Tag: Zirkzee

by Jan

Oranje fans: e-unite!

Hi all, this is our safe space. This is where we can hang out all of us, safely, without fear of contamination. I mean, COVID19 contamination of course. Because we do have some other viruses going around here, which hopefully are not contagious… The Kuyt-is-bad-virus. The Daley-Blind-Is-In-Oranje-because-his-dad-used-to-be-virus. More dangerous than Corona, of course.

Enough jokes! I hope everyone is well? Safe? At home with family? And taking care of business!

I read that this virus has the most dramatic impact on men!! No more football, no more pub crawls, no more music events or partying, while women can still do what they do: cooking, ironing, vacuum cleaning, laundry… It’s not fair!

ENOUGH JOKES, I SAID!

Let me know how you are all going, below in the comments. There is still a lot of fun for us Oranje fans. Youtube is filled with super dooper clips. And we have this blog of course…

The news will come to you faster via other channels, so I won’t even try to be bringing you scoops.

But we do need to talk Euro tournament and the impact of the virus.

So I think common sense prevailed, we will not have the Euros this summer. A big bummer for most, but the Dutch will probably count their chickens… Memphis, Malen, Bergwijn… And more time for Zirkzee and Karsdorp and Wijndal and Boadu… It’s not that bad.

I do hope the competitions will be finalised properly and I hope this particularly for Liverpool!

I’m not going to go into conspiracy theories here or what this whole panic pandemonium means, there are heaps of comments and posts on social media and tweets and what not to deal with this.

So, we’ll keep our eye on the ball here, as far as I am concerned.

There is stuff to read, this blog to get with and start interacting more often, there are amazing youtube clips and classic games to enjoy too.

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 19: A general view (GV) of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Davinson Sanchez of Tottenham and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris clear up toilet paper thrown on the pitch by the Leipzig fans during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and RB Leipzig at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 19, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

Tell me below how you guys get through all this.

I’ll start:

I’m working from home, in a remote little beach town in Australia. Life is going as per usual, with the exception of the availability of toilet paper!

I spend more time watching movies, as opposed to watching football and I probably hit the sack earlier. I can freely check the sports sites without the risk of seeing a final score of a game I have yet to watch.

I’m intrigued by this whole global shit show and focus – as an amateur anthropologist – on that, on American politics and other geo-political stuff.

We are not stocking food and supplies but take it all as it comes.

And you?

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by Jan

Oranje’s future…

What a year we had… With Ajax in last CL season and with Oranje… first in the Nations League and of course in our Euro qualification matches… We have seen Frenkie and Mathijs go to the big leagues, we saw Chong and Zirkzee making waves, the likes of Tete and El Ghazi making good on their promise and AZ impressing domestically and internationally… But we also saw Ajax being shafted by the VAR this last half year, Mathijs sidelined at Juve, we saw Daley Blind going to grass and Memphis and Malen with serious injuries…

Lets look at what this all means.

Memphis and Malen

I think we need to be realistic. We shouldn’t count on them for the Euros. Donyell Malen, maybe. He might be back in April or May and right in time to make a Marco-Van-Basten-style return… Memphis is probably sidelined until next season and it might be best for him – and therefore, for Oranje – when he focuses on 2022, in Qatar. The question is not: can they be fit in time, but: would it be wise for them to even try….

Memphis working hard

Donyell Malen in Florida

Daley Blind

It’s really vague what’s going on. Ajax doesn’t tell us a lot. “Insurance policy and privacy of the player”. Daley himself is optimistic on his Insta-feed but he didn’t travel to Qatar and we haven’t had any serious updates. His loss will be felt, should he not be able to get back to his old level, both at Ajax and at Oranje. His leadership, his passing, his sense of positioning… I don’t think we can find a player in the squad who can offer what he has to give. Let’s wait and see.

Mathijs de Ligt

I don’t think him not playing for a spell would be a serious problem. We’ve seen that his Turkish rival also got injured. It would sense if Sarri will sign another centre back in this transfer window but despite that: Mathijs will get his minutes. He is still highly regarded and he had a pretty amazing late block in the match vs Roma. He and his team mates cheered the interception as if he had scored. He’ll be fine.

So when we take into account the incredible development of the likes of Boadu, Stengs, Wijndal, Koopmeiners, Ihattaren, Gakpo and the fact that we have Ake, De Vrij, Vincent Janssen, Jetro Willems, Tete, Weghorst, Wijnaldum, De Roon, Propper, Van de Beek and many others in the wings, I don’t think we need to worry too much.

Willems staying longer at Newcastle

However… replacing Memphis, who was so important for us, will not be easy. His work rate, his showmanship, his leadership and personality, his free kicks, corners and crosses, his important goals (even when he plays like shite all day, he’ll score you the winner)… I can see several players doing what he can do, partially. Babel can work his arse off. Stengs can score goals and dribble. Promes or Berghuis can hit a free kick, Weghorst can hassle, but there is not one player who has it all. Like Memphis.

So what are the options for Ronald Koeman?

Like I said, he can opt to replace Memphis for another player. Some say Babel. Others want to see Weghorst. Another group yells Boadu. Promes also played centre striker at Spartak…they’re all good options. But I want to propose a different one. Also taking into account that we might miss Blind as well.

Memphis: “I’ll tell Koeman that you should replace me!”

I would opt for a 3-4-3.

Playing three at the back:

De Ligt – De Vrij – Van Dijk

With a four man midfield, with Blind on the left (when fit). Or alternatively, Van Aanholt or Wijndal.

On the right hand side, I really hope for Tete or Rick Karsdorp. But Hateboer or Dumfries are decent alternatives. Not great. But decent.

Frenkie on the left inside, with Van de Beek next to Frenkie.

Then three players up top. Promes with Wijnaldum as false striker and Bergwijn or Stengs on the right.

Obviously Cillesen or Krul as the goal keeper (depending on the rhythm of Cillesen, who lost his spot briefly).

With this tactics, I don’t think we’ll have to worry too much defensively. When the opponent plays with three forwards, Daley can drop back and help the back three. But most opponents will play with one striker or two strikers, these days. The centre backs are all good build up passers, and De Ligt can easily move into midfield when the opportunity is there.

Blind can act as a playmaking midfielder alongside Frenkie, allowing Frenkie to roam while static Blind keeps his position. When Frenkie stays put, Donny van de Beek can make penetrating runs, with De Ligt covering. Obviously, the communication between Van de Beek, Tete and De Ligt needs to be top.

Tete, Karsdorp or Dumfries can make marauding runs on the right, allowing for Bergwijn/Stengs to dart inside to support Wijnaldum or even take the #9 role when Gini drops off. This also allows Van de Beek to penetrate into the box as well, and like with Ajax, Oranje will become a Total Football team with players constantly moving in and out of position.

We’ll have length enough with set-pieces. Wijnaldum is a good header of the ball, as are De Ligt, De Vrij and Van Dijk.

We’ll have more than enough legs and penetration, with Donny, Gini, Bergwijn and Tete/Karsdorp/Dumfries.

We’ll have enough football guile and intelligence, with Frenkie, Blind, Promes and Wijnaldum.

And we have goals! Bergwijn, Promes, Wijnaldum, Van de Beek…all good goal scorers.

And should Daley- God Forbid- not make it, I think Wijndal or Willems will offer the footballing skills we need on the left, although Koeman could also opt for the legs and the opportunistic play of Van Aanholt… Even Tonnie Vilhena is an option for that role, should Wijndal or Willems not cut it, for whatever reason.

This would be my line up.

With Ihattaren as the first sub from the bench, being able to play playmaker (even in Frenkie’s role) or as false striker in the Wijnaldum role.

And Weghorst for if we need a pinch hitter.

Boadu would also be in my squad.

My 23

Cillesen – Krul – Bizot

Tete – Karsdorp – De Ligt – De Vrij – Van Dijk – Blind – Ake – Wijndal

Propper – Van de Beek – Frenkie de Jong – Wijnaldum – Ihattaren – Marten de Roon

Stengs – Boadu – Weghorst – Bergwijn – Promes – Babel

Tell me your solutions!!

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by Jan

Oranje’s future

Young Oranje would usually be the vanguard for the Oranje future, but the two strikers Zivkovic and Sam Lammers demonstrated against Young Scotland why these two will never reach the top. It seems Young Oranje again will miss out on a big tournament.

The strikers in the Under 17 and Under 19 teams however did show their class. Daishawn Redan, skipper of the EC title winner and now striker of Under 19 did what he always does: score. And Myron Boadu, of AZ, did the same.

It was a week in which the KNVB deployed their new strategy. “Closer to the clubs”. The aim is to get clubs to be more generous with allowing their talents to play international matches. By organising matches vs England for instance, as the English seem to dominate all the youth tournaments. Director Football Development Art Langerer: “All our youth teams struggle against England, we had two defeats, one draw and one win this week. But I think that is good. We need good opponents to grow.”

Oranje does seem to win all the matches vs the weaker nations, as Under 19 wiped Israel away, Under 18 beat Russia and Under 19 crushed the Czechs 5-1.

Another problem the KNVB faces is the focus on the ball. Erwin van der Looi, the Young Oranje coach, has many good attacking midfielders to pick from but they all play in the ball. “I am having a hard time finding one midfielder with depth, who runs in behind. Only Guus Til, but he’s now close to the senior team. It’s a bit un-Dutch apparently.” The club do pick it up now and at Ajax, young Dani de Wit is a player who has that penetrative power. The youth coaches of the 15 year olds and working now to generate more different types of midfielders. Langerer: “It is time we also assess players for their work off the ball.” We have been lauding the likes of Redan (Chelsea), Boadu (AZ) and Ihattaren (PSV) for their creativity on the ball and rightly so, but we need other types of players too.

Another project Langerer started are the so-called master classes. Getting the exceptional talents together for a coaching day with Ronald Koeman, or semi-retired coaches like Van Marwijk or a coach in between jobs Peter Bosz or Frank de Boer. Why couldn’t Peter Bosz for instance analyse an up coming opponent of Oranje? Bosz: “Yes, that was mentioned to me, and why not? If it fits the schedules, bring it on.”

With all these supportive activities to bring Dutch football back to where it belongs, it is time for check in on our Golden Boys. We have Mathijs de Ligt already as Ajax skipper, Frenkie de Jong as new Oranje playmaker, Donyell Malen has presented himself at PSV, Malacia is a starter at Feyenoord. We do seem to have some spectacular talents. Lets have a look with Piet de Visser (master scout for Chelsea) and Aad de Mos.

De Visser – 83 years old- has seen them all. He saw Cruyff, Keizer and Van Hanegem break, he was there when the generation Van Basten and Gullit presented themselves all the way via Sneijder and Van Persie and Robben to the current lot of talents. “These waves of talents, they sometimes skip a generation. It always comes in waves. But, I think we have some players with amazing potential. I’ll name De Ligt and Fosu-Mensah as examples. De Ligt has a wonderful personality as well. He knows when he makes mistakes and works on it during the week. This is so underrated, a player working on himself, being self-motivated. Fosu-Mensah is a beast and is making big steps in the PL. I can really see a new stream of tremendous players come through.”

De Visser is still working and scouting for Chelsea. The old master is annoyed with the criticism the London based club gets. “Chelsea doesn’t sign the talents for the trade, as some people suggest. They really make development plans for every talent. The Chelsea talents play at a high level and play 40 matches on top level every season. And when they make it to the squad for the first team, the club wants to loan them out, so they can get experience and Chelsea is happy to pay the salaries of the players. And when players do want to leave, Chelsea won’t block them. Look at Bruma, Ake and Van Aanholt. They have done really well for themselves.”

De Visser is very excited about the current lot at Chelsea: Daishawn Redan and Juan Castillo. Both made their move in 2016, from Ajax to Chelsea. And Redan in particular impresses.

“Redan is an ice cool striker. It’s something unfathomable isn’t it. The ability to be cool and collected and score. It’s hard to train too, you have to have it. Redan is very explosive and quick. Redan scored 20 times in 24 international games for Oranje Under 17. Redan scored four times in five matches in the Youth League for Chelsea, and lost the finals vs Barcelona.

Juan Castillo is a creative midfielder. A player with good vision and a killer pass. He is less developed than Redan but according to De Visser, this can change just like that with youngsters.

Aad de Mos is not too positive about these youngsters making their move abroad so early. “I think most are being lured by their agents. Isn’t it much better for these kids to have two seasons of Eredivisie football in their backpack. Take De Ligt, do you think he would play 34 matches for Man City, if he’d go there? No. It’s important to play. Now Justin Kluivert is a benchwarmer at Roma. Why? He could have played Champions League football with Ajax this season.”

Joshua Zirkzee made his first minutes for Bayern Munich in the preseason and even scored his first goal. He made the move in the summer of 2017 from Feyenoord to Munich and the competition there is killing.

Tahith Chong is also from the Feyenoord Academy and made his way to Man United in 2016. He impressed in their youth system and as a left footed right winger has a Robbenesque signature move. He’s also quite mature and doesn’t mind making dirty yards for the team. Mourinho took him along to the US in the preseason and used him vs Club America, against which he had an assist.

Imannuel Pherai was transferred to Dortmund in the 2017 summer from the AZ Academy. The holding mid had a tremendous season with AZ under 16. Ajax and Man United were eager to sign the right legged playmaker. He’s got a good shot and is a fierce tackler as well. He is said to have qualities rarely seen in German kids.

Bobby Adekanye came to Holland from Nigeria at a young age. He started with the amateurs and was picked up by Ajax. In 2011 he moved to Barcelona and came to PSV in 2014. After that, he made his move to Liverpool. The 19 year old can play all attacking positions.

Nathangelo (all those names!) Markelo. A surname from Volendam, a first name and appearance from somewhere exotic. Markelo made his move from Volendam straight to the EPL. The Oranje youth international (right back) is playing in Unsworth’s under 23 team for Everton. The right footer can also play in midfield.

Javairo Dilrosun switched from Ajax to Man City in 2014 and when he was released there, he signed for Hertha BSC. The left winger made his debut already in the Bundesliga and has his first assist. Speed is his friend.

Leandro Fernandes is a central midfielder, who moved from PSV to Juventus. He went along with Juve to the Champions Cup, like Zirkzee and Chong and he played vs Bayern, Benfica, MLS All Stars and Real Madrid. A real playmaker, who played for all rep team in Holland and is hoping to get his debut for Juve this season.

Last but not least, Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld. He signed for Club Brugge and will make his debut in the Champions League. “This kid will play in Oranje in 3 years time.” At NEC we knew him as Arnaut Groeneveld, at Club, he will play with Danjuma on his back. Aad de Mos, who follows the Belgian competition like the Dutch one, has seen if within 45 minutes. Danjuma made his debut for Club and De Mos tweets: “The Dutch top clubs were caught napping again. A top player signed for Club Brugge!”. Now Arnaut is a big name in Belgium, everybody wants a piece of him. Club Orange is the nickname of Club Brugge now. Ryan Donk started the Dutch invasion, Ruud Vormer is their playmaker, Denswil is a starter, Vermeer and Clasie went there and now we see Amrabat there as well. And now Danjuma, how did he get there? Well, it started with PSV Eindhoven but two years ago he left to play for NEC, as he was plagued by injuries and never got into a PSV team. He impressed there, so much so that interest came quickly. Danjuma: “It’s a myth that the Dutch top clubs didn’t come. They did. There was interest from all over, Germany, Italy, England and France. But I follow my intuition. Club Brugge is the right step up for me. And they really wanted me. I need to feel that. And yes, Man City was also in the race, I can say that much.” The Nigerian born could also select Nigeria, even though he played for Oranje in the youth team. “The Dutch national team is my dream, but I also feel African. I would seriously consider playing for them, but my real desire is to get to the Oranje senior team.”

 

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