Ruud happy now with his current Mexican girlfriend
And we pick it up with Ruud, talking about the 1996 Euro in England. Another tournament where Holland seem to implode due to infighting.
In 1996, Edgar Davids was sent home by Guus Hiddink. What do you think was the core of the problem?
Ruud Gullit: “I was in England in 1996, but I haven’t seen it from the inside of course. It was an Ajax thing that seeped into Oranje. It wasn’t even between coloured and white lads, but between young and old. But the media turned it into a racist thing, as all the youngsters were coloured lads. And sure, the chef of Oranje didn’t know how to make Suriname food and all that but they key was that lads like Reiziger, Seedorf, Davids got paid way less than Blind, De Boer and other older Ajax players. The gap between young and old was huge. And Ajax had told the youngsters they should be proud to be playing for Ajax. That really hurt them. And I think they were also hurt that their skipper and other players didn’t support them. And they carried it with them and took it into Oranje.”
We don’t seem to learn from this?
“Yep, it’s a Dutch thing. We can’t help ourselves and we want to give our opinion all the time. I remember in Italy people having enormous trouble with that. Hierarchy is a big thing there. In Italy, players listened to the coach. And suddenly, there were three Dutchies asking Sacchi all the time “Why?”. He told us to come to his office if we had something to discuss. They simply don’t like that. They call us the professors of football in other countries. Because we are so hardheaded and know-it-alls. In England they told me: “You believe you invented football”. And I always say “But we did!”. Hahaha, look at those faces… But that mentality has given us a lot in the world. In sports, in business, in engineering… But we do forget that in other countries they think we are too direct, too blunt… But you see it in the way we want to play football. A bit naive, too attacking and too open. But our reputation abroad is superb. Look at how that trip to China and Indonesia went. Amazing. And Glenn Hoddle called me up recently. He is doing radio shows at the BBC now. Wanted to talk how Dutch youth development could help English football. That is a huge compliment.”
Gullit winning the FA Cup at Chelsea with Di Matteo
How do you see the current Oranje squad?
“I like what Van Gaal is doing. It’s fun to watch Oranje again. I like it how the experienced lads need to fight for a spot. That is good. This mix of young and old is good for Oranje. Van Gaal has seen it well. But, with beautiful football alone you can’t win prizes. Ask Arsene Wenger.”
According to Van Gaal, there are eight other nations with more chances to win the World Cup than Holland. Do you agree?
“It’s a smart move by him. He’s covering himself a bit against huge expectations. And It’s probably realistic. Lots of players in the squad lack international experience. Playing against the opponents we had in the qualification series is not the same as playing Portugal, Columbia, Argentina or Italy. I don’t think we are without chances, but i don’t think we are amongst the faves. But Louis is an expert and he knows how to get the maximum from a group. And in 1988, we were not that seasoned. I just had one season in Italy, like Marco. Frank had a weird season. Koeman and Wouters were still in Holland, so was Vanenburg.”
Only the Koeman bros, Wouters and Van Basten are active as head coach. Why so few?
“I think most of them tried. Van Tiggelen, Vanenburg… I think Muhren always wanted to work with youth and Van Aerle never had the ambition but everyone has his own story. I mean Wouters… Come on… Great story. I always knew he would be a great coach. But that first job at Ajax was simply bad timing. He was revered at Rangers and seemed to be a good assistant more than head coach. But look at him now. Koeman is doing well at Feyenoord, after some difficult stints. You need some luck sometimes.”
When did you feel acknowledged as a good coach?
“Whoa, that was way back with Chelsea. We won the FA Cup. A big thing in England. I narrowly missed the cup final with Newcastle and with Feyenoord. People forget that. People tend to remember the last thing you did.”
Grozny… Not a great memory?
“Well, I do like to do left field, unexpected things, you know. People criticised my move to Grozny but I couldn’t care less. I am my own man. And it was quite a wonderful experience.”
Gullit with Becks at LA Galaxy
Do clubs find you with offers?
“Well, it’s a bit quiet, to be honest. I haven’t done great as a coach. I know this. And in all honesty, I don’t really profile myself as a coach, these days. I do have a score to settle with myself on that count. If a good club would come for me, I’d certainly consider it. But it’s not a must. I don’t need to prove myself to the outside world or anything. The key criterion is: will I enjoy doing this and is it a challenge. Because I love my life as it is now too.”
So what does an average week for Ruud Gullit look like?
“It doesn’t exist, haha. I travel a lot. My girlfriend lives abroad. I do analysis work for Sky Sports in England and Germany and I have several commercial gigs all over the place. My whole life I am offered interesting jobs, I enjoy that.”
Last year, the public saw you as an alternative to Louis van Gaal. National team manager. How did you experience that?
“I was very happy with that lobby. And it was the public, but also some influential media people (Johan Derksen, for one). It was a change from the way people approach me normally. People are highly critical of my career as a coach, as discussed, but still they could see my potential value as national coach. I was ridiculed for my work with Grozny and my private life was a mess ( Estelle Cruyff, Ruud’s wife had a public affair with a fighting champ and left Gullit). And then this candidate thing happened. It really touched me deeply. I have no idea where that suddenly came from. People did care about me and what I do. And then, I was asked to become the ambassador for the Rijksmuseum. I can still feel the emotions coming up thinking about those days. Those are big things for me.”
You need that acknowledgement?
“Maybe yes. The national team manager job is the highest job in football in Holland. And the Rijksmuseum is a key player in the cultural and historical realm of Holland. I am proud and grateful. When I told about all this in the tv program “De Wereld Draait Door” I could see later how I beamed with glee. That is something I hadn’t seen for years. For years, I couldn’t watch myself on tv. I found myself annoying. I didn’t see a happy man. Now, all is different.”
Ruud marrying Johan’s niece Estelle. Didn’t end good.
But you appear to be so detached and relaxed?
“Well, I do feel the criticism. And now I feel like I can have some worth again. I remember that first official event for the museum. Queen Beatrix was there and suddenly someone comes up to me asking me if I had time for a talk with the Queen!! I was on Cloud Nine. I can’t remember a single word I uttered to her. I was so overwhelmed.”
If you look back…things you would have done differently? Any coaching activities you regret?
“No, none of that. I enjoyed all of them in a funny way. The criticism I received was always political. At Newcastle, they said I was shopping in Amsterdam. I have been working like this for many years. When I was successful at Chelsea, no one cared. At Newcastle, others made it into a problem to serve their agenda. I worked 4 days a week. That was my deal. I had field trainers and we worked well together. At Feyenoord, I may have relied too much on certain people in the organisation who were not too effective. In LA, well… It’s another culture. Football in the US… the travel, the sponsors… It’s hard to remain true to yourself. No my biggest regret in my career is not a coaching one, but was the World Cup 1994. I mean, we sadly missed 1986, then we had that horrific 1990 one. The 1994 World Cup was my last chance. And I really really really wanted to perform there. But yet again, the KNVB had bypassed Cruyff. For reasons we now only laugh about. Today, team managers are being paid top dollar. Back in the 90s, Cruyff wanted a decent salary. He was at Barca back then and demanded a similar sort of deal, for those two months.. And he wanted to pick his own staff. Of course!! He wouldn’t work with people who didn’t share his vision. Anyway, KNVB stifles it, picks Advocaat. Now, I don’t have anything against Dick. But when they didn’t get the message about the heat in Florida… The medical staff at Samp and Milan (Ruud was at Samdoria and returned to AC Milan that summer) were adamant about how to prepare for this. I discussed this with the staff and Dick and they sort of ridiculed it. Dick was also flippant about my role in the team. Said I had to prove myself. Was I still fast enough as a winger… I felt disrespected. I couldn’t get excited. I felt vulnerable. And I couldn’t face another debacle. Looking back at that World Cup campaign, with a bit more power, we could have won it. Brazil was not that great a team. Neither was Italy. We had exciting young lads in Bergkamp, Winter, Taument… I also should not have returned to AC Milan that summer. Another regret. But, making mistakes is not bad. It always brings you new things. Not doing anything, that is not good. But I am grateful that I always took risks…”
Advocaat and Gullit at press conference where Gullit announces to leave the World Cup 1994 squad
Thanks Jan..
May be with guilt in 1994 we would have F#$$ked brazil.still would haves..
Main man: Rodgers is keeping tabs on Christian Eriksen
Dean Mouhtaropoulos
Liverpool want to clinch a £22million double deal for Ajax stars Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderweireld while Chelsea’s Ryan Bertrand is also on their radar.
Attacking midfielder Eriksen, 21 and Belgium international defender Alderweireld, 24, both only have one year remaining on their Ajax contracts and are expected to leave the Dutch club.
Manager Brendan Rodgers has turned to £15m-rated Eriksen after missing out on Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who snubbed Liverpool to join Borussia Dortmund.
Dortmund had also been chasing Eriksen, but Liverpool now only expect to face competition from Roma.
Playing ball: Alderweireld is aware of interest from Anfield
The Denmark international has been one of Europe’s outstanding young talents in recent seasons. Two summers ago he was on the brink of joining Manchester City but amisunderstanding over a proposed meeting with then manager Roberto Mancini scuppered the deal.
Ajax coach Frank de Boer said: “I would want nothing more than having Christian with us for a few more years.
“But we realise that the interest in this kind of player is huge. And I can also understand that he wants to make another step in his career. I can’t stop him.”
Despite the fact Liverpool cannot offer Eriksen Champions League football, it is understood he is interested in moving to Anfield.
De Boer added: “If Liverpool go back to really good possession play, it can be a success for Christian. But it does mean that their entire way of playing has to change. It is up to Christian what he wants. If he feels good going to Liverpool anyway, then it is up to him.”
On the lookout: Rodgers isn’t satisfied with this summer’s work quite yet
Mike Hewitt
Alderweireld has turned down the chance to discuss personal terms with Norwich after the Dutch giants agreed a £7m deal for the centre-back with the Carrow Road club.
He explained why he would not be rushed into a move to Norwich – leaving the door open for Liverpool.
“I am keeping all my options open,” said Alderweireld. “I am not rushing out the door. The whole picture of my next club has to be perfect. With every offer I am receiving this summer, I look at the pros and cons. The total package of my next club has to be right for me.”
Chelsea’s Ryan Bertrand challenges Steaua Bucharest’s Raul Rusescu
Another target: Ryan Bertrand could offer cover at left-back
Reuters
Liverpool have also made an enquiry about left-back Bertrand as Rodgers attempts to build a squad capable of challenging for the top four.
Rodgers’ interest in Bertrand, however, gives Chelsea bait if the London club decide to pursue interest in wantaway striker Luis Suarez.
The interest in the defender is particularly intriguing, as, along with Arsenal, Chelsea have tried to find out whether Suarez would be interested in moving within the Premier League.
Rodgers knows Bertrand well, having worked with him during his time at Chelsea and taken him on loan as his first signing at Reading.
Suarez had previously claimed he wanted to quit England, but last week revised that slightly by informing Liverpool he still wanted to join a Champions League club.
The likes of Xherdan Shaqiri, Toni Kroos and Arjen Robben etched their names on the scoresheet as die Roten continued their Bundesliga preparations in style
Bayern Munich continued their preparations for the new season with a 6-0 win over Grossapach on Saturday.
Xherdan Shaqiri scored a double, while Toni Kroos, Arjen Robben, Julian Green and David Alaba all found the net against the men from Germany’s fourth tier.
Bayern named an extremely strong starting 11, with Robben, Franck Ribery and Mario Mandzukic all included by coach Pep Guardiola.
It took the Spaniard’s charges 25 minutes to break the deadlock, though, midfielder Shaqiri turning home a Ribery cross to steer the visitors into the lead.
The floodgates soon opened following that strike, Shaqiri meeting a deflected delivery from Rafinha to double the advantage with his second on the half-hour mark.
Kroos rattled in the third from the edge of the area after 38 minutes before Robben latched on to a superb ball from Ribery to slot home the fourth right on half-time.
Guardiola made eight changes during the interval, with Thomas Muller among those to be thrown into the fray.
Mueller did not make a good start to his time on the pitch, however, as he failed from the penalty spot four minutes into the second period.
Grossapach did stiffen their resolve somewhat following Muller’s miss but they could not keep a dominant Bayern team at bay, Alaba netting from a direct free kick after 75 minutes before 18-year-old attacking midfielder Green completed the rout six minutes from the end of normal time.
It didn’t take long for Greenhous Meadow to witness the first goal of the game as Emre Colak gave the 489 travelling visitors an early reason to cheer with an impressive shot from distance.
Noureddine Amrabat doubled their lead in the first half before Wesley Sneijder scored late on to round off their comfortable victory.
The hosts fielded a number of trialists as they look to bolster their squad for the new campaign, but also gave debuts to new arrivals Alex McQuade, Dave Winfield and Tamika Mkandawire.
Galatasaray travelled with a star-studded squad but were also able to offer debuts to Aurelien Chedjou, Erman Kilic and Emre Kilinc in a game that helped prepare them for their participation in the Emirates Cup in August.
The visitors opened the scoring inside the first five minutes with a stunning long-range strike from Colak, receiving the ball on the edge of the box and beating Chris Weale on his right post with a left-footed effort.
Play steadied for Faith Terim’s side yet a narrow run and miss from Emmanuel Eboue midway through the first half and an audacious shot clipped off the bar from Colak kept Town on their toes.
Sabri Sarioglu led appeals for a penalty shortly after, however the last-minute sliding tackle on the Galatasaray captain was deemed fair by referee Ollie Langford, who waved play on.
But their lead was soon doubled when Amrabat latched onto a fine through-ball hit deep from their own half. The Morroco international was found perfectly on the left wing, racing past a flailing Shrewsbury defence and slotting the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.
A trio of substitutions including a complete re-vamp of their forward line followed for the home side in the second half who then came close through David Winfield, rising high from a Jon Taylor free kick to head narrowly wide.
But it was the introduction of Sneijder and Didier Drogba that provided the greatest noise from the 5812 in attendance; their appearance from the substitutes’ bench after 67 minutes adding further spice to this pre-season friendly.
Shrewsbury were starting to create more chances and came closest through David McAllister, who carried the ball from midfield only to see his low shot inside the box fall just wide of the post.
But with just minutes remaining Galatasaray scored a third.
Yekta Kurtulus’ cross into the box allowed a shot on goal that required McQuade to dramatically head off the line, but it was substitute Sneijder who reacted quickest to fire the re-bound into the roof of the net.
The visitors will now turn their attentions to a trip to Notts County on Tuesday night.
De Graafschap – Netherlands 0 : 3 Ajax Amsterdam – Netherlands
49′ Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
63′ Fischer
66′ Daddy
Daddy? who is he?
Lens played his first official game with Dynamo (1-1 home against Volyn…) and was subbed during the first half, does anyone knows if he got injured or was just not good enough ?
not good enuf
Yeah I think it was not an injury. Saw a fan comment that indicated he had displayed his pace and also made a nice action somewhere in the game. Belhanda also only played 1 half. Maybe he is phased in calmly.
thanks Jan for this brilliant interview
he Netherlands were seconds away from missing out on the UEFA European Under-19 Championship again before a Thom Haye goal deep into added time secured a victory against Germany that took Wim van Zwam’s team into the finals for the second time. The coach is hoping his side can carry that momentum to Lithuania, where they open against the hosts before taking on Portugal and holders Spain in Group A – yet recognises this will be no easy task.
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UEFA.com: What do you make of the draw?
Wim van Zwam: It’s tough but it doesn’t matter which pool you’re in – they’re both hard. Most of the time Spain are favourites, they’ve won the last two tournaments and have six titles. Portugal are always strong too, and then we have the hosts. To play them first is very tough, but this tournament always is.
UEFA.com: Do you know much about Lithuania?
Van Zwam: We played them a couple of years ago; that was a tough game and I expect the same again. We’ll make sure we know how they play. They’ll be very well prepared for the first match and ready to battle with us, so we must make sure we prepare very well.
UEFA.com: You qualified for the first time in 2010 and are back in the finals again – is your U19 record improving?
Van Zwam: We’re always close to qualifying but at this level it comes down to details, and our players don’t tend to be that good on those. They think they’ll always get another chance, but not in the U19s. We’re not that mature; we always make one mistake. For example in the elite round we played Cyprus: they had one shot and scored. We had a lot of chances and all the ball but couldn’t score, so we put ourselves in difficulties. We can play very well but have some problems in the decisive moments – not giving chances away and taking our own. I think it’s a problem for young Dutch players.
UEFA.com: Will the way you qualified, with a last-minute goal, give you momentum going into the tournament?
Van Zwam: I don’t know about that, but it’s a quality of the team. There’s a lot of players who have come from the U17s and those teams were good at scoring in the final minutes and not giving up. In the elite round we scored late winners against Norway and Germany. They aren’t beaten until it’s over, and that’s a real quality of my team.
UEFA.com: What else can you tell us about your team?
Van Zwam: We have a good defence, midfield is OK. We’re a bit weak in attack because our best attackers are in the U21s and we have one player injured so we’re missing three players. That’s going to be a bit difficult but as a team we know how to play. Our strength is the way we develop teams; from U15 upwards, everybody knows what they have to do. On a bad day we can lose to Cyprus, on a good day we can beat anybody.
UEFA.com: You have plenty of players who featured in the European U17 Championship; will that tournament experience be an advantage?
Van Zwam: I think so; we saw that already against Norway and Germany. They know they can score in the last minute, they have that experience. [Thom Haye] told me after the Germany match that he saw the clock when it was 88 minutes and still 0-0 he thought: ‘We can still score; we did it last time and we can do it again.’ That’s the experience they carry with them. That could be a big advantage.
UEFA.com: What are your hopes for the tournament?
Van Zwam: Our first goal is to reach the semi-finals and then you have to see. We’re in a tough group but the other group is just as hard so we just aim for the first match – that’s the most important. When you win that you’re in the tournament; when you lose it, the pressure is really high. We’re just focusing on winning that and hope to do well after that.
thanks srinjoy
http://i.imgur.com/WNRUdX7.jpg
Thanks Jan, another cool article!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY43f0YQshI
dutch 21 V bulgaria 21….
i really dont understand why wijnaldum is overlooked by all national team coach.WIJNALDUM IS MUST FOR BRAZIL 2014 so is vanginkel,fer,lenz …
Wijladinho………….
Talking about Wijnaldum, he scored in the most recent friendly.
Here is a video of the friendly between PSV and Hanover:
http://tinyurl.com/p2aqwvz
Rekik, Willems, Maher, Depay etc.
* Look at that backheel pass from Strootman with the second goal. I have noticed he able to do that as he did the same in Orange against San Marino if people can remember. The whole sequence that lead to the goal is one to watch by the way.
* That pass from Willems starting at 1:21 (commentator attributes the pass to Rekik, but he is wrong) is why I like Willems. On ball he has flashes of brilliance that I want to see developed.
* The vision of Cocu for the next season is 1 DM and two half midfielders. Schaars/Hiljemark in the holding role. Maher as the passer on midfield and Wijnaldum as the runner. At the back Arias, Bruma, Rekik and Willems. The keeper situation is not clear to me. Either Zoet or Tyton. I hope Zoet, but I feel a bit bad for The Pole. I think he was victim last season of a backline offloading their mistakes on him and making him a scapegoat. The leadership rather went for pragmatism than honesty and principle.
Cheers
I couldn t watch PSV friendlies games. Has Arias played a game yet ? I went to check his profile, he played only 7 professionnal games in 2 years with Sporting, the rest with Sporting B. Knowing that Sporting is currently not better than AZ and that they used Boulahrouz many times, can we consider that young colombian player as really interesting ? Can Rekik play as RB ? It s the position I worry a bit about, I don t like Manolev.
I don t think PSV will bring new defenders, Derijck and Manolev may leave.
About midfield with Schaars, Hijlemark, Maher, Wijnaldum ( whom I prefer though as winger), it s not bad. I hope that they will bring one or two qualities players more there to have 5/6 midfielders for those three spots.
For me, two areas need to be more complete : LW, I know everyone likes Depay, but I still dont believe that he ll be a top player. Can he be as efficient as Mertens was ? Have the same impact on the teamwork and the same statistics ? Statistics of Mertens with PSV = something like 45 goals and 40 assists in 88 games…Depay is a better athletic player than Mertens, good shot and skill quality, but about having the same effectivness, I really doubt.
I hope PSV to bring one LW more to compete with him, Assaidi was linked, he was quite good with Heerenveen.
At last, PSV should absolutly bring a new quality striker, Locadia and Matavz are no top striker, both of them can be interesting subs maximum. I read they re linking Finbogasson, I also don t really trust him. They re should look out of the Netherlands to find that good striker currently.
Just watching your video of the game against Hannover. The first Wijnaldum goal and his chance just after make me more believe again that he can also play as LW. He scores many goals from the left side coming with his right foot.
I didnt know this Bakkali, looks a bit like Labyad with the ball on his foot, but a bit more light physically.
The backheel pass from Strootman was quite lucky, it wasn t the right decision.
@laurent ur evaluation of Depay is more than 100% correct.In addition to this Going to gym and muscle building will cause ur agility/speed instead he should have practiced something else like karate etc.and his Rap…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmwGl9EWThw
Sure this guy is better than Elia,afellay kind of players compared to them at this particular age…seems on wrong track
Wijnaldum seems to be getting better and better
Amazing Laurent, all you can say regarding PSV is buy, buy and buy. What about the youth development?
Hi Jeff
First of all, what did the PSV youth center produced recently ? Afellay is the best player of those last years. Who came last year ? Depay and Locadia were good subs, who else ? If PSV had quality enough in their center to build a team with 6 young players, they would do it, but it s not the case.
Secondly, do you really like the fact Holland is producing players for big leagues ? It s the main reason dutch football disappeared from european competitions, since that Bosman law. What s the aim for us, as supporters, to see PSV or Ajax producing good players who would stay 3 years maximum and leave for a better club ?
The system is really simple, there are some leagues which dominate and some leagues which work for them. Money being the main reason. I would have no problems to see dutch players produced in Ajax going to Chelsea, if in return, Ajax would be also able to bring a good player from Chelsea. That s obviously not working in this sense.
I saw people here hoping that Ajax can do like Dortmund in Europe. Seriously. When Dortmund loses Kagawa, they bring Reus for 17 millions. When they lose Gotze, they spend 27 for Mkhitaryan. And they re even able to bring Aubameyang 15mo just for the bench. Dortmund is keeping quality in the squad every year, when Ajax or PSV sell a good player, they bring an unknown serbian or a guy from Heracles to replace him and we never know where is going the rest of the money…First because Ajax dont like to spend, and second because real good players wouldn t come. Ajax is just seen as a springboard for young players who wanna have fun against weak dutch defenses. That s why Bojan was delighted to come on loan, his plan is just to score 20 goals and to go back to Spain or Italy next year with a better reputation than the one he is currently having.
I have the impression you and Ajax fans in general ignore or dont wanna see the importance of spending money in football today. Buying players doesn t necessarly mean building a good team, but it s a proof of being an ambitious club, which help to be more attractive for players etc. that s the way it is. How many examples of teams which are spending every year for players and getting no results can you count ?
City didnt prove yet in CL but they won the PL thanks to money, PSG was not better than Heerenveen some years ago but is now considered as a top team, Shakthar was totally unknown 10 years ago and won the EL and performed in CL, russian clubs are proving more and more…
Find me a team which is performing in europe with spending as less money as Ajax and you ll have a reason to debate.
hav to agrree with Laurent, if PSV qualifes for champions league
Wijnaldum will be perfect backup for lens in 2014 . I think Liverpool is still waiting on Suarez transfer status and if the transfer does happen then Rodgers will surely use the funds to bring Elia at Liverpool. if this doesn’t happen, then PSV should go for Elia
@Wilson its the time to forget Elia he is 26 and playing crap…let us look somewhere else.i think he is done for NT and top club.
We never forget anyone.
And none of our boys play ‘crap’.
in an UNRELATED post, i am adding this video of Gerrard … Why? Because he’s 33 and just signed an extension at Liverpool. Now, our Gerrard, a chap named Wesley Sneijder is capable of the same passing, the same technique, and the same level of football. He is 4 years Gerrard’s junior and if he only believed in himself or taken a pay cut and played for a solid club we would be seeing similar videos of him… enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDJyGYG8EqQ&feature=player_embedded
You just said the magic words “pay cut” and thats what most footballers do NOT want !! Unfortunately its MOney first – Club Football 2nd and Int’l Football 3rd.
Do you really think these footballers go to the Desert or Russia because ” This club has a real future blah blah blah” – Its only $$$$
Nice clip, I wish Strootman could learn to play like Gerrard, he has a similar build and style of play particularly coming out of the defensive situations.
Snijder, well he is an attacker at heart.
I wish Strootman could play like Gerrard too.
I genuinely do not understand all the love and admiration for him, at present. I see a decent (above average) player, with a few (but not many) technical skills and a average eye for a pass – nothing exceptional.
He currently excels in strength and stamina, and will probably grow into a leadership role.
In time he could become a very accomplished performer, but right now i see someone being given far too much credit for some truthfully unimpressive displays in a ‘comfortable’ league.
I feel he sees a pass and hits it – without actually deciding if it is the best thing to do. Then he relies on his strength to win back the ball if the pass goes awry. Worryingly, he seems to think that others will also perform to his level of commitment in trying to win back a ball that he has lost, but this is rarely the case, and those moments worry me the most.
He has some way to go to reach anything like the standard of Gerrard, and i’m afraid that intelligence cannot be taught or practiced – you either have it or you don’t. I’m not saying he is stupid, far from it, but i see his decisions as often thoughtless. At international level this becomes very costly.
If he keeps improving, in a few years he might be considered one of our best players, but right now i genuinely do not see what all the hype is about.
Then again, sport if 75% psychological, and if we build his confidence he will perform in excess of his component parts. Till then, the jury is out.
Well as far as I remember it was Inter who wanted to sell Sneijder and not Sneijder wanting to go to Galatasaray he went there because he had no other option.
Now I hope he goes to a better club although I haven’t read much gossip about him lately so maybe he’ll stay in Turkey.
well, sneijder had few options with other top clubs, but mostly didnt work out due to his high salary expectation. in this case he can blame him self.
I am damn sure the guys like wijnaldum and Lenz can score from vaccum especially when RVP,Roben,WEs have an offday,which cant be said with old boys Afellay,kuyt,Babel,Elia..
To have any hope for WC wijnalum and lenz deserves a spot in team and they are quality players who is compete to their counter parts(Brazilians,Germanes,spanish,italians,Belgians and the arjentines)…
zzzzzzzzzz, same old story.
change the tune, mate.
————-Persie—————–
————-Seim dejong)———–
Roben————————Wijnaldum
Ola john/Maher———————–Lenz—-
——–Strootman—Vanginkel———-
——–Leroyfer—–Clasie/Maher————
————–Deguzman/clasie—————–
—————-Nijel——————
Vananholt————————-Janmaat
Blind—————————-Vanrhijn
———-BMI——Bruma—————
———-Vlaar—-Douglas————-
==============================================
—–steke—krul—Vorm—————–
==============================================
Wesly-Not fit,Heat of Brazil will evaporate the older players.
Vaart-Not fit,Heat of Brazil will evaporate the older players.
Afalley-Not as threatening as Roben,Lenz,Ola and Wijnaldum.
kuyt-Not as dangerous as RVP,Seim,Lenz as striker and not threatening as Roebn,Ola andWijnaldum as winger.+aged
Elia-Same like Afellay
Heitinga-Slow but still i feel more trustwothy than Devrij
Devrij-Slow.
Urby-Has to compete with Ola for Lw
Peiters-Has to compete with annholt and blind.
do you have anything new to say?
Ouwehoeren
its u Ed……..
guys a lot can can be said on who should go and who shouldn’t go to WC 2014.The think with old players like affelay ( barcelona), elia (WB), huntelaar (Schalke 04), De Jong (Milan), Van Der Vaart(Hamburg) will all come out with big guns in the up coming 2013-2014 season,knowing that the spot for WC 2014 is up for grabs. Also I guess the friendly against Portugal will determine alot especially in terms positional loop holes and areas we need to work on. I jus hope Van Gaal does something at CB area. Douglas/Bruma/ Van Digik. He has to giv them a break. Especially douglas whose trying his utmost best to force his way into the squad. I know most of you wont agree with me, but when it come to last line of defense, experience matters the most.I will say more on Douglas after the Portugal games , especially those who disagree with me. Hopefully he gets a break, to prove critics wrong