Tag: The Netherlands

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

Frenkie: “We have so much room to grow!”

The competitions have started again. And with a focus on the Dutchies, it’s clear that we are seeing – mostly – pretty decent developments. Yes, Mathijs de Ligt might need a tad more time to get used to Sarri’s new way of playing for Juve. Even Bonucci says in interviews he needs more time himself! And yes, Luuk de Jong hasn’t scored yet (but don’t worry: he will). Cillesen is allowing goals, yes, and maybe he’s not as good as Neuer or Kapa or De Gea but he’s still good enough for Oranje.

It’s all good news. PSV’s forwards, Ajax’ continuous run, AZ’s talents knocking on the door, but also the return to fitness of Danjuma, the goals of Weghorst, the minutes made by Chong and most importantly the key role Frenkie is playing already in this Barcelona. Only Feyenoord is a bit of an up and down team at the moment… Epically beating Porto and then losing horrifically against Fortuna Sittard? But all good lessons for the players and hopefully they’ll find their spine soon.

Frenkie oozes confidence: “We have made a good run with Oranje, but now we really need to win the next two matches as we will make a giant leap forward to qualification. Northern Ireland is the key game, and away against Belarus, well…with all due respect, we really should win that. We will have the upperhand vs Germany and Northern Ireland in terms of 1v1 result and we have it all in our own hands.” Frenkie has a right to be cocky. He started in 10 of Barca’s 11 official matches and the media can’t stop talking him up. He’s seen as a real asset, providing creativity and solutions from midfield and accelerating the game where possible. Some media even claim that the current Barcelona team is struggling to keep up with Frenkie’s game!

“Yes its going well, but I never worried about that. For me, it’s new team mates and a new stadium and a new country and language, but the football for me is always the same. I wouldn’t know how to play differently. Barca signed me with their full brain, as we say in Holland, and they know what they’re getting. And to be honest, we’re not playing that well. We can still do so much better. But a Barca that plays average, always has a Suarez or a Messi to break the deadlock. That bycicle kick of Suarez? He doesn’t it constantly in training. That was meant to happen like this, I can tell you. And I am as surprised by what he does as the fans are, hahaha. We have so much quality, we can always find an opening.”

Oranje is not that far progressed. “Not yet!”, Frenkie smiles. “But we will work towards this. I believe we can play better but if you see how we played partly during the Nations League semi finals and the second half vs Germany… That is the level we need to hold on to. We can still improve and that is a good thing! We all sense there is room to grow.”

The goal is reaching the Euro2020 tournament. “I did play final tournaments in the youth system. It’s really good fun to play at those, but this one is the real deal! It’s a disgrace in a way that The Netherlands missed out twice! I really want to be part of the group that will qualify again.”

Another player who entered the trainings camp for Oranje with his chest out is skipper Virgil van Dijk. “We’re now 8 points ahead of Man City with Liverpool! Who would have thought that so early in the season. Wow! Winning the CL with Liverpool was huge, but winning the title in England will be even bigger. We want to win everything now, the title, the FA Cup, the World Cup for clubs, everything!”

Van Dijk never played a final tournament. Not even in the youth. “Four years ago, I made my debut vs Kazachstan. Boy, what a difference. Things didn’t go so smoothly, to say the least. And if you look at the steps we made since then? It can go quickly and it all is based on the talent coming through. It’s cyclic I think and we’re on a good run now.”

Van Dijk wants to temper the euphoria. “We haven’t won a single thing yet. Yes it’s going well but Thursday, Northern Ireland…it will be tough. Yes, it’s a full Kuip and all this, but I know the Northern Ireland team and I know most of their players and I’m telling you: it will be a tough match! But no matter how you look at it: we want to win and we will qualify because we are ready. We have the players, the technical staff, the history, the fans, we simply belong at that stage.”

Ronald Koeman was asked about this new look Oranje. His analysis. “It all comes in waves. I was also part of a young group in the 1980s that had to be brought in because Oranje was disappointing on all levels. With Vanenburg, Van Basten, Gullit… And we were kids. But we had the pizzazz, we had the courage and some luck. Now, we see another tremendous generation knocking on the doors of the top. Frenkie de Jong, two seasons ago, was not yet a certainty. Virgil was overlooked by most clubs, Dumfries, Ake, Van De Beek… And there is more coming and that is wonderful. I also believe we changed things at club level. Today most clubs have their players 8 hours per day. In the years before, other countries trained harder. Longer. Players were fitter. Today, I think we can compete.”

Asked why Koeman is not open to make changes in his squad (think Weghorst vs Luuk or bringing in Stengs instead of Berghuis), he said: “You have to understand that I have been working with these lads for 1,5 years now and we don’t have a lot of time before matches to fit in new players. There is always that urge to give younger talents chances, but we need to win Thursday. I don’t have time to focus on a young player coming in and getting him into the system. It’s definitely something I long to do, I can also see we have some good players coming through, but I want to do it slowly but surely. I selected Berghuis over Stengs, both left footed forwards, because Steven has the experience within Oranje. He has been part of Oranje for years, on and off. But Stengs is definitely knocking on the door. Koopmeiners too, a player I am following. He has leadership skills, great feet, mentally strong, so yes. And there are more options, I am aware but we will find the right time to start to include these new lads.”

Asked about the Weghorst / Luuk de Jong debate. “Weghorst scores easily and now he has a number of goals while Luuk hasn’t, but I don’t look at that only. I look at what they do without the ball and how they can be of use for the team. As a pinch hitter, I think Luuk offers more. More “gogme”, more smarts and experience. Luuk is great in holding up the ball and finding team mates, with his head or chest or feet. Wout is more a finisher. But you can’t claim Luuk doesn’t know how to score, right? He was Eredivisie top scorer so he knows how to do it.”

Asked about Mo Ihattaren. “It’s clear that he will become a European top player. No doubt. We really want him to play for Oranje, but considering his private situation (Mo’s dad recently died) we have said we would give him time. I am not going to stalk him, particularly not now. He is only 17 years old and he needs to decide on his own time.”

He did have to drop players, as for instance Donny van de Beek is back to full fitness. “I decided to drop a midfielder extra as Davy Propper isn’t fit either. We now have one extra forward. I think it’s legit, as we will be playing opponents who will want us to have the ball. Tonny Vilhena was part of Oranje for years now, so it’s hard on him, but things will keep changing, I’m sure. Players get injured, or we need more midfielders maybe against other opponents. The least fun thing for a team manager is calling players who are loyal and have had contributions to tell them they are not needed. I do look at how polyvalent a player actually is, of course, and with the likes of Donny but also Malen we have players who can play on more than one spot. I think Malen can play on 4 positions… That is rich.”

The Northern Ireland match is seen as a key match and a difficult one.

I think Holland will thrash them: 4-0. The Belarus away game will probably prove to be more difficult… Malen, Memphis, Donny and De Ligt on the score sheet.

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by Jan

Oranje nicely on track for Euro qualification

Well, that title had to wait for years to be written again. After a failed Euros in 2012 and a missed one in 2016 (and a no-show at the 2018 World Cup), finally Oranje seems on track to qualify for a big tournament again.

This is mostly good news, but keep reading until the end, as I will finish this post with a horror scenario….

We lost vs Germany at home but got the points back by beating them even better in Hamburg (last Friday).

There’s a couple of smaller footballing nations in our group and every one knows, you can’t win trophies if you don’t beat the small opponents.

And Estonia away is one of those matches. We drew twice against them before (and those were the big highlights in their football history) and Koeman and Co were warned for another deception. Imagine grabbing 3 points in an epic match in Germany and spilling the points vs Estonia!?

The 0-4 was the result of a patient, focused and at times lethal Oranje, with Ryan Babel and Memphis as Men of the Match and special mention for Donyell Malen!

The PSV youngster got his first starting spot, after scoring as a sub versus the Teutons.

Koeman: “When you play the smaller nations, they will make the space limited and we’ll need extra depth and speed to break open their defensive structures. Malen is a player who can do this.”

Malen came in for Promes.

He also selected Propper for the midfield spot, over Marten de Roon: “Davy was a starter before he got injured and he’s proven himself to be a potential starter, like a couple of others in the squad. De Roon’s strength is repossessing the ball. That is what does so well. But vs Estonia this quality is less relevant as we will have most of the possession anyway and I can use a player like Propper more, as he has the same passing qualities and fleet of footness of Frenkie de Jong. Davy plays simple, but he also has an eye for the forward pass.” Propper for De Roon in other words.

The last member of the right flank – Dumfries – was also sacrificed for Joel Veltman. “Veltman has better ball control. Denzel lost possession a tad easy and got us in trouble as a result. We won’t be needing Denzel’s runs forward, as we won’t have the space vs Estonia. So I prefer a more thrifty player, who also has a very good cross, which could be useful.”

Tactically, Oranje set up differently to the Germany start line up. Ryan playing more to the left, keeping the field wide, while Malen was the ideal distractor with his runs, contribution in particular to Babel’s second goal, with a superb run.

It was two defenders with the first opportunities to score, early on. Virgil tried it with a blistering shot from distance, just sailing past the post and Joel Veltman broke the line once but ended up in offside and a second chance came to him when the goalie boxed the ball right towards him. His side-footed attempt sailed over the bar.

It was Frenkie in the 16th minute who found Daley Blind on the left winger position with a nice pass, and the left footed Blind placed the ball with a curve right in that danger zone between defence and goalie, allowing for any hungry forward to have a tap in. It was Ryan Babel, 32 years old but playing like a 22 year old, who was first at the scene: 0-1.

The Galatasaray forward was already one of the better players vs Germany, this time he got his reward. All the potential excitement about the game was gone early in the second half, when Babel scored his second after a great attacking move. Malen set it up, and made a forward run into the box, pulling a central defender away from Babel… Memphis got the ball on the right flank and crossed it in sharply in one go. Babel is not known for his heading skills but he nodded the ball with great composure into the corner: 0-2.

Great stats for the former Liverpool winger, but the King of Stats is still Memphis, who played a super game yet again. He saw a gap, ran into the space while De Ligt carried the ball forward. The former Ajax skipper recognised the opportunity and passed the ball perfectly into Depay’s stride. His first touch was brilliant, the turn was as well and with his left, curled the ball into the corner: 0-3.

The objective was reached. And from that moment on it was important for all to keep their ankles and knees healthy. Late in the game, a fourth goal was scored, Memphis with the assist from a set piece and Wijnaldum nicking the ball from Virgil’s forehead and heading in the final goal: 0-4.

Memphis could have had 2 assists AND 2 goals but he kicked a sitter just next to the post, otherwise his stats would have been even better!

Koeman allowed Berghuis 15 minutes, with Strootman and Luuk de Jong getting playing time as well.

Donyell Malen does deserve a special mention even though he didn’t score and didn’t have an assist. From the first minute onwards, Malen did exactly what Koeman required from him: making runs in behind, even if only 10% of these runs get rewarded with a pass his way.

Usually, the forwards will be facing their own goal (and back to opponents goal) when the opponent parks the bus. Memphis will make runs in behind, and Wijnaldum will attempt this now and then, but with Malen we have a player who will do this all day long. And his running actions will add to the chaos at the back of Estonia and in particular with the 0-2 you can see what the value is of an unselfish dummy run.

There is one aspect though, that will potentially give us all a headache!

Koeman’s contract ends formally in 2020, after the Euros. There is an evaluation moment in the contract, allowing both Koeman and the KNVB to part ways. With all the successes Koeman is having and with the fact that he still has Barca blood in his veins AND the fact he knows exactly how to use Frenkie de Jong, it’s quite likely that Barcelona will knock on his door once Valverde is done and dusted in the Camp Nou.

Examples above and below of the typical runs Donyell Malen kept on making….

And will Ronald Koeman have the strength to say no? Probably not.

He had two dreams as a coach. One, to coach Holland (tick!). And the other, to coach Barca.

Should that second dream be close, he might accept abandoning dream 1 (with a Euro title?) and hop on the Barca-train (to use Koeman’s expression).

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by Jan

Resilient Oranje thrashes Germany

This post is dedicated with gratitude to my dear friend Bob. You know why :-).

NOTE: English highlights at the bottom of this post!

We all like to say and think that Dutch football is on the way up, but at the same time…we’re all still quite vulnerable… Frenkie isn’t playing on his favorite spot at Barca, De Ligt makes a number of obvious mistakes at Juve, Memphis wasn’t able to make a move to a top club, Promes isn’t really making it hard for Ten Hag at Ajax and has to work his way into the Ajax team, and more.

So when Arch Enemy #1 Germany is on the roster, a lot of people would watch the match with an extra set of diapers on… The Germans… they always have a tough team to beat, they always develop talent and they know how to win games…

In the Volkspark Stadium in Hamburg, where Oranje dealt with West Germany back in 1988, Holland started sparkling. Forward pressure, high up the park, quick pass and move play while Germany clearly was playing compact from a more deeper position.

Germany playing counter football in their own home? Deja Vu to the 1980s?

Marathon Man Gini

But despite Holland getting the first shooting opportunity (Memphis testing the fists of Neuer), it’s Germany again, countering to 1-0 in the first 10 mins of the game.

A series of “mistakes” allow this to happen… No pressure from Wijnaldum on the ball (Toni Kroos!), Blind and De Ligt pressing forward – even with Koeman explicitly telling them not to “bite” to early – while Van Dijk drops back a bit and blocks the offside trap!

And Promes not realising Kloostermann was sprinting away from him, just on-side, and preparing the Gnabry goal… Cillesen did his best but the rebound was too much.

With the 1-0, Germany even sat deeper still waiting for more counter opportunities (which did come and Cillesen had to act with a strong hand to keep Werner from scoring their second).

Oranje had the ball but failed to really create chances. The flow wasn’t there. Reasons? For starters, Koeman’s tactical trick didn’t work.

The idea was to have Babel as centre striker (like he did at Galatasaray) and Memphis in a free role. Promes was supposed to cover the left flank – as Blind doesn’t do wingback – while Dumfries was supposed to cover the right flank – he does do wingback. De Roon would drop into the right back zone to cover for Denzel and to assist in the build up.

Blissful contributions by Babel

This is where it went wrong. The Germans were happy for De Roon to build up and allowed him the ball. And De Roon is a good player, but not a great play maker or passer. What definitely didn’t help either, was Dumfries inability to keep the ball and/or do something solid with it.

The PSV right back is lauded for his strength, his mentality, his legs/lungs, and his fighting spirit… But he is also known to have “hard feet”. Meaning…lack of technique. And it showed.

Dumfries was launched into a very promising opportunity by Memphis, getting into the box but almost stumbling over his own feet. Most of his actions failed on the flank, and it was clear Oranje’s right flank (De Roon, Dumfries, Babel) wasn’t working.

Orange jersey suits Malen really well

It happens. We’re not going to suddenly crucify Dumfries for being who he is. But we do need better quality. If Holland wants to win trophies, we do need top notch players on all positions. De Roon and Dumfries might just be lacking in that. They’re good, but not world class (like Memphis, Wijnaldum, Frenkie and Van Dijk).

When Propper and Malen came on (and Promes moved to the right) in the second half, there simply was more pizzazz and class in the team. And with De Roon suspended for the next game, I expect Propper to come in and stay in (maybe until Van de Beek is fit again).

The switch in the second half to bring Babel back to the left worked, with Wijnaldum now having more space to work with.

What a photo! Memphis at the top of his game!

Oranje remained patience and was fully focussed on attacking Germany when they looked vulnerable, with Babel and Wijnaldum setting traps all the time. And it was Babel who was instrumental in getting Holland back in the game, with a cross that was finished by Frenkie in perfect style. A wonderful first touch, followed by a side footed controlled finish: 1-1.

We love emphasising how good we are, but truth be told, Germany defended horrifically. New central defender pairing Ginter and Tah made a mess of most situations and a corner and Virgil header was the prologue to another howler. Memphis brought the ball back into the 5 yard zone, Babel did some silly step over – back heel trick (that failed) and Tah decided to stick his leg out: 1-2. Babel walked away with a sheepish grin on his face.

I was personally confident that my 1-3 prediction was going to make it, but not long after the 1-2 the ref decided to help the poor Germans a bit, with the execution of a poor new hand ball rule.

Part of the problem. Five Oranje players high up the pitch against a compact Germany… Hardly any space to operate in, with a disappointing partnership between Babel, Gini and Memphis.

“Every hand ball in the box is now a penalty” is the new rule, apparently.

So Matthijs de Ligt blocks a cross successfully. The ball goes up in the air. De Ligt loses sight. The ball drops on the ground but brushes past De Ligt’s arm. There is no way the German player could have re-capture the ball. There was no threat, danger, whatsoever, but the ref decided: penalty.

Cillesen is starting to become a better penalty killer, but there was no stopping Kroos’ decisive spot kick: 2-2.

Germany seemed to think the 2-2 was fine. The pace was slow, they were sloppy and Holland simply wanted the win more. And did more to force the win.

And boy, did we have another trap ready for them. We took the ball high up the park, on the left hand side, again. Babel playing his part, Memphis slotted the ball through to Wijnaldum who – under pressure – was able to flick the ball perfectly to Donyell Malen who was able to celebrate his first goal in his debut game for Oranje: 2-3. A brilliantly worked goal!

The German goal: no pressure on the ball, Blind/De Ligt pressing forward while Virgil drops back and ruins the offside trap while Promes is surprised by the run of the full back….

Germany needed to find a third wind, to salvage a point and in doing so was vulnerable even more.

Koeman felt 2-3 was good enough and took Babel off. The veteran did his job and Nathan Ake was brought in to secure the win. Blind moved further to the left and Malen and Memphis played upfront, with Frenkie, Propper and Gini Wijnaldum in midfield.

A wonderful interception by the fresh Ake resulted in a wonderful pass to Memphis, who saw in his peripheral vision one of the strongholders of Oranje making a 60 meter dash – we are talking the last minute of the game!! – into the box. Memphis pass was pitch perfect and Wijnaldum only needed to put his side foot to the ball: 2-4.

A perfect final chord from one of Oranje’s key performers.

Eat this!

And the result of all of this is quite good…

The result is perfect: 3 points and in the bilateral match up, Holland now edges Germany and might win the qualification.

We also demonstrated to the world that we are a team to be reckoned with.

We worked on our confidence and flow.

Koeman will have seen that it’s time for a better right back and time to have a player like Propper back in the starting line up, versus workman De Roon.

Oranje under Koeman seems to be strong in coming back into the game after conceding and Koeman impresses with his subs, but…one could also say: stop coming back from behind by not conceding in the first place and start the game with the right eleven! Hahahaha :-).

The future is bright, with Rick Karsdorp getting back into full fitness (my preferred RB option), while Kenny Tete will also be back soon. Hateboer and Janmaat (when back in the starting eleven for Watford) will also be options, as is Hoeve.

As for the midfield, Van de Beek will make his return, Ihattaren will be a great prospect  to have and on top we also have Eijting, Stengs and even Adam Maher as options.

I will post more on the talent coming up soon!

For now, lets enjoy this one more day and then focus on that ever difficult away game vs Estonia!

And share your thoughts below!

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