Tag: Orange

by Jan

Oranje’s new direction

Before the Estonia match, Koeman announced he would make some changes and test some ideas… He never is the type to test things while in the race for a prize or trophy, but now, qualified as we were, he was happy to experiment.

At first sight, it didn’t look much like an experiment: 4 defenders, 2 holding mids, a deep striker… But in reality there were indeed some interesting changes…

The most remarkable one was a decision that yours truly already suggested here a number of times: use Quincy Promes as the right wing back instead of Dumfries or Veltman.

Dumfries lacks positional / tactical nous and ball skills but offers speed and power. Veltman lacks speed and power but offers neat passing and experience. But both are just not good enough (for now).

So with most of our opponents playing without an out and out left winger and with our team playing with a left back who lacks the legs to race up and down the flank, why not use the right flank for a player who can – basically – do everything!

He can score, he can dribble, he can run, he can assist, he reads the game well and he’s game: Quincy Promes as right wing back!

And with a right winger who hardly plays on the right wing, a midfielder like Van de Beek and a wing back like Promes can utilise that space.

Stengs was the right winger vs Estonia and he demonstrated to have earned the right to be in the squad. Of course, left footed Berghuis can play in this role too as can Mo Ihattaren and Bergwijn.

Depay came from the left, with marathon man Patrick van Aanholt behind him, and Luuk de Jong as deep striker.

Some elements which Koeman can use…

Luuk de Jong as distractor for Memphis

The comeback at home vs Northern Ireland opened up this option in Koeman’s mind. The Lyon striker couldn’t find an opening against this defensive opponent. Once Memphis went to the left, with Luuk in de team, he found the key to unlock the Northern Irish door.

Against Estonia, Luuk de Jong didn’t impress. He had a supporting role and only one attempt on goal. But as a distractor, he’s really useful.

Luuk de Jong blocks the defender allowing Promes time and space

In the 6th minute, he creates the space for Memphis and then he sets a block so Promes can come in possession and assist Gini’s first goal. Luuk makes his move to the near post and creates space for Gini’s header.

Luuk going near post, binding 2 defenders

Same thing with Oranje’s second goal. Luuk makes a dart to the far post creating space for Ake. Two defenders are with Luuk and Ake has a relatively easy header.

Luuk de Jong takes 2 defenders with him when jumping to the far post

And Ake can enter the space vacated by De Jong & Co

And the fact that in both cases, Memphis creates the goals makes the picture complete. Memphis is rested after the break and Myron Boadu takes his spot. And by then it’s clear that this is a good tactics to use against teams parking the bus.

Memphis’ heat map of the first half. No longer needed as target man upfront, now free to roam

Power on the wings

The position of the backs have been a discussie topic for years. Denzel Dumfries and Joel Veltman miss the composure, technique and vision in the final stage of their rush forward. Something Blind has in spades on the other side, but Daley lacks the pace and the power. The lacklustre performance on the right prompted Koeman to use a different option: Quincy Promes. Estonia was a good opportunity to test his ability. Koeman: “Promes as right back is a solution for the future, in particular against these types of opponents. Because Promes can do everything. He can play winger, he can assist, score, run, but he’s also strong in the duels. And when we need to defend, well…he needs to defend. That’s normal.”

Van Aanholt can do what Promes does on the left. They both show power on the wings and keep on running up and down. This allows Stengs, Memphis and Boadu to find space in the half spaces or midfield. Promes again proves his value by his assist on Wijnaldum (1-0).

Van Aanholt pressing high

It’s also remarkable how Oranje presses with high intensity and high risk. Van Aanholt almost presses the back on to their corner flag. When he does, Ake moves forward as well. This style of pressing resembles what Ajax does. Usually, Oranje plays it less risky. This does show vs Estonia, as a number of times, the forwards press up and the defenders stay in place, allowing Estonia – pretty limited team – to find a way out.

The high press leaving the rest defence wanting at times

The forward pressing backs… The conclusion: with two of them pressing high, the risk is higher but so is our threat. Organisationally, it’s a problem, as the rest defence is vulnerable with both backs gone. This is why Koeman enjoyes playing a more stable deep lying play-making back on the left (Daley Blind) and a marauding right back on the other side (Dumfries, Promes).

Creativity in midield

The most positive aspect of the Estonia tactics, is the way our midfield operates. The recent 0-0 vs Northern Ireland is a good example of the way Oranje played defensive minded opponents. A lot of possession, not enough creativity up front and fully depending on the intelligence of Frenkie de Jong. Whenever the opponent sacrifices a man marker for De Jong, we get ourselves into trouble. In this system, less so. Koeman uses a strong passer of the ball next to De Jong (Davy Propper), which allows for a quicker pass forward than with De Roon. Promes and Van Aanholt are also good build up passers (as is Blind of course). Memphis and Stengs can bring their creativity from the flanks, something Oranje needed badly. Babel – despite his work ethics – couldn’t deliver this too well. Combined with the runs from midfield from Wijnaldum, Memphis and Stengs had ample options for the combination. Wijnaldum’s hattrick has everything to do with this.

The typical Oranje field positions. The full backs are widest. The wingers are in the half spaces. The #10 is close to the striker

With free-style wandering wingers and controlling midfielders who will continuously press up, Holland has a lot of variance and options through the centre. There are constantly different players popping up in certain areas, the Estonia defenders were played drunk. With more time, Koeman will be able to bring in more “automatisms” between the players.

The 4-0 is a good example of Holland’s dynamics. It’s Stengs that pops up in the #10 role and turns the ball around. Sub striker Weghorst makes a run to the left, allowing space for Boadu (left winger) and Wijnaldum (#10) to make a run in behind. Stengs has the skill to find Wijnaldum and the Liverpool midfielder finishes coolly. Two assists in this game for Stengs, a goal for Boadu and a number of positives for Ronald Koeman.

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by Jan

Oranje qualifies after 6 years again!

It had to happen at some stage. A nation like Holland wouldn’t keep missing out on tournaments. History taught us so much. The tremendous development of players like Virgil, Memphis, Frenkie and Matthijs will have helped enormously, but it was also the changes made by coach Koeman that helped us reach a higher level.

Despite some negative responses after the 0-0 vs Northern Ireland this Saturday (we could have and should have won it and become the group leader, but hey… I won’t be raining on any parade), the overall feeling was joy and pride and relief.

Ronald Koeman’s first big decision when he was appointed as NT Manager, was to skip the training camps in flash and touristy Noordwijk to the boring woods of Zeist, to the KNVB’s sports centre. He didn’t want to turn the internationals into prisoners so much, but he did want them more “in his control”. So instead of individuals and little cliques, Koeman created a whole squad-vibe, supported by his captain and vice-captains (Virgil, Memphis, Daley, Strootman) and introduced group whatsapps and other group initiatives to help turn our talents into a cohesive team.

He did more.

  • Dominate the axis of the pitch

In the run up to the first matches under his management, Koeman was cryptic in his answers. Asked what system he was going to play: “I am not going to tell you. But I won’t call it 4-3-3.” With this comment, he said goodbye to the (Louis van Gaal) mantra, that wingers need to keep the pitch wide and cross balls into the box. Koeman wants a left footed player on the right, and a right footed player on the left. He wants them to come inside and he wants the full backs to keep the width. Koeman knows it’s easier to win games if you dominate the middle of the pitch. He wants his team to keep the ball in the central axis of the field as long as possible. In the EPL, most successful teams stock up their central areas. Pep Guardiola uses the full backs to come centrally to support, while Klopp at Liverpool uses Firmino to drop back and support and two wingers who constantly come to the centre of the park. Ten Hag and Van Bommel play a similar style in the Dutch competition. The number of crosses has diminished significantly as a result. In the EPL we saw 40 crosses per match in the 2008/2009 season, and that has imploded to only 24 on average in last season.

Typical positioning of Oranje in possession. A winger and the #10 (circled) forming a square with the midfielders (in rectangular)

Koeman used to be a fan of the tall #9 striker (Graziano Pelle at Feyenoord and Southampton) but with the mercurial Memphis as an option, Koeman has steered away from aerial attacks and crosses. He uses Depay as striker, with runners Babel, Promes and / or Bergwijn on the wings. All players who can play central striker, winger and #10 in midfield, allowing for maximum flexibility.

In this way, Oranje has more options when playing the minions who come to park the bus and want to force Oranje to the flanks. This was what happened under Hiddink and Blind a lot, when we failed to qualify versus Iceland, Turkey and Bulgaria. They forced us to go wide and use the crosses, which are relatively easy to defend. Under Koeman, we also struggled at times to find the way through, but Oranje always was able to find that solution. The cross is no longer Plan A, but basically Plan B or C when everything else fails…

  • Play Forward!

Not long ago, we had a national debate about the question, why is Wijnaldum a key player at Liverpool and mediocre in Oranje? The midfielder who won the CL with Liverpool was at times unrecognisable in the orange jersey. With Daley Blind, Kevin Strootman and Memphis Depay he became the symbol of player who couldn’t lead Oranje to the big tournaments… With the new playing system under Koeman, we might conclude that it wasn’t him/them. It was how they were used. With Wijnaldum, the discussion has been turned around even. In Liverpool, they’re asking “how can we use Gini like Oranje does, so he can decide more games for us?”. Wijnaldum: “That has to do with my new role in Oranje. I have more freedom now.” With Memphis, Blind and Wijnaldum performing much better in Oranje has to do with the build up. Koeman destroyed the Dutch Disease of playing the ball square constantly. In the run up to the World Cup 2018, more than half of the passes in 9 out of 10 games played by Holland were played between central defenders. In one of this first press conferences, Koeman said: “I don’t like to see players playing back to the keeper. Find space up front. Make it hard for the opponent. Let them deal with the issue. When you want to create something, you need to play the forward pass.”

When we are faced with two pressing forwards, Frenkie drops next to the centre backs, keeping the full backs higher on the pitch

Koeman has demanded from his players that they see and recognise where to apply pressure. If the opponent has one player pressing, we need to find the second team mate to come and help and create the man more situation. Do they press with two, than we need a defender to join in.

Koeman’s second principle: find the space behind their last defender. With the introduction of Frenkie de Jong, Koeman starts playing the 4-2-3-1 and manages to find the pass behind the last defender. Now Oranje starts to make an impression in an attacking sense as well.

This is a perfect example, vs Germany. Blind gets the second ball after a pressure moment on the left. In the failed qualification matches, he might have played it square to De Jong. Or he would control the ball first and turn back to his central defender to slowly build up again. But not now.

See how deep Promes is playing, as a make shift right back

Without hesitation he plays the ball hard and low into the feet of Memphis. The holding mid of Germany is too late and is played out. Wijnaldum is already dashing forward, Memphis finds him and Malen is on hand to score.

The late, great Johan Cruyff once said: sometimes something needs to happen before something happens… This Oranje does make things happen by playing the forward pass. Possession has become a means again, not the end.

  • Defend Space

Koeman: “We need to build a consistent core of players. I don’t change a lot because we never have a lot of time to build a dynamic. All we do now is just add some details about the opponent and off we go!”.

We conceded a goal against Belarus. Koeman: “We are suddenly faced with a situation of two defenders against three attackers! Maybe the others think Virgil van Dijk can deal with everything!”

And then he sums up the list of errors: Joel Veltman not pressing the ball so the cross can be played in easily. De Jong doesn’t track his runner. Blind doesn’t squeeze in time, and as a result Van Dijk and De Ligt are facing 3 opponents. The Dutch NT doesn’t make couples on the pitch, in a manmarking manner. We defend the spaces. Compactness is a key word for Koeman. The distances between our players should be max 10 t0 12 meters. With this, we can always give backing to team mates and offer options in possession. Everything he wants, was forgotten in that one situation vs Belarus.

  • Do what you can to win!

Wijnaldum: “Koeman explains what we need to do to win the game. And if we can’t make it happen in the first half, he will explain calmly in the break what we need to do to win. This group absorbs all this very well.”

The little note assistant Lodeweges used in the away game vs Germany has reached epic proportions. We were 2-1 down in Germany and in the final stage of the game, Van Dijk is directed forward to operate as second striker for Oranje. Just before time, it’s a cross by Vilhena which reaches Van Dijk and he scores the 2-2 securing our spot in the finals of the Nations League.

Koeman also directed Frenkie de Jong to play as third central defender in that Germany match, allowing or more control.

In the home game vs Germany for the Euro qualification, we see more shots of Lodeweges with notes in his hand. In this match, we play a 4-2-3-1 again, but Koeman adapts defensively. Koeman mirrors the German 3-5-2 by using Promes as a wingback. Oranje fights back from trailing 0-2 to 2-2 but loses in the dying minutes.

The “Germany System” with Promes as wingback

Not that long ago, Dutch NT coached would be heavily criticised for abandoning the Dutch 4-3-3 system. The Dutch NT needed to play to their strengths, people said. Van Gaal got massive complaints from the football world when he played with three centre backs at the World Cup 2014. Koeman didn’t seem to care about all these sentiments, went his own way, and got the results. Koeman is also not the type – as opposed to Van Gaal – to be very open to the press what he is doing. He deflects questions about tactics and uses so-called kitchen tile one-liners to explain things to the media. He always plays tactics down and says those discussions are not so important. His motto: if I don’t start the conversation, I won’t get any hassle from it.

  • Focus on the turn-around

Virgil van Dijk: “At some stage, space opens up and we have lads up front with speed who can benefit from this. And we do.”

A quick look to the stats show us that Oranje is deadly in ball possession. We have dynamic forwards, with legs and lungs and similar players in midfield (Van de Beek, Wijnaldum!) who can bridge any distance to the goal easily. This kind of counter goals were long considered an inferior way to win games. We usually blame Portugal and Germany (in the past century) for using these tactics. Today, victories vs Germany and Portugal (…) have silenced the criticasters.

Opponent Goal scorer Number of Passes
Belarus Georginio Wijnaldum 5
Belarus Georginio Wijnaldum 3
Northern Ireland Memphis Depay 3
Northern Ireland Luuk de Jong 8
Northern Ireland Memphis Depay 1
Estonia Ryan Babel 5
Estonia Ryan Babel 3
Estonia Memphis Depay 10
Estonia Georginio Wijnaldum 1
Germany Frenkie de Jong 6
Germany Ryan Babel 1
Germany Donyell Malen 3
Germany Georginio Wijnaldum 4
England Matthijs de Ligt 1
England Quincy Promes 0
England Quincy Promes 1
Germany Matthijs de Ligt 2
Germany Memphis Depay 8
Belarus Memphis Depay 0
Belarus Georginio Wijnaldum 7
Belarus Memphis Depay 0
Belarus Virgil van Dijk 1
Germany Quincy Promes 5
Germany Virgil van Dijk 0
France Memphis Depay 0
France Georginio Wijnaldum 0
Belgium Arnaut Groeneveld 3
Germany Virgil van Dijk 0
Germany Memphis Depay 2
Germany Georginio Wijnaldum 1
France Ryan Babel 4
Peru Memphis Depay 3
Peru Memphis Depay 0
Italy Nathan Aké 5
Slovakia Quincy Promes 3
Portugal Memphis Depay 5
Portugal Ryan Babel 15
Portugal Virgil van Dijk 2

In the run up to the Northern Ireland game, Koeman says this: “We want to score quick and start well. We are even better when we can play compact, with a goal to the good. Our counter attacks are super dangerous.” So, under Koeman we play dominant first, to counter-attack later. Our forwards feel most comfortable when they have space in front of them, and turn-around experts Wijnaldum and De Roon also feel best with space in front. And playing compact doesn’t mean playing defensive. You can press high, and be compact still. But when that doesn’t work, the players will drop back on their own half. And then the team requires patience to wait for the right moment to pounce.

In the small spaces of the modern game, the counter attack is an essential weapon. Even Man City, Barcelona, Bayern and Liverpool play like this, with France winning the World Cup in this style.

The turn around vs Germany, with De Roon playing the forward pass

Like any NT manager before him, Ronald Koeman benefits from the work done by the club coaches. Van Dijk and Wijnaldum feel at home in this style, because Klopp works the exact same way. De Ligt, Blind and De Jong will always try and find the solution by playing forward, because Ten Hag demands this at Ajax. Bergwijn will fortify our midfield and make way for Dumfries, because Van Bommel wants this from them at PSV. Babel, Promes and De Roon will help balance the team because these players learned to be a team player.

Koeman’s biggest strength, is that he has developed a playing style utilising the strength of his players.

So, one more game. A match in which Virgil will not be present due to personal circumstances. Gini Wijnaldum will be the captain and Koeman promised a completely new system / approach…

We’ll see…

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by Jan

Why Koeman can’t ignore Stengs

Calvin Stengs is 20 years old. If you deduct his year of being badly injured, he’s actually only 19 years old… When he came on the scene, some two years ago, we could all see how special he could become. Some players are not “discovered” by any scout, as even Stevie Wonder could see how talented this lad was.

Let’s analyse him.

Positional Intelligence

In today’s world, wingers play on the wrong flank, given their favorite foot. Robben started life as a left winger. As did Berghuis. And dozens of others, who ended up playing on the right wing. The so-called Inverted Winger. Calvin Stengs is one of those. Like Ziyech at Ajax, a gifted left footer on the right wing. But Stengs can’t be compared to Robben or even Leroy Sane. He looks a bit like Sane, he even walks a bit like him, but Stengs is one of those wingers who doesn’t rely on speed. He’s not slow, by all means, but he will not bamboozle opponents with explosive sprints or dazzling speed. If you have to compare the young AZ player, you probably end up with Angel di Maria, who is reborn at PSG.

He will start on the team sheet as right winger. But he will do most damage in the half space on the right, while the AZ right back Svensson will cover the channel on the right with overlaps. The interaction between these two and the timely passing of midfielders Midtsjo and Koopmeiners are the foundations of Stengs play.

But it’s not a one-trick pony gameplay, here. AZ also used the variance, of having the back dive into the half space, and allowing Stengs to drift all the way to the touch line.

Stengs loves to wonder in a free role and when he really gets the space he needs, he can create threatening situations from nothing. Sometimes, Stengs will pop up in the half space on the left, starting a combination with left winger Idrissi. It’s the intelligence of Wijndal, the left back playing wide and high usually, and the covering runs of Dani de Wit who will take Stengs position on the right hand side of the field.

Stengs popping up in the left half space to confuse the opponent

Stengs is also really comfortable playing on the “10” position and using his smarts and positioning to keep opponents busy, and keeping them from putting pressure on AZ Full backs, like Stengs did vs PSV. His midfield play kept Doan from pressuring Wijndal. Stengs will use his positioning skills to play in between the lines and once in possession he usually can find the killer pass, as he did in the game vs PSV, taking 3 or 4 opponents out with one pass.

Stengs dropping deep to force Doan to follow, allowing for Wijndal to get in possession

In Oranje, Koeman uses the 4-2-3-1 formation, with the right winger more on the half space while left back Daley Blind usually positions himself as a third central defender and starts the build up play. As a result, Dumfries (or whoever is right back) gets the freedom to move up into the area vacated by the right winger. This right winger position is therefore ideal for Stengs, who loves to wander and roam and who can easily play the role of all midfielders. With his versatility and intelligent positioning, it will be easier for the real left winger (Malen, Promes, Bergwijn) to play his part.

Functional skills

AZ scored four times vs PSV and with three of them, Stengs individual class was on display. Before the opening goal, the 20 year old does something remarkable. When Boadu keeps the ball in field, after a header by Wijndal, Stengs becomes available as a result of a smart little run. When Boadu plays into Midtsjo who dribbles towards the right, Stengs is running along in the same direction. But suddenly he stops. This results in him being completely unmarked behind Erick Gutierrez. Stengs than plays a killer pass into Boadu. The pass gets the applause, but Stengs’ movement deserves as much kudos.

The freedom Stengs creates for himself in between the lines

The second goal is a real team goal, yes with a magical dropkick by Midtsjo, but Stengs again is the architect. First, he controls a loose ball really well, then he loses 3 PSV players with one-two shimmies. He has a touch and go with Midtsjo and then opens on the right, where Svensson and Sugawara are in a two vs one situation. His assist for the 3-0 was quite simple but still smart. PSV is looking to get back into the game. Svensson passes into Stengs who is one on one with left back Sadilek. His typical dribble style will put the fear of God in the PSV defender: short steps, lots of touches, relatively straight back but with a plan. He wants to dribble diagonally inside, knowing that Svensson will be on his moped on the right flank. Stengs makes Sadilek believe he’ll go for goal, by emulating that body style. But he passes the ball gently to Svensson who finishes: 3-0. (see below)

Whether Stengs is Holland’s best winger is debatable, but the big plus is that he can play in different styles: running in between the lines, acrobatic individual skills and dribbling, to allow his team mates to score.

Productivity

He is involved in eightteen goals (18) this season (in 20 official games). Eight goals and ten assits. His productivity is the result of his individual qualities, yes, but also the result of the way AZ plays under Arne Slot. Stengs, like Boadu and Idrissi, doesn’t need any time to think in finding the right positions on the pitch.

Stengs productivity is not the result of luck. Only Dusan Tadic, Steven Bergwijn and Brian Smeets (the Sparta revelation this season) created more chances for team mates than Stengs (19). Also, the number of shots on goal (26) brings him in the top 10 of the Eredivisie. Stengs is super productive thanks to his skill set but also because Slot organises his team around these qualities. It will be interesting to see how Stengs’ productivity will fair in Oranje…

Stengs waiting for the cross, as a real right winger here…

Work Ethic

When Arne Slot is asked about Astana attacker Rotariu, who played for AZ in the past, he says: “He is very skilled on the ball, but we wanted more from him without it. He had difficulty with that. When you look at Calvin, and his work ethic… I mean, he can do anything with a ball but he works like a horse when we don’t have it.”

The statistics support this. Stengs has won the ball back more times (55) than Boadu and Idrissi together (54)! By positioning himself smartly in between centre back, full back and holding mid, Stengs can jump at any given time on a risky pass in the build up of the opponent. This is a situation vs Heracles Almelo.

Stengs, in red with jersey 7, putting pressure via his “jump” on the left back, who is about to lose possession

He also supports his team mates, even on his own half. A risky pass by Joey Konings goes beyond him but he sees with a carpenter’s eye that the ball is not good enough so he can put pressure on the receiver, with Svensson, to win the ball back.

Stengs recognises the risky pass and aids Svensson in putting pressure on, on his own half

This work rate and defensive smarts make him a real target for the big top clubs and of course for Oranje. Most talented forwards coming through the systems lack this defensive awareness and willingness to work for the team. This may not sound sexy, but the willingness and ability of players in the modern game to defend, to effectively put pressure on opponents are becoming crucial in top competitions (see Liverpool, Man City, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Atletico Madrid, Dortmund). Stengs is not a speed train on the wing, and he’s also not a goal scoring forward, who gets 20+ goals, but his technical brilliance, his positional intelligence, versatility, productivity and work ethics make him a talent of the extraordinary category. Not bad for a lad who suffered a horror injury two years ago.

He will come into the Dutch squad and will probably never leave it again. He will most likely start, even, with Bergwijn injured, Malen uncertain and Berghuis in a form dip. And next? I can see Ziyech leave Ajax this coming summer and Stengs making a record move (25Mio? 30Mio?) to Ajax.

After two seasons Ajax, anything can happen. Liverpool, PSG, Bayern (with Ten Hag?), even Barcelona….

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by Jan

Ajax invincible with Daley Blind

The 29 year old multi functional player is in his best season ever. Every week he takes Ajax by the hand and has them on course for another Eredivisie title.

He has the most minutes of them all and he scores the highest rates. In terms of quality and quantity, Daley is riding high. And off the pitch, lady Fortuna is smiling down on him too, with the birth of his son Lowen. These days, a player could easily get onto Cloud #9, but not Blind. He is too down-to-Earth for this and he has seen more than enough in football.

Blind was the Man of the Match vs Feyenoord, yet again. He ruled on the ball from his defensive position, was always an peaceful island in a sea of turmoil around him and was able to find the solutions moving forward. And defensively, he never got in trouble. Joel Veltman: “His interceptions, his choices with the ball, I can really enjoy watching him play. He dribbles as easy as Frenkie does and he always finds the footballing solution. Trust me, playing next to him makes it look really easy for me, you know. He is always relaxed and that radiates into the whole team.”

Blind is Ajax’ leader, exactly like he was planned to be when Ajax lured him back to Amsterdam. A silent leader, as Blind is not like Memphis playing loud rap music in the dressing room, or sporting huge lion tattoos on his back. Tadic is the leader up front, and the captain. Blind is vice captain and he lets his feet do the talking. When Blind left for Man United, Ajax just won 4 titles in a row. With Blind away, Ajax didn’t win anything. And once Blind was back at the club, the trophies came back as well.

“It feels amazing to get all this praise and to important for the team,” says Blind humbly. “I try to play a 6,5 every game, at least! I don’t want to go below that. I need to reach my base level, do my tasks well and then see if I can add to my game. I am here for the team, not for Daley Blind. And as a central defender you need to ooze calm, you know. Even when you’re not, or even when you get under pressure. Never panic.”

Those moments are rare though. Since last weekend, Ajax is on the throne. PSV is put on 6 points, as is the gap with AZ and Vitesse. And Ajax has a far better goal tally so it’s actually 7 points.

“I mentioned it to Siem after the Feyenoord game. This is the first time we have a gap with the number 2 before the xmas break. I’m not used to that. In the previous title races we had to come back from trailing.  And this means, that we’re not there yet. I have played in teams that had to cover 10 points, and did! Even once 13 points and in those seasons, PSV wasn’t too shabby either. So, we shouldn’t relax and sit back!”

He was hunter and becomes prey. Blind will be on the look out for complacency. The difficult match vs RKC fresh in his memory. “This 4-0 win was nice, but we don’t win the title by beating Feyenoord. We need to win all the games vs the so-called smaller clubs. We know we can play well in big games, but we also need to bring it in the more difficult matches away vs VVV and PEC Zwolle. We can be our own biggest opponent in those matches. The away game vs PEC Zwolle is actually next weekend. “That’s what I mean! I compare that with Heracles away. We lost that one, 0-1 last season. So we need to be vigilant, even if we are 6 points loose.”

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by Jan

Oranje’s Future

CIRCUS XAVI SIMONS

Oranje U17 – Kosovo U17. Final score: 1-1

The last two squads of Oranje U17 won the European championship and Wednesday, a new campaign will start. Team coach Mischa Visser, taking over from Peter van der Veen temporarily, started the qualification with a match vs Kosovo, and they do so with 20 new names. These talents practiced twice against France and won both matches. This Kosovo also seemed to be prey for the Dutch talents, in particular when PSV midfielder Jimenez scored within 10 minutes with a shot from distance.

After that quick goal, Oranje has extreme possession, close to 90%, but they can’t create more chances. Kosovo plays terribly defensive. When Oranje fails to clear a ball, it’s a freak goal by a Kosovarian: 1-1. The home team can’t believe it. Visser immediately brings Xavi Simons on to the pitch.

Circus Xavi can start, although it already started when the midfielder exits the players bus. It’s unreal to see how popular the 16 year old is. This squad is full of talented young lads, but we don’t know any of their names. With Simons, it’s different. In the 100 meters from players bus to the dressing room, dozens of fans raced to Xavi for an autograph and when he starts his warming up, the excitement can be sensed on the stands.

Once Simons is on the pitch, Simons demands the ball continuously and is close to scoring, twice. First with a tremendous free kick and later with a shot that flies over the bar. After the game is over, no one talks about the strange stats. Possession 90-10. Attempts on goal: 21-1. Goals 1-1. The fans who are present all chase Simons as if he’s a Beatle. He patiently joins in on the selfies and joins his family once he can. After this Circus Xavi performance, one has to feel for the 16 year old who probably feels the pressure from the extreme hype to perform conform to expectations in the coming years.

WORLD CUP FAVORITE

Oranje U18 – Belgium U18. Final score: 3-2

In two weeks, the Dutch NT U18 will participate in the World Cup in Brazil. This might well be a historical tournament for us, as this group oozes talent! Peter van de Veen won the European title twice with one hand tied to their back. And against Belgium, in this friendly, at times it’s just sumptuous to watch these lads play. In particular, the combinations between  Naci Ünüvar and Mohamed Taabouni (see main photo) are of exceptional quality. Taabouni scores early after a trademark outside foot pass by Ünüvar, who repeats that feat once more later on. This team has so much football in it, that at times it all goes a tad too easily.

Belgium, with Wesley Sonck as the team manager, benefit from the this complacency and score twice from a counter. Jayden Braaf comes on as a sub and rectifies it all with two identical goals. Coming inside and placing the ball with his right into the far corner. The left winger started his season at Man City strong and it says a lot about the strength of this team that he started on the bench. Braaf gets the spotlight with his two goals, but man of the match is Taabouni. The 17 year old playmaker constantly draws the game towards him and always finds the right solution. AZ has another gem in their midst.

 

HOPE FOR FEYENOORD (AND ADO)

Oranje U19 – Lithuania U19. Final score: 8-2

NT manager Maarten Stekelenburg’s team is a week in Lithuania for the Euro qualification tournament and plays top drawer football. First, it’s Moldavia with 5-0 and last Friday they won 8-2 vs Lithuania. It’s the role of the Feyenoord players in particular that catches the eye. Seven of the eight goals were scored by players who are signed with Feyenoord. Cry Summerville, on loan with ADO Den Haag, scored four goals, while Azarkan and Burger also scored.

It offers hope for Feyenoord, whose youth academy has had some lean times recently. Five years in a row, the Feyenoord Academy was considered the best of the country, but the last seasons, AZ and Ajax is topping the bill. Of all the youth teams’ players, 55 in total, 13 are from Ajax and 13 from AZ. Feyenoord offers 5 players and PSV a mere 2.

A talented generation is coming through for Feyenoord, and it’s exciting to watch Cry Summerville play for ADO Den Haag, who can use some goalscoring capabilities.

 

THE INBETWEENERS

Oranje U20 – Portugal U20. Final Score: 1-1.

In theory, Bert Konterman could well be the most fortunate coach at Oranje U20, with the ability to play Mathijs de Ligt and Donyell Malen, but both players have moved to the big Oranje and most likely foregood. Young Oranje has players who could also play for this team. Tahith Chong and Mitchell van Bergen are two more experienced players of repute but both players were not able to play due to slight injuries.

Konterman had to change his team on three spots and the lack of flow was noticeable. The Portuguese do all they can to stop Oranje playing and to suck the oxygen out of the game. The Dutch goal is the result of a dead ball set play. Ekkelenkamp is first to react when the Portuguese goalie spills the free kick of Obispo.

This Under20 team is a sort of inbetween-team. Players who can’t play for Young Oranje anymore can still play here and make minutes. The interest in the matches of this team is much less than with other teams. The time this team plays, for instance, is at the same time as the big Oranje, vs Northern Ireland.

 

ORANJE’S SHOWROOM

Young Oranje closes the international week with a strong 4-2- win over Portugal and a 0-4 win over Norway. The matches resulted in one big AZ show. Five AZ players are in the starting line up and three claimed a key role. Koopmeiners, Stengs and Boadu showed what was clearly visible in other rep teams: AZ has gold in their hands.

 

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by Jan

How Oranje can beat Belarus

This coming away game vs Belarus could well be the one cementing our spot at the Euros 2020.

What a new sensation that will be. Talisman Memphis Depay will not be there to guide us. The Lyon forward with the dazzling stats has a hamstring scare in his thigh and decided to let this one go. Koeman: “It’s not good. He simply can’t play. It’s not a serious injury but we can’t risk it.”

And despite the importance of the former Sparta talent in previous games, we all think that Oranje should be able to beat Belarus without him, as we do have enough goals in the team anyway.

On Sunday, we’ll be playing against the sturdy and rugged Belarussians and against the pitch. Koeman decided not to train in the stadion to protect the pitch as it is in pretty bad shape. “October is typically a month where more rainfall and colder temperatures affect the circumstances here,” Koeman knew.

We might also be playing against ourselves again, as we did against Northern Ireland. Ronald Koeman has been able to repair the issues again, as he did before, but the former Everton coach admitted after the match that when the Northern Irish scored, he didn’t think a win was possible. He also gave credit to assistant coach Kees van Wonderen as he was the one who suggested some changes. Apparently, former Feyenoord captain Van Wonderen is focusing on Oranje’s play without the ball while Dwight Lodeweges focuses on Oranje with the ball. Van Wonderen found the subtle changes needed to regain control, last Thursday.

Koeman will need to find a replacement for Memphis and it’s not likely that he’ll start with Luuk de Jong. Sure, the Sevilla striker broke the deadlock for us but bringing him into the starting line up will mean Koeman foregoes Plan A and goes straight to Plan B. I don’t think he will.

He will either use Promes in the striker role (as the former Ajax talent did for Spartak Moscow and Sevilla) and keep Babel on the left, enabling him to bring Malen off the bench as impact player. Or he will bring Babel to the centre in Memphis spot and start with Malen on the left flank, rewarding the former Arsenal talent for his wonderful turns in Orange.

Ronald Koeman might not change much more. As Koeman isn’t one to change quickly. “I don’t have a lot of time before matches to try out different things. These qualification games are played to win. Not to try out stuff, or to experiment or to give another player a chance. We are playing these games to qualify and once we qualified, another situation starts. People who know me, know I won’t be changing for the sake of change. I trust the core group we have and I also look at – what I call – couples. It’s never about one player vs another player. It’s about the specific qualities of a player in combination with his team mates. That whole De Roon – Van de Beek discussion for instances. It’s rubbish, but it’s what the media do. I don’t mind, but I am not playing along. For starters, I don’t want to take the coupling of Memphis and Wijnaldum apart. So these two are in the team. Frenkie is a midfielder who wants to dribble and who wants to find space to roam into. With him, I simply want the other midfielder to hold the space. De Roon is very disciplined like this, like Propper. Propper is also a very good passer of the ball, while De Roon is better in the personal duels. Van de Beek however, is a different player. He also wants to penetrate and run forward. I can’t have this with Frenkie exposed. It is that simple.”

People here think Nathan Ake could be a better alternative than Blind. Could be. There is no evidence that he will. Ake is a strong header of the ball and a good defender. Blind is not a strong header of the ball, but a tremendous passer of the ball. Here we are comparing apples with pears. Blind is in the team, also because he is used to playing alongside Mathijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong (and Donny van de Beek or Promes should they play). That coupling, as Koeman calls it, is important for the coach.

Stefan de Vrij is seen as a top defender in Italy and the media there can’t understand why he doesn’t play. But Koeman will not bench De Ligt for one bad touch, and select De Vrij. Because if he does this, Koeman will have to be changing the team constantly.

So, Koeman is not going to replace Blind for Ake “because that could work”. Or De Vrij for De Ligt. That is not good enough. Blind is the experienced defender who has played most matches since 2014 and that experience will not be foregone by Koeman because he made an error. I think we only had one player in Oranje who hasn’t made an obvious error. That is Frenkie de Jong. De Ligt had a number of howlers.  Virgil van Dijk had one vs France (Giroud’s goal) and so has Dumfries, Babel and all others. Koeman will not replace a player for making a mistake. Football is a game of mistakes. Koeman will replace players only if an alternative has been significantly better for games on end than the existing player.

Now Koeman has to replace Memphis. This will probably make the odds that De Roon doesn’t play smaller. Koeman doesn’t like to change much. I do hope Dumfries will make way for Promes as wing back. Against Belarus (and Northern Ireland) we really don’t need a fourth defender. The space will be limited so Dumfries will not be able to play to his strength.

I would go for the following line up:

Cillesen

Promes – De Ligt – Van Dijk – Blind

Van de Beek – Frenkie de Jong – Wijnaldum

Bergwijn – Babel – Malen

Although I do think Koeman will play De Roon and start with Van de Beek from the bench. Wijnaldum will be #10, but with Memphis missing, I would opt for Wijnaldum in his Liverpool role as holding mid and Van de Beek behind the striker on #10.

The former Barca centre back said recently he does like to have options on the bench to bring in, so if Malen starts, I think Van de Beek will be used as impact player.

Tell me how you would want to see it?

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by Jan

Weak Oranje bullied by Northern Irish

We saw our beloved Oranje in the doldrums for a couple of years, and we had to sit out two major tournaments. Our newly found confidence, the string of new players, Ronald Koeman as the new NT Manager, the sun started to shine again.

We played “Dutch football” again, we won vs France, Germany, England and we reached the finals of the Nations League.

And right at the time when Frenkie claims “there is a lot of growth still in the team” our Oranje crashes through the floor in terms of quality level.

Of course, a team can never be an “8” every match. There will be games where we are an “9” in one half and a “6” in another half. But yesterday vs a very average Northern Ireland, we dropped below the level that I would call acceptable. I’d say every single player from the starting line up except for Virgil van Dijk deserved a bad mark on their report card.

And yes, Mathijs de Ligt, Daley Blind and Jasper Cillesen all had a howler in a comedy caper sequence leading up to the goal. But it was the whole team that disappointed. From Dumfries, to Wijnaldum, from Memphis to Babel. But the biggest disappointment for me, was Frenkie de Jong.

I would like to start by saying that Northern Ireland is completely entitled to play the way they do. They cheat for seconds, they don’t play to score but they play to destroy. And why wouldn’t they. They play Klopp-Liverpool style football but without the amazing forwards.

It’s annoying, it’s negative, it’s anti-football but…it’s their prerogative to do this and it’s up to us to break them down.

I believe it all started to go wrong with the starting eleven. This is typical a game where you need Donny van de Beek and you don’t need Martin de Roon. De Roon is our destroyer, but we didn’t need to destroy. We needed to create. And move. And stretch the opponent. Something Donny does in spades.

So why didn’t Koeman start with Donny? Unclear. “So he could bring him in when the team needs him”. BS.

Also Dumfries. A great athlete, good runner. But hard feet. Doesn’t have the subtlety in his game to play along in this pass and move game we needed. We could have used Veltman better in this match, I feel. A good cross, solid passing and experience and physical strength.

I can imagine Koeman didn’t want to start with Malen as you do want to be able to bring an explosive attacker in from the bench, and Babel did have some good games before, but Van de Beek vs De Roon… I can’t understand it. When you play a strong opponent, maybe De Roon is better, allowing Frenkie some support, but against this type of opponent, you do need a runner like Van de Beek.

But lets not kid ourselves. Koeman made mistakes but the eleven on the pitch simply were terrible. Touches, passing, understanding, pace, moving without the ball, it was all sub par.

In these type of matches, you need to pass and move. At pace. One or two touches. Don’t play backheels or funny shimmies or don’t try and dribble. They won most one on one duels and most second balls. Stay out of the duels and pass the fricking ball!

You also need to keep the pitch wide, and use the half spaces to reach the byline and cross the ball in low and hard (like Malen did!).

Northern Ireland wanted to suck the oxygen out of the game and sadly, our playmaker Frenkie de Jong helped them but taking so many touches of the ball. Trying to dribble, trying to turn, left, back to right, back to left again. And all to no avail. There wasn’t enough movement up front, yes, I’ll give him that, but when you are being man-marked (as he was) you know another player gets some freedom. Pass the fricking ball!

This is where Ronald Koeman could and should have changed his team, even 10 mins in. Take De Roon out and bring a player with ball skills. Even Steven Berghuis on that right midfield position would have done better than De Roon as Berghuis can pass a ball and take on a player.

And our wing play? In the first half you could see ever so clearly that Dumfries isn’t trusted by his team mates. Frenkie de Jong, Bergwijn, Van Dijk, they all prefer to open on the left – to Babel – instead of using Dumfries, no matter how open Dumfries was. Reason why? They don’t trust him to do the right thing! And they were right!

Can’t wait for Karsdorp to be 100% fit!

Second half, it all started to get a bit better. Northern Ireland was getting more fatigues and there was more pace and more grit in our team in the second half. When Van de Beek was introduced he received a thundering ovation.

But for the first time in 19 years, Oranje faced a 0-1 score line in De Kuip, when the first and only attempt on goal by the Northern Irish got promoted to a goal thanks to the 3 Stooges: De Ligt, Blind, Cillesen.

The first time we reached Malen in the half space on the left resulted in his low cross and a magical Memphis touch resulted in the 1-1.

Another freak goal got Luuk de Jong the hero status in the dying minutes, when a deflected defensive header got onto his stretched out leg and the ball went high up, only to land just in front of the goal line. L de Jong quickly grabbed the post and was able to flick the ball over the line.

And finally, when the game was played, Frenkie got his chance to dribble forward and that immediately resulted in Memphis’ 3-1.

They crucial game in our group was won. And after the game, a lot of relief and optimism about the future, but it was merely the result that we should be happy about.

Lots and lots of things to think about. For Koeman and his staff, yes. But also for Frenkie, Mathijs, Daley, Gini and the rest.

As the whole team, including technical staff, failed. Despite the win.

 

 

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by Jan

Matthijs De Ligt: The Wonder

Matthijs De Ligt. Dutch Delight. The Wonder. There will be more nicknames for him, for sure. The most discussed player of the Netherlands after Frenkie signed for Barcelona. Everyone wanted to know where Matthijs would move to. Every club wanted him. Would he follow Frenkie to Barca, or did Matthijs have his own dream club?

Well, clearly he did. The youngest Ajax skipper to win a trophy, to play Champions League knew exactly where he wanted to go to. And he told his agent: “Get me a deal there. But keep it all secret until after the Nations League finals. I want to focus on football and will announce my future after.”

Ajax did well in replacing both players by the way and they added more silverware by beating PSV 2-0 in the Johan Cruyff Schaal this weekend. The start of the season. With PSV somewhat pressed and stressed as they play a key match on Tuesday again vs Basel for the Champions League.

Both teams still couldn’t field the strongest teams, with Ziyech, Tagliafico, Mazraoui and Neres still not fully match fit. PSV was cautious with Lozano and Bruma. The result? A weird game, with a very early Ajax goal (Dolberg) taking advantage of a PSV defensive error, PSV playing decent but lacking oomph and missing that brilliance in the final third. Some discussion points too with Jorrit Hendrix getting away with murder and a superb goal by Man of the Match Daley Blind which was contested due to an alleged foul in the build up. But the ref didn’t budge and allowed the goal, making it Daley’s game. The son of Danny played in the Frenkie role and did ever so well.

De Ligt is gone, long live Perr Schuurs

Another name to remember is Perr Schuurs, the tall central defender demonstrated pure class on the ball and might well be the next Ajax defender moving on to bigger things. Schuurs came from Fortuna Sittard a summer ago and worked under the radar on his speed of execution and his build up pass. He demonstrated to be courageous in the challenges and his build up play was excellent!

Finding strong, powerful central defenders is not easy. It’s probably the toughest position on the pitch (arguably). You need to be tall, fast, be able to read the game, lead the defence and act from a tactical perspective, you need to be tough, you need to be able to head a ball, you need balls to put your body on the line but also the skills to set up that attack… the through ball, the dribble, the long pass… All these aspects. And Matthijs de Ligt has it all in spades.

And when you can find him as a product of the famous Ajax school and he’s only 19 years old, well…. Break that piggy bank and sign him!

Man City, Man United, Liverpool and all other EPL clubs decided to let it go, once they found out PSG, Juve and Barca were highly keen to go to the max.

Barca wasn’t able to compete and walked away. It was between PSG and Juve, so it seems, but after signing for the Grand Ol’ Dame De Ligt declared it was always Juventus for him. “I have been a Juve fan for years. The jersey, their history, the players who played there. And as a defender, I am really in awe of Italian defenders and the way Juventus can dominate matches on the basis of that. As a kid, I had a Man U jersey with 7, for C Ronaldo, so the fact that he’s there made it even better. ”

Playing and practicing with C Ronaldo is the cherry on the cake for De Ligt, but the central defender says that Ronaldo’s courting of him after the Juve – Ajax game didn’t really impact his decision. “Hahaha, I actually didn’t know what he said, to be honest. It all went so quick. Only later did I realise he was telling me to join Juve, haha. But I had made my mind up already. I was keen to go to Turin.”

His start with the Italian champs might not have been too great. Spurs took the win (again from De Ligt’s perspective) and De Ligt even made an own goal in the pre-season but just like with his Oranje debut (making two howlers), he will definitely get up again and soldier on.

As all media will tell you everything you need to know about De Ligt today, we’ll go into the photo books and discuss his roots.

Matthijs was born in Leidschendam (closer to Rotterdam than Amsterdam – sic) but the family moved to Abcoude (just south of Amsterdam) when he was 1 year old, due to his dad’s work. He’s the oldest of three kids. His younger brother Wouter would become his best mate.

The De Ligt family was not your typical football family. Mum and dad played hockey and tennis and when 5 years old, Matthijs took up tennis and ended up being a tremendous talent and would become one of the club’s best youth players. “He had a natural eye for the ball and good reflexes. It was when a school mate had a football match and Matthijs decided to go and watch that he got the football bug,” his dad Frank says.

Matthijs played 3 years for FC Abcoude and was a different type of kid than others. “He wasn’t one of those players that hogged the bal or tried to dribble all the way to the other goal. He played defence and he passed the ball. He was strong already and had a good shot for a young kid. When FC Abcoude had a game vs Ajax (E-youth), the Ajax youth coach immediately saw his talent and made a play for him. It was bound to happen,” says the Abcoude youth coach now.

Initially, Ajax hesitated. Matthijs had some baby fat still and was heavier than the other kids. But when he dribbled across the pitch and fired a rocket in the top corner – against Ajax again – the Ajax youth coordinator predicted: “This kid is going to go far!” and Ajax invited him in.

Dad Frank: “He had 4 or 5 practice sessions with Ajax and we got the call that they wanted him.”

Matthijs was not your typical Amsterdam street kid. He was shy, quiet. He distanced himself a bit from the bravado types and just did his thing. When the youth coach wanted to make him the captain of his team, Matthijs declined. He just wanted to do this thing.

Dad Frank: “He was only focusing on the football itself. He was always with a ball and he was always training. He was working out at home with weights, he would come up with skills practices in the back yard with his little brother. Always perfecting his game.”

Matthijs before his growth spurt (next to goalie)

His dedication and focus were rare. “He never really went out with friends and was always happy to be alone. He likes structure and patterns to be fall back on. And he always got agitated if we started to ask too many questions. Asking him if all was well, and all this. He loves to be left alone to deal with things. When he turned 18 and could get his drivers license (and as a result a lease car from Ajax) he said he didn’t want to. He wasn’t interested in cars. “I want to focus on football, this driving lessons thing is distracting. It will come later!”. Matthijs knew exactly what he wanted.

At Ajax, in the youth system, most kids would be on their iPhone or play PlayStation games. Not Matthijs. One could call him old-fashioned. An old soul maybe. Matthijs played cards. Like all the stars from the past (Suurbier, Krol, Cruyff, Neeskens), Matthijs loves klaverjassen. And he was always different like that. If a kid was bullied at school, he wouldn’t join in with the group, but protect and support the weaker kid. Old fashioned values.

He was already mature when he was 15 years old and his character was definitely further polished by his Ajax adventures.

Matthijs is loath of the attention football players get. He wants to be normal. He wants to be able to go to a restaurant with his family and just have a nice dinner. So when several agents and managers started knocking on the door of the De Ligt family, dad Frank made a move. “I think we all realised that all the wonderful opportunities would come in due time. We wanted Matthijs to be coached or mentored by a man with an Ajax heart, someone who was about the art of defending. Barry Hulshoff was our man!”.

Barry Hulshoff, former Ajax central defender in the Cruyff era. Dutch international too (but injured during the World Cup 1974). But mostly, a decent human being. Dad Frank called Hulshoff and since 2014, Barry meets with Matthijs once a month. Not to talk money, contracts, percentages or cars, but talking about match situations, about defending, about preparation for a game.

Hulshoff: “There was a lot to work on. Little things, ok, but enough to work on to make his much better. Examples…? We worked on his speed on the first meters. His explosiveness. I found him an athletics coach who worked on this. Also, his long pass with his left. It’s key to be able to play the cross pass with left and right. What a weapon. And the key thing for me: being able to execute a sliding tackle with his left and right. He conceded a penalty vs Volendam 2 with Ajax 2, when he had to tackle with his left, but he tried to do it with his right. Penalty! Also, you need to be able to see when you need to go to ground for a sliding and when you don’t. And Matthijs has this down pat for 90% I think. He’s very intuitive.”

Left: with little bro and right with his family a couple of years ago

Hulshoff was key in measuring De Ligt’s progress. Measuring body fat, muscle strength and preparing him for life at the top, as a defender.

Barry: “I also let him decide and organise a lot of things for himself. When he’s injured, I want him to research it himself, to take responsibility. He is very good with criticism too, he simply wants to get better and better. Losing is something he hates and when he was in Ajax 2 he started to become more vocal. Coaching team mates or scolding them if they screwed up. The skipper was showing up for work.”

The new Juve central defender is also a historian. Hulshoff: “Matthijs is a real Ajax fan. I gave him a book about the first success period of the club, from 1966 till 1973. He studied it in details and was able to tell me more about the matches than I knew. Line ups, who gave the assists, in what minute did who score… And I played in those games!!”

Matthijs remembers his period in the Ajax youth really well. “My first season in the E youth was great. The level was much better than what I was used to and I played with lads that made it big, like Justin Kluivert, Donyell Malen and Bobby Adekanye. I played midfield in those days. We played some international tournaments even, in Spain and in the Czech Republic. Was cool.”

With a laugh: “They called me Dikkie, in those days. Fatty. Look at my face, I had some surplus fat, hahaha. I had this tremendous growth spurt at some stage and I was supposed to be the best player and the leader. I was also going to high school then and the pressure was on. I didn’t feel to comfortable about it all, it was quite tough, but I came through alright.”

“The C1 team was really really good. I think we had the best Dutch youth player on every position. We played the cup final against PSV and Bakboord was usually our central defender, but he was injured, so the coach put me there. We won 4-1 and I never played midfield since.”

In 2015/2016 I got the “Talent of the Future” award at Ajax. That started off a lot of things. My name became known. Media started to see me and I was also the best player of the Future Cup. This is when I started to realise that I was on a good trajectory…

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by Jan

The Big Erik ten Hag Interview

In the past, we had the Big Interview series and had prominent football icons like Johan Cruyff, Louis van Gaal, Guus Hiddink and Bert van Marwijk, among others. Time to add Erik ten Hag to that list. I truly believe he is a world class coach and he deserves this interview here. Thanks to VI Pro.

Ajax is the best of the country again. Finally!

“All compliments were nice and just as well. But we knew we needed silverware. And with the double, the first since 2002, we finally rewarded ourselves with something tangible. In top sports, its about winning! This is the crown on a tremendous season.”

How much does this mean to you?

“A lot! Firstly, it’s hard to win the title in The Netherlands. Look at PSV. They won basically everything. And they could focus on the title fully, which we couldn’t. But in May, we were still fighting on three fronts. It was all about PSV and Ajax and we couldn’t slip up. If you look at the points PSV won, they normally would have the title. And for me as a coach, it’s a milestone isn’t it? I am proud of the players, the staff, everyone. It’s the success of the collective and our challenge will now only get bigger.”

And also in the manner Ajax likes: dominant and attractive football…

“That is partly why we are proud and happy. It’s not just winning. It’s winning beautifully. And people will talk about this team in 20 years time I think. That is partly why we do this. And it needs to lead to titles.”

Who had expected this last year?

“Also in our darkest days, I knew I could get this team to play at this level. I was convinced of it. But that the players would be this good and the team would develop as it idid, I didn’t expect that. I don’t think anyone expected this.”

A year ago, your VI interview sounded bitter. There was disappointment in Amsterdam.

“Well it was a tough season. The pain of Nouri’s situation was huge. Is huge! That placed a wet and cold and heavy blanket on everyone. Everyone loves that kid and this had a tremendous impact. And it was tough to turn that around. We did win games and we played ok, but we didn’t win a trophie. But I saw that our management was building something amazing in the background. Marc Overmars, Edwin van der Sar, Henk Veldmate and Said Ouaali were performing magic and when negativity was at its peak, we kept on believing in our vision. I believe in staying true to your vision. I despise opportunistic behaviour.”

Last summer was the big turnaround, working on a new team?

“Well that started much earlier. In March 2018, I was in Southampton with Marc Overmars to talk to Dusan Tadic. My analysis about last season was clear. We lacked balance in the squad, in that important age group of what I call the middle category. Players with experience, but also with desire. We didn’t have any. Well, Tagliafico but he was a new signing too, basically. And Nico is a born winner, a fighter and so important with his mentality. We had to make steps in mental strength and this is how our blueprint for a new season started.”

Ajax needed to make a step, which is why Overmars signed you, correct?

“Something had to happen but it’s not easy in Amsterdam. There is a vibe of “we know it all” here. And they did linger too long in the historic successes. Football has developed and Peter Bosz as an example, was successful in making changes. But…he still left. There was too much resistance and that culture needed shaking up. Which is why Alfred Schreuder and I were brought in. We were coaching from outside of the club and that always brings resistance. And that is ok, but I always felt support from the key people in the club. By the way, my mission wasn’t merely “make Ajax champions”, my mission was also to make Ajax Europe prof. To introduce modern elements of the game. After 1,5 years we won the double and made it to the semis of the CL. That is just great.”

You did break with the old 4-3-3 system?

“But I wasn’t the first to do this. I do remember that Adriaanse got a lot of flak when he started fiddling with the house style, but the qualities of the players determine the system, not the other way around. And it’s not even about systems. It’s about what you do in possession, when you lose possession and in those turn around moments. And you need to be able to change that up.”

This season, the so-called Double 6 was the solution?

“Well like I said, the players’ qualities determine how you play. Take Frenkie de Jong. We have really been looking to find ways to use his skills in the best manner. Where can he play best, for the team and to showcase his talent. Everyone was screaming: Frenkie is the biggest talent, etc etc. Well yes. But, where? In midfield? Ok, but which role? His quality is that he makes the forwards perform better. He is a wanderer, an adventurer, he’s always on the move, like a shark. With the ball, often, but also without the ball. So if you put him on 6, he’s away too often. But you need to give him freedom, otherwise you can’t the best out of him. It wasn’t an easy puzzle, so I dediced to play with two number 6s and only one attacking mid. And in this way, we can also dominate the half space, and force opponents to choose. So on the first day of pre-season, that is how we started. And we started without Frenkie, by the way, as he wasn’t fit at the start of the pre-season.”

Did you plan for him and Donny van de Beek to be the two 6s?

“Yes, this goes to show that plans are just plans, the reality needs to want it as well, haha. And in reality, Donny is also a player who likes to be on the move. For both Donny and Frenkie it is a strength. So Lasse fulfilled the role perfectly! And Lasse wouldn’t be the ideal #6 by himself. He really needs a dynamic player with him and they have a click now. Denmark also plays with a double 6 and Lasse does really well for them to.”

And then there was Hakim Ziyech…

“Yes, last summer we were convinced Justin Kluivert would stay and Hakim would leave. And it became an interesting jigsaw, yet again. We had Lasse and Frenkie for the 6 role and I had Tadic, Neres, Ziyech and Donny for the other midfield role… But these seasons are long and we knew we needed all players. The competition was huge and then sometimes a player is benched who feels he should play. It’s part of playing in the top. Lacazette, Lukaku, Gabriel Jesus, Gareth Bale, Dybala, they all spend time on the bench. But the fun thing is, all the players (Donny, Neres, Hakim, Tadic) can look back on a tremendous season! And all this humbug was created mainly by people outside of the club. Internally, we never really had any issues. We never were distracted and we demonstrated that we had a squad of first team players… Everyone played their part: Huntelaar, Dolberg, Veltman and also the youngsters.”

And Tadic as central striker!?

“That worked so well versus Bayern. Just perfect. And he kept on developing. Dusan is such an amazing player. He can play on either wing, on the #10 spot but I never thought he’d be my #9, hahaha.”

That must be a bummer for Dolberg. Is he on his way out now?

“Certainly not. Kasper is tremendously skilled, but he has not had a single injury free pre-season. And it is so hard for a player to not be able to have a solid pre-season. Dolberg is a fighter and we still saw some brilliance of him this season, didn’t we?”

But he is not your primary striker? He is not a starter?

“But no one is, in my book. And I told them this. There is a hierarchy, yes, but whether you’re 19 or 29, you play when you’re the best for the position. And Kasper is still young, this is all part of his development. And Klaas Jan as well, he could think “I’m the #3 striker, I’ll relax a bit” but he is as hungry and keen as when he was 23… I think, because I didn’t know him back then. But we extended Klaas Jan’s deal, because he’s crucial for us as well.”

Also important, the interchange between coach and players improved this season.

“I think that started last season already, but this season we did get a boost. When Keizer and Bergkamp left, that was a shock for some. Earlier in the season, the team had to deal with what happened to Nouri, and this season, we came back from a well deserved break and we started fresh. And don’t forget, players like Blind and Tadic do something to a squad when they come in. And Matthijs became my skipper. Cool as a cucumber, very mature, a real leader. And a good communicator. Dusan is my vice captain. A tremendous duo.”

Which other players are your strongholders in the squad?

“Definitely Daley. Not a big talker, not the extraverted leader, but the tactician of the squad. My right hand man on the pitch. He sees everything just quicker than any of the other player and he always makes the right decision. I use him as my extension and he only needs three words to know what I want. Klaas Jan is important with his experience and Andre Onana as well. That is rare, that I mention a striker and a goalie. Usually they’re quite individualistic. But they are people persons. They manage, they talk and coach. And then there is Lasse Schone. Lasse is control personified. He’s relaxed, calm and collected. A wonderful guy. A technician pur sang, but also a sober team player. Very intelligent player and everyone here loves him. He can hang with the teenagers and he can mingle with the board, you know?”

And Frenkie and Ziyech as the leaders on the pitch?

“Exactly! Frenkie is so important as a player. He became our conductor on the pitch, he determines the rhythm of the team. He takes care of the yield of the attacks, finds team mates, opens up spaces and then Hakim… The classic individualist, in the good sense of the word. You need him to make the difference and at times you need him in the team structure too. He can see the team cohesion and he sees the bigger picture. Whenever resistance is at its highest, Ziyech shines. We have many players who can create but in the final third, no one is as  good as Hakim.”

How do you operate with these players?

“We find each other when need be. Blind, De Ligt, Tadic, I will always keep them in the loop. And then we have different team talks, in difference combinations. We look at things from multiple perspectives. Tactics, group dynamics, agreements we make on and off the pitch, you name it.”

Can you name an example?

“Well, before the Groningen away game, I decided to go a day early and spend a night in a hotel close to Groningen. When we played Vitesse a week later, the players came forward and said they would appreciate that again. Leaving a day early and staying in a hotel, like we do with European games. One of the key aspects of coaching, is listening. Verbally and non-verbally. My task is to find out: what makes my players perform best? Within the boundaries we put on them as a club, we are open for the preferences of the players. I do this with my staff as well.”

Last season, your analysis was hard and critical. What is your current view of what needs to improve?

“Good ain’t good enough. We need to get better. Push boundaries. In July, we start at level zero again. Trophies are all in the cabinet and we need to start again. We do have a good foundation, but on the first day, we have zero points, like all other teams. We need to try and keep the quality of the squad at this level and if possible improve it. We signed Razvan Marin, a player with tremendous dynamics in his game. Our speed up front is another aspect we need to improve. Neres is quick, and Dolberg too but Kasper is playing in the axis and doesn’t have the space to run into, usually.”

With Frenkie, De Ligt and potentially Ziyech leaving, you will need to build a new team.

“Yes that is what might happen. We are prepared. But there will also be surprises, you can’t stop that. But Ziyech was expected to leave last summer and stayed, so who knows. He might not leave…”

Do you fear an exodus?

“I don’t fear it, but we need to plan for the worst. If you ask me, who do you fear for when he leaves, I have to say Tadic. What a season and what a tremendous yield we got from him. We have the commitment of Onana, Tagliafico and Mazraoui that they’ll stay. That is a good sign.”

How will you deal with the players who leave?

“Replacing Matthijs de Ligt is the biggest challenge. We have some options in mind. We signed Marin for Frenkie de Jong. But both De Ligt and De Jong are special and can’t just be replaced. This applies to Ziyech as well. Neres can play from the right but he’s a different type of player. Hakim is a real playmaker and we’ll probably need to go and find one if he leaves.. Or, can we find him in our youth system? We are mapping all of this now.”

Martin Odegaard was the ideal replacement for Ziyech?

“But even him, who is probably gone to Spain, he can’t just replace Ziyech. He too is different. We will see what happens and probably need some time to solve the new jigsaw.”

Quincy Promes is coming from Sevilla. That is a similar coup as signing Tadic and Blind.

“Yes, I think we are becoming more and more interesting also for big name players in his age category. Our image has gotten a boost and players will enjoy playing the sort of football we play.”

Your image got a boost too. The media are now lining up to smother you with compliments. What does this do to you.

“During the season, not so much. Simply no time for that. All energy and focus goes to the team and the process. I do enjoy successes, but briefly. It’s not who I am. I want to stay sharp. Some people start to believe in the stories about themselves and I try to remain realistic. In media, some people painted me as a loser, last season. This season, I saw in some media the word “legend”. I have to laugh about both. It’s ridiculous. I do monitor the messages in the media for the impact it can have on the team. Good or bad, it will reach me and the dressing room and then I need to manage it. Simple.”

Always: control control control…

“That is the job. I need to know what stimuli people get and need and what they’re influenced by. And where new people show up, new ideas are coming in too and people started to get scared. In Amsterdam, there is also the superiority. The “We are Ajax!” mantra. I see the benefits of this, don’t get me wrong, but I also see the danger. We introduced a modern approach and it worked. The performances on the pitch are crucial in this. Through the successes, people started to buy into it.”

How long will you be coach here?

“Who knows. I have the intention to stay, and to be honest: I haven’t thought about leaving at all. My contract is extended and I have no intention of leaving but you know how it is in football. I do have to stay critical about the circumstances in my job. The available funds, the vision and values, you name it.”

What is a realistic expectation for next season?

“We want to be part of the group stage in Europe. Even if it’s the Europa League. We all want to be playing Champions League football but it is not an automatic thing anymore. We are still a Dutch club. Domestically, we need to play for the title. Full stop. The resistance in Holland is not good enough. We are so much better than the rest, with PSV. And in that battle you can’t afford a single misstep. We want to build an attractive team, play offensive football and win matches. But playing for three prizes in May, that is unique and you can’t expect that to happen again, just like that.”

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by Jan

Van de Beek: Koeman’s support was key!

Last summer, Donny van de Beek thought he had his break through season behind him, but head strong coach Erik ten Hag at Ajax felt differently. The Ajax midfielder had only had eleven minutes in the CL qualification games and his face predicted a thunder storm. “This is a tough situation. The coach decides and that is what I have to deal with. I can be all full of bravado and talk about leaving but I simply have to give 100% and we’ll see what happens. But I can’t accept a role as a bench warmer. I’m sorry.”

This summer, it seems Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Chelsea, Bayern Munich are just some names of big clubs preparing an offer for the 22 year old.

What Donny didn’t mention was that in that previous summer, his groin had played up and he wasn’t part of the full pre-season program. Ajax played 6 qualification matches and Donny only started in three of them. In the first months in the Eredivisie, a similar pattern. When he did start, Ten Hag took him off before the game ended.

Mr Ajax, icon Sjaak Swart, the former right winger in Cruyff/Michels 1970s Ajax looks back at that time. “Donny has lived with me for a while, ever since his teenage years, simply to limit the long trips every day to his family in Nijkerk. I think I have a good insight in his personality, and I was never in doubt that he’d come good. I know his mentality and he is a fighter. Yes, it was tough, but he never rebelled and kept on working hard. We knew he’d fight his way into the team.”

Despite the stop-and-start beginning of the Ajax season, Ronald Koeman never overlooked Van de Beek. He was always part of the squad and although he didn’t play vs France and Germany in the Nations League games, he did play in the Belgium friendly in Brussels.

The turnaround at Ajax came when Ten Hag went for the Tadic-line up as it’s called in Holland. The version with Tadic as the false #9, allowing a spot for Neres and Van de Beek (but keeping Dolberg and Huntelaar benched).

And that campaign ended far in extra time in the second semi finals in Amsterdam vs Spurs. With an increasingly important role for Van de Beek, with his sense of positioning, his technical ability, his running ability and tactical smarts… The complete midfielder, as also Real Madrid scouts have noticed.

Van de Beek with Ajax legend and manager Sjaak Swart

His stats are impressive: he scored 17 goals and had 13 assists in 57 official games for Ajax. Ronald Koeman: “The success of Ajax is important for the young players and for Oranje. Donny is the prime example, he is knocking on the door. Really loudly.”

Donny van de Beek, in Portugal with Oranje for the Nations League: “I understand why Koeman didn’t use me in the Nations League group games. The team stood! The results were good and the other lads did well. But I am convinced I can make my point and get into the team.”

Van de Beek made big steps, this season. And also thanks to changes in his nutrition and strength training. Sjaak Swart: “In the game against Utrecht, considered one of the toughest ones for Ajax in the last stage of the season, two players stepped up and took Ajax by the hand: Ziyech and Donny van de Beek. You can only do this when you are super fit. You can’t do this when you haven’t been taking care of yourself. He has grown tremendously and he is now one of the leaders on the pitch. He is always available, he makes his dummy runs and is important in the group. He has grown in every aspect of the game.”

Koeman has a luxury issue with his midfield. He has an international star in Wijnaldum, who finally shows his level in Oranje as well as in Liverpool. Frenkie de Jong is another certainty. Since he plays in Oranje, the Dutch play dominant football again with a strong forward thrust. The third spot will have to battled for, by Marten de Roon, Davy Propper and Donny van de Beek (albeit that Donny could also compete with Gini Wijnaldum for his spot).

Since the Reds midfielder is playing more offensively his share in the attacking results has increased significantly. In his last 5 games he was involved in 5 goals (3 scored, 2 assisted). Van de Beek has an opinion as well: “I don’t see myself as the high number 10. I am more a number 8, a box-to-box player but I can play in the controlling mid role as well.” The dynamic right midfielder role seems the ideal role for him in Oranje. And that allows for Wijnaldum and Frenkie to play in their fave role. And with his runs forward, he would be a perfect companion for Memphis in the striker’s role.

His penetration runs… in the Eredivisie he has an average of 6.3 runs into the opponent’s box in 90 minutes. At PSV, Pereiro is the player with the second most runs with 5,8 runs and Guus Til of AZ is #3 with 5.1 runs.

And Van de Beek has many new fans, one of them Jose Mourinho who put Van de Beek in his CL team of the season. There are many new options too, even though he renewed his deal with Ajax only months ago, now it goes till 2022. Borussia Dortmund was the first club to come knocking but they were scared off by the asking price. With Frenkie and De Ligt already leaving and great odds that Ziyech is leaving too, Ajax wants to keep their other strongholders and ask for the top price if interest is shown.

What will he do? Make a mozzah but end up on the bench in Madrid or London? Or will he stay, maybe take the captain’s band and play another season under Ten Hag.

Swart: “Donny needs to be with a club where they play neat and attacking football. He would do well with the likes of Man City, Arsenal. He has that here, its always a question mark how it will go elsewhere. But he is keen to find out where his ceiling is. And he will need to make a step up to find out. But he won’t go to just any club. He will also not decide with his wallet. That is not him. When he leaves Ajax, it will be for a world class club, nothing les.”

Van de Beek himself? “You read stuff and you hear stuff. I am not worried. I’m taking a break now and I’ll see what comes on my path. I am focused on football and I love being at Ajax. My contract is still for another 3 years so I won’t make any comments on my future. I want to win more trophies. And with Ajax and Oranje I can and this is where my focus is.”

 

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