This new Nations League campaign kicked off with a number of die hard soldiers of orange left out. The fans were keen for Koeman to finally allow the youngsters the spotlight and he responded by telling De Roon and Wijnaldum they weren’t going to be part of the plan moving forward.
Daley Blind saw it coming and decided to cut Koeman off by pulling out. Memphis wasn’t selected as the 30 year old failed to find a club in time and De Vrij wasn’t part of the squad due to a hamstring issue, but is still on Koeman’s radar.
In the run-up to the Bosnia Herzegovina game, Bergwijn’s transfer to the sand pit was made public, reason for Koeman to immediately close the door on the former Spurs forward.
I do have a personal opinion about this. Koeman welcomed Wijnaldum into the squad last year, when Gini made his way to the sand pit. Now, Koeman claims this was because 1) Wijnaldum didn’t have many other options and 2) Wijnaldum has had so much contribution to the national team. But he also said now, that the competition in Saudi Arabia was too weak and players who go there will fall behind. C Ronaldo and Kante of France will disagree, by the way. But there is footage of a press conference from last year where Koeman explicitly states that the competition in Saudi Arabia is very good, than many top players play there and why should he not select Wijnaldum, for going to that league.
Koeman is not always very honest, in these sorts of things. Man management can still improve.
But, having said that, I personally also don’t think we will miss Bergwijn much, to be honest.
Anyway, new names. Memphis needs to be replaced and with Wieffer, Koopmeiners, Veerman and Frenkie de Jong injured, it was time to mould a new midfield together.
Schouten and Reijnders impressed at the Euros so it was a no brainer for them to be starting, but the rise of Gravenberch in Liverpool under Arne Slot has placed the lanky former Ajax player squarely on Koeman’s radar.
The quartet of Gakpo, Simons, Zirkzee and Reijnders really bamboozled Bosnia Herzegowina and with Schouten and Gravenberch behind them, they must have felt like they were playing on the streets.
Zirkzee got the nod versus Bosnia and Koeman already stated that Brobbey would play the second game.
The inclusion of Brobbey would be the only change for the Germany game, as Koeman was clearly quite happy with the performance on Saturday.
Brobbey played without additional pressure, versus Germany, it seems. From minute one, he was switched on, strong and focused and direct opponent Tah will have had some bad dreams after the game. Brobbey was instrumental with the two goals. He chested a long ball by Verbruggen in the path of Gravenberch, who delayed his move, taunted the defender to come and take the ball and right on time he toed the ball in the path of the onrushing Reijnders who scored a class goal.
Brobbey was also key with an assist for the 2-2, after a through pass by Simons, allowing Dumfries a tap in.
The Inter defender, quite rusty, could have scored the winner, if he had scored the free header, earlier in the game, but the biggest and best chance fell to Xavi Simons, after a breathtaking wonder pass by Gravenberch.
After the game, the pundits ( Van der Vaart, Van Hooijdonk) and even Koeman, couldn’t hide their appreciation for the gifted midfielder, who was the ultimate Man of the Two Matches (arguably with power house Reijnders).
Some conclusions from the game.
We know how to play attractive football
As said, those four forwards (you can add Lang, Malen, Stengs, Koopmeiners, Memphis to the list, they will be able to play along really nicely) played with a big smile on their face. Our midfielders are a joy to watch as well, the connoiseurs usually lick their lips when watching Schouten’s “short” game. And this is even without Frenkie, Wieffer, Koopmeiners, Timber and Veerman. The Germany game resulted in a record number of attempts on goal (from both teams) and the 2-2 is actually a low score compared to the attempts and touches in the boxes.
Quick goals
Ronald Koeman’s teams try to sprint out of the traps. Reijnders scored a quick gola after 1.39 minute. Veerman scored a quick one in February versus Germany. Klaassen scored three years ago after 55 seconds versus Turkey and Johan Neeskens scored the fastest goal versus (West) Germany in the World Cup finals in 1974, after 86 seconds.
Gravenberch rules
The Liverpool midfielder had a pre-assist versus Bosnia and a fine assist for Reijnders versus Germany. As mentioned, he should have another one if Simions had scored from that amazing long pass. Gravenberch had the most interceptions (4), the most duels won (6) and only 4 of his 40 passes didn’t get to a team mate.
Wingers aren’t full backs
Holland does play a lot of football on their own half. Was it the early lead? Or simply the strength of Germany? Oranje defends compact, with a strong focus on closing the passing lines. Oranje defends in a 4-4-2 concept and the wingers (Cody Gakpo and Xavi Simons) were tasked with defending the German full backs.
Koeman stopped the 3 at the back concept and this particular defensive move is almost like a reversed system of that 3-4-3. Now, it’s our wingers defending their full backs, in stead of our wingbacks attacking their full backs. And sadly, wingers are usually not very good in defending. Case in point, Germany’s second goal was allowed because Gakpo forgot to track back to keep an eye on Joshua Kimmich.
Raum runs into space behind Simons back and Kimmich is already on his bike to get to the far post. Geertruida would come to replace Simons to shore up that defensive situation, pushing Dumfries further up.
Mathijs de Ligt is the pantomime villain
We all know it: when a goalie or a central defender makes a mistake, it’s usually a goal. If a forward loses the ball, it can also result in a goal conceded but it usually takes a couple of moves for this to happen so the attacker usually is not vilified. Sad for De Ligt, he made a marking error versus Dzeko on Saturday, but Koeman praised his passing and build up play. That part of De Ligt’s game came under scrutiny against the Germans, when a pass got intercepted by Musiala and led to the 1-1.
Mathijs had 5 successful long passes, but no one remembers those. I also need to say that there was still some football being played until the ball hit the net, but the criticasters all pointed towards De Ligt. His body language wasn’t great afterwards and Koeman hooked him, partly to protect him. “I could see the mistake was still playing in his head and I didn’t want him to struggle and play with the brakes on. JP Van Hecke came on in the second half for his debut.
Options galore, in midfield and in defense
Nathan Ake had to leave the pitch with a painful ankle but with the likes of Geertruida, Hato, Beelen, Timber, Van Hecke, Botman (currently injured) and Van der Ven (currently injured) it does appear Oranje is in good shape. I’m sure Nagelsmann will be quite envious of his Dutch colleague.
This is my prediction for koeman. He will call up depay once he is fit,rotate him with gakpo and only call up others in extended squad only to chop them off later. Summerville,kluivert lang.
Same for maatsen and frimpong. You can clearly tell from the last two outings where is preference lays and frimpong treatment was really disappointing when he shud be clocking minutes.it obvious frimpong request to leave the camp via personal commitments was not legit but made up and in light to what transpired in that Bosnia game when geertudia was subbed on for Dumfries. Without a dooubt it shud have him and neither it makes sense when NT were winning 3-1 and then Bosnia went 3-2. A common justification here will be geertruida was sent on for a more defensive approach but that wasnt the case given after the introduction of malen, Timber and geertruida which were around the same mark, Bosnia gained the upper hand and scored.
Then in the Germany game Dumfries playing wing and with kluivert and malen both on the bench and beyond that geertruida for Simons only koeman knows what he was doing.
For me these is definitely traits of mediocre coach who thinks he is a tatical genuis . In both games with the tatical setup and Ake at LB, when the subs came on, there was absolutely no coordination in the team and this is always the case when he gets countered.
With the current squad at helm,NT need a modern day coach and again O will say this you look at the ajax new coach and his approach in context to player preference.
So, some questions raised after the last two matches. Brobbey or Zirkzee? Who plays in mf with Gravenberch and Reijnders? (To me, De Jong) Who plays at RCB? (Call De Vrij back? Play Van De Ven out of position? Hope that De ligt’s form turns around?) With Ake and Hartman out, who is left fullback, Maatsen or Timber?
Wilson I agree with you. Frimpong is gold and he is probably very disappointed.
Andrew, I think the choice Brobbey or Zirkzee will be depending on form, fitness and opponent.
I think they can also play together in a 4-4-2 or with Zirkzee as a 10 (if Reijnders isn’t fit for instance). My midfield trio is Reijnders, Gravenberch, Schouten and although I do rate Frenkie as world class, he will have to get in the queue.
I think in pairs: Schouten or Wieffer, Gravenberch or Frenkie, Reijnders or Koopmeiners, or Gako or Simons.
I do believe De Ligt will get better once he has more rhythm. He didn’t get any minutes at the Euros nor did he play pre-season football for Bayern.
Any thoughts on Rick karsdorp and his return to eredivisie with PSV.
It’s was quite disappointing to see how there was so little to no crosses from the flanks in the two games especially with Brobbey who has a very good stronghold in air and given both wingers were cutting inside. Neither the fBs were involved much in this. Can’t recall. This is why I want to see Maatsen and Frimpong overlapping on the wings and getting in with those deep crosses from the flanks stretching the defenders and creating spaces in the middle for the likes of zirkzee and AMs.
I have a gut feeling when depay is fit, he get the nod and probably in a deeper role.
For Maatsen, once again it will be disappointing if Timber gets the nod ahead of him just because he is a starter and Maatsen is not. A lot of critics label Maatsen as a weaker defender and while you can argue on this , from a dynamism point of view it’s pretty clear in long term him and Frimpong shud be invested for future. However looking at koeman’s preference again he is not taking this into consideration and is focusing on his tenure only, building the team more around defense. Vs the Germany game this was very evident, while nigelsmann at 2-2 mark was trying go offensively off the bench looking for late winner. What did koeman do. Trying to hold up his pants by going defensively, Ake injury aide. 4 defenders.
I have being watching Arsenal games, and though Timber has being reliable and you can tell how arteta has being using him especially moving through the midfield channels but when it comes to that overlapping and the typical FB linking up with the wingers on offensive front , very minimal and plus his crosses being a right footer on left is flat in the sense that it’s 50-50 Arieal balls and not in spaces like when on crosses where you can find somebody free.
I really dont know how this will work in long run and at NT. And plus his tackles are so clumsy. He was luck he was not red carded for his stamping foul Pedro porro vs Spurs. I was watching the panel of post match show where they discussed how the same type of tackle in a game the previous week resulted in a red a card and how fortunate he was not to receive the same.
PSV started well enough, but beginning around the 20th minute, Juve had them running in circles, scored twice and could have had more in the first half. What a goal by Yildiz.
Gravenberch POTM against Milan. Gakpo started and played well.
Watched both games. I thought milan looked back paddling on turnovers. Also after maignan injury it was always going to be hard. From liverpool point of view van dijk and konate were rock solid and really gave morata no chance and plus the threats from flanks. Gravenberch too was solid.
For PSV they just lagged cutting edge upfront.
The one thing the commentators kept saying was though how PSV were playing good football but simply were too light weight upfront and the juventus defense had them all wrapped up. The other thing was of bakayoko’s predictability of not able to use his right foot while he was receiving so many balls in good positions especially on the edges of the box.
The subs Lang, saibiri did bring some impact of the bench but the damage was alreadu done.
Koopmeiners looked good in that AM especially from the left side. Linked up well and gave good balls for vlahovic, Yildiz and cambiasso. I think motta in another season or two will transform this team into a power house
Just watched Leverkusen take Feyenoord apart. Frimpong ripped them apart in the first half, two perfect crosses for goals. And he doesn’t start…?
Ihattaren signs for RKC waalwijk.
This was him in an early interview.:
Again it makes no sense from investment point of view using Timber at LB when he is not. Why not Geertruida vs Timber for RB and cover up for RCB. If you look at the circumstances which resulted in Frimpong leaving the camp just shows what’s happening and the favoritism aspect. Vs bosina subbing Geertruida for dumfries was total uncalled for from a tatical aspect winning 3-1 when Frimpong would have reinforced attack and made more impact. Absolutely biased from koeman subbing a defensive fullback for a defensive fullback. No doubt Frimpong made up excuses to leave the camp. It’s is so disappointing when you see opportunities going waste where players like Frimpong and Maatsen can make up grounds in NT and building up on their confidence level.
Like I said previously, koeman is doing the dirty business of trying to market players of his former clubs regardless if they don’t make it too too after transfers.
I have raised this also elsewhere. Danilo doekhi finished 4 th in bundasliga few season back and was not called even with CL football. Now with Geertruida at Leipzig, I want to see how this scenario changes. Is having 13 caps too much that other players to challenge for spot. This is where the NT always get hit and realistic this is the reason why the transition is so bad in NT. Certain players are called up to NT based on preference and on their performance, when these same players find themselves elsewhere like after transfers and their performance dip, the door simply shuts on them. Or even at domestic level in eredivisie. All those cap goes to waste and it’s back to square 1 again.Look at talyor, rensch, tete, veltman and other Ajax contingent who were called up when they were in eredivisie but now won’t just because they are playing at smaller clubs. And then you look at the excuses this moron always comes up with when there is injuries.
Something was going on Frimpong’s life apart from not playing when he left the camp. He didn’t return to Leverkusen until that Friday, and as a result he didn’t start their Sunday match.
Anyway, Koeman seems to believe that he can’t play Dumfries and Frimpong together (even with Frimpong at rw), and he has, so far, chosen Dumfries. Don’t agree with the choice. Play him at fb, and let him play far up the field like Dumfries, or play him at rw and, as Wilson says, play Geertruida or Timber at rb, or play him with Dumfries, and ask Dumfries to play a traditional fb role. Just get him on the field—he’s so dangerous.
Ops
Ignore the above. This was an early interview he gave.
Translated
Mo Ihattaren is currently doing everything he can to return to the football world. The former player of PSV and Ajax, among others, tells this in an extensive interview with De Telegraaf. The former top talent seemed to be completely written off, but football agent José Fortes Rodriguez seems to get the 22-year-old creative back on the right track.
Ihattaren is working on a sensational comeback
Ihattaren seems to have completely thrown his football career away due to numerous incidents, but the attacking midfielder is going to try to come back one more time. Ihattaren also made attempts to return before, but kept falling back. “But now it’s a thousand percent different,” the former top talent tells De Telegraaf. “Getting fit was never the problem, because I love training. The key is in mentally recovering. Now I’ve been working on my mental health for months.” Fortes Rodriguez appears to be the key to the turnaround, writes the morning newspaper, ‘who in June of this year was prepared to set up a ‘Project Team Mo’ with renowned physiotherapists and recovery trainers Rik Tacken and Camiel van Druten, the dietician from Ihattaren’s PSV days, Anja van Geel, football trainers Nordin Wooter and Soufiane Touzani and kickboxing instructors Jivan and Nadia Akihary, but attached one strict condition to this’. “That Bram Bakker would come in as a psychiatrist and that I would undergo trauma therapy – EMDR – with Franky Mandias”, says Ihattaren. In addition, Ihattaren can call on his regular supervisors Ricardo Kishna and Koen Veenstra 24 hours a day.
Emotional eater Ihattaren
The death of his father hit him so hard that Ihattaren has suffered greatly from it in recent years. The fact that the corona period also came along did not do the left-footer any good. The former PSV talent completely neglected himself and put it away in food, among other things. “I am an emotional eater, you could even say emotional devourer. Because I had thrown everything away, had no purpose in my life anymore and was mentally in a knot, I had no brakes anymore and ate myself to death. At one point I weighed 117 kilos. I slept during the day and was awake at night. I couldn’t sleep. No, I didn’t want to sleep, because then it started. Then I saw images of my father in front of me.”
Ihattaren family puts on the brakes
Ihattaren then also often made negative headlines with, among other things, his car being set on fire and houses being seized. The former Ajax player says in the interview with De Telegraaf that he hopes to have left that time behind him. “It came from naivety, because everything went so fast at that time. I tried to do well for everyone, but I couldn’t judge what was good or bad for me or my future. Moreover, I didn’t have this team, my safety net, around me to help me. I’m ashamed of it, because my family also read the reports in the media. From now on, I only want to be an example for my nephews and nieces and not that strange uncle. I now understand where my behavior came from, why I was more easily irritated and what kind of influence that had on the people around me.” Ihattaren says he owes a lot to his family, who at one point intervened and told him that things couldn’t go on like this. “My brothers asked me what I wanted to do with my life now. I said: play football. But I could forget about that for the time being. They only want me to be happy as a person again. Thank God they stalked José and eventually got me to throw the lifebuoy.” The youngster hopes to end up in the football world again in the future, but where doesn’t seem to matter much to him. “Ricardo also said very nicely that it doesn’t matter whether I play for Elinkwijk or Real Madrid. We are now only talking about the person Mo, who has to process the pain