror and decided he could do without that stress.

When Oranje needed him, he supported Danny Blind as assistant coach, but his dream job was always at a higher level. Not on the pitch. In the board room. Marco wanted to change football. He aims high. He doesn’t want to work on one player, or a set of players, or even one club. Marco wants to serve football as a whole!

And when the dream job became available – Chief Officer of Technical Development at FIFA – he jumped to the opportunity.

A month in the job, after speaking at a football conference in Germany, the comments about his performance are telling: “This is not a fresh breeze of wind! This is a Hurricane!”

Van Basten: “Well, we Dutchies are direct. I say it like I see it, that’s what I’m paid for. Just call it.” And with a smile he walks off.

Marco is now wearing suits and working in an office (if he’s not traveling to conferences, meetings and football matches). Wife Liesbeth is still in Holland, with their son (his two daughters have left the nest already) but she will join Marco in Zurich in the coming months.

If Marco gets his say, football will be changed dramatically. In an interview with German Sport-Bild, he talks about his plans.

“We need to continuously try and find ways to improve the game, to make it more just and honest, more dynamic and more entertaining. The question is: is our sports still attractive enough to capture the fans, viewers and sports lovers?”

These are the points he’d like to change:

No more offside
,,A lot of people get upset when you say this. And I’m not saying we should abandon it, but we should analyse and test what the game will be like without offside. Because at this point in time, football looks like handball. Six players on the edge of the box, plus a goalie, trying to stop the better side. Parking two buses and hoping for a counter. Without offside, forwards can force defenders back, can open up space, and defending will not be as easy as it is today. We’ll see more goals.”

Time penalties instead of a Yellow Card
,,A yellow card has no direct impact on the game and doesn’t give the team that was disadvantaged anything. Worst case, the next opponent of the wrong-doer has the benefit. Ridiculous. If a player fouls another player cynically, or pulls a jersey or whatever, he needs to get a 5 or 10 minute time penalty. This will work wonder, because playing 10 mins with 10 v 11 is not a good thing to have to do.”

Shoot-outs instead of extra time
“I think shoot outs should replace penalties and even extra-time. A player gets the ball on the middle line and 8 seconds to score. The goalie is restricted to his box. If the goalie stops the ball, the shoot out attempt ends. It’s much more exciting for the fans than the static penalties.”

Real playing time in last phase of the game
“The game loses a lot of effective or real playing time, particularly in the final 10 or 15 minutes. Substitutions, time wasting, set pieces, injuries… The fans want to see action. And I think it’s unfair at times how little real playing time we all end up with. So, it’s a plan to use real time for the last stage of the game. Every second, the ball needs to be in play.”

Flying substitutions
,,Not sure what the term should be, but allowing teams to change players on the run, like with other sports. But we need to check in with the referees and officiating people, as they do need to know who goes on and off, of course.”

More than three substitutes
“If we do keep on going with extra time, we want to offer coaches one or two extra subs.”

No more hassling of referees
,,The hassling, complaining and showing dissidence is becoming embarrassing. Every decision is being commented on and debated. It has to stop. There are other sports, Rugby, where players have learned to treat the ref with respect. In rugby, the captain talks to the referee. And no other player. Show dissent, and you’re off! I want this in football too.”

Maximum number of fouls
“Again, a yellow card for a repeat offender will usually only benefit future opponents. I think we should learn from basketball. Five personal fouls and you’re out.”

8 v 8 instead of 11 v 11
“In pro football, we should nicely keep on playing 11 v 11 on a big pitch. But I think the youth teams and even seniors should play 8 v 8 on a smaller pitch. This will give players the ball more often and gets them involved more in the game.”

Less matches per season
“We need to focus on quality. Today, it’s more quantity and we are losing viewers and fans. 80 games per season is ridiculous. We are seeing a lot of issues with young talent that can’t keep up, physically. We need to go back to 50 games per season, so players like C Ronaldo, Messi and Zlatan will stay mentally and physically fresh.”

I am keen to hear your opinion on all of this.

I am not convinced re: offside rule. I need to see it in action. Off side is such an intrinsic part of the game, today. But I’m open.

Time penalty instead of yellow card: YES!

Less matches per season: YES!

Real playing time and no more hassling the ref: YES!

I’m not too sure about the shoot outs vs penalties. I think penalties have a lot of drama and shoot outs…. not sure.

What do you think? Lets have a lively debate. I will collate our ideas and flick ‘m on to Marco (I’ve got a line to him, as you may know…)

January 14, 2017 by Jan

Rick Karsdorp: “Me, arrogant? Hmm…maybe…”

Rick Karsdorp burst on the scene. Only 21 years old but already one of the driving forces in Feyenoord’s campaign and on the verge of snapping the RB spot in Oranje. All that, will big European clubs eyeing the development of the former playmaker. He’s one of the rocks Feyenoord leans on and the key question is: how good can he become?

Rick Karsdorp thanks two people in particular for his stellar development. His dad, will always be the first one he mentions and honours. Karsdorp senior raised Rick and his brother alone. Another broken family, working class, in Rotterdam. Dad Karsdorp is a no nonsense working man, mechanic, and dedicated his free time to his sons. Rick wanted to be a football player.

The street smart kid was a decent playmaker in the youth. Played on the #10 position in young Feyenoord and impressed with through passes, dribbles and goals. Being a Feyenoord player in the youth teams living in Rotterdam, a kid can get easily distracted. Karsdorp lived the live of any young teenager and school work suffered. Rick became a problem kid. When Rick was 15 years old, dad intervened. Grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and took him off football, for him to focus on school. He managed to get his high school diploma, but had lost 1,5 years of playing. When his dad told him he was able to return to football, the youngster refused. Karsdorp senior: “I don’t know exactly why. He lived for the sports, but I think he was afraid. Insecure. Afraid to fail. He hadn’t played at level for a long time and he’s a winner, afraid to fail and lose.” Karsdorp turned his back on football and was a bit lost. Until one day, when his old team was playing a friendly, dad took Rick to go and watch. It was a set up. While the team was getting ready, Rick’s dad grabbed Rick’s gear from the car and said: “Get changed, go out there and go and play!”.

Rick did and never looked back

However, getting towards the senior level, it seemed there would not be a lot of opportunity for the playmaker to get into the team on his favorite position. Maybe not good enough? Maybe Feyenoord needed to rely on more experienced players in that role? Feyenoord used to play with a deep sitting central midfielder (Clasie) at that time and used a more penetrative runner on the #10 position (Lex Immers, now Dirk Kuyt). But when Fred Rutten analysed Karsdorp, playing in the B-team, he did see what he liked: mentality, drive, speed, tough in the duels and great in build up.

So he picked Rick as a right back, when the other choices were not able to deliver. And he told Karsdorp: “You might not make it as a playmaker, but as a right back, you can reach the National Team!”. Rick Karsdorp remembers the talk. Vividly. “Man, I was livid. Angry, felt humiliated. That message was like being relegated from being a promising good player to a failure…” Karsdorp debut was dramatic. In a Europa League qualification game, Karsdorp made an error. A howler. The team lost thanks to his mistake. He was shattered. Spent minutes alone in the dressing room crying. Felt humiliated. And was again, ready to leave it all behind.

Rutten: “These are defining moments. I told him. You walk away now, that blunder will have defined your short career. But get up on your feet, climb back on the horse and take the lesson.”

Again, he didn’t look back.

Karsdorp now: “Rutten saw the game well. Not just because of that message to me, in general. Great coach. And he was right. He said: most of the attacks these days start with the full backs. They’re the new playmakers. The typical number 10s are not the ones with time and space anymore. And with my energy, he said, I could boost the team.”

And rightly so. French player Duplan was the assist king of the Eredivisie last season, but Rick Karsdorp was runner up!

Today, he is one of the most photographed Feyenoord players. The tattoos, the hairdo… Rick is popular. When a press photographer aims his long tele lens on the right back, the players snaps at him: “Hey, don’t take pics man, I don’t like it!”

With a big smile he arrives at the table, an hour later: “Did you see the face on that guy, hahaha! He took it serious didn’t he? I was just having a go, he’s allowed to do what he wants. It seems the media like to get pics of me without my hair up in a man-knot, hahaha. I don’t mind, doing your hair everyday takes up sooo much time, hahaha.”

He is considered to be one of Feyenoord’s gems, along with the likes of Vilhena, Kongolo, Hahn and Van Beek. Fred Rutten: “I could see he had it all. He’s a very complete player. I didn’t just tell him he’d be perfect as RB for Feyenoord. I told him he can be one of Europe’s best. If you analyse him, you’ll see he has it all.”

“But… when players break into the team and do well for a spell, the temptations and distractions come… How will he handle that? The money, the attention, the glamour, the girls, the parties….” Jean Paul Boetius used to be one of those gems. Came like a rocket. Impressed week in week out. He once said: “When you just come into the team, you’re invincible. You can handle everything. Every one pats you on the back, wants a pic taken with you, they tell you how awesome you are… But then… when you start to struggle, they’re all gone. That hurts!”

Karsdorp recognises it. He is still in the first stage. His first game for Feyenoord was the disappointment, since then he went up and up. Not yet saw the freefall. Are the temptations an issue for Rick? “I’m still young, and afraid of no one. Boetius is right, that is how the world works, but I have to say…I’m not a target so much. I don’t think there’s people wriggling themselves into my life. I have small inner circle, whom I trust fully. My dad, my brother, my girlfriend. That’s basically it. I don’t live in the city but away from it all. I don’t need to surrounded with distractions.”Another temptation exists too. When you play well for Oranje vs France, with the likes of Martial and Payet, you might return to De Kuip with a different mindset? Maybe too cocky? “Getting too big for your shoes, kindathing? Well, obviously, when you are a starter for Feyenoord and play for Oranje, you do feel different. That’s normal, yes? But even in the academy, I was a player who would ask questions. I’m the guy who’d say “Why?”. I question things. And as a kid, I got a lot of “hey you snotty kid, shut your mouth” and all that. I just needed to know and understand. And the more you play, the more you will bring your personality in it as well. People might think you get arrogant, but I don’t see it like that.”

Talking about the days when his dad took him off football… “It is very strange. I always knew I would be a pro player. That was all I wanted and in all honesty, it’s all I can do. I can’t work with my hands, I have no real skill other than football. I’m not a reader or study person. I can’t sit still… I told my dad: I will be a football player or …. Nothing… I can’t even remember what I did with my time when I was not playing that one year.”

People close to the team do believe he has a whiff of arrogance about him. The hand gestures to coach Van Bronckhorst during the away game vs Zorja. The discussion with the ref after a challenge on him, while being yellow-carded already…

Karsdorp flashes another smile. “Me arrogant? Hmm yes… I do hear that sometimes. And yes, I can see why people think this. I experience the match in an intense way. And now, I’m under the magnifying glass of course. I changed my hairdo and suddenly it became a “thing”. But, as long as my dad and girlfriend don’t tell me off, I’m not worried, hahaha.”

So, how good can Rick Karsdorp get: “I don’t know? The sub top abroad? Who knows… I know I can play better than I do. Better than against France and Belarus. Much much better!”. Another big smile. There is quite some interest from Italy, England and Germany for the right back. Is he ready for a move? “Well,” another wry smile: “I will not go until I lifted the champions shield on De Coolsingel for Feyenoord…”

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 26, 2016 by Jan

Oranje 2016 in six stories….

March 2016: Oranje built on quicksand

This was supposed to be the year of Oranje’s renovation. France was the first opponent. The media was devastating after the 3-2 loss in the friendly against the Euro’s hosts: “In the first half, team manager Blind opted for the 5-3-2 and everything that could go wrong went wrong. Whenever Oranje lost possession the spaces between the lines were so huge that pressure on the ball was failing all the time. In the turn around, Oranje was constantly second best, while in possession Oranje seemed clueless. In the break, Blind returned to 4-3-3 and got Oranje some honour back and we even created a couple of decent attacks.”

This inconsistency in tactics resulted in the conclusion that Oranje was devoid of ideas even after 6 international games under Danny Blind. “This international week was supposed to be the symbol of a new phase of hope and opportunity, but this game versus France demonstrated our weaknesses to the max. The framework is gone, mediocrity rules and we will be confronted with this for weeks if not months to come.”

Typical shot from the France friendly

The final conclusion was that Oranje hadn’t learned a thing from the friendly vs France. And the media asked questions. “In the recent months, the 5-3-2 system was declared holy for the future. Is that still the case if the players aren’t able to execute it? Are we playing with 4 or 5 at the back? No player can answer it and clearly the team manager doesn’t know either. Cruyff’s motto – stick to what you know and improve on your own identity – offers some handles for the future. If not, than using terms as building is a courageous and ambitious thing, but know you are building on quicksand.”

On the day the media presented this analysis, Blind decided to forget the 5-3-2. In a 4-3-3 Oranje got a strong victory over England on Wembley, which gave new hope. Striker Vincent Janssen became the new symbol. As Van Persie was still absent, the AZ striker became the new leader of the line.

May 2016: ‘I will never say no to Oranje’

At the end of the season, Oranje continues the new look with three friendlies against Euro participants. A draw away against Ireland (1-1), a win in Poland (1-2) and a win in Austria (0-2) are the result and Klaas Jan Huntelaar watches the game from his sofa in the living room. The 33 year old Schalke striker gives an interview. One of the topics: his refusal to come on as a sub against England. “I always want to play and I don’t mind coming on as a sub, but I couldn’t do it for two minutes. I was sitting on the bench all the time and hadn’t had a warm up. Other lads were doing their warm up. Danny needed a player to help out in the last minutes and disturb England’s flow. The risk was simply too big for me to come on cold. I’m 33 years old now, I’m not 21 anymore. I couldn’t take the risk for myself and for Schalke. So I said: “Use one of them. It’s fun for them, so they can add a cap to their name.”

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar training on Wembley. He won’t play that night. At his own request.

People feared Huntelaar had enough of his cameo role and might even close the door on Oranje. “Ha! People who say this don’t know me. I will never close the door. Sure, I had my tough time in Orange but I’d never walk away. I am not bigger than the National Team. No player is. It’s always a joy to be there. The feel, the national anthem, the fans, that is what drives me. My sharpness is a result of this. I am really touched, every time I play for Oranje.”

But those three friendlies in May/June were too much for Huntelaar. “We are now sparring partner for nations that did make it to the Euros. No player enjoys those games. You are not the focal point. You are not playing for anything. That is tough. It’s an open wound for me, not qualifying. I’ll watch some of it, sure, but I’ll be happy when the Euros are over.”

July 2016: Dick Advocaat supports Danny Blind

Oranje’s good results in May and June coincide with Dick Advocaat’s role as new assistant. The veteran coach will take the role of Ruud van Nistelrooy for the WC campaign. “Danny called me and it didn’t take a lot for me to say yes!”.

Advocaat speaks highly of Blind: “His approach, his tactical talks, the way he informs the players about the opponent, that is truly professional. He’s strong verbally and has a natural dominance of the team. As an assistant, you always hear what players think or feel about the coach or the vibe in the team and the players didn’t complain or had anything negative to say. It’s a motivated group, ready for a new start. I played with Blind (at Sparta) but never experienced him as a coach. Some people are really negative about him… I don’t get that at all.”

Assistant coach Advocaat the most animated. Friendly vs Ireland

But the alert reader knew this might not be for the long haul. “I do have a clause in my contract. I want to help Oranje, but if a dream club comes I want to be able to go. If a club wants to sign me, I can go just like that. There’s always offers from Russia, Belgium could be an option.”

In September, Dick got a call and decided on the spot. Fenerbahce called and he packed his bags. Additional mayhem for Oranje, as Marco van Basten left for a cushion job at FIFA.

July 2016: ‘One of our best is ridiculed as a clown”

The continuing troubles re: Oranje’s technical staff results in a lot of criticism for the new technical director Hans van Breukelen. Former PSV and Oranje goalie Ronald Waterreus gets more and more agitated and supports De Breuk in an article: “I read that Advocaat has a clause in his contract, allowing him to jump a passing train, should this happen. That is something Hans would never do. He commets, with passion, and wants to do his job. And I am convinced he will.”

Waterreus is angry about a column by satire writer Dijkshoorn, who ridiculed Van Breukelen. “Criticism is fine, but focus on someone’s plans or actions or results. But no, Dijkshoorn tries to make a fool of one our greatest goalies ever. Without any foundation. Turning him into some clown. Dijkshoorn probably never even met Hans. He usually speaks in his columns about scared deers, but I think he is one himself. He is able to be really funny and critical sitting behind his typewriter (sic), but whenever he is on TV in the studio, he is always showering people with compliments. I have 1000 times more respect for Van Breukelen. If he doesn’t let the people around him get under his skin, Hans will lead us to the World Cup.”

September 2016: ‘Oranje is your annoying friend’

The Dutch team starts the new season with a friendly against Greece. Another nation that didn’t make it to the Euros. And loses at home 1-2. The media: “I think we all had a friend like this. One who would tell you that they hadn’t even start studying yet, the day before the exams. Or who would tell you after the exam that they failed miserable, only to have scored straight As. And you actually didn’t do well at all, because you actually started studying too late. That is exactly what Oranje is doing now. I feel it. It has to be. Holland is the annoying friend. Because how else can a nation who finished third of the world in 2014 suddenly be number 26?? We don’t make it to the Euros and then we lose against Fucking Greece!! It has to be this.”

Greece celebrates, Holland in despair

“So, at the start of this WC campaign, we are the Loser Nation of the Football World. And that is the plan, the whole set up. Sweden and France already book tickets for Russia and relax. And they will pay for it.”

But the flying WC campaign start doesn’t happen. Holland is stuck on a draw (1-1) in Sweden. We do win 4-1 versus Belarus but France is again too strong in Amsterdam (0-1). These results mean we’ll have to focus on becoming second in the group.

November 2016: ‘I would have gone crazy’

The year of re-emergence of Dutch football ended with a 1-1 draw vs Belgium and a 3-1 win over Luxembourg. This last win was not a really smooth one. Pierre van Hooijdonk: “It was quite clear what kind of circumstances we’d face, but somehow Danny Blind took the toughest road to victory.”

The way Bas Dost, the Oranje striker, was used annoyed Van Hooijdonk to the hilt. “Dost has had one decent ball to his head. One! From Bruma, in the second half. As a striker, I would explode with anger. With this tactic, Blind could have put Ramselaar in the striker role or any other player who can pass and move.”

Bas Dost vs Luxembourg, never a decent cross

The conclusion of the former Uefa Cup winner was that Oranje is still getting used to this new reality. “The 1-1 in Sweden was unnecessary. Unlucky. But upfront, a draw would have been logical. And to lose against France, based on the differences of quality was also not a surprise. I have gotten used to the fact we are currently not world class. The number of top players is getting lower and lower but also the quality depth is going down fast. Despite that, we’re still in it. We’re second in the goup after a period of injuries (Robben, Strootman, Vlaar, Van Persie, De Vrij) and changes in the staff. If they are able to remain second in the group, it would actually be a top result.”