Hi all, I wasn’t intending on harping on on the Berghuis topic, but I watched the Studio Voetbal broadcast on Monday, with Rafael van der Vaart and Ibi Afellay and the topic of Berghuis came up.
And I decided to transcribe exactly what was said.
Apparently some people here don’t “see it” in Berghuis. One of our finest left footed playmakers (the best since Willem van Hanegem) shares his opinion and I didn’t want to withhold it from you. It may change the way you look at the guy.
In The Netherlands, we have a couple of football analysis programs.
Studio Voetbal is the main program with serious analyses by serious ex players (Van der Vaart, Van Hooijdonk, Afellay, Theo Janssen) and coaches (Buijs, Arne Slot, Ten Hag, Van Marwijk, Rene Hake). This is produced by the NOS, the key Dutch broadcaster who also have the rights to the Eredivisie.
Veronica Inside is a more satirical talk show with humor, criticism, music and analysts like Van der Gijp, Derksen, Hans Kraay and Wim Kieft.
Ziggo, the commercial broadcaster, has Rondo where the likes of Ruud Gullit, Aad de Mos and Youri Mulder are usual suspects.
Veronica Inside has the most viewers, Ziggo Rondo the least. But Veronica Inside is not always taken seriously, while Studio Voetbal can be seen as the norm. Veronica Inside is actually banned by the Dutch National Team players and coach Van Gaal due to their ongoing fierce criticism and ridiculing of said players/coach.
In the last Studio Voetbal, Rafael van der Vaart ( ex Ajax, ex HSV, ex Real Madrid, ex Spurs) and Ibi Afellay ( ex PSV, ex Barcelona, ex Schalke 04, ex Stoke City) got the question:
How did Steven Berghuis do on the #10 position?
Van der Vaart: “Well, mmmm…not great. But I have to say, he wasn’t helped by his team mates. Of course, it all starts with you, with yourself. I think his personality has changed. At Feyenoord, he was the leader, he demanded the ball. Whenever Feyenoord had a problem, he would be sought. Now, at Ajax, he is one of the many. And the Ajax players will look for Tadic or Gravenberch or Blind when they need a solution, and not Berghuis yet.
And I said this from the start: he is being overlooked. Look at these situations. It annoys me. In my eyes, he is the most creative player at Ajax now.
Here is he in between the lines, and starts the attack. He’s in the circle.
This is the next move.
Here, he should receive that ball back! He is coming into the frame, his left foot is ready for it, but Antony goes for the difficult option using the run by Gravenberch.
And here, I get annoyed that this right-footed player tries a shot on goal with his weaker left foot, while Berghuis with that wand of a left foot is overlooked!
And people might say I am nitpicking, and yes I probably am, but he’s the best player in the perfect position and they try to go for the hardest option.
And I believe that when he plays, he needs to get a lot of balls. He needs to be used constantly, because he is the one who can find the solution. And the service he gets is garbage.
From the 20 passes he could have gotten, he gets 4 or 5 balls. And that is the problem for him.
How about this one. He has positioned himself in an ideal position.
He can’t take the free kicks, he can’t take the penalties… He did have a corner yesterday, I mean, he still had 2 assists, which is good.”
Afellay: “He’s too humble. Raf says it right, he is the most creative player of the lot. He usually always does something good with the ball.”
Rafael:” I also see that when he is overlooked at Ajax, he has a question mark on his face and opens his arms. If that happened at Feyenoord, he would have exploded.
And it’s wrong. I mean, Anthony and Neres are good players with a dribble and speed. Mazraoui is also a good runner and dribbler and now they have this new Danish winger, he too is all about speed. But no one can do what Berghuis can do with that left foot. He has the through ball, the cross, the distance shot… That annoys me. He needs to be an asshole on the pitch and he team mates need to help him. I can’t understand why they don’t use him better.
And with the other options on the right: I would always select Berghuis and I’ll tell you why: he is unique. No one else can do this. Same with Oranje, in the NT there is no one who plays like him. He had a number of killer passes in the Oranje games, which are typical Berghuis balls. Van Gaal is no fool, he uses him for a reason!”
This is an interesting discussion. Thanks, Jan, really aprreciate your providing the entire discussion, not just a summary. I remember when Berghuis was just coming up; opinions were split on him then, not unlike now.
As for other news: Holy smokes, Ajax 2-0 over Sporting after 9 minutes? Can only follow text commentary online for now. Anyone watching? What is happening?
Sporting’s LB is no match for Antony. Berghuis also played well.
Yep, going by the stats, and game report, it seems like Antony had a terrific game. First goal came to Haller off his attempt, and he had assists on two of Haller’s other goals. When Klaassen gets healthy, Ten Haag has decisions to make.
Good start to the CL. Hoping for the best for Vitesse, PSV and AZ in their openers.
Berghuis just scored…
4-1, now.
nathan ake also scored for City. Brugge and PSG 1-1.
Berghuis is an OK player. Not bad but also past the stage where he is going to show us anything different. Meaning he is not potential anymore. This is it.
Not unlike Marten de Roon. The NT will get exactly what they see. No more, no less.
Berghuis is also not new around the NT set-up. Bit parts over the years and a steady run lately. Problem is, we haven’t seen anything different than yesteryears, the bit-part years.
With our current crop of players, Berghuis probably has the merit to be part of the NT. Question is, have we seen enough for Berghuis to be given the red carpet, de Roon pedestal treatment? Does Berghuis not deserve any kind of competition, even from an exceptional potential trying to rear his head?
The talking heads(mostly great ex-players) of Dutch football would most likely tell you that Berghuis is the be-all and end-all for that position. These panelists also were fine, and also would have had no qualms, with LVG continuing on with de Roon even after a disastrous tournament.
Most of them also didn’t bat an eye with the KNVB hiring a coach(FDB) who has been fired from club football three times on the spin. They were also supportive of de Vrij(a world cup hero) being relegated to the bench for a mistake-proned de ligt for no good reason whatsoever. I could go on.
Some may say these are isolated incidents but I would contend that it is a pattern. Something that would explain how Cillesen suddenly finds himself in the wilderness without questions be posed by these same footballing zens. Something that also explains the uncanny unanimity of their decisions. That bubble mentality, echo chamber thingy.
I, like majority of Oranje fans, did not play professional football and consequently not great ex-players. But I would also tell you that I, like most Oranje fans, find objections in most, if not all of the aforementioned consensus by the “expert” talking heads. And you know what? We have been proven right over and over and over again.
And this is not to say us peasants have better footballing brains. Nor that the consensus of 17 million novices is better than a handful of experts. It is just a timely reminder by Tolstoy: “In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you”
I have said this all along. competition, competition and Only competition is what can transform the NT side into a formbiddle and a winning team. change is evitable. with player transfers recently and with Dutch players now active in CL and EL after a long time, its lining up for them and to top this up with, a master tactician like Van Gaal. when KNVB presented Van Gaal as the Coach, he said in his press conference, his ambitious is to win the world cup. if he goes with right team, right players, it can be possible. its no use investing in players who cannot elongate them self or stretch their abilities in different tempo of games and with different levels of teams. you need players who can be consistent in giving when it is needed the most. this is where Berghuis simply fails to raise the bar. To analyze Berghuis in a much vs PEC Zwolle yet again shows whats wrong with this dutch Football fraternity . where were they during the JC shield vs PSV), when he played vs Spain and Mexico. just to correct my self here and @ Jan, he never played vs Italy in the Nations League, but the main point here is he simply lacks that ability to shift another gear when he finds himself not his comfort zone. you have to address this and status of other players as well if you want to win a world cup. it just wont happen with some exceptional and others being average to below average players who only thrive in certain type of games. again which has has become a feature of NT for sometime now.
Watched he replay of PSG and Club Brugge and must say Club Brugge played very well. I thought it will be a one sided game but Brugge defense did an excellent job shutting down messi , Neymar and Mhappe for most part of the game. few shots on target by messi, hitting the cross bar, and Mhappe who intervention lead to Herrera goal but otherwise Club Brugge was defensively did very well. particularly with shots on target 7-4 to Brugge.
Lang is destined to become a Dutch football Household name and again he put in a Live wire performance popping up everywhere, left right Centre, back forward, down, under, upside dowm (bicycle) lol, you name it, unfortunately didn’t get any clear cut opportunity. every time he received the ball in dangerous position , he drew 2-3 defenders and was always a constant threat linking up with De Ketelaere on number of occasion.
Wijnaldum was subbed at HT and was largely in effective during the first 45 minutes.
I’m sorry, your comment feels like “commenting for the sake of commenting”…
“Berghuis is an OK player. Not bad but also past the stage where he is going to show us anything different. Meaning he is not potential anymore. This is it.
Not unlike Marten de Roon. The NT will get exactly what they see. No more, no less.”
This applies to 1000s of players. You can say this of Luuk de Jong, of De Ligt, Van Dijk, Wijnaldum… I don’t see how this is to be considered a pearl of wisdom??
“Berghuis is also not new around the NT set-up. Bit parts over the years and a steady run lately. Problem is, we haven’t seen anything different than yesteryears, the bit-part years.”
Then you don’t know football. Berghuis has grown, matured. Was captain at Feyenoord, is now learning the Ajax ropes under Ten Hag. Of course he isn’t the same player.
“Does Berghuis not deserve any kind of competition, even from an exceptional potential trying to rear his head?”
Who claimed that he should have no competition? LvG says that there is a lack of right wingers. But fear not: Noa Lang got his call up (provisional) and he is the real deal. Bergwijn can play on the right as well and LvG is also checking El Ghazi out.
“The talking heads(mostly great ex-players) of Dutch football would most likely tell you that Berghuis is the be-all and end-all for that position. These panelists also were fine, and also would have had no qualms, with LVG continuing on with de Roon even after a disastrous tournament.”
Again, utter BS. The experts in Holland never understood why De Roon is in the team. And De Roon never was on a throne. Before De Roon, Propper took that role in a couple of games and just when we felt he was going to be the regular, he got injured.
“Most of them also didn’t bat an eye with the KNVB hiring a coach(FDB) who has been fired from club football three times on the spin.”
No! This is not true. Derksen, Van der Gijp, V Hooijdonk, most didn’t want De Boer. Most wanted Bosz in the role or Ten Cate, some even Van Bronckhorst. Some wanted a foreign coach. You are making shit up man.
“I, like majority of Oranje fans, did not play professional football and consequently not great ex-players. But I would also tell you that I, like most Oranje fans, find objections in most, if not all of the aforementioned consensus by the “expert” talking heads.”
This is universal. Always will be, in Holland and in any other country.
Official. Lang man of the match
Just finished watching the replay of city and Leipzig. The city back line again conceeded three goals with Ake starting but then he was also a ariel threat the whole night. Scored a bullet header and was also critical in the build up to Grealish goal. All though two goals were conceeded from his side , he still begged an above average performace from his offensive and ariel threat. I would say he was well beaten on the Nkunku third goal but it was good one touch and go pass between him and polusen and Nkunku’s finishing was also from top self.
Brobbery played some 20 mins coming on in the second half but not to much impact. Used his body well on few ocassions to win duals and smashed one over the bar from inside of the box. Still a long way to go for him and it might take him one or two season before he comes into the spotlight.0
Been watching club Brugge last night becos of Noa Lang and it the first time I really watched him playing for a whole game , and it’s against PSG
I must say i would be so surprised if I don’t see Lang’s. Name on the Oranje list next month
Against one of the best team in the world , Lang continuously showed his skills , creative , fast kid threatening . And these are all what our current oranje winters lacks of . Based on his performance last night I don’t see any of our current wingers has that performance
Also , Danjuma is knocking on Van Gaals door .
Get these two in Oranje team ASAP!! Are you watching Van gaal ?
I think Danjuma Vs Gakpo Vs Malen VS Berjwin and Now lang on left that is good competition….Berjwin was a nuisense for Turkey defense,His pace,trickery and acurate croses that made hovac at turkey defense..and his kuyt like work ethic…Berjwin =kuyt+skill+pace.i dont see that from Lang in that intensity…i underestimated Berjwin…He proved me wrong..
i was thinking how that dimwit FDb brought back Depay to left and ,made Depay impotent and ineffective..Depay is okay at left not that great as he proved that under LVG at Man united…Glad LVG realised his mistake and brought back Depay as false striker 9…he is king there again….
Depay,Malen,Gakpo,Danjuma,Berjwin, for wingers on stand bye Lang and Berghuis…
Danjuma is the close one to Roben…Man of magic..
* current Wingers
I was able to catch an extended highlight between Brugge and PSG. Admittedly, this is the first time I’ve seen Lang play and I was impressed. He seems to play with his tail up, an almost child-like confidence. Fearlessness is what I sensed. Worth a shot.
And now Wjinaldum. He might just be the poster boy for stagnation in the NT. He’s been deemed simply untouchable and I have a problem with that. If the NT management is ready to throw Cillesen under the bus, ignore de Vrij and Van dijk for a spell, and most recently play an untested Timber in place of Dumfries(and please Dumfries was fit), then they seem to have no problems making changes. Ironically though, the NT management have a remarkable propensity of effecting change where not necessary. De Vrij found himself on the bench after coming home a world cup hero. Dumfries was our best player in the Euros and was initially not called up and when in the team, saw Timber start a crucial game over him. And let’s not kid ourselves. If Timber had performed he would have continued in that LB position. Hell, de Ligt continued playing over de Vrij even after his blunder against Bulgaria and subsequent iffy games. Cillesen has been discarded from probably the safest position in football. And he had a solid tenure as goalie. Why is it always an upside-down momentum with the NT management?
Why is it that we can’t even tell the likely replacement for Wjilnaldum in case of an injury? Lord forbid any competition. What we’ve seen with Gini is what we always going to get. No more, sometimes less. But I guess we’ll just ride till the wheels fall off.
Then we start afresh. All over again.
I have no idea what you are talking about. Dumfries was in a middle of a transfer and had not even resumed training so absolutely selecting another player in his position was the sensible thing to do. The problem is that Timber, although versatile, is now mostly a RCB. He is less able to play at RB (not LB buy the way). Rensch may have been better suited for that role but he probably wanted someone with slightly more experience.
@Jeff.. We should be glad that we have Some great right backs…Dumfries,Rensch,karsdorp,Timber…thank god for saving us from hateboer,tete…i did not like dumfries hardfeet.but he dleivers some how with his athlestism and work ethic…So he is excused…i do under other 3 are better quality footballers…we have luxuary at RB now….
While we have come short at LB…Only Blind and Malacia…that to Blind lacks the pace at high tempo,pacy wingers…My concern is left wing back..i hope Jetro williams evolves to a better player…
Van gaals choice for 9-defenders are fixed now i think those are the follwoing
left —Blind,Malacia
LCB—Virgil,Ake
RCB—De vrij–De ligt-Timber
Rb—Dumfries–Rensch-Timber
Blind,De ligt,Rensch,Timber can play multiple position that gives edge to them..
i wanted to see the come back of Terence kongolo,Jetro williams,Botman and karsdorp……that would give us wolrd class quality at bench and stand bye..
Buddy, Cillesen spent three years sitting on the bench at Barca, then gets transfered to a bad Valencia team leaking goal after goal. Then he goes through a long injury spell and then on top of all of that gets COVID right before the Euros. He’s played maybe 50 games in the last 5 years, most of which have been with Valencia and unconvincing.
If Holland had a better option he would’ve been replaced a long time ago.
@Orangutan,
I don’t think that there is anything in his past that suggests that Van Gaal is going to be a slave to the echo chamber you are concerned about.
Re: Wijnaldum. The question is, as always, who would play in his place? I can’t think of anyone who by performance in his club team demands playing time. Til is coming on at Feyenoord, but that is a small sample thus far, and he had a forgettable few years before that. Perhaps Koopmeiner? He was competent, but didn’t standout for the NT when he played last year. We’ll see how he does in Italy. Van Ginkel, so many injuries and so little playing time over the last 3 years. Vilhena, Propper? Anyone? And with Klaassen playing in the more offensive role, I can’t think of anyone presently who has demonstrated the same all around skills, and is a good fit to play next to Frenkie De Jong. As for what he is, well, he has 26 goals for the NT, playing in a variety of roles. He’s been good value, IMO.
Re: Tolstoy. Man, those Russian midfielders can turn a phrase. He played for that Russian side that gave France a run for their money in the match at Borodino, didn’t he?
@Wilson
I’m going to disagree and agree with you on the concept of competition in given positions helping the National team.
Competition at a position is good in club football because it forces players to train harder each week over 52 weeks to keep the position. They need to be constantly improving or they’ll be passed by the competition. This isn’t the same thing with the National Team. There’s no development being done in the week they spend together, it’s about having the best version of you show up for 3 games, then go home and keep improving.
I think it’s important to have options, but uncertainty in the squad is also not helpful. I’m sure Weghorst and Malen weren’t happy not knowing who was playing game after game.
@ Jeff Dumfries made his Inter transfer at least 2 weeks before the Norway match. I also knew the fitness excuse was gonna come up if you check my initial post. Dumfries is arguably the fittest NT player. It won’t take a fortnight to get him up to speed. That game was too crucial for him not to have started.
@Derek With all his problems Cillesen has performed on the highest level everytime he had been on the team. I still can’t think of a crucial blunder he has made with the NT. With the exception of letting his feelings known after FDB’s selection indecision.
@ Andrew Some of those players you mentioned should have been given a decent shot. Not 5-10mins here and there. 25-30mins if Gini is having a bad game. Otherwise how would we have ever known de Roon is not prime Viera?
Re: Tolstoy An attempt at some humor, I suppose?☺
@Orangutan, “Re: Tolstoy An attempt at some humor, I suppose?☺”
An “attempt.” In retrospect perhaps not a good one considering the consequences of that campaign. Love the quote, though. Thanks.
Zivkovic started for Red Star Belgrade.
Lammers scored for Eintracht Franklfurk
Frimpong had two assists, sinkgraven also started for Bayern Leverkusen
Im hearing PSV and Real Sociedad was good game. planning to the replay.
Re: Dumfries
I find it utter nonsense with the reasoning that when a players who is subject to transfer and hasn’t played in that window cannot be fit. Mind you, subject to medical, fitness test is also a must. players know this way better than anyone. the question then arises , how can coach then know whether a player is fit or no in this type of scenario. simply call him up and assess him in the training. you cant just write him off because he didn’t play in that period. what about personal training or training programs that he may have been following from the pre season. I mean that’s eventually what happened with Dumfries, and the outcome was contrary to what was the critics were echoing
On the other hand that timber selection at RB was totally unjustifiable. it had nothing to do with merit and neither it had any clear objective. again why they keep stumbling. it was just a preferences based on conceptual thinking that it will work, but which didn’t. if it was a injury then it becomes a case for consideration.
@Derekvdberg91
you miss my point here. with competition only you can get more quality players and quality depth in the team to the existing ones. you cant drag on with the current ones expecting they will get better or the quality in the team will grade. it simply not gonna happen and thats what has been happening in the last couple of years. Once you have a ggroup of exceptional players then what you are saying is legit.
In the last couple of years, how do you think changes has come about in NT for better? It has been through some exceptional players coming on board and flushing down the mediocrity that has plagued the team for some time now. Van Dijk, Frenkie, De Ligt, Depay. there is room for more improvement and there is also some exceptional players out there now who are knocking on the door. its just a matter of opening the door and again flushing more mediocrity out. this is what I meant by competition. call up Danjuma, Karsdorp, Lang atleast and then see the changes unfold.
There was so many games to watch. Ended up watching the whole highlights for the Europa matches. From there,ended up watching Roma and CSka Sofia.
Again I must say Karsdorp is back to his very best.Between him and Dumfries, the difference is the quality of his crosses. His cross on pellegrini’s goal was an absloute beauty.was subbed off at HT which was later revealed as a precautionary due musclar problem in the thigh area.
There is one thing else to note about karsdorp though, you need a good midfielder to cover him when he makes that overlapping runs. Incase if he gets caught out in front.This is something that could drag him down in NT.
Again Like I said. Roma is the team to watch in serie A. Mourinho has double up on every position and is still waiting for Spinazzola who got injured in euros.
Lets see how long does it take for him to get the nod in NT. Roma is sitting on the top of the table. Karsdorp has now played all 6 out of 6 games for Roma including Europa qualifers with 2 assists.
Lammers goal was also a good one from inside of the box. if he receives space inside the box he can be as lethal as Lewandoski. This guy will also slot of goals like Haller.
@ Andrew
Re: Til
What do you think has changed for Til now at feyenoord compared to when he was at Sparta and Freiburg?
” spartak Moscow “
Re: Til. Dunno. It is just the start of the season, but he is playing well for Feyenoord. Hope he keeps it up.
He is playing under Slot again. Til was at AZ when Slot was there and Slot knows how to utilise him. A bit like Bergkamp at Inter or Bergkamp at Ajax.
Can someone please explain to me why Lang is in the provisional squad but danjuma not ?
What is Van Gaal thinking ? Scoring so many goals I since English championship till now two goals in three games for Villarreal is still not enough ?
Danjuma is not a starter, apparently. When he plays a series of games consistently, he will get the call. Lang played a whole season for Club and he played well all season. More questions :-)?
Why waste a spot on Luuk De Jong when you have Malen,Weghorst and Depay. This is where the axe falls. No objective,no merit, taking up useful spot and making up numbers later to be dropped. They could have easily called up danjuma instead. These was the best window.
You only come to one conclusion, Danjuma is not part of their plans
Remember Jimmy Flyod Hasselbaink.
@ Wilson
Re: Hasselbaink
I remember Jimmy very well. Never got a decent shot. He had great competition but should have played way more games. And like you said why waste space on Luuk when you have Weghorst? Like for like. And Danjuma is in great form. But no. Sometimes I feel that in these people’s head, big, strong is synonymous to lack of skills. And we all know how much they worship flair and technique however slow or weak a player is.
I’m not sure about Karsdop’s injury situation but what more does he have to do for consideration.
And I see another new goalie in Flekken has been called up whilst the experienced and very reliable Cillesen is still not considered. What happens if there is another blunder by Biljow and he starts dealing with a mental situation? And I’m not reaching here because with goalies it usually pours when it rains. All of a sudden goalie would be another problem area because of vindictiveness.
At least they called Lang. Good job Louis.
2000 omission by Rijkaard.
@Jan
Re: This applies to thousands of player.
My comment is quite relative and you are applying it in a literal sense. No it doesn’t apply to Van dijk because he is or as close to the finish product as possible. It’s a privilege for him to maintain his standards for the NT. Also de ligt is merely 22 or so and has a ton to learn and consequently show progress. Wijnaldum we can live with what he has shown. Luuk de jong Berghuis not so much because they haven’t shown enough and at this point in their careers and age it is what it is.
Re: Berghuis has grown and matured.
Again you are painting with a wide brush. Matured and grown? So has every other player. Problem is, his best self just hasn’t translated to be good enough for a starting berth.
Re:who claimed that he should have no competition?
Again you didn’t say in so many words but you’ve expressed in many ways how he is the man for the job. Hell, this article is about a great ex-player singing his praise.
Re: experts in Holland never understood why de Roon is on the team.
de Roon had a quite a few admirers and though support was split he had enough to wonder at the state of Dutch football.
Re: FDB
See answer above
Re: this is universal.
No it’s not. Again relative to how wrong and blindsided the NT management has been, it’s unusual. High unusually for the novices to be right more times than experts.
How much has Rensch played to get a call up. Its kind of hard to digest knowing, its not right.
On a bright side, good to see Lang force his way into the team. Just keep watching him and the chamges he will gonna bring.
Competition is now aplenty in the NT. Happy to see Noa Lang, hope he will be in the final squad. It is definitely a luxury to be able to leave out in-form Danjuma and Karsdorp.
Flekken’s selection is a surprise, unheard of a GK. LVG and team really casting their net wide.
I find Cillessen lacks the stature as a GK. His kick and handling crosses ain’t exceptional also. Think he will struggle to get back into team.
LDJ is too languid and soft as target man. But guessed he is needed as a backup for Weghorst, hence the call-up.
I’m still hoping for Joey Veerman. 😊
The NT is shaping up well for next year WC.
Rensch is dextrous footed guy.. He van play LB as well.Excellent Cross, can dribble like a king, wonderful techniques… Rensch is an asset to team… That doesnot mean that karsdorp should be ignored… I Think van gaal trust Dumfries and Rensch when it comes to pure defending… Danjuma???… How can you drop such a talent???? Danjuma is not part of their plan it seems..
https://youtu.be/Sbmd0YMbMM8
There were two dutchies as well in Cska Sofia. Jurgen Mattheij and Yanic Wildschut
Flekken found drinking while opposition scored in his post…
Its a old clip.
@ ycsng082217
Its not a luxury yet, I like Gakpo and have nothing against him but he still is not there yet. He cant work in tight spaces and his first touch has to be on his right foot or in other words the ball has to fall on his right leg. If you watched Benfica and PSV second leg, you will know what im talking about. As much as he is a rising talent, ignoring Danjuma is nonsensical and maddness. Simply because he has proven himself at every level and beyond doubt he is all about goals/ clinical finisher and thats what matters the most. Bergwijn is more a runner and not a finisher, gakpo like I said is still coming up and Berghuis, no comment. So it all comes down to what you want.
“LDJ is needed for Weghorst’s backup” what crap is this man. Weghorst doesnt even get to play and you want a back up for him. Koeman squeezed him to the core I would say but it didnt yield much and again it not gonna yield anything at Barcelona. Above all and again why invest in a player who is in the twilight of his career with ariel speciality only. This remains of of Pierrie Van Hooijdonk in the 98SF vs brazil. He came in as a late sub and while he was completely shut out by the brazil defenders, ended up looking for soft penalties flying falling everywhere. You see how far this tatics dates back to and still is being dragged on with.
Dont think joey veerman will be called up playing out of heerenveen
He needs a transfer out from there and probably in a more competitive team. Typical dutch mentality I would say.
Watched a replay of the Brugge-PSG match. Fun match. So much to like about Lang; sharp, purposeful, played with an attitude that was completely unimpressed with the team he was going against (a good attribute.) He played a little bit like Ronald De Boer in the ’98 team. Nominally a wide attacker, but he went everywhere, searching for opportunities. Brugge has a good looking team. De Ketelaere was very good.
Yes, he did pretty well against one of the best teams. Here is the short highlight of him vs PSG if anyone is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7IOkN7GYOw
Dumfries started his first match for Inter and he had two assists, draw two yellow cards and totally dominate the right wing against Bologna. You can see the match highlight below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Yh6alH-Mo
Inter has good midfielders and hence Dumfries will thrive big time them especially when going forward.like a I said with attacking FBs you need good midfielders who can cover them up in times of being caught out in front.
Frimpong is now the starting RB for Leverkusen. He did pretty well offensive, defensively he need to improve on position and awareness. He is a highlight of his last match in Europa League where he had two assists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKOHeweiAyc
If you are saying this based on the highlights. Then you are wrong. Might wanna watch full games. He is good but sometimes his physic lets him down.
Joel piroe has notched up 4 goals in 7 games now. Is having a spectular start to the season at Swans and has become a fan favourite as well. Scored 95th minute equalizer in 3-3 vs luton Town
@ Jan
Re: Til and Ane Slot.
I had that at the back of my mind when I asked that question to Andrew. Well it was actually in relation to what Andrew asked earlier on who else could have played in Wijnaldum position?
You see Til was the same player when he left AZ, during his stay at Spartak and then at Freiburg and is the very same player at Feyenoord now. The problem was he was played out of his prefered position at Spatark and Freiburg and his stakes declined due to it. He did play AM in few games to be fair but Otherwise nothing has changed in terms of his capabilities and like you said, slot and Til go back to the AZ days and he basically picked him up and put him in the role where he is the most influential and he instantly exploded . Thats how easy it was and but then the dutch selectors couldnt see that or didnt look out of the box. Even he would have called up eariler, he still would have been the same Til.
This is what happens when you dont call potential player up and it only takes unforeseen circumstances or whom you know for them to come in spotligt.
@ Andrew.
The answer to you question. It should have been Til. Im not saying straight away jump over wijnaldum but like what Orangtugan said. On a day if wijnaldum his off, sub him and give others considerable minutes to prove themselves. Again it comes down to building the depth factor. Calling up potential players and giving them minutes. Well VDBeek was there as well before his move to united and thats probably where the jury were not intrested to look at anybody else and given VDBeek at that time was in full flight at Ajax. But look at him now. Look at Veltman? Tete? This is the same faith which timber, Rensch and others will have to go through Once they leave Ajax. After this baton will be passed to the incoming contingent who will be next in the line to receive the same previlage. Is anything productive happening here. Nothing and if you bring up the merit argument here, pliz dont and mind you it has become a big fucken joke. You all know it.
@ Jan
Re: Til and Ane Slot.
I had that at the back of my mind when I asked that question to Andrew. Well it was actually in relation to what Andrew asked earlier on who else could have played in Wijnaldum position?
You see Til was the same player when he left AZ, during his stay at Spartak and then at Freiburg and is the very same player at Feyenoord now. The problem was he was played out of his prefered position at Spatark and Freiburg and his stakes declined due to it. He did play AM in few games to be fair but Otherwise nothing has changed in terms of his capabilities and like you said, slot and Til go back to the AZ days and he basically picked him up and put him in the role where he is the most influential and he instantly exploded . Thats how easy it was and but then the dutch selectors couldnt see that or didnt look out of the box. Even he would have called up eariler, he still would have been the same Til.
This is what happens when you dont call potential player up and it only takes unforeseen circumstances or whom you know for them to come in spotligt.
@ Andrew.
The answer to you question. It should have been Til. Im not saying straight away jump over wijnaldum but like what Orangtugan said. On a day if wijnaldum his off, sub him and give others considerable minutes to prove themselves. Again it comes down to building the depth factor. Calling up potential players and giving them minutes. Well VDBeek was there as well before his move to united and thats probably where the jury were not intrested to look at anybody else and given VDBeek at that time was in full flight at Ajax. But look at him now. Look at Veltman? Tete? This is the same faith which timber, Rensch and others will have to go through Once they leave Ajax. After this baton will be passed to the incoming contingent who will be next in the line to receive the same previlage. Is anything productive happening here. Nothing and if you bring up the merit argument here, pliz dont and mind you it has become a big fcuken joke. You all know it.
Wilson, honestly I come on this blog less and less frequently mostly because of your comments that are so outrageous that they are harder to digest than “bitterballen”!! You make comments without any evidence and as such you have become the main creator of “fake news”. Your comment on the Til, Timeber and Rensch above are so misplaced that it is not worth responding to you. You keep poisining this blog when your knowledge is so limited. All you do is create lists of players that are absolutely nonsensical most often out of the blue. Please name me one player who you announced would be a star from all the lists you have come up since the beginning of days. I would love to know and please tell us about your background as a football player or coach, I am for one am dying to know. To say that Timber or Rensch will suffer the same fate as Donny, Veltman and Tete (I am laughing so hard!!!) is beyond stupid or at worse totally ignorant. This is the straw that broke the camel’s back and I have decided to totally ignore your comments from now. I don’t have Jan’s patience. Have a nice life!
@Wilson,
Your comment: “Is anything productive happening here. Nothing and if you bring up the merit argument here, pliz dont and mind you it has become a big fcuken joke. You all know it.”
So you’re cursing at me for some undefined “merit argument” that I had yet to bring up?
Not cool.
Lol. No. It was a general statement in context to the “jury” and the recent selection.
Again my point here was, the merit has always being subject of intrest come selection time, but all of a sudden you see its not.
Like I said its hard to digest when you see this things happening.
Apologies man if you felt it was directed towards you.
understood
Today PSv meets Feynoord after sometime…i dont rate PSV defdnse high….i could see Feynoord pulling a victory..
Frimpong is deadly dangerous while attack,his physical size limits his defense…Rensch,dumfries,Karsdorp,Frimpong and Timber……..thats luxuary
Anyone watching ??? please send a stream
Am watching Danjuma playing against Mallorca
Continuously threatening and showing not only speed but quite a few on targets
Seriously what is Van gaal thinking ??? Berghuis and Luuk should not be in the squad and I would not even take weghorst if it needs to take Lang and Danjuma in
Van gaal is making a terrible mistake if Danjuma will not be taken to the World Cup
Just got subbed off.
Watching feyenoord Vs PSV. Good high tempo game. pSv dominating. Obispo looks good and so is his Brazilian partner. Feyenoord have been good in defense. Bruma has been a live wire for pSv. HT 0-0
alireza jahanbakhsh looks to be the only threatening player for feyenoord.
Ops I missed the feyenoord goal. Was switching in between to Villarreal game.
Have to say,Slot is a good tatician.played his cards right. PSV only have themselve to blame. Couldn’t turn the opportunities into goal.
Again if you watch the full game, the thing I was saying about Gakpo is well demonstrated in this game.
Lammers and weghorst both canceled each other out in 1-1 draw. Eintracht vs Wolfburg. like I said Lammers will score alot of goals like Haller. he will also dethrone weghorst, once he gets into full stride. Have to give applauds to Van Bommel as well here. his preseason was a bloody mess but he has turned it around. 7 games , no loss.
@ jeff
saw your post late.
I will agree that there was time when I knew very little about the Dutch football and including players but now its a different story. just for info, the only time im not on this site is when im sleeping. if not I follow players, teams and games and try to keep my self up to date including researching , following and reading, related articles and talk back shows. there is so many out there and all with different point of view perspective
you have made it clear you don’t read my posts so how the hell will you know what im talking about. when it has comes to Dutch football there has been all sort of hype surrounding lot of different players and by everyone. its on the record and its not only me. you can go and dig out if you wanna to refresh your memory. the hype is always and will always be there and whether they leave up to expectation or not is another story. again all this things are on record. go and read some old posts. what evidence do you want for Danjuma, Karsdorp and Lang. as for the answer of one players I said would be a star, go and dig my post up in 2014 just before the world Cup when the debate was going around on Van Dijk at Celtic.
regarding Timber and Rensch , im asking you now this, how many games has Rensch played and what has he proved in this games. again its just a bloody hype because he is playing in Ajax. Van Der Weil, Van Rhijn, Tete, Veltman. how much of more evidence you need. turning a blind eye on this wont change the fact that they are getting the nod because of that conceptual thinking that playing for Ajax ticks all the box and they can handle NT transition. well im not saying they cant but there are other players who also can do that but may never get that opportunity and this is where the merit factor has to come in and including the technical abilities of those players which should subject to weighing as to who best fits the purpose. not just because somebody can bloody play in multiple position. get him on board.
lastly I am having a nice life my friend and the one of thing on my bucket list is seeing NT win in my life time. this is one of the reasons why im very active on this blog. also for your disclosure, my projection is for NT to win in 2026. the stars are slowly lining up and by then a lot of mediocrity will be flushed out from the current team via more incoming competent players by the end of next summer, you can expect competition in the team to intensify and then moving on forward towards 2024 euros then thereon. the only thing that will be crucial in the build up to this, will be an open minded coach who can bring on the board the right players . if they dont win 2026, im out of here because I just cant see them winning anything after that.
@Wilson…I think your disagreements with Jeff is on complete misunderstanding about..Jeff is classcaal Ajax, fan who loves movements,vision,intelligence and last on skills on ball..Rensch and Timber has it,they might be young….Rensch is dextrous footed has nice crosses,nice movements..Timber is CL level player and demonstrates it game after game for Ajax…You cannot compare the talents of Veltman,Tete to these two..Timber and rensch are way to ahead….Van der weil had a good WC2010…He was there with us for some time ,he was not that bad..Van Rhijn Got spoiled and he too was so skilled…was able to take freek kicks as well..i do agree that Ajax players gets preference i agree that..but if the preference goes to a talented ajax player,i am okay with it…
Like you We all most of us here wants to see Danjuma,Lang,karsdorp and veerman to be given chanceses ,i would add Botman as well..As we need depth…Those foremnetioned players desveres a call and to be tested…its LVG and i am sure he will give chance…since 2012 LVG is the one who gave chances to young dutch players..He is a stunning coach…
Thank you Emmanual. I sincerely appreciate your post.
But I am afraid Wilson will never stop including his latest post in reply to mine, yet again stating one more idiotic comment than the previous one! He talks abaout Rensch having played very few games when he literally exploded last season in the Champions League. Yet, he has no problem recommending a laundry list of players who have never even played for one of the top 3 clubs in the Netherlands, such as Veerman and countless others. He has no issue with Van Gaal calling Til who had 2 horrendous seasons and only now came back to resurrect his career at Feyenoord under his favorite coach (Slot) and only played 3 or 4 games with Feyenoord before his call-up. Same goes with Malacia who is inexperienced and has never played at the very top level at least in Europe. Then as I said the fact he made the comparison betwwen Timber and Tete or Veltman was the last straw…because it shows his total ignorance of the game of football.
So yes Wilson I have been reading your posts all these years but will no longer pay attention to your amateuristic comments and limited analysis. You certainly did not convince me in the least trying to explain your credentials. You are self made, never played the game and never coached at any level. All you do is watch football and play videogames, so continue doing that but do not pollute the blog with your incessant comments. Maybe you could start by limiting them to one or twice a week after you have had time to think and reflect on what you are trying to say. This would be a good beginning.
did I say anywhere they should not be called up. please read with yours eyes.
“well im not saying they cant but there are other players who also can do that but may never get that opportunity and this is where the merit factor has to come in and including the technical abilities of those players which should subject to weighing as to who best fits the purpose. not just because somebody can bloody play in multiple position. get him on board”.
@Jeff ..Thank you ..Joey veerman has what it takes to reach Top level….He is over looked…if he joins a better club…He will flurish…He has vision ,game intelligence,long pass,technique…thats enough for me…He just needs to work harder and finds a Top club..
Tyrell Malacia is the Hope we have now..i was pissed of with winjdal and Annholt..Blind limits himself as he knows he is not fatster athlete…This limits our left wing…it was wonderful to have Malacia on left…He is 21 but way too better than Annholt and winjdal…
Guus Till is favorite of LVG and Danny Blind…They like hsi brilliance,i think he is lesser skilled on ball..i dont mind Guus till is seleceted or not..we have Dony van de beek,klassen ,Stengs who can all play Guus till role…
Joey veerman…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89IccmHGSUg
@ jeff
I still cant recall in which game Rensch exploded. If you dont mind, can you refresh my memory.
Just to refreshen yours as well when Bakker exploded at PSG specifically during under Tuchel and then later on going in CL, you were quick to jump to the gun criticizing about his abilities. Where was your Sense of humour then. This shows or maybe proves your one sided point of views that you are throwing to make it sound like its legit. You are Ajax Fan , fair enough, but dont just bloody look out from the window only. Get out of the house as well to see a big picture.
You views particularly on Malacia and Veerman explains it
In between I not saying Rensch is a medicore or is not a NT material . In some phases he looks exceptional and in some phases he still is lacking.
The king Jurrien Timber….
https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/09/21/timber-tottenham-ajax-win/
Watched alot of replay games from over the weekends.
Had a first look at Remis where both Matusiwa and Van Bregen is very active in Starting 11. Van Bregen has flashes of those overmars bursting runs but his end product is very plain or atmost average. Something like Bruma at PSV. Can be devasting when in free space but are not clinical finishers. Remis deploy 3-5-2 and he is mainly up front as shadow striker.
Matusiwa, deployed infront of the back there typically breaking down play as whats required of him. He has a good potential and hopefully Remis will be a stepping stone for him to bigger clubs and then maybe to cross over to NT.
Also watched Troyes and Lorient. Sandler came of the bench and played some 20 minutes. To be honest he just wasting his time at Man city and going out on loan at low level clubs. Did show his ariel strenth in defense which was his only highlight of the game. Had 3-4 ariel interventions only playing on the right. I also watched him in city’s pre season, he has all the attributes of playing at more higher club level.
Finally Leverkusen and Stuttgart. Bakker I will say his in fully rythym now. Had a good assist on the first goal with a lovely cross and the more he plays, the more confident he is getting now. By the end of this you expect him to be in top flight.
https://youtu.be/gRyvbtdQoUI
To those who wrote him off. This is for you.
I dont think he will be called up but is defintely in projection for 2024- 2026. Another thing to note here that Maatssen and Oosterwolde are also coming up in the u21s and for this reason it would have in the best intrest to call Bakker up in the NT. Again to build up for future and also to address the issue of depth in that LB position.