Tag: Sneijder

by Jan

The Best of the 2018World Cup

The best of this 2018 World Cup is definitely this wonderful Neymar Alphabet typeface. Some Brazilian went creative and made this and it’s just too funny (and smart).

I didn’t like this World Cup much, to be honest. Sure, partly due to Oranje not being there. And we lost in the qualifications against the eventual World Cup winners. Nice excuse. But we wouldn’t have done so badly in Russia, I don’t think. The only team to really impress from day 1 to the end was Croatia for me.

And yes, Modric does look like Cruyff. And like Cruyff in 1974, Modric didn’t win the World Cup but he will be remembered mostly, like our Johan was back then.

Please challenge my opinion below if you must. Belgium was hot and cold. Lukaku was good in the group stages but wasteful in the knock out stages. Mertens, invisible. Dembele sadly unused.

It’s fun to make fun of Neymar, but truth be told: he clearly wasn’t 100% fit to play

France played negative football. You had the most impressive players (Lacazet, Audambayang, Rabiot weren’t needed for instance, Payet wasn’t missed) paired with a defensive, fearful coach. MBappe’s speed was sacred and France got some help from te VAR here and there too. Won’t go into the history books as a great winner (like the 1998 French team). Their striker Giroud had no shots on goal in 500+ minutes of football. The Dutch satire newspaper De Speld even broke the news Giroud actually missed three hi-fives after winning the World Cup….

The rest? England? Clueless with the ball. Russia. Nice, fun, underdogs, like Wales and Iceland at the Euros2016 but quality? Not really? Spain, Argentina, Germany, Portugal, woeful really.

VAR ref Danny Makkelie

And then the VAR! Messy to say the least. Lack of consistency, lack of clarity. Who takes the decision at the end? The ref or the VAR ref? When is hands hands? Why can two players pull a Serbia striker down to the ground? Why can Sweden’s Berg be tackled from behind in the box? Too many question marks.

So, no Mr Infantino. It was not a great World Cup.

Yes, the tv coverage was great. The stadiums were full. The vibe in Russia appeared to be awesome. But the quality of the football was below par.

Back to the season prep for the national competitions then.

I won’t go into all the different transfer news items, as it’s an ongoing thing and I don’t post enough to keep track and all of you abreast of the situation.

But there are some nice things to share:

Ajax is bringing some top quality to the Eredivisie! Dujan Tadic, Daley Blind… Nice one. Labyad from FC Utrecht is coming in. Per Schuurs is in Amsterdam. And Ziyech hasn’t left yet. Yowza!

But Frenkie de Jong’s transfer to Barcelona is an ongoing topic in the Spanish papers, while Mathijs de Ligt might also still be lured away, now he’s with super agent Raiola.

Feyenoord is losing some key players. Karim El Ahmadi is gifted a free transfer to Saudi Arabia, but it seems Sven van Beek is on his way to Cocu’s Fenerbahce. Sadly, only for 5,5 mio euros, for some reason. Unbelievable really. De Ligt is worth 50 mio apparently? But Van Beek only 1/10th of that?

But Feyenoord is planning to have Jordy Clasie come back, on loan from Southampton and is hoping to get Leroy Fer back as well.

PSV is still scoping on a new midfielder, now Marco van Ginkel is out with a heavy knee injury again and back in London. Mark van Bommel is the real big signing for PSV of course.

It’s good for the Eredivisie to have some European top players return. A stronger competition is good for everyone.

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by Jan

Stars missing the WC: Memphis

It hurts when I see Sweden advance even further into the World Cup. It hurts bad. With all the “heavy hitters” going home early, imagine what we could have achieved…

And with Messi, CRonaldo, Muller and others leaving the tournament so soon, it does make you wonder: who will be the man of the tournament? Let’s hope it’s not Neymar! And surely, not Kane? He will win the Golden Boot I think, and he’s an amazing striker but don’t we need just a tad more from the “Best Player” of the tournament?

I miss Memphis even more now…

He rewarded himself with a crucial hattrick on the last day of the season in France, for a tremendous season. It seems as if he keeps on going from strength to strength ever since he was given the “free role” at Lyon and in Oranje.

VI Pro visited him in Lyon at the end of the season. Memphis and Bertrand Traore are mulling about in the sun. Their practice session just ended. And the two are now just watching the training of the youth team of Lyon. They’re both football fanatics. And they’re in heaven, as Olympique Lyon has talent coming up the gazoo!

Memphis points to a massive central defender he likes. Traore is giggling like a girl when a certain pass and move session is executing in high speed. Memphis: “Players tend to hang around here, at Lyon. The vibe is good and it smells like football here.”

Memphis likes it like that. Usually, he’s the first to come in for practice. A bit of jest with the door men and then a good solid breakfast before the games begin. And as the French do it: he shakes the hands of everyone at the venue. Every player does, every morning again. Whether it’s another team mate, or the kit man or some visiting reporter from Holland. It sort of resembles the mentality at PSV Eindhoven. Where top sports and casualness meet. And sometimes, that goes well hand in hand.

When Memphis drives out of the complex later that day, the chaos starts. A group of fans wants his autograph, or a picture. He drops his window, signs balls, jerseys and cameras click. And the question is the same: “Memphis, will you stay at Lyon?”. Because 19 goals and 13 assists…it does count. Even C Ronaldo had less involvements (31) than Memphis.

For Memphis, it all starts with peace, quiet and fun. He needs to enjoy the game and life. Two months ago, it all came together. He does have peace of mind ever since the Christian faith became prominent in his life. And freedom he got on the pitch, when Ronald Koeman gave him the free role in a 2 mans forward line (with Ryan Babel).  It allowed him to use his specific qualities in optimum form. More than being pushed out to the left. Bruno Genesio, his Lyon coach, happened to be at the match in Geneva and made notes. He saw how Memphis enjoyed himself and scored. Florian Maurice was there as well. He’s Lyon’s head scout. He tells Genesio how he saw this before. Some 8 years ago when Maurice was watching young PSV in Eindhoven. And a 16 year old Memphis Depay played as #10 behind the striker. Memphis: “It’s true, in the junior teams, I used to play as shadow striker and in a free role, I do think I am at my best. And Maurice remembered this.”

This is not unlike Arjen Robben, who played playmaker in youth teams but was banished to the left wing when he made it into FC Groningen’ first team. To protect him from challenges but the youngster ended up playing there for years.

When Memphis returned to Lyon, the Lyon technical staff immediately made the call. Striker Diaz was suspended so coach Genesio had his team practice this new formation. And then it all happened. And not just a bit.

First of all, with a front line of three. With Memphis as central striker. He scored twice vs Toulouse. “That was good, it was fun, but I am not a striker who remains in the spot. I want to be able to roam and move around, find space. That is when my skills are utilised best: my creativity, explosivity and goal scoring.”

After the Toulouse game, Genesio goes for a diamond in midfield and two up top. Against Metz, Memphis had four assists and one goal. A week later, Memphis was the shadow striker and again: one goal and one assist, vs Amiens. When Fekir returned fit, Genesio used Traore and Memphis up front, with Fekir as #10. And Memphis kept on scoring. In April, he was voted Player of the Month. Memphis now: “That month, that is how I want to play always. Every match, I want to be dangerous, threatening and successful, I want the permanent flow.”

And it’s not just the stats that tell the story. It’s visible on his face, in his body language. He seemed liberated, compared to the straightjacket Memphis we saw at Man United. He’s constantly open to receive, he will work and make dummy runs, he can use his special trickery when needed. “When I started here, I was a sort of left midfielder. I had to work the whole flank. When the ball was on the other flank, I had to drop deep, almost like a wing back. My playing field was 70 meters long. And when that happens, you kill a number of my specific qualities. I can’t be explosive over 70 meters. I didn’t get the ball too often, I had to work much more without the ball and that took so much energy that my specific attacking yield was lower than ever. It confined me. And I need to be free to express myself. And yes, I want to work and I want to do my bit, but my team contribution is greatest when I can follow my intuition. Without limitation. Floating, roaming, hunting for space, making my actions and be a threat.”

Even as a left winger, he had his periods this season where he was unstoppable. He scored 7 goals in 7 games in the fall of 2017. With a hattrick vs Troyes. But after that series, he had a dry spell of six games. Until that night vs Paris St Germain. He started on the bench. “I was so pissed off that I didn’t play. I want to play every match but in particular the big ones. But God told me to keep quiet. To go with it. And to be ready. I was convinced something special would happen.”

In the second half, Memphis was needed to come in. Aouar came off, and Memphis started his predatory role. And in injury time, he got what he wanted. Just outside the box, Fekir fed him the ball. Memphis dribbled inside and let fly: a rocket in the top corner. The Groupama Stadium exploded. Memphis: “Obviously, scoring the winner is sensational. Scoring the winner vs PSG even more so. Scoring the winner like this, even more so… But for me, it was super special due to the message I received that morning. My relationship with God pushed me to a higher level. I felt the ultimate gratitude…”

And there were more high points. Memphis mentions two. His goal at home vs Villareal (3-1) in the knock out stage of the Europa League. Another rocket in the corner from 20 meters out. And he also determines the match vs Ol Marseille (2-3). Again as a sub coming on, with a header in the top corner in the final stages of the game. The start of a mighty final sprint, allowing Lyon to win eight games in a row.

But, it did seem the season would end in a little disaster. In the away game vs Strasbourg, a 2-1 lead went up in smoke. And just when Strasbourg scored the winner in the dying minutes, Monaco – Lyon’s rival – scored the winner vs St Etienne.

The unexpected loss in Strasbourg put maximum pressure on the last match of the season. In that match, in Lyon vs Nice, it seemed to go totally wrong. Both Monaco and Olympique Marseille were leading, while Lyon was trailing 0-1 at half time. Qualifications for the Champions League would be out of reach and a financial disaster for Olympique Lyon was looming. And then, Memphis stepped up. With  cool hattrick, Depay opened the door for Lyon to the billionaire’s ball. The first was a tap in, assist by Fekir. The second a shrewd free kick, under the wall. And the third a nice little chip. In the last 9 matches, Memphis scored 10 goals and had 7 assists. Depay rescues Lyon, the headlines screamed. The typical Memphis with two fingers in ears was the picture. Depay’s way of saying: I only listen to God!

The times that Memphis could be bothered about what others said about him are now behind him. “I compare it to the food you eat, if you would eat the criticism, the good or the bad, you would never get well. I mean, in good times, I ate sweets and in bad times I ate bitter… In both situations, you get a stomach ache. I don’t read it anymore. Not interested. And man, it gives me peace and quiet. I am now 24 years old, I want to play another 10 year at top level without the baggage of all the crap.”

He continues: “You know, the WC Brazil, people revered me, adored me. Everything was cool and now we missed the WC in Russia and I am crap and can’t play football. As if it was all due to me? And when I wear a hat, I’m criticised, when I drive a Rolls Royce, I’m criticised. I’m the role model of bad performances. I had to learn not to take any of it seriously.”

Memphis is enjoying his time with Oranje now. “The current developments are really positive. There is this feeling that we can actually achieve something. And we need each other, that bond, you notice it. During the matches, but also during the sessions in practice. In Noordwijk, you could all do what you pleased, all by yourself. When we are in Zeist, it’s more a common thing. We seem to spend more time together. We play more games together, it’s more fun.

And Memphis now has a team manager he knows a bit better. Koeman tried to lure Memphis to Everton. But, that’s all in the past now. Depay: “Sure, we had a good talk a year and a half ago, but that doesn’t count. I will need to demonstrate my value day in day out. When Van Gaal signed me for Man United, he told me the same thing. I know you, I worked with you, but you won’t get any privileges. But it helps when there is a click. And I think I have that with Koeman. He is clear in what he wants and he is a real inspiration.”

Oranje played four games under Koeman. “Against England, it wasn’t good enough. We know this. We were a bit too fearful on the ball. We needed to get used to the new system, the new way of working. And England is a top opponent of course. But, we should have done better, all of us. We are still a big football nation, we need to be ballsy and show confidence. We do need to be at every big tournament. Period! We do have enough quality. We now need to finetune this and make sure we utilise the qualities and cover up the weaknesses. Based on a compact defense we can be quite devastating in attack. We have strong defenders, good and quick offensive full backs, we have smart midfielders, all the ingredients to get the results. We did so vs Portugal. And now we need to keep on going.

Memphis still have 3 years on his deal with Lyon. When Lyon Chairman Aulas was interviewed, with Memphis standing next to him, he was asked how much Lyon would ask for him when Madrid came calling for Memphis. Aulas said: “Memphis won’t leave.” And Memphis just stared into the camera….

Both were main characters in another comedy sketch at the end of the season. Chairman Aulas again, this time alone in front of the cameras, saying: “Memphis is exceptional, a player who works hard and wants to do everything his coach asks from him.” At that point, Memphis walked past with the match ball and he placed both his finger Memphis-style in the chairman’s ears.

Memphis: “God will help me climb mountains of which I myself don’t know the height…” And asked about where he is at in his life and career, he said: “I am happy now with who I am. That is all. I am a wild boy with peace in his head. It feels good.”

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by Jan

Germany: Don’t mention the VAR!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Germany uncharacteristically exposed vs Saudi Arabia

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

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

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

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

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

Do we see any interesting trends?

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

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

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

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

Danny Makkelie impressing as VAR referee

In other exciting football news:

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

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

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

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

Juninho Bacuna of FC Groningen signed for Huddersfield Town.

 

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by Jan

Stars missing the WC: Stefan de Vrij

Around this time, there is always talk about great players who won’t be at the tournament. In this case, the likes of Frabegas, Sane, Nainggolan and others come to mind, but we will focus on the Dutch stars missing out.

The first one in the series, is Stefan de Vrij. Probably our best player with the least media exposure.

Here’s a guy who scored at a World Cup, played four seasons in the top of Italy (as a defender) and who was (is?) on many a wishlist for big clubs all across Europe.

He would be “the least likely to succeed” in Feyenoord’s year book if Feyenoord would have a year book…

While the 26 year old gets his top transfer this summer (5 seasons at Inter Milan), our memories go back to 2011, when the anger, despair and frustration seaps from the Feyenoord stands on to the pitch, where a young De Vrij makes his way to the tunnel in tears. Feyenoord loses at home 0-1 vs De Graafschap and is 14th in the Eredivisie. In a period where the club from Rotterdam gets beating after beating, it’s players like Wijnaldum, Fer and Castaignos who symbolise the hope in Rotterdam. But Stefan de Vrij is the ugly duckling. Always needing to swim upstream but drowning on that January night.

De Vrij, born ten kilometers from Rotterdam in Ouderkerk aan den IJssel (basically “Old Church on the river IJssel”). A little village. Where indeed the church rules. On Sunday, the shops are closed, no football club is in action and where Stefan de Vrij grew up a shy lad.

He makes his way to Feyenoord’s youth system. All the experts have seen it. There is a right footed defender now at Feyenoord, who will most likely make it to the first team, make it into the Dutch team and is set for greatness. But they’re not talking about De Vrij, but about the six months younger lad Jeffrey Bruma, signed from Excelsior Bruma is a city kid. Bit mouth, and always ready to win an argument with a fight. A big contrast with the village kid from Ouderkerk: shy and down to Earth.

It’s hard for Stefan. Young Jeffrey is invited to play in the older teams, in place of De Vrij. Bruma is also picked for the different rep teams of their age group, and De Vrij is not. In 2006, Chelsea shows up, with a bag of money and promises.

A young De Vrij in his typical Dutch little village….

Feyenoord is not happy, but for De Vrij, this is good news. But, he still isn’t the go to player for the central defenders role. Feyenoord also has Karim Rekik. He’s also younger than Stefan but has the personality of a leader and draws most of the attention. Luckily for De Vrij, also the attention from Manchester City. So Rekik leaves too and it’s the decisions made by others that will influence Stefan’s career. Still he is a question mark.

Feyenoord protects its big talents with early contracts. The fact that De Vrij gets his first contract when he turns 17 years old is a typical sign. Only months later, he makes his debut in the first team.

In 2014, Lazio Roma pays millions for the defender and at that time, it seems very logical. He played 150 matches for Feyenoord, played 20+ international games, won a bronze World Cup medal, but that De Vrij would become one of Europe’s top defenders…no one could know….

And Stefan now, the cosmopolitan defender in Rome, next stop Milan

In Stefan’s career, it seems the decisions by others were key for him. There were not a lot of coaches who recognised his qualities and said: right! He’s my man! Look at De Vrij’s debut season under Mario Been in 2009.

De Vrij is brought into the squad as the last player that summer. And he would finish the season as starting player. Because right back Dani Fernandez gets a serious injury. His replacement Kelvin Leerdam, gets a serious injury. His replacement Bandjar…you guessed it…gets injured. Been doesn’t get more money to sign another right back, so De Vrij gets the job.

Mario Been uses De Vrij as right back and is quite clear in the media and press conferences, that this is an emergency move. Been also states that if Bruma wouldn’t have gone to Chelsea, he would have had the spot.

De Vrij doesn’t impress as right back. But the criticism is mild, as expectations about him were never high and everyone at Feyenoord knows it’s not his spot.

He does get a chance to play centrally. For the away game vs PSV Eindhoven, Ron Vlaar is injured, so De Vrij gets the spot. Feyenoord loses that match 10-0. The biggest defeat ever and the beginning of the end for Mario Been. The match at home vs De Graafschap is the real low for De Vrij. Feyenoord falls to the 14th spot and De Vrij is crying his heart out in the dressing room. Been made a public call to his management to free up funds for defensive reinforcements. The answer is: No!

Mario Been now: “He was a very quiet and sweet lad. And he struggled against really tough strikers and quick and agile wingers. He’s not a born athlete, he is not a quick mover but when he played centrally, you could see him improve. Centrally, his build up pass and positioning became apparent as strengths. Stefan does see situations earlier than others. That is his strength. And Vlaar was a great mentor for him, he learned a lot from Ron.”

De Vrij started to work on himself, more and more. So much so that Koeman took his captains band, when he found out Stefan was in the gym without the consent of the Feyenoord medical staff. He kept on searching to better himself and develop, mentally, physically, mentally. He studied Neurolinguistic programming for instance, to focus better and even worked with renowned guru Wim Hof, the Iceman, to learn about the health benefits of ice-baths and breating techniques. And to this day, he analysis every match he plays via FaceTime with the tactical analysis company Your Tactical Analyst.

No more Mr Nice Guy

De Vrij as the symbol of a club, almost dead. In every aspect. In a sports-sense and financially. But also the symbol of the resurrection. Ronald Koeman comes and he uses De Vrij centrally, first next to mentor Vlaar and later next to Joris Mathijsen. Koeman gives him the #3 jersey and gives him confidence. In the 2013/14 season, he plays centrally with his mate Bruno Martins Indi, a lad he played with in all his youth teams and a close friend.

Feyenoord is back at the top, and finishes just 4 points behind Ajax. De Vrij plays a strong World Cup under Van Gaal and bang: his move to Rome is there.

And now, after 4 seasons there, he will make his next step in a career propulsed forward by coincidence and circumstance. De Vrij’s character and personality pulled him through. He didn’t get swimming lessons, or training wheels, he was just pushed in and told to fake it until he made it. And he made it.

And it was Feyenoord’s bad spell that create this top defender. In any other club, De Vrij would have been replaced. Feyenoord had to use him and grew, because he was allowed to fail. He learned and developed as a result of all his mistakes.

And this made him a top defender. He’s not the strongest, not the quickest, but he reads the game ever so well, and is strong positionally. And he is able to place the ball on your necktie over 50 yards. He’s hardly ever in panic and never got a red card in his career.

This season, he also was the most scoring defender in the Serie A and was #3 in the list of top ball retainers, behind Torreira and his new colleague at Inter Skriniar.

There might be a lesson to be learned from his career trajectory. Let’s see how El Ghazi, Adam Maher, Bazoer and others go in the years to come…

That goal!

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by Jan

Koeman: Questions and Answers

In the last years, heaps and heaps of questions arose around Dutch football, the national team, our development and football vision and more.

When Koeman came on board as the new NT coach, we expected him to come up with the answers, at least for the NT.

Koeman wanted to use the four friendly games, to come up with clarity, to give the answers.

Now, with those four matches behind us (1 loss against WC contenders England, 1 victory over Euro champs Portugal and two draws, both “games with two halves”), it is time to make up the balance. And lets look at the questions that were answered and the questions that remain…well….questions.

The system

It’s clear that Koeman opted for the “5 at the back” system from day 1 and he wasn’t going to be persuaded to change that. It is a good system to use (5 in defence when loss of possession, 4 in midfield when in possession) and a system for which we definitely have the players.

The mental strength and desire

Koeman was also clear about the mental attitude of the players. “You really need to want to play for Oranje”. And Koeman is the man to send players home who are not committed. Memphis Depay was the typical example of the rogue lad, the larrakin as we say in Australia, who didn’t take discipline to seriously in the past. If he is someone to go on, it seems the players take their coach and their own job seriously now. Memphis is open and friendly to the medium, can be seen laughing at practice and is coaching and supporting is mates on the pitch. It seems he’s also developing a nice partnership with the older Ryan Babel.

The Goalies

It seems to me Koeman will go with Cillesen. The Barca goalie might not play every week but when he does play, he’s solid as. More so than Zoet, who should have stopped that England goal. And Cillesen distribution and footwork is just top class.

Apart from these two, we will have enough young goalies coming through to act as third goal keeper, should we ever make it to a tournament again….

Central Backs

From what we’ve seen, it seems De Ligt has the future under Koeman. He played all four friendlies. Van Dijk is captain and most likely a cert as well. De Vrij, as a right footer, will be duelling with De Ligt for the right centre back position, while Blind will most likely have the upper hand on Nathan Ake. Ake did get the equaliser for Oranje vs Italy, which was nice for him and he does have a bright future. Voted player of the year for Bournemouth of course and a very able player indeed. For now Blind is more solid in his build up play and football intelligence but Ake might fancy the battle with the slower Blind. For De Ligt and De Vrij, it will be interesting to see what De Ligt will do with his future. When he came into the media zone after the Italy game, 14 Italian reporters cornered him to ask if he will pick Juve as his new club. According to the rumour, Barca, Bayern Munich, Man City, Spurs, Juve…they all want De Ligt. Should he decide to go for a big move, he might not get the playing time he needs to get his starting spot in Oranje.

Other candidates to keep in mind for the CB role: Jeffrey Bruma, Terence Kongolo, Karim Rekik, Sven van Beek and Mike van der Hoorn.

Left Wing Back

Vilhena and Van Aanholt were the players used most recently, but Willems and Erik Pieters are candidates as well, as are Nathan Ake and Daley Blind. This might simply come back to the opponent we play. Van Aanholt has more speed and seems to penetrate more. Vilhena is probably better on the ball but lacks the real depth and speed in his game. Pieters is the solid defender but not as able on the ball. Willems is a weak defender but has a tremendous left foot. Terence Kongolo is an option here as well.

Right Wing Back

Daryl Janmaat made a difference coming on for Hateboer vs Italy. The Atalanta right back had a tough first half and still lacks a proper final ball. Janmaat is definitely the better crosser of the two and seems to have more football intelligence (experience). Kenny Tete is definitely a candidate, as is Fosu-Mensah, although Rick Karsdorp, when fit, might have all the tools of the trade for this position.

Midfield

This is the weak spot of the team at the moment. We do have a lot of midfield options, but they are all a bit similar. Wijnaldum for me is the best of the bunch. The opinions were mixed with is game vs Italy, but I think he did well. Mentality is top, his touch impeccable, always knows what is where and won’t lose the ball too often. Strootman to me is less solid might well lose his spot. Propper is another player I rate. Wonderful vision and technique, and developed very nicely in the physical and tactical side of the game. But, add Vormer, Van de Beek, Van Ginkel and De Roon to the mix and they’re all solid team players but none of them has the world class you’d want to see in a team like Oranje. Where’s our Sneijder, Ronald de Boer, Seedorf, Davids, Van der Vaart, Jonk, Van Hanegem, Cocu, Jantje Peters? I think Van de Beek can make the step up. I’m convinced Frenkie de Jong could be that player. We need at least one. Vilhena can play in the midfield of coure, and Ruud Vormer has demonstrated to be an option as well. And who knows, the real Adam Maher might even find his mojo again…

For now, I’ll go with Propper, Wijnaldum and Van de Beek. In due time, Frenkie de Jong will take the position of one of these three…

Forwards

I think Memphis will be the sure fire choice for one of the two strikers. Babel has something special but Promes has the future. Agile, skilled, quick, can score goals. His partnership with Memphis will need to improve but I have faith. Nothing wrong with Babel as pinchhitter. The former Ajax and Liverpool man can play anywhere up front.

We do have some exciting players that can bring some spice coming off the bench. Elia is always unpredictable and Bergwijn might have a similar profile. Steven Berghuis seems to be the victim of this 5-3-2 system but everytime he comes on, something happens. He’s all class with his left foot. Looking for the top corner or finding a team mate, as he did with his assist on Ake vs Italy. Against Slovakia, he had the assist on Vormer who aimed straight at the goalie. Luuk de Jong, Wout Weghorst and some others might well be useful in certain emergency scenarios. And who knows, Vincent Janssen might move to a team where he can play, score and remain fit…

After the Italy game, Ronald Koeman said this: “I got a lot of clarity after these four friendlies. In certain positions and with certain players, I think I know what to do. But, there is now a summer and pre-season ahead of us and then also a transfer period. I will not make any public statements until September. Too much can change and I will talk to the players first, in September.

 

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by Jan

Oranje disappoints Koeman (and us)

Koeman’s new Oranje had a bland loss against England, an aggressive win against Portugal and now a tw0-faced draw against Slovakia.

Koeman will stick to his 5-3-2, with good reasons, and said before the two friendlies he wanted to use all the players, see them all in action.

He played a line up that I don’t think we’ll ever see again… A midfield of Propper, Van de Beek and Strootman doesn’t seem to work (which I thought already before the match), in particular if Propper is playing the defensive mid role.

Anyway, I don’t think it matter who played where.

The team didn’t function in the first half. The tasks were made clear, we can be sure of that. But the execution was not great. To say the least.

Quite simple, the aggression wasn’t there. The front-foot forward pressing lacked. The team was too stretched with the back 3 too deep and the two forwards too high, resulting in a too big a stretch of pitch to control for Van der Beek, Strootman and Propper. The latter would be stick with his backline, while early in the game Kevin Strootman wanted to push up and Van de Beek as a result drowning against Slovakia’s main man Hamsik.

As a result, we could never put pressure on the ball, we allowed the opponent all the time on the ball and they can surely play ball if they get time and space.

And on top of that, the team wasn’t helped too well with about 5 early deep forward passes simply not reaching the forwards, resulting in early loss of possession. “That is not how you get to play football,” is what Koeman would say about that, after the game.

And when individual players (De Vrij, Blind) lose focus as well, it gets hard to win games.

Nemeth was supposed to be De Vrij’s man (the Slovakia is tall and strong in the air) but he smartly escaped from the new Inter signing and looked for the smaller Daley Blind.

The latter didn’t pick the striker up quick enough, some coordination issues with the former Feyenoord centre back, and as a result Blind was too late and went into the aerial duel half-assed. The header was perfect. Zoet was without a hope: 1-0.

Slowly in the first half, Oranje started to become stronger with the ball circulation pace going up and the forwards Promes and Memphis making threatening runs.

It did result in chances (Van de Beek, free-kick Memphis, curler by Van Aanholt) but it would take till the second half for Koeman to see his style of football being played.

The NT coach took Van de Beek off and brought Ruud Vormer for his debut. The 30 year old Brugge playmaker did what Koeman wanted and somehow the message got through to the rest of the team.

Sad for Van de Beek who was excellent against Portugal, like Propper. That is football.

Koeman: “I wasn’t yelling or overly angry at half time. Just disappointed and I told them this. We needed to go back to the key tasks as we discussed them before the game and just do it.”

In the second half, the Oranje team pressed more aggressively, played more compact and in particular Propper played higher up the park, pulling the defence along.

A good move resulted in Promes’ equaliser – forward pass De Ligt, Memphis in between the lines, good dummy run Van Aanholt and good shot Promes). It seemed Slovakia was getting tired and Oranje should have scored at least two more.

There were chances alright!  Vormer saw a ball flicked off the line, another 100% chance was hit straight at the goalie. Memphis had some chances, even Daley Blind partook in it, with a chance to make amends for his error.

Oranje had Slovakia in a tight grip in the second half, but as we lost the first half 1-0, we won the second with 0-1. Really, we should have put this game to rest.

Koeman: “I am not really too disappointed now. I saw a response in the second half. I also saw that the eleven on the pitch in the first half couldn’t fix it. That is useful information. I expected them to pick it up and I do hope they have learned from this experience. This is why we play friendlies. The first half: a lesson how we don’t want it to go!”

Ruud Vormer was the bright light in this friendly. The midfielder started his career under Van Gaal at AZ as a defensive mid. Aggressive but also a good passer. His only weakness, his lack of pace. He played here and there before going to Club Brugge. Feyenoord was his biggest club in Holland – under Koeman – but he was never able to push Clasie out of the team and left.

At Brugge, they put him on the creative playmaker spot and he never looked back.

Vormer: “What a season. We won the title, I got the golden boot and now this debut! But, I should have scored. I’m not a striker of course, but this ball should have gone in.” Sander Boschker is the oldest player ever to debut for Oranje, with 39 years old. The last 30-something player to make his debut was Ruben Schaken in 2012. It does seem Vormer can prepare to play some more in the orange jersey.

With Sneijder, De Jong, Van der Vaart, Van Persie all out of the picture, it’s good to have a more mature player in the squad. The balance in age needs to be there (Nigel de Jong said recently that he felt Hiddink let the older players go too early after 2014) and Vormer might well bring that.

All in all, not a great Oranje display but lots to hang on to. With Van Dijk coming into the squad, most likely a starting spot for Cillesen, we should be relatively solid, moving into the future. I also count Frenkie de Jong as a potential starter once he’s fit.

For Italy, we can expect a totally different line up. Most likely Vormer to start, with Wijnaldum in midfield. Babel in place of Promes. I do expect Memphis to start.

Van Dijk to replace Blind, Ake to replace Van Aanholt? Hateboer for Janmaat, definitely Cillesen of course. I guess we’ll see Vilhena, potentially Kongolo. Probably De Roon in the defensive mid role.

It’s all fun and games for now, the real deal is still a bit away.

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by Jan

Season end musings…

Crunch time in most leagues now. It’s the business end of the football season. Some trophies are handed out already, many still have to find an owner. And yes, I do think qualifying for EL football or not being relegated counts as a trophy too.

Let’s face it, the work coaches like Stijn Vreven (Nac), Fons Groenendijk (ADO Den Haag) and Mitchell van der Gaag (Excelsior) have done at their level might well be more impressive than what Cocu has done at PSV or Pep at Man City.

In these last weeks, there will also always be fascinating rumours of players coming and going of course.

The key news for us Oranje fans is the prelim squad for Oranje’s next two friendlies.

No big surprises for me. It’s nice to see Elia back in the prelim, as he is playing very well for his Turkish side (still in the title race) while Memphis might well start centrally, like at Ol Lyon. Allowing for another left wing player to join in.

Kongolo back in the squad is logical too. He’s holding his own at Huddersfield, who are safe now in the EPL. And he can play on three spots in the NT if needed.

A bit like Daley Blind, who’s also present and might make the definitive squad as Koeman will rely on him moving forward. Purely based on his recent performances, he doesn’t belong in the NT (as he didn’t have any performances) but he’ll need some rhythm coming back and he might need a mental boost. Koeman ignoring Daley now might make things worse for the ex Ajax man, who will probably leave United this summer.

The AZ threesome Til, Weghorst and Bizot are part of the prelim squad but I doubt that they’ll make it into the final squad. Koeman also invited some Young Oranje talent to the camp, as some players are still in the fold for silverware or other big decisions. Denzel Dumphries, the assist king of Heerenveen, will join, as will AZ’s Teun Koopmeiners, Groningen’s Juninho Bacuna, Feyenoord goalie Justin Bijlow and AZ’s Thomas Ouwejan.

Potential changes for the Dutch Eredivisie coming season…

PSV

At PSV, it seems Arias might be on his way to Juve, which would be a good move for PSV’s best player of the season. Jeroen Zoet wants to leave too, while TD Marcel Brands is on the hitlist to become Everton’s technical director. The former Feyenoord player has had a massive run as TD for RKC, AZ (won the title with Van Gaal) and now eight years at PSV.

Ajax

Van der Sar, Overmars and Ten Hag will stay on but heaps of rumours are going around for some of the key players. Ziyech wants to go and if he plays a good World Cup, he will land somewhere nice. Justin Kluivert has expressed his wish to stay, as his manager Raiola is making life hard for Ajax, in their quest to sign the youngster for a longer spell. He wants Justin to get 1,5 mio euros p.a. and 30% of any future transfer fee. Ajax says NO. Several Italian clubs (AS Roma, AC Milan) are in the race, as is Man United. Mathijs de Ligt can sign everywhere it seems and Man City seems to have the best papers to do so, but Barca and Bayern are after his signature as well. Frenkie de Jong is alleged to sign for Barca this summer, but will remain with Ajax for one more year. Goalie Onana is on hit lists too as is Neres, for whom a German bid of 27 mio euros is in the making. Zakaria Labyad (ex PSV) will make the move from FC Utrecht to Ajax to be reunited with Erik ten Hag. Fortuna’s central defender Per Schuurs already joined Ajax, as did left winger Bande.

Feyenoord

Jorgensen will have the focus during this World Cup and several English clubs are scouting him. Vilhena will want to move away too (Italy?) while Karim El Ahmadi might be in the position to make a big step for the last time in his career, particularly when/if Morocco does well vs Spain and Portugal. There is interest for Sven van Beek too and Steven Berghuis has had a sensational season for a right winger, with several Spanish clubs keen to jump in.

AZ

The wonderful performances of AZ will have caught the eye, with Wout Weghorst on his way out and Jahanbaksh (in the same group at the World Cup with Iran as Morocco) will definitely be swooped up (Lazio Roma? Napoli?).

There’s a lot of debate about this on Holland at the moment. Should Kluivert really go already? Is De Ligt really ready? Can Weghorst survive outside of the Eredivisie?

We’ve seen so many “top” players from the Eredivisie struggle in bigger competitions. Alves of Heerenveen for instance, scored for fun in Holland, never made it anywhere else. Kezman, top striker at PSV, didn’t score anywhere else. More recently: Depay at Man United, Janssen at Spurs, Luuk de Jong at Borussia and Newcastle, Van Wolfswinkel at Norwich, the list goes on and on…

There are some good examples too of course. Wesley Hoedt and Virgil van Dijk never played for a top 3 Eredivisie club and they did well. And a bit longer ago: Roy Makaay and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink of course. But Kluivert might do better just hanging a bit longer, as his first season at Ajax wasn’t that sensational.

Let the games begin!

In the meantime, Louis van Gaal claims to have an offer he can’t refuse (no one knows who that might be, but Arsenal fans held their breath when he made the statement), while Dick Advocaat is on the Zenit St Petersburg short list again. Peter Bosz – who played in France himself – is most likely moving to Nice.

In other news, Arjen Robben extended his stay at Bayern, while Belgian magician Luc Nilis will move from PSV to VVV as assistant coach. Stefan de Vrij allegedly signed a 5 year deal with Inter. Hans Hateboer is on the wish list of Borussia Dortmund.

 

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by Jan

Memphis: bright star!

Memphis Depay was traveling with the Olympique Lyon Foundation last January, for some benefit dinner for the homeless… They drove past a Roma camp outside of Lyon, a desolate little community of old caravans and rotting huts. Memphis asked the driver to stop. He’d seen this before and was intrigued. This time, he decided to step out of the car and check it out. The Lyon forward started talking to some kids in the camp and asked about their plight. A couple of days later, Depay revisited the camp with several of his friends and went to deliver a huge trailer with clothes and food.

“The Bible says: love thy neighbour like you love thyself,” Memphis says now, a few months later.

This interview wasn’t about the visit to the Roma camp. This interview was about his return to form at Lyon. “I love myself, a lot. So I can love others a lot too. You too, everyone. God created us all.”

When Memphis talks about his faith, he is open and genuine. Spontaneous even. And this takes some time to process, as the street player from Moordrecht is usually stern, unapproachable and aloof. he does mention his faith, on his insta account for instance, but every time a reporter talks to Memphis, it’s a short talk and it hardly ever is about the Bible or loving thy neighbour….

It’s always about his football, his image and his ambition. And in those talks, he’s headstrong, unfathomable and sometimes downright annoying. “God was there for me, always, but I wasn’t always there to recieve. But it has changed. I haven’t changed so much, my personality is the same, but things are added to me, I learned things. I developed. I think I changed for the better.”

And, maybe a coincidence, Memphis is better on the pitch than ever. For months already. The player who seemed to play with a straightjacket on at Man United and in his first months in Lyon, looks like a player liberated. And it shows in his stats: 16 goals, 12 assist. But the metamorphosis is best observed by watching him play 90 minutes. He plays in a free striker’s role, and he plays wonderful and full of confidence. The Dutchman is involved in every goal threatening situation by Lyon and might well be solely responsible for delivering CL football to Lyon.

“I’m playing my best football, ever? I appreciate it. I do think I’m going alright, I’m on the right path, but I don’t know where my ceiling is. No one knows, really. Only God. But I don’t play with fear, with uncertainty. I play without the brakes on and I will get to a new level at some stage. That, I am sure of.”

His tone of voice is completely different compared to our last conversation, at the end of 2015. Memphis was just at Man United for 5 months. He was fired up, he was eager to show his skills and he had a lot of anxiety, impatience and swagger.

Back then, he said: “I’m not sure what it is, but I don’t want to be average. Mainstream is not my thing. You get hit by a car, on the middle of the road, hahaha. And you, my dream was never to become a football. My dream was, to become the best footballer. That is my goal. And I can manage that, the pressure will never squash me.”

But the former Sparta talent did struggle, in the years after. With himself. With the plethoria of tasks he got from coach Van Gaal, playing from the left. If Memphis even played. Under Van Gaal and later under Mourinho, Memphis drifted out of the picture more and more. The confident top talent became a doubter, and this was visible at Oranje as well. He was unreachable, or he was vulnerable, or he was not interested… When he moved to Lyon in January 2017, he made his debut vs Lille with a crucial mistake. Sport paper L’Equipe was devastating in their opinions about him.

Memphis was struggling and his circle started to get concerned. He might have the image of a rapper with a lot of tattoos and gold and a guy with a difficult personality, but the forward is also hyper ambitious and very serious about his game and working extremely hard to reach his goals.

Memphis is working with a small circle of advisers, for years already, such as his manager Kees Ploegsma jr (son of the famous PSV technical director of the 1970s and 1980s) and sport psychologist Joost Leenders. They know his specific character, and his complex background. They looked for different ways to reach Memphis, but nothing seemed to work.

Memphis now: “The people who love me and care for me tell me things that are meant well. I am always polite to people who mean well, but the last years, I have closed myself of a bit. I needed to fully focus on football.”

His current way of celebrating, two fingers in his ears, is the symbol of that. It doesn’t mean he’s deaf for criticism, as some think. He usually does his fingers thing, and then drops to his knees and points to the sky, in thanks. “I only listen to God” is what he seems to say.

“I’m not religious in a way that I go to church or make Catholic crosses. I am fine with others doing what they do. For me, God is everywhere. I have a direct relationship with God, not via a church. God is everywhere.”

His faith helps him. Helps him find a way through the complex jungle that is top football. His fiancee Lori Harvey is the daughter of American tv star and comedian Steve Harvey. The Harveys are a devout Christian family. And Memphis mum was very religious as well. As a teenager, Memphis wasn’t.

“I met someone who showed me the way. I am super happy with this and highly appreciative. Not everyone has that peace, and neither did I when I was younger. I see players go onto the pitch in fear, with fear of making mistakes. Not that I had fear, so much. But whenever I played one or two passes wrong, it would get in my head. And I would think, ok next time, I need to play without risk… I don’t have this now, my head is free.”

The ones close to him saw this changes earlier when he dropped to the bench at Lyon. Usually, he’d drown in his own frustrations, like at Man United, but now, as a sub, he had massive value.

“Against Nantes last week, I missed a sitter. And when you start analysing this, your game will be affected by it. Now I think, ok. I missed. There is heaps of time left for me to set that right. And I was able to. I want to entertain the fans, I want to enjoy myself as well. And it’s not just goals. It’s also assists or dummy runs. That does give me something extra.”

Memphis is in a good space. And it shows. Last, when Oranje came together with Ronald Koeman as coach, Memphis was a happy-go-lucky fella. He was joking around with a reporter, was smiling for his interviews. And debutant Guus Til (AZ) said after the practice session that Memphis had come up to him directly, to bid him welcome at Oranje.

And now, at Lyon, he’s no longer the stern and stoic player we know from the past, eyes down and mumbling responses. He is now calm and positive. “It’s not in my football that I made changes. It’s also outside of the game. I can tell I’m changing. As a human being, I grew just by relying on my faith.”

We will have to wait and see in what way Oranje will benefit from his current form. But for Koeman, it would be golden, as Oranje can use a new key player with special skills. Against Portugal, the new Memphis was already visible.

And funnily enough, that might have been the game that changed the rest of his season, also at Lyon. His coach Genesio was on the stands in Geneva, at Portugal – Holland. He saw Memphis shine as a false number 9 and the next Lyon game, he gave Memphis a similar role. In this new 4-4-2 system, Depay is making a tremendous impression.

“I love playing freely in space, I need to be able to follow my instincts. Not that I don’t want to defend but playing strictly as a left winger is to limited for me.”

His popularity in France and The Netherlands is huge, particularly with the youth. He’s a sort of king on social media, in street fashion and in football. He was the centre of attention recently in Amsterdam, when Under Armour – his clothing sponsor – opened a new store. “I love it, talking with fans. I will take the time for it, and they tell me everything. It’s special. I do love to be alone but at times I have to give back and connect with the fans. And I do realise I can inspire people. I don’t think I’m that special, apart from football, but I will aim to inspire people if they need me to.”

 

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by Jan

Oranje experiments vs Angstgegner Portugal

For the non  Germanic speakers amongst us. An Angstgegner is an opponent that seems to always get the better of you. An opponent that instills fears in the hearts of the Orange Lions. An opponent we share a history with, and usually with not-so-good outcomes. In English it would be “anxiety opponent”.

Obviously, it’s Portugal I’m talking about.

Ronald Koeman will not be worried about the end result. He wants to keep on trying out new players and see other faces. Apparently he might change the team on 7 spots. Jesper Cillesen will definitely start, as will Tete in place of Hateboer. Ake might step in as centre back. According to the spies, Memphis and Wijnaldum will start for sure, as may Ryan Babel.

Koeman will keep on working on the system he started with at England, but will demand more “compactness” from the team without possession and much better quality in possession.

As he said after the England game: “You can’t expect us to just play England off the pitch in our first match.” I think a similar comment will be applicable for this match: “You can’t expect us to play European champions Portugal off the pitch in our second match.” And rightfully so.

The game will be played in Geneva, by the way, for some reason. So not as festive as a game in Holland, but also not as annoying as a game in Portugal…

I personally believe this 3-4-3 is not that ideal if you don’t have the players to execute it.

To sum it up, we need at least one central defender to be able to join in in midfield, with good passing abilities. For me, De Vrij/Van Dijk/De Ligt are too similar. I’d like to see Daley Blind in there.

I also believe that we need more leadership in midfield, from a tactical standpoint.

Against England, Henderson would drop deep which took Sterling back to midfield. They stretched Strootman and Wijnaldum who again had difficulties with the amount of space. We had a player over in the back and were lacking one in midfield. This Tottenham Hotspur system works well for the Spurs, but they have players like Son, Alli and Kane… We don’t…

Stefan de Vrij might not play, as his head might be a tad on his move to Internazionale, if we have to believe the Italian media. Apparently, Barcelona and Man City have shown interest as well and the Milan behemoth wants to do business quickly. I would normally suggest any Dutch player to sign with Barca and stay away from Inter, but as De Vrij is a defender, Inter might actually be great for him…

Ronald Koeman about his “system”: “I don’t use this system as a response to the opponent or something. I want to use this as our autonomous system, meaning we need to create things as well. Not just stop them. We didn’t create a lot against England, but then again: neither did they. I hear the English media were negative about us, but if we’re that bad, why didn’t England score four goals or more? I see this compact way of playing as the key to qualifying. I have gone from man to man marking to zonal marking and that is a big shift. We do need some more games to perfect it. We have four games to do so, before the real deal starts.”

Asked whether the debut game vs England was a failure, he is resolute. “Absolutely not. One has to start at some stage. If we would have picked Andorra or Luxembourg, we could have won and be proud and speak of a successful debut. But I don’t care about that. I care about perfecting the style we want to play in and against a strong opponent you know two things for sure: you can really test your strength, and you may lose… I don’t care, I want to see the progress and I want to see our players perform under pressure.”

So Monday evening, it’s Portugal. We don’t have very good stats vs the Portuguese…

In 2004, at the Euros in Portugal, we lost 2-1 in the semi finals. Ronaldo and Maniche score in the first hour and the Andrade own goal didn’t do much for us. Portugal got into the finals and got embarrassed by Greece.

In 2006, the Battle of Neuremburg happened. The Russian ref Ivanov produced 20 cards in total and I think he red carded one player twice. Or he yellow carded a player thrice. Or he sent a birthday card to Van Basten, I can’t remember. Again, Maniche scores for Portugal. No one knows where it went wrong. Oranje was tight as a string, following some internal issues (Van Nistelrooy, Van Bommel) and Cocu famously hit the bar, as Tiju famously keeps on ranting about how Kuyt cost us the tournament. Or something. Or Memphis. Can’t remember that either. Trying to block this game from memory as I do with Tiju.

In 2012, Holland has a chance to progress but it needs to win vs Portugal, after having lost against the Danes and the Germans. Rafael van der Vaart scores the first one and hits a similar shot on the post. Two C Ronaldo goals from a counter later and Holland goes home.

In 2000, I think we lost against Van Gaal as well. Two qualification games vs Portugal. We lost 0-2 at home. Famously, the right full back Reiziger played on the left and his misplaced pass ended up in the feet of an opponent. The other goal came when the Oranje defense stopped playing as some moron (Tiju??) blew a whistle on the stands. The Dutch players thought the game was stopped, the Portuguese players didn’t. In the away game, we took revenge and were 0-2 up with 10 minutes to go. Van Gaal was keen to kill Portugal off and brought two extra strikers in the last stage of the game. When the last whistle sounded, it was 2-2.

Didn’t we ever win against these guys?? Yes we did. In qualifying for the EC1992 in Sweden. Portugal had won at their home, 1-0. And it was Richard Witschge who scored the winner for us in De Kuip, 1-0. Enough for us to qualify.

Lets add another win tonight.

I say: 0-2 for Holland. Memphis scoring and a debut goal by Justin Kluivert…

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by Jan

Buckle up! Oranje starts again!

We had our time, for crying, for mourning, for self-obsessed analysis and for memories…

Now is the time to look forward again. As our EC2020 campaign will start now basically!

Huh? I hear you think… no, the campaign doesn’t start until the qualifiers? But Koeman is quite clear: we will take every minute moving forward serious. There will be no “friendlies”, we will not have Wesley Sneijder being carried off the pitch as a sentimental gesture.

Koeman made his intentions clear from the start: no more Hotel Oranje, no more press in the hotel, no more visits to cafes and restaurants and beach walks… We work behind closed doors now and we work.

Koeman bring a level of urgency to the job. Impatience. But the former Barca skipper also has a bit of humour. When an English reporter asked him at the press conference why his statue wasn’t among the statues in Zeist of Oranje legends (Cruyff, Michels, Bergkamp, Gullit) he responded: “Well, I wasn’t good enough clearly. But in two years I might get a statue…” Followed by a wry smile.

When players or guests walk onto the Zeist complex, they’ll see several photos. We can see the Oranje 1988 group, photos of the Big Four in South Africa 2010 (in case you forgot: Van Persie, Van der Vaart, Sneijder, Robben) and the last photo on the wall is the current generation: Memphis, Wijnaldum, De Vrij, Dost…

The world class player has left the building for now, and Koeman will have to replace these players by building a solid team. “The reality is, that team spirit and playing style will be more important than the individual quality we can muster.”

Koeman and Dwight Lodeweges

Koeman stepped into a record low situation before. He joined Feyenoord in 2011, when the proud club was number 10 in the Eredivisie and had lost 10-0 against PSV only months before. He came in and created clarity. He developed a simple playing style, he gave the youngsters his trust and he demanded one thing: sharpness. Focus. Commitment. (That’s three things, Ronald!)

At his first training session, they did a rondo (circle of players with 1 or 2 in the middle having to take the ball from the others). Koeman joined in and never spent a second in the middle. He was still the best player. Last Monday, with Oranje, he did the same thing. He joined in the rondo and showed them who he was. “Sometimes you need to demonstrate why you are the Boss.”

At Feyenoord, he said: “My door is always open. If you don’t get something, just come in and ask me.” No player ever did. Not because they were afraid, but because he was crystal clear in what he expected.

Koeman is happy with the move to Zeist. “In Noordwijk, they would take 15 mins to go from car to the lobby, due to all the media and friends. Then they’d shake hands and go to their room to come out later for dinner. Now, it’s different, we close the door behind the complex and we’re free to roam, we hang out, some players check the gym, some starting to play table tennis. Its more intimate for us. Less distractions.”

Koeman spent his weeks before the coming together of the Oranje lions with a plethora of people. Former coaches Hiddink, Blind, Van Gaal. Ex players Robben, Sneijder. Coaches Van Bronckhorst, Van de Brom, Cocu, Ten Hag and others. “I want to have a clear and broad picture. You only have one chance to prepare for your first weeks.”

One of the things he heard: Oranje needs more discipline. “I think we will work hard now and in May (Italy and Slovakia friendlies) to create clarity. Once we start with the Nations League, we need to be ready. Players need that clarity, but so do I.”

What can we expect for the England game? Koeman: “You can expect to see a team with an attitude, with a will to win. A team that will play for a good result.”

Dost, Hateboer, De Roon

Asked about the potential return of Van Persie, Koeman says this: “He never retired from international duties, like Robben and now Sneijder. And I’m not interested in age. I’m interested in quality and you can see even in his short runs in the Feyenoord team that he still has that quality. So, when he’s fit and in form, why not?”

A new system also seems to be way to go for Oranje under Koeman. New hotel, new training complex, no more dominant superstars and also a move to the 3-4-3 or 5-3-2. Hans Hateboer, the right wing back of Atalanta: “Yeah, I guess that is why I am here.” Stefan de Vrij of Lazio: “I am feeling comfortable in the 5-3-2 system and I think most players do, these days.”

A lot of smiling faces, but Bas Dost’s face predicts a storm. “Well, I came here to show my worth, dammit. I’m getting sick of being told that I’m good enough to be top scorer in Portugal but I can’t do shit in Oranje. I’m sick of it.” Dost never made a dent in Oranje. “I made my debut in a friendly, in which we played 5-3-2. After that I had some sub turns in different systems, with different players around me. I was never sure what was expected from me. After the Sweden at home game, I was done with Oranje. I had had it. But that was then. I’m feeling super fit, I’m good in my head, I really want to be part of it again, under this new coach. And I do hope we will get clarity. If Koeman tells me he wants to use another player, fine. As long as I know.”

Guus Til

Memphis is very aware of the clock ticking. The former worldclass talent is now 24 years old and still not a certain starter for Lyon. Ronald Koeman is convinced: “I wanted to sign Memphis for Everon. So I invited him to my home in England and we spent some time together. I actually think he’s a great prospect. Sometimes I see things of him in the media and I think: you should have done that differently, but he’s definitely a great kid with the potential to be our future leader on the pitch. He has above average qualities. But it’s up to him too. I’m willing to do what I must to get the best out of him, but it takes two to tango.”

The Oranje team vs England will probably look something like this:

Zoet

De Vrij    Van Dijk   De ligt

Hateboer   Wijnaldum   Propper   Van Aanholt

Promes    Dost    Memphis

Strootman and Berghuis will most likely play the second friendly vs Portugal. The choice of goalie is still a question mark but I think Koeman will go for the PSV goalie, who is in good form and plays regularly, with Cillesen as #2.

The last decision to be made: the new skipper for Oranje.

Strootman was in the hierarchy before. De Vrij skippered Feyenoord under Koeman and Van Dijk seems to be a strong candidate as well, with Daley Blind on the short list as well, once he’s fit and playing regularly again.

Below, photos of the new Oranje home at Zeist.

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