Tag: Weghorst

by Jan

Playful Oranje dazzles in De Kuip

Evening matches in De Kuip are a joy. The stadium is big but cosy. The fans love it there and usually, so do the players. It has a real football vibe and usually the pitch is perfect. This season, not so much, but still, the atmosphere is amazing.

Louis van Gaal was not happy with the 0-1 versus Latvia, in the sense that he feels the second goal needs to come swift and as we play at home vs minions Gibraltar, we needed to entertain the fans.

For this, he went with almost the same eleven as used versus Latvia, with the addition of Lang on his fave left winger spot in place of the injured Gakpo and Wijnaldum back in place of Guus Til.

Gibraltar coach protested the use of Lang and Danjuma AND two balls!

Before the match, Louis explained how he expects Gibraltar also to have 1 or 2 chances, how he wants the forward pass quicker and demand more courage and creativity of his players.

He didn’t choose to hussle the team up. It would have been nice to see Malacia in action, with De Ligt and maybe Koopmeiners or Gravenberch, but Lous decided to build on his fave eleven, with the eyes firmly on next month’s key matches.

He also decided not to use a real #9, as was suggested by some experts in the Netherlands. “If you want goals against smaller nations, use a target man like De Jong or Weghorst”. Louis acknowledged the idea as a possible option but decided against it, by explaining the tremendous stats and workrate of Memphis as his key reason.

And the Barca man didn’t let his coach down: 2 goals and a missed pen plus 2 assists for the record breaker. He took Kluivert’s record of most goals scored in the NT in  calendar year (was 12, now 13).

At this rate, the often criticised artist will become the NT’s top goal scorer, top assister and most capped international.

Van Gaal will have been pleased to see how his forwards again were the key players in the 6-0 win over Gibraltar. We did what we needed to do: a quick goal by the captain, and the chance on a quick second goal. The penalty was justified, but Memphis was stopped by the debutant in goal for Gibraltar. Memphis’ 0-2 was a beauty with a tremendous pre-assist by Noa Lang.

And with Lang, we have another one of the top performers. The cheeky and gifted left winger was a constant threat with his dancing feet in the first half, impressing with his skill, his combination play, his dribbles and his through passes. With Danjuma nocking on the door with a sledgehammer, Lang could well play as a #10 as well. That makes me lick my lips. Great player.

So, Louis wanted to see Noa play and boy did he see him.

It must be said, there were no duds against Gibraltar although some players could shine a bit more (Memphis, Noa, Danjuma) than others (Frenkie de Jong, Bijlow).

Skipper leads the way

Van Gaal wanted goals, he wanted a clean sheet, he wanted his players to remain healthy and he wanted to entertain the public.

And he got all he wanted.

After the match, there was a positive vibe at the presser, with Denzel Dumfries and Arnaut Danjuma being feted and Van Gaal allowed the platform to gloat and shower praise over his lads. “This is a very very tight and good group!”.

I think it is clear that the quality will be there for us, right when we need it.

With Gakpo, Danjuma, Bergwijn, Lang and Malen, we have multiple options for the left winger role.

Lang and Gakpo can play #10 as well. Malen is actually a #9 (for me) and Lang and Danjuma can also play right winger, giving Louis options besides Berghuis.

Assist Weghorst, goal Danjuma!

With our central defenders, our goalkeeper, central midfielder and leader of the line Memphis, I think we’re in pretty good shape.

And yes, I know it was against Gibraltar, but I have seen so many matches of big name national teams (yes, our Oranje as well) struggling against the Cyprus/Malta/Andorra/San Marino/Gibraltar type opponents. Usually, you do win, but at times with limited score lines and lots of frustration.

This time, the team kept at it. Kept playing within the shape, disciplined, with frills and trickery.

Weghorst could have had a goal, Danjuma could have had a couple of assists. Danjuma: “I was waiting to come on with Wout and I said to him: where do you want them? He said: near post. I said, ok… Hard and low, near post. Make sure you are there!”.

Memphis Depay led the line like a real world class player that he can be. He fought, he made dummy runs, he assisted, created and scored. And even missed a pen!

Now, fans also want the tie of the coach!!

Lang and Danjuma will not leave the squad any time soon and De Vrij seems to have won the RCB spot from his best friend De Ligt.

For me, the midfield combination and the right back spot are still question marks. I’m a fan of Dumfries’ personality, his energy and mentality, but he is not good enough to play along in these type of tight games (tight as in “spaces are tight”).

Van Gaal will now focus on the last two matches: an away win v Montenegro means we only need a draw at home against Norway.

My player ratings:

Bijlow – 7

Didn’t do much wrong. Didn’t do much. Stopped a shot on goal from an off side Gibraltar player. Showing off.

Daley Blind – 7.5

Was active. Good passing range. Had several ventures in the box as a midfield-type runner. His team tried to reach him with passes over the top but it didn’t fall for him.

Virgil van Dijk – 7.5

Playing very high and was rewarded with a goal, the first one. A captain’s goal.

Stefan de Vrij – 7.5

Playing high up the pitch. Suffocating anything he could. Attacking prowess leading to (missed) penalty. Great long range passing.

Denzel Dumfries – 6.5

Doesn’t do much wrong but lack of technique and touch makes him a stumbling block in the velvety moves on the right. As always: great energy.

Frenkie de Jong – 6.5

Did his thing, let things ticking over. His long passing game was not 100% and he seemed not needed in this game.

Gini Wijnaldum – 7

Working hard as per usual. Made some great defensive sprints, when needed. Always available and close to a super goal after a great move involving Berghuis and Memphis.

Davy Klaassen – 7,5

Great understanding with Memphis. Wonderful timed runs, great energy and a top assist for Memphis.

Noa Lang – 8,5

First start. Dominant from first minute on. Played with discipline but also with a boldness not seen often, playing through balls with the outside foot, wandering across the whole pitch and setting the pace for the attacks.

Memphis – 9

Constantly hassling, probing, threatening. Allowing his team mates to shine with some good assists and demonstrating his skills in the small spaces. Got two goals, two assists, but should have had a hattrick. Passed some great names on the topscoring list and setting record after record.

Steven Berghuis – 7.5

Good performance, but never outstanding. Combination play was sumptuous, his crossing and shooting was thwarted. Great set piece deliveries too. He was booed by a small part of the (Feyenoord) Oranje fans whenever he had the ball. It didn’t seem to bother him much, but Van Gaal was dumbfounded by these “fans'” reactions.

Arnaut Danjuma – 8.5

Very lively play by the football professor. He’s fast, explosive, strong, direct to goal kinda guy. Took on opponents, had some potential assists, demonstrated a great rapport with his team mates and got his goal too. The golden wonder boy is back.

Wout Weghorst – 7.5

Wout does what Wout does and got an assist too. Should have scored with his head, but the ball should have gone 1mm further over the line. So unlucky.

Donyell Malen – 7.5

I feel for Donny. He is not the best left winger nor the best striker in our NT. But he’s an awesome player: fast, also direct to goal in his approach and a good ball player. He played right winger and looked better there now than he did under Frank de Boer. Scored his goal and is a great super sub to have.

Louis van Gaal – 8

He motivated and inspired the troops. He picked the right eleven. He got the tactics right. He used his subs well. If he does this with Oranje versus France, Italy, Germany and Brazil, he will get a higher mark.

Your views?

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by Jan

UPDATED: Oranje playing for 6 points

We have seen some lively discussions off late, about Berghuis, Lang and Danjuma. Keep the debate going, as I’m sure things will heat up even more, the closer we get to the World Cup!

This is the second to last international break re: WC qualifications and the only break that offers LVG some time to experiment, somewhat. He has 2 days more than normal and he has two relatively easy opponents to worry about.

We have seen freak results in the past (Faroer Islands!!) but surely we can beat Latvia and Gibraltar. With these six points on top of the current number, we are well positioned for the last series of games. Obviously, if Norway and Turkey drop points in this round themselves, life will be easier even.

In a disappointing press conference, LvG discussed the key talking points. I will mention them briefly as most of these have been debated already on this blog.

Here are some key points:

  • Danjuma – the media started to imply that LvG had been sleeping while Danjuma took the European football world by surprise with his dazzling turn v Man United in the CL.
    • “Really? Do you think we don’t have scouts? Do you think I don’t watch La Liga? Oh… well, I am very aware of him. And he is good player, but he made his transfer late in the window, he needed some time to settle and started on the bench. He now has some good games under his belt, that is excellent. And when he can keep this level up, yes, he will be part of the squad again. But this series of games came to early.”
  • Goal keepers – Flekken is now part of the squad, as the fourth goalie, while Cillesen is ignored. Rumours had it that the squad didn’t want Cillesen. That it’s a personality thing.
    • “I need to find the best keeper. And if my scouts tell me there is a 28 year old goalie in the Bundesliga who is all round, I need to check that out. He is a real Van Gaal goalie. Very good with his feet. So this is my chance to test him out and see him at work. Cillesen is not off the radar. He is a very good goalie and he only started playing again recently. He has had two games. Too early for a re-call.”
  • Berghuis – the Ajax player is impressing currently on the #10 position. Van Gaal won’t use him there.
    • “Berghuis was not a starter at Ajax. He was even benched. I played him in three matches which got him noticed in Ajax and he has me to thank for that. I have other options for the #10, and not a lot for right wing, so Berghuis is a right winger for me.”
  • Quincy Promes – the ex Ajax player who is under investigation due to a knife incident (now playing in Russia).
    • “Yes he can play for Oranje, yes on different spots and yes he did wel recently, but by rule, I will not select players who have these things going on in their private lives. It will be distracting. For him, for us, I get questions about it, and it’s not worth it for me.”

What was disappointing about the presser was Louis’ attitude towards the media.

He did this earlier on when talking about the players and the expectations for these two games.

When confronted with close to euphoric comments about how well the clubs played internationally, Louis used his vinegar tactics to put it all in perspective. You see, in the last international break, Louis was charming, warm and funny. He played the game and got the people behind him. Now, he needs to be careful for a too optimistic vibe and he is now using his bad-cop routine to piss everyone off, including the players.

“I have told Lang not to provoke or do things other than football. What he does at Brugge… he can not do this with me.”

“Do you think Dutch clubs perform well? Come on! Only Ajax plays at top level. PSV choked when they could get into the Champions League and failed. They are now in the Europa League, which is fine. But don’t tell me it’s top. It’s not. And the conference league? Really? Feyenoord, AZ and Vitesse are playing games against Punch and Daisy. Of course they perform well. Half of the clubs’ names I can’t even pronounce!”

He also explained how only Stefan de Vrij (of the players who played versus Turkey) won his match, last weekend. “None of the other players won their games. That goes to show that there is no place for complacency, or for arrogance. We will need to be top, also against Latvia and also against Gibraltar!”

This is typical Louis. Getting everybody sharp and on their toes. Bringing goalie Flekken is could well be part of the strategy to tell all his players: if I can find a better option than you, I’ll bring him in! And doing this to Bijlow is a safe strategy for Louis, as Justin won’t balk at Van Gaal. As opposed to a Van Dijk or Memphis who wouldn’t enjoy being treated this way.

Flekken on his feet

Now, Van Gaal extends his dramatic play acting and theatrics towards the media too and that is always pissing me off.

I mean, the press conferences are there for the media to ask questions ON BEHALF OF THE FOOTBALL FANS. They deserve a normal treatment and normal answers. But Louis uses the pressers to settle petty scores with journalists. The NOS (the main Dutch broadcaster) got his traditional “Are you the NT manager?? Or am I? Or do you make those decisions??”. Valentijn Driessen of De Telegraaf (the biggest daily in the country) “Ah you and your little paper…”….

It is becoming quite pathetic as the NT manager is the figure head of Dutch football, to treat the media – and thus the public – like this condescending way is not on. It’s typical Van Gaal.

Danjuma showing his number to his opponent

He has been experimenting a bit with Plan B as he called it. He doesn’t call it a new system, he calls it a tweak of the system, in case we need to force a goal. The solution isn’t hard to predict. At the training of yesterday, his booming voice was clear: “And then we bring Wout or we bring Luuk and then it is BOOM BOOM!”

Noa Lang was a popular player amongst the media. The mercurial forward has been seen as a prodigal talent for many years and now he’s part of the nation’s elite, after a really good spell at Brugge. “In all honesty, I expected the call last season already but I guess the coach was focusing on the squad for the Euros and I missed out. I’m so happy that I am part of it now. The coach did speak to me about not being provocative. I get that. But I told him that it is and always will be part of my game. I try to find the limits. And he understood that too.”

Yes Noa Lang is a character alright.

Frenkie de Jong had to deal with a lot of questions about Barca: ” It is not as bad as the media paint it. Really, it’s not. I mean, losing Messi was a blow and he is the kind of guy that always delivers. We will need to make do without him now and we also have at least 5 other first team players out. So it’s normal that we don’t perform at our best. Real and Atletico have only 2 points more than us, if we win our catch up match. And yes, I played right wing in a match, but that was really because we had no other options and there were chances for us on that side. I am convinced it will all come good. Ansu Fati is back and we will have Pedri again and I am also convinced I will improve more as will Memphis. It will end well, trust me.”

We may not see another post before the Latvia game.

But we will see an update :-).

The last presser before the game, Van Gaal confirmed that he is utterly impressed with Mathijs de Ligt who is working hard to restore his form.  “He has risen from the dark. He is so close to a starting spot, but he has to compete with De Vrij who happened to be the Man of the Match in the two previous matches.”

Van Gaal also mentioned Noa Lang and Mark Flekken. “They confirmed what we hoped for. Noa is a very creative player and we need that to break open opponents like Latvia. I can’t tell you if he’ll make minutes but I don’t see why not? Flekken appears to be an open positive lad. He’s good with his feet and he stops many shots. He has to improve off the line though. He needs to be better with crosses, that is what my current opinion is of him.”

And about skipper Virgil: “He is still not 100%. He played four whole matches with Liverpool and he’s on his way to full fitness. He is very close.”

Oranje is currently in Riga and the coach thought it was vital to train at the local stadium. “It’s always key to know where you’ll play. Get a feel for the place. De Kuip, Anfield, Camp Nou… amazing temples but all different. I need the players to experience this.”

Van Gaal watched and analysed some of the previous Latvia games. “We learned a lot and are well prepared. We have been working on our game plan and the dead ball situations. I hope you will be able to spot that.”

About the right wing role, Van Gaal said this: “Steven Bergwijn has told me he doesn’t want to play from the right. I think Berghuis is currently the only one we have, with Lang. And I think Quincy Promes can play there too.”

This is my line up (the one I think LvG would use… I think I would have included Karsdorp in my personal fave line up).

 

 

 

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by Jan

Stars aligning for Oranje?

For many days, the overall view was that poor Oranje was having to slug it out with Portugal or even Germany in the first knock-out game. But it seems the football gods are with us… Even better, our march to the finals will actually be not that dreadful, considering Belgium, France and Italy – generally seen as the three favorites – are in the other leg of the draw.

It remains to be seen whether this is a good thing though. Traditionally, Oranje does well vs stronger teams. Remember the group of death(s) in 2006 and 2008? We obliterated the competition (well…) and got in trouble the next knock-out stage. Oranje now also play well versus teams that consider themselves stronger. Once an opponent parks the bus, we will find it tougher to break them down.

But, the stars in the sky might have aligned, it also seems the stars on the pitch have. The vibe in the squad is very good, players who tend to be a bit narcy when they are not the dominant player appear to remain calm ( Berghuis, Koopmeiners) and Frank de Boer is demonstrating day in day out in his interviews and press conferences that he grew as a coach. He’s likeable, he jokes, he laughs and analyses with clarity.

Malen and Memphis have produced some nice interaction. Add the quality, movement and silky touch of Wijnaldum and there is our holy trinity. Frenkie and Gini have a good understanding, as do Stefan de Vrij and Mathijs de Ligt. These two actually became firm friends in Italy and spend a lot of time, with the families together.

The PSV contingent (Malen, Dumfries, Gakpo, Memphis) work well together, as do the AZ and Ajax team mates. Berghuis might well feel at home with the Ajax lads…

I am loath to be too positive and chirpy, but I can see that with the right focus and the right line up / system, Oranje can indeed power forward.

it was quite eventful for Oranje, this past week. The group win was great, Memphis’ signature under a Barca contract clearly gave the mercurial forward a boost, but the loss of Luuk de Jong, who had to exit the camp with a nasty knee injury, means Plan B doesn’t exist anymore. And it also automatically means that Wout Weghorst will be relegated to the pinch hitter role.

Another player we will need firing on all cylinders is Frenkie of course. The player with the most successful dribbles in the Euros until now.

Playmaker, play accelerator, conductor, dreh-und-angelpunkt, we have had so many names already for the midfielder. His passing is usually mentioned as his key strength and this is indeed a highly important aspect of the game. But another aspect might need a bit more spotlight: the dribble. No one dribbles more and better than the Arkel born lad.

Goal.com asked Antoine Griezmann in 2019 which player was the toughest opponent for him and he immediately said: “Ajax’ De Jong! I tried to put him under pressure in the Nations League games with France and it was impossible, I never succeeded. He’s so slick, he just slips past you as if you’re not there.” Not much later, they became team mates.

Four players had 17 dribbles in this Euros, so far. Our Frenkie, Denmark’s Maehle, Switzerland’s Embolo and France’ Mbappe. Frenkie had 13 successful ones, compared to 8 by the others.

This is here is key moment. Holland is under pressure from Austria. Weghorst passes to Wijnaldum, who gets two opponents on his toes. Gini dribbles quickly to the side line, knowing that loss of possession is less dangerous there. De Jong gives him an option, on the side line and he has four Austrians putting pressure on. Sabitzer in front of him, Laimer and Hinteregger are lurking close while Schlager joins in as well. Most player would pass the ball backwards to Dumfries or De Vrij. But that would not solve the problem. We would still be locked in and under pressure. This is a typical ideal pressure moment for Austria.

Frenkie oozes confidence on the ball. He doesn’t panic and the four Austrians are hesitating. De Jong sees the hesitation and decides to use it. He sprints through the pressure with the ball in close control and it fits like a glove. Not only does he alleviate  the pressure, he turns defence into attack as he turns the situation in a 6 v 4 situation, what with Daley Blind and Pat van Aanholt immediately breaking out too, joining Frenkie, Weghorst, Memphis and Wijnaldum in attack. This move ends with a failed pass from Van Aanholt to Weghorst.

Another typical moment, also demonstrating the partnership in midfield. Holding mid Marten de Roon has the ball and almost stands still. Wijnaldum drops back and offers an option, leaving a gap in front of the Austrian defence. De Roon points to it, even, and Frenkie runs into that space and receives the ball.

He looks over his shoulder and sees that Laimer is too slow to react, so now Frenkie knows he can turn the player and get into a 1 v 1 situation on the edge of the box. He passes to Memphis whose shot is blocked. Another example where the obvious option would have been to pass the ball back.

The third example is in the North Macedonia match. Obviously, the pressure was off and Oranje was further helped by the offensive tactics of North Macedonia. Their pressure play resulted in space for us. Here is an example.

De Ligt has the ball and is pressured by Elmas. The ball goes to Daley Blind and Pandev is putting pressure on him. De Jong offers Blind an option, and while the ball is traveling, he looks over his shoulder, twice. Once right, once left. Before he has the ball, he knows the Macedonian defence is not pushing forward. He turns, he accelerates and he releases Van Aanholt. Wijnaldum could have done better from that Van Aanholt cross.

This type of play by De Jong makes it hard for opponents to press. A hesitation or a slow reaction and he is off and away. De Jong’s dribbles are as lethal as his passing. He can create something out of nothing. He doesn’t have a lot of assists or goals to his name. His forte is the pre-assist. His accelerations offer space and time to his team mates.

De Jong’s qualities are hard to express in statistics, although Opta Sports was able to somewhat approach it with their carries-stat. This demonstrates the ability to see a gap and the skills to carry the ball forward into that gap. The number of meters you carry the ball with your feet, basically. It’s not a surprise that the wingbacks score hight in this category as they usually have the flank at their disposal, where it is less busy. Carrying the ball forward through the spine is tough. There simply isn’t much space. De Jong is a maestro. He showed it at Ajax, now at Barca and at Oranje. Only Mateo Kovacic and the Spanish Barca colleague Pedri are able to show similar stats. But they tend to carry the ball backwards a lot too.

When Opta filters the stats in terms of carries forward, than Frenkie is the only midfielder amongst defenders.

The most important thing is, that Frenkie is completely convinced of his own playing style.

His response to a comment after the Real Madrid away game in 2019 says it all. Ajax won 1-4 but Frenkie had a difficult moment vs Benzema, when he tried to take on the French striker just outside his own box and lost the ball to the predator. This resulted in a big chance for Madrid.

Sports commentator Van Gelder: “I have a strong heart, but can you please never do that again?”

Frenkie: “No, I disagree. I think I need to do this again, but do it better. I made a good turn, but when I wanted to accelerate I got cramp in my legs and had to try and keep the ball…”

I think I need to do this again but better…. That is his mindset and that is why he can be of great value in the knock-out games. This mix of uninhibitedness and precision is exactly what we need. This puts the fear into our opponents, the knowledge that one little mistake can mean Oranje is thundering forward. De Jong’s dribbles give Oranje time and space, it also gives us a signature style of play.

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by Jan

Where does Oranje stand?

Friends, we did what we had to do. We won all home matches in the group stage. And we didn’t expect anything less. Ukraine, Austria and North Macedonia should be wins with any Dutch generation, really… Scoring 8 is good. Conceding 2 less so. All players fit, that is a good thing and yes, the 5-3-2 seems to be generally accepted now.

The Dutch experts/analysts are still not convinced. Where do we stand now? How good are we really?

The international media, however, seem to push Oranje to a favorite role. And I don’t think that is justified. Sure, Germany, Portugal, Spain, they’re not firing on all cylinders but you wouldn’t want them to, right? Just like with Oranje.

But can we reach a higher level, once we face them? Or even worse: France or Italy? Who knows?

I even doubt if Frank de Boer knows.

And then there are the fans on this blog, who mostly seem to be highly critical of Frank de Boer, Daley Blind and Memphis Depay ;-).

This North Macedonian game further showed why the international football world (players, fans, coaches and analysts) rate Daley Blind. If you saw the game and you still think he is only in the team because of his daddy (huh??), you should probably start supporting another sport.

Overall, the key thing every Dutch fan looked at in this last group game was: how good will Malen and Memphis (and Wijnaldum) gel, in comparison to playing with Weghorst?

The jury is out, as far as I’m concerned. Malen is a better player than Weghorst, he adds something fresh, and explosive to the team. He has depth and runs in behind and he has a daft tough too, as we saw with Oranje’s third goal. But, most importantly, he makes Memphis play better!

And if we want to achieve something here, we need Memphis to be in top form.

It was nice to see Gravenberch, but the young talent demonstrated that he’s not yet mature enough for a role in the starting eleven. In the first half, he was wandering a bit, not sure where to be, what to do. It did improve and he’ll be a top player for us.

Other than that, the other subs didn’t bring us much news. We saw Berghuis, keen to prove his worth, with sloppy moves and a couple of great passes and a top corner kick. The prolific right winger has a limited fee of 4 million euros and both Ajax and PSV are courting him. Gakpo got his debut and demonstrated his skill too in the last 10 minutes.

But what did North Macedonia teach us?

Well, the 5-3-2 might be a fine system but you do need to implement and execute it well. North Macedonia surprised Frank de Boer with a 4-2-3-1 system and their particular tactical move puzzled the Dutch eleven.

When building up, the Macedonians pushed Alioski way up, to keep Dumfries quiet, but Trajkovski would push up left next to Pandev. As De Boer is focused on man marking, not zonal, this resulted in a mess within Oranje. Normally, the player in the zone would pick up the wandering Elmas. Wijnaldum in this case and Frenkie would be available to pick up Trajkovski.

The situation above is how we did it, with man marking. Frenkie is completely out of position because Elmas is his man. There is a gap behind him, which forces De Vrij to move forward, far away from his comfort zone.

Another situation, in which Frenkie and De Vrij are lost in space. The number 62 of the world is capable of playing from under Oranje’s press. And by then, it is not even a surprise that Trajkovski is the man rattling the post next to Stekelenburg with a fine attempt.

Before the break. Oranje ends up in situations in which the distances between the lines are too great. The midfield was all open and bare as our players follow their man and are lured out of position. You can see, there are no holding mids to protect the back four. This will be noted with glee, by the scouts of the remaining nations.

On the other hand, Oranje is constantly threatening on the break. It seems to always find ways to hurt the opponent. And even when the pass and move positioning game breaks down, with Malen, Wijnaldum and Memphis, there is always the chance on a break. And this is how we come to our first goal. A ruthless Blind tackle, a pass through by Gravenberch and Malen on his moped to launch Memphis after two 1-2 combinations: 1-0.

Dumfries gets another chance, to become golden boot candidate, in the 29th minute. Alioski is playing left winger so Dumfries has acres of space. Malen’s ball is fine but the goalie ruins the party of the PSV boys.

After the break, De Boer opts for the 4-2-3-1 as well and brings Timber and Berghuis for De Vrij and Dumfries. This is what De Boer calls the “Italian way”.

In this set up, De Boer does what Koeman did: one penetrating full back and one conservative one.
Under Koeman, Dumfries was the penetrating one and Blind was sitting. In Frank de Boer’s version, it’s Van Aanholt with the penetration and Timber the one staying back.

Now it’s truly a man-to-man battle and North Macedonia can’t find any openings anymore, simply due to the difference in individual qualities. Not because we suddenly defend so well. Because our back line is still vulnerable. The only gain in this system: there is no confusion who marks who.

Before the tournament, Dutch fans and analysts feared that the 5-3-2 wouldn’t be attacking enough. It seems that this is not the real issue. The real problem with the 5-3-2 is the defensive structure. North Macedonia has pointed out that the bigger nations could really hurt us.

 

 

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by Jan

Oranje needs more oomph!

Talent? Check. Energy? Check. Balance of experience and young exuberance? Check. Goals? Check.

But still, despite all of this, we still look like a team of juniors, the way we play. In particular compared to the likes of France and Italy.

Austria shouldn’t be a problem for us, but despite an early 1-0 after a foul in the box on Dumfries, the Orange were not able to get more light between the teams, despite some good chances!

I can see a couple of reasons.

For starters, yes Weghorst is a work horse and a handful but he simply is not good enough in open play. His lay offs and passes never come off, he’s lacking speed and guile and really doesn’t belong in this team. With the space behind the Austrian backline, I started shouting for Malen from the 15th minute onwards.

Another problem we have, is the lack of ruthlessness up front. Again, we saw opportunities for Memphis and for Wijnaldum but the finishing is just not good enough. Too weak. We seem to have a team with talented players but not enough real hunger and desire.

You see this in the physical duels as well. Not when De Ligt or De Vrij are involved. These “Italian defenders” understand what is needed in the duels, but Dumfries, De Jong, Memphis, it’s regularly too soft.

The third problem, as has been mentioned here a couple of times by others, our key players are our wingbacks and Dumfries and Van Aanholt are simply not good enough.

That last problem is not resolved in this tournament. We’d need Karsdorp on the right and a player like Malacia or Willems as left wingback. Or Vilhena even.

The intensity and hunger is a typical Dutch problem, I fear. Compared to the Portuguese or Argentines or even the South Koreans, our youngsters are spoiled and lack the grit some of the youngsters from other countries possess.

The most simple solution to the issues we have is: Malen! With De Ligt and De Vrij and Dumfries, we have enough header strength. But we lack players with depth. Memphis wants it in his feet, and so do Wijnaldum, Weghorst… Malen has everything to be our “Mbappe”.

In the second half we see similar situations. Lots of possession, lots of passes but in the final third it becomes weak. Undecisive. Hesitant. Lacking quality.

After 63 minutes, it’s Malen on the pitch. Lets see…

Well, he’s 2 minutes on and he does exactly what I want to see. Use his speed and run in behind. Well done Memphis, with your pass and well done Denzel Dumfries in running along with Malen: 2-0.

The number of times the Dutch were able to break but then stop playing, start walking, looking around, and then playing back. They just were able to get back from right wing position to the left back position where Ake simply pays the ball out of bounds… That really needs to improve!

Statistically, we probably played an amazing game. Austria literally had zero chance. I don’t think Stekelenburg needed to flex his gloves during the whole game. But against the tougher teams, we will not be able to play this sloppy.

We did see some quality moves, the individual class of Wijnaldum, Frenkie and the two central defenders were on display and even though Memphis played a mediocre game, he still scored a fantastic penalty and is always threatening.

As it stands, we’ll win the group and I hope Frank will mix it up a bit and use some other players. I’d love to see Timber as right back, Gravenberch and Malen from the start and Koopmeiners instead of De Roon…

85th minute in… Ake, whom I really like, dribbles into the midfield with some nice long strides and then he passes the ball square into the feet of…an Austrian player… This is just maddening.

So, in terms of results, nice work Oranje. But looking at the quality of the performances (Ukraine and Austria), I think we need to man up a bit more if we want to get into the quarter finals.

We need to have way longer spells of intensity and pace and directness. Not vs North Macedonia or Austria, but against the big guns.

By the way, a big fat congrats to Mempis Depay for his big transfer: he is now formally a Barca player!

After the match, skipper Wijnaldum said: “We are happy to qualify and to be the first group winner. That is awesome, but I don’t want to become complacent. We cannot relax. This team needs to work hard for it’s success and we need that intensity to stay up.” The PSG midfielder admitted that there wasn’t as much “flow” in this match, compared to the Ukraine game. “We lost the ball too quickly, our short passing wasn’t up to speed. And then a game goes up and down. And we didn’t score the chances in the first half, which also doesn’t help. But, at least our pressure worked well and we did create chances. That remains key. But this is tournament football. We didn’t give a lot away and we want to grow into the tournament. You know, we finish the group as leaders so we should be happy and focus on improving.”

Daley Blind: “We have a plan for the press and in this match we wanted to use the press to push Austria to one particular side. If you then win the ball you can open up fast on the other flank. The plan was very good, the execution was not that great. Yet. But there were also moments when we were pushed back but we remained compact and I think Stekelenburg had a relatively easy day today.”

Blind continues: “It’s ok to not always have the ball. You can dominate without the ball too. If you saw France vs Germany, I don’t think France really cared not having the ball.” The Ajax defender was surprised to see his number on the substitution board. “We didn’t plan for my substitution and I felt I could go on, but hey, the coach decided. It took me two glances to see it was me, but the coach has his reasons and it’s all good.”

Memphis definitely didn’t play his best game, but he’s again crucial when it counts. The penalty kick was converted with gusto, and it was Memphis’ smart pass in behind which launched Malen into space. The PSV forward decided not to be greedy and allowed Dumfries his second goal of the Euros.

He did get a very good opportunity to score. “That was a superb ball by Wout and I should have scored it. It is that simple. I was a tad late and the ball bounced up and didn’t get my leg behind it, not well enugh. It happens, luckily it didn’t have negative repercussions. Next one will be in the net! Today we were sloppy, yes, it wasn’t top. But we worked hard, we kept to the plan and we pressed well. I think we can be pleased, 6 points, clean sheet today and top of the group. It’s fine.”

Marco van Basten was not happy with Mathijs de Ligt: “He is playing in Italy, but I don’t think he learned a lot. He has been playing football for, what… 15 years? It’s always the same. Eleven v Eleven. And as a central defender, you see the game in front of you. Twice, he allowed himself to be pulled into midfield. Twice, there was a gaping hole. Unbelievable. Austria didn’t know what to with it. Against France, Italy, Spain, England, Portugal, Germany…you’re out.”

 

 

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by Jan

Oranje work in progress…

Or so we hope… It’s only one more week… And then the real stuff comes down. Frank de Boer wanted to be able to play 5-3-2 and seems to be throwing everything he has at it. But will it be enough?

A 3-0 win over Georgia doesn’t mean much.

So De Boer went for another 5-3-2, but with Stekelenburg for Krul and Daley Blind for Mathijs de Ligt who is struggling with a groin issue.

But the coach also tweaked the positions.

Wijnaldum as #10

Against Scotland, Holland played with one holding mid and two more offensive midfielders wider. Against Georgia, we play with two holders and a central #10 or false striker and as the match progressed, Frenkie started to play higher up the pitch whenever he could, so we would have more pressure on their holding mids.

In an attacking sense, Memphis now has more space behind him, to fall back into and pick up the ball. No matter where the coach positions him on the white board, he will always go into the half spaces on the left side of the pitch. Against Scotland, Gravenberch was constantly in his way, now agains Georgia that space is his. In this way, Holland plays with two #10s behind striker Weghorst. At times Blind could find the 10s via a forward pass and threaten the goal. See below.

Wingbacks push up

We saw how Wijndal in particular failed to push up in the first half vs Scotland and how this influenced the first stage of that game. Now, De Boer instructed his wingbacks to take on their counter part, allowing the midfielders to be available and on the front foot for when we repossess the ball. The shape and positioning was way better, see below.

The backs being high up the pitch resulted in our second goal, when an agressive Dumfries marks his man way on the opponent’s side of the pitch. He turns over possession and via Frenkie’e quick feet, Memphis finds Wout Weghorst, who is allowed to score his first Oranje goal and boy, did he enjoy that.

De Roon pushes Dumfries up

This is a more subtle change. And it concerns specific build-up situations, where De Roon drops back next to the right back central defender. See below:

He pushes Dumfries forward which is great, as the PSV skipper is the most threatening attacker for Oranje and gets the penalty shout too. But there are also issues.

De Roon doesn’t add anything in the build up. Timber is a way better footballer and demonstrated this vs Scotland. De Roon delays the build up, more than anything and with him on Dumfries’ duties, Oranje lacks a player in midfield, which can be a problem.

Below a situation where De Roon is missing in midfield and De Vrij and Blind get in trouble.

But despite all these changes, Oranje’s problems remain the same. We have a week to go do deal with the following four problems:

The wrong players have to build up

In an attacking sense, the wrong players are involved in the build up. In Koeman’s 4-2-3-1, the buildup happened from the back, centrally, with Blind as left back and Virgil and De Ligt centrally with Frenkie close by in midfield. In that set up, Oranje at times played with three at the back, as Frenkie would regularly drop back to assist his colleagues.

This image above shows us how it is resolved today. The space where Frenkie likes to start is now occupied by the left central defender who moves towards the side line and De Roon who drops deep to provide an option. These are not the players who will come up with a swift forward pass.

No depth

In top matches for Chelsea, Timo Werner always plays. Not because he scores prolifically, coz he doesn’t, but because he will run in behind all the time. Whenever he goes, he pulls the opponent’s defense with him and opens up space for anything to happen.

We don’t have that player currently. Weghorst works like a horse but is not that type of forward and Memphis wants the ball to feet. Dumfries is currently our player with the deep runs, and he is a full back! When Malen is introduced, this goes more smoothly. The explosive PSV forward can make those runs all day long and create more space for Memphis and Weghorst.

Man marking results in chaos

Georgia creates opportunities in the first half! And more than they themselves had expected. The #91 on the World Ranking seems to play out of trouble with ease, against this Oranje. The cause: holes in the organisation. The Dutch start from a particular zone on the pitch, but quite early on in the game, you can see the pairing happening. And the results are sometimes ugly, see below.

Wijnaldum has to follow his man and ends up playing right bac. De Roon and De Jong are not in the zone protecting our defence which resulted in Timber pushing forward and also being out of position. Shambles!

Playing a team like Georgia which likes to form a square in midfield, it’s quite hard to do man marking, as the Oranje midfielder would be out of position too often and the central defenders would be forced to push up all the time. Georgia didn’t really benefit from this but a stronger opponent surely will.

The distances between players are too big

The core of our defensive woes is the distance between players. In order to defend forward with the defensive line, the distance between forwards and defenders should be no more than 30 meters. Koeman called this vertically compact.

Today, these distances are bigger. The players don’t seem to recognise the situation together, in order to push up (defence) or drop deeper (forwards). The result is: too much space in between the lines and it is very hard to play a pressure game if the space is too big. These are all things that can be remedied at the training ground, but maybe not within one week.

Lastly, it’s important to look in the mirror when judging this team: would we take this result in the Euros group stages? Or in a World Cup qualifier? Would we be distraught with the lack of quality or just enjoy the three points and hope our better form is right around the corner?

But if it’s a friendly warm up match for the Euros, we tend to look at it all with a magnifying glass.

It’s important to remind yourself that:

  • In 1974, most Dutch fans wondered why we were going to the World Cup. We wouldn’t stand a chance, as Keizer and Swart were getting too old and all our central defenders (Israel, Hulshoff, Mansfeld, Drost, Laseroms) were injured and we had to rely on a midfielder and a rookie in central defence.
  • In 1978 expectations were dreadful as JC and Willem van Hanegem weren’t coming
  • In 1988, Michels couldn’t find the winning recipe until after losing the first group match
  • In 2010, the pre-World Cup campaign was also quite disappointing and our defence was considered way to weak
  • In 2014, the whole nation wondered what on Earth Van Gaal was going to do with this team

I do share a lot of the criticism that has been voiced on the blog. I also think Wijndal and Dumfries do not have the quality level this team needs, in particular moving forward and with their final pass.

I also think Malen should start over Weghorst.

I really don’t think De Roon should be starting. I would play Gravenberch for him.

Stekelenburg would be my #1 goalie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7_f-XnMZ2Y
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by Jan

Work to do for Frank de Boer

De Boer was convinced that his team could play the 5-3-2 system. Most players have played it, some still play it. And it’s not hocus pocus, he said. And of course he is right. Coaches are always right, before the game. But, like JC once said that he never saw a bag of money score a goal, I like to say that I never saw a system score a goal.

It’s all about how the players execute it. And against Scotland – which is not a bad side, people – we saw how a number of our players were not yet ready for Frank’s brain child.

Before the game, Frank said that Frenkie and Gini would not play more than 30 mins. They have had an intense season and are needed in the Euros, so they both got the full warming up and 30 mins game time, to be replaced by Gravenberch and Klaassen. And Jurrien Timber would make his debut vs Scotland, as both Blind and Ake, the left footed options, aren’t match ready yet. So the former Feyenoord talent played his first cap on the right hand side of a 3 man defence, with Dumfries as right wing back.

Krul played between the sticks but the pre-match info gave the name Stekelenburg. De Boer: “I think someone pushed the wrong button and they got the name wrong. Krul plays now, Stekelenburg plays Saturday and I will then decide who will be our goalie. I will probably have to trust my intuition on this one, as they’re both top notch.”

So, De Boer used a similar set up in his 5-3-2 as Van Gaal did in Brazil. Van Gaal used Robben and Van Persie as deep strikers. With Sneijder between them, hanging back a bit. The three central defenders and the two holding mids would press aggressively forcing the opponent to the sides, where the full back would spring the trap.

But, unfortunately, De Boer’s 5-3-2 worked out differently. More later, on that.

Pressure by the Scots resulted in their first goal. For me, Wijndal starts the problems for us. He tends to drop back way too much, allowing the Scots to push up. He basically draws the opponent in. When De Ligt hardly has any options, he tries to play in Memphis, who is dropping back to help out and offer an option. And in this Oranje, there are two players you think you can pass the ball to even when they’re marked: Frenkie and Memphis. But Depay loses out and the next ball is towards Hendry whose shot is too tough for Krul. So we have 4 players making mistakes: Wijndal, De Ligt, Memphis and Krul (the shot was stoppable… Maybe not by Stekelenburg but Edison or Becker or De Gea or Neuer would have stopped it…).

This is less a 5-3-2 problem, but more an individual execution issue.

Wijndal would do this time and time in the first half, but in the second half, De Boer clearly instructed him to stay higher and allow De Ligt space and time to build up.

It wouldn’t take long for Oranje to pounce back. Timber, playing as if he is playing his 30st game in orange, plays a ball with feeling into Wijnaldum who heads it back to Memphis. The former PSV man hits it volley with the left boot and scores a fine goal: 1-1.

The second half is better, as a result of some tweaks in at half time. Weghorst seems to be positioning better and as stated before, Wijndal is playing higher. After an hour, the Scots sub four players and one of the new lads – Nisbet – is found by Robertson, who crosses in from the left. It’s too easy for the Liverpool left back to cross and why De Ligt decides to let his man go is anyone’s guess… He puts his hand up for off-side but it’s never ever off-side. De Ligt tired? Or lazy? Complacent? Wow….

Van Aanholt gets a decent chance on his left, which results in a corner but Oranje is not creating much. With a couple of minutes to go, Depay is pushed to the ground. He takes the free kick himself and curls it with venom around the wall and scores in the corner where the keeper is. But the goalie doesn’t even move: 2-2.

I don’t think we deserved more.

The man with the brace, who saved De Boer’s bacon, said the following after the match: “These are not games we need to win, these are games we need to practice, to learn from.”

So what did we learn?

In individual performances, I think we can be positive about Jurrien Timber and Ryan Gravenberch. The youngsters didn’t seem out of place and never looked like they were young talents struggling to catch on. Sub Steven Berghuis demonstrated his good form and had some threat, at least. And Memphis demonstrated his individual class and worth for the team.

Otherwise, De Roon, De Ligt, De Vrij, not playing at their best. Hopefully keeping their gun powder dry. Dumfries is still a player with great energy and a strong will but limited footbal qualities. Weghorst tried hard, had some moments but also looked lost at times. Like the Turkey away game, Krul looked vulnerable and Owen Wijndal demonstrated he still has a lot to learn in a tactical sense.

From a tactical perspective, I tend to agree with Frank de Boer: the 5-3-2 is a must have system to have under your belt. And it can’t be so different. We still have 2 weeks and 1 friendly to go and I would certainly suggest they keep on working at it. Although, some people think it is not worth it. And sure, it’s tough to play quick and build up fast when playing against a compact playing team. So normally, versus Scotland I would always play 4-3-3 as Frank did in the second part of the second half. De Ligt: “I am not a fan of the 5-3-2. At Juve we play with 4 at the back now and it’s more my style. This time I played on the left and I needed time to get used to it.” Stefan de Vrij was also realistic about the 5-3-2, a system he knows really well and plays week in week out with Inter. “It is not an easy task, in this case we play a new system for the team, but also with players who never played before. Even De Ligt and Timber, both Ajax talents, never played together. It took time and we need to be realistic and assess if we have time enough. It’s up to the coach, of course…”

Skipper Memphis: “This was not our best match, we were sloppy at times. I’m happy we didn’t lose, this is a team we usually should win against, with all due respect. But, we played a new system, I played with Weghorst for the first time like this, so we need some time. When we execute it well, we create space. But yes, we played this game to practice and we want to be able to play like this in the future, so we need to prepare for that.”

it was good to see Virgil van Dijk in de stands, by the way, and at half time he was instructing the Oranje subs…

Ok back to the analysis. This time the tactical side of things.

Like I said, Van Gaal’s 5-3-2 looked quite logical. Two strikers, one central mid and backed by two holding mids and 5 defenders. This is what it looks like.

Frank de Boer’s 5-3-2 looked different. This Oranje plays more like this:

And as a result, De Boer’s 5-3-2 with one holding mid, looks like this on the pitch:

Differences in approach.

Mentioned already above: the position of Owen Wijndal. He comes really deep, as he is used to at AZ but as a result he draws the opponents in and forces Gravenberch and even Depay further back. This makes problems for De Ligt who has to play from under that pressure. This is where the first Scottish goal came from.

In the second half, Wijndal is clearly told to move up higher, allowing space for the defenders, as the Scots are not keen on allowing Wijndal free reign.

Another point of difference is a central defender moving up into midfield. This is the second difference, De Boer wants one of his central defenders to dribble in where possible. We know Daley Blind is very capable doing this and this Scotland game, Timber and De Ligt kept on doing that. The way to cover defensively, is to always keep 2 central defenders back and have the two holding mids guard the space. For the Scottish second goal, this principle was abandoned, as Timber was up in midfield and De Ligt had moved away to the left flank, leaving heaps of space.

The third point of difference is the role of the wide midfielders. In Van Gaal’s Oranje, the wing backs would spring the trap. In De Boer’s system, the wide midfielders (Wijnaldum and De Jong) are the ones putting pressure on their wide defender. This means both Frenkie and Gini will have to run a marathon in order to put pressure on and the distance between our players – our 5 man defence – is way to much for the others to press. And now, we have 5 Oranje defenders, marking two Scottish forwards?

De Boer went back to the trusted 4-3-3 in order to regain dominance and after this failed experiment, it might well be that “the system” gets the blame, but I think it has everything to do with how the system was used.

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by Jan

Oranje ready for Scotland

The jersey numbers were presented for the Oranje squad. And with Jasper Cillesen out of contention due to Corona, Maarten Stekelenburg got the #1 jersey, while Tim Krul has his favorite #13. The jersey numbers don’t say much about who starts. De Boer said he wasn’t sure which goalie would be his new #1, and the coming friendlies will probably give us more insights.

Luuk de Jong has his number 9, a number previously held by Ryan Babel. But it doesn’t mean that much, it’s not the first eleven numbers that will play, as Frenkie has his fave #21 and Daley Blind his usual #17.

Frank de Boer already announced he will be playing a 5-3-2 against the Scots. He wants to spend more time perfecting it, as most of the players are well versed in 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 already. “Most players have this experience in playing with 3 at the back, but for some it’s years ago so we want to work on it. It also happens to be a good system vs Scotland, by the way,” according to the coach. He also said Marten de Roon will start against the Scots, but that was all he was happy with sharing.

De Boer: “We want to dominate the game but we don’t always have a lot of possession. With this system you can dominate the game without the ball. We did this well vs Italy away, with a good sense of discipline and work rate. Now, we need to add more when we do have the ball. Our key players know how to play in this system. Daley Blind, Mathijs de Ligt, Frenkie, Memphis, it’s not new for them. And I do hope the jigsaw will fall into place quickly, I think it can. And if not, it’s easy to re-shape into a 4-3-3.”

Cillesen not being able to play and train with the group was enough reason for De Boer to give clarity about the goalie. He’s not longer needed. “It’s deep deep disappointing for him and for us, but we can’t start with a player who is not fit. We can’t practice with him, he will miss at least one match and I think it means we can’t use him. I only need players who are 100% fit.”

He did say some highly positive things about his new lads, Timber and Gakpo: “I am really impressed with them. The pace is high with Oranje and so is the intensity, but these two didn’t have any issues getting on the proper level. Don’t think for a moment these guys are just here to make the squad full. We will probably need the depth of this squad.”

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by Jan

De Boer on his Euro plans

The competition is done, in The Netherlands. The biggest shock probably Emmen’s relegation. After a dramatic return to form the popular club fought themselves back into a relegation play-off and after 90 minutes of attacking and creating dozens of chances vs NAC Breda, they failed to score and got relegated after losing the penalty-series. The big leagues will all be done with competition football this weekend so it’s time for a look at the Euros, with Frank de Boer.

“It’s key to create a good vibe. We’ll be together for weeks and having a good atmosphere or not-so-good atmosphere will be key. I have been around when the vibe was not good, in 1990 and 1996 and look at the results. Whereas in 1998 we had a real connection in the squad and we overachieved.”

Johan Cruyff liked to use the conflict model to drive players to higher levels. Frank thinks it’s an outdated concept. “You can use the conflict model with individual players. Not everyone responds well to it. But overall, I am a fan of the Deschamps method. Any coach would want Benzema in his squad but Deschamp left him out for many years, as he would be toxic in the group. No Benzema in 2018, in other words.”

Louis van Gaal tweaked the traditional Dutch 4-3-3 for the 2014 World Cup after realising that Oranje couldn’t beat the strong teams in that way. Arjen Robben back then was the only real winger in the top of Europe and different playing styles were needed. Bert van Marwijk was also a pragmatic coach and Frank de Boer soaked it up when he assisted Bert in 2010. “I will definitely sit down with Bert before the Euros to revisit that World Cup. He got the maximum result out of the team and we weren’t the favorites back then.”

How long would you want the squad together prior to a tournament?

“I’d say, ideally 3 weeks. Now it’s less than two weeks. We have four days between our friendlies vs Scotland and Georgia. But…”ideal” is out of the window. Ideally, we have full stadiums too. You also see big droves of Orange coloured fans marching towards the stadium, that is all not going to happen. Or maybe at least a bit.”

How do you look back at that Euros in 2000, also in The Netherlands?

“Very positively, actually. I don’t see those two missed penalties vs Italy as my trauma, no. I think we are all proud of what we did, despite that match. And playing in our own country. And now again, three games in Amsterdam. We are favorite in the group, I get that. We won’t skirt away from that. But, Ukraine kept France at 1-1 and also beat Spain 1-0 in the Nations League. The same Spain that embarrassed Germany 6-0, you know? And Austria, they do have quality players from the Bundesliga in their squad. You may have heard of one David Alaba?”

What is the objective for Oranje at the Euros?

“I want to say semi-finals, at least. That is where I think we should aim for. Final four. But, everything needs to work with us, no injuries, no silly red cards and key players in form. Anything beyond semi finals would be a tremendous results. Our first 13 players are all top class. And I see we’re homogeneous, as a team. I can see parallels with the 1998 team. And we have some exciting youngster on top of the 13 and some great utility players. The mix is excellent. We can reach far but I think we are not the real faves. I think we’re an outsider. Belgium, France and Spain are top favorites for me. And don’t underestimate Portugal, England, Germany and Italy. I think we belong in that second series of 4 nations.”

How will we play?

“We’ll vary, I want to be able to shift systems instantly, during games. I want to move from 4-3-3 to 5-3-2 or 3-4-3. We will work on this in the prep period. I have discussed this with the players already and some of them, those 13, are used to this already with their clubs. As a coach, I used to play 4-3-3 predominantly. We want to be dominant. Holland isn’t a team that parks the bus. Also, counter football is not our thing as we lack pure speed up front. Whether it’s Memphis, Luuk de Jong, Berghuis or Weghorst, speed is not their weapon. Only Malen has that in his arsenal. But we need to make decisions. What happens if we lose possession here. Or there, you know. Do we have the lock on the door? Is the rest-defence properly organised? Turkey away, for instance… What went wrong? Two goals conceded from a turnaround moment in the game. That is completely unnecessary. In Poland, same thing. One moment of concentration loss and boom, you concede because you’re wide open. That needs to improve. When we played Italy in Bergamo, we did way better. The Italy version of Oranje, and whether you call it 5-3-2 or 3-5-2, I want to use these systems and want to switch during a match, if need be. But not in the first round. Only when we play tough opponents who want the ball even more than us (Spain?) We also need to assess which players are top, which are truly fit, after this long and tough season. And then find a way to have your best players excel. The good thing is, all players, even the youngster, have played with a back three, so no one will say “Wtf is De Boer cooking up for us now??”….

What will be Ruud van Nistelrooy’s role?

“Well, among other things he will work with our forwards. If there is one player who knows what it takes to score, it’s him. He is also a very good analyst, so he’ll do scouting and analysing for us as well. I also want him to talk about 2008, under Van Basten. We played a sensational set of group games, only to lose focus afterwards. And in the first knock-out match, we get beaten. Ruud has seen it all.”

How was your own debut in 1992 and what did you learn from that?

“I was never coached or guided by the older players. What can you expect, how to behave, what to be aware of, etc… I want to do things differently. Back then Michels said: “You’re in the squad. Do your thing.” He never said how he wanted me to play, for instance, what the plans were. But also 1998 was a big lesson. I remember thinking “Wow, we’re playing a nice tournament!”. But the team focus was never “We can win this!!”. We were quite happy with ourselves and when we lost the semis vs Brazil, we even felt like “Wow, being beaten by Brazil…yes, that can happen…”. Now, I look back and think: we should have approached that game differently. And many 1998 players look back at that match and feel the same way. We were satisfied with playing the semis. That is not good enough, hahahaha.”

What does it mean for the hierarchy in the dressing room, now Captain Virgil isn’t present?

“We will miss him dearly. His leadership, his charisma and of course his football qualities. But the hierarchy… there won’t be a vacuum, don’t worry. Wijnaldum is very vocal in the dressing room, Memphis as wel. They’re leaders. Then we have players who lead by example, like Blind and De Ligt and Frenkie. We have enough leaders. Our training sessions will be intense and no one will pull out of a challenge.”

Did you not select Weghorst in the past because he might disturb the vibe in the squad?

“Huh? No… I never thought about that, with him. Never looked at it like that. No, Weghorst position was already doubly booked, so to speak. Babel and Malen on the left, Stengs and Berghuis on the right and Memphis and Luuk de Jong centrally. End of story. And Wout is doing so well, he is a top striker and whether he is an asshole in the match or not, I don’t care. But as long as he’s an asshole to the opponent, hahahaha.”

You know already which 26 players will be selected?

“I have a couple of players where I am not 100% sure yet. I still need to lay that egg. I also considered bringing Virgil as one of the three additional players, even if he couldn’t play, just for his presence in the squad. But I won’t.”

How will you deal with the social media stuff?

“It’s part of life now. Players do a lot with this and it’s all good. We do have someone in the back room staff who will take care of films and photos, so the players 1) don’t have to worry about that and 2) can be assured they’ll look good on the pic, hahaha.”

Do you support a mandatory vaccination policy for the players?

“No! That is an individual decision, people should be free to decide for themselves.”

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by Jan

Euros approaching fast for Oranje

Well, we’re at the business end of the season… Things are heating up nicely in Spain and France, while the champs in Italy, Holland and England are known already. Still heaps to play for. Practically every club in the Eredivisie has something to play for still. There’s a lot of excitement in the EPL still on both ends and this weekend is a killer weekend for Barcelona!

And when the dust has settled, we’re all gearing up for two major tournaments in summer: the Euros and the U21 Euros.

Exciting times!

From this position, a bit congrats to Ajax, who had a masterful season. Winning the double with pretty good football and quarter finals EL is usually a season to be very proud of. It’s typical for Ajax at the moment, that most people are actually disappointed with Ajax’ European campaign. That says something about the expectations.

Another big feather in Ajax’ cap is the break through of some exceptional young talents: Gravenberch, Timber, Rensch, Brobbey and lets not forget Noa Lang in Brussels (technically also developed at Feyenoord, like Timber).

Ajax found the right balance: young exuberant talents, masterful experience in Tadic, Blind, Stekelenburg and Klaassen and the grit and bravado of the South Americans (and Mexican). Record signing Seb Haller wasn’t even that influential, so it goes to show what we can expect in the next season.

Erik ten Hag stays at Ajax, which will most likely result in another adventurous season coming up, hopefully with more CL results. I do expect a lot from Kudus, who had a difficult injury-laden season while Ekkelenkamp is touted as even better than Gravenberch. We also have Schuurs, Traore and most likely some new signings this summer. It’s believed Tagliafico and Onana are on their way out, but the Argentine left back has said time and time again, “I don’t need to leave, I’ll only go when the club is right and it is financially good for Ajax. I love playing here and living here, so staying at Ajax would work for me too.”

Onana has his own issues (won’t play a competitive match till March 2021) and might also not find a club.

PSV and Feyenoord both struggle. PSV has to deal with a coach who only wants to play one style, while the PSV players might well not be the right material for that German disciplined tactics. Feyenoord simply lacks quality, both in the squad and on the trainers bench. Advocaat truly is old school. Only Berghuis and Senesi represent real value (albeit with a limited fee for Berghuis!) and Bijlow, Malacia and Kokcu will represent more value in the future. They should stay a bit longer in Rotterdam.

AZ has impressed massively as well. Their start was rocky, they dropped at least 8 points which they shouldn’t have by conceding too many goals in the first matches. Add those 8 point to the table now and they’d be a title challenger. The likes of Wijndal, Koopmeiners, Midsjo, Karlsson all have a massive future ahead of them. Stengs and Boadu are still question marks though, and when Wijndal and Koopmeiners leave (while Svensson is leaving on a free, I believe) it remains to be seen if and how AZ can sustain their position.

Vitesse can also be proud of their season, with German coach Letsch capable of what Schmidt at PSV is failing: inspiring his players – even the difficult ones, like Tannane and Bazoer – in playing for the team. Those two, in combination with goalie Pasveer (on his way to Ajax!) and a couple of loanies, propelled Vitesse back to the top and into Europe (most likely).

This weekend it’s Feyenoord-Ajax, a last option for Feyenoord to give the season a bit of shine (although Ajax probably wouldn’t care too much if they lost).

And while we gear up for the European finals (with potentially a starring role for Ziyech, Ake, Donny van de Beek), our focus will shift to the Euros.

Sad news for the pundits and criticasters who were sharpening their knives for the Weghorst-Luuk debate: Frank de Boer is allowed to bring 26 players to the tournament, which most likely means that the NT coach will bring 3 more attacking players along.

Louis van Gaal made headlines in 2014 when he decided to bring less defenders and more forwards. Logic and statistics got him to do that and now it seems almost a natural decision to make. Statistics show that the majority of substitutions are about bringing game changers onto the pitch: strikers, wingers, creative mids.

Another reason to change players: fatigue or injuries. It’s usually the forwards that will struggle with this. Statistically, defenders are less likely to have to go off due to fatigue.

It simply doesn’t make sense to stack the bench with the likes of Hateboer, St Juste, Holman or Struijk.

And Frank de Boer has experienced this in recent matches with Oranje where he ended up sending defenders (Ake, Dumfries) forward in order to force an issue, as he ran out of attacking options. See photo below.

So I can imagine Wout Weghorst getting a spot in the squad. And De Boer will have to work through the scenarios: who do you want on the bench when you’re still 0-0 vs Bosnia-Herzegovina with 10 mins to go? Which midfielder can you bring late, to add some energy to the proceedings? Which skilled dribbler do we have to play the same part as Memphis did in the 2014 World Cup?

My squad:

Goalies: – Cillesen, Krul, Stekelenburg

Defenders: Dumfries, Karsdorp, De Vrij, De Ligt, Ake, Veltman, Wijndal, Van Aanholt

Midfield: Frenkie, De Roon, Gini Wijnaldum, Klaassen, Van de Beek, Gravenberch

Forwards: Malen, Babel, Memphis, Luuk de Jong, Berghuis, Bergwijn

Additional three: Weghorst, Stengs, Danjuma

I have left Bijlow, Koopmeiners, Lang and Gakpo out as I believe Van der Looij will select them for his Young Oranje tournament.

Based on today’s form and fitness, this would be my starting eleven for the Euros (Blind and Van Dijk not considered):

And against stronger teams (Italy, Spain, England, France) you could play Memphis on the left with Luuk de Jong or Weghorst centrally.

Should Daley be fit in time, I think Veltman is out.

Should Van Dijk be fit in time, Van Aanholt will be left out.

What are your thoughts?

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