A match vs Belgium is always fun, due to the rivalry. This time, it is an up and coming Oranje team oozing with talent vs the top class players of the #1 on the FIFA ranking…
Ronald Koeman was true to his word, he would play different players and rested some lads, in order to give Ake, Van de Beek, Strootman, Danjuma, Promes and De Vrij a chance. In those circumstances, with a starting eleven which never played together before, it’s only logical that the start is a bit rusty. And take into consideration that the players Oranje was facing have names like Hazard, Mertens, Lukaku and Witzel… Not a bad line up.
Holland started on the back foot and Belgium really jumped out of the traps. Hazard in particular had a real appetite and it didn’t take long for Mertens to score the 1-0 in a glorious fashion. I have to be honest, at that point, I really believed Belgium would eat us up, puke us out and eat us up again.
The first 20 minutes were horrendous with Ake constantly chasing his man and De Ligt and De Vrij constantly looking for their man. But slowly, Holland would grow into the game, playing compact and disciplined and it would be long before Memphis was offered a first chance, he should have put away.
When Donny van de Beek picked up on a lose pass in midfield, Memphis had the wherewithal to reach debutant starter Danjuma, and the Club Brugge wing man scored his first senior Oranje goal 1-1.
Holland fought itself back into the game and would get more opportunities even, with a good strike by Promes on the post. Belgium slowly drifted off, with their midfield being dominated by the Dutch.
In the second half, with 6 subs for both teams, the flow of the game disappeared a bit. There were chances for Lukaku and co and some opportunities for Holland (the Ake header deserved more, while Memphis was unlucky with a shot cleared by Aldeweireld).
We saw Pablo Rosario make his debut too in this game and the PSV midfielder had to get adjusted to the pace of the game as his first minutes in orange were a bit unlucky.
The end result (1-1) can be seen as pretty good in an away game vs the world’s #1. We could have won it even, but, as Memphis said post-match: we could have lost the game too.
It was a good effort all in all and Ronald Koeman was quite happy with the two matches. He felt there clearly was a good foundation to build up on.
And don’t forget: we played Germany and Belgium! Two powerhouses of international football. One win at home, one draw away. Not bad. And as Donny van de Beek said after the match: “Playing compact and disciplined, isn’t that how France won the World Cup?”
The axis of the team seems to be quite clear and quite solid too. Cillesen as not real competition, Van Dijk and De Ligt seem to be certainties too, with Frenkie de Jong as deep lying midfielder and Wijnaldum centrally high up the pitch. Memphis as the false #9 again played a very good game and is the danger man up front, this time with an assist.
Dries Mertens and Toby Alderweireld, both with a Dutch Eredivisie background of course, were full of praise about the Dutch. They were quite certain Holland would soon be amongst the European football royalty again.
Speaking about royalty. Mathijs de Ligt has played vs Robert Lewandowski, Romelu Lukaku and C Ronaldo, three absolute top goal scorers, and none of them found the net against the Ajax man. Another calling card dropped last night by the 19 year old Ajax captain!
He is the first Oranje player under 20 years old to play 10 caps in a row for his country, since 1933!
Danjuma seems better than Berwijng, de Beek even he just debut for Orange
Yes I feel the same
Bergwijn … I’m not sure why was he nervous maybe ?
De beek , I was expecting more from him! But this Guy is improving ( and so the others )!
Man I finally see some hope now with this oranje new team . And most important , the are playing as a team ! There is a bonding among all these players , which was gone after 2014
I think we are jumping the gun a bit. I have seen a lot of Bergwijn and he truly is a gifted player. Don’t worry. he’ll show his skills…
Van de Beek is a midfielder, you need to assess him differently. Van de Beek can’t shine when the midfield isn’t performing too well.
Alternatively a forward can shine even if the rest of the team is crap.
Hopefully he can footstep as van Dijk, de Jong, Depay, de Ligt to become world class level & core player for Orange.
Question
May I ask if any of you feel or felt sorry that hakim ziyech didn’t choose oranje but Morocco instead ?
I mean he played for oranje under 19,20 and 21! And in the end he choose morcocco ???!! What the …
But I’m glad that Depay will find his new striker partnership soon . Danjuma is gonna be one of them I’m sure
By the way , very humble person I like his personality . Good that ur chose ur over Nigeria
Do you guys think he should stay in Belgium or go to a bigger club bigger league in order to develop to a stronger forward ?
https://youtu.be/4T_A2JwuTzw
Ziyech is one of the many Moroccan players to be born and developed in Holland and played for Oranje rep teams but deciding to go for Morocco for the senior side.
And it is partly peer / parent / family pressure. Playing for Oranje rep teams is good for their development, good for their visibility and market value.
Once full developed, they have a choice to make and the pressure from family (very important for them) is huge.
I know for a fact some Moroccan players would have loved to select Holland as their team but would cause a family rift if they did.
Ziyech was actually close to picking Holland, as Hiddink selected him and he accepted. Sadly, he got injured and didn’t make his debut for us. Later on, when Van Basten joined the Oranje staff, it made Hakim change his mind, as he had a very restrained relationship with San Marco and Heerenveen.
As for Danjuma, he’s a lovely humble guy. Hope he develops well. His decision to play for Club and not PSV or Ajax or Feyenoord was a well thought through one, I think.
If he keeps on going like this, he’ll be with Everton next season (Richardlison will move on).
Sorry Jan! What is this with Everton ..?
Ah I meant Everton as an example. I think Everton is a good step up from Club Brugge for any player. And as Marcel Brands, ex PSV Tech Director is now at Everton, it could be an easy connection.
Oh I see thanks Jan
Yes I really hope Danjuma will move to the EPL because that’s the place where he can prove himself
Thanks Jan!
I never knew all the sorry behind and also the part he was injured. Also his relationship with Van Basten ( I only knew Van Basten was mocking him when he decided not to choose Oranje )
Now that all makes sense then.i has a few Morrocan friends when I was a kid in Holland , and yes I kind of knew their strong family bondings. ( perhaps Affelay’s story was a bit different …)
Well.. no worries life got to move on ! We got all other new boys emerging and let’s see who will be our “ big four forwards “, which we used to have in the past
SAN MARK IS jsut like that…He simply doesnt care…i saw the tears in RVN eyes while we were losing to Potugal and kuyt was starting ahead of Great RVN at RVNs peak…its unpardonable Ego and i am sure RVN will have something more to say,when San mark joined coahcing team with Blind RVN left it…
If you look at the horizon, you cant see anyone who could dethrone promes, Babel and Depay come euros qualifers and most probably the euros itself.I will exclude Danjuma here since he just made his debut. Janssen could be a contender but remains to be seen as to what happens to him after he recovers. From the u21, u20 I cant see anyone making a transition in two years time. Zivkovic has the potential but is a unpolished diamond and again is a 50- 50 luc castaignos also if he can salvage his ever fading career in the next two years. I dont to know why it leads me to think this guy will flourish late.
Babel has passed his peak already
The reason I can still see Babel playing in Euro is because he is currently the longest that plays alongside Depay
But this partnership won’t last long as there are so many contenters challenging for that position
If Koeman wants to get something in World Cup 2022, the Danjuma Must play past on euro in order to gain experience . Same goes for Bergwijn if he will become one of our future
As for Vincent Jannnsen, I honestly don’t see him having a place anymore for oranje
No doubt he is a nice guy who’s very hardworking but we need talented players. And based on what I’ve seen him In the past two years ( before his injury ) he isn’t one
forgot about Locadia. like many others who switched to epl, his transitions also looks to be going slow.Brighton mainly deploys 4-4-2 and he has deployed all over in the front line.his major weakness is his inability to keep the ball at the feet for long. his neither a winger nor a striker but hanging in the middle.
I think serie A would have been better for him.
Chelsea’s Redan is coming!!
Cant see him making it to the euros and neither chelsea starting 11 in next 2 years.
Exactly
Not only redan, same goes to chong
A lot of our talent once they are gone to the so called big clubs , there is no guarantee for them to play
Reserves is their only place . Dilrosun made a smart move and avoid rotten in Man City
I understand your point, Wilson, but there is almost an entire season between now and the Qualifiers. Dilrosun is playing very well in the Bundesliga, and Danjuma and Bergweijn have both shown flashes of quality. There is time for any of hem to show the consistency and productivity to be selected. Going on nothing other than a feeling, I’d say that Promes’ spot is more at risk. I’d think a coach would be very comfortable with Babel—he is a veteran and seems cool under pressure, is always where he is supposed to be offensively and defensively, will put the ball in the net when he gets his chance, and plays seemingly without ego. But as I said, alot can, and likely will, happen before the Qualifiers. Much to look forward to following over the next 6 months.
For clarification, I mean your point about it being difficult to see anyone taking a spot from Babel or Promes for the qualifiers
Dilrosun and Danjuma can
Speaking to De Telegraaf, Koeman said that he was happy with all four debutants.
He singled out Bergwijn: “Steven is a great player, he has a sense of position, he can play left and right in the attack, he proved that at PSV and you saw it again against Belgium after he fell in…. of the four debutants at the Dutch squad, Steven is currently the furthest in his development.”
I completely agree with Koeman. I have followed Bergwijn closely, and have only missed a handful of minutes of his action with PSV. He is truly a special player, and will be an important building block for Oranje in next decade. I have written before that he will need to be much more deadly in front of goal. If he does indeed accomplish that, Koeman will have a Dutch “Kun Aguero” at his disposal.
The next attacking player in line for debut IMHO is Javairo Dilrosun. It won’t likely be this calendar year, but I think in the Spring (start of the Euro qualification), he will get a sniff. Dilrosun is such an explosive winger. Great start at Bundesliga, with 2 goals and 3 assists in only 5 matches. He needs to demonstrate consistency. Amazing speed, and tight ball control. Has a superb understanding and awareness of the game for a 20-year-old kid (thanks to his ex-coach at Man City, Guardiola). He will displace/succeed Babel at Oranje over time in the left flank position.
How about Kluivert then?
Kluivert is an important pillar for future Oranje as well. He should be in the mix for RW. More attacking option is better, for competition and back-up purposes. He already made a debut for Oranje, but was relegated to U21, presumably due to lack of playing time at club level.
Kluivert just needs to take his chances when ever he gets it at Roma right now.once he breaks into the starting 11 then obviously he can start knocking on the door.
Yes , once her breaks into the starting 11
He needs score . And score many goals
As predicted, Dilrosun is in the 31-player provisional squad for the next Oranje matches. It will be interesting to see if he will be invited to the final selection, and actually makes a debut.
My personal opinion is that he needs to demonstrate consistency first before he earns a cap. But certainly this is an awesome opportunity and confidence-booster for the young fella.
Unfortunate for Kluivert, who’s having a hard time breaking into Roma’s line up and getting meaningful playing time.
Groeneveld is injured. If he doesnt recover on time dilrosun could get the nod on the bench atleast.
kLUIVERT IS Young and spoiled ….He must behave first,it all about attitude not just talents alone…
The Fiver: the Guardian’s take on the world of football
“This week Pep Guardiola invited five members of Manchester City’s youth system to train with the first team. Philippe Sandler, the defender signed in the summer from Zwolle for around £2.25m, is 21…”
He is recovering from a knee operation. I think he will be loaned out in Jan.