Call for help – Internal Strife averted….

Hi all, with my recent dropping out of publishing I received a kind suggestion to open up the editor role for this blog.

Maybe create a team of 3 or more people that can add posts and keep our beloved blog going. I have played with the idea for a while already and this recent upsurge in non blog-activities of your truly and the downsurge of motivation to post makes it all very current again.

So, here is the official request. Do you want to commit to write a number of posts every month? Do you believe you have the gift of the gab? Do you want to share your valuable opinion on anything Dutch Soccer? Step up.

Send your “application” to jroskott@gmail.com with subject line “Blog Demi God” and I’ll see what comes up. I will be a bit authoritarian. As I will determine the time/date of posting and I will reserve the right to edit. But other than that: please bring it on!

There is always enough to write about and I can really do with some new bright ideas.

coaches

As for Oranje, we have had what could have been another rift in the making. Van Persie not passing to Hunter. Hunter telling Robin off. Robin responding with a condenscending gesture. And when the skipper scored his goal against Kazachstan, he blatantly ignored Klaas Jan’s hi-five attempt and simply walked past him as if he was air.

The media jumped on it and Hiddink basically chose the side of Huntelaar ( “Robin should have passed the ball”). The coach took the two players and sat them down at a table with Arjen Robben – vice skipper – and assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy. 15 minutes later, the two strikers were on speaking terms again and Hiddink didn’t want to spend any more time or words on the incident.

Other than that, all seems rosy in the Oranje camp. Daley Blind is enjoying his new status. His twitter account exploded recently to 400,000+ followers. “Exploded? It’s really nothing compared to Rooney and Van Persie hahahaha. But yes, Man United is huge and I can sense that in everything. Ajax is a development club and there is nothing wrong with that. But Man United is definitely a couple of steps up. I am pleased my acclimatisation went well. It helps that we have that Amsterdam bluff a bit in our game. That will have helped. I do what I do at Ajax and I think it’s going alright.” Blind has been praised in England for the seamless way he seems to slot in to the defensive mid role for the Mancunians and his crisp passing has pleased many pundits. “That is always nice to hear. I think it is not hard for someone like me to play here, because the lads I play with are so good. It is almost easier at times. The pace is killing though and the competitiveness in the challenges took me by surprise at times, but I am adjusting well.”

blind rooney

Blind drives around Manchester in a Chevrolet Corvette, like his teammates. He smirks. “I didn’t need that car. I would never buy that myself. But the club gave it to me so I use it from the hotel to the club. Other than that, I prefer to use a bike or simply walk. Manchester is a bit like Amsterdam in that sense. Can do most by bike.”

Stefan de Vrij is also settling in nicely in Italy. “Feyenoord will always be my club but I was ready for a bigger competition and for a defender, Italy is like paradise. I learn every day as the level is high and the intensity immense. I think I was a pretty good defender in Dutch terms, but I lack the ruthlessness of Italian defenders. I am learning that now every day. I didn’t find it hard to accustom myself to the Italian lifestyle. It’s all very European. The language is totally new but it’s not that hard and football language is universal. Life her is very pleasant and I am not a very high profile guy, I can still walk through the city and most people don’t recognize me.”

Arjen Robben missed the first movements of Oranje post World Cup but it is totally back. “It is really weird. I struggled physically when I was 24 to 28 years old. Now I’m 30 and I feel like I’m 25. I am still explosive and my mental desire is huge still. I feel good!” Bert van Marwijk recently gave Robben the biggest compliment, telling the media he felt Robben is better than Messi and C Ronaldo. Van Marwijk: “Messi and C Ronaldo are individually extremely good. But so is Arjen. On top of that, Robben is a team player. He is tactically smart and very important in the team dynamics. Not sure if Messi and C Ronaldo are as instrumental without the ball as Robben is.” Robben looked back at September and his absence. “I think September is always tough, after a big tournament. Your body is not ready yet, as you are prepping for the new season. I think we were allowed that excuse in September. But it’s October now, so no more excuses. We are all in top shape and playing for weeks already. We need to be 100% on our game. Because Iceland will be ready for us too!”

arjen focus

Willem van Hanegem gave his typical straight forward analysis of the Kazachstan game. “Why do we give so much respect to an opponent like Kazachstan? I really don’t get that. We had 4 defenders plus Nigel de Jong! Don’t get me wrong, De Jong is a world class player, but do you need him in this game? I would have started with a 3-3-4 system! Van der Wiel, De Vrij and Martins Indi. Then Sneijder centrally in midfield with Wijnaldum and Afellay on his side. And Robben left, Lens right and Van Persie and Huntelaar centrally. And I would penalise any player who would square the ball. The only way to kill of an opponent like Kazachstan or Iceland is by playing deep.”

Hiddink is not comfortable wit minion opponent Iceland. “Listen, it is easy to say they are a small football nation. They are. But at the same time, they have tremendous character and mentality, which is key in these games. And their midfield is very creative while they have a couple of lethal strikers. They are fresh, highly motivated and….they have six points. We only have 3 points. So for now, we are the minions.”

Lastly, Wes Sneijder is able to catch up with Rafa Van der Vaart if he starts or plays against Iceland. Vaart has 109 caps for Holland and Sneijder will join him on position no. 3. Only Frank de Boer (112) and Edwin van der Sar ( 130) have played more games. Van der Vaart is not part of the squad due to his recent injury.

Sneijd

 

Latest team news. Tim Krul is out and is replaced by Ken Vermeer. The Feyenoord goalie was part of the Oranje squad under Van Gaal for a spell but missed the World Cup. The Newcastle United ball stopper has an elbow injury. Ginio Wijnaldum is also not longer part of the squad due to a knee injury.

 

53 comments

  1. We’re losing against Iceland and will probably lose the game and further get stuck into mud. I do not mind if we lose anymore. It will accelerate Hiddink’s sacking. This is a scared coach who tries to play it safe, who doesn’t like headaches. This is BvM v2.

  2. Cillessen hasn’t stopped any of 27 penalties against him. And he is the 1st choice. He is the least problem though. There are countless others ahead of him. If we lose this game it will be very difficult to get out of the group as anxiety will build up and we don’t perform too well under pressure and with a non existent coach.

  3. I think the best thing Hiddink could do is bench RVP. He’s playing like someone who knows that he can score no goals and still get called up to play.

    I say put the Hunter in for the next two games, if he does well, he stays, if not it will at least light a fire in RVP’s feet.

  4. Someone please tell me by what logic has ibi been called back up to the national team?

    RvP is crap or at least he seems uninterested. We need a motivated striker in there.

    I don’t think we should throw these guys under the bus just yet. Hiddink is still figuring this team out, Van Gail did not have good results in the beginning either if you recall.

  5. They were a bunch of losers before LVG hypnotized them. Now they’re back to being themselves. Even Robben looked like a piece of junk as every time he got the ball the game slowed down with his predictable moves. In the meantime Czech and Iceland have pulled way ahead on the table.

  6. I agree that it is difficult to re-focus after successful tournament. The Netherlands are not the only team that started poorly Euro qualifications: Germany, Spain, Switzerland, ect all lost one or two games. However, what really bothers me is inability of Guus to consolidate this team. Somebody said here that LvG also needed some time to figure his team out. Yes, I agree but LvG did not lose any games during qualification. Guus behaves like BvM did during Euro 2012: he chooses names but not who is in good form. I personally do not see that improvement will come unless radical changes to the team will be done. Last but not least, everything in the universe repeats itself. After two successful World Cups in 1974 and 1978, Oranje went into darkness for 10 years. We have had two great World Cups in a row 2010 and 2014. Are we moving again towards dark decade for Dutch soccer? Poor performances of current Oranje and under 21 team raise question whether Dutch talent pool has been gradually eroding….I do not know how you, guys, feel but I am very depressed….

    1. AZ, to me is all about the coach. A good coach turns a good player into a great one even if just for a tournament and in the process creates a great team. A mediocre coach just does the opposite. I think we have players that if taught by a good coach can still provide for a competitive team. Hiddink is mediocre and disinterested. This conveys to the players hence today’s product.

  7. Ok, haven’t posted much for obvious reasons (we suck, etc) but i want to know i am not alone in believing the following to be true:

    1) a. Hiddink didn’t have the balls to bench RVP in favor of Huntelaar
    b. Hiddink didn’t have the balls to remove RVP, so he removed Sneijder instead.

    2) Hiddink should have tried new defenders in at least one of these 2 games (Pieters, van Dijk, etc). What is he waiting for to test new talent? The Euro 16 final which suddenly looks unlikely for us?

    I am a fan of Hiddink, I cried for him when we appointed LVG because he has a great success rate. But why on earth is he being so stubborn with this squad?

    Sad, sad times.

  8. A friend spoiled the result of this game before I had a chance to see it. I guess I should thank him. I’m not going to waste my time.

    Who caused the penalty?

    More importantly, what the fuck is going on? I mean two losses after three games? Third behind Island and the Czechs?

  9. A friend spoiled the result of this game before I had a chance to see it. I guess I should thank him. I’m not going to waste my time.

    Who caused the penalty?

    More importantly, what the f**k is going on? I mean two losses after three games? Third behind Island and the Czechs?

    [Cleaned up the post, other was “waiting for moderation”.]

  10. I still can not understand why Guus changed Sneijder and not de Jong, which resulted to complete isolation of two central attackers…I can not understand the rationale behind of that substitution? I can not comprehend how such an experienced coach as Guus misread the game?!

  11. Let’s face it – we are in for a return to the early to mid 80’s when Holland were a very ordinary european football team. The few world class players we have now are past their best and I can’t see any one else coming through to replace them – we’ve had a good team since about 1988, sometimes a great team, but now we have to face the prospect of being an average side again.

    1. i agree if that were the reality. the thing is we still have enough talent to win games against subpar opponents. ok iceland is starting to look like the real deal but we should have beaten czech hands down. also, i agree with what AZ said above… why take off sneijder instead of a useless RVP who hasn’t done anything?? i would be pissed if i were sneijder.

      i don’t think hiddink is disengaged but he certainly hasn’t been creative or effective.

      1. RVP has been given a starting role since 2006, even though he’s never scored a goal in the knockout round of a National Team competition. 3 world cups, 2 euros, and he’s scored 7 goals, all in the group stages, plus one against Brazil in 3rd place match.

        To make this even more significant. 6 of those goals came against teams that didn’t make it out of the group. He’s utterly useless except playing against weak teams, and it’s almost shameful that Hunter is at 36 national goals, playing mostly as a substitute and is being overlooked.

  12. In the previous post i had made a comment about the changes that Hiddink should make in order for us to get a positive result from a good Iceland side. I was convinced that if these changes don’t happen we stand no change and unfortunately i was proven right. If we have to rate the players performance each and every one of them deserves a big 0!! To be totally fair though its not completely their fault, in fact most of the blame for those awful performances goes to Guus. First thing i noticed is that this team is not good enough defensively to play 4-3-3. The partnership between De Vrij and BMI is a disaster waiting to happen. A lot of us were complaining when Van Gaal introduced the 5-3-2 to the team but now we all know why.

    Hiddink said that he might still keep in use the 5-3-2 but I’m surprised he didn’t choose to play like that against Iceland. If he had done that I’m certain that the result of the game would be different. This formation isn’t giving us the beautiful football that we all want to see from Holland but what it gives us is a safer back line as i mentioned above and a much more productive Arjen Robben. Not saying that Robben is bad playing on the wings but its easier to contain him when he plays there and you can see that against Kazakstan in the first half where he struggled against their defense which that continued in the todays match as well.

    This result leaves us in third place with only 3 points out of 9 possible. Bad start but i still believe that we control our own fate. We have 7 games left, if we win all of them that takes us to 24 points total which i don’t think Czech Republic or Iceland will end up with. Saying that though it much easier than getting it done but if we have any chance of doing a 7 out of 7 drastic changes need to happen in the Oranje squad.

    1. Forget about 7 out of 7. Iceland is not about letting this golden chance go away. Their swedish coach has historically given Holland a hard time. They look great even though they’re a bunch of unknowns. Czechs are nothing great but are very efficient. We even had a hard time beating Kazakhstan which is ranked 147th. I am very curious about what dutch media is saying.

      1. If Guus decides to bench or maybe not even call players like Sneijder, Lens, RVP and Martins Indi why can’t we go 7 out of 7?? All teams in our group are beatable and since we play at home the theoretically tough games (Czech Republic/Iceland) we are more than capable of achieving that.

        Iceland will drop points my friend just wait and see and don’t be surprised if Kazakstan is the one to do it.

  13. If Hiddink is afraid of change then he should just resign.
    The world cup/tournament hangover is dangerously becoming a pattern. More then just a matter of quality, I think it relates more to motivation.
    Motivation is subjective and hard to quantify, therefore it is the manager’s responsability to address this.
    RVP is not responding to both club and country, Sneijder has payment issues with his club. Others are struggling to get back to fitness.
    the coaching staf should know this better than any of us, so why I wonder they just seem idle to the reality surronding them.

  14. I was singing a song after the loss..Song name is Give thanks to the Holy-one.
    this is what happens
    When your
    Coach lacks ideas as leader.
    Coach lacks balls as leader.
    Captian is pussy and over aged/low stamina.
    Apart from this i think Sneijder was 1000 times better than Shitersie.BMI should be dropped and Hiddink should concentrate on Bruma,Vlaar,Reikik,Van dijk,Dvrij and Kongolo.with wing backs Janmaat and Vanrhijn as RBs and Blind/Peiters as LB.
    Afellay was an upgrade in attack but his availability was so poor.we need lungs he doesnt have it.
    RVP is done ,his lungs doesnt work any more and it is not goin to,He needs to be dropped at the earliest.i think this is time for better moving physicall strong striker.Otherwise RVP will be wasting chance after chance.Goodbye RVP….thank you for goal vs ivory coast and spain…
    @Hiddink has to show his balls the follwoing players must be dropped.
    RVP
    BMI
    Afellay
    Sneijder
    Van der weil
    lenz
    Fer
    for the sake of the team..
    Feynoord is playing some good football and we must look in to it.

  15. Locadia
    Huntlaar
    ================
    Roben
    Promes
    kishna
    Depay
    ===============
    Nijel dejong
    Kevin strootman
    Davy klassen
    jordy clasie
    Marco vanginkel
    Jens toonstra
    ====================
    Terence kongolo
    Daley blind
    Ron vlaar
    Virjil vandijk
    De vrij
    jefryy bruma
    daryl janmaat
    Ricardo vanrhijn
    ======================
    Tim krul
    JEron zoet
    Cillessen

  16. Dutch Football Federation will meet this week with Guus. It is very sad that Guus does not control the situation in the team. It looks like he has given away the decision-making responsibilities to RvP and Robben, and those two do not know what to do and the rest of the team looks like a herd of sheep without a leader. To me, it is too late for Guus to change anything in the team. He has been unable to establish himself as a leader and that is where he lost to LvG. If Guus stays, Netherlands will not qualify to Euro-2016. Not because they are bad but because they do not have someone who would propose an emergency plan. Another problem is that I do not see who potentially could replace him. Danny Blind? I am afraid he is not ready for this job yet. Ronald Koeman, who really wanted this job, will not leave his current position at SH. May be a dictator Co Adriaanse?… He is a smart guy with a character….Sorry, I am a bit bias towards him as he did superb job in my AZ Alkmaar 🙂 Extremely interesting situation to see how Dutch will cope with this psychological pressure. I am sure you all know that even if Dutch finish the group third they still can qualify through knock out games.

  17. We shud just brace ourselfs for a very dark period in dutch football..

    Making Hiddink Bondsoach was a major mistake by the KNVB.

    btw; shame u stop publishing Jan!

    1. The situation still can be reversed provided a strong leadership. It is extremely difficult situation for KNVB too as changing a coach at this stage of the competition is very tricky. However, I believe it is a necessary step to be successful in the future. Oranje needs a new coach with forward looking mentality and strong backbone who is not afraid of challenging a status quo….

  18. Why RVP commands so much respect since 2006 with almost all NT coaches is beyond me. Never delivered during crucial matches with NT, never established himself as a real leader with a strong character. He was MIA in 2010 WC, same in 2014 except the first 2 matches. And please what is so special about Cillessen, this guy inspires only toddlers watching Peppa Pig on TV.
    I would rather see NT not qualify for the finals but with a new mentality coach, then see us dragged to the finals with Hiddink and then get humiliated.

  19. Well…where to start.

    I think the whole squad is still thinking about the World Cup. The WC is over!!!

    Hiddink is a superb coach but after coaching Russia he basically just got jobs for money and I think his motivation to coach the National Team is not the same that in his first period.

    He thought it was going to be easy coaching Oranje since Van Gaal made them play above all expectations but reality is that Van Gaal had a game plan and got the best of every player, something Hiddink has not been able to replicate and I don´t know if he has the desire to do so. I think that if Holland underperforms one single game from now on he should resign or be sacked in favour of a hungry coach like De Boer or Koeman.

    You can lose, but the way this team has lost is just painful to see. Playing badly and without passion. And about the players, some guys like Martins Indi, Sneijder and even Van Persie should be benched or removed from the squad. There are other options that can play better at the moment.

    My eleven would be from now on:

    1- Krul (he is better than Cillessen)
    2- Van der Wiel
    3- De Vrij
    4- Vlaar (very missed)
    5- Blind
    6- De Jong
    7- Narsingh
    8- Wijnaldum
    9- Huntelaar (Van Persie´s team spirit has been awful)
    10- Robben (Playing as a shadow striker and freedom)
    11- Depay

    Van Dijk should be given a chance and hopefully Strootman returns strongly because we miss him.

    It is true that Iceland and the Czechs will have to visit us but in the meantime if we drop more points when they do so we might be out of the EC so Hiddink has to get his act together inmediately, stop thinking about the money and build his own team…otherwise he can return to South Korea or Australia because his an idol there!

  20. It is really amazing how LVG managed to give this exact same team an incredible positive attitude and now with Hiddink I see a negative atmosphere surrounding the team.

    The blame some of you are putting on RVP is wrong, when you say RVP has never scored in an important game well don’t you remember the amazing goal against Spain? if he hadn’t scored that goal maybe we wouldn’t win and maybe we wouldn’t be able to get through the group phase.

    I also do believe Huntelaar deserves more opportunities I like his attitude and he seems determined to be the #1 striker which is great.

    But the issue is not who is the CF or not. The issue is that the team is not functioning well. Our build up is very slow.

    ———————Cillessen——————–

    ——Wiel——DeVrij—–V.Dijk——Pieters—-

    ——–Sneijder——Nigel—–Blind————-

    ———Robben——–RVP——Afellay———–

    This’d have been a stronger team especially a stronger midfield.

    1. This team lacks work rate and Blind is a man of backpass.RVP and Afellay doesnt work hard,partially snijedr and Roben too.
      We need industrious,clever and skilled midfeilders to run the game.and to finish off the game we need Roben and hunter not RVP.
      RVP must be dropped,the no1 culprit behind our lossess in recent matches along with Guus,BMI,etc..
      we must remove the guys with pussy mentality those are RVP,Afellay,Van der weil etc partially BMI..We also must forget Wijnaldum,coz he waste chances like RVP.
      RVP lost is battery and you will never ever see the old RVP again.
      Sneijder can easliy be replaced by Clasie.
      Though RVP was the captain under LVG,it was Ron vlaar and nigel were the hard boys who controlled everything.RVP is pussy.i have always backed RVP,but i am sorry this Guy is not a Good Human.
      Now he started pampering Hiddink to make sure his spot is safe by backing Hiddink.

  21. Considering the injury of Strootman and Ginkel and Depay.
    ————Tim krul————–
    Janmaat—–Devrij—-Vlaar—-Peiters
    —————-Nijel————–
    ——-clasie——–Toonstra——
    —————-klassen————–
    ——-Roben————–Promes—-
    with Roben as klassen as halfstrikers….the team would be awesome..
    Second team
    ————–Zoet/Cillessen———–
    Van rhijn—-Bruma—-Virjil—–Kongolo
    —————-Hendrix—————
    ——-Propper————–Blind———–
    —————–Vilhena—————–
    —-Locadia—————–kishna——

  22. I really..really start to have a huge dislikement for vPersie

    The only thing he has brought to the team ever since 2006 is negative energy, arrogance and terrible play at EC’s or WC’s

    His personality is a captain unworthy; he acts like a f 12 yo all the time; like he is about to run home, taking the ball so others cant play

    And Guus//well..always thought he was more imago than anything else..a lucky guy.
    Even his father calls him a ” Zondagskind” ..; a guy boen lucky.
    KNVB sgud have looked at his record past 10 years..they wud have known enough.

    Dont care if this time isnt good enough to qualify, i just feel sorry for the kids wgo will miss the Oranje craze during the summer.

  23. I beleive KNVB will be talking to Guus this week, most likely today or tomorrow. I am looking forward to the results of this discussion. I think Guus has to be honest with himself whether he can continue as a head of Oranje…I doubt that KNVB will force him to leave…Very intriguing.

  24. Dont think Guus will get fired..come to think of it; has any national team manager ever been sacked during qualifications?

    Most important think the manager has to do; get vPersie off the team, hes accid

  25. I think many have been sacked, but mostly outside Europe. I think I remember quite a few storied from South American teams in the last few years.

    Out of all the coaches in the world with the current squad who reached #3 in the WC I would’ve expected Hiddink to be the last one to have trouble in qualifications. It is quite mind-boggling and scary at the same time.

  26. SamNY

    LvG was right to play in 3-5-2 formation and I think Hiddink dismissed the formation way too soon.

    We can only play 4-3-3 with Strootman in the midfield. The players that did not perform well in the last 4 games are Martins Indi, Blind, Lens and RvP. Most of you are attacking Sneijder for no reason. He floated so many good balls and played a number of through passes to RvP. RvP is not the striker you want against teams that will park the bus… that’s why he was ineffective in 2010. We should play Huntelaar in every game going forward in this qualification.

    Guus cannot continue to play this team using LvG’s playbook. He must change the formula… Heck, play without a striker or start with 2 strikers all together. Play 3-4-3 or 3-3-4. All the teams are going to park the bus and all the teams now know that only Arjen Robben is firing on all cylinders. Iceland had 3 players marking AR11 at all times. I mean, I am no tactical coach, but even I got it from the first 10 minutes that they had their eyes set on marking Robben. Drop him back to midfield, move him to the number 10 position or to the left where he doesn’t have to cut inside and shoot. None of these things happened and with a coach such as Guus Hiddink, that’s unforgiveable.

    Also when the team is 2-0 down, why would Guus remove Wesley and keep De Jong. Don’t get me wrong, I love Nigel De Jong, but if we needed someone tall to target in Leroy Fer, who was going to pass the ball to him. Plus, Sneijder is much more of a goal threat than Nigel is.

    Also, Introducing Quincy Promes at such a late time in the game is not really a well timed tactic…

    All in all, I think this loss sits with Guus Hiddink and Guus Hiddik above all.

    When LvG took over from BvM, he shook things up – demoted RvP to the bench, then took the armbank from Sneijder then dropped Wes completely. He was able to motivate the players like noone else can. It’s time Guus Hiddink does something… or he should just pack his bag up and retire.

  27. Ok I think we have to be rational here guys , Gylfi Siguardsson is in one hell of a form for those of you who dont follow EPL, and as it was predicted before the game on the how our defense would be under spotlight is exactly what was the lime light of the game.

    From Hiidnks perspective I think he was trying to do what no other coaches has done which is to find a balance with both RVP and Huntelaar . For me thats a excellent approach given their talents and especially with how the team performed against Kazakhstan with both of them at the helm. Given the outcome of that game i dont think any coach would have subbed RVP and thats what happened.

    its simply, you have to go back to that France Friendly after which Van Gaal was forced to change the formation to 3-5-2 simply because the squad back then were a liability in 4-3-3 formation. Now with the formation back to 4-3-3 what do you expect….miracles.

    I think its good now that hiddink is in a good position with eyes wide open. we Have Lativa anad Turkey coming up and this is the perfect time to inject those new faces going into the second round.

    Blind
    snejder
    Lens
    BMI
    De Vrij

    —————–out————————
    PVA
    Bruma
    Van Dijik
    Depay
    Clasie

    ———————-in———————

    Cillessen

    Weil – Bruma – Van Dijik – PVA

    Afellay – De Jong – Clasie

    Robben – Hunter – Depay

    1. Accommodate RvP and Hunter? Are you serious?? He stuck hunter on the bench all games and only got him on the field when we were losing. Accommodate both of them means starting both of them. LvG is accommodating RvP and Falcao at Man Utd…. Guus is not accommodating the two.

      Also Afellay is one of those players that slow the game down, he runs with the ball a lot and delays the pass too long. Having said that, I think he should play on the left hand side.

      Krul
      RB-De Vrij-Vlaar-LB
      Strootman-Sneijder-DeJong
      Robben-Huntelaar-Afellay

      There are no LB and RB that convince me yet. VDW is good going forward, but really leaves miles of space behind him. Blind is not a left back. His crosses suck and he lacks speed for the overlap.

      1. Vander weils crosses are artocius,so in the end he gives nothing in attack too.With a looser menatlity.We need Iron men not pussys at back and front.
        MOST ANNOYING PLAYER IS RVP…sneijder was way better than him.we wont even qualify if this stays as striker mark my words…..

        1. Afellay is ball hog or black hole in team,but some how he moves with ball foward and looks slightly better than wijnaldum in attack.Wijnaldum is better in defense.

  28. Whether SUPERMAN sigudrsson is in terrific form or not we must create chances and then should be able to find goals.We are finding diffculty in scoring goals than defending.its one man Roben work in attack.that must change.its the time to through out RVP,Afellay and lenz at the earliest..then sneijder.
    once Blind is replaced by kongolo and INDI by Vlaar or virjil or Reikik we will be fine with Removal of Weil.then the defense will be fine.
    This team lacked energy,sharpness and balls.

  29. there is three position hiddink should really start concentrating on if he wants to continue 4-3-3 formation.

    Defensive Midfield.

    Nothing to be taken away from De Jong but again in attack he is a liability when going forward. we need a more balanced DM who posses both superior attacking and as well as defending qualities. Given when Van Ginkle reaches his prime how will both strootman and Van Ginkle fit in the team given both of them are preferedin the same position. Maybe strootman should be deployed deep in the midfield as De Jong Successor. Ake is another candidtae who could feel that shoes but he really needs to start playing even if it means snubbing chelsea.

    Attacking Midfield

    it is simply no Van Der Vaart and no sneidjer we need a new van der vaart/Sneijder. given the poor performance of the U21s it very hard to pinpoint whether as to who will be next successor to the two generals. Sinkgraven, Toonstra, are still coming in the pipe line with huge expectations but it still remains to be seen. Afellay and clasie could be an options but agin it remains to be seen how they fair up in that central role.

    Striker

    This is where it all boils up and if nothing is done now we will find our selves out of steam in 2018. Its simply we have too learn from Italy and how they been snubbing Baloteli for other potential strikers like Pelle, Destro, etc. Castaignos was not far behind Pelle in 2013-2014 and even Locida …. this the right time to baptize them at international level with 2018 at the back of the mind.

    1. SamNY

      DM – I disagree. De Jong is an asset for this team. The liability is the defense. Mainly BMI and to an extent, Blind.

      Striker – Van Der Weil’s crosses would be great for a more physical player in the box… Huntelaar would have a feast on these crosses just like Ibrahimovic does every week. RvP somehow prefers awkward passes to score goals. I think all dutch managers prefer art to efficacy. Without a doubt, Huntelaar is the better striker.

  30. @ wissor3…….I never said anything about accommodating both…..mind you to find the balance between them especially when RVP was not directed swapped for hunter in both games. any small boy would be able to tell that that was done to reinforcement the attack with both strikers revolving around each and that is where hiddnk went wrong.instead of revolving around each other they went on their own ……

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBHzdOaXL2o

    what were you watching mate.

  31. During LVG Era it was Van der vaart who had astonishing games for orange ,people forget it,with Vaart we have better chance to score goals than sneijder.its an undeniable fact,but vaart is really showing his age like persie.

  32. There are two major topics that Dutch media screams about:

    1. KNVB should not fire Hiddink – he needs to resign as there is no click between him and the team

    The fate of Guus will be known this week, as he, Danny and KNVB boss will discuss the situation.

    2. Marc Overmars got 400,000 Euro bonus this year…

    wow, I would like that job too 🙂

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