Tag: Koeman

by Jan

Why Cruyff never coached the NT, part 1

My friends, another post in this dreary non-football period… Health is more important now, but it’s good to see the virus more and more under control and football returning to the stadiums… Albeit empty ones…

This Covid-19 situation has hurt people individually, but also society as a whole with potentially more fatalities as a result of all that…

Your fave blog also felt it. Way less interest in the non-current stories, I suppose while the annual bills (hosting, site, etc) keep on coming in. So… some help, some beer money would be highly appreciated :-). You know where to find the donation button!

And now this message from our sponsor ends, and we look at that question that was asked here before. Why did JC, the greatest coach we ever had, the man who had the most impact on Dutch football, on Ajax and on Barcelona… why wasn’t he ever given the role? Why did the KNVB not beg for him to come on board. Here is why…

JC was never overly popular with management types at the Dutch federation. As a player, he was the one who harassed the federation mostly about players’ insurance, about fair pay for the internationals, etc and at Ajax he had lost his job for being difficult to work with. JC was known to want to be the boss. He gets to say how he wants it. And typically, the KNVB wasn’t too happy with the long-haired beatnik.

Thijs Libregts hears he’s fired and won’t coach Holland at the World Cup

When Michels took Oranje and led them to their first and only prize in 1988, the Dutch federation hired Thijs Libregts, former Feyenoord coach, as the NT manager. He was an able player in his days, mainly for Excelsior. He had coached with success at club level but didn’t cut it as NT manager. He wasn’t an innovator, he didn’t bring anything to the – by then – mature top players we had. Don’t forget, by then, the Dutch players are all considered top class in their particular skills. The Milan 3, Koeman, Van Breukelen, Van Tiggelen, Vanenburg, Kieft… all seasoned by now and in need of a coach who would impress them and who can teach them something and discipline them when needed… A strong coach.

When Libregts reached the pinnacle of his shenanigans by saying racist and derogatory things about Gullit in the media, the players had enough. They took the initiative to go to the Federation and say: “Either he goes, or we quit!”

The KNVB, with former coach Rinus Michels as director, decided to sacrifice Libregts and to offer the players a vote for their ideal coach. It was between Leo Beenhakker, Aad de Mos and Johan Cruyff. Don Leo had coached Real Madrid before and was now coach of Ajax. Aad de Mos was a former coach of Ajax, now with Anderlecht (and successful with KV Mechelen before, with Erwin Koeman, among others).

The majority of the players – among them the Milan 3 and Koeman, Van ‘t Schip, Blind, Menzo, Witschge, Wouters, Roy – voted for Cruyff. No surprise. Some players selected Aad De Mos (Erwin Koeman, Adri van Tiggelen)… Basically the players who worked with him but never with Cruyff. And a small contingent picked Leo Beenhakker. Most likely players who had a clash with JC before (Vanenburg) or who expected not to play under Cruyff…

San Marco’s body language tells the story… No Cruyff…

The majority of the players wanted Cruyff. With good reason.

The KNVB took their input, and Rinus Michels was to do the final selection process and came home with… his friend Leo Beenhakker. The players were flabbergasted! Even the ones who voted for Don Leo…

Michels and Cruyff were at each other’s throats at the time. The big rumour is that Michels feared Cruyff would win the World Cup and become Oranje’s most successful NT coach. Only 2 years after Rinus big trophy. Michels even said in a press interview that “coach Cruyff is a psychopath”… Rinus blocked the JC appointment. And this resulted in a huge upset.

Captain Gullit felt screwed over the most, as he led the charge against Libregts and saw his plan thwarted. It broke something and the feud went from JC and Michels to Gullit and Michels. Michels wrote columns for the one daily newspaper, and Gullit started to write columns for the rival daily newspaper and they took their battle public.

The second mistake the KNVB made, was to organise a pre-World Cup camp and with the WC in Italy, there were numerous amazing opportunities to find a nice resort for the lads. Something close to a beach? To a nice town? Golf courses? But the KNVB found an old castle in former Yugoslavia, with a moat!, and locked the players up there. It was cold, it was dark, it lacked entertainment… Don’t forget, these were top class players by then. Mature, experienced, leadership… And they didn’t like where they were but had to accept it. But something broke.

Don Leo and Ruud Gullit bickering

Gullit was busy getting his numerous girlfriends from Milan to come to the castle. Van Basten and Rijkaard pulled away from it all. And that vacuum of leadership allowed for the second tier of players to start to become more vocal, which disrupted the hierarchy.

The rest is history. Leo Beenhakker suddenly appearing at press conference with a thick and bloody bump on this forehead. “I bumped my head to the door post”. But players slowly released the story that Marco van Basten threw an ashtray to Don Leo’s head. Assistant coach Nol de Ruiter appeared at breakfast with a black eye. No one knows what happened, but Nol and Leo didn’t see eye to eye, so…

When Beenhakker was asked after the tournament what the F happened? He famously answered: “75% of what happened will never see the light of day.”

Marco and Ruud actually almost decided to leave the camp and forget about it all. The first two group matches were dramatic. No leadership, no work rate, no team play, no hunger.

Oranje played Egypt in their first match. Beenhakker played almost the same starting eleven as Michels did in his first 1988 match at the Euros. Graeme Rutjes was brought in for Arnold Muhren basically. Kieft scored the first, in a dreadful match. With Egypt equalising from the spot, late in the game.

The second game was vs England, ending in a bloodless 0-0. Beenhakker made some changes, taking Rutjes out, brining Van ‘t Schip in midfield and Hans Gillhaus for Erwin Koeman. Kieft came in from the bench again.

After those two games, something broke. The players demanded a talk with the coach and issues were aired out. The third match was against the Republic of Ireland and Oranje needed one point to move on. Beenhakker used Richard Witschge in midfield for Van ‘t Schip. Oranje played with the shackles off, and Captain Gullit showed up, scoring the first goal. Ireland equalised late in the match, giving a third draw to the Dutch.

After the group round, the Dutch were up against West Germany, our favorite opponent and finally Holland played to their strength. Beenhakker was convinced by the players to use more creative options in midfield, so both Richard Witschge and John van ‘t Schip were brought in for a 4-4-2 with Marco and Ruud up front together. We lost that game, but we could have won that too… We played ok and got some chances we simply didn’t take. The match was most famous, sadly, due to the red cards Voller and Rijkaard received in the 22nd minute already, thanks to a spitting contest.

Nol de Ruiter’s biography goes into the Beenhakker situation and the whole vibe at that WC1990 campaign. De Ruiter: “Leo was really focused on his PR image. He didn’t want to be a stern coach, he wanted to be friends with the top guys. Leo is completely media focused. And you could see that in all the Ajax players too. Arrogant, rude even. Only Jan Wouters behaved normal. Leo did odd things, he would shorten practices or tactical talks, just to please the players. There was no discipline and I was there as a token assistant coach. I didn’t have anything to do. We had comedian Freek de Jonge living with us in the players’ hotel and he was a total distraction. Why? Doctor Frits Kessel was like an old woman and gossiping all the time. Gullit was hunting for women, Rijkaard was completely unmotivated, Koeman was kilos to heavy. It was a mess.”

 

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by Jan

Covid-19 impact and more news…

Eric Gudde, the KNVB GM on the photo. Symbol of Chaos.

Hi guys, hope you are all staying safe and sane without live football?

I was planning to make the Johan Cruyff 1990 post now, but the Covid situation deserves some attention – as commented on by some of you – and we had the news of Ronald Koeman’s hospitalisation as well.

To start with that, it is not clear what he has, exactly. Probably needs to have a vein clearance situation, as Ronald is known to enjoy the good life (wine, food).

He is given all the space to recover by the Federation and with our football agenda empty, he will get that time easily. People like his brother Erwin and Dick Advocaat already mentioned publicly that they expect him to return to his job, no worries.

The impact on the Dutch football scene of the Covid-19 situation is huge. As you will appreciate: most Dutch clubs are not wealthy and in the second tier – Keuken Kampioen Divisie – it is tough going.

Even a rich club like Ajax will get hurt, if this goes on too long and if we indeed have to play without fans for a long spell, it will everyone badly.

So the Dutch Federation decided to end the competition and as they believe there would have been time for the two relegation candidates to play themselves safe… So, in their infinite wisdom, they have decided not to relegate anyone and not to promote any club from the 2nd tier to the first.

As the UEFA does want to hear how the competition ended re: European spots, Ajax is the #1 (but not the champion) and goes straight into the CL. AZ will play CL qualification football with Feyenoord straight to the Europa League and PSV playing Europa League qualification, just like… Willem II. The Play Offs have been canceled and there is a fair chance that the Dutch Cup final  ( Feyenoord – FC Utrecht) will also be canceled.

There is a lot of anger about this amongst the clubs. Feyenoord probably the only club without any hang ups. Ajax wanted the title. AZ wanted a way to challenge Ajax for the title. PSV wanted the coefficient ratios over the last 5 seasons to be counted, so PSV would get the Feyenoord spot.

Cambuur coach Henk de Jong called this the “Blackest Day in Sports History” and that got him an interview on the BBC

FC Utrecht has the most reasons to complain, of them all. They had 1 game in hand, and 1 point behind Willem II. Their goal difference was better than that of Willem II. Based on this and on the coefficient ratios, FC Utrecht would have been the better choice to play European. Also, because they made it to the National Cup final.

RKC and ADO Den Haag ended up not being relegated. Good news for them. But both Cambuur and De Graafschap were miles ahead in the 2nd tier and would have been promoted in any other situation.

So, these clubs (Cambuur and De Graafschap) along with FC Utrecht are making their way to the courts.

People like Marco van Basten – independent as ever – have slammed the KNVB for their way of working: the outcome but also about the process used.

At some point, the KNVB wanted the clubs to vote for relegation of clubs or no relegation.

From the top of my head: 15 clubs said “YES” to relegation. 9 clubs said “NO” and the rest refused to vote (PSV, Ajax, Feyenoord, Groningen, Vitesse and others), as they “didn’t want to have a say in relegating their colleagues”.

FC Utrecht sad. RKC happy.

This tells you, that the non-voters actually did want the two bottom clubs to get relegated but they refused to say it. If not, they would have picked “NO”. Right?

But for some reason, the KNVB added the non-votes to the NO! Meaning that the majority allegedly voted NO to relegation. Which is just plain stupid.

I think the court cases are being held today/tomorrow.

The KNVB was capable of cancelling the competition because – as opposed to the situation in Spain, Germany and England – the tv money has been paid out in full, by Fox Sports, which is a good thing in a way.

So, in France (where they ended the competition as well) and Holland, the result of all this is anger, frustration and court cases.

Dutch consultants Hypercube have come up with an alternative plan, which would mean that all competitions will be played out after all!

They have pointed towards the World Cup in Qatar, which is being played in the Winter of 2022. So why not use this calendar year to finish the competition and start the new competition at the start of 2021. So use Calendar year as a season, instead of August till May.

Gini using the off-time to find out how his tools work…

Then, the Football Federations have the option to go back to the broken-calendar structure for football seasons after the World Cup 2022.

“This takes a lot of strain and pressure away from the clubs and the federations. The English and Germans want to finish the season whatever the cost, due to the tv money they need. The number of seasons remains intact. Every competition will have a winner, a champion and all decisions are made on the pitch and not in a board room or a court house”, so says Managing Director Pieter Nieuwenhuis. And the oft criticised winter World Cup in Qatar can suddenly be the solution we hoped for.

Nieuwenhuis: “This is way more sensible. Otherwise they’d have to plan competition games, European games and national team games from September onwards in a very full season, and if something goes wrong, we are all in deep doodoo again!”

Virgil van Dijk posted this

Hypercube also claimed that in 2023, the clubs/federations could decide to start with a short competition until the summer of 2023, and then go back to the normal structure, of August – May. “We calculated this through, as the clubs will suffer financially from this plan in the first months. We believe for Europe, there is a need for 8 Billion Euros to finance this. This is a lot, but if you take into account that the turnover of Football Europe is 30 Billion Euros, it’s not that bad. Surely, playing half a season in empty stadiums is even more costly.”

The UEFA and FIFA together have 3 Billion Euros in cash and could be guarantors. This would require zero subsidy money. Call it the Marshall Plan for football. “What we need now is a long term plan with solid financials, because if we just rush into this, certain clubs are at risk of going bankrupt.”

The big question though: what to do with players’ contracts, who now go from July till June.

“We don’t have all the answers. There are options, you could say: all players’ contracts will be shifted to the Jan – Dec format. Or, you could decide to keep the contract terms as is, meaning players will suddenly finish the season with another club. I think the international Players’ Unions will need to weigh in on this.

Memphis wants the cup in 2021

As for the Covid-19 impact on our lads… I don’t think there is any. Players like Memphis and Malen will have more time to get fit, and apart from Babel and Strootman, all our players will benefit from the additional time to get ready for the Euros. Blind can deal with his heart issue (we hope), as will Koeman. Zirkzee, Wijndal, Stengs, Boadu, Kluivert, Karsdorp, Bijlow and others will have a bit more time to build on their strength, while Marco van Ginkel might be joining in again as well?

A fit Koeman, a super motivated Memphis, Malen in form and Frenkie with a strong Barca season in his back pocket, why wouldn’t we win the Euros this time?

How are you guys doing? Share your stories below.

 

 

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by Jan

Oranje for your Lockdown: Part 2

With everyone in lock down (see Van Persie and son practising in their backyard above)… some entertainment for you!

This is part two of classic matches of Dutch football. Obviously, there are many more classic matches of non-Dutch clubs but with Dutch players, that are great to re-watch. Anything Van Nistelrooy at Man U. Or the three Milan icons (Van Basten, Rijkaard and Kuyt). Seedorf at Real Madrid. Makaay at Bayern Munich.

I must confess, I totally forgot the European campaign in 1988 by PSV, winning the Europa Cup.

The finals vs Benfica was a forgettable match, as were the semi finals vs Real Madrid.

Therefore, this high light video on Romario and his hattrick.

Youtube is your friend!

The Dutch National Team

So, we’re entering the 1990s. And in 1990, the WC in Italy should have been ours. But it became a deception. I’ll skip those games. There was literally nothing uplifting in that whole scenario. The qualifications were bmweh due to arguments between coach Libregts and Ruud Gullit and the tournament became a complete disaster, as Michels refused to appoint Cruyff as coach and the players – consciously or subconsciously – sabotaged the tournament, under Leo Beenhakker.

Oranje needed to rise up and re-establish itself for the 1992 Euros and did so with some fresh blood, like Danny Blind, Richard Witschge, Dennis Bergkamp and Bryan Roy. Van Basten netted 5 goals in the 0-8 thrashing of Malta.

The 1992 tournament was a fun one, and one we could have won. The Danish beach goers were called back when Yugoslavia was banned and the Danish Dynamite won the tournament. But not after Oranje impressed again. Bergkamp’s goal vs Germany was a big one and Van Basten missing a key penalty vs Schmeichel was also quite the milestone.

Note how Van Basten directs Bergkamp’s goal…

For the qualification of the WC1994 in the US, Oranje had England in the group. We played some epic games against them. Slowly more new players entered into the fray: Ed de Goeij, goalie, there was Frank de Boer but also two players from Champs Feyenoord: Rob Witschge and John de Wolf, while journeyman Peter van Vossen popped onto the radar due to his scoring spree in Belgium.

The away game at Wembley was sensational.

As was the home game…. Notice Rijkaard’s goal flagged offside while he was yards on!

You can find the WC1994 matches online no doubt. It wasn’t to be for us. The heat in Florida, the lack of leader Gullit and some bad referee mistakes cost us our progress. We went out vs Brazil.
After a great come back…

We weren’t happy with the result and Dick Advocaat’s popularity went down when he returned from the US to declare that if you’re among the best 16 in the world, it’s not that bad…

In the run up to the England Euros, Hiddink tried some different players, from Eijkelkamp to Johan de Kock, from Orlando Trustfull to Youri Mulder. The latter scored an essential late goal at home to secure 3 points vs the Belarus. This was a must win game.

It’s sub Trustfull passing deep to sub Mulder, and in the dying minutes he scores 1-0. Mulder who was called up a day before the game when Kluivert ended up with an injury.

The Euro 1996 in England was a tournament to forget. We did play some interesting matches, but overall the theme for this tournament was the rift within the Ajax squad, the insulting comments by Davids and Hiddink sending Davids home for the remainder of the tournament.

After this tournament, Hiddink fixed the rift and started his prep for the 1998 World Cup. This was a friendly in Amsterdam, between Brazil and Oranje. JP Van Gastel, recently at Feyenoord as assistant coach, makes his debut as a sub would score a late goal.

Hiddink adds more names to the squad, as the old guard, like van Der ar, Valckx, Stam, Bogarde, Van Hooijdonk and Van Bronckhorst.

Here another forgotten match, at home vs Wales (qualification game).

The 1998 WC is probably one of the most popular campaigns by the Dutch, with amazing performances by Bergkamp, Frank de Boer, Edgar Davids and Phillip Cocu. Most matches will be etched in the memories forever, as is one of the most famous Dutch goals ever…

This next one is the same goal, but with commentary of Jack van Gelder :-).

Heartbreak was huge, when Oranje was kicked out of the tournament by Brazil, in a game that we should have won. Late in the match, Van Hooijdonk is clearly fouled but the ref “forgets” to point to the spot.

As the Dutch co-hosted the 2000 Euros, they didn’t have to play qualifiers. But this friendly vs Belgium is a must see game.

Club Teams

Ajax had a spectacular run in the 90s, after having won a European trophy in the late 80s, under Cruyff, it was Louis van Gaal’s turn. Ironically, Van Gaal was once seen as Cruyff’s successor at Ajax, as a playmaker. Now he was in JC’s footsteps as a coach.

In 1992, Ajax won vs Torino in the finals, but the semis with Genoa were more epic.

This Ajax was going to be built into the world class 1995 team.

In 1996, they reached the finals again, to be beaten by Juventus.

In 1997, Van Gaal almost went all the way again. This quarter final vs Atletico is also a classic epic!

Feyenoord and PSV also competed internationally for Holland, but their European campaigns were not that unforgettable.

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by Jan

Oranje matches for your Lockdown! Pt. 1

I think Andrew from California made the comment about classic matches?

I am happy he did. It was on my mind too (and to be honest: I already watched Spain – Holland 1-5 from 2014 again, last night)… What to do in a world without football? Revisit classic matches.

I will list some classic matches below.  I don’t have the links to these games, but I do believe YouTube will have them. Also this site here has some incredible info!

From my memory, the following matches are worth it.

1970s Club football

Feyenoord vs AC Milan and Feyenoord vs Celtic, when the Rotterdam club became the first to win the Europa Cup for The Netherlands!

Ajax won it three time in a row, after Feyenoord, with finals vs Panathinaikos, Inter Milan and Juve.

I don’t remember much of the games leading up to the finals for Ajax, but YouTube is your friend…

1970s Oranje at the World Cup

I am assuming we all know and have seen the Great Games Oranje played in 1974 and 1978. For students and scholars, it’s cool to watch all the matches of course and I know there are DVDs for sale and YouTube offers a lot too.

The three games to watch of the WC1974 are Oranje’s first match vs Uruguay. This is interesting, as this was the first time Oranje demonstrated their Total Football and even the Dutch fans and media were flabbergasted! We never saw Oranje play this well.

Don’t forget: The Netherlands shouldn’t have been there!! We played a qualifier to Belgium and we only qualified for the World Cup 1974 because of a real goal by Belgium was disqualified for off side.

The match vs Argentina is really good too, with Van Hanegem and Cruyff in superb form.

Lastly, the semi finals vs Brazil is an absolute cracker! Top goals, wonderful performances and gladiator style battles in midfield (Neeskens!!).

In 1977, Oranje played a famous match vs England at Wembley! The English loved to see Johan Cruyff, who was facing off with Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking. The Dutch had indeed Cruyff, Rep, Neeskens, Rensenbrink and Krol but it was young upstart from NEC Nijmegen Jan Peters (playing in the playmaker role deserted by an injured Van Hanegem) and Peters got the English all ecstatic with his perfect game and two goals (0-2). Peters would move to AZ Alkmaar and won the title there and reached the finals in the European Cup. He would later make a big move to Italy.

In 1978, without Cruyff and Van Hanegem, the Dutch started slowly but got to the finals anyway. With some outrageous long distance goals by Arie Haan and Ernie Brandts. Totally worth checking all these games, as it shows Oranje’s progress in the tournament.

Other Oranje Games from the 1980s

In the early 80s, we didn’t really play for the trophies! We had a dreadful 1980s Euros, we didn’t get to the Spain 1982 WC, or the 1986 WC in Mexico. We also missed the 1984 France Euros (both the 1982 and 1984 tournaments do stand out in my memory as top notch tournaments!).

In 1983, Holland played a famous qualification game vs Ireland (mentioned in the comments) in Dublin for the 1984 Euros. We didn’t end up going, but we had a massive break through in that match. We were 0-2 down. By then coach Rijvers was begged by fans to give the young guns of Ajax and Feyenoord a shot! There were the likes of Vanenburg, Rijkaard, Koeman and most particularly: Gullit and Van Basten. Rijkaard didn’t play this game, and Ruud Gullit played central defender! A role he played at PSV as well, later on, and he did so ever so well. Great strength, incredible long range passing and big runs over the axis of the field. This game was the rise of the youngsters! And finally Rijvers was confident enough to drop the like of Wijnstekers, Hovenkamp and Cees van Kooten for the young upstarts. The 2-0 half time score became a 2-3 win on a terrible pitch in Dublin.

In November of 1983, Holland played Spain at home and thanks to a Gullit winner, Holland had 1 leg into the 1984 Euros! Spain had one more home game vs Malta and needed to win 11-0 to qualify at the expense of Holland! That would never happen, right?

Holland won 5-0 vs Malta themselves and expected Spain to win with a similar score.

Only Cruyff and Van Hanegem, interviewed together, claimed that it wasn’t over yet and Spain would be able to score 11  goals vs Malta…

Infamously, the game was won (by Spain): 12-1!! And Malta had the first goal even! At half time, I think it was 1-1. Later on, it seemed Malta’s goalie was bribed and if you can stomach watching that game, you can tell why that story developed… Oranje was out!

This affected the qualification matches for the World Cup 1986 as well, with two early losses in qualification vs Hungary and Austria. Say what?

In November 1985, we played Belgium at home in Rotterdam. We would go to Mexico if we won 2-0 or more. I was there and remember the match also because my dad did his knee at walking to the stadium, which would be an injury right up to his death… We scored first, we scored the second… Houtman and Robbie de Wit. But only 5 mins left to go and right before us, Belgium defender George Grun slipped away from his marker and headed in the 2-1, meaning Belgium went to Mexico.

The next big memory re: Oranje would be the 1988 Euros. I’m sure you’ve seen the games?

All matches are worthwhile. The first match, Oranje lost vs the USSR but we played our best football of the whole tournament. But we lost. Coach Michels went from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 and took Bosman and Van’t Schip off, for Van Basten and Erwin Koeman. The rest is history. Memorable games: the 2-3 vs England. The 2-1 versus West Germany and the finals of course. The 1-0 win over Ireland is also special due to Kieft’s freak goal and the tremendous fortune of not conceding a penalty for a blocked header by Ireland, with a hand. We rode our luck that tournament, as Van Basten scored an off side goal vs England and England was denied a 100% penalty.

 

 

 

 

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by Jan

Oranje fans: e-unite!

Hi all, this is our safe space. This is where we can hang out all of us, safely, without fear of contamination. I mean, COVID19 contamination of course. Because we do have some other viruses going around here, which hopefully are not contagious… The Kuyt-is-bad-virus. The Daley-Blind-Is-In-Oranje-because-his-dad-used-to-be-virus. More dangerous than Corona, of course.

Enough jokes! I hope everyone is well? Safe? At home with family? And taking care of business!

I read that this virus has the most dramatic impact on men!! No more football, no more pub crawls, no more music events or partying, while women can still do what they do: cooking, ironing, vacuum cleaning, laundry… It’s not fair!

ENOUGH JOKES, I SAID!

Let me know how you are all going, below in the comments. There is still a lot of fun for us Oranje fans. Youtube is filled with super dooper clips. And we have this blog of course…

The news will come to you faster via other channels, so I won’t even try to be bringing you scoops.

But we do need to talk Euro tournament and the impact of the virus.

So I think common sense prevailed, we will not have the Euros this summer. A big bummer for most, but the Dutch will probably count their chickens… Memphis, Malen, Bergwijn… And more time for Zirkzee and Karsdorp and Wijndal and Boadu… It’s not that bad.

I do hope the competitions will be finalised properly and I hope this particularly for Liverpool!

I’m not going to go into conspiracy theories here or what this whole panic pandemonium means, there are heaps of comments and posts on social media and tweets and what not to deal with this.

So, we’ll keep our eye on the ball here, as far as I am concerned.

There is stuff to read, this blog to get with and start interacting more often, there are amazing youtube clips and classic games to enjoy too.

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 19: A general view (GV) of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Davinson Sanchez of Tottenham and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris clear up toilet paper thrown on the pitch by the Leipzig fans during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and RB Leipzig at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 19, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

Tell me below how you guys get through all this.

I’ll start:

I’m working from home, in a remote little beach town in Australia. Life is going as per usual, with the exception of the availability of toilet paper!

I spend more time watching movies, as opposed to watching football and I probably hit the sack earlier. I can freely check the sports sites without the risk of seeing a final score of a game I have yet to watch.

I’m intrigued by this whole global shit show and focus – as an amateur anthropologist – on that, on American politics and other geo-political stuff.

We are not stocking food and supplies but take it all as it comes.

And you?

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by Jan

Oranje candidates – Part 1

Well, taking a break from blogging about football didn’t result in any good outcomes for the Dutch clubs in Europe! Oranje is still asleep – friendlies coming soon! – and despite Memphis posts positive messages on his return to fitness, we needed more than that to keep us happy. And AZ and Ajax weren’t able to deliver in Europe. Feyenoord’s incredible ressurrection is fun to watch, but at the same time just scraps to feed on…

Cillesen benched. Frenkie not used in the right way. Injuries for Danjuma, Malen and Memphis.

Still there is hope. Ajax might lose on an off-day vs Getafe. AZ might run out of steam. PSV might still be in slight trouble (they could beat Feyenoord this weekend and get back in the heat of things). But we still have some exciting prospects to look out for.

De Ligt for instance, is increasingly becoming important at Juve. Hateboer, De Roon and Gosens impress in Italy. Weghorst keeps on being a key player in the Bundesliga. Kluivert scored in Europe. Propper and Ake are revered in the EPL and youngsters Chong, Zirkzee, Ihattaren and others keep on knocking on the door.

Lets look at some potentials for Oranje…

Bobby Adekanye – Lazio Roma

The 20 year old globetrotting striker scored his first goal for Lazio some while back. He’s been playing two handful of games for the Romans and his coach Inzaghi is a fan: “Bobby is a true professional, he deserved his chance.” It’s not easy for young prospects in the Serie A. Bobby sits on the bench a lot, but he’s one of the youngest benchwarmers, which does say something. And by now, he’s got one goal and one assist. Bobby was born in Nigeria and moved to Holland as a kid. In 2007, Ajax signed him and he left Amsterdam for Barcelona as a D-junior. He excelled with Ajax at a youth tournament and the Catalonians couldn’t resist, something they’d regret a lot. Bobby was part of the bunch of players signed “illegally” resulting in a transfer ban for Barca and a playing ban for Bobby in Spain. Adekanye was loaned to PSV but when he returned to Spain he still couldn’t play for 2 more seasons. He left Spain and went for Liverpool. Another big club on his resume. Initially, Liverpool sees in him a potential first team player and presents him with a good plan. Four years later, it’s still but a plan and Bobby decides to leave England for Italy. Lots of his Oranje rep mates already started to play minutes in the first team. This prompted Bobby to find his fortune elsewhere. Arjen Robben is his big idol and he has that classic Robben move in his repertoire ( threatening to go outside, cutting inside and finishing in the top corner).

Oranje Potential?

Bobby is on the radar of the KNVB of course, but a ticket to the coming Euros seems far fetched. He can still play for Young Oranje for which he played one friendly. Competition is killing at the moment for him, with Bergwijn, Promes, Babel, Berghuis, Stengs, Kluivert, Danjuma and Dilrosun all battling for a spot. Should Oranje never need him, he still can select Nigeria as his country of choice and become an international there.

Daley Sinkgraven – Bayern Leverkusen

Daley – son of Harry Sinkgraven, former FC Groningen forward – started life as a skilled winger / forward for Heerenveen. He made his debut at 16 and was destined for great things. Ajax picked him up and cherished the young talent who struggled with many injuries as he wasn’t fully grown yet when he was playing senior football and his body protested regularly. Peter Bosz transformed the creative player to an all round full back in 2017 and it seemed he found his role in the successfully marauding team Bosz moulded. But another injury was the end of his career at Ajax, who decided to buy this young, aggressive Argentinian left back. It was time for Daley to move on. Bosz, in 2019: “I think he could grow out to become the best left back on the planet! He has everythng for that role. I would not go back to midfield, if I was him.” And Bosz got a hand in that by signing him from Ajax, where he was surplus. At Bayern Leverkusen, he plays as a wingback, or a real left full back or at times as a third centre back. Bosz: “What makes him special is his intelligence, his vision, passing range and his ball control.” Bosz didn’t pick up those skills in relation to the full back spot himself. Former Cruyff assistant and super scout Tonnie Bruins Slot saw Sinkgraven in his youth already and later told Bosz: “He is the ideal full back. Put him there.”

Oranje Potential?

Hell yes! As long as he stays fit (which he has been now). The left back position is not an easy one in Oranje (not as bad as the right back one). Daley Blind is the obvious choice, but Wijndal might not be ready yet, while Pat van Aanholt hasn’t been overly convincing in Oranje. The 24 year old Sinkgraven might well be the ideal stand in for Blind.

Jairo Riedewald- Crystal Palace

Some young players gel into the first team without a hitch… Sergio Dest, for instance. Or Kokcu at Feyenoord. Ihattaren at PSV. Riedewald is not one of them. His problem is his ability to play at so many different positions. His coach at Ajax, Frank de Boer, used him as a stop gap. His debut was like a rocket and reads like a teenage book. Ajax was trailing against Roda JC and needed goals. With only minutes to go, De Boer selected him to go and make war in the box of the opponent. Minutes later, Ajax wins 1-2 with two Riedewald goals! That was his debut. But he never got a firm starting spot. He never could settle in. He played as central defender, as midfielder and left full back and when he got injured, he’d never play for Ajax again. Bad luck followed him to England, where he signed to play for De Boer’s new club: Crystal Palace. But the management lost patience after only 4 games and axed Frank de Boer. Riedewald was his signing and initially new coach Hodgson ignored the Haarlem born player. In the first 15 games this season, Jairo doesn’t get a look in but when Van Aanholt gets injured, the former Ajax player is used as his stand in and gets plaudits and praise for is games. His stats tell the story. Riedewald is the fourth in passing accuracy as a back, just behind the Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal full backs. Not bad! Which has all to do with his education at Ajax. Riedewald never gets nervous on the ball, even under pressure.

Oranje Potential?

Well, he did play 3 caps in 2015, as left full back and he did ever so well. It’s going to be tough to get a look in for central defender or midfielder, but as said above as well, we don’t have too many good options for left back. Obviously, he will need to keep on making minutes and with Van Aanholt back at full fitness, that might be an issue.

 

Tim Krul – Norwich City

It’s 2015 when Cillesen gets injured and Tim Krul takes the #1 jersey for Oranje. The Newcastle goalie is knocking on the door for some time but his dream match in Kazachstan becomes a nightmare! His injury means the end of his Newcastle career and when Ajax gets him in as a loanie, his lack of fitness sends him to the bench, where he can watch the emergence of a new goalie, a certain Andre Onana. He would play half a season for AZ and would move back to England to be second goalie at Brighton & Hove Albion. The Canaries were able to sign Krul on a free and it’s with Norwich City where Krul finds his joy and successes again, winning the promotion back to the EPL. And even though Norwich is hard on it’s way back to the Championship, Krul made headlines with glorious saves and stopped penalties. Should Norwich indeed get relegated, it might well mean that Krul will return to the highest level.

Oranje Potential?

Of course! He used to be a mainstay in the squad and achieved hero status in the WC2014 when Van Gaal brought him on, just to stop some penalties and get us into the semi finals. Koeman is following him but up until now, Ken Vermeer and Jeroen Zoet were the ideal second goalie, with Bizot the young turk third in line. But with Cillesen benched, Vermeer in LA and Zoet at Utrecht, I believe Krul deserves a spot in the squad!

Davy Klaassen – Werder Bremen

Klaassen had his best season under Peter Bosz at Ajax, as a number 10. He has the technique to play out of difficult situations and the nose for space, the legs to get into that space and ice in his veins to be a goal scorer. Koeman signs him for Everton but he never settles there and leaves the club via the backdoor. At Werder Bremen, he reinvented himself as a leader and in a new role. Forget the number 10.

Werder Bremen moved mountains to lure Klaassen to the Bundesliga. They really courted him, sent him videos and pushed a strong delegation on the case. Finally, Klaassen caved and left Everton. He is immediately made part of the players’ council and is promised a starting spot. His role changed though. The attacking box-to-box player is no more, he is now more the holding mid and the leader on the pitch. But he still runs. He is the player just behind Joshua Kimmich with the most kilometers in the Bundesliga. Last season, many clubs from different competition enquired about Klaassen’s future, but he stayed loyal to Werder.

Oranje potential?

Yes, in principle yes. I believe as a holding mid, with the experience he has now, he could well be an Oranje player. Sadly for him, it’s crowded in midfield. Wijnaldum, Frenkie and Donny van de Beek will be certainties. Davy Propper and De Roon will be as well. It won’t be easy for Davy Klaassen to wiggle his way in between them and Strootman, Vilhena and Ihattaren… But who knows. There is also that possibility that Koeman and Klaassen had a bit of a falling out.

In Part 2, we will look at more potential candidates!

In the meantime, gimme your names in the comments below!

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by Jan

PSV: Holland Horror Story

We all love train wrecks. There is a whole category of movies in that vein: disaster movies! We can’t get our eyes to turn away. Or when there is a crash on the highway, we all slow down to watch…

What happened at PSV in the past months is exactly like that. Like a burning high rise crashing down, despite the efforts of Paul Newman or Steve McQueen…

Us Feyenoord fans thought we had it tough… But what’s playing out in Eindhoven is highly Shakespearian in magnitude and pathos.

Here are your main characters:

Toon Gerbrands – former Volley ball coach and author of motivational books. Prides himself of keeping calm in a crisis and keeping the peace. Won the title with AZ as a managing director, with Louis van Gaal as coach.

Gerbrands, John de Jong and Van Bommel in happier (?) times…

Marcel Brands – lauded and experienced technical director. Produced miracles at AZ Alkmaar and gave the likes of Dick Advocaat and Phillip Cocu players they could work with. He pushed his assistant John de Jong forward as his replacement.

Mark van Bommel -former top player for PSV, Oranje, AC Milan, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Leadership in spades, like he has experience and football smarts. But also a tough cookie to deal with: arrogant, manipulative, headstrong. Son-in-law and best mate of Bert van Marwijk.

Bert van Marwijk – former top player and top coach (Feyenoord, Oranje, Borussia Dortmund). Currently taking well paid jobs in secondary football nations. Father in law of Mark and his best mate. Enjoys mentoring Van Bommel.

John de Jong – former player for FC Utrecht and PSV. Saw his career cut short by injuries. Introverted, humble and kind man. Thrown in the deep end as technical manager without any real experience.

Steven Bergwijn – top talent for PSV and Oranje. Headstrong and outspoken. Symbol for the PSV youth coming through (Gakpo, Sadilek, Ihattaren, Malen, Doan). Left PSV via backdoor to play for Spurs, partly due to Van Bommel exit.

Van Bommel and John de Jong in happier times…

Some supporting characters:

Mino Raiola, Ernest Faber, Ronald Waterreus, Huub Stevens….

In the Beginning

The first seed was planted back when Cocu was still coach at PSV and Mark van Bommel was knocking on the door, loudly. Marcel Brands was in strong command of the club, he could find players that could raise the level (Angelino, Dumfries, Lozano) and kept everyone in check. Even the board of directors (with among others: Hans van Breukelen!). But it was time for Brands to move on after so many successful years. And the EPL lured him to the big money side of the game, at Everton.

Mark coached Young PSV and did so very well. The young talents there had a great rapport with their coach and Toon Gerbrands felt he couldn’t really ignore Mark, a club icon.

Immediately it was clear to all that it wouldn’t be an easy ride. Yes, Van Bommel is a starting inexperienced coach, but humility is not in his dictionary. He started out demanding to fill his own backroom staff, against the will of Gerbrands, and eventually Mark van Bommel won the argument. And he picked inexperienced Yes Men Jurgen Dirckx and Reinier Robbemond as his right hand men.

Mart van den Heuvel, Ruud Hesp, Reinier Robbemond, Jurgen Dirckx and Mark

Early on in Mark’s first season, more issues came to the fore. Debutant John de Jong, technically Mark’s boss, was not capable of standing up to the former Bayern skipper. When Lozano was in the spotlight for a big money move to Italy, Mark simply benched the Mexican forward, as he “wasn’t with his head at PSV and didn’t train well”. De Jong begged for Mark to use him as his value would diminish if he was benched for too long. Mark: “That is not my problem. I’m responsible for the results and I want to play my best eleven.”

Internally, more problems arose. Mark didn’t like the old-fashioned methods of the medical staff and waged war with the older medical pros in the club, with slamming doors and voices raised. Bert van Marwijk wasn’t so much Mark’s mentor, willing and able to tone him down, but more his biggest cheerleader and consiglieri.

He also had eyebrows frowned when he declared injured and veteran player Ibi Afellay as his skipper. Even if the former Barca star hadn’t played for two years!

As Mark almost got the title last season and reached into the CL with his young team, Gerbrands wasn’t in a position to put a mouth guard onto Van Bommel. He had to bide his time.

When PSV allowed some of their key players to leave the club (Lozano, Luuk de Jong, Angelin0), Van Bommel didn’t get the replacements he desperately needed. Sam Lammers was Luuk’s replacement and due to no one’s fault, the talented striker got heavily injured in the first games of the new season.

Lozana was to be replaced by Doynell Malen who also got some injury woes… And Angelino, well for him, John de Jong got two new players in: Boscagli and Neto. Neither of whom managed to convince the coach, who used midfielder Sadilek on the LB spot, maybe just to spite Gerbrands and John de Jong.

When Malen and Bergwijn had injuries and Lammers’ replacement (some older Greek fella) couldn’t fill their boots, PSV started to drop points. When Ihattaren also had to skip games due to the illness and death of his dead, all creativity was seeped out of the team and more games were lost. PSV didn’t make it into the European competition post the winter break and dropped to a disappointing third place in the league.

Van Bommel didn’t think a crisis was looming. He analysed the games they lost and his conclusions were simple: we don’t play bad, but we don’t finish our chances. And that has everything to do with the absence of his key goal scorers. He also pointed out that he still was waiting for a proper left back (John de Jong!) and was adamant his team would finish second this season if he got the players he asked for.

But the crisis was there. The build up of irritation around Van Bommel’s attitude and management style resulted in Gerbrand’s sharpening the knives. On top of that, some board member spotted the squad having lunch together at some stage and he saw – allegedly – fatty chips and kebabs and pizzas on the table!

According to some insiders, this was the final straw for Gerbrands to fire Van Bommel and his staff (and his father in law). Not a loss on the pitch. But a so-called hairdress-salon (the nickname of the most unhealthy dish in Holland- see photo).

What Gebrands and Co didn’t realise, was the tremendous support Van Bommel has amongst the players. Not unimportant. Some players didn’t like Mark due to his biting cynicism and toughness, but the youngsters all adored him. Gaston Pereiro, Gutierez and the likes of Boscagli and Neto probably hated him and it’s no surprise that these guys never played. But Malen, Ihattaren, Gakpo, Bergwijn, Rosario, Dumfries, Viergever… they wanted to stick with Bommeltje.

And the support of the fans. Mark is a club icon. Symbol of invincibility. The fans wanted to keep Van Bommel and oust John de Jong, blaming him for the mediocre squad Mark had to work with.

And then there are the pundits, analysts, coaches and ex-football players. They all concur that Mark can be difficult, but they also believe he has a reason to be difficult, like Van Gaal (also difficult) and Mourinho (also difficult) rub many people the wrong way, but they do deliver too.

Van Bommel – Van Gaal bust up

And no one understands how this weird season for PSV started with them staying on Ajax’ tail but at Christmas time, the club is in disarray, the coach is sacked and the riot police was called in to keep the crowd quiet.

When Van Bommel was kicked out, Gerbrands didn’t have the ideal candidate to take over ready and waiting and turned to Ernest Faber. A seasoned coach in the mid tier of the Dutch leagues (NEC, FC Groningen). Lacking in charisma, Faber is your typical “come on guys, work work work!”. No real tactical innovation, no special approach… Ten Hag, Slot, Schreuder, Bosz have their tactical approach to fall back on, Advocaat, Hiddink and Van Gaal add their personality to the mix, but Faber is a bit bland and probably at his best as the PSV Academy manager.

Faber reluctantly took the job and saw his team spiral even further down. No desire, no work rate, no joy, no confidence, to sum it all up. They dropped more points and were also kicked out of the national cup competition, meaning that there is nothing to play for this season anymore.

Ernest Faber

Word is, that the players still speak to Van Bommel. They go to him for advice and support and it’s not secret that Bergwijn’s exit has everything to do with Mark’s demise. And who knows, more could follow. Ihattaren can sign anyware, Malen was on the Barca hit list, Dumfries can go to Germany, England and Italy and once these guys leave the club this coming summer, PSV might well drop further down and spiral totally out of control.

It would be typical for Van Bommel to direct this disaster movie remotely, with the connections he still has in the club (sponsors) and with his seasoned father in law. Raiola, the master agent, who has a number of PSV players in his portfolio is also a good friend and the agent of Van Bommel. I’m sure games are being played and I’m also sure that Mark is out for revenge. He probably won’t rest until John de Jong and Toon Gerbrands are out as well.

John de Jong already alluded to his potential exit, saying he wanted to stay until deadline day weekend and then he’ll see what he wants to do.

In the meantime, PSV old hands like Waterreus and Huub Stevens all seem to have a open account to kick Van Bommel in the gut, as they went on national tv with support for the current management and words of criticism towards Van Bommel and Van Marwijk. The game is on.

But some will do well, out of all this. Super Agent Raiola has managed to further expand his influence. He has Van Bommel in his portfolio, Rosario, Malen and now Dumfries, as well.

Latest in: Marco van Ginkel might return to PSV

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by Jan

Happy New Oranje Year: Looking Back

It’s that time again… The Dutch will sip Advocaat ( an egg based alcoholic thick creamy beverage, eaten with whipped cream – not the Feyenoord coach) and eat oliebollen (oilballs and the word describes the product really well) all night, while reminiscing about the glorious (not so much) past 10 years…

We look back in this post, but forward in the next.

For now, a look at the past 10 years gives us a remarkable roller-coaster ride with the boys dressed in orange. We were ever so close to gold in 2010 (Iker Cassilas toe kept us from winning it!), only to disappoint in 2012. We got back on our high horse in Brazil with bronze at the World Cup there, with mindblowing games vs Spain and Brazil, to name a couple. Only to completely implode in the post WC2014 period. Our Big Four started to show their weaknesses, the dynamics and hierarchy in the team disappeared, the KNVB made a number of bad mistakes (sacking Hiddink, putting Hans van Breukelen in charge of football strategy (what?!?!), allowing Advocaat to be assistant coach and then letting him leave for a big paycheck again, letting Ziyech slip through the cracks, etc etc) and we simply didn’t have the quality in the squad we needed to qualify.

But at the end of the decade, Ronald Koeman, Virgil van Dijk, Memphis Depay and Frenkie de Jong changed the way Oranje looked, smelled, played, performed and via the Nations League and the Euro Qualifications, Oranje managed to do what the KNVB wanted them to do: let the Dutch people love and adore the Oranje team again.

Without winning a single trophy (silver at the Nations League…okay…), Koeman re-established pride in the Dutch hearts.

So far so good, the real test lies up ahead. More on that in a later post.

Lets pick the best eleven of the past decade. I picked my eleven, feel free to add yours…

The Goalie: Maarten Stekelenburg (2004- 2016)

We can’t complain about our quality in goal keepers. Cillesen is a very capable goalie (probably close to world class but not really) while Tim Krul also played a crucial role at the World Cup 2014 for us. Overall, Cillesen never really made us jump out of our seat, I don’t think, like Stekelenburg did in 2010 with that sensational save vs Kaka in 2010. Brazil is leading 1-0 and is totally ransacking us in the first half. Right before half time, the 2-0 is on its way, but Stekelenburg doesn’t want to play along and stops the effort. In the second half, Oranje plays va banque and gets the win!

Right Back: Dirk Kuyt (2004 – 2014)

He’s not a right back. I know. He was a lot of things. Striker, right winger, midfielder but in all these roles, he was never the true talent, like Sneijder, Robben or Van Persie. Van Marwijk was told by a wise old man at the WC2010 that he should play Kuyt as right back! That man was Johan Cruyff, of course. Van Gaal actually did this during the WC2014. I don’t see a typical candidate pop up for this position… Van der Wiel? Van Rhijn? Janmaat? Karsdorp? Tete?  They were all decent and useful but it would be super cool to find a spot in the best eleven of the ’10s for Kuyt. As one particular poster used to say: “Dirk always earns his Heineken!”

Right central defender: John Heitinga (2004- 2013)

I want the next decade to be Mathijs de Ligt’s but the last ten years were more for Heitinga. The former Ajax player played at 5 major tournaments for Oranje and was a real warrior at the back for us. In 2010, Heitinga was the guardian of the gate, playing close to or something beyond the line of what was allowed and what was not. He ended up being redcarded in the finals for a very slight tug on a Spanish jersey. Seven minutes later, Iniesta scored. Heitinga is now on his way to become a top coach.

Left central defender: Virgil van Dijk (2015 – now)

He went from Forgotten Virgil to Phenomenal Virgil. The captain. The role model. In 2017, the Dutch KNVB “forgot” to add Virgil’s name to the squad list. Today, no one will overlook the late bloomer. Today he is the best defender in the world. It’s no surprise we reached the finals of the Nations League with him as our skipper. When he lifts the Henri Delaynay trophee coming summer, he will also be in the best eleven of the next decade.

Left back: Giovanni van Bronckhorst ( 1996 – 2010)

Gio van Bronckhorst started as a mercurial left winger at Feyenoord, which got him a move to Glasgow. At Arsenal he moved a line back to midfield and at Barcelona he played left back, amongst world class players like Ronaldinho and Iniesta. We all know the images from the WC2010: Casilla’s toe, the header by Sneijder vs Brazil, the Stekelenburg save, the battle to get Robben fit but one of the key moments is undoubtedly the massive strike from 40 odd yards against Uruguay in the semis. Gio makes his debut when Frenkie de Jong isn’t even born. But after the farewell of Arthur Numan and Winston Bogarde, the left back spot was Gio’s.

Holding mid right: Mark van Bommel ( 2000 – 2012)

Van Bommel. You hate to play against him. You’d love to play with him. Everywhere he goes, something happens. He says what he thinks. And he could be mean and rough, and taunt players with his sour black humour. He did not fit the typical Dutch football role model. Under father in law Van Marwijk, Van Bommel had his best time. He refused to play under Van Basten and he clashed with Van Gaal but this self critical and eager professional had a glorious career playing for Fortuna, PSV, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AC Milan.

Holding mid left: Frenkie de Jong ( 2018 – now)

One can’t escape this lad. He’s one of the new faces of our Oranje team and the driving force of why we are considered back at the top. Griezmann said he never played against a better opponent. And Griezmann played against Barca and Real Madrid many times… He is slick like an eel, he dribbles, he turns, he faints, he passes and he does it all like a dancer. No comparison with his namesake Nigel. De Jong was the playmaker pushing Oranje to new heights, like he did Ajax in the CL. No Barcelona player played as many minutes as he did this new season. We all expect him to shine again in Amsterdam this coming summer.

Attacking mid centre: Wesley Sneijder ( 2003 – 2018)

When you get a testimonial and people like Mourinho, Seedorf, Kuyt, Kluivert, Robben, Van Bommel, Van Bronckhorst, Eto’o, Davids, Cesar, Zanettti, Chivu, Milito, Cannavaro, Litmanen and more are coming, you know you were a world class player. Sneijder was the mouthy little general in midfield who played for Real Madrid and won the CL with Inter. His WC 2010 campaign on top of that CL trophy should have resulted in the Ballon d’Or for him, but hey… One of the most popular Oranje players.

Right wing: Arjen Robben ( 2003 – 2017)

Mercurial. Focused. Playful. The young Arjen Robben was a sensation at 16, a pro at 18 and playing for Mourinho’s Chelsea at 20 years old. If he wasn’t that vulnerable, he would have been mentioned in one sentence with the likes of Messi and C Ronaldo. I once calculated he lost 5 full seasons due to injuries, but when he was fit he was a complete army all by himself. Work ethics, speed, guile, dribbling skills, tremendous kicking ability and the ability to score and assist from any angle. Add to that his leadership and personality and Robben deserves to be in the top 5 of best Dutch players ever! In that list, JC, Van Hanegem and Van Basten probably will never be replaced. So there is Arjen Robben on #4 (for me).

Centre striker: Robin van Persie ( 2005 – 2017)

Van Persie was the black sheep in a family of artists. Sculpturs and painters. Mum, dad and sis. But Robin ended up being an artist as well. A genius. His volleys for Arsenal and Man United are of the highest caliber. Works of art. But the most iconic goal he scored was the flying header vs Spain. Around 7,2 million Dutch football fans were gasping for air when Daley Blind played his pass to the sprinting Van Persie. He flew like a superhero towards the ball and headed it over Casillas into the top corner. Van Persie laughed and beamed in his final days, more than ever. In his younger years, he could be difficult, moody. His top years were in England, in the footsteps of Dennis Bergkamp. An icon in the EPL and adored in the Kuip in his final season. And 50 goals in Oranje? No one does it better.

Left winger: Memphis Depay ( 2013 – now)

Back in 2014, Memphis was Van Gaal’s trump card. Whenever Oranje was stuck, the youngster was released to run amok. In 2019, he carried Oranje like he carries the lion tattoo on his back. He was the marauding, drifting, productive and at times brilliant leader of the attacking line. But socially, he also to a leading role in this young group and won the sympathy from the Dutch people. It’s such a shame that he might have to forego this Euro tournament. His knee injury will throw him back in his amazing development. But he has started his recovery with a lot of positivity. So there is hope!

Coach: Louis van Gaal ( 2012 – 2014)

Tough one. Bert van Marwijk impressed by reaching the finals in 2010. But the quality of play was disappointing. Ronald Koeman impressed by rejuvenating Oranje and pulling them from the doldrums. But Koeman hasn’t won anything yet. He might be the best coach in the coming decade. But Van Gaal probably performed best with a team consisting of top players in the autumn of their career and a couple of up and comers (Blind, Memphis, De Vrij, Wijnaldum). The 2012 campaign didn’t instill a lot of optimism in the Dutch fans for the 2014 tournament and despite the negative vibe, Van Gaal turned Oranje into a fighting machine. He chooses realisme over romantic football and gets really close to the WC finals. The old physical ed teacher getting the best out of his pupils, once again!

The bench consists of:

Jesper Cillessen, the current no. 1 and all around best goalie we have now.

Gregory van der Wiel as right back, the former Ajax man retired and was always more a business man than a player, despite adventures with PSG, Fenerbahce, Cagliari and Toronto. When he did play for Oranje, he was without question the preferred option.

Stefan de Vrij as centre back. He was a key player in Van Gaal’s World Cup campaign and has had a tremendous career in Italy where the pundits can’t believe he’s not a regular starter in Oranje.

Daley Blind, a smart and complete ball player, usable as left back, midfielder and central defender. Like wine, getting better and better as age progresses. Among first players on the team sheet for Ronald Koeman and Erik ten Hag.

Nigel de Jong, central midfielder, breaker, tackler, passer. Even in Van Gaal’s 2014 WC marauding team, Nigel played key roles as a sub.

Gini Wijnaldum, the marathon man and Jack of all Trades. Can play any position and a great team player (particularly with buddy Memphis).

Rafael van der Vaart, the gifted playmaker. Able to make something out of nothing. Beautiful left foot, great vision and guile and colourful as well.

Klaas Jan Huntelaar… Yes, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Patrick Kluivert, Marco van Basten, Robin van Persie….they will all grace the walls of young football fans with their incredible talents, whereas Klaas Jan is a more the working class striker… But what a striker. The 36 year old is still going strong for Ajax. The Hunter actually has the best stats when it comes to scoring goals. The perfect pinch hitter for this Oranje.

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by Jan

Dreaming of an Orange Xmas…

All the most wonderful season’s greetings to all of you, loyal fans and followers of Oranje and this blog!! Whether you celebrate Christmas, or Hannukah, or the winter/summer solstice… I wish you a great time.

But I wish Memphis Depay, Donyell Malen and Daley Blind even more good wishes! In case you forgot who Memphis is, I put a top video with his skills below at the end of the post. Goosebumps. Boy, that kid can play!

Memphis Depay has been operated on, and at first glance, successfully in Rome. The optimistic noises are that he might be ready for action in 5 months. But that is when everything goes well. And that is not always the case with these knee ligament operations. Some players can easily be out for a year… Also, even if Memphis makes it in 5 months, he’ll have to work his ass off to be ready for a top match. And then I’m not even talking about the risk he will run for the rest of his career. He wouldn’t be the first to risk it all for one tournament. 25 year old Memphis might be best off to stay on the sideline for the Euros and come back with a real vengeance to win us the World Cup in 2022.

Memphis in hospital, in Rome

Doneyll Malen’s injury is not 100% clear, at least not the severity of it. First indications are that he might be out for 3 months, but again, it can easily make a turn for the worse… For him, the same consideration works… Working really hard to get back into fitness might derail his career further down the track.

And Daley’s injury (inflamed heart muscle) is the most vague one. He says he’s feeling really good. But he’s not training and playing. Some doctors became talking heads on tv and a number claims it’s really nothing, while another sub group of experts claim he might never play football ever again. Stressful days for the Blind family, as the uncertainty must be hard. At least Memphis and Donyell’s trajectory to fitness are clear. Tough, but clear.

Malen off the pitch with a bad knee injury

In the days of joy, gay times and Christmas cheer, most news sources will give you nice insights and stories about the past year or even decade (as we’re moving out of the ’10s).

This post will not do this. We’ll look forward, to the upcoming 2020 summer, the Euros. Holland did ever so well to qualify, and also in a way inwhich we get to play 3 home games in Amsterdam! How good is that.

The fact we might miss our attacking leader, our young talented mercurial goal scorer and our brains and visionary at the back puts a big cold, wet blanket over it all.

How will we replace these three (if we indeed need a replacement for Blind)…?

Start with Memphis. His contribution? Brilliance. Power. Leadership. Assists. Goals. His movement, his unpredictability means opponents need two players to guard him. For me, Bergwijn or Promes are the only players that could take that role. They both have experience, are strong physically and can do all Memphis can do, except maybe for the leadership part. For this, others will need to step up (Wijnaldum?).

This is leadership: taking the initiative to remove a negative banner from a Lyon (!) fan

As we now have Stengs making an impression for the right wing, we could well use Promes as central striker (as Spartak did for many a game) and move Bergwijn to the left.

Donyell Malen’s qualities? Goals. Assists. Speed. Runs. And lots and lots of runs. In behind. Dummy runs. Dirty yards, on and on.

I think Malen might not have been a starter in Koeman’s ideal XI, so for Malen we can pick an alternative that – like him – is still considered a youngster. A player with speed and the willingness to leave it all on the pitch. Dilrosun comes to mind. Danjuma comes to mind (even though he is struggling with injuries himself now, too), and as Willem van Hanegem commented: Joshua Zirkzee comes to mind too! Why not.

(Zirkzee is only 18 years old, but you know what you could expect, when Bayern Munich uses him as the super sub with 5 mins to go, to force something. And twice he did already. When you’re old and good enough to play for Bayern, surely you are good enough for Oranje…)

Young Zirkzee at Bayern

Myron Boadu would be a sure fire option of course. Yes, he’s a central striker but he can also play from the left. He’s good speed and good work ethics. His conversion stats need to go up, though.

Some outsiders for the position are Cody Gakpo and Noa Lang. Gakpo is a PSV gem. A player with the right foot of David Beckham, work ethics and speed too. He can score a goal, and assist a goal. Used as a left winger in PSV, he can also play from midfield. Noa Lang is a player Ajax has tremendous faith in. He’s also unpredictable, fast and can score and assist a goal but recently his strongheadedness came to the fore, and Erik ten Hag had a right and loud go at him during a national cup game. Also, Lang doesn’t make the runs he should be making, but instead wants ball to feet a lot.

Our hope for a good world class striker: Myron Boadu

Lastly, Daley Blind. Probably the hardest player to replace. Top passing. Vision. Build up skills. Leadership. Positioning. We simply do not have any other player like him. So replacing him at left back will result in Koeman having to rethink his shape. We do have some exciting options for the left back spot. I personally rate Owen Wijndal high, but I think Van Aanholt would be the first option to replace Blind. Feyenoord’s Haps could be an option too as is Robin Gosens of Atalanta.

Whichever player gets the spot, none will do what Daley does, so we’ll have to find another solution for his role in the build up. We will probably play with two typical full backs, players with lungs and legs more than brains and passing. So another Dumfries type on the other flank, meaning a midfielder (Frenkie) will have to drop back a tad more often, to allow for “3 at the back” and to allow the backs to push up. Which would work well with a player like Bergwijn on the left flank, as he can then move into the half space.

Daley on the turf, vs Valencia in CL. Really strange that Ten Hag didn’t take him of…

This might result in a role for a “playing” holding mid, like Davy Propper or Donny van de Beek next to Frenkie, as opposed to a more defensive blocker such as Marten de Roon or Kevin Strootman.

In the meantime, fingers and toe crossed for De Ligt and his position in Juventus. For Rick Karsdorp coming back to full fitness and form fast.

My squad, based on the knowledge of today and without Blind, Malen and Memphis…

Goalies: Jasper Cillesen, Tim Krul, Marco Bizot

RB: Karsdorp, Dumfries

CB: De Ligt, Ake, Van Dijk, De Vrij

LB: Van Aanholt, Wijndal

Midfield: Frenkie, Wijnaldum, Propper, Van de Beek, Ihattaren, De Roon

Forwards: Stengs, Promes, Bergwijn, Danjuma, Weghorst, Boadu

Obviously, all three players (Blind, Malen and Memphis) will be welcome in my squad when fit. I would take out Van Aanholt, Boadu and De Roon if these three end up being fit.

Robin Gosens of Atalanta… dark horse for LB?

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by Jan

Horror week for Dutch football!

And just when we started to feel really good about ourselves…what with Oranje performing well and reaching the Euros, Frenkie impressing in Spain, Dutch coaches on the up and up (US, Bundesliga, Ajax) and Ajax and AZ impressing, fate took a hit at us. As if to say “Nope! You’re not there yet!”.

And while the Dutch handball women won the gold at the World Cup, it was bad news after bad news for Dutch football.

For starters, Ajax getting ousted from the CL. So unjust. So unfair. Yes, Ajax played bad vs Valencia. Didn’t create a lot. Gave away that goal due to a series of errors. True. But we should have had Promes’ goal allowed vs Chelsea at home. That was at least one point, if not three points more in this group. And I don’t believe Ajax should have received 2 red cards in that away game vs Chelsea! Simply bad officiating, from my perspective. Ajax was cheated out of the Champions League!

Ajax lost two Eredivisie games on the trot as well and where the Amsterdam giants were thinking of easily repeating their title winning shenanigans from last year, AZ Alkmaar is now joint leaders of the competition. And rightfully so. AZ is dazzling, and should have had a 0-2 lead vs Man United in the EL. Feyenoord got ousted out of that competition, while PSV already was.

Their loss vs Feyenoord last Sunday was cause for the PSV board to sack Van Bommel. And even though I’m not a PSV fan (I am a Van Bommel fan though), I believe his sacking was very harsh.

Yes, he lost many points. Too many. But…he was the coming man. They knew he was inexperienced, he also had to deal with a new and inexperienced technical director (John de Jong) who didn’t bath himself in glory re: the players he got Van Bommel. I mean, Angelino left for Man City, and what did they get back?

They bought two left backs and they were so disappointing that Van Bommel had to play Sadilek ( a midfielder) on that spot. And Luuk de Jong (20+ goals) left and they got Sam Lammers back, who got injured straight away. Next thing, they bring a 40+ year old Greek striker…

Jeroen Zoet was dealing with a form crisis and on top of that Bergwijn and Malen got injured (Malen again!!) and they had to do without Ihattaren for a spell due to a private matter (loss of his dad). A topsy turvy season for Van Bommel and the board decided to sacrifice him (and keep De Jong in his role as TD). I think it’s weird and at least De Jong should have been loyal and leave as well.

The national cup competition hasn’t even started yet and obviously, PSV was never going to win the Europa League so the PSV board sacked Mark because he was supposed to win the title. But does PSV really believe you can win the title with a defence consisting of Viergever? Baumgartle? Schwaab? Sadilek? PSV’s midfield consists of youngsters (Rosario, Thomas, Ihattaren) or mediocre players like Hendrix and Guti. The forwards, ah…yes. They can play. If they’re not injured. I believe PSV should have supported Mark like Feyenoord did with Gio. He won the title after a season in which he lost 8 on the trot!

And top top it all of, as if it wasn’t enough, both Malen and Memphis got seriously injured. It seems Malen too would be out for half a year or more with tore ligaments but luckily for all of us, Malen’s injury is not that bad. He’ll be “only” 3 months out. Memphis however…. I think we won’t see him at the Euros…

And Daley Blind! During the Valencia game he went down (without ball or opponent close) and was groggy for a couple of seconds/minutes. Was he unconscious? Fact is, Ajax is up in arms after the Abdelhak Nouri drama and sent Blind to the hospital in Amsterdam where he spent two days/nights in their cardiology department under watch. He didn’t play last weekend vs AZ and news has yet to come out.

Isn’t there any good news??

Well, as mentioned, the handball ladies did win the World Cup… Otherwise, Atalanta is through in the CL… Zirkzee made his debut for Bayern. Berghuis got the hattrick vs PSV. But that’s it.

Oh, before I forget… AZ Alkmaar… They did pretty good this week. Joint leaders. Beating Ajax. Scaring Man United. And their golden boys keep on growing and developing. Our straw to hold on to….

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