Congratulations to Phillip Cocu!

I have never been a PSV fan. And I have shared it many times here. But… I do like and have liked many of their players… What is not to like… Romario, Wim Kieft, Willy van der Kuylen, Luc Nilis… Awesome players. And I am a big Phillip Cocu fan. From creative left winger to midfielder and leader. I liked him at PSV and admired him in his 6  years at Barca and all his games in Oranje.

It seemed he would be a good coach. Good mentality. Tactical intelligence. Great skill. Gentleman personality.

He decided to go through the phase of coaching youth team after youth team, while also assisting Bert van Marwijk with Oranje. He started his career at PSV with a young squad and started that season (last year) with tremendously sexy football. Attractive, attacking, fast, many goals… But somehow suddenly that team choked. And Phillip got pressure and flak. And when he asked Hiddink for council, the media ate him up claiming he was vulnerable and weak. In the meantime, he also battled with cancer while just been gone through divorce.

Phillip-Cocu-111211-Sitting-R300

Not too happy times but Phillip turned it around. He was able to use a couple of new players coming in (Guardado, Luuk de Jong) and could count on the strength of two players who just starred at the World Cup Brazil, Depay and Wijnaldum. On top of that Adam Maher, the prodigal son, started to develop himself and find a spot in the team.

So this season, it all clicked. They started the season in winning form and kept on going. I don’t think they ever played as good as last season but they never played as bad as in the second half of last season. Consistent. Smart. Focused. With Wijnaldum in a leadership role and Depay as the miracle man and Willems as provider and Guardado guarding the balance.

Ajax simply was not good enough. Consistent in grinding out results, but not good enough.

Feyenoord started with 4 or 5 new players and lost points in the start of the season and lacked PSV’s consistency, although they probably played better football on the highs. But lacking scoring power a la Pelle, they could never challenge Ajax or PSV.

So after 5 years of drought, the trophy returns to Eindhoven.

On starting his career with AZ Alkmaar….

Cocu: “I got my first break as a first team player at AZ under Hugo Hovenkamp. He was stand in care taker manager when Eijkenbroek was ill and he used me. I was 18 years old. I had had three stints on the bench before that. The clock was ticking agewise. The club didn’t want to use me in the first team as they would have to pay a significant sum to my amateur clubs where I started. So they pressed Hugo to not use me for another couple of months. But Hugo said “nope, forget it, results come first” and he put me in. That was a whole thing, back then. I was very inconsistent back then, but AZ played first division so no one noticed hahaha. I could play 20 minutes great football and then I would invisible for 30 minutes… But I was driven, wanted to learn and had talent. I was already playing for regional rep teams and by then Young Orange came into view for me as well. We wanted to go to the Olympics in Barcelona but were beaten by Australia in the play offs. Ned Zelic scored the winner for them late. Was a disappointment, I remember. We had a tremendous generation. Taument, Ronald de Boer, Arthur Numan, Marc Overmars, but no Games for us….”

rijkaard cocu

On his Vitesse spell…

“Roda JC wanted to sign me but I wasn’t impressed with their story. My parents wanted me to finish high school in case football didn’t work out. Roda wasn’t too supportive of this. It didn’t feel good to me. And as I was good at studying, I decided to do some more school work. At the end of my first year as a starter, Vitesse came. I lived in that area before with my family and it felt like home a bit. I wanted to study marketing and combine it with football but the uni didn’t cooperate! In this day and age, that would be unheard of. When I came to Vitesse, they just finished fourth! Was a top team, with Van den Brom, Laamers, Eijer, Latuheru, Sturing and Bos. In my first week I broke my leg. That was rough. But it allowed me to work on my foundations. Bert Jacobs was the coach. He was an amazing coach. He was a pretty weird sort of guy, but a great coach. We would kill for him, you know. And it was all about football with him. When Jacobs left and Herbert Neumann came, he put me in midfield. That was a big one.  I think I could have had a good career as a left winger too, but never as good as a midfielder. Neumann was a good coach too by the way, but a bit more German discipline. As a midfielder, you cannot be inconsistent. You have to take care of the balance in the team and that helped me a lot as a player.”

cocu young psv

On his step up to PSV.

“I was 24 when I left for PSV. I had 5 years at Vitesse. Ajax wanted me earlier on but Vitesse asked a lot for me. I signed a new deal with a limited fee for a transfer. When PSV came, I was ready to go. Vitesse chairman Aalbers gave me a blank check to sign, but I didn’t do it. I wanted to play top flite football and Vitesse was not making that final step. Today, players of 24 make the step abroad but I was born in Eindhoven, my family is from Eindhoven. I love PSV, the club values, the atmosphere.  I still have that bond with Vitesse as well. That is important for me. I won my first trophy with PSV in 1997. That moment, I can still feel. A tremendous orgasm of joy and release. I have made that trip on the flat trailer a number of times now. It’s special. What a team we had: Wim Jonk, Ronaldo, Luc Nilis, Jaap Stam. We actually didn’t even win that much. Just one cup and one title.  But Ajax had a pretty good generation too, so… it was good times.”

ronaldo cocu no logo

Playing with Ronaldo:

“He is definitely the best player I have ever played with. There is no category for that lad. He came to PSV 17 years old and simply scored 30 goals in his first season. I recently saw this compilation of him, he was unbelievable. Really passionate about football. He and I spent a lot of time together. We were good mates. He enjoyed going out for a drink or spending some time socially. The pressure he had to endure at a young age. And every couple of years he’d go to another club, bigger and better, and he never succumbed under the pressure. A phenomenon..”

On missing a penalty against Brazil, WC1998…

“That has haunted me for quite a while. I am telling you…missing like this… that is really bad. I suffered from these sorts of situations much longer than I enjoyed winning something. This was after 120 minutes of top football against Brazil and I was done for. I was empty. I didn’t strike it hard enough, really. It could have gone a bit more in the corner too. Simply not good enough. This was my favorite tournament. The Euro2000 was good too, but this one… Everything clicked. We were staying outside of Monaco. The vibe was so good. So different to the 1996 Euros. We started with 0-0 against Belgium and we lost Pat Kluivert in that match. The pressure was on for the South Korea game and we won 5-0. Here I score the first and Edje Davids is almost tearing my jersey off my back, hahahaha. All that passion and drive. I love that.”

cocu 98 penalty

On friendships in football:

“The football world is a bit shallow. Someimes one or two friendships is all you have left. Weird. But the pace is constantly high. Lots of games with the club and then the international games with the country. Whenever you have time off you want to spend it with real mates or family. I still hang with my old buddies from school. I value that. Going out for a bite to eat. They know me for who I am, not because I’m a cool football player. I do have real friendships in football, by the way. Frank de Boer and I are very close. We met at Oranje and played together in Barcelona and became close. We would go on holidays together and play foot-volley tournaments together. We are both extremely fanatical about winning. But he is a real mate.”

phillip-cocu-vs-zidane

On playing against the best of the best:

“This is against Zidane. Man, what a gifted player. One of the best ever. Very elegant and skillful. On this pic I am captain of Barcelona. I was and still am so proud of that. I also skippered Holland. Also something I was very proud of. I played six seasons in Spain. Barcelona is as warm as PSV. A real family oriented club. I still go back to watch a game every now and then. I was there recently to see Barca play Real Madrid. The people always treat me very warmly and respectfully. I have gone through highs and lows in Spain, but at a certain point we had an amazing team…. Kluivert, Figo, Rivaldo, Ronald de Boer, Luis Enrique… ”

cocu ronaldinho

On his exit from Barcelona:

“My last season was the first one of Frank Rijkaard and Ronaldinho. I rate Ronaldinho very high. Up there with Ronaldo. The joy was back in the dressing room…. A news period of successes. I was not going to be part of it. My contract ended. I was allowed to stay but the club was not doing well financially. I had already sacrificed earlier on with a new deal and as the skipper I felt the respect of that last offer was lacking…. Sure, you try to be there in good and bad times and as the skipper I played my part but this particular offer didn’t show a lot of respect. I am quite principled in that sense. And when PSV called, I got excited. They wanted to do something at Champions League level. I had a good feeling about it.”

cocu maldini

On the second journey with PSV:

“For years, PSV wasn’t able to get that break in Europe. That quest was exciting for me. The way Hiddink embraced me and made me co-responsible for this was something I enjoyed. I try to use that approach myself now too, to make the players accountable. Not everyone is sensitive to this, there is always that, but a lot of them are. My first year back was great. We lost in the semi finals against AC Milan but we should have gone on to the finals. We were better over two games, but we let ourselves down. But, we won the title, the cup and got semi finals CL… Not that bad. More experienced players can be crucial in that process and this is why I am also keen to work with players with similar bagage. They can give the team that crucial last push.” (Jan: Schaars was one of the players in this category for PSV but he was injured most of the season).

cocu psv bommel

On his final game for PSV:

“A crazy end to a crazy season. We won the title on the last day on goal difference and it was me scoring that final goal. This is probably the most emotional moment of my football career.  I knew I would quit so it made it extra special. My sons are all football players. The middle one plays in the Vitesse youth, the others are at the local amateur club. I love watching them play and watch like a dad, not as a coach. They have good coaches and I want to enjoy them as their father. Obviously, they come and watch PSV play when we play at home.”

philipcocu_al. jpg

On resurfacing at Al-Jazira Club….

“Crazy. I was retired. And a week into my holiday I freaked out. I was invited to play in Munich for the farewell of Roy Makaay and Scholl and while I was there, Al Jazira was in a trainings camp there. And Rob Janssen, my manager, spoke with them and they made him an offer. One more year, in another culture… Quite an adventure. And quite a good pay-check. I decided to do it. In my first game, I scored with an overhead kick so my entrance was quite good, hahaha. During the season I did realise I was actually really getting over it a bit. And that was it. We won the Europa League of the Arab nations. Good fun. But that was it. I played Jaap Stam’s farewell game too that summer and enjoyed being in the dressing room with the lads. I missed that.”

cocu farewell

On life as a retired football player:

“I never saw myself as a coach, like Frank did. He knew as a player he’d go into coaching. I did want to get that diploma but it was Van Marwijk who called me to assist him, with Frank, at Oranje. I loved it. I knew it was ideal to do this in combination with my studies. And being amongst the lads, on the pitch, always a ball around…was great. The South Africa World Cup was amazing! I started to work at PSV and took over when Rutten was sacked. We actually won the Cup and that is my first trophy as a coach. They all matter. I’m really happy that PSV saw me as a good coach, and just like with my football career, I do wish to achieve the highest possible.”

cocu bvm

Cocu did suffer some setbacks in his recent years. He divorced from his wife and the mother of his three kids after she appeared to have an affair for years. He also was diagnosed with a tumor in his back, which was taken out last year.

 

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437 comments

  1. Definitely a colourful career for the Eindhoven man.should be the contender for Coach of the year award,without a doubt and Rutten as second.Depay,Player of the year ,either El Ghazi/Van Der Beek, young player of the year.

  2. Promes also has been very consistent for Spartak Moscow scoring week in and week out. If Juventus rumor is true then definitely his form at Spartak
    will be a key to the deal.

  3. Elvis Manu as a false nine could also be very intresting.Package deal imo,Winger,striker,Strong dribbler,arielly dominant capable of holding poesession.

    Both Hunter and RVP as expected are struggling in front of goal. Bas Dot has run out of steam. I think its time Luuk De Jong,Elvis Manu,Jurgen Locadia,Luc Castaignos are called in to fill their aging shoes.

    Hiddink has to make some qiick descision before its two late.The door should be open to everyone based on performance.

    1. i did had same thoughts,RVP chokes in chokes out,Hunter seems alienated…Bas dost has his own struggles..
      But Elvis manu??he is not a classical player and clinical finishing player..i doubt his capability incrunch matches.
      Sure his physical presence and Speed would be handy for any defender in the world.
      B/W Promes is a headless chicken like afellay,Dutch NT is not his team.

  4. i think hiddink will stick with RVP and afellay,so we can pack up the bags for EC16.unless untill sneijder or roben saves the NT by their performance.

  5. DM still remains a priority area and those who wanted Blind as DM,the Everton game is a timely remainder what will happen to him when playing with Fast and strong midfielder.As usually distribution was oK,defense big question mark. Barkely,Barry and Macarthy were no match for him.

    Nigel is outdated if you consider modern day soccer but he can come handy when reinforcing defense.

    Clasie he needs to play consistantly at DM at NT level to make that position his own which he is not getting.For now its better he remains upfront.

    Frankly speaking I see Ake as De Jongs Sucessor in 2018.so why not start naturing him from now when we have time. He looks well balanced both in attack and defense so why wait for 2018.

    Depay-Robben

    Manu

    Sneijder-Clasie

    Ake

    Buttner-Van Dijik Vlaar-Janmaat

    Krul

    vs Lativa

  6. For a moment it looked like Ricky Wolfwinkle also had found his form at St Ethiene but once again he has found himself in pecking order behind Mevlut Erdinc given his loan spell which will come to end at the end of the season.A return to Norwich for a player who is in his prime will be a big blow to his career especially if Norwich fails to get promoted to EPL.

  7. wolfswinkel is a pathetic player…Elvis Manu is not a brilliant play maker with vision,its the spot of Clasie and sneijedr..Elvis can be selected thats it..
    we have some quality players in Jorit hendrix,Ake,Van ginkel,klassen for runner come holding spot i mean modern holding mids..lets forget stroot for some time..
    As of now..
    —-Depay————–Roben
    ————Clasie———-
    —–Vanginkel——Klassen–
    ————–Devrij———–
    Buttner—-Vlaar—van beek—-Janmaat
    —————-Vermeer————-
    as first 11 for me now
    ============================================
    Williams————Luuk Dejong
    ———-sneijder————-
    —-blind———–Singraven——
    ————hendrix————–
    Vannanholt—Vrijil—Bruma—Van rhijn
    ———–krul/Vorm—————
    stand bye
    Ake
    Locadia
    dost
    kongolo
    Maher
    ——————

  8. Wolfswinkle was on song when Mevlut Erdinc was injured and if are you performing I think you should get a call up. Bast Dot was also in the same boat when he received the call up from Hiddink.

    My preference towrads players is always based on their performance whether it is Afellay,Promes,Wolfswinkle,Dot,Hunter or senijder for that matter.

    We should learn from Italy,how after the disappointing World cup campaign, how they have manage to rebuild a formidable squad in no time compared to NT who are stalling.

    You look at players like -Manolo Gabbiadini,Graziano Pelle,Elder,Roberto Soriano,,Mirko Valdifiori,Franco Vázquez. all of this guys are performing brilliantly at their respective clubs and have already been called up for national duties.It is not about the clubs they play for its all about their overall performance. What is NT doing??????????????
    Virgil Van Dijik, Alexender Buttner, Patrick Van Annoholt,Nathan Ake,Tjaronn chery,Elivis Manu, Adam Maher, Jordy Clasie.jus dopnt know whats happening. its more about the club you play for rather their individual performance

    1. @Wilson”””””””What is NT doing……..?????????????””””””
      Its hiddink in charge he must take his head out from Ass from Afellay,Promes,Van derweil,BMI….
      Drop RVP,hunter etc too has become essentail for future..
      Its Hiddink fault…
      “””My preference towrads players is always based on their performance whether it is Afellay,Promes,Wolfswinkle,Dot,Hunter or senijder for that matter.””””
      Forget about Dost,Hunter and sneijder they does it at least inconsistantly in TOP level,played some vital part for their clubs..
      Afellay has played 44 games as fit afellay….this idiot of a player needs to be dropped,…Promes is a headless chicken like Afellay witrh betterr physique and hardwork.Afellay plays and starts for Real mardid week in wek out ,Promes starts for Barca week in week out…So both are deserved to start…BMI and weil are not far behidn starters of Chelsea and PSG….

  9. Finally Man United has realized that Daley Blind is not the right man for DM and I hope Hiddnk will take note of this too and stops wasting time by playing him at DM in NT.

    that Louis van Gaal trusts Ander Herrera more when Michael Carrick is playing, and that the Spaniard plays much better alongside the Englishman.

    Johan Cruyff had predicted as much, saying during the summer that he didn’t think Blind was good enough to play midfield for a top Premier League club – how everyone laughed. Quote
    http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/dutchman-closes-on-manchester-united-move-as-he-tells-coach-it-is.

    We need a natural Versatile DM. Ake, Hendrix or CB turned midfielder. something like Kurt Zouma at Chelsea.

  10. Stefan devrij can play as strong holding mid has ball controll,can build from back,excellent vsison etc…would be supper strong in that spot…

      1. when u physically strong and very skilled on ball…no need for aggression…de vrij clearly fits the baill with Ake,Hendrix for future holding spot..
        ———-Vermeer/vorm/krul/Cllesen/Zoet——–4 nos
        ==============================================
        Janmaat—–Bruma—–Reikik—–Van annholt
        Vanrhijn—-Van beek—-Vijril——Kongolo—–8nos
        ============================================
        Devrij—–Hendrix—–ake———————3nos
        ==========================================
        Toonstra.claise,sneijder,Ginkel,klassen,singraven,blind–7nos
        ==================================
        Depay–williems,Roben,Wijnaldum,narsingh for wingers-5 nos
        ===================================
        Luuk dejong,Locadia and dost —3 nos for strikers
        this should be our core 26 players……..rest can be permanantly dropped …with keeping eyes on Boazoer,srtootman etc…

  11. Seems like koeman is also planing to build a dutch colony of his own. I mean Janmaat,Van Dijik,Clasie,Vilhnea all are on his shortlist. will be an intresting season for saints if all this players arrive at Saints.

  12. Van Der Beek seems like a real deal and I think he will be better than De Vrij as he matures. His one major downfall is lapse of concentration which is a sign that he still needs to gain more experience as he matures and jus like De Vrij when he moves out of eredivise you can expect him to be an upgraded version to De Vrij.His aggressiveness is what distinghues him from De Vrij and apart from this he has identical style of playing compared to De Vrij.

    1. Van beek is deal no doubt the problem is hiddink sticks with BMI,weil…..so thats the issue here…or lets start van beek in holding mid,let him eat anyone comes to him…

  13. robben out for the season…dont think holland will qualify for the euros 🙁 heartbroken for the legend…dont think he will be still up for playing in 2018

  14. Pep made horrendous mistake vs dortmund,when theyw ere leading by 1-0 he subbed their best player thiago with still not fit roben…Bayern and roben suffered end of the story…
    i think Narsingh or wijnaldum can pull out a roben+kuyt for NT though both lack intelligence of kuyt and Roben..Narsingh work rate was vital for PSV than he as a winger for PSV this season,this guy was a nunsung hero in the mid of Depay,wijnaldum,luuk and gurado..Narsingh work rate,speed,physical strentgh gives good balance to NT…and would be a great help for Van rhijn and janmaat..

  15. It’s a shame Robben is out for the rest of the season. Bayern and Holland will miss him very much. Now is it a really serious injury? because the rest of the season sounds bad but in one month and a half it’ll be over so how much longer will he be out?

    1. will he will be back in time for the crunch match vs Iceland which is right in September. But it good that NT gets use to life without him and try to move out of his shadows and the game vs Lativa and USA should be used to test new players in positions which needs strengthening. I meam LCB, DM,LB,CF.
      Hiddinks needs to confront his own nemesis and start with Van Der Beek,Van Dijik, Buttner,Clasie,Manu.

      I think given Robben is injured,leandro Bacuna should be given the nod,with his experience in the PL,It would be interesting to see how he performs at NT.

      1. I reckon Hiddink should look at players playing out of eredivise this time around as most of the eredivise guys choke at NT level.this being said we need a new CF. NO Hunter,RVP,Dot. Manu,Luuk or Locadia

          1. Depay – Manu – Bacuna

            Sneijder – Claise

            Van Der Beek

            Buttner – Van Dijik – Vlaar – Janmaat

            Krul

    1. Locadia became second fiddle to Luuk De Jong when PSV signed him from Borrusia Mönchengladbach but Florian Jozefzoon injury meant Cocu always had the option of rotating him with either Narsingh or Luuk and yet he manged six goals this season coming of the bench mostly.

      Achabhar looks like quiet a talent but he still needs clock time when compared to Locadia. I think Rutten has been consistent with Achbahbar after some good outings now with Manu on the left and Richards in the middle. May be same time around next year it would be more to review his performance otherwise he is in the same both as Kishna and El Ghazi.

      Really looking forward to seeing both Manu and Achabhar in the upcoming season when this one ends.

  16. Love it Jan – thank you

    haha RvP has 2 goals for Utd reserves, and also van der Wiel scored today.
    Dost with a good assist as well..

    Such a bummer for Robben, I am sure he is gutted..

    1. Steve mate,Forget about the three you have just mentioned.

      If you look at other top European teams they are injecting young players and are using the friendlys and qualifiers to build the platform for Euros 2016 and WC 2018.

      England,Italy,Spain,Germany, France all have called players who have performed exceptionally well in their domestic league regardless of which team they play for or whether they win or lose. it has been all about building the team around players who are turning heads through their performance in their individual domestic league.

      Guus major mistake thus far has been using the same players from the WC that Van Gaal systematized formation wise to cover the weakness of the players. with Hiddink destined to change the formation it was always going to to be a rough ride inheriting the same players and building the team around them and given almost 1 year into job, he is struggling with the team and with same players failing the team down.

      If things continue to be like this , we might scrap through the qualifiers but we wont stand a chance at the euros.

      1. Guus Major mistake thus far is Paying Afellay,BMI,weil in vital games…though Bruma,Clasie,klassen and Janmaat out classed his all first choice shits…His problems are slow and aged static RVP,Idot Afellay,Non esistant BMI,useless Van derweil…
        things will be okay for NT and hiddink if he drops these players like he showed vs Spain…bring on
        Depay—————Manu
        ———Clasie————-
        —klassen——–Vanginkel—-
        ———–Van beek———-
        Annholt—-Vlaar—Bruma—-Janmaat
        ————–Vermeer—————–
        ===========================================
        Williems—————–Luuk
        ———-sneijder————-
        —–Blind———Toonstra—–
        ———–Hendrix————-
        Buttner—Kongolo–Devrij—-Vanrhijn
        ————-krul/zoet/vorm/Cillessen————

        1. Hahahaha I knew you 2 guys could not resist to comment 😉

          I only posted a positive little message about some players, nothing about management problems or player selections…

          But anyways if that’s your way of asking someone’s opinion, well then..

          Wilson – I completely disagree with you and I think it’s quite foolish to ‘forget’ players, especially a recent captain and player as influential as Robin van Persie!
          Also, its funny that the other 2 players you said forget, Dost and van der Wiel, are players Hiddink has brought up and did not even play for van Gaal.
          And further, Dost (who actually I do not rate too highly anyways, even though I like his spirit) is actually a perfect example of bringing a new player through based on form (I think he deserved the call up)…

          Of course you need to bring in new players, this is obvious but you still must keep some continuity.
          Especially when you are a smaller country and your players play all over Europe and not many in the same club teams. Not to mention a new manager who is not even in place 1 year, where the other countries you compared us to have had their managers for multiple years – huge advantage!
          Simply put, for selection choices its all about balancing the new with the experience based on the timing at the match days.

          To me our biggest problem has been a fighting spirit and concentration, not necessarily line up selection problems – although I think Clasie and Klaasen would improve our spirit and concentration….
          We can’t have anymore blatant bad mistakes (like Janmaat, the most massive mistake so far haha poor guy) and we cannot afford to be lackluster anymore like in the Iceland match we simply looked like we didn’t expect we would have to work hard for the win until too late and in the Turkey match where we couldn’t find the keys to the bus.

          Tiju – I’m not a huge fan of Afelaay or BMI either but I don’t need to tell you about it over and over and over and over and over and over. Why do you repeat the same thing so much? Maybe try to calm down.
          And stop putting defenders in the midfield and forward positions, dammit haha

          Still over a month away from the USA friendly and the Latvia qualifier before summer off, so let’s hope everyone gets some good form and try not to be so negative!

          1. Steve –repeated sayings due to repeated selecetion of Weil,BMI,afellay in team and they starts..so its frustration ….
            Give a me good winger bar Depay….then i wil stop using defenders in wings or give me good tall strong haolding mdi with better vision…then i wil stop..dont tell me about Promes,afellay as wingers or playmakers…Nijel is out dated in his spot..more too one diamentional..

  17. steve Im bit confused here, from the first game incharge as the coach,Hiddink has been building the team around the senior players,Sneijder,Hunter,Robben,RVP, Afellay,De Jong,De Guzman and the eredivise players which went to WC but yet they crumbled to defeat with Italy,Mexico,Iceland and Czech with the same composition of players. To say that they lack fighting spirit when the same team went to the WC,well almost,now for me thats BS. As I mentioned this before Guus Biggest mistake was inherting Van Gaals squad and formatting them in a different formation.This is the main problem.Van Gaal systmazied the formation at the WC in such a way that there was no loop hole given the weakness of Blind,BMI.
    With Hiddink changing the formation you cant expect them to perform miracles. Blind is a liability no matter how good his attacking game is. You simply cannot score goal and conceed on the side side jus because you cant defend. when you take risk,this is what happens,the results in front of us.

    All this while the continuity was there,mixture of young and experience players was there but yet it never worked out for NT and Hiddink until the game vs Spain when under pressure he had make wholesome changes which turned to be overwhelming. this was the curtain raiser and I hope Hiddink has realized where he was going wrong.

    its simply if you are consistent and are in form you should get a call up coz this is where the transition can take place. sooner or later this will happen and given the status of some of our experience players ,I think this is a good time and the euros can be a good platform for them going into the WC
    If the transition
    doesnt take place now then it will useless for another coach who will take over Hiddink after the euros to build the team in jus two years when most of the experienced players like Hunter,RVP,Sneijder,De Jong will be on a decline.if we start now maybe not at the euros,but come WC the players will already be groomed up for the big stage. Im looking at long shot

    I think you also forgot that Hiddink was assisting Cocu at PSV,was it the season before the WC,so he is well familiar with eredivise and the players

      1. My confusion was on what you commented mate but either way well I hope you realize what is unfolding here. To be honest I happy with Robben injury,Hunter,RVP out of form for now. This is will force the coaches to look at other players who have long being overlooked jus because of being second fiddle to these big names. jus like klassen who busted on the stage vs Spain there are other players also waiting in perking order to do the same but have not being able to get the opportunity and I have already mentioned those names.To much cock blocking is going on particularly aimed at Blind, BMI

  18. Formation wise you need the right players for it to operate effectively. but for now its important that the players who are performing expectionally in their domestic leagues be called up vs Lativa and USA.

  19. Sad news for Arjen indeed. Sad news for Pat Lodewijks too. The former PSV and Feyenoord goalie (and assistant coach of Oranje) lost his wife today due to horrific car crash.

    I am considering dedicating a post to Robben.

    1. Very sad for Robben. I lost interest in football for the near future. He was having his best year and at that rate he was going to get the Golden Ball. No chance of that happening for him now or in the future. I would be very surprised if he comes back the same. I have a feeling we just said goodbye forever to the Robben that we have come to know and love. I hope I am wrong.

    2. A post on Robben would be terrific…I remember watching his first game on television. Season opener, Groningen v. PSV, who were the defending champs. He was only 16. In the first half he got behind the PSV defense and scored. Hasn’t stopped getting behind defenses since.

  20. “”””Guus Biggest mistake was “”””
    ading some idiotic players to already weakned squad of LVG i mean BMI,aged RVP etc + Weil,Afellay

  21. @wilson….”””I hope Hiddink has realized where he was going wrong.”””””””””””””
    The main problem was idiot headlesschicken Afellay…then with weil and BMI…i hope once we removed them we wrer better,it would finish once we replace BMI with bruma..

    1. Tiju lets be realistic here I think Hiddink will stick with Afellay maybe not in the midfield but back up for Depay or vice visa. Seriously you really think Hiddink will go with willems on the wing. please talk about something that makes sense with the possibility of it eventuating.

      1. Hiddink needs get rid of these players at the earliest.

        1. Daley Blind
        2. BMI
        3. Weil
        3. De Jong (keep him for later stages)
        4. Players out of form

        1. 1.Afellay not blind,Afellay is the worst in attack if blind is worst in defense…Blind is a a stand out performer for Manu..in tough EPL..afellay is a peice of shit..

        2. To be realistic we have no chance with Afellay….had Afellay went to euro 2007 we wouldnt have won EC21 in 2007…An afellay injury gave cup to Foppe and team..some times u need injury to undertsand some blind coaches..

          1. Tiju I still remember when Afellay scored vs Kazakhstan you was all zipped up and went Missing so lets dont go there.For your benefit of doubt you can always go back and refresh your mind.

  22. Sneijder with a good goal for Galatasaray today (I hope thats ok for you Tiju and wilson, haha)!

    I really hope RvP comes back into some good form.
    Hopefully like Robben he can find a second wind in the twilight of his career, and if so, long may it continue for them both!

  23. Blind box to box runner come supplier..who can defend half and attack when there is half chance,may be in left wing too
    —–Depay———–Locadia/luuk———–
    ————Clasie—————–
    —–blind———-klassen————
    ———–Van beek——————–
    annholt—-Virjil—-Bruma—-Janmaat
    —————vermeer—————–
    would be a force to reckon with……it is like bayern with out roben and ribery…i mean here its sneijder and roben..
    second line can be
    Williams—————-Luuk/Locadia———-
    ————sneijder———————
    ——Toonstra———Singraven———-
    ————–Hendrix———————
    Buttner—-Kongolo—-Devrij—–Vanrhijn
    ==============================================

    1. No way over strootman and Clasie amd Van Ginkle.He failed at DM vs Mexico,he was uprooted at LB vs France and now
      box to box runner. He doesnt have speed and defensivly he is weak.what do you expect him too do. It will be like a cat chasing the mouse.Blind vs Progba,Blind vs Veratti,Blind vs Fellani,Blind vs Schweinsteiger,you really reckon he will survive the ordeal.

    2. Hi Tiju, Blind is going ok but I don’t see him as a long term player for NT, you need to have more than just a good passing game to play in the middle, so for me he is a stop gap at best. Obviously you have a massive problem with Affelay, but I have failed to see how he actually cost us matches, mistakes in defense are not his fault. He likes to get forward and take a player on, I think we are lacking these sort of players, most of our players just want to pass the ball aimlessly and bore their opposition to death. With Robben out , Affelay is my choice to replace him.
      I watch Van Ginkle play last night and it appears he is coming on well, he looks to be moving freely and his first touch was ok ( room for improvement here), I think he would do a far better job than Blind as he is bigger, quicker and more skilful and well suited to a DM role, Hiddink should bring him straight in.
      I really hope RVP comes back to his best, we have no better option than him when he is fit and firing, Dost should be the back up.
      @Wilson, I think you mentioned Bacuna and yes I agree bring him in RB for me. He plays well going forward big and strong good with the feet and consistently strong in the EPL.

      So with Klassen we have new blood (Van Ginkle, Bacuna, Klassen, Dost) I think that is enough fresh air to bring in at one go and still keep some balance to the team. I understand where you are coming from but the risk V reward has to be right or you get your pants pulled down.
      With Robben now out we need Snjieder and RVP to lead the team around and take the pressure off the younger players, I think for at least another 12 months.
      By the way Vlaar is back and playing well also, he was a major loss during the last few games for the NT, we need him for sure!

      1. At last somebody sees what I have have been forseeing even before the WC when Van Gaal dropped PVA and went with Blind Van banger,my chilled beer is feels even sweeter now.thanks mate.

  24. @Wilson….Blind is not main Holding mid in team,Van beek is or Hendrix is or Nijel is or Strootman is…Blind /klassen/Toonstra would be more runners who balance the team..
    2 runners with intelligence and ball skills supported by strong tall fast holding mid…thats what i look for…
    Van beek,Hendix,Stroot clearly fits and main role with Ginkel,Toonstra,Clasie,Blind,Klassen for running role to support defense and offence,it would be a super fluid football with execllent vision and would be like a current german team..
    @Wilson Afellay is real pecie of shit,he is no match for Blind As a defender,playmaker,Team player,intelligence,or attack…
    This Afellay is a cancer for Hiddink team…i hope Hiddink realise this,and get rid of this arrogant stupid player..

    1. Tiju how do you expect Blind to run 90 minutes.his lungs will collapse from dehydration if he did so. He is jus another cock block in the NT.Once Man United brings a DM and CB,he will always play second fiddle to them.

      Lets leave Afellay as Depays backup.

  25. Im not saying to write any player off but at the same time we need to groom other players if the experienced players are out of form.This will be good transition and given if they do find form then there will always be enough in the auxillary tank during crisis. this will in in return lay the platform for WC and the next coach that takes over from Hiddink.

      1. for now when they are out of form and struggling in front goal.it was 6-0 in the first leg in which all the big guns featured.When if RVP recovers,or even hunter or afellay it might be the same scoreline given Lativa being relatively a weak team. you said it all about continuity with a mixture of young players.that has been going on all thia while but result is this,win/draw againat minnor teams and loose with average/top teams.It not working.this is why I think the Lativa and USA game is perfect for using new playera who are showing potential in their domestic league.

        once again I will take Italy has a example.Conte takes over from Prandelli after a disappointing WC and look at him now how he has transformed. unlike Balotelli who ia out of form he has given new strikers like Elder,Pelle to prove them selves based on their performance in their domestic league and it turned to be fruitful.Now if RVP,Hunter and Dost who are either inconsistent or out of form ,you think they still should be selected over players who are consistent and have capabilities of filling their shoes. well against Lativa they might win,come Iceland and Czech back to square 1. no fighting spirit as you mentioned.

        1. Nooo its not just out of form for RVP and weil at least…RVP is aged and very lethargic,slow up front hangs on offside always…i really think had Depay started for Persie vs Arjentina ,Depay would have F#$%^ked Demichelis….Anyways its past story…

          its true that we dont have quality of RVP upfront ,but since RVP plays pathetic we must drop him permenatlty to construct our future and more balanced team..
          Weil is not out of form,he is at his best always,its all about his capabilty as full back,he is an average player…We have Van rhijn and Janmaat so forget weil for ever…
          Dost is not wolrd class like RVP,but he makes up with his brutal physical power and work rate..so he should be given chances with Locadia and Luuk…
          Before that Afellay needs to be dropped peramantly so is BMI..

        2. Ah now the story is changing again to fit the argument…

          Actually I said it was about balance between new and experience, and I stand by it.
          So currently Italy is a good example for me too, Conte is getting the balance right, and it shows in results. But more influential to the results to me is the fact that he is a brilliant motivator and it shows in the attitude/spirit of his team when they play, they play weak opponents and still play hungry. He can lift players to a new level with this.. I think Hiddink has done similar in his past but I’m not really seeing it right now.
          I can’t remember which of the qualifier matches it was, Italy v a smaller rated nation, Italy didn’t play very convincingly at all actually but still they were never in threat of losing or drawing,. they scored a 2-0 goal and still Conte jumped up punching the air as if they just scored a golden goal.
          Haha I love that. To me that is what we are missing.

          If you are comparing RvPs situation for holland, to Balotellis situation for Italy in any way then you really have lost it buddy!

          1. Also I made this list for you of Dutch players who were not with LvG in Brazil, but have had call ups by Hiddink since Brazil:

            Vermeer
            Willems
            van der Wiel
            Bruma
            Narsingh
            Klaassen
            Promes
            Afelaay
            L deJong
            Dost
            Zoet
            van Rhijn
            van Beek
            van Dijk
            Pieters
            Elia
            Propper

  26. Though Blind plays as LB or holding..Blind posses more threat than afellay and Contribute more than Afellay…
    Blind can defend better than Afellay–great advantage
    Blind is 1000 times quick thinker than Afellay—great
    Blind is more acurate in passing than Afellay
    Blind is box to box runner Afellay is not..
    Blind is physically stronger than Afellay.
    ONLy thing afellay edges over blind is his running speed…rest Blind wins it all…end of the …story..
    We have Buttner,Kongolo annholt for LB spot..For pure holding we have Van beek,Hendrix,Ake,Devirj can be,When fit Stroot is capable of……So we dont need to put blind over their..
    We need artistic brain and skills up front with lungs..Blind has it abundantly…while Promes,Afellay,Manu,wijnaldum, Narsingh doesnt have it..end of the story…As physicall strong i dont mind putting Manu or Wijnaldum over there but…they are less acurate and intellgent compared to RVP,Roben,RVN,sneijedr,Overmars of perevious generation…
    Since we dont have quality players on wing bar Depay and Roben,,We must use our strength at present it is our midfeild and dfense…

    1. Tiju you sway to much.make your mind up mate. it seems like you are hanging loose. jus like Willems will never start on the wing,Blind too will never get a sniff at BTB and whats the use of having a artistic brain when you cant run. go and watch Macarthy goal last week vs Man United.look how Blind puts both his hands up and says its all yours mate.

      But I see both Blind and Weil thrive in a wing back role where they are protected.

      1. @wilson..Blind is not 100 percent perfect LB or holding mid..he lacks pace,its naked truth….So lets put better players for those spots…Blind is too good in attack and a great runner..with intelligence with pin point acuracy after all its goal which decides out come of the match…Multiple using players are always good to have and this gives coach so many tactical options like we had with Wijnaldumblind,kongolo,kuyt for NT in WC2014.

        1. My point is
          Blind >Afellay as attacker
          Blind >Afellay as defender…So drop Afellay first then see things…thats what my point is..

  27. @Van banger…
    Afellay didnt concede goal..He was utter waste as baalcning the team…Defending basically not his duty but its secondry duty…Afellay failed miserabbly up front,as a creative player he must find ways to find goals and or he must set up goals for other mate…he has very little brain and the moment he gets the ball he tries to dribble and most of the the time loosess it or he had to give back pass..No vision or quick thinking,poor shot accuracy…thats how he failed in NT and causing us trouble upfront..we need to score some goals especailly when u have Weil and BMI at back….Afellay part was creating goal or finding goal,he failed miseraball and when we didnt play him ,we had a supermatch vs Spain though BMI played at back.thats says a lot about his idiotic brain…i really dont know why wilson defends this idiot of a player….
    Narsingh also doenst posses highlevel intelligence on feild,but this guy out muscles opponet and helping janmaat in defense,purly contributing something to team,which Afellay cannot do..

  28. time is precious if it is not used wisely it will all come down to crying on the spilt milk. Now that is in Hiddink hand so lets see whats his next step.

  29. In other it has being confirmed Van Der Vaart will move to Turkey next season. Besiktas and Fenerbache are both intrested in midfielder with title race neck to neck between Besiktas,Galatasary and Fenerbache,it will com down to who qualifies for CL.

  30. Huntelaar and Dost both finally score again!

    Lots of dutchies playing in the UK today as well.
    Janmaat with a totally Idiotic red card.. 🙁
    I don’t like his capacity to make really bad errors, and Newcastle is so awful which worries me since so many playing there.. Krul Janmaat Anita Dejong..
    Almost all of today’s EPL matches have Dutchmen playing today..

    1. Make that 2 goals for Huntelaar, and Fer just scored as well – great!

      Also, LvG has put RvP in the starting lineup for today. Should be interesting!

      1. Too bad.
        Penalty miss and 0-1 loss at home for Blind and RvP and United.. not so good.
        But if you want to find positives at least RvP played 90 mins, created 3 chances and had lots of shots?

  31. RVP missed a penalty on spot,which is not a big deal for me as every one misses at some point…But the way he looks on the field is pathetic,he is a brilliant player who has enough creativity in mind,but his body seems to weak and not capable of doing what his mind says…Poor Good bye to RVP.

  32. @ Steve

    Its seems like you are going for the goals rather than consistency which overall reflects the form of a player.if it was that simply then they are a whole lot of Dutch strikers out there who can put the ball at the back of the net.Hunter/Dot/RVP all of them are clinical strikers and know how to find goals but if they are out of form its no use dragging with them especially when they aging.

    if all Dot/Hunter/RVP go to the euros what happens after another 2 years time. we have to go with 1 new CF at least apart from the three I mentioned so that come WC 2018 there will be perfect transition with RVP and hunter mainly coming towards their end of their career.

    as for Dot his consistency at NT level is question mark. I dont think he is at RVP and Hunters level. If Hunter cant score then I further doubt he will but he still needs to clock more time with NT. I think era of Box to Box strikers has long being outdated and I strongly feel it time NT to should move on and start materializing a more balanced option upfront.

    1. I agree about Dost we need to give him more time in NT as there just aren’t any real options up front at the moment, but we will produce someone in the near future I’m sure.
      It’s good that Hunter hit the back of the net and RVP is playing again, these guys are vital for initiating the young players coming in, it’s not just about what happens on the field, it’s training, staying in hotels, socialising within your peer group and knowing how to prepare yourself before big games ( fancy waking up as a 20 yr old player and thinking – Shit we are playing Brasil today!) this stuff all impacts on how you play.
      I had the pleasure of watching ManU train and it was the old guys leading the way RVP, Giggs, ETC pushing hard, this is where the young ones learn.
      It’s even more important in an NT as Hiddink only gets the team for limited time during the season, every new player is starting from scratch so the old heads need to be there to guide them.
      @tiju – I have a question for you, why do you compare Blind with Affelay? They are completely different players playing completely different roles for a team, I get you don’t want Affelay that’s fine, your opinion but to compare him to blind is like comparing Robben with Snjider – it makes no comparison sense!

      1. @Van Banger…..I compare their contribution to team one as attacker one as defender at primary duty,then other as defender and other as attacker…as secondry duty..Overall workrate …influence on game etc…Afellay is pathetic compared to Blind when it comes to either attack or Defend…every one are different players,so their is no point in hanging on the point DIFFEERENT PLAYER…What matters most is how important you are in team than another as a total player..
        By a fan of total football..

    2. Haha what are you talking about? I merely posted some actual news (not usually interested in gossip).
      If anything, by saying someone “finally” scored refers to being inconsistent.
      I am happy if players which I like score goals, regardless of consistency – whether it’s ending a drought of not scoring or scoring loads of goals. And this goes espescially for a striker.

      I like van bangers comment, there is also many other leadership qualities that happen in training and dressing room with some of the key players that we never see.

      1. Problem with RVP is he is stiff and plays really bad,wasting chance after chance..Neither he scores nor he plays well..thats the issue here.
        Afellay neither good at attack nor at defense.
        same can be said about Van der weil,BMI etc…these are the weak links of NT.
        Then comes to Leadership skills at and beyond playing feild,we have Sneijder,vlaar as leaders,Even Depay is small ballsy leader…So thats not worrying point even if we drop RVP.especially guys like Bruma,Depay,strootman has balls and strength and intelligence…So i am not worried..

  33. Groningen wins the KNVB Beker Cup.intresting switches. Tjaronn Chery started at Left while Michael De Leeuw dropped back at Midfield.

    Michael De Leeuw has also being consistent over the last two seasons in front of goal for Groningen.

  34. van der Wiel had a very good match for PSG away at Nantes, was one of the most influential players over all highlighted by an assist and created the second highest amount of chances.
    Unfortunately his competition in Aurier is injured again BUT hopefully he can play this well consistently because it seems like Hiddink likes him and will probably keep him around unless he doesn’t play.

  35. @ Van Banger

    If a team is at ths WC then I will definitely agree with what you said but the WC has come and gone and this is is a different ball game,a new horizon under a new leadership.You have to remember Hiddink will not be around after 2016 so its important he lays a good platform for the incoming coach to continue leading to 2018 and this can only happen if the changes are made now and I think the Spain game was good break through for Hiddink and this is where he should focus on. If he does this now the transition after the Euros under the new coach will be smooth. My aim for the euros is a good squad of players who are showing potential now to use these qualifers and Euros to get groomed so that come the WC they will be no lagging.

    I will really would like to see Hiddink do what Del Bosque did vs NT in the upcoming game vs Lativa. test a entirely new set of players who are in form as the domestic season draws to end.

    Jordy Clasie

    Nathan Ake

    Tjaronn Chery

    Michael De Leeuw

    Virgil Van Dijik

    Alex Buttner

    Patrick Van Annholt

    Elvis Manu

    Leonadro Bacuna

    I gurantee these players will make a huge difference.

    1. Perhaps upcoming game against America, but let us stick to the winning formula as of late and actually qualify. Not a good game for experimentation.

      1. that team is fine but need ton replace Bmi at first..
        Depay————–Dost
        ——-Sneijder——-
        –Clasie——–Klassen—
        ———Van beek———-
        Blind—-Devrij—-Bruma—-JAnmaat
        ———–Vermeer—————-

        1. I was more refering to Bast Dot in a false striker system.You left side is well covered with Depay,Clasie and Blind but on the the right you can expect Dot to run as winger and bring Sneijder in as a false striker.This will never work.As usually sneijder will always drift to the left pulling Dot with him . this will jus defeat the purpose of a false striker
          with Depay and Sneijder constantly disrupting each other on the left with each other with Dot isolated in the middle with no body on the flanks as a winger.well you cant expect janmaat to cover the whole flank during attack coz if he is caught out on the counters that will be it.

          its always advantagous to start with Wing/Strikers upfront when you are deploying a false nine.

          Depay- Lens

          Depay- Manu

          Depay- Narsingh

          Depay – Promes

          in False nine system you will always want to the front 2 to run outwards and make space in middle for the false nine or to run the show themselves upfront but speed will always be a vital factor here and unfortunately Dot doesnt fit in that department. if you play Dot and Depay one will always be chasing each other when both should working at the same rate.

          with this I think Leroy Fer is the best option when deploying a false nine with two wing/strikers on top. Fers always adds ariel durability which the Depay and other may lack as wingers and the same he can always be instrumental from that CF especislly with his long range Tropedos.

          Sneijder and Depay on the same side is just like poking each other with a stick. but in a more deeper role it will work and the more the space between them the better.

          ddle.

          1. never the less I think Hiddink will stick to 4-3-3 unless like WC 2014 when Van Gaal was forced to change the formation.

    2. Against Latvia, maybe, but this team would get schooled against quality opposition, I’m not saying they aren’t worth a look but I would filter them in maybe 1 striker, 1 midfielder and 1 defender at a time. Don’t forget Hiddink has been working on his style of play as a way of making a statement, he got results in the last couple of games so wholesale changes would be very disruptive to his plans. First priority should be qualification for Euro, second priority should be win Euro, third priority should be qualification for WC, you get my drift. But yes let’s groome players for WC 18, I’m of the opinion that our best team won’t be seen until next year due to injuries and player cycles, (Strootman, Ginkle, Ake, Robben, Klassen, Depay) for me these players will make up our future some short term some long term.

      @Tiju – thanks for your reply. We will have to agree to disagree when it comes to comparing players, sure you can compare general player traits between any players but we are talking about specialised players who are groomed to play in specific positions on the field to carry out a specific job at the highest level. You are comparing things such as tenacity, demeanour and emotion whilst I compare a certain skill required for a certain position, eg Robben is far better than Affelay playing on the wing, as opposed to Blind passes the ball better than Affelay and has a better temperament even though Affelay has far better foot skills than Blind. We are both right just differing in how we compare.

      I watch RVP for ManU and can only say that he was unlucky not to score, but generally he played quite well for having been out for a long while, he needs to play out the season so he can be given every chance to find form, look at Hunter- no goals for an eternity but he scores one and then really picks up his game as he feels confident in his ability, he even went for an overhead bicycle shot. We need these boys playing old or not they are still our leaders. The Dost situation is an unfolding one, hopefully he can produce goals for us down the track a bit like Peter Crouch over the years.

      1. @Van banger..After seeing the likes of neeskens,Cryuff,Van basten..debores,Bergkamps..sneijder,roben ,Vaart,RVP kind of real players..i dont rate Afellay,elvis manu,Promes and many more very high,they are good for just mediocre clubs..Hiddink must stop experiencing with unfruitful players who cannot deliver at top level or else an embarrassment is waiting…Many times RVP,sneijder,Vaart,roben carried us in their shoulders with support of Bommels and joris etc etc….But newly hyped ones doesnt seems to fit the category..bar Strootman,clasie,Ginkel,Depay,Devrij,hendrix,toonstra,Bazoer,Ake,etc…

        1. Yes you are right, we have not developed enough good players to take over the mantle of the greats, the lack of money in Holland has a lot to do with that, as the talent gets sucked out by coaches like your friend Mourinho! Ha just kidding, I know you hate him.
          I’ve asked Wilson this question, Who are our next Strikers? The players who can do for Holland what Van Basten, Van Nist, RVP, Hunter, Bergkamp (the greatest) etc have done in the past for our country.

  36. Keep also in mind that Strootman
    and Van Ginkle are also a missing puzzle for Hiddink.Thee to players in form will add another dimension to NT which also suits Hiddinks 4-3-3 system
    so fingers crossed the euros will be centre around this players.

  37. Bad News for Bast Dot. Wolfburg have confirmed they are willing to offload him in the summer and will replace him with Max Kruse of Borussia Monchengladbach which means no CL for the dutch man. For a moment it looked like he had hit his scoring form but inconsistency again crept in and I think they are convinced now that they need better option upfront at CL level. I was really hoping to see him in CL, both for the sake of his PD and competitive exposure at top level with euros in mind. Most probably he will end up mid table EPL teams.

  38. Van Banger you said something on how the team will be in limelight more next when most of the players are steaming to their max especially those who are injured.

    There is two situations thats gonna unfold here. The timing for some of the guys who will perform expectionally well next season and whether they will be able to consolidate themselves at NT level in such a short time. This is exactly what happened with Van Gaal when Strootman got injured.

    The second one,RVP,Hunter,Dot all missing out on CL at such a crucial time whey their performace at the highest level will depict their form.

    this could be crucial factor if we dont go with a backup starting from now.

    1. Yes I agree, but who are the new strikers? And I mean able to perform ya the highest level. I’ve read about some real young players in u17 who have already been ear marked but they are still too young.
      If you can give me some names I’ll do some home work.

  39. I jus dont wanna see a repeat of what happened with Van Gaal before the WC. He was building the team around three players, Strootman, RVP,Robben and when Strootman got injured, it was too late for others as Van Gaal never groomed them at NT level overlooking them to the trio.

    1. Yes losing Stroot was a major blow, and yet we still managed to finish 3rd and play some entertaining football along the way, except when it really mattered!
      Van Gaal really got the best out of those players, if you were to rate them player for player against the powerhouse sides we would pail into insignificance. Let’s move on.
      Now Hiddink must bring in some youngsters, we all agree on that, the million dollar question is which ones? Do we sacrifice the Latvia match to test a whole new squad? I don’t think Hiddink has the balls to do that, I’m very keen to see Ginkle get a start, Klassen yes, Dost yes, Ake yes. Ake worries me a bit because that anti football anti youth anti development coach they call “The Great One” won’t give him a game so he is still untested at the highest level, but Latvia would be the perfect opportunity to blood him.
      You mention Toonstra below, I don’t know much about him but your description sound similar to Ginkle, so yes why not.

  40. Positions thats need looked at.

    Depay and sneijder together on the same side.(left flank)

    DM – a balance midfielder who can attack and defend at the same rate. Jens Toornstra I reckon also is a good option hear if Ake is assumed to lack experience. also remember that Toornstra was selected by Van Gaal for the Asia tour where he featured as the defensive mid. Presently he is plays as winger/DM both at Feyenoord but he started his career in the midfield. he is lanky,strong built and is fast and at 26 he fits all the attributes of DM.

    LB – Buttner and PVA without a doubt are way better than Willems and Blind

    RW – jus in case we need Robben back up. Lens in PSV form

    LCB – one position that need rehabilitation asap. Van Dijik without a doubt.

    1. Ok what about Ronnie Vlaar, I feel he is our best CB ATM . And again who is TBC? Throw Dost in for this one, Latvia would struggle with his size and if he could bang a few away then his confidence will rise greatly. Ricky Wolf?

      On another note I was reading about our u17 squad and half of them are already signed to big clubs in the EPL , City, United etc, no wonder the Dutch league is getting weaker and weaker, the young talent does not even get to play there, instead they are in England in youth academies not learning the Dutch way. I guess money talks when you are 16 years of age!

      1. There is always a clash when Rob Vlaar and De Vrij are playing together.Who to play RCB and Who to play LCB as both are right footed.De Vrij played at LCB with Veltman on right,both sucked.Vlaar at LCB,also not sure.so between Vlaar and De Vrij at RCB,I think Lazio has had a better season than Aston Villa with him just returning from injury.but on any given day I would go for Vlaar if he plays consistantly.

        1. Ok I don’t know much about him but he has big wraps from the experts, have you seen a lot of him and what sort of striker is he? Player u17&21 for NT so there must be something there, play him in the Latvia game and we can have a look, the worst he can do is not score!

  41. The WC cup was never about playing entertaining soccer it was more like playing chess for Van Gaal thats why he used all the 23 players.

    As for comparing the players with other powerhouses,it was the formation that kept them at the bay coz if you look all those players now,apart from Robben,the rest are are stuck in the past when compared to the development of players of other countries. I dont believe in eredivise so unless Depay proves him self in another league,I wont include him with Robben.

    Hiddink stuck with the core of team that went to the WC with only Afellay and Weil coming in.He changes the formation and the result is infront of us. This shows what stupid players Van Gaal took to the WC. Maybe on Van Gaals path it was Man United after the WC and thats why he never thought of the after month of the WC.

    This is what people dont realize
    but agaim this is my thoughts

    1. Bayern jus dag their own grave their own gravel.both player selection and formation was ridiculous. Is this the reason why Pep is regarded as one of the best coaches.

      1. wilson….Pep Guardiyola cannt do anything more than that..he feilde the best 11..i think may be spot of Lewa and alonso may be questionable…coz one is ijured and other is on decline…Not much to balme pep….it was meesi magic that made Bayern loose IMO

  42. Wilson…
    I agree Drvij==Veltman we sucked 100 percent
    Devrij-BMI either we were lucky or sucked…100 percent…
    But Vlaar Devrij pair was really solid when they covered with speedy players arround them…like Wijnaldum played as holding mid in WC..
    Vlaar -bruma combination vs turky was super …..Vlaar bruma against hungary was another superb game had under LVG…then again under hiddink we had Bruma-Devrij…vs latvia another super game….
    this says guts plays a lot in defense ,BRuma has it..he is tough nut and we need him not veltman

      1. I think Hiddink has wasted valuable time on BMI and Veltman all this while and yet there is no sign of any bonding building between our CBs. Playing a right footed CB on the left is always risky especially when they are not accustomed to playing there. with top teams, defending will become very difficult for right footed CB on the left as the natural right footed attackers will have more advantage of wrong footing them especially when in situation like one on one and further when are trying to step out.

        Hiddink really needs to look at that LCB Position in the upcoming games. we can go with rotating the players at RCB as most of them are accustomed and strong in that position but LCB needs to be polished with a natural LCB or someone who is playing there week in and week out if RCB.

          1. All Eredivisie players, I thought you were discounting Eredivisie players?
            Are they better than the current starters? BMI is a worry for me so I’m happy for him to be benched and Bruma sit next to Ronnie.
            Give me some Strikers, please!

  43. Though night for Bayern.It could have been (6,7)8-1 to Barcelona!
    Bayern-Porto 6-1 was a great inspiration for Barcelona!!

    I do not believe in Lionel Messi magic.Barcelona (team) was so much better (especially in the first half…and one on one)…And someone simply had to score..and this is his (Leo Messi)job.

    Psychological:People lose god in the soul and then seek god in the flesh. This means that they have a weak character. And they are looking for one of two gods.Who is the true god??Messi or Ronaldo?
    But Barcelona has 3,4 gods “and the rest of the team”!!!!
    An enigma!!

    Robben missed very much.There was a lot of “his situations”in the space.

    -Revenge?Pep Guardiola perfectly knows football…but he does not know(?) how to beat the Spanish team with German.Maybe..he do not know to find a Germanic spirit in the right way.In this situations(Real,Barcelona).
    Power,courage,aggression,accuracy and simplicity(mind) at the right time.

    1. he should have. 4-4-2 no way

      Lewa – Muller

      Gotze -Thiago

      Brent – Alonso – Schweinsteiger – Lahm

      Benatia, Boateng, Benatia – Rafinha

      Neur

      or

      Gotze – Lewa – Muller

      Thiago – Schweinsteiger- Lahm

      Brent -Boateng – Benatia – Rafinha

      Neur

    2. It’s the best I’ve seen Barca play in 2 years, infact I stopped watching them as I was sick of the endless passing for no result, they were boring to me. Last night they played with a renewed vigour that I have not seen for a long time, that Barca was relentless, pressing from the front to win possession as quick as possible and then attacking with short sharp forward passing. I’m happy to watch that Barca play week in week out, further the individual players are technically perfect with their touches which makes all the difference.
      It’s fair to say that Bayern were not at the strongest, how do,you replace Robben and Ribery? It will take some doing for Bayern to win from here.

    3. Neither Messi nor Ronaldo are God…they are humanbeings like us…but they are the most capable players who can score vs any team by their own effort…God is holy and eternal and the creator, HIS name should nt be taken for any shit farting living beings…at any cost..IMO

  44. it was Messi who made the difference from vaccum..Both team played well from tactical point…Barca is a good team and Top team,they wouldt have won these many trophies in recent years with out Messi thats what my point is…Bayern loose their cutting edge when Roben is not there…For me real Man of Barca was Macherano,this guy is one hell of a player..who made us cry in WC semi and yet again marvellous play vs Bayern,Super intelligent reader and warriorr of game….if it was not masche ,bayern would have scored too…

  45. Hiddink must come out his stupid ideas like only left footed players can can PLay LCB,Afellay is messi,BMI is lilian turam ,Weil is Philip lahm etc…there dextrous footed players like Virjil and Bruma are there for LCB…even Vlaar…but Vlaar is down at form..

  46. @Van banger…
    if u want strikers,i would say we dont have….if i was dutch coach…My strikers would be Leroy fer,Klassen,then Luuk Dejong as third option…

  47. Van banger I think you forgot that Hoedt is moving Lazio at the end of this summer.If De Vrij looks polished jus in one season I expect him to do the same.

    Man city has also blocked Rekiks third loan spell at PSV and wants him to move to a tougher league.Also remember PSV has struck a permenant deal for for
    Nicolas Isimat-Mirin.

    Kongolo was always better than BMI but yet Van Gaal prefered him for the WC.

    I was thinking along these lines and again they are all LCBs and with Lativa and USA,no big deal even if we win by 1-0 with a entirely new team.

  48. The only resason Why Im septical about out going players from eredivise like Luc Castaignos,Wesley Hoedt,karim Rekik or others like Van Dijik,Buttner,PVA coz there will be a very small buffer between end of next season and the Euros
    and it would pointless to select them on the last hour with no international cap. Lativa and USA is the perfect game to use them and then keep a close tab on them as to how they perform next season.

      1. @Wilson…..Van Ginkel can only blame himself…Who ever kids joins plastic money clubs for money,…like Chelsea,City,Real will warm in bench,i dont exclude Barca and others too…Unless u r a messi or Ronaldo u cannt start straightaway with these clubs…
        Depay has made a fantastic choice to work with the best coach in the world,that is crucial part of Development..its so stupid to to go to Barca,Real,Chelsea,City for an young player…

    1. I hope it works for him, a lot of the ManU faithful are already calling for Van Gaals head as they expect to much to soon, Depay may take some time to adjust to the EPL, and remember their supporters are still living in the Sir Alex era when winning came all to easy for them. They have no respect for RVP anymore even though he carried the team to glory a couple of years ago, and the English have never been astute football minds, they still love a long ball game.
      We will see how it works out.

      1. @Van banger…Nothing is easy …SAF was attack oriented coach,he has won so many last minute goal victory that decided lots of title…SAF was master at winning at last moment..SAF carefully constructed all his teams and he knows the strength and weakness of every player he worked with…Great Coach…LVG is a great coach but his hoesnty and loyalty backfires him at many times…Under LVG united have scored leeser goals,which is a real concern in my book,kind of Guardiyola style with no goals…LVG must go for counter attacking games at times…
        LVG was bit unlucky that he got 2 aged players RVP and carrick,one was injured and one lost to age..
        United would be a formidable team with certain dutch recruitments
        Depay———Rooney———–Valencia
        ——Herrera——-Klassen————
        ————-Van beek———————
        Luuk shaw—-Kongolo—Devrij—–Janmaat
        ————–De gea———————-
        ================================================
        Nani———-Benteke———–Young
        ——-Clasie——–Vanginkel————
        ————-Toonstra————–
        Blind—Rojos——Evans—–Smalling
        ————valdes——————–

        1. Hahaha, Tiju you’re dream-typing, how cute!

          There is always an adjustment to a new team, for either manager or player. Utd fans are dumb shits if they don’t realize how lucky they are to (likely) be back in CL next season, as opposed to not even making the Europa league. Amazing job in his first season there, it’s all thanks to LvG and not just throwing their $$$ around.
          As for Memphis, only time will tell if he shrivels or shines under the new pressure…

          1. its the dream runs everyone,the dream,ambition,etc…I think Manu wasted some dollars for Falcao,Demaria and co…but some how Blind,herrera,Shaw and Rojos paying little back…i really dont think they didnt get according to their investment in last summer…they have really blown some dollars for De maria who is bit overrated,Falco had injury struggle and still he is ghost of his own..thats were they lost money…i knew RVP was done,so it was not a surprise for me..LVG really paid for not playing herrea for RVP..thats for sure…that was a blunder mistake by LVG,liek now Hiddink does it with Afellay–instead klassen,Weil instead Janmaat…BMI instead Bruma…any ways its past now..

          2. Anyways, I meant to add.. I like Memphis and I do think he can become great (unfortunately another player I have to watch at Man Utd 🙁 )!

  49. Another review of the match Barcelona-Bayern 3-0.
    Last year Real(M)-Bayern 1-0,4-0.Now Barcelona -Bayern 3-0.I thought a bad day.But now we had a rule??! I did not see but they failed to score.(look at the game Schalke 04-Real(M) in Madrid(Schalke could win))
    Something is wrong with Pep and Bayern against Barcelona and Real.Especially against Barcelona.
    The tactics may be good for eyes but the game is obviously bad.More passes than Barcelona!! and wrong use of space.
    (Pep and)Bayern have forgotten the German language and did not learn Spanish language!!!Team is on the wrong foot.
    Beat Barcelona in the way Barcelona with German team…Looks like a trap.

    What Pep and Bayern have to work?They must find a way to score a goal.Or whether they can do it?And how???
    If it finds ,of this things may depend on the further course of the match.

    Ronaldo,Messi-Barcelona,Real,Argentina,Portugal.
    First.They are surrounded by the best players in the world.
    And they become dangerous when they feel fear in the opposing team.In defense.It especially feels Ajax,Dutch NT,the Danish defense (2012,2014),the Belgian defense etc…and Bayern after the first goal(maybe others strong defensive teams a little less)
    But when they (Ronaldo,Messi..) lose o-4,0-4,0-3…everybody will say :they were ill.(headache,stomachache,earache..)

    Final match Man U.-Barcelona 0-2(if I remember).Ronaldo was lost. He did not what to do.He would shout:Mommy,daddy I want milk.
    See Wes Sneijder.Even if he lose 0-5 he will always be deep in the game.He will try to do something.And finals 2010,Mexico,Turkey..prize..etc .In the right place at the right time.It is no accident.
    He would not shout :mommy,daddy I want milk!

    Rinus Michels said(?):1970s generation was hard and rebellious. Gullit and van Basten was soft(?) character weaker and weaker.
    And I hope that Bayern players will not kill each other after the game in the fight for the jerseys of players of Barcelona.

  50. “”See Wes Sneijder.Even if he lose 0-5 he will always be deep in the game.He will try to do something.And finals 2010,Mexico,Turkey..prize..etc .In the right place at the right time.It is no accident.
    He would not shout :mommy,daddy I want milk!”””””””””
    Wesly has got balls and true,So is Nijel,Vlaar,Bruma, Jaap stam,Deboer etc….

  51. Depay is made a wise move compared to Vanginkel,Reikik,Ake….He choose to work with LVG,i was parying that he doesnt go to pool…were he would get lesser coach which will impact his development or else get stuck like Babel…Manu can get DEpay or whom ever they want,But Depay needed a Dutch coach,he made a wise choice to work with LVG..

    1. No I think Akes development has been great under Chelsea and Mou.At 20 he has the edge over all his compatriots in his age group even at NT level. Mou squeezed him into gaps when there was opportunity as he maintainted that balance with losing a sight on the title.
      Ake jus needs to clock time in a club where he can polish on his rough edges and maintain the flow. without a doubt you can pencil him for WC 2018 and the euros will another milestone for for his capacity building given his overall potentials.

        1. Ake was Developed already before Jose return…Jose has not given him regular spots,Ake was too good that he couldnt avoid him much like other youngster,Jose joined in 2013 from Ral,Ake was already developed,Mou is more a mentor or catalayst who give psychologiacl support to players rather than technical part..Ake was Fully developed by brilliant youth coaches of Feynoord,Not plastic money bag chelsea or chelsea coaches..All got there was experience to play in big club..

          1. No Ake had a good outigs in 2013-2014 season under Mourinho.This after Mou shrugged of many teams who were trying to
            loan him and gave him the chance to break in the first team. he featured for them in the Europa league and as well as FA cup I think.

            But I agree he was talented young boy during his time at Feyenoord.

          2. My POint was Ake was already developed before chelsea giving berth to Jose….check dtae he joined,and Ake doesnt show any of Typical Jose traits or coaching..

          3. What NO????.All jose done was gave him certain unimporant games…thats all chelsea gave him so far..F#$$%^ Chelsea…

          4. Tiju stop being dick head, there are 28 players at Chelsea that are on loan at other clubs to date.If mou wanted ,he could have sent him on loan to any other club just like Van Annholt and Bruma,but yet he gave him a chance to break into the first time in 2013-2014 season.doesnt this mean anything.

            when you are in title race no coach will gamble with player selection especially in decisive matches. or do you want Mou to start Ake over Matic .

            You look at James Wilson at Man United.He has been more effective than RVP coming of the bench but yet Van Gaal wants to loan him.

            Its all about wining matches when it comes to title race and one wrong move can squash all the hardwork done throughout the season and this is where Mou has
            maintained the balance in the team when there was injury crisis or when playing with teams which called for alteration in the squad.

            Vs Man United he started with Zouma In the midfield to counter Fellani coz compared to Ake Zouma was more aggressive and defensive minded.Fellani and Ake would have been a miss match.

          5. certaintly he was talented coming out from Feyenoord jus like Rodney Kongolo but when you play,eat,train with top players thats how you enhance your PD and capacity building and this is why I think Hiddink should give him a chance vs Lativa to see where his credential lie after all this time trading with the best.

  52. I reckon Hiddink did find the break through when he did which no another coach failed to do.starting Hunter and RVP.The first leg vs Lativa after Blind got injured the team managed to score five goals after my man clasie came on.

    RVP-Hunter-Robben

    Sneijder-Clasie-Afellay.

    one of the reasons why six goals was scored was simply because the ball deep from the mid field was continuosly being havoced upfront at fast pace and a high line was also maintained which with De Jong this is often deprived.Milan to havnt realized this and thats why they strikers are struggling in front of goal deprived of service.

    the best part of this lineup was the flow.look whats happens when sneijder drifts to the left.

    ——-Hunter-Robben—–
    Sneijder—-RVP——–
    Clasie————Afellay

    As soon smeijder overlaps RVP drops back to CM with clasie and Afellay further dropping back. it was all about supplying the ball upfront as fast as and as much as possible.

    I think Afellay position can be question mark when playing with tougher opponents so strootman and Van Ginkle could be more preferable there or klaassen.

    Bruma and De Vrij also started this game with Bruma also scoring. I dont know why Hiddink changed them vs Turkey.

    I think if all the players are inform and consistent then this is the best lineup to go with Depay coming of the bench.

    1. It was RVP who drifetd more to left.than sneijder….it was latvia they dont have messi or even Nani so they were never a goal threat for u….PLaying Afellay is a bad idea as holding mid….Bruma and Devrij made though we had defensive fault in that game…
      Hiddink lives in foolish closed mind world that he think only left footed guyd can play LCB,thats why he shits with BMI and dropped Bruma,,,Think he will drop klassen and Clasie for Afellay…next game it seems.

      1. if not for the injures it would have been RVP-Hunter-Robben upfront vs Turkey.
        This can be an option in the euros.

        RVP-Hunter-Robben

        Sneijder-Clasie-strootman

  53. Vaart is still confused,its all depend on vaart,ajax is wide handedly open…
    @Wilson i am not dick head,it doesnt suite me…ur understanidng abt wat i wrote was wrong…
    ake is great talent –i have no disagreemnet
    Van ginkel is great talent–No dispute
    Both are ready to step in to NT—No dispute…
    the dispute is where that Both ake and Ginkel developed in Feynoor and vitssee…Chelsea almost spoiled every talent they got so is Mancity kind of plastic money clubs..thats what my point is…if it was not chelsea ake and Ginkel would been a regular in EPL….infact they got stuck by joining chelsea complete back ward journey in their careeer..#$#%$%#$^ chelsea…they did nt get anything from chelsea apart from money…

    1. Tiju I understood what your point was.I will stick to Ake here.I dont see how how Akes development has been spoilt at Chelsea. At 20 his current value in the market since coming through Chelsea Acdemy is much more compared to if he would have came stayed back at Feyenoord.

      Mourinho once quoted saying Chelsea does not sell garbage and even if he had to sell Ake,given his development in the Chelsea Acedemy and the main team,he vast experience he has acquired will more or less make him fit instantly in any team in epl and his recent performance on loan to Royal Reading where he picked up two MOTM out of Five is jus another example.

      The only thing that is left for him to do now is to clock time and Mou should loan him out next season and then sell him at the right price jus like Likaku,Hazard,De Bryne.They all never clocked much time at Chelsea,but their talents plussssssssssss coming through Chelsea life has transformed them into players that they are today regardless of which Club they are playing for

      So tell me Tiju how Chelsea has Spoilt Akes development and also whether if he would have accquired all this at Feyenoord at 20 if he would stayed back.

      1. Wilson if still dont understnad how chelsea spoiled Bruma,Annholt, now Ake and Ginkel…then i cannot make u understand….
        Loaning is one of the worst part a team could do…ake is finest in his spot i mean a holding mid,not a lesser player in that spot…at age of 20 he should have been regular like Depay.i am not comparing depay with him,Depay had struggle,he never got loaned instead Cocu gave him chance after chance this boy went to strentgh to stretgh like wise annholt and Bruma are redeeming there career back..Ake for should have been regular for other team had he not joined chelsea..Chelsea is shit plastic club,with hell lot of mney whoever they want they can buy and they buy extra players to spoil other clubs which were ready to those players with leeser ammonut and can be still compettive to chelsea….its a buying mafia to make sure that chelsea and plastic money clubs wins every EPL and CL…ake is the lateste victim,what ever the chances gets now is just a lesser aaccomplishment…Poor ake…must leave that plastic club soon Ditto with Ginkel..
        Depay got 35 M…from psv same could have achgived for Ginekl and Ake had they stayed withy ajax or PSV end of the story …they lost their best years in their development…If english clubs have better development tecnology than dutch,then where is England stands in front of dutch…?/that says a lot…all EPL clubs are full fo forginers,french,dutch,Brazilian,etectec…

  54. Eh Janmaat suspended, de Jong injured.. Krul and Anita still start, but I will watch Vlaar play LCB (and Bacuna) for Villa vs instead..

    van Aanholt was pretty decent for Sunderland at Everton (most tackles, solid with clearances and arial duels), though was a little lacking in concentration in the last 30 mins or so (positionally) but was not punished..
    Elsewhere Pieters and Elia are starting as well.

    1. Agree on Van Annholt, he looks like a prospect to me. He loves to get forward and even pops up in the middle of the park sometimes, I hope he continues on an upward spiral in development.

  55. Tiju,looking at the Feyenoord squad over the past three seasons,even if Ake would have stayed,he still would have been in pecking order behind Lex Immers who has being consistent from that DM for sometime now and still going strong at 28.

    I dont see any player from Feyenoord or the Acedemy at 18,playing Europa league,PL,FA cup, training with top class players. This is what he achieved at Chelsea and I dont think he would have done the same if he would have continued at Feyenoord.

    I will take the whole Feyenoord squad as a example here,individually if they go to any competitive league they will struggle to adpot to the hostile environment whereas Ake is already accustomed to that at the age of 20 which will easily make him fit in any team in any league.This is what he has achieved at chelsea.

    please dont compare him with depay.they both are two different animals and it still remains to seen whether Depay will live up to the 25 millon price tag in epl or no.

    1. Tiju,when you invest in something,you will always wanna see that at the end of the day there is always a return.the Chelsea owners have invested so much in the team that they always look at winning the title as their investment return.Their first priority becomes winning games and the right players who can do that,this is where they cannot gamble with players as this could be the recipe for failure with all the hard work throughout the season going down the drain instantly,thats why they cannot maintain the balance between young and old players

      But at the same time they scout and develop young players looking for the next best thing.though not everbody might fit this description but when they are sold they have already set the right platform and solid foundation for them to work on.

      Maybe not at club level but overall the country where the players originate from usually benefit from the transition when they go through the chelsea system.

      You look at Beligum,once they vanished into the wild but you look at them now. The likes of De Bryne,Hazard,Likaku,Courtois all went through the chelsea system and turned out to be top prospects for their club and country.

      This is where I think the chelsea system is working.

      Van Annholt in jus one season standouts as a centrally figure at Sunderland. Its a pity that Dutch coaches have overlooked at him but all and all his foundation was built through chelsea system and his performance is a indication of that. I dont think he could have achieved this coming through eredivise.

      1. Hey Wilson, do you think that Ake has become a better player by staying at Chelsea and not really playing in the first team, rather than going to say Southhampton and playing every week in the first squad?

        For me it’s hard to know because we just don’t see him play, that is why I’ve commented earlier on him about not being sure. I think your right that Hiddink needs to show us if he can play or not, and this will go a long way to knowing weather Chelsea has been good or bad for him.
        Ginkle was unlucky, he got injured real early at Chelsea I felt that Mou was going to show him plenty of game time even though he was a pup. But mou is not a player developer in my book, Chelsea is only about winning titles and that is fine, so is ManU, City, Liverpool etc etc. In England Aresnel and Spurs do more youth development as do clubs like Ipswich we send juniors over there every year and they have copied Dutch systems for youth development. Ipswich get them for a year or two then Tottenham and the like come along and pick them up for further development. But it’s the big money none of it English that ultimately wins out.
        Fully agree on PVA, great to watch excellent build for football and has a brain, get him in somewhere!

  56. @wilson do not Argue to for the sake of ur point…Van beek,Kongolo,BMI,Clasie,Devrij,Vilhena and many got flooded in to First 11 in feynoord..Ake is a Holding mid while Immers plays for number 10 role..ake would have been perfcet with Clasie…So dont say utternonsense and ur own assumptions…What u said was very unlikely possibility…Ake is Deal ,Van ginkel is deal ..agreed..No dispute..Both are getting spoiled by a PLastic money club like they did to Bruma and Annholt.
    MAu is better manager,he is not a player developer,he is more of mentor…Engldand and english players and 2 light years behind dutch players…their coaching system and structure is not good,thats y they choke evrywhere even after hyping…

    1. Tiju are you fucking joking.Immers at no 10.Rutten is rotating Karim El Hamadi and Clasie at no 10 with vilhena in falling out of order.

  57. Haha De bruyne is out…..Lukakau is out both both are growing with Everton and Wolfsburg…
    Curtois is Atheltico madrid guy,who came to lime lihght ober there…if they stayed with chelsea none wpuld have emerged….Hazard is a little bit of Messi,Roben,CR7 type guy,so only he was able to break through…Hazard is born talent not chelsea delevoped guy..they bought him from belgium after develped by another club…Wilson plz stop this stupid reasoning …

      1. they were scouted by feynoord,anderlect etc clubs…not Chelsea ,chelsea grabbed from them by spending money,real finding was done by feynoord,anderlect etc…dont be this silly..would you please name player from chelsea academy conqured the world????.if u r still hanging on stupid argument,i have nothing to say..forgot to say chelsea scouts are good too thats why they steal every good player with money and make them garbage at chelsea academy..

          1. i doubt if abramovich taken over chelsea before 1998..He would have bought Jaap stam and F$%%^ked Terrys development..Terry was lucky that by 2003 terry was established player…

  58. Annholt could have moved to one big club had he stayed like Wijnaldum,Janmaat or Depay…or like Giovani vanbronkhost…he stalked his good years with chelsea..still roaming arround on loan…

  59. Too bad for Leroy Fer, he will likely be on a relegated team for the second year in a row.. not that he had too much to do with this season thanks to injuries..

  60. I dont know that van Aanholt has necessarily been overlooked, I am sure they have their eyes on him.. perhaps he just hasn’t proven himself yet to be better than Blind, Willems, or even Kongolo.

    wilson what do you mean by ‘chelsea system’, scouts and cash?? hahaha
    Actually hardly anyone has come through the chelsea system, all their top players have been purchased when they already at top level. Cant think of any actual chelsea products, who are actually playing at chelsea, besides John Terry.. Also Chelsea is one of the of the most financially irresponsible teams ever! I assure you that Abramovic and his dirty oil money do not care about any return on investments.

  61. Preliminary Netherlands U21 squad named for Toulon Tournament

    Goalkeepers:
    Jesse Bertrams (PSV)
    Menno Heus (FC Utrecht)
    Hidde Jurjus (De Graafschap)
    Timo Plattel (FC Twente)

    Defenders:
    Nathan Aké (Chelsea)
    Sven van Beek (Feyenoord)
    Peet Bijen (FC Twente)
    Wessel Dammers (Feyenoord)
    Hans Hateboer (FC Groningen)
    Wesley Hoedt (AZ)
    Rick Karsdorp (Feyenoord)
    Terence Kongolo (Feyenoord)
    Bas Kuipers (Excelsior)
    Derrick Luckassen (AZ)
    Karim Rekik (PSV)
    Kenny Tete (Ajax)
    Jordy de Wijs (PSV)
    Lucas Woudenberg (Feyenoord)

    Midfielders:
    Yassine Ayoub (FC Utrecht)
    Danny Bakker (ADO Den Haag)
    Thom Haye (AZ)
    Jelle van der Heyden (FC Twente)
    Sean Klaiber (FC Dordrecht)
    Clint Leemans (PSV)
    Joris van Overeem (FC Dordrecht)
    Daley Sinkgraven (Ajax)
    Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord)
    Rai Vloet (PSV)
    Django Warmerdam (Ajax)

    Attackers:
    Anass Achabar (Feyenoord
    Jean-Paul Boëtius (Feyenoord)
    Brahim Darri (Heracles Almelo)
    Anwar El Ghazi (Ajax)
    Vincent Janssen (Almere City FC)
    Ricardo Kishna (Ajax)
    Mimoun Mahi (FC Groningen)
    Elvio van Overbeek (PSV)
    Jari Oosterwijk (FC Twente)
    Mohamed Rayhi (PSV)

  62. @ Tiju

    Playing for a average team doesn’t mean you are gabbage player. Your 1.32 mentality is what is making you think that way.its all about the qualityyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy of the player. though they don’t make it highest level but in the process there are being groomed at top level with the talents they poses at that age and by the time they are deemed surplus at the club and ready to be sold they come out possessing the core which has quality thrusted in it. the Pre sesasion programs and tours with first team players, playing and training with top first team players, loan systems in tougher leagues is what im referring to as the system.

    Ryan bertrand,Van Annholt,Vitcor Mosses are central figures at their respective club even though they are not playing in highly rated clubs but yet their performance speaks for the quality and nurturing which they inherited from the chelsea system and which I dont think they could have attained in their native country.

    whether if they play in a bottom club side or a top club they performance will always be at an equilbrium and that it what matters for.

    Van Annholt and Ake at Man United will have far more greater effect than Blind thats for sure but on a brighter side I see NT benefiting more from their development at that chelsea level.

    1. you look at Bony and Eriksen,they left eredivise at their very best,but com EPL they havnt found that same rythm going.only flashes.this is the difference when you are groomed ay epl level with top players compared to when coming from eredivise.even though they play different positions but his is where players like Van Annholt have have prone to the homegrown status which was enable through via chelsea.

      1. May 10, 2015 at 3:18 am

        chelsea scouts are good too thats why they steal every good player with money and make them garbage at chelsea academy.

        Van Annholt/Ake are not gabbage.

        By the way all this while I was refering to the chelsea system,where the fuck you read me saying chelsea academy is the best

          1. But Chelsea academy and development of youth players are garbage…thats what my point is and u never understood and the youth never gets proper chance to excel weeek in week out..they get 45 minutes in useless matches…in dirt pitchs and get ACL injury….
            My additional point is even a Top qulilty player will become garrbage at chelsea,they almost spoiled Ginkel,u must be blind to see the fault of Chelsea academy..

          2. There you go Tiju you have just simplified it ,Van Annholt and Ake went through the chelsea Academy,indirectly thats what you are meaning,both of them are gabbage. You jus keep proving your 1.32 mentality.

            and hyperthetically where does the gabbage gets offloaded.thats why I mentioned about average team.

            As for Van Ginkle,I think somebody has already mentioned this,it was bad luck for him going through the ACL injury,otherwise Mou would have given him more game time.

            Even though most of the acedemy players dont make it to the first team but the facilities and the evnvironment they are groomed in is the catalyst for their development once they graduate,it doesnt mean they only play for chelsea,you can always go to any club to further enhace that development with more game time.simple as ABC.

            Tiju your perception is since they go through chelsea Academy they should be playing for top clubs which is unreasonable.

          3. Mate, if you are trying to convince anyone here that moving to chelsea is good for a young player, then I don’t think you will succeed..
            IMO Chelsea might actually be one of the worse examples of a top club who will play young players.

          4. I tend to agree on this, Chelsea is a great club no doubt but it can be a graveyard for young kids coming through who never see the light of day, but to be fair most of the top clubs are the same!
            It’s the middle clubs that will put kids on the field much quicker because they don’t have to justify sitting players on the bench who are getting paid 100’s of thousands a week.

          5. I went and watched Ghana play Portugal U 21 last night ( I thought Spain was playing but I got that mixed up), it was really great to see two very differing styles of play Portugal playing very direct and Spain playing more of a possession game, in the end Portugal won 1-0 from a mistake by the Ghana CB in the second half. Having said that Ghana were very physically imposing and were shooting at goal from range at will, I’m sure they had double the shots on goal that Portugal did. It’s a shame the Dutch team did not qualify for the Finals in New Zealand, actually it shows a deficiency in that age group.
            The quality of the game was at a very high standard for a friendly as both teams were playing to win, I may go to the Brasil open training session on Friday to see if the next Ronaldo, Romario, Rhonaldiniho, KaKa or Pele is on the rise.

          1. Young players only get a chance under mourinho once the matches are pointless.

          2. Yes chelsea Generation is great but still they want bale,Diago costa,,eevn Messi and Ronaldo.. and fucks up the development of every young chelsea player..

  63. @Wilson ur understanding is ridiculously bad…My point is about chelsea development shit..Not about players like Bertrand,Annholt,lukkau,they all are doing good because they get proper development from other clubs…My point is Chelsea is shit in development,ur point is Chelsea has the best academy…U stay witrh ur point,dont drag irrelavant agruments. or i never said annholt is crap,Luakaku is crap …UR argumnets are highly irrelavant abt players importance in other club…U come back to point…Our argument is all about the shit chelsea academy…Dont waver it to players who sufferd because of chelshit.

      1. @wilson.. i think we were arguing about might chelsea academy and hence developed players and their achivemnet from chelsea academy.thats just bullshit..they all had to flee from there..rest are immetiral and irrelavant points.
        I was not talking about quality of the player were we had no argument..or annholt is bad or ginkel is bad or Lukaku is bad..All i said was Chelsea academy is shit and its the symetry of young players..

  64. Dont compare Chelsea with Manu…Manu has character they had well developed players from their on academy…Vann annholt and co would have done better with Manu…still all these clubs are ridiculous compared to the development style of Feynoord,Aajx etc..its not the time for Blind VS annholt..i support and like annholt and Blind…Vannholt is better athlet is pace,while Blind is more intelligent..

  65. By the all this while I was refering to the chelaea system where the fuck you read me saying about chelsea acedemy is best.

    You look at Lucas Pazion,at 21 he has already played in La Liga,Eredivise and now in bundasliga.who gets those kind of opportunities. Chelsea.This is where I see player development taking place and I dont think he would have done this if he would have been in brazil.

    as for the acedemys in nerthlands,they are producing players,but not like before. After Vaart,Sneijder,RVP,Huntelaar,the system has started choking.

  66. On another note, I’ve been watching a bit of LaLiga lately and it seems that there are only 4 strong teams Barca, Real, Atletico & Valencia, the rest of the teams are average at best and IMO would struggle in most other leagues. This leads me to think that a young player going to Spain won’t be tested week in week out as they would in the EPL, I’m using Spain because until recently the whole world was trying to play Spanish style (ticka Tacka) which was developed from the Dutch. Does anyone know much about the youth program’s in Spain are they still sticking with Ticka Tacka?
    There does not seem to be many young Spaniards making a name for themselves in big leagues.

    1. Hmm I can think of few, de Gea, Azpilicueta, Bernat, Thiago and Morata but that’s pretty much it. But I’m not too knowledgable on Spanish youth methods.. I had figured that Spain became known for the tiki taka just because Barca was doing it so well, and for a while the Spanish NT team consisted of 7 or 8 players from Barca..(and we all know how La Masia became such a great place to train!).. Of course there are a few older spaniards here and there in other leagues, but still only a handful who play for the NT..

      Actually thinks makes me think a nice move could be to put out a Dutch side largely consisting of PSV players, with a few other additions..

      Zoet
      van der Wiel – Bruma – Rekik – Willems
      Wijnaldum – Clasie – Maher
      Narsingh – Dost – Depay

      Or something like this.. I think being ‘champions’, or at least playing for teams who perform well, is great for confidence/mentality of players.. so for that purpose I included Wiel and Dost for this situation.. Then Clasie for good measure since I think he needs to be groomed for the CDM spot ASAP. 🙂

      What do you think?

      1. Van der weil no use offcourse a liabilty…
        Williams more of a winger than Defender..
        clasie maher are world class talents but light weight…May Xavi and ineasta of Dutch…
        Luuk Dejong would be better fit…Wijnaldum either as pure holding man or winger….
        Narsingh is not that good..

        1. U miss the point, except yes Luuk would be fine… Not saying this is the best line-up, I just mean to include players who are champions with their club, or have played on a club who was great this season like Dost at Wolfsburg, and I’m not saying he is the best striker by any means but had a good season for a club who is probably going to be 2nd place.. also whether you like van der Wiel or not, he is about to win Ligue 1 for the second year in a row so he fits this bill.

          1. understood ,kind barca-spain model as u intended for..whether i like or dislike Vanderweil..he is not a great RB.hence he dont deserve to start mighty orange before janmaat….just average player at his best…PSG is more than van derweil,it is not beacause of him they won,even with out him also such a plastic money club will win that league..Afellay won CL2011 with barca by farting in bench…He basically was sitting in bench.here Van derweil played more games than afellay.PSG are simply capable of Winninf Liga with out weil..there will will also be crap players in every team…but mostly they would sit in bench..

          2. Tiju, not quite the point.. I left Janmaat out of this scenario on purpose since he is playing for an awful club who is actually now in the relegation battle.
            I am not saying this players ‘should’ start for orange necessarily. I am also not suggesting that vdW was the reason PSG become champions for 2 years in a row.

        2. I am just curious about how much effect it has, to a NT squad from a small country like holland, to have their best players spread around in different countries in different clubs.
          The last 2 WC champions had strong nucleus of players from 1 or 2 clubs. Not saying eredivisie compares to the level of La Liga or Bundesliga, but there is chemistry that is lost if there is constantly lineup changes and the team morale if players do not know each other as well

          1. unfortunately we are heading in that direction and few years down the pipe most of the players will playing outside of Eredivise.You look at how many of the young talents have been recurited by top clubs,Real Madrid,Man United,Man City.

            Beligum is an example of what to expect with every year talents heading out from eredivise making it poorer and poorer in terms of competition.

          2. Hey Steve M, you are spot in relation to team chemistry and function, Spain’s run of success was largely due to Barca having most of the players in the team, had Messi been Spanish they would still be champions.
            Your line up would be interesting, and maybe surprising given that they predominately play with each other already. If you look at Barca now they have a few new faces who are not Spanish and some of the hero’s are getting old, maybe this had something to do with their poor showing of late in International football.
            I’m involved with sending a youth group to the Barca academy later this year, I hope we can make it happen so that we can have a good look at what they are doing with the youngsters and adopt some of it here.
            The PSV lineup you have is indeed very strong and I think would be competitive , they maybe just miss that real class player in the middle and upfront which are crucial to success longer term.

  67. Yes chelsea Generation is great but still they want bale,Diago costa,,eevn Messi and Ronaldo.. and F@#$%^&&* up the development of every young chelsea player..

  68. Ur assumption and understanding about my opinion on any youth player of chelsea is wrong…enitrly wrong..its ur assumption or interpretation..ur interpretation is not right..u want to hang ur chelsea development bullshit..keep goin…i have no positive words for chelsea academy…or developmental structure

  69. i never said they play for top clubs…since they joined chelsea at young age their developmemt stalked and Top club is dream for many…had they stayed with PSV or ajax kind club they would have been better players now…thats what my point is..if u dont understand chelsea is a shiot in development of player…then u have a blindness problem..or u r arguing for the sake of argument,brining immeterial points to ur argument..Can you show single statement which i wrote Annholt is garbage or Lukau or even |De bruyne?????never u cannt.so stop bringing players…they are recovering from damage made by Shit chelsea academy,Let them develop some where else…rather than spoiled by this plastic money club.

      1. Ake and Aanholt were developed by PSV and feynoord..Not by chelsea…Ake or Annholt doesnt require chelshit to grow…they have talent.Both played for NT21 many times…its matter of time they will grow with other club and they will play for NT…All chelsea done was damage to these wonderful talents of dutch…

  70. @Steve

    I was jus referring to Tiju comments on what he is said about Chelsea academy producing gargabe. Its a big insult to players like Bruma, Ake and Van Annholt imo.

    all the way I was talking about the chelsea system and not about chelsea academy being bad for young players.
    I mean if you look at players like Sturidge,Bruma, Van Annholt,Matic,Obi Mikel,Borini today. they are not gabbage.

    You look at current chelsea academy players, Chelsea Reserves won the 2013/2014 Barclays U21 Premier League, U19s won the 2014/2015 UFEA Youth league this season, U18s won 2012/2014/2015 FA Youth Cup. this shows that at Academy level the development is taking place,but they wont be able to take that to the next level since there is no strategy in place for them to break into the first team but eventually when they are deemed surplus and are loaned out or sold, the platform has already being set for them to build on their development status. this is what I was saying.

    Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Nathan Ake,Izzy Brown,Dominic solanke,, Andreas Christensen all have shown they have the capabilities of donning that chelsea jumper but yet I dont think they will be able to break into the first team but certainly they are not gabbage as what our friend Tiju is implying.well obviously there will come a time when they will be off loaded but this doesnt mean they were spolied at chelsea academy as what our friend Tiju is implying.

    Tiju I hope this will go through you mind.

    1. Cool, I agree the players arent garbage and obvs cant disagree with the fact that they compete, but still I dont think you can completely credit chelsea with producing Bruma, Ake and Van Aanholt

      1. @Steve u can see Bruma is every fanstasy 1 of mine…Can i put a gabbage player in my fantsay 11..?????????..
        What wilson is saying is all about his own assumption and a nonsense interpretation of my comments,i never said Sturridge is garbage or Lukau ,Bruma or annholt is….never ever…i knew all these guys are very talented they will be better players once they come out of chelshit academy…if chelsea youth won any thing its manily due to their talent scout not by Developing team…Wilson is idiotically repeating that i said players are garbage.which is is not the truth…Chelsea is the death of a young player,the worst club for Young player…thats what my point is….not about the poor players who stalked their development their..
        Look at everyone of them all them blossomed with other clubs…thats what my point is…poor Bruma and Van annholt is redeeming their carreer so has done by lukaku with Everton and Sturidge with Pool..Wilson its ur 1.32 mentality brains assumption not my commeent taht players are garbage..

        1. May 10, 2015 at 3:18 am

          Quote Tiju

          chelsea scouts are good too thats why they steal every good player with money and make them garbage at chelsea academy.

          did Ake,Bruma,Van Annholt fall from the sky.

          1. Not at all this never means that they are garbage..but they almost cost their career if not garbage…Stop advocating this stupid plastic money club who spoils every talent they get,….

      2. well that is reasonable given the country of orgin or the academy of orgin being the apparent scouters of them,but it the facilities and the evnvironment that makes the difference when compared to these big academys.

        The same is happening at Barcelona now.most of their academy graduates are either going on loan or are sold if a good bargin is comes along.

  71. If I want to understand deeper the text about PSV and Cocu,Dutch clubs no longer have the desire to win a European Cup (champions league ,UEFA league).
    And Ajax and Feyenoord are happy(??) because the Dnieper and Seville in semifinals!This means that the Dutch clubs ready for a new wave of imports and exports.

    And..because…Memphis Depay in ManU. Normal.In this situation it is good move for him.

    But if he is only talented and only now in ManU has to become real player …then….poor Depay. Possibly he just needs the experience of the other countries.
    (It seems that no one saw the match Feyenoord -Seville 2-0, or games young Ajax against young Barca,Holland-Spain etc.)

    Well,a few words about the match Bayern-Barcelona 3-2.
    In this match Bayern could to gave 6,7 goals and to eliminate Barca.
    But not the only possible way to be 4-0.
    Someone forgot to tell them that they can win 5-1,6-2,7-3,8-4.
    After 3-0 and planetary roar Messi,Messi,UFO,UFO,Messi,Messi..and other nonsense Barca came to Munich.Confident,cocky…Barcelona was in the sky.
    Bayern scored 1-0 but it was not enough to put Barca on the ground.And Barca scored 1-1.
    It was a pivotal moment.Fear again,a missed opportunity and 2-1 for Barcelona.Even greater fear and missed chances
    for 3-2 in the first half for Bayern.It would be enough to balance and that would be opportunity (for Bayern)to put Barcelona on the ground in the second half.

    With two goals in the second half Bayern did it!!!but it was too late.
    Barcelona was scared but it was too late. (It could have been better for Bayern .With Robben,Ribery..especially .)

    Pep is to blame for it. haha .Sometimes it seems that he wants to give chance Barcelona for revenge against Bayern 2013. But players have prevented it .(I think revenge in 0-6,0-7 style)

    And in the end everyone was happy.

    1. I’m in Sydney, I won’t go myself but we will have a couple of the youth coaches go so they can see first hand what it’s like. I’m hoping to go next year if this trip is successful with some older lads(15yr olds), we will visit Barca, Real and Atletico academies and play friendlies as well as have some of their coaches take the boys through their paces. It’s all about the experience for the young lads, not about being scouted!
      I’m pushing for the Ajax academy though, they also run similar program’s for visiting groups, it’s a very busy schedule but well worth the effort. Every year we send 1or 2 lads to English clubs for trialling but the costs in England are astronomical compared to other European countries so for larger groups the organised tours are the go.
      Football is really growing here and there is a real need to improve our current training program’s to develop better players from a real young age as we are a semi professional club with a huge junior base.

    1. I think if you at the world cup , it was good marketing focal point for Dutch players especially after making into the third/fourth playoffs. De Vrij,BMI, wijnaldum, Depay,Blind, prominently featured for the NT and this where there were scouted out.

      De Vrij – Lazio

      BMI – Porto

      Wijnaldum – PSG rejected

      Blind – Man United (Father/coach connection)

      De Guzman – Napoli.

      Im sure if Bruma,Van Annholt,Buttner,Van Dijik would have made into the WC squad they also would have made the same impression as the above players and could have have been scooped by good clubs.

      This is where I see Euros becoming stepping milestone for some of the players like Jordy Clasie, Nathan Ake, Alex Buttner, Van Dijik, Marco Van Ginkle to stamp their mark and ctach the attention of scouters from top clubs.

      especially with 2018 in mind.

    1. If you line up Van Rhijn,Van Der Weil, Janmaat and Bacuna all together for the the games played this season , Bacuna stats looks the most impressive with

      17-Games

      0-Goals

      4-Assists

      17-Shots

      then Van Rhijn

      28- games

      2 -goals

      1-assist

      33 – shots

      then Van Der Weil

      24-Games

      1-Goals

      3-Assists

      6 – shots

      Janmaat

      35-Games

      1-Goals

      6-Assists

      28-Shots

        1. Van Dijik will easily top the list.

          33-games

          4-goals

          4-assists

          43-shoots

          Bruma

          28-games

          3-goals

          2-assist

          31-shoots

          Vlaar

          17- games

          1-Assist

          12- shoots

          De Vrij

          27-games

          11-shoots

          regardless of where they play

          1. I mean defender stats, like clean sheets, tackle rates, passing %… of course, goals and assists are great but not the most essential qualities for defenders.

            Side note – the scottish league is quite a poor league, so too bad for van Dijk. He can’t get called up over anyone on the roster IMO unless he proves himself elsewhere.
            As he has said himself recently, “It’s very difficult for me to say why I’m not playing for Holland. Nobody asks the manager (Hiddink) or his staff either why I’m not getting a call-up. I think that maybe one of the big reasons is they don’t take the league in Scotland too seriously. For me, the only thing I can do is play well for Celtic, work hard and prove myself day in and day out.”
            He definitely has a good attitude, I really hope he goes to a bigger club and can prove himself!

          2. well again Both Van Dijik will closely behind each other but as you said the competition level will be a agrument point.clean sheet.none.

            It becomes much easier when everyonebody is playing in the same league.

            For example,in eredivise,Wesley Hoedt has been the most proflic CB this season,statistical wise.

          3. But what kind of statistics, attacking or defending?
            Hard to judge defenders by stats.

            This is why you want to have players who play on top clubs in top leagues in your squad. People who play against the best strikers of the best leagues. Not unproven youngsters. If they are good enough they must earn their spots!
            Sometimes I even have doubts on Vlaar/Bacuna and Krul/Janmaat strictly because their teams are so poor.. but Vlaar and Janmaat at least has proven himself at the top level, they were great at the WC.. although I can’t get that awful mistake from Janmaat v the Czechs out of my mind

          4. Steve,I think we have to go with Tiju here,he always uses this word ‘intelligent’ which in this case makes sense because anticipation and concentration for defenders requires qiuck thinking and decision making.

            if you look at Cannovaro,despite his small stature,he had all the attributes of vetsatile defender
            which made him being regarded as one of the greatest defenders of his generation and also picking the Ballon De Or in a decade as a defender.

            In most cases,the defenders materialize as they mature with high competition level and looking at the current NT defenders it would be very to call now as to who falls into that intelligent Catergory.

            when you talk about competition level, after the WC one would have expected the NT defenders to upgrade their versatility to the next level given their outings at the highest level but that has yet to unfold. Well it can due to the transition back to 2 Defenders,when compared to three at the WC. if this is the case then it is back to square one where it becomes which defenders are more individually composed and whether they should be foscued onto rather than wasting time on those who went to WC for the sake of covering the loop holes coz as it is BMI,De Vrij who have featured prominenty for NT hasnt shown any real form at NT level which might suggest that they have developed from the exposure at WC. De Vrij for me still hasnt looked formiddable with big teams which is a indication that at Lazio he is well protected.

            Vlaar has been the only consistent performer at NT level but he is also injury prone and with no CL and EL competition for him you can always expect his form to fluctuate.

            veltman over van Dijik is jus ridiculous. there has being so many games where weakness of some players have come out like oil floating on water but yet they are still being selected. Im thinking what happens next season when other players will be hitting top form.it will no of no use trying to rope them in the last hour.

  72. Hiddink names 30-man provisional squad for June Fixtured

    The squad is as follows:

    Goalkeepers: Jasper Cillessen (Ajax), Tim Krul (Newcastle United), Jeroen Zoet (PSV), Kenneth Vermeer (Feyenoord)

    Defenders: Karim Rekik (PSV), Bruno Martins Indi (Porto), Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa), Joel Veltman (Ajax), Daryl Janmaat (Newcastle United), Jetro Willems (PSV), Jeffrey Bruma (PSV), Gregory van der Wiel (PSG), Sven van Beek (Feyenoord)

    Midfielders: Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord), Tjaronn Chery (Groningen), Davy Propper (Vitesse), Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV), Daley Blind (Manchester United), Nigel de Jong (AC Milan), Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray), Leroy Fer (QPR)

    Attackers: Memphis Depay (PSV), Luuk de Jong (PSV), Quincy Promes (Spartak Moscow), Robin van Persie (Manchester United), Luciano Narsingh (PSV), Bas Dost (Wolfsburg), Klaas jan Huntelaar (Schalke), Steven Berghuis (AZ), Jeremine Lens(Dynamo Kiev)

  73. I dont see new faces making the cut unless injuries on the last minute..Between Chery,Propper and Fer,I think Fer will be Sneijder backup.

    Blind at DM,I feel like crying.why are we wasting our time with him.Maybe not vs Lativa and USA,but in big games he will spray all over.

    Cillessen
    Krul
    Vermeer

    Janmaat
    Van Der Weil

    Vlaar
    Bruma

    Rekik
    BMI

    Willems

    DeJong
    Blind

    Clasie
    Wijnaldum

    Sneijder
    Fer

    Narsingh
    Promes

    Depay
    Lens

    Hunter
    RVP
    Dost

    1. will depay be replaceble.I dont think PSV will be able to cope with Depay departure.Depay was Robben for PSV and his hard yards was what PSV dwelled on.
      especially Luuk De Jong. I think it will be the same story as NT withouth Robben and PSV without Depay and if wijnaldum departs that will be it for PSV.

    1. Wilson..sorry for the late rpley…i was bedridden for a weak after a spinal injury while playing football with young lads who were faster than me..i am 34 though…had tough time…
      Basically i like intelligent and gutsy players over trciky primidonnas.who is more intereested in hairstayle and rap..But i do like them if they are open and courageous..I have seen Elgahzi ate some times…Not that great not that bad,has bit bit fitghing spirit..Nothing much extra intelligent like old Brgkamp or over mars or even like New Davy klassen or Klaasy..i have better hope for Hakim zych tha him..so lets see what time brings..he is still young,if he stays humbble,fcoused and willing to learn like Depay.he has chance to suceed..Tooo early to comment based on his character..

  74. Nice for Fer to score today, too bad QPR will be relegated (which is maybe linked to his injury?) so hopefully he finds a decent club this summer..

  75. I think Kevin strootman and Marco Van Ginkle will tighten the losse end in the midfield once they hit the form
    We jus need need to work on one specialist DM and no not Daley Blind. peace,power and accuracy. This is why I think Hiddink should starting developing Clasie at DM instead of using him of the bench. As for Nathan Ake it remains to be seen where he ends up next season. definitely a wild card for Euros.

    Backline is where the graveyard is.its either Vlaar and De Vrij,or Bruma and Rekik and this is the pairs hiddink should start focusing on now for the shake of collating a formidable partnership. BMI and Veltman are
    are liabilties.

    Van Dijik is striving for that spot and should be intesting to see where he ends next season.

    Janmaat at Newcastle on the brink of regelation ,Buttner at Dynamo Moscow on the brink of CL/EL and with already EL under his belt this season.I jus cant understand why he is being overlooked,I mean Hiddink is well versed with Russian Premier League but yet he is using eredivise has the bench mark.Even when Dynamo Moscow beat PSV in Europa league first league I thought he was better than willems.

    well another season to go lets see how it unfolds.

  76. other intresting facts,Feyenoord were leaders in their pool in EL overcoming Sevilla,but yet sevilla has made it to the final

    As for PSV,With Depay on his way to Man United,the attention should shift to Maher whose development has stalled somewhat since joining from Alkmaar. Was dubbed as the next raising star which never eventuated.hopefully CL will revive his momentum.

    Also looking forward to seeing Jorrit Hendix more in upcoming season.He also became quiet this season with Cocu using him only during injury crisis. another DM option if he can clock more time
    especially at CL level.

      1. I think Ajax is finally feeling the pinch of departing players with reserve players unable to fill the void left by them, that why there in the market for new players.

        CL qualification will be interesting though.

        Feyenoord with a all important loss on the last hour. jus cant belive Rutten went for Mathijsen over kongolo in an all important game.

  77. PSV confirmed to be among top UCL seeds.

    Pot 1 (confirmed): Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus, PSG, Benfica, Zenit, PSV Eindhoven.

    1. Ahh yes I always forget about Ola John over at Benfica..

      So here are the Dutch players from the pot 1 / domestic champions, besides PSV players:
      van der Wiel – Ola John – Robben – Ake – van Ginkel
      Mix those in with current PSV players (still including Depay) and you can make a pretty great lineup!

      1. I dont think Ola john will be get a call up anytime soon. He had only 2 apperarence in the CL which was against Zenit and Leverkusan in group stages last year and the Primeira league itself is a weak league just like Celtic in Scottish league.Benfica also had a bad outings in CL this season finishing last in their pool. Sporting and Porto are the only descent teams there and the reason why they are benefiting with 2 teams directly qualifying and I team in qualification for CL is jus because of the better co-efficient due to both Porto and Benfica good overall performance in CL/EL over the past years. This is where eredivise has lost grounds with Ajax failing to go past group stages in CL and in EL .if you look at Portugal in ranking wise there is no way three teams from Primeira League should be qualifying for CL.

        John has rumored to be on Koemans radar and it may well come down to clocking more time in a more tougher league I suppose. Van Dijik also in the ame boat.

        1. I doubt he will get the call either, but Portugal is a tougher league than Scottish probably by far, so not a good comparison there.
          Also disagree that Porto and Sporting are the only decent teams. I prefer Benfica over both, although they had a disappointing CL this season they were great in the last and they still win the last 2 premieras..

          1. Steve I think you misunderstood my point.I was not comparing Primeira League with Scottish Premier League. It was more about the competition level within the respective leagues where both Celtic and Benfica have been dominating for past few years and thats where I concluded that both leagues are weak.

            As for the Primeira league ,it has also being a close affair between Porto and Benfica with title usually decided on the last hour with only few points separating both the team.Even this year it was again a neck to neck race with Benfica clinching the title over the weekend after porto were held to a draw going into the last round with only 3 points separating the team.

  78. Nice to see van Beek on the list…

    Can anyone tell me about Berghuis, Chery and Propper?
    I don’t get a chance to see them play and curious what their game is like…

    I bet Tiju is sad Afelaay has not made the 30

    1. Lol Tiju will praise The Lord that Affelay got left out of this squad, it is good to see some new names in the squad I’m very interested to see the first 11!
      Hiddink has little time left IMO to finalise his side as they won’t get to play enough as a team , it’s the problem with a rebuild, it takes longer than most coaches usually have – let’s see who can guess the closest line up to Hiddink for a bit of fun!
      I need a week to think about it, then I will put my side up.
      By the way I watch ManU V Arsenel today and Blind did not impress me at all, I can tell you, he does not make my squad his defensive flaws were very evident today , lack of size, speed and positional play are not up to NT standard, Van Ginkle is far better in every department except passing, I can’t believe he is not in the squad.

      1. yeah, Van banger I have always maintained this and I will always stick by it Blind is a liability both at DM and LB. In big games like knockout stages when the games are very tight and requires man to man marking, players like Blind will spray out from all holes and if not you will see the back passing king at his best.

        He always drifts to the flanks leaving the big hole in the midfield. Man United started brightly in that game but as the game went the Arsenal Midfield took control in the middle and in the third quarter when Wilshere came on, thatwas it for the MU midfield . Blind was too no match to Wilshere and Ramsey who had dropped back. Van Gaal is gambling with him there.

        this brings the question as to why are we wasting time on him and why jordy clasie is warming the bench

        1. the Euros are usually more tougher than WC.The strong proximity of European team makes in more tougher.

          No Blind for me in the Euros no matter if he scores at Man United. if he plays good luck Guus Hiddink,Danny Blind and Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

      2. steve really understands me about Afellay..he was joking…
        Blind is liabilty then Afellay is double liabilty..thats what my point is…Ginkel has got that pass fear syndrome from Josemourihno and chelshit academy..This is not the ginkel we saw with vitsse…Ginkel needs intelligent guys arround with him like Klassen,clasie ,strootman…

  79. Here is my guess at Hiddinks squad, not my choice of line up but a guess at Hiddinks:

    Cillisen

    Jaanmat Rekik Vlaar Bruma

    Blind

    Fer Sniejder

    Depay Hunter RVP

        1. Another intresting fact,eredivise winners next season will have to go through Champions League qualification route rather than a automatic qualification as they benefited from this season coz Ukriane league has moved above eredivise as per UEFA ranking Co-efficient.

          The new rule that has come into effect from next seasons will see all the champions from the 7 leagues as ranked by UFEA co-efficient being top seeds plus the CL holders.

          If the one the 7 league champions manages to win the CL,then that spot will go to the eighth ranked team which PSV has benefited this season and if it happens again next season,the winners of the Ukirane league will seeded as the eight team in pod 1 as per co-efficient ranking.

  80. It will be a brushing encounter in Serie A for CL Spot as Lazio, Roma and Napoli going into the last two round. This weeks fixture include

    Juventus and Napoli

    Roma – Lazio

    and the final week will see Lazio/Napoli and Roma /Palmero battle it out in winner takes all.

    My heart is with Napoli, but beacuse of dutch connection I want Lazio and Roma to qualify for CL.

    1. I’m going to watch Roma play Real Madrid with a few mad Italians in July, I’m really looking forward to it. I don’t think Strootman will make the trip though!

  81. What is Depay position at PSV? Striker or Winger? Is he more like C. Ronaldo or Robben style of play? Dribbling, and cut inside, and shoot. What is his strong foot? Left or right?

    Thank you.

    1. He plays in the front 3 usually coming from out wide, he is very skilful with the ball and can shoot I would not like to compare him to Ronnie or Robben yet, he is still too young, however he is a bit of both IMO.

  82. Did anyone watch Chelsea lose to West Brom?
    I saw the last 20 mins only so it’s hard to judge but I was very keen on watching Ake. To me he lacked any confidence to go forward with the ball and looked to pass the ball off as quickly as he could mainly sideways. He also looked very heavy when he runs, a plodder if you like, he played in the 6 role and if I compare him to Van Ginkle he is well below in standard. But as I said I only saw the last 20 mins so I’m not closing the door on Ake as yet.
    Tomorrow I’m going to watch Spain U21 play Ghana U21, I’m very interested to see the level of play its great that the superpowers are now coming Downunder to strutt their stuff, Brasil are here too and are playing the Aussies next week, U21 that is.

    1. @Van banger…Ur honest narration based on what you have seen on Ake with Chesea makes me scared…i know Chelsea is shit graveyard for any kind of youngster..basicall chlsea insttils so much fear on young guys to perform well to get in first team,they avoid to loose so they take less risk..this is really against a developing guy like Ake…ur comments says that Ake must leavechelsea right now..Coz i saw ake playing wonderfull dutch style with faynoord and dutch NT…i want to see that ake back with dutch clubs to redeem his form liek annholt and bruma did..

      1. We have to see what happens next season with Ake, if he is a regular starter he may become confident to play in a more attacking nature but if he is just on the bench again, then he must leave Chelsea and do what Ginkle has done and become a first team starter.

        1. I think the honors is on him and how much he wants to take it to the next level.He jus needs fine turning and he can only do that if he plays consistently.A loan move to bundasliga or Serie A would be perfect for him rather than Staying at Chelsea where their quest for treble will only limited him few games.if not a loan to a team in epl could also be an option as long as he clocks more time.

          1. No need wilson..Chelsea has a mighty academy and player development program..So Ake would stick with chelsea to becaome a fat pig..He shuld not go to other clubs…untill he loose all his skills and prime time..

    1. Hakim Ziyech – 11 goals/16 assists

      Tjaronn Chery – 15 goals/6 assists

      reasonable enough to be called up.

      can any one update on Daley Sinkgraven performance at Ajax.he has gone a slient mode since joining Ajax

      Srinjoy?????

  83. i would love to see
    ———–Vermeer—————
    Janmaat—–Bruma—-Vlaar——Williams
    —————Vanbeek————–
    ——klassen———-Sneijder——–
    ————–Clasie————–
    —-Wijnaldum/Luuk———–Depay———–

  84. I think Van Beek inclusion with Bruma and Vlaar is a indication he will be bracketed with Blind at DM. l will go with Van Banger on the front 3.

    RVP-Hunter-Depay

    Sneijder-Clasie

    Van Der Beek

    Willems-Vlaar-Bruma- Janmaat

    Vermeer

      1. 4 RCBs and 1 LCB jus doesnt makes any sense or unless they are there to make numbers which would be jus ridiculous and waste of time given the crisis in the backline.

        1. Clasie at DM vs Lativa and USA will be of no use.He has been overlooked there all this time and should have been used consistently by hiddink in more tougher games.The time that was wasted on Blind should been utilized on him. By now we would have seen the results. Clasie over blind,any time any where.

        2. A right footer at LCB is not out of the question.
          Sure, it can be slightly advantageous, but its not necessarily a crisis if you haven’t got a top class left footed CB.

          This is what you think Guus will do v USA, or this is what you would do?
          I think Guus will go with Nigel at DM anyways.. :/

          1. In a top flight it will always be a downfall. I dont think in the history of Football that has ever happened with big teams going into tournaments like Euros or World Cup. it can be the biggest loop hole in the back line if thats the case.I dont see any advantage of doing that especially when opposition wingers in big games will have more advantage of tossing around the defenders.

            vs Mexico – perfect example.

            You need to have balance other wise its a recipe for disaster.

          2. hahaha ridiculous, are you actually talking about right footed CBs playing on the left side?? How about Spain and Germany?

          3. Vlaar vs Mane.Southampton 6-1 Aston Villa.Villa was playing LCB. Aleast 4 goals was scored from his side.

          4. Both Ronnie Vlaar and Bruma are bit of dexterous footers,not completely though,both has ability on left leg..Aston villa vs Southampton might be an odd stroy of Vlaar..All i have seen is ridiculous games from left foted defenders as LCB..
            What was BMI doing vs Arjentina…..????inWc semi…Both kuyt and Vlaar that kept the silky arjentines at bay…Both are right footed players played on left basically…LVG had to hide BMI from card and furthur destruction…So no more BMI,on left and Veltman on right CBs..it was the collective efforts of Nijel,kuyt,vlaar and Devrij who tought the arjetines a lesson with wijnaldum…For me it was master peace defending vs inform Messi and Co…and this can be replicated only with intelligent and gutsy players..which is impossible with Afellay,Weil,Blind and BMI.
            I do think that that Guus will go with nijel..if so that sucks..we need to look in to future..

  85. seems the selection of Veltman,BMI and weil is utter waste..it should have been Virjil.kongolo and vanrhijn…absolute time waste for Guus…

    1. like Janmaat and Weil,Van Rhijn should also start thinking about making a move to a tougher league and thats how he will be able to put more pressure on his compatriots.

      so unless things change I think Weil is the right backup for Janmaat coz I dont think Bacuna will be get a call up.

    1. Nope, still injured.
      Actually, no de Vrij either (and as you know Robben / Strootman)

      4 definite starters.. hopefully all are back by end of summer.

      1. Klaassen,Im not sure,I mean to score on a rebound doesnt make you a standout player in an instant. He is more a Siem De Jong kind of Player and CM is his strongest position.

        I think BTB,it will either strootman or Van Ginkle,two of the finest option that we have got there so Klaassen can be ruled out here and as for CM,at the moment Sneijder still seems to have got it so again it will hard for him to outclass him.

        Like Siem De Jong he is a hardworking guy but again I dont like players who poses all the right qualities but lack speed.

        Adam Maher seems to have got it all,a complete package and my top choice in the CM to fill sneijder shoes down the line.

        Being said this I think there are some other players who should not be ruled out.

        Sinkgraven
        Ziyech
        Chery
        Drost
        Propper

        1. Disagree, for me I like both alot but prefer Klaassen over van Ginkel, and both are ahead of Maher and way ahead of Siem deJong and all of the youngsters you name. He proved it 2 me in the last 2 seasons, he reads the game and tackles well, good ball distribution and has a hard working Kuyt-like work ethic quality which I appreciate as well. van Ginkel has not done quite enough IMO. Sneijder is brilliant but he is in the twilight of his career.. lets see what happens after Galatasaray.

  86. Its really hard to believe that Mahers development stalled at PSV after being in a super form for Alkmaar which earned him the first cap for NT. Maybe CL will resurrect him back to his old form.

  87. So Far Clasie and Maher are next Vaart and Sneijder for our NT.Both are light weight and i dont think they should be wasted on deeper roles…
    Y i bring Van beek is this guy is a beast and love to take on anyone,ferocious with excellent vision and footskills on ball…he is an extra defender too…this allows the coach to go for plethora of tactics to sub a attaccker later…Van beek is strong too it compliments well with sneijder,Clasie and klassen.For a CB he is not that error less but this can be done by Bruma and Vlaar..its all about physical,mental balance with right stretgh ,stamina and intelligence and courage…we get that only if we include certain quality players..which is absent from Veltman,BMi,weil and Afellay…

  88. if any one thinks we can right away set with Kevin and vanginkel is in delusional heaven.Stroot is really hampered by injury physically..Van ginkel approach to game has changed since joined chelshit academy,he has lost his golden touch by joining chelsea shit and their antics…it takes time and proper coaching to recover both..i feel bad for NT about 2 great talents..

  89. Tiju why are you stuck in past when were in the transition back to two CBs.When playing with 3 CBs,even if all are right footed it wont make much difference coz the Wingbacks provide sifficient cover with 1 CB free in the middle ahould the need arise for extra cover.

    I think when playing with 2 CBs it becomes more ethical to play with normal CBs so that that there is no miss match especially when the wingers are dancing in front of you.

    A good and pacy right footed winger will have a hell of advantage when lining up with a right footed CB playing at LCB especially when cutting in and then stepping out.

    I know at the moment there is no left footed CB who looks comfortable in that position (crisis)but to deploy both right footed CBs could influence the outcome of big games unless they are dual footed.At Club level it can be gambled but at international level it would be what I always call receipe for disaster.

    VS mexico,super example.

    1. All i want is dutch to win WC or EC anytime soon…i am not a fool to be stubborn to stick with 3 cbs or 2cbs or or 1 cbs.or 0cbs..or only Left footed guys can play on LCB such kind of mythological thoughts.We need to find the best players which give us best chemistry to beat any team in the world..Which is impossible with BMI,weil,Afellay even Blind?,Nijel is bit outdated but still i am not able to write off him.

      1. Steve ,I cant think of any team doing that at international level especially in big tournments by par injuries or being dual footed.
        If you know of any team with players specificially,please share.

        1. Ron vlaar Vs messi Arjentina..Messi was sissy..Alexis vs Rob vlaar .Alexiz sissy…Not to disgrade Alexis or Messi…But Succumbed to determination,character and discipline and courageousness of Vlaar who is 1000 times intelligent than overated stupid brazilian David luiz ,who plays with passion with out no brain…So its valued wilson…
          Devrij>David luiz
          Vlaar>David luiz
          Veltman>David luiz
          Soon Van beek and Bruma will…

          1. Tiju as I have mentioned earlier you are stick in the past.Forget about Wc it was total different story. its back to 4 defenders now under Hiddink and and you jus cant use the same concept as during the WC.

            Vlaar vs Man City,Vlaar vs Southampton.Go and watch these games and you will realize what Im trying to highlight here. its not that he had a off day as you always put it.It is simply being outclassed in repect to the positional play and player matchup.

            If only Vlaar or anyone for that matter has being playing at LCB through out the season then obviously it is preferable but as it is its kind of a gamble imo and it will only be exposed with top teams.

            What Happens when De Vrij comes back.again its rotation. so then who should be relegated to the bench Bruma or Vlaar or should De Vrij play at LCB.

            If you dont have complete team,you cant win,it is simply as that. You look at Germany 2014,Spain 2012,2010, 2008,Italy 2008,what inspired them to the win its was the depth in the squad especially at every position.

  90. well in other new the qualification for Europa league is on.Feyenoord losing to Heerenven and Vitesse winning over Zwolle.

    Van Bronckhorst first game in charge seems to have started on a lossing note.

  91. if a right footed defender shows better reading capacity,vision,aerial stretght,character,discipline and intelligence..He must be selected for LCB over a shit left-footed weak hearted,error prone one…thats what my point is..Fortunatley Bruma and Vlaar out classes every one with left foot..Cannt comment on kongolo…who is mistery for me..looks like a real deal..

      1. Hummels –Boetang WC???is prime last example…but winning is more of a chemistry than left or right foot in my book,u need messi,robens and mullers to win a trophy with disciplined defenders…
        Wilson am not sticking with past,but the past has proved us right footed guys also excels as LCB..so time waste for Carp left foot in LCB.
        What david luiz lacks is discipline and organization and intelligence,Vlaar,Devrij has it in abubundance..Vlaar with Devrij it works well so it could work well with Bruma and Van beek too.Our Vlaar is born in population of small country so he gets less noticed than a hyped idiot brazilian..neither Vlaar or Luiz has problem with their foot..its all intelligence level..this is y i never prefers to see idiots in ground even if they are as skilled as Afellay..

        1. Hummels is dual footed with right his strongest and is comfortable with left as well.

          Further more he plays LCB at Dortumand so thats the reason he is there.

          As for De Vrij,Bruma,Veltman they all play on the right at their respevtive clubs so no use comparing them with Hummels.
          Vlaar is playing LCB under sherwood but he doesnt look promising at all compared to when he was on the right

          1. Tiju your David Ruiz story is pure crap.

            55 million pounds,No body will be stupid enough to pay that sum to a player who lacks intelligence.

          2. that was one reason why Van Gaal was so intrested in Hummels.he can slot in at both CB position.

          3. Stop Defending chelshit and David luiz crap defender who has no intelligence or discipline…Hummels is purly right footed so is Vlaar and Bruma and Devrij..they can do wat Hummels did..End ur left footed crap theory..Wilson u have no value for inetlligence of a player,but i value that most with courage…Which we will enevr agree with…Football is a simple game but u cant play like David luiz or Afellay on Top level..

          4. PLz dont say hummels is extra footed with 3 legs…leave hummels ..our point is LCB with right foot,…i watched ur Video carfully..all i have to say its silly mistake and bit of anticipation from Vlaar…it happens withe everyone…be it left foot or right foot..its lack of ruthlessness and alertness of Aston villa line especailly Vlaar..But what his left foot cause him stopping him from being alert and sloppy pass?????No meaning at all..i have seen many LCB were schooled by fast wingers worse than Vlaar,then y hangng on stupid ,mythological concept??.like in dream chelsea develops players..Afellay out classess bergkamp if he stayed injury free etc??

          5. Tiju Its called being outclassed not silly mistake. This is what I was explaining about fast pacy wingers. well with those kind of silly mistakes as you put it,you cant win anything.

          6. Brazilians and hispanic popualtion is so much more than that of Germans and dutch people..it gives overhypedness,market value and and popularity,whether they are equally good or bad..so u need to learn business and maketing etc too understand the stupid over priced players rate of of Cavanni,luiz and so called many south american guys…its a fact

          1. @wilson …Stop hanging on my boy hummels…plz stop it..he is way to inetelligent than that ur stupid brazilian David luiz..thats what my point is both are right footed do u agree on it???But hummels is inetteligent can read games like Devrij and Vlaar..Hummels can be a hit as LCB with proper combination like Subotic or Boetang,same has done with Vlaar and Drvij in WC…Vlaar and Devrij and Masmersing slow kuyt as magificiant holding come wing back support…its all chemistry Wilson..Not left footed crack pot theory…
            Vlaar can fail over there is there is no chemistry ,it happens with even headless chikens left footed ones..

  92. Tiju as I mentioned this earlier if you play in a position week in and week out then it makes sense, Hummels
    always starts at LCB for Dortumand when Subotic is there.they are the first choice for Klopp so no arguments there.

    As for Luiz I was trying to point out his weakness at LCB being right footed . vs Germany,Vs Barcelona.

    when did I compare Hummels with Luiz.Quote pliz.it was you who exaggrated by comparing Luiz wth Vlaar,De Vrij with your intelligence crap.

    even van gaal could have used Vlaar and De Vrij in a 4 man defense at the WC but he didnt knowing the risk associated with it,thats why he changed the formation.

    1. Intelligence is not crap….IT NEVER WILL BE.i just gave u example as U asked….that was it…i was not comparing Hummels or Vlaar which i did nt do..i was trying to say u with illustrations of 2 examples of Vlaar,Hummels and u came up with David luiz not me..were i found 3 can play as LCB if they are focuses,willing and disciplined,Vlaar had done that,hummels too…Ur crack pot theory was beacuse of right leg David luiz flopped in big time WHICH IS LUDICRIOUSLY a fault statement.its the idiotism and non discipline of luiz let him down than ur crack pot left footed theory..please understand it..

      1. chelshit and David luiz crap defender who has no intelligence or discipline…Hummels is purly right footed so is Vlaar and Bruma and Devrij..they can do wat Hummels did..End ur left foot crap theory.
        Tiju your quote. this was your exaggeration crap. you even dont know what u are writting.

  93. This was your Quote “if a right footed defender shows better reading capacity,vision,aerial stretght,character,discipline and intelligence. he must be selected for LCB over a shit left-footed weak hearted,error ……”

    My argument was simple,there are risk associated with it if they havent played in that position especially in big games. this is where I used vlaar and Luiz as examples

    I hope you can see how you have exaggetated this issue with your crap.

    1. Stop making a full of yourself.I gave my reasons for all my argumennts. yeah you gave a example but then again you dont wanna except the true facts and the comparison was pure exaggeration. anyone reading you comments will know that.

      you see like you I dont big mouth for no reason.
      and pliz Im still waiting where I quoted comparing Hummels to vlaar and all.

      1. Wilson, you are seriously still stuck on this?
        This is totally a waste of time but here are some right footed combos for you for a few decent little football clubs..

        International:
        Germany last WC winners: Mertesacker/Hummels/Boateng
        Spain, winners of basically everything in recent years, main CB combos: Pique/Ramos/Puyol/Marchena
        Argentina, recent WC runners up: Garay/ demichelis
        Italy, recent EC runners up: bonucci/ barzagli

        And for clubs, I guess we can just go with the top 3 from the top 2 leagues?
        Spanish winners Barca: Pique/ Mascherano/ Bartra
        English winners Chelsea: Terry/ Cahill/ Zouma
        Real Madrid: Pepe/ Ramos/ Varane
        Atletico: Godin/ Miranda
        Man City: Demichelis/ Kompany/ Boyata
        Arsenal: Mertesacker/ Koscielny/ Gabriel

        Also, to quote you: “stop making a full of yourself”??
        HAhahahahaha riiiiight, maybe read over your post before clicking submit?

        1. Steve,thanks for sharing,noted,I will admit I was over the line there but I do reckon you also must have done some homework there. I think I jumped the line trying to justify my argument which I reckon , partially makes sense.

          I will not use Tiju as a escape goat here but looking at the internationals it makes sense when you play week in and week out at Club level.

          Pique,Ramos,Bouncci,Kompany,Garay,Koscienly,Hummels all have played at LCB at club level and thay why they are selected there at international level. No coach will be stupid to put a player in a position if he has not played there.

          l think I mentioned this earlier
          my argument was putting a player in a position where he hasnt played contary to what tiju quoted” if a right footed defender shows better reading capacity,aerial Vision,strength,character,intelligence he should be selected for LCB” which I argued was a receipe for disaster going into big tournments especially when they havnt played there.

          Only Vlaar has some experience at LCB and that why I posted that video highlighting the disadvantages of playing out of position.

          Both Bruma and De Vrij has little or no experience at LCB at club level and putting them at LCB at international level would be risky.

          club level Im well aware of teams using both right footed defenders at CB.

          I was more intrested to know which teams at international level deployed the same strategy.Buy far most of them players you mentioned are playing LCB at CL or have played there compared to those who havent played there and yet have been selected there at international level.I hope my intrest is clear here.

          1. l think I mentioned this earlier
            my argument was putting a player in a position where he hasnt played contary to what tiju quoted” if a right footed defender shows better reading capacity,aerial Vision,strength,character,intelligence he should be selected for LCB” which I argued was a receipe for disaster going into big tournments especially when they havnt played there.”””””””””””””””
            I still stand on my point,y crap left footer when u have a robust defender with u???thats my question is…Chemistry is a common fact which requires every right and left footed players it comes with playing time together…or a coach like LVG can fix it up faster than other mediocre coaches..so its not the hardpoint…
            My point was ur point on left foot only and left foot mythology..Everything even stupidity of David luzi and mistakes of Vlaar u have explained by left foot crap….Steve has come with plethora of succesfull examples which i dont want to bring for furthur immeterail argument…First timw it was Chelshit academy now left footed crap theory..lets see wat next..

      2. ur advocating for a crack pot theory..u did tried to show failurrs of Vlaar and Luiz ..i did see that…why brought hummels.whcih i brought with vlaar exclusivly to prove ur left footed theory is a mythological concept..then y u went behind hummels??for his left foot??thats wat called irrevlant points in argument…am not big mouthed man,i am really honest man in all aspects of my life..if thats a bigmouth then i am..
        it was all about illustratiing the foolishness of left foot mythology.

        1. BMI also use his right foot,so does everyone..we cannt play top football with one and only leg..u need 2 legs to have balanace ur body…Brining Hummels from my point was irrevalant and that was stupid to say.u bring lots of irrevalnt and immetrial points in ur argument and u interprets others comment as u like,when u r loosing u tend to deviate the argument…What i look from an argument is that what i can learn from u…ur football seems little old style..

          1. Tiju you need to upgrade you intelligence then you will start understanding what Im saying.I think it was you who deviated to Brazilians,Argentines and Chelshit crap so I dont what to say here.

          2. Intelligence increasing by accepting Mighty Chelsea academy???or or a mythological theory,which i dont think an intellectual upgrade…
            Wilson i think we never had arguments on players..Bar Afellay Vs Blind…Rest was ur opinion on how mighty chelsea academy is how they developed our talents…Another thing is left is must for LCB or else its disaster…3 points i will enevr agree on it.Which is opposite to reality..so i cannt,logically and empirically,Afellay failed,Chelshit acdemy proven failure, and final Right footed on LCB as failure….

          3. Tiju I think you have already said you are special case so I leave to you and your intelligence and how u interpret normal converse. good luck mate.

  94. Tiju let me put in simple words for you.NT will never win unless Players are proven at a particular position.Yes I agree with Steve but most of the players he mentioned has proven experience going to the internationals. But as for Vlaar,De Vrij and Bruma they are not so it is no use comparing them to others who have vast experience playing in that position.

  95. Ugggghh poor Feyenoord…..
    after Achahbar scored from deflecting a Clasie shot to draw 1-1 on agg they go to extra time.. But then Manu has a horrible miss on a breakaway chance, then it is total meltdown as Mark Uth (!!) scores 2 more goals for Heerenveen!?! Kazim got one back before the end but, but too little too late..
    So no Europa for Feyenoord.

    1. Really disappointed for Clasie.. but he had the little injury then they lost 5 in a row.
      Lots of work for van Bronckhorst (and Kuyt!) next season especially if some of the players depart..

      Is it best for some players if they move on to play for a club who is good enough to play in Europe? I am thinking about Vermeer and Clasie, in particular..
      I do have high hopes for others.. Achahbar, Kongolo, van Beek, Manu, Boetius, Vilhena.. but since they are all quite young still then maybe (if they can’t get to Europa then) the necessary step would be turning it around and qualifying next season?

      Good news for 4 dutchmen at Newcastle they stay in the EPL!
      And where will Fer go?

      1. I think Feyenoord has really felt the blow After Lex Immers injury.He was an intregal part of the team and the midfield and after his injury the team seems to have taken a U turn. they certainly had a good squad going into the new season.

      2. Good news indeed for the Newcastle connection now they need a new coach and some spending money!
        Fer should try Tottenham, they will be in Europa League and need a couple of midfielders, their playing style will suit Fer as Poch has got them playing an attacking passing game, he would benefit from playing with Ericksson and Lamela, Rose, Kane etc.

  96. El Shaarawy marked his return with a sublime performance for Milan to get thing thing rolling on the last match day. Van Ginkle also looked very impressive in build ups and touches were pinpoint,also picking up I assist. He is getting there slowly.

      1. That’s good to hear, was it his pass for the 3rd goal, if so it was a ripper.
        He will be our future key midfielder, if Strootman can get back to where he was, the two of them could become a very formidable combination for our team, the best in a long while.

          1. Milan and Inzaghi are looking at the the possibility of another Loan spell for the Chelsea man which is good news form NT point of view. it will be better of having more game time at Milan rather on the bench for Chelsea with limited games.

            Van Ginkle – Strootman

            Clasie

            Hopefully this will be the midfield at euros.

          2. Well, I doubt Inzaghi will be back in Milan next season, so lets wait and see…

            Yes – van Ginkel was pretty great (beautiful assist, good passing, created a couple chances, earned a penalty, but sort of timid with tackles), and de Jong was his usual solid self as well.. would love to see van Ginkel play somewhere next season where he would get consistent minutes so he can continue to improve.

          3. It will be either Carlo Ancelotti or Inzaghi. If Milan are successful in landing Carlo Ancelotti then yeah that will be the end of Inzaghi. If not I reckon Inzaghi will be staying.

          4. @Wilson that midfield would be nice to watch, let’s hope all three have a trouble free run from here on so we can truly see if these lads are as good as we think. Hiddink may have other plans though!

            @Steve M, I think Van Ginkle will get plenty of game time at Milan next season the Italians have always welcomed plenty of Dutch players over thee years and Milan in particular was a pioneering club for Dutch imports (van Basten, Gullit, Rykaard, Koeman) etc. I’m worried if Ginkle leaves for a bigger club he will bench warm, it’s interesting you mentioned his tackling, I’m wondering weather that is a mental thing given his injuries as some players take a long time to get fully confident in their body, (insert Strootman here also).
            I read that Van Gaal is still looking at Strootman this summer, I would like to see him in the EPL, it’s a true test for all players and the more Dutchies we have playing together at club level the better for our NT.

  97. Well I thought this would be not worth sharing but Alex Buttner a red carded vs Arsenal Tula after being booked Twice.Apparently he was playing right back.

  98. It obviously makes no sense for young players to go to top clubs and sit on the bench. It stunts their development because they don’t play. They should go to mid-level clubs, play a lot, get better, and then the might be ready to play regularly for a top club. Affelay should not have gone to Barca and Van Ginkle should not have gone to Chelsea. You can’t get better when you don’t play–duh.

  99. good news for another dutchman. Norwich City has secured a promotion back to Premier League after playoff win vs Middlesbrough 0-2 which means Ricky wolfswinkle will be Feature for them after his loan spell at Saint Etienne.

    1. Do you know how he did this year at St Etienne? Did he get his goal scoring mojo back I hope so, I felt for him last year, he was trying so hard to impress but without luck.
      He might be a little light for EPL as a #9, a bit more space out wide could suit him though.

      1. Yeah he did had a good spell when Mevlut Erdnic was injured but when he came back Wolfswinkle was relegated to bench and was second fiddle to him.

        I think the timing is good and only his form next season will determine the productiveness of his loan spell.

        1. Aguero issmall,Messi is been called as dwarf…light or heavy that doesnt matter as an creative layer..May be defenders and holding mids its essential but creative foward ..size/light weight is not the matter..Ineasta??/Xavi???even Pedro upfront??RVP light??hunter light??if they all light.

          1. If your not strong on the ball it will get taken off you I can’t be more clear than that, Ricky is not in the same sentence as the players you mention, my comment relates to him only not Messi, Iniesta etc. All players must be strong on the ball and for Ricky this was a big problem for him in the EPL. It’s not size it’s having the strength to hold the ball and a player off at the same time, Messi is actually not that good at it, he uses his speed and ability to keep,the ball stuck to his foot rather than strength. RVP is a great example of having strength on the ball.

          2. Yes Vanbanger now its clear..done…..Ricky is poorly skilled with light weight…

  100. this Guy LVG is going to give super publicity for Dutch nation and its coaches through the popularity of Manu in asia other areas where people know only brazil and arjentine shits……LVG is becoming a superstar,he is nice model for whom are looking for sucees in life..He is a psychological expert too…Great LVG….Finally a Dutch man is being recognized in the wolrd of football and managment..(its not about the popularity of Cruyff in europe)LVG populaity overflows the continents now..LVG keyyyyyyyyyy jayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

  101. well Toulon Tournament is about to kick off with NT facing Costa Rica in thei first game. only Anwar El Gahzi is the household name in the squad after others players pulled due to club commitments.

    1. Lots of absentees who I was keen on watching unfortunately… Hoedt & Tete both cut and sent home, Riedewald, Sinkgraven, and Kishna are injured, and then a bunch of Feyenoord players who bailed for the europa playoff: Boetius, Achahbar, Vilhena, Woudenberg…

      Oh well, a chance for El Ghazi Rayhi and Janssens to (hopefully) flourish!

      1. I’m not sure but Brasil, Portugal, Ghana and Mexico U20 were in Oz for a pre tournament warm up, Brasil called my club and asked for 3 U20 players to assist in their training, so we did of course . The Lads who went could not have been happier to get the chance to train with some of the worlds best youth players, it’s a shame it was really poorly advertised here so not many people knew that they were here and playing friendlies against each other. The Aussie team played Brasil and lost 2-0.

  102. Good start for the U21s.. 3-2 victory versus Costa Rica but sounds like it should have been 4 or 5 to 1.
    Goals for El Ghazi (should have had 2) and 2 for Vloet.. they were up 3-0 and let CR back into it, good that they held on.

    What’s the deal with this Toulon tournament anyways? Strange mixed age groups..
    In our group is:
    Costa Rica U23
    France U20
    Qatar U23
    USA U23

  103. Clasie to Roma will be match made in Heaven. he is a CL Player without any doubts and could be an ideal replacement for aging De Rossi. also with Strootman there they both could build the much needed chemistry in midfield for NT.

    Southampton and Zenit are showing intrest in him with Koeman ready to pounce on him with Morgan Schneiderlin departure imminent.

    But again a switch to Roma with be best for him given CL offer. Zenit even though they are in CL, The Russian Premier league does not have the right platform for the development for young players.

  104. Afellay to Stroke will be intresting given Victor Mosess who has had a good season for the Potters .Mark Hughes has made his first priority to sign him on loan from Chelsea.

  105. N de Jong, Leroy Fer and Zoet are sent home…
    Hiddink said on the choices, “Leroy, in recent days, has trained apart from the group, and is not match fit in time. Nigel, I have let know that in view of the upcoming games i have opted for a different type of player. The selection included four goalkeepers and unfortunately for Zoet, there is only room for three.”

    1. So this leaves 27:

      Cillessen
      Vermeer
      Krul
      van der Wiel
      Janmaat
      Bruma
      de Vrij
      Vlaar
      Veltman
      Martins Indi
      Rekik
      Willems
      Blind
      Clasie
      Sneijder
      Wijnaldum
      Pröpper
      Chery
      Narsingh
      Berghuis
      van Persie
      Huntelaar
      Dost
      L de Jong
      Depay
      Lens
      Promes

      Anyone know what happened with Ziyech being called up?
      He is not posted in the squad, I thought he was called up but I dont recall him being cut..

      1. I would do this versus Latvia:

        Cillessen
        Wiel – Bruma – Rekik – Willems
        Clasie
        Wijnaldum – Sneijder
        Depay – Huntelaar – van Persie

        But I think Guus will go with this:

        Cillessen
        Wiel – de Vrij – BMI – Willems
        Blind
        Wijnaldum – Sneijder
        Lens – van Persie – Depay

        And versus USA, I dont really care. I could go either way – on one hand its great to play youth and fringe players to reward for good seasons and check the level. But on the other hand, also seems important at this moment to get more playing time together since dutch players tend play all over the place in their clubs..

        1. mine
          ————Cillessen—————–
          Janmaat—–Bruma—Reikik——-Williams
          —————-Van beek—————-
          ——Clasie————-sneijder———
          wijnaldum——-Luuk———Depay——-

          1. Clasie is too light weight….Wijnaldum is torpido at wings…but little slow brain in middle still 1000 times better than afellay though..

          2. Steve..I do understand clasie can pull out a Verratti or Xavi as holding…But Van beek is quality player though he plays as defender he can play as holding mid,good feets ,good on ball with vision…since We have Devrij,Bruma,Vlaar and Virjil,kongolo and Reikik at back we have luxuary in defense…so lets promote van beek furthur up as Ginkel and Stroot needs time recover damage made by chelsea and injury

  106. Ola John agrees to join Swansea from Benfica.

    El Gazhi relishing Madrid as the Club at heart with Both Chelsea and Bayern closely monitoring him.

    1. Ohh Jesus….thats a bad news for el ghazi….i hope he wont join any of them for next 3-4 years at any cost,if he want to become a standard player…if he joins now..One more talent is gone…Depay is very wise to join LVG than Manu…

  107. Good news for Stefan De Vrij and Wesley Hoedt.Lazio beats Napoli 4-2 on the last match to clinch the 3 rd place in Serie A and qualify for CL.

  108. Van Gaal closing in on Van Der Weil.

    Nathan Ake to join Middlesbrough on loan. bit disppointed here,should have chosen a team in EpL,Maybe Norwich,Watford or
    Bournemouth. I think the move will definitely depordise his chances of making the Euro squad

    1. That’s a shame for Ake, but he does not get to choose, they send him!
      For me it reinforces the problem with young players going to big clubs before they have proven themselves, if he had of done this in reverse ( going to Middelsbrough first) then a club like Chelsea might come along and pick him up to actually play first team football.
      It’s a step backwards now, he would be better off going to Ajax at least they play proper football. Ake will learn nothing and not develop his playing at Middelsbrough but the puppet master has spoken so he has no choice!

      1. I think Middlesbrough were hoping to get a promotion to EPL but unfortunately Norwich danted their aspiration after beating them in the playoff.The move was already in the pipeline 2 month back when Middlesbrough were in commanding position on the points table but it didnt turn out quiet to what they expected.

        Ake will be guaranted game time at Middlesbrough coz of Mou relationship with Aitor karanka from Madrid days.well makes sense given it would be no use loaning him out where he is not guaranted playing time.

        I think the move was already in pipeline regardless of Whether Middlesbrough would have gained promotion or not.

        He should try to force a move to Vitesse rather than Middlesbrough.Vitesse has qualified for Europa and I think they have a good squad to compete for the title next season and also playing at home will put him right under the nose of the NT coaches.

        If he really wants to make the squad to Euros,this is his only option and he should talk this out with Mourinho.

    1. sinkgraven had an underwhelming season but mainly coz he signed late in the winter window.

      He should really form a great partnership with Andersen in the coming season.

      With Fischer fit and firing on the left and el Ghazi on the right…Ajax can do some damage in the CL qualifiers

      Fischer Milik Ghazi

      Andersen Sinkgraven

      Gudelij

      Boilesen Veltman Hoorn Rijn

      Cillesen

      1. Veltman at LCB, big call.Maybe Ajax should sign a LCB with the departure of Niklas Moisander to Sampdoria. There was also news few months back which speculated that Ajax were looking to offload Van Der Hoorn.

        Nick viergever or jairo riedewald might be other options there.

        But looking at the midfield, Klaassen, Sinkgraven, Bazoer, Gudelj,Andersen, Serero , you can expect some good competition amongst them.

  109. Amsterdam football club Ajax, which came second in the Dutch Eredivisie this season and so play in the third qualifying round for the Champions League, will avoid top clubs such as Manchester United and Valencia. This ‘protected status’ is due to Lazio’s 4-2 win over Napoli in the Italian premier league, which put Napoli out of the Champions League, benefiting Ajax. Ajax will now face either Sparta Prague, Young Boys, Panathinaikos, Fenerbache or Rapid Vienna after the draw on July 17 in the third round play-offs, broadcaster Nos reports. PSV Eindhoven, as Eredivisie champions, automatically qualify for the Champions League and are included in pot one for the draw. This means the Dutch club will avoid the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain at the group stage.

  110. Some recent funny stats from Opta Johan you might enjoy:

    6 – Dutch goals in last six DFB Pokal finals:
    2010: Robben
    2011: Huntelaar (2x)
    2012: Robben
    2013: –
    2014: Robben
    2015: Dost

    Vlaar (13 passes) and Bacuna (12) were the only Aston Villa players with a 100 percent pass completion rate vs Arsenal. Consolation.

    Nigel de Jong (72) & Marco van Ginkel (63) were the players with most passes in Milan – Atalana.

  111. Milan Preview

    Nigel de Jong (Games played: 29)

    did not make one appearance as a substitute. If he was fit, he was starting that game. There is no denying his importance to Milan. He was the midfield engine once again.

    Heading into the final match, De Jong had more interceptions than any other Serie A midfielder, per Opta, and he chipped in with three goals over the course of the season. He also shares respect with the fans, giving them a salute after every one of those goals.

    Milan have to do everything they can to re-sign De Jong or risk losing him on a free at the end of June.

    Marco Van Ginkle (Games played: 17)

    Marco van Ginkel struggled to stay healthy in the first few months of his dry loan spell at AC Milan, but he slowly gained confidence on the pitch and stole a spot in the starting XI.

    His progress was steady: Van Ginkel would make deep runs and try to penetrate the defence. He won penalties and played through key passes.

    The 22-year-old Dutchman works best as a box-to-box midfielder, and he impressed with more minutes. “Unfortunately he is not our player,” Inzaghi said, per the Daily Mirror. “But he has grown a lot.”

    1. Copy and pasted? I could tell since you have finally spelled van Ginkel correct.. 😉

      Sure, they were great for Milan but don’t forget Milan finished 10th spot! That’s really poor.

      1. off course yes Steve,dont need to be a genuis to figure that out.Im a big fan of milan and the good news is that a lot of changes is in pipeline for next season which has been long overdue.

        Milan will be different team next season and milan bosses are determined to bring the lost glory back.

          1. Oh I’m sorry, what is your first language?
            I almost thought you were purposefully disrespecting players by spelling their names wrong.

            As far as copy and paste, maybe you should credit your source.
            For instance, Srinjoy likes to copy and paste from goal .com, but that website is one of the shittiest footie sites and often print rumours which do not have even a thread of truth just to get hits (obviously most sites print gossip and rumour as news). If you credit your source, at least some people can ignore and not waste the time reading garbage.

  112. If our CBs once again fail to live up to expectation in the upcoming fixtures then Hiddink should start thinking of building the defense around De Jong. 4-1-4-1 will really suit as the enforcer in front of the back 4.

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