Tag: Willem van Hanegem

January 18, 2017 by Jan

Why Oranje should always play in De Kuip

Looking at some classic games as played in De Kuip, as requested, and giving you five reasons why Oranje needs De Kuip as their home base.

1. History

The Dutch NT hasn’t played more matches in any other venue… They played 118 games in De Kuip in total. The first one, against Belgium (of course) in 1937, which Holland won: 1-0. That game was the second ever played in the Stadium Feyenoord (as it is officially called). The last international played in De Kuip was in 2016 vs Belarus, a 4-1 win. There was a two year gap between that WC qualifier and the friendly vs Ghana in 2014. De Kuip was frequented most often in big finals games as well, such as during the Euro2000 tournament. Three group games, a quarter finals and the finals itself. The Trezeguet golden goal won France the title in 2000, in Rotterdam.

2. Atmosphere

During Oranje’s recent failed EC qualification campaign, there were strong rumours that the players were not happy and at home in the Amsterdam Arena. The players asked the KNVB for more games in De Kuip. Why? The atmosphere in Rotterdam is much better. The stadium oozes nostalgia and a typically “English” football vibe, as opposed to the more business-class character of the Arena. The acoustics in De Kuip are amazing, which means that 55,000 fans sound like 110,000 fans. When host Feyenoord plays at home, the vibe is amazing but also during the cup finals without Feyenoord, De Kuip is the swinging centre of the Dutch football universe. This will affect the players and will result in better performances and results.

3. The Pitch

One of the biggest advantages of De Kuip is the pitch. It’s pitch perfect. Erwin Beltman is the unsung hero in Rotterdam, groundsmaster of Feyenoord. Year after year he wins the prize for best football pitch in The Netherlands, voted by the captains of the Eredivisie clubs. In Amsterdam, you’ll find yellow spots, brown spots, even black spots on the pitch. Never in Rotterdam.

Former Feyenoord star Van Hooijdonk in 2015: “Never ever again in De Arena!”. He said: “It’s about time that the KNVB gives football the priority over commerce, if we’re talking about Oranje home games! You need to create the best circumstances for the players, the coaches. They are the artists. They should be leading in all decision making. And key is: a good ref, a good ball and a good pitch! The pitch in Rotterdam is 100 times better than in Amsterdam. And yes, I get the business reasons…the sponsors, the VIP dinners… If you’d rate the pitch in Amsterdam a 7 and the pitch in Rotterdam an 8, yes… I get the decision, but it’s not like that. De Arena pitch is a 4 and the pitch in De Kuip is a 9. This decision making is a disgrace.”

4. Results

Oranje performs worse in De Arena, compared to De Kuip. Significantly. Since 1990, the Dutch team played 40 times in Rotterdam and only lost two games. They lost against Germany in 1990 in a friendly (0-1) and in 2000 against Portugal at home for the WC qualifications (0-2). The national team lost more in recent years in Amsterdam than in 25 years De Kuip. Is it the vibe, the pitch, the actual location? Who knows. But if we want to achieve something with Oranje, we need start using De Kuip as the home base. In 2000, Yugoslavia was played off the pitch, under Rijkaard’s management. 6-1 at the Euros 2000. Where? In Rotterdam.

5. New beginning

And the final reason, not the least important…we need to make a change, a new beginning. The switch back to Rotterdam as home base would be the first and simplest change we can make. A new home will inspire. The Dutch national team needs to play good football, fresh and attractive football and deserves to this in a good, fresh and attractive venue.

Since the 1980s, De Kuip is the traditional home of the Dutch cup final and apart from the Euro 2000 finals, there were 10 Uefa Cup finals in Rotterdam, with the likes of Spurs, AC Milan, Ajax, Feyenoord, Man United and Barcelona winning their silverware in Rotterdam.

So classic games played in De Kuip… Now that’s tough one. Apart from seeing acts like U2, David Bowie, Springsteen, Bob Dylan, The Stones, Michael Jackson in De Kuip, I’ve seen many a Feyenoord and Oranje match.

One can’t escape the Feyenoord-Ajax classics of course. I vividly remember most of them but was only 2 years old when Feyenoord trashed Ajax 9-4 in 1964. This was Johan Cruyff’s first ever classic.

In 1972, Ajax took revenge. Cruyff was a mature football star and with buddy Piet Keizer, Ajax was too strong for Feyenoord. Both clubs reigned supreme in Europe, with Feyenoord winning the Europa Cup in 1970 and Ajax doing it the season after. This particular game confirmed that Ajax was by far the best team in the world, winning 1-5 in Rotterdam.

The 1988 classic was memorable for two reasons: the local police force was campaigning for better conditions and did so by having a gorgeous female police officer doing a striptease on the pitch before the match. In front of 55,000 football fans, the young lady undressed, probably inspiring a 19 year old Dennis Bergkamp, who’d play a sensational game leading Ajax to victory 1-2.

The 2005 classic again resulted in a dramatic loss for Feyenoord, losing 2-3 in the dying seconds, but it was a gem of a match. And a game which saw a number of future European football stars on the pitch, such as Dirk Kuyt, Salomon Kalou, Maxwell, Wesley Sneijder and Steven Pienaar. Maduro made the winning goal at the death (with Danny Blind winning as coach, over Feyenoord colleague Ruud Gullit).

In 2012, Feyenoord won spectacularly vs Ajax (4-2) with a hattrick for Man City loanie John Guidetti who’d go on to become a Feyenoord legend, in just one season. This lucky shot was followed up by another one: Graziano Pelle was brought back to Rotterdam and he went on to reach the top in England and the Italian national team.

The 1974 Tottenham Hotspur game was my first home game in the stadium. As a 12 year old, I was invited to come by our neighbours and although I vividly remember the match, I think I had my eye on the tremendous violent acts of the Spurs hooligans on the stands above me. Scary stuff, but in the memory forever.

Even further down memory lane, a game I only remember from the TV… But a classic indeed. Feyenoord vs Real Madrid. The great Real Madrid, but also the great Feyenoord… With Willem van Hanegem, Rinus Israel and Coen Moulijn. The most memorable moment of that game, was the team spirit Feyenoord demonstrated when their iconic left winger was attacked by a Madrid butcher. All Feyenoord players decided “enough is enough!” and went after the culprit. Watch it here:

And the Moulijn sequence is here:

We can safely say that ugly scenes on the pitch are not new… The Dutch commentator says: “Oh lads lads… don’t do this, now… please…this is not nice. Not nice at all!”

We mentioned the classic Oranje game at home at the Euros already. The 6-1 win. There were many great home games for Oranje, but sadly I was witness in De Kuip when Oranje failed to beat Belgium and wasn’t able to go to the 1986 Mexico World Cup. Oranje lost 1-0 in Belgium and needed a 2-0 victory. Houtman scored the first one and when Robbie de Wit scored the 2-0, everyone – including me – felt the job was done. I was right on the spot in the stadium in line with the Belgium attack, five minutes before the end, when a cross reached Georges Grun. The defender wasn’t marked and headed home the goal that took Belgium to their impressive World Cup performance.

I remember two things vividly, apart from the tragic away goal Belgium scored: it was terribly cold and we parked so far away, that my dad ruined his knee in the walk up to the stadium, something that would bother him till his death…

The biggest win Oranje had, at home in Rotterdam, was a 9-0 beating of Norway in 1972. A qualification game for the World Cup 1974. I have no video for that game though. Holland started scoring late in the game. It took 31 minutes for Neeskens to find the net and the score at half time was only 1-0. In the last 25 minutes it rained goals, with Cruyff, Keizer and Brokamp joining Neeskens on the score sheet.

The biggest loss we suffered at home in a formal match was versus the former Magical Magyars in 1961, for the 1962 World Cup qualification: losing 0-3.

One of the craziest games we played in Rotterdam was the 5-5 draw in the friendly with Belgium. Kluivert and Davids on fire, and Frank Rijkaard as NT manager.

Another memorable game – or two games – was the double vs England for the 1994 World Cup. The 2-0 win at home with Koeman and Bergkamp scoring for Holland. The away game at Wembley was memorable for the Jan Wouters elbow on Gascoigne and the Peter van Vossen run, foul and penalty kick.

Feyenoord played some amazing home games in the 2002 season when they won the UEFA Cup at home. The finals vs Borussia Dortmund were exhilarating of course. The Freiburg away match is legendary due to Van Hooydonk’s incredible free kick. I was present when Feyenoord beat Glasgow Rangers in a very tight game (two red cards) at home: 3-2. The next match up was the quarter finals against PSV Eindhoven. That would be an epic tie. 1-1 in Eindhoven and Feyenoord on their way out, 1-2 down when in the final seconds of the game PSV didn’t clear a ball out but gave away the ball to Feyenoord. The cross was converted by Van Hooydonk (who else) and Feyenoord won the penalty shoot out. The semis were vs Inter Milan. Feyenoord won away 0-1 and drew 2-2 in Rotterdam to reach and win the finals.

My earliest memory of a Feyenoord game in De Kuip… I was 7 years old and Feyenoord was on its way to win the Europa Cup. Not that we knew that at the time, of course. TV coverage was limited and lots of people enjoyed listening to games on the radio. AC Milan was the opponent and one of the ruling elite in Football Europe. We’re talking the 1/8 final and Feyenoord lost in Milan, 1-0. We needed a 2-0 win and I don’t think I saw the game live. It might not have been televised even, who knows. But I heard it on the radio, and that radio commentary was published as a record (a 45″ single) and became a huge hit! Feyenoord won at home 2-0. A misplaced cross from Wim Jansen sailed into the net and Willem van Hanegem headed home the 2-0. Famously, in the post-match interview (part of the recording I owned and listened to 1000 times…), Willem responded to the question “And Willem, you scored the 2-0!!” in typical De Kromme style: “Ah yes, well, I was going that way anyway, so….”.

I was able to to perform the 3 minute commentary to the game word for word, copying the commentator’s style and entertained my friends and family regularly in that role… Ah, the good ol’ days….

Here is the grainy footage:

The best game in De Kuip EVER!!

This might shock you, but the best game I ever saw live in De Kuip was actually a testimonial, or a tribute game. A game without any real significance in terms of result. It was Willem van Hanegem’s farewell game. The WC1974 Oranje vs Feyenoord. It was unforgettable, and not just because De Kuip farewelled it’s best player ever, but also because during that game – at the end of the 1982-83 season – Johan Cruyff was introduced to the Feyenoord Legion as the successor as playmaker for next season. Cruyff had walked out of the negotiations with Ajax and his Oranje team mate Van Hanegem was working behind the screens to get the legendary #14 to Rotterdam.

In the game, Van Hanegem scored, a header from a JC corner and he was jokingly red-carded when the time was up for him to accept the standing ovation – and Cruyff did as well! A header. Like he did famously in 1971, winning the Europa Cup in Rotterdam for Ajax. It was a real football celebration, a full Kuip and mixed reception for JC.

Not long after the game, the confirmation came that Johan would join Feyenoord for one season. I went to check him out at the first training session with the team. I’m sure I told you about this before, but I’ll do it again. They started with a rondo (piggy in the middle), with the full team. Approx 5 in the middle and the rest in a circle. The first ball that was passed to Johan was too short. Deliberate? It invited a sliding tackle from defender Stafleu, studs forward, directed at Cruyff’s ankles. The Feyenoord fans cheered for the tackle. The 37 year old simply jumped up, controlled the ball and played it on. The fans cheered even more. Not much later, JC retaliated with a sharp sliding tackle back on Stafleu, who couldn’t avoid the clash and had to limp off to the dressing room. The fans were convinced! Welcome to Feyenoord, Johan Cruyff.

July 3, 2012 by Jan

Open Letter to the KNVB

Dear KNVB,

I am assuming you want our Dutch National Team to do really well…

That is the basis for this letter. If you don’t want this, please disregard.

I do believe good results by our national team can turned into euros, correct? Sponsor money? Trips? Merchandise? Ticket sales, etc?

And clearly, euros is what’s driving this. From what I understood, Mr Van Oostveen was quick to comment after our loss against Portugal that the financial ramifications for Oranje were tremendous.

So let’s put it all in perspective.

If Holland plays well, we gain standing. Opponents want to play us. And sponsors want us. If Holland plays according to the Dutch School ( you might have seen the Euros finals between Spain and Italy?), the Dutch football export product ( coaches, players, methods) will become more and more in demand.

Now, what is important is for you to accept responsibility for the fact that our football has deteriorated while a competitor has adopted our playing style and is kicking everybody’s arse.

You see, we had people like Michels, Cruyff, Van Hanegem introducing a new style of football.

We had the Gullits/Van Bastens/Rijkaards doing their magic in the 1980s, with true believers like Arrigo Sacchi following suit.

And Louis van Gaal and his Ajax and Ajax-crew ( Co Adriaanse, Blind, Mourinho, Frank de Boer) impressing even more in the 1990s.

We also had a tremendous coach like Wiel Coerver (winner of the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord) who developed a masterful method for skills-training and today one of his biggest followers is second in command at Man United (Rene Meulensteen). But like Johan Cruyff, Wiel Coerves was pushed out. “Too difficult to deal with”.

I can’t remember all the arguments and reasons you had for not allowing Johan Cruyff in the team manager’s role but it had to do with salary and the fact that Johan wanted to have his own staff… Man man, how pathetic and agricultural you guys were thinking back then. Look at today’s situation. No coach takes on a job without his own team or without at least 1 Mio euros as a yearly salary…

Shame on the KNVB, in other words!!

After Rijkaard, you gave the job to self-kicker and ego-centric Louis van Gaal. Who made a mess of things. Louis is a club coach. (And are you SERIOUSLY considering him AGAIN???).

You resorted back to easy-going Dick Advocaat, who went two steps back in time with his ugly result-football. But he didn’t bring the results. Neither did he in 1994, by the way, so why he was given the job in 2002…. no one knows.

Young, unproven Marco van Basten got the job in 2006 and he was allowed to insult and character-assassinate Seedorf, Davids, Van Nistelrooy and Van Bommel. He even told the media himself, recently: “I was much too young for that job. I didn’t know what happened to me.”

Poor Marco. Poor players. Poor fans. Poor Oranje.

Again, shame on you!

And now Bert had the job for 4 years. The results were great until the Euros 2012. But the quality of football deteriorated. The Dutch School of football evaporated. And slowly, the only aspects keeping this team together ( spirit, team, mentality, joy, desire, will) disappeared as well and as a result we were humiliated Ireland style.

Bert had nothing to fall back on. He hadn’t tested younger players. He didn’t have a Plan B ( which should have been Plan A in the first place: 4-3-3) and he simply failed.

Now the KNVB will have to make a smart move. As there is a lot at stake.

Not just “winning or losing”. But re-building our football culture.

Which means, defining our style of play. The characteristics of our football. And making sure we play like this with all our rep teams. From the 14 year olds to the pros.

Think in terms of: forward pressing, dominance, ball possession, pass & move, depth and width in possession, tight without possession, wingers and full backs using the space up front, defender with speed and build-up qualities, etc etc…

So we need a team manager for the big Oranje, that adheres to this playing style. Selects players for it.

Shouldn’t be too hard, as most players if not all can play in a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 system.

And works on getting these lads to play together as a unit. If we identify two or three young defenders that might have “it”, work with them. Talk to their club coaches. Make a development plan. Invite them for sessions.

So, our friend the team manager needs to focus on tactics, on mentality, attitude and desire.

And what he does, fits in perfectly within the football culture of the KNVB. In terms of practice material, supporting functions such as physiology, nutrition, video analysis and other supporting facilities.

I think the KNVB needs a “culture management team” of three of four wise men who protect the Dutch football culture. They oversee (like a Board of Directors) the management team: Team Coordinator ( the current Hans Jorritsma role), National Coach and the Head youth teams manager.

These wise men aren’t too hard to pick: I’d go for Cruyff, Van Hanegem (both 1974), Rijkaard, Wouters or Gullit (1988) and Frank de Boer or Philip Cocu (1998).

And instead of taking trips to South America, Asia, Australia in the off season, you forget about those $$ and you allow the coach to work on his team for a day or 10 in the peace and quiet of Hoenderloo. To build and create a winning team.

It is your job to select the best man for the challenge. Or best men for the challenges. It’s also your job to create the ideal circumstances for these men top operate in.

So, do your job!

Orange regards,

Jan of Jan’s Bleeding Orange Blog!

June 21, 2012 by Jan

My evaluation of Bert van Marwijk

The KNVB will evaluate Bert van Marwijk in the coming weeks.

We will do it now!

I believe Bert should go.

Not that he should be fired per se. I think Bert should resign. But despite everything ( weak defense, egos, blablabla) it is his job to keep it all in check and manage it. That is why it’s called team manager.

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!

He did well in 2010, we all say, but maybe it was the team carrying Bert to the finals, more than the other way around?

There is a number of aspects I can not pass judgement on. And I won’t. But I will mention them. The players’ fitness. What could Bert and co. have done about that? The weird 1300 km travel program for every game? Was that really necessary?

Things I can judge are:

– Squad & Team Selection
– Tactics
– Subs
– Team culture

I’d like to bring in some stuff I overheard in the post-Euros debates on Dutch telly. One fairly well positioned ex-player said that he had some off-the-record debates with Bert about Oranje and he got the impression Bert saw this implosion coming. Bert apparently lamented the fact that we had such weak defenders. Apparently, Bert felt that the Eredivisie central defenders ( incl Vlaar, De Vrij, Marcellis, Viergever, Gouweleeuw, Brouwers too) were too weak in footballing sense to support the gung-ho midfielders/forwards. The mismatch. According to this ex-player ( Rene van der Gijp), Bert was pretty desperate about this. ( “You tell me, Rene! You tell me who to pick!!”)

Can I start with Team Culture? The so-called camps and rifts? I think that is all a bit exaggerated. These camps and rifts are always there. 23 guys who are all machos and winners. You’re bound to get that. Even during the World Cup 2010 campaign I’m sure some players had issues, but we never heard. Because we were winning. Once you start losing, these things come out. Camp Sneijder Camp Schmeijder. Who cares. They are all cocky little brats. Let them sort it out. It’s of course something Bert needs to manage, if possible, but as we don’t know exactly what went on, I think it’s hard for us to judge Bert on this.

As for Squad and Team Selection, I do believe Bert is to blame for some of the grieve. Wilfred Bouma? Really?? Why? Why wasn’t Brouwers or Viergever or De Vrij ever tested? Is it really so that a 34 year old spent benchwarmer at PSV is a better option that someone like Viergever? If you haven’t tested it, how do you know?

I wanted to avoid Spain and I managed to do so…

Urby Emanuelson played left back for Ajax. Plays left back at times for AC Milan. Is experienced. Has 100+ pro games under his belt. Plays in the Serie A. Surely, he is at least as good as Willems? Don’t get me wrong: I like Willems. But an 18 year old rookie can only do so much in a team that is dysfunctional. Put Willems in Spain or Germany and he’d be great. But what do we expect from him in this Oranje. Knowing how badly out of shape we are/were, Bert should have protected him. In the Portugal game, he played horrific. Also, three top matches in 8 days is a lot for any player, let alone an 18 year old rookie…

I like Schaars a lot. Another player I like to see more of, but if you have De Jong, Van Bommel, Strootman, Afellay and Van der Vaart for the holding mid role and if Schaars himself declares left back is not his thing, why select him? Why not take another player who can play or is willing to play there? Vernon Anita for instance?

And why bring a real winger like Narsingh with many assists under his belt to the Euros and not play him? At all?

Why putting so much faith in a player ( Afellay) who hasn’t had 18 minutes of play in the last 6 months? Why play him in two games in a row? He’s not even a winger? Against Germany, a real left footed winger would have found Van Persie, but Afellay screwed up a relatively simple pass over 6 yards by playing it behind the Arsenal striker… And like Willems, everone knew Afellay would be able to play 3 games at top level in 8 days!

And any coach with Hunter and Van Persie in the squad would gladly play them both. The whole nation ( incl. Cruyff and Van Hanegem) pleaded with Bert to use them both. Put Sneijder on line back (on the holding level) and use Van Persie behind Hunter. At least try this out once! Bert never did. The only chance Huntelaar got was with Van Persie and Van der Vaart as wingers. Goodness gracious me! No wonder Hunter is pissed off! Bad management, Bert.
But if you do play Huntelaar, you need players on the flanks that will cross in. So, Robben on the left, someone else on the right. And you really want to play offensive football: Narsingh. If you are fearful of the balance ( or lack thereof): Kuyt.
And if you need legs to go from box to box, why not play Strootman instead of De Jong? Why not test these concepts?

So we’re evaluation tactics now… We played our best match in the qualifications with Van der Vaart on the holding mid spot. Why not continue on that path? Why resort back to the couple Bommel/De Jong? So many questions on line ups and tactics…

The most important one, the role of Arjen Robben. Robben in top form is in the same league as C Ronaldo. Just under the Messi league :-). He can tear you apart. But if he’s not ( the dribbles didn’t work, the left foot shots were all wasted), maybe he should play on the left wing. So he can serve up crosses. In particular when Hunter is on!

And we have all seen how the team was divided into a group tracking back and a group pushing forward. Leaving huge gaps for Danes, Germans and Portuguese players to have fun in. This is something the coach should fix. ( I think it’s something the players should fix too, but they clearly weren’t able to). And our coach wasn’t able to fix it. Too bad. Really sad. But that is a big no no of course.

We didn’t play too sexy in 2010. We wanted to fix that. But did we ever practice this? Do we actually have the back four to do so? Shouldn’t we be realistic and realise that without Xabi Alonso, Busquets, Pique, Ramos and Alba we can’t play that kind of football?

If Bert sees that Van der Wiel is not in top form, Mathijsen is not fit and inexperienced Willems is in the team, shouldn’t he be asking the lads to play sexy and attacking football?

I think Bert became the victim ( and the players too by the way) of good intentions: trying to appease the fans, trying to impress the world, trying to keep the “mates-vibe” in the squad intact….

Maybe Bert should have said: I can not play total football with this group. We are not good enough for that. We have no Krol, Rijkaard, De Boer, Stam. We will play like we did in 2010. Go for result. Win the Euros. And hopefully club coaches will develop some better defenders…

To top if off, I believe the substitution actions of Bert said enough. Bringing Vaart and Hunter changed the whole make up of the team. It affected too much. After they were on, it was chaos. Nothing was created, really. And bringing Kuyt late in the game had no function other than making sure the number 14 in the hierarchy got some minutes. Against Denmark, we needed Luuk de Jong. Against Germany and Portugal, we needed Narsingh.

In summary, I think Bert made many mistakes. And these mistakes tell me that tactically, he is limited. He only knows one system and has no ability to improvise or be flexible. He basically hoped and gambled that Oranje could repeat the 2010 trick. With lesser full backs. Non-fit Mathijsen. Rusty Van Bommel. And an unfit Afellay.

These mistakes, for me, mean that he needs to go. Let someone else have a go.

Bert deserves a statue. But he doesn’t deserve the job anymore…

So, the question arises: who now?

Is this our new ambassador??

In my book, no Ronald Koeman.

I don’t have any reason to believe Koeman is “The Man”. Why? He was great as a player but mediocre as a coach until now. He played 4-4-2 with Ajax! He got into trouble there with everyone. Including Sneijder and Van der Vaart! He left PSV for Valencia. Where he made a
mess of things. Some Valencia officials still wake up screaming “Koeman!!” when they had too much to eat that evening… He almost destroyed that club. Then he landed at AZ where they kicked him out before the season was over… There is no indication whatsoever that Mr Koeman can handle this. He has had one good season with Feyenoord. That is all!

Also, I think it’s wrong for the KNVB to approach coaches who are employed by memberclubs of the KNVB. Not done!

We need someone with:

1. Authority
2. Proven experience in getting results
3. A passion for total football, attacking football
4. Dutch nationality

In my book, Van Gaal is out. He screwed it up once. He, like Koeman, is thrown out everywhere as he’s a dick.

Van Hanegem won’t make a good team manager. He’s probably good as an assistant.

Cruyff won’t do it.

Rijkaard probably won’t do it.

So the best candidate is Co Adriaanse!

He has done tremendously well with Ajax, Willem II, AZ, Salzburg and Porto. He has authority. The players look up to him. Sneijder and Van der Vaart rate him as their best coach ever. He is great as a figure head, supporters and media respect him and most importantly, he has the balls to play attacking football. And he’s available.

End of evaluation.

My balls are this big!!

June 15, 2012 by Jan

Oranje – Germany; what went wrong?

It’s 24 hours after the Germany game. The Day After.

We are not yet out of the competition. It’s a simple calculation. If Germany wins against Denmark and Holland beats Portugal with two goals difference, Oranje is through!

So, let’s first analyse the Germany game.

What happened exactly?

We needed a win. Germany would have been happy with a 0-0. So Holland starts with some intent. Indeed, the first 20 minutes were fine. Not great, but we did create opportunities. Robin van Persie on a good long Van Bommel pass, Van Persie with another opportunity and Afellay with a cross to Van Persie which he basically squandered by playing it behind Van Persie.

The pace was good, the passing was ok, but when Germany had one opportunity, they scored. 0-1.

And fear entered into the frame. The defence stayed back. The midfielders drowned, the wingers didn’t get a good ball and Van Persie was on an island.

And when Germany had another option of slicing through our defence (another Schweinsteiger pass for Gomez) it was 0-2. And Oranje was chasing the game.

In the second half, Huntelaar and Van der Vaart came on and late in the game Dirk Kuyt came on for Robben. One great one-touch attack and Robin van Persie was able to score the consolation goal. Sneijder had an opportunity to score the equaliser but Boateng risked his ribs blocking this attempt.

Let’s look at what went wrong:

Tactics
Our 4-2-3-1 doesn’t work if it’s not executed well. Our defence kept on tracking back while our forwards wanted to push forward. Space between the lines was huge and our holding midfielders drowned in that space. Our full backs didn’t do anything on the overlap. While our wingers lacked the form (Afellay!!) to make a dent.

The Goalkeeper
Stekelenburg actually had a couple of good saves. The Ozil ball on the post. The Badstuber header. The weird high ball falling almost under the bar. But he didn’t look too good with the second Gomez goal. The angle was astute. And for some reason, Stekel decided to go to ground before Gomez even hit the ball… Why?? If Stekelenburg would have stayed on his feet, he could have simply caught the ball.

Defence
Our defence is atrocious. Willems is a very young, inexperienced left back. Who did ok. He made mistakes, but that was to be expected. Where was the support for the young Sparta prospect? Heitinga and Mathijsen were both guilty for allowing Gomez all the space to score two goals and didn’t have the balls to pressure forward. Van der Wiel, like against the Danes, was invisible. Didn’t add any value to the game.

Midfield
Both Van Bommel and De Jong seemed dinosaours. Too much space for them to cover, not enough balls or dynamics to push forward and play tightly within the team. Both Bommel and De Jong did not offer any added value and with defence were the “six players tracking back” while the forwards were focused on attacking.

Forwards
The four forwards were again focused on attacking and scoring goals. But Robben and Afellay did not have the form while Sneijder had problems making his mark in the first half. He played a better game in the second half when Afellay made way for Huntelaar and Sneijder had more space on the left wing. Van Persie had a number of chances again, but he failed to convert them, while the Germans did.

Individual Form
Too many players lack the form needed to win gold. Robben, Afellay, Van der Vaart, Huntelaar, van Bommel and De Jong and the whole defence seemed to be seriously under par.

Physical Condition
It’s hard to say, watching a game, what the status is of the physical condition of the players, but it does seem like the energy oozes out of our players a bit quicker than with other teams. It could be result of being deflated due to the results… It could also simply be the result of the pitch being too long for our players to cover. But both Morten Olsen and Joachim Low stated that Holland didnt look fit. And of course this Raymond Verheijen character is yelling this in tweets as well. But then again, if you have 5 players in your line up that are not 100% fit (Willems, Van der Wiel, Mathijsen, Van Bommel, Afellay) is it possible to play this high energy game??

Mentality
In a way, the mentality seems to be fine. Players like Van Persie, Robben, Sneijder, Huntelaar and co play top football for years already and are used to pressure and playing big games week in week out. Jetro Willems also doesn’t seem to be fussed playing with the big names, on the big stage, against big opponents. One thing that does puzzle me, is the fact that we have players who said a number of times already “we don’t have the form now, but once the tournament starts we will flick the switch and be ready”…. I don’t think that actually works like that.

Dynamics
The Dutch total football school is based on dynamics. JC everywhere on the pitch. Van Hanegem placing the ball anywhere. Krol being left winger. Rep center forward. Haan playmaker and Neeskens running from box to box. Etc etc. This worked with Gullit and Vanenburg and Muhren. And Erwin Koeman ran from box to box. And with Cocu, Bergkamp and Davids ran from box to box. But where are our dynamic players and patterns? Robben and Afellay? Predictable. Van der Wiel and Willems? Limited overlaps. Two central backs. NEVER pushing forward. Holding mids? Static. Just like Sneijder… Lots of dynamics in his passing, but doesn’t pull his weight in yards covered like Iniesta/Silva/Ozil/Modric… In my view, we lack penetration. Who runs from box to box? How many times did we see a potential cross (ok, they were mostly shite) but only Van Persie in the box? Maybe time for Strootman!

Sharpness
Gomez only needs 4 chances to score 3 goals. Van Persie, Robben and even Sneijder seem to be overzealous or maybe lacking sharpness… amongst ourselves, we might have had 15 good opportunities? Only 1 converted. And with his right! Is it lack of sharpness or too much will, too much eagerness… Did you see Arjen Robben’s face and grimace when singing the national anthem? Was he impersonating Jack Nicholson as the joker (Heath Ledger for younger generations) or does he simply want to it too badly?

The Run Up to this Euro Tournament
Before we started the WorldCup 2010, most of our players came out successful seasons. This time around, Sneijder has had his problems, Afellay hasn’t seen a ball, Van der Wiel was injured, Mathijsen was injured, Robben had some dramas to process and Huntelaar now has to accept that he’s not a starter.

History
Everytime Oranje played a good tournament, the next tournament was played crap. In 1974, we were vice world champs, in 1976 we made a mess of it. In 1978 we were vice world champs, in 1980 we were sent home after the group. In 1988 we won the Euros and in 1990 we ended in shame. And now we are the vice world champs, so this tournament might be the next drama…

Available Players
Looking at Germany, one sometimes wonders what kind of squad Holland could have if our country was bigger. If we has 30 Mio in stead of 15 Mio people. I’m not saying “Let’s invade Belgium”… But if there ever was a reason to do this, this is the one!! Add Vertonghen (left back), Vermaelen (CB) and Kompany (CB) and we’re laughing all the way to shake Platini’s hand. If we need to rely on an 18 year old lad who played Emmen and Helmond Sport last year….well….

The Coach
So, summing all the above up… Our coach is obviously responsible for this all. For team selection, for fitness, for tactics, for team motivation, etc (not for history, ok….).
He might be a great guy for a focused campaign when all the players are on a high and fit (2010) but maybe the wrong guy for a campaign where we need more tactical flexibility, more balls and more empathy. Who will tell him? I am guessing that we will….

Let’s create some solutions for the Portugal game!

June 11, 2012 by Jan

What Willem and Johan say….

The whole nation will be keen to respond to anything that happens around Oranje but at the end of the day people will always be waiting for what the two Oracles have to say… Johan Cruyff and Willem van Hanegem.

Today, both wrote their columns. Have a read… Willem first.

“I have seen the best pass of the whole tournament already. That Sneijder pass on Huntelaar! A shame that Klaas Jan couldn’t finish that one. Everything would have been different now. Unfortunately, I hear a lot of people complaining now.

And I thought we’d win the first one too, to be honest, but let’s not act as if those Danes are a bunch of nitwits. Well, maybe Bendtner is one, but other than that, they played decent football and created opportunities. It wasn’t necessary to lose against them but it’s not a disgrace.

But why did we lose? Let me start positively by the way. Jetro Willems. I was very happy with his game. This is a true asset to the team. Started in his first minutes with a nice shot on goal and a wide pass to Robben. Wonderful. Sneijder was the biggest disappointment to me. Although he played well, I do expect even more from him. Sneijder is so gifted, I would want him to step up more. But, he is improving and in the second half I could see him do many good things. When Huntelaar came and Van Persie dropped a bit, Sneijder was pushed to the left and he seemed to play a bit more freely.

Some people seem to think Robben doesn’t play well? I didn’t see that. All those talking heads on tv, but I think he created a lot. And whenever Robben is in good form, he doesn’t need a lot of support but in this game he did, and he didn’t get a lot. It’s sad to see how his team mates let him drown.

Van der Wiel overlapped him actually only once! And sometimes it was Van Persie who seeked him out. Van Bommel, the right midfielder, should support Robben much more, but the skipper was too busy with his own game. Van Bommel needs to support him, make himself available, play off him. I didn’t get Bert’s subs, by the way? Why did Afellay have to go? And Nigel de Jong’s sub was a mystery to me. He played good. I would have subbed Mark van Bommel. He was struggling and had copped a yellow already.

I think it would have been more logical to replace Van Persie with Hunter and bring Huntelaar. Maybe Narsingh on the flank for Van Bommel and Afellay drops back to midfield. So Robben can play on the left.

Willem as assistant coach in 2004

And now, Bert is a bit in trouble. Because changing your system after one disappointing game is not a good thing. I think he needs to play Van Persie, otherwise you can best send him home. And blame him on the loss. Which would be ridiculous of course. I think Bert should have started against the Danes with one holding midfielder. Bring Huntelaar up front and let Van Persie play off him from midfield.

I think we would have won then. And then you can play against the Germans with two holding midfielders and let Hunter start off the bench. That was logical. Now I would replace Van der Wiel with Boula and play Mathijsen for Vlaar. Who, by the way, didn’t do too shabby.

It’s good that Willem kept his dayjob…

The last thing I want to say: what was Van Persie doing with that phone on his ear right after the match? What kind of impression does that leave to his team mates and the fans? You just lost a big game and you missed a number of huge chances and you take a phone to chit chat about something?? I think it’s ridiculous. I don’t think Van Marwijk should accept that. I don’t care who he had on the phone and why. It’s not done. And I’ve never seen anyone do this. Not Balotelli, not C Ronaldo, not Messi, not Cruyff.”

Speaking of which…. What did Cruyff say?

“Ok, so we lost. It is how it is. But now we need to support the team. This is when the team needs it most. But we also need to learn from the mistakes. We missed a lot of chances. That is never a problem for me. The fact that you create them is key. In the next match, some of them will go in, I’m not too worried about that. But I do think our game play needs further analysis.

One of the causes of our disappointing result is the build up. Our defensive midfielders De Jong and Van Bommel had too much of the ball. That is not their strength. We have other players in the team for that.

And against Denmark, it was clear we didn’t need two defensive mids. Our problem was not in defense. I even thought it was cool to see how debutant Willems had the best kick of our six defensive players. He was seriously the best build up player we had. His direct opponent was the first to be subbed, which says something too.

I enjoyed watching that lad. He’s strong, technically skilled, quick and mentally strong too! He has solved our left back problem, as far as I’m concerned.

It’s a good thing that JC kept his dayjob…

But the way we position ourselves as a team is still a concern. This needs to be improved. At certain times, we played with two blocks: three forwards, six defenders and poor Sneijder. He had to drop to pick up the ball and try and find the forwards. He must have ran too many yards like this. Very tough and ungrateful work. The forwards don’t get the best out of Wesley and he is being physically eroded.

But, to remain positive: we had 5 or 6 really good opportunities. That is good. We normally have players that can finish. And in the coming games, we will. We now have a couple of days to fix things. And to realise that those mistakes can no longer be made.”