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World Cup qualification draw puts Dutch team in bizarre situation in Nations League

It goes against everything sport stands for: losing on purpose. But if the Dutch national team wants to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States via the easy route, it would be advisable to lose the Nations League quarterfinals against Spain on March 20, 2025 in Rotterdam and March 23, 2025 in Spain. Crazy right?

What’s the case. In the draw for World Cup qualification, Oranje were paired with Poland, Finland, Lithuania and Malta in the event of Nations League elimination by Spain in March 2025.

Whereas in the event of reaching the Nations League Final Four in March at the expense of the Spaniards, countries of better caliber must be sidelined: Turkey, Georgia and Bulgaria.

This is dictated by UEFA, which is keen to give more weight to the Nations League and therefore makes the results in it count for World Cup 2026 qualification.

Oranje’s start of the qualification series for Canada, Mexico and the United States also depends on the result against the European champion.

If they win, qualification begins in September 2025 and involves six matches, while if they lose, Koeman’s team must complete eight qualifying matches starting in June 2025.

What remains is that only the winners of the 12 groups qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup. The runners-up, together with four still unseeded teams from the Nations League, will compete for the last four European tickets to the 2026 world finals.

World Cup qualification schedule not yet known

The playing schedule for the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament will be announced later. The World Cup itself will be played for the first time in three countries with 48 participants.

The 104 duels will take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Canada has two playing cities and 13 World Cup matches, Mexico three and 13 World Cup matches and the United States 11 and 78 World Cup matches.

The opening match will take place at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City and the final will be played in New York/New Jersey. The first match of the day is at 7 p.m. Dutch time while the last match of the day is scheduled at 9 a.m. ET.

Koeman too proud to lose to Spain

By the way, it will be beyond the honor of Ronald Koeman and the internationals to lose to Spain in order to achieve a better starting position for World Cup qualification.

Given the opponents, the Orange should be able to qualify for the World Cup without any problems anyway. Nevertheless, in a top sports organization like UEFA, it remains particularly strange that you can take sporting advantage of losses.

Results draw

Fifa World Ranking

Also based on the FIFA world rankings, the winner’s pool seems considerably stronger. In it you will find the numbers 28, 68 and 82. In the other pool it is numbers 35, 69, 142 and 169.

And there is not much room for error for the Dutch: only the number one of a pool qualifies directly for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. And so an easier route toward the World Cup is nice.

 

 

 

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Ajax in your wildest dreams!

Imagine watching a game with Tahamata, Seedorf, Litmanen, Arnold Muhren, Van der Sar, Blind, Frank de Boer and more Ajax legends… And then imagine them playing a team like Real Madrid. Wouldn’t that be … oh hang on!

The Ajax legends played Madrid last week, a day after Holland – Hungary and it was a more exciting affair than said Oranje match.

Yes, sentiments and football go hand in hand. Ajax is about to celebrate their 125 year existence and did so in style.

One has turned grey, another is carrying some additional poinds, but Jari Litmanen still looks like he’s 30 years old. The Finnish fan favorite is as fit as can be: the dark hair, the spying eyes and the six pack under his shirt. “Hey, I’m an athlete,” he quips. But Jari is happy to be part of this as he seemingly struggled with the effects of the Covid vaccinations, which kept him off the pitch for 4 years. “Even making a coffee at home resulted in me having to sit for a spell, exhausted.”

Another icon to be glad to be on the pitch is Edwin van der Sar. The much maligned ex Ajax CEO was struck by a stroke a year or so ago and has a tough rehab behind him. “I played a legend game in Seoul last month and that was amazing, considering where I came from. Just great to be in the dressing room with the lads again,” said the legendary goalie.

Jari versus MacManaman

Opponent Real Madrid stayed in the infamous Amsterdam Hilton (of Lennon and Herman Brood fame) and Ajax started their day there for a celebratory breakfast. Next up, a canal boat trip and off to the Johan Cruyff Arena where the moribund group witnessed the unveiling of busts of Frank Rijkaard, Patrick Kluivert, Simon Tahamata and Daley Blind. Next, another meal and off to the dressing room to prep for the match.

Mr Ajax

The Ajax icon with the deepest memories must be right winger and Mr Ajax Sjaak Swart, currently 86 years old and still playing football every week (!!). Mind you, it’s walking football. Swart acted as Van Gaal’s assistent coach for the night, alongside Danny Blind. When asked about his first match versus Real Madrid, the passionate Ajax man bursted out: “We should have won that match at home. It was 1-1 and it was 1-1 in Madrid as well, so we had to play an additional 30 minutes. We had injuries in Madrid and Michels instructed me to play right back! I was up against Paco Gento. Remember him? Easily one of the best attackers in Europe, back then. But check my pocket in my pants!! You can still see Gento sitting there, right! I didn’t care. But Madrid scored and Michels immediately yelled at me: go forward! And I swung in one of my best crosses and Henk Groot headed the ball in. Piet Keizer played Cruyff in front of the goalie, Cruyff!! He should have scored but shot the ball right in the hands of the goalie And the next attack, Veloso hit a rocket in the top corner. End of story. Devastated!”

The Madrid confrontation in the 90s under Van Gaal did go a bit better. But Van Gaal had to improvise, as Frank de Boer wasn’t able to play. Van Gaal came up with a typical VanGalian move: Edgar Davids as centre back and 18 year old Kiki Musampa in midfield. The youngster had only played seven sub turn for Ajax 1. Van Gaal told him he’d play and also said: “By the way, you’re up against their best player: Luis Enrique. Good luck!”

Assistant coach Danny Blind was the captain of the Dream Team as the attacking minded libero. “It was a decent week for us. We won away versus Madrid, and it should have been 0-6, what with the disallowed goals. Then on a plane to Tokyo where we won the World Cup for club teams.” Blind scored the winning penalty of course.

Showtime

Fitness

The Ajax legend couldn’t play in this Legend game. “I done my calves. I had a whiplash there and when it healed, Sjaak Swart got me in the Lucky Ajax veteran team and within minutes, again! My calves went. Even playing golf is an issue these days.” Blind sounds like Marco van Basten. The Ajax/AC Milan hero didn’t show up. “My body hurts. I can’t play at all so there is no fun for me to go.”

Sjaak Swart still plays a slow pace game, twice a week. With Guus Hiddink, amongst others. But he decided not to play. “I’m difficult. If they don’t pass the ball to me within the first 5 minutes, I’m bored already and want to go home.”

The oldest active players were Dick Schoenaker (71) and Simon Tahamata (69). Clarence Seedorf, Wesley Sneijder and Rafa van der Vaart played for both clubs of course and would play for both teams. All players are cheered on by the JC Arena which was at full capacity.

But none were cheered as much and as passionately as Jari Litmanen, still one of the cult heroes. Jordi Cruyff got his ovation sitting in the stands, while the Nouri family ( of Abdelhak Nouri of course) were greeted with a long round of applause. For Real Madrid we saw cracks like Morientes, Karembeu, Steve MacManaman, Cannavaro and Iker Casillas.

Honouring the legends

It seems that the Dutch fans start to enjoy these party evenings. Blind: “We had something like this in 2000 and we had to blackmail people to come and watch. This match was easily sold out.” Sjaak Swart: “I can imagine more amazing match ups. What about a legend game versus Liverpool, Bayern Munich or Man United?” Danny Blind: “Us Dutchies have not been good in honouring our sports heroes, compared to England or the US or Italy. We are starting to warm up for this and it’s fun.”

 

6 comments

  1. Well, Jan, you didn’t lie. This article was much more fun than the last one. What a group of players. Thank you for that.

    Saw the Liverpool-Real match. Van Dijk was his usual top tier self, Gakpo got a goal, and Gravenberch continues to shine. Than there was PSV’s remarkable comeback. (But was it better than Feyenoord’s yesterday?) Hope AZ and Ajax can keep it up tomorrow.

  2. That Ajax-Real match was more fun than NT match. What a class of players coached by Van gaal..Van gaal is still top coach …i still dont understand why he went back to defend VS arjentina again in quarter final..its always better to beat arjetina by 5-2 than beating them in shoot outs..i feel embarrassed with clown looser in charge of NT..i lost lots of interest due to koeman,i can easily predict koeman result..so no excitements..

  3. We have an excellent goal keeper in verbruggen
    We have world class defenders
    We have world class midfeilders
    We have a decent upfront in Brobbey,Gakpo and Lang..We can sure win a WC..but this clown keoman will spoil every chance..i do understand we dont have a vinicius juniro,Lamin yamaal or Nico williams..but we can do it..

  4. ——–Brighton——–
    Aresenal–Inter/Manu–Liverpool-Ajax/City
    —————-Barca——-
    —–Liverpool——–Ac milan——
    ————–Juve/PSV————–
    ——–Ajax———–Liverpool—-
    what else you need..all top club starters…
    ————–Verbruggen————-
    Timber——De ligt—-Virgil—–Hato
    ————–Frenkie————-
    –Gravenberch———-Reinders———
    ————-koopmeiners———–
    —–Brobbey————-Gakpo———
    on Bench
    ————-Flekken/Olij————
    Dumfries—-Hecke—–Van de ven—Ake
    ————Schouten——————
    —Weiffer————-Quinten———-
    ————-Simons——————–
    —-Summerville———Lang————–
    with
    Weghorst
    Frimpong
    Maatsen
    for 26 man squad…

  6. new kid on the block. tijjiani noslin lazio has just scored a hattrick vs napoli. 3-1 coppa Italia . playing striker. being following him. can play anywhere upfront

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Oranje’s year fizzles out….

These matches “for the beard of the emperor” or “for the cat’s pussy” as the Dutch call it, are dreadful to watch.

Uninspiring venue. Bad pitch. Nothing to play for but honour (“what…? Honour? What is that exactly?”) and a team of misfits who have never played together in this team before. A band apart. Kluivert, Hato, Flekken, Brobbey, Zirkzee, De Ligt as LCB.

Skipper De Vrij had his first horror back pass in the first minute and would complain about the state of the pitch after the game.

First half was ok. Oranje in control. Koopmeiners in a central role, demanding every ball and having had more touches than any player (except for the two centre backs). At Juve, he’s a 10. In this Oranje, Koeman wants more security as opposed to the Hungary line up where Gravenberch and Reijnders played in front of De Jong. In this match, Wieffer and Koopmeiners were both in the engine room and Koopmeiners in particular demonstrated his will to convince Koeman.

I”m sure Kluivert and Zirkzee wanted to do the same, but they sadly failed to make an impact, although Zirkzee could have/should have scored his chance.

The only bright light, apart from Koopmeiners, was Noa Lang who had some flashes of creativity and that special cross for Brobbey’s first Oranje goal.

The second half was a tough watch. Bosnia Herzegowina fought opportunistically to give their fans something after the Germany thrashing and they ended up doing so. In the final minutes, Hato had a massive chance to secure the winner but his attempt cleared the bar.

Even with Gravenberch, Gakpo and Weghorst in the team, Orane wasn’t able to find inspiration to kill the game as the players will have tried to keep their legs intact for their upcoming club games.

Lets focus on a more fun topic. Next post will cover the Legend Match Ajax – Real Madrid.

 

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Decent win Oranje, still headaches for Koeman

While the Ajax legends would dazzle in the Johan Cruyff Arena on Sunday evening, it was the legends-to-be playing Hungary in the Arena on Saturday. More on the Ajax – Real Madrid game later.

Expectations were high: Frenkie was back and we would be able to qualify for the final round in the NAtions League, if we would win. But… Hungary would take our place, if they would win it!

Where is the box?

Koeman made some wholesale changes. The tactical solution with “the box” in midfield was abandoned. Koeman’s favorite tactics work well against strong opponents, but when the other team parks the bus with low blocks, making sure the centre of the pitch is full, it might not be the best solution.

No box in midfield. Playing a 2-5-3 system it seems…

Players like Xavi Simons, Calvin Stengs or Steven Berghuis as right wingers will always come inside and join midfield, making it harder to play through the opponent. With a proper 4-3-3 and keeping the width, Oranje expected to have more attacking joy and for this reason Koeman also picked his target man in Weghorst, who would be serviced with crosses into the box (or so was the plan from the outset.

Koeman also surprised with Van Hecke as the central defending partner for Virgil van Dijk, as the Brighton man impresses regularly with his vertical passing and dribbles into midfield. Koeman clearly expected a defending Hungary, waiting for a counter opportunity.

Constant man-more situatio, with Reijnders and Gakpo completely open.

Once can imagine Koeman’s (and our) horror in the first 15 seconds when an opportunistic Hungary got some lucky touches and was able to get a player through on goal, one v one versus Verbruggen. The Brighton goalie was able to block the attempt and the ref stopped the game for off-side, but it was an early warning!

Hungary CHANCES?

Was Hungary playing all attack? Did we prepare for the wrong game?

We were off to a shaky start, as the coordination between Timber as left back and Van Dijk was wanting at times, while Van Hecke had a nervous beginning with some sloppy touches. Koeman must have implored his lads to make sure we start well. “Not starting well” is an ongoing theme for Koeman and his teams. And again, we look off the pace and in need of some quick fixes.

Four Hungarians versus two defenders…. oops!

And this rest-defence topic would stick to the team for the whole game. Yes, we scored four and kept a clean sheet, but Hungary could have scored three goals on the break themselves if their final ball was a bit better. Still a lot to improve for Koeman.

Here we go, two versus one here

Having said that, that midfield does swing. Gravenberch and Frenkie together is very nice on the eyes. I also thought Malen and Dumfries worked really well on the right ( Dumfries with a goal and an assist, well done!). The switch from side to side worked well and Van Hecke got himself into the game well, with his passing and dribbles.

Second half, we played them like a Boa Constrictor would, sucking the oxygen out of them but still they found too many changes to break through of defence. At one time they got flagged for off side which in my view was level.

Work to be done!

Still work to be done for Koeman, but I think he will not use this midfield trio in the next round, when we play Portugal, Spain or France. I do assume it’s back to the midfield box then, with a Schouten to shield our backline. When Dumfries or Frimpong are in the team, they can definitely take that right flank and a more controlling midfielder can sniff out the danger in time to protect us.

There was a medical incident in the first half, which will have had an impact on the Hungarians: their assistant coach Adam Szalai got unwell and lost consciousness and panic broke out on the sidelines. Obviously, the ref stopped the match and it took the medics 15 minutes or so to deal with the situation. When the poor chap was back on planet Earth and on his way to the hospital, the match resumed with a penalty, as a Hungarian defender had just handled the ball.

So the double punch of the assistant coach potentially in life threatening situation and a goal conceded right after will have had impact on the Magyars. Weghorst scored and decided to celebrate his lion claw celebration which was frowned upon on social media, by people believing he should not have done that.

I personally think it’s a bit over the top. The Hungarians decided to play on and then it’s just another match again and of course you can celebrate your goal! Is my view. As if celebrating more modestly would help the guy more in his rehab?

It was great to see Frenkie again, considering he has hardly played after being out for so long, he did amazingly well and would be my Man of the Match ( the media picked Denzel). You can see he is still a bit rusty, but what a joy to have Gravenberch and Frenkie in that engine room.

I secretly wonder if the NT coach will consider player Frenkie as left centre back once Virgil retires, allowing for a midfield with Gravenberch, Schouten and Reijnders, while Frenkie can play out from the back like Baresi/Scirea/DannyBlind/Beckenbauer used to do… Put Van der Ven in as left back as he can cover for Frenkie with his speed.

But that is for later….

Bosnia Line-up?

The Tuesday match versus Bosnia will not be very relevant for the competition so I hope we’ll see some interesting changes.

I would play Frenkie again, for a half, so he can build up his rhythm a bit more, but otherwise I would go for:

7 comments

  3. Good to hear that De Jong and Van Dijk are out. Nice for them to have a week off.

    Maybe it is silly, but its a meaningless NL match. so why not give Gakpo a run at center forward? He and Lang are the two most dangerous forwards, see what it looks like for them to play together. Let Frimpong play on the right (as either fb or rw) and let the fun begin.

  4. Hmmm… I think we need get Brobbey ready. I don’t think Gakpo is a striker. Brobbey can harass 2 defenders with ease. He’s fast, strong and a good player for the combination. He just needs a bit of confidence. The lad hammered in 30+ goals per season when he started from the age of 6. Now he has a dry spell and needs some support.

    Geertruida is indeed not in the squad. Oops. De Vrij is sure to play, as is Koopmeiners and I think Brobbey will be a shoe in as well.

  5. Well, you’re probably right about Gakpo not being a cf…he’s played there at Liverpool, not with great success. It just seems ashame that there has to be a choice between Lang and Gakpo. I like Brobbey, so hopefully he’ll find his game. Disappointed that Koeman did not select Milambo. He has been good in the CL, and with Simons injured, this would have been an opportunity to see him at the 10.

  7. watched the game today. I feel like these guys play a lot better for their club than the NT. Koeman is the problem. I guarantee if we have a better coach, 2 years from now, the Dutch would have a competitive team. First of, Van Dijk is going to be 35 at the WC, De Vri is old. Why not start preparing for their replacement and this nation league would be the place to do so.
    After tonight I think unless we find a much better striker, Brobbey is our guy. Lang has the skills to be in the squad and even be a starter. That kid Zirkee is horrible . He doesn’t bring anything to the team. Koeman gave him many chances. Koeman played him today as a #10 but it didn’t work. If we continue with Koeman, don’t expect much in qualifiers and forget about the WC. I think if can find a better right back and better strikers and a better coach, we can play some decent football.

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Oranje Hungary for success!

And here we go again chaps! Time for Oranje banter. Stop hiding and come out and play!

If Frenkie de Jong is back in the squad, why aren’t you back here?

Oranje only needs to win the Hungary game on Saturday to qualify for the final round of the Nations League. I personally don’t get super enthusiastic about the Nations League, but I do love to see my team play well. The World Cup is where it’s at for me!

This Nations League round, we had a very decent and at times impressive first international break, in which we played a really good half against Germany and the second international break was the opposite, with a pretty lacklustre Oranje playing a terrible half versus Germany.

We scored 5 against Bosnia, kept Germany at 2-2 in Holland, then we drew against Hungary away, and lost 1-0 in Germany versus our Easterly neighbours. One win, one loss and two draws.

But the most important factor we should be looking at is: how did we play?

How did we play?

Did we dominate? Did we manage chances? Were we able to bring our danger men in to the game (Gakpo, Xavi, Reijnders, Brobbey). Did we see any flow?

We all remember the disappointing campaign in the “Covid” Euros, the dreadful World Cup campaign under Van Gaal in Qatar and in part the flat Euros under Koeman.

Remember the Euros under De Boer? We did well in the group stages and ended up seemingly in a comfortable chair on our way to the finals, only to be ousted by the Czechs in the first knock out game?  I remember the circumstances: Oranje only flew to the humid mid European venue the day before the game and the team did seem very leggy. De Ligt got red-carded. Malen missed a sitter. And we ended up losing.

Or the Qatar World Cup. Playing 5 at the back. Never really impressing, until…. the last 15 mins of the Argentina game when Van Gaal played 4 attackers. Immediate results. But in the extra time, Van Gaal directed his men back to defend again. And Koeman also had an easy route to the finals and is probably proud to have made it to the semis, but the quality of the football was under par.

Our squad

So, out with the old guard: no more De Roon, Blind, Wijnaldum and – for now – Memphis.

With exciting players like Lang, Gakpo, Brobbey, Xavi, Reijnders and more, we expected to see some joyful and adventurous play. And we did, in that first week. But not even close in that second international break.

During the presser before the Hungary game, Koeman was asked about it. “I too felt the drop in quality was a bit much. But we were dealing with two issues: the plan didn’t work and the individual quality of the players let us down. Germany in particular played differently and we had trouble adapting to the game and finding the free man.”

Koeman also mentioned the lack of football intelligence: “Don’t forget we used to have a number of “captains” in the team and we missed Ake, Van Dijk, Frenkie for these matches while before this campaign we had Daley Blind and Gini Wijnaldum as well who would be able to read the game. And in those situations you can easily look like it’s all really bad, but it is sometimes just a little tweak that is needed to get a better performance.”

Memphis Depay

Memphis performances in Brazil were mentioned and the question was: why isn’t he in the squad now? He plays his games, he is important for Corinthians… Koeman: “Well, not good enough yet and not fit enough. I am watching his games, I am frequently in contact with him and I get his data too so I know. The timing is not right now. Also, I started this campaign with these players and I don’t want to interrupt our process.” Asked whether bringing Memphis back in the future would be for Depay’s ambition to become Oranje’s top goal scorer, Koeman said: “That will definitely count for him, but not for me. Although…. if he scores 6 or 7 more goals, that will be good for me as well of course.”

Frenkie was a question mark on Sunday, when he had to abandon Barca’s game after taking a hit. Koeman: “Yes, I have to say, I did check in immediately via the app and luckily he messaged me to say he thought it would be fine. Just a knock on the shin I believe. He will train with us and we’ll check him and keep an eye on him but he should be ok to play.”

Who will play

Koeman and the reporters kept on returning to the midfield question: who will Koeman play? Is Gravenberch/De Jong/Reijnders the logical combi? Or De Jong/Koopmeiners/Xavi? And don’t forget Timber. Koeman agreed we are doing well in the midfield area.

Apart from the available players, there is also still Veerman and Schouten, while Koeman also called Ken Taylor of Ajax. “He used to be part of the squad and I was critical on him, last season. I thought it was only fair to let him know that I felt he is doing well again and he’s not forgotten.”

The reporters asked about Feyenoord talent Milambo, the 19 year old wizard who impressed so much in this season. “Yes, there is him but I can see others as well, I think Sem Steijn at Twente and Mijnans at AZ Alkmaar are interesting lads to follow, but there are only 3 or sometimes 4 spots available, so it’s not easy.”

There were some critical questions about the strikers. Brobbey having a dry spell, Zirkzee not scoring much…. The national team manager didn’t agree. “I think Brobbey is playing really well and that means the goals will come. He scored a zinger this weekend, right?

And Zirkzee, he’s another type of player and also didn’t play that much this season. And at times, you also need to look at the players around them. What service do they get?”

Lastly, Koeman was asked about the value of the Nations League. Is this a good way to prepare players? The former Barca coach was clear in his response: “It’s a prize. Another trophy. So even though it doesn’t yet have the allure of a World Cup, it will count on your CV. And it’s a more serious way of organising games, as opposed to the friendlies we used to have. We’re in Group A and we have been there from the start. Only Group A teams can make it into the finals and win this. And don’t forget, this is also a backstop, for teams that can’t qualify for the World Cup, the Nations League finals allows for participation in a series of play-offs allowing you a ticket for the World Cup. That is nice to have, eve if you don’t really expect to need it.”

Line-up

I think Koeman will play with a strong team versus Hungary, as we want to win and need to win.

Verbruggen

Dumfries – De Vrij – Van Dijk – Timber

Frenkie – Gravenberch

Simons – Reijnders – Gakpo

Brobbey

I think we’ll win this 4-1 allowing for Oranje to experiment a tad versus Bosnia Herzegovina.

We might see Olij make his debut against Bosnia and a return to the team for Koopmeiners and Lang.

12 comments

  3. It’s certainly a strong team selected. If we can’t perform Vs Hungary and Bosnia, then something is seriously wrong, with Koeman.
    We don’t have enough leaders, that I agree. The latest match Vs Germany showed that. With these leaders back, I expect a strong performance this international break and ending 2024 on the high by qualifying for the NL knock-out rounds.

  4. Hi Jan..Thanks for the post..i feel very bad that koeman is still coach.he is a proven failure,any coach who plays xavi simons on right wing is nothing lesser than idiot..We have a strong team,i dont have to yell at particular players anymore..but now koeman is the problem..i have not seen last 4 matches of us..koeman has sucked va all big teams..tactically zero coach..so i am not exited..these coaches will screw us time and time again,when will dutch have courageous tactically smart coach..(i excuse Van gaal)..pathetic coach,dishonest,money hunter,serial looser thats what koeman is..

  5. I tend to agree with the anti Koeman sentiments.

    The world has changed and Koeman didn’t change with it. If you look at how younger coaches like Farioli, Priske, Slot, De Zerbi and co treat the media during pressers. Koeman is always cynical, secretive, and suspicious.

    I also believe in today’s world the success coaches are tactical wizards, who can instruct players to the T about what to expect in a game or of an opponent.

    Koeman seems to become a more and more old fashioned type manager, like Advocaat who instructs his players with “go for it boys!” …. I am exaggerating of course.

    As for Xavi, he’s wonderful but is he better than Reijnders on 10? I would love to see a proper winger on the right (Lang, Malen, Stengs) and use Xavi as a 10, but behind Reijnders.

    I also think Gakpo is the best left winger we have and Brobbey our best striker.

    Can’t wait for Hartman to return…

  6. Gakpo on the left for sure and Malen on the right. Lang is just back and not 100% yet. If Brobbey doesn´t deliver put Gakpo central as he already played that position at Liverpool and put Lang left. In my opinion both Gakpo and Lang are best on left wing…..

  7. hi no one is here,most probably i feel people are fed up with koeman.We have nothing to expect from koeman..there was match between ajax legends Vs real madrid legends..ajax legends were coached by van gaal..ajax was fantstic ,oldies looked better thah koemans current team(its too much i understand)..
    We have not beaten any top team under koeman ,and it looks unlikely that he will beat a top team..
    He plays simons as Right winger,who doesnt even go that side at Leverkusen.
    He sees dumfries is the only RB we have.
    He sees timber as LB ,as if he is short of left backs .
    He is not a coach who thinks out of the box and find a solution at right time..
    He starts weghorst who is always best when comes as substitute than a starter..
    He thinks Gakpo should be unquestionable starter as if Gakpo won 5 ballon d ors in a raw..
    He is such a clown..i switched of at half time and slept..koeman is disgusting..people lost hope and interest..

  8. Hahaha, thanks Emmanual, for speaking on behalf of all the people.

    I can assure you millions of people still care and have not lost hope.

    You can see Timber as a left back. He plays there regularly for Arsenal.

    Koeman used Weghorst in order to use a proper 4-3-3 and not use the box in midfield. Hungary props up the centre of the pitch, so we needed width. And with Hungary defending deep, we needed to be able to cross balls from wide and it’s handy to have Weghorst there.

    I didn’t mind this line up. You’ll see Brobbey versus Bosnia, I’m sure.

  9. Timber is not technical enough but makes up the ground defensively.he is no where near too digne, hernandez, hakimi,TAA, kimmich, walker esque. His main asset or strength is his robustness and that’s pretty much it. The reason why he is starting at arsenal is because all the recognised lbs are either injured and he is the only better option at the moment as makeshift. I remember sometime back tomayasu used to play at LB and is injured too. He doesn’t provide much threat going forward and given he is right footed always drifts in rather than overlapping. Seldom. His crosses are also flat given he cannot open his body up playing on the left. You often see this with gakpo as well where he has to cut inside to make those crosses. Its just political that maatsen is not selected because he has been vocal about koeman and his selection and if you look both him and digne at villa, critics always say maatsen brings different energy and in different phases of his game. Even when he was starter at dortmund he didn’t got the nod and now he deemed as a bench player when he is clicking good minutes. Again its delimma of how u play and what you can bring to the table.

    How can you justify two defensive FBs who neither can be impactful on or off the bench. It’s a no brainer but for koeman it’s going on the right direction. It’s so disappointing and this is the reason why the team do not prosper. Its so clear, what has hato done to deserve a call up. Nothing it’s just a technical selection to down play maatsen and the fact that he has been featuring on the bench. I mean so many current players are being rotated off bench at their clubs and how much weight playing and starting at eredivisie carry. When will the Dutch football evolve and its so heartbreaking to see how these morons are ruining the chances and prosperity of the team.

  10. Just to make my point clear. It’s all about cutting edge and like I said what can you bring to the table. You look at digne, fernandez, TAA, pretty much average defensively but offensive are very instrumental complementing the attacking phases and creating chances. Then you also you look at dumfries on the other side but we all know koeman and van gaals super tatic of one flank being more attacking then the other and this u only find in Dutch football and no where else and biazzare thing is that they think they can outclass modern days teams with this tactic. It’s has been tried and tested so many times and in tournaments and in the ends buckles to its knee but they are still persistent searching for break through and if compare it with other top teams they pin them down taking full advantage of this. Sturboness I guess and that’s again what’s on the card come QF

  12. Yo Wilson, you’ll have seen that this time around Koeman abandoned the box midfield and went with two high full backs. IT worked, but only partly as we were countered to hell and back by the Hungarians, who simply missed their chances.

    The Maatsen thing could well be right, but coaches don’t like players who mouth off. That is also part of being part of team. It could also be that Virgil said to Koeman, I don’t like him, he is cocky or arrogant or doesn’t listen.

    Ever heard of Jaden Sancho? The Chelsea players don’t like him now either. Everywhere he goes, people want to get rid of him. Some players have this and it’s perfectly normal for a coach to kick them out of the squad.

    I agree that Jurrien Timber is not the perfect LB but you paint him as a limited player. Says more about you and your view on football.

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