End of Season Update

After some weeks of frantically following all that happened in the Eredivisie, the EPL, the Champions League and the Oranje shenanigans it is finally time for me to write my post.

It was quite a disappointing end of the season for a Feyenoord fan, as you can imagine. In the three seasons Ronald Koeman (incl Janmaat, Clasie, De Vrij, Pelle) one would expect at least one shot at the title. But every season it was the same old song. Lack of clarity who would come to the club. CL qualifications failing due to this issue. Hardly any width in the squad and when the going got tough, the Feyenoord players let themselves down.

This season saw Rutten come to the club, because he “is so good with young players”. The poor coach had to start without a number of internationals (Martins Indi, De Vrij, Janmaat, Pelle, while Ruud Vormer – the ideal no. 12 left as well). The players who took the spots of these internationals are either very young (Nelom, Karsdorp, Kongolo, Van Beek) or transfer free gambles ( Kazim Richards, Boulahrouz, Wilshere).

gio fey

New Feyenoord coach Gio van Bronckhorst

The best deal Feyenoord did was signing Ken Vermeer. With Clasie and El Ahmadi (returning from Aston Villa), one of few top players. Richards was never able to do what Pelle did: score a lot of important goals, while his cooperation with Immers wasn’t great either. Immers scored 12 goals last season and got stuck on 4 this season. Not enough for a number 10. Add to that the fact that “talent coach” Rutten couldn’t get Vilhena and Boetius to perform and a crisis was in the making.

Rutten saw the signs when technical director Martin van Geel refused to sign midfielder Cherry from Groningen in the winter break. “Why sign Cherry when you have Vilhena??”

And Rutten didn’t see enough future in Rotterdam and decided to leave the club. This message further deflated the young group and the youngsters clearly were out of steam at the end of the season. Where the #2 spot seemed possible in March, the once famous and rich club fell back to the #4 spot and lost out against Heerenveen in the play-offs.

My 2cents: it’s probably best that this happened. Young gun Gio van Bronckhorst can now focus on the season in the league and the national cup. Make no mistake: winning the cup is the shortest route to European football and is also definitely a top trophy.

With Kuyt returning to the Kuip Stadium and hopefully some good replacements for the departing Clasie (I fear) and Immers (I hope) and Gio giving the young Vilhena and Boetius some TLC we might see Feyenoord on the way back. Next season: the national cup, then the next season: #2 and the season after that: the Title :-).

1221excelsior-ajax_deboer

De Boer disgusted when Ajax loses against relegated Dordrecht….

The issues in Amsterdam are quite different. Frank de Boer also does not have a very strong squad. Probably, the worst and most boring Ajax ever. There is definitely talent in Amsterdam but the team lacks leadership. De Boer aims to resolve this by signing Nemanji Gudelj. An impressive player. Already on the radar when at NAC but Ajax decided to let AZ develop him more and is now paying a lot more for him. But he does seem the finished product: good leadership in midfield, tremendous shot and free kick in his feet, great mentality, wonderful lungs and legs and a body equiped for midfield duels! With Fisher returning to the team and potentially Rafa van der Vaart returning as striker and Ajax might have quite an impressive line up. The ax of the team might sound thus: Cillesen, Veltman/Viergever, Gudelj, Van der Vaart. Not bad. With Klaassen and Bazour and Fisher and Kishna/El Gazi on the flanks, surely the Ajax fans should be entertained.

The problems in Amsterdam however, are more off-pitch. The lack of clarity between the youth camp (Wim Jonk) and the Ajax 1 management (De Boer, Bergkamp) and the lack of clarity in the hierarchy of the club. Marc Overmars vs the “technical triangle” as JC likes to call it. When I hear that “El Salvador” needs to fly from Barcelona to Amsterdam to help the club find its way, I can’t help but cringe. Johan Cruyff knows how to do it. But this is the problem. He is not doing it. He is merely telling the peeps in Amsterdam how he thinks it should be done, but then leaves and with that, he leaves a lot of questions. Seagull management, they call it. He comes down from high up, makes a lot of noise, and when he leaves again, he leaves a lot of shit, hahahaha.

prlando

Orlando Trustfull as Ajax’ youth coach

Orlando Trustfull left Ajax last season, when some guru there decided that youth coaches do not longer train one team. The new mantra was: a coach switches teams every 6 weeks. Trustfull immediately resigned: “I cannot instill my vision into a team for 6 weeks and then move on to the next team.” And he left to work for the Oranje youth teams. Frank de Boer got Orlando back. The former Feyenoord playmaker is seen as one of Holland’s best coaches, tactically mainly, and is brought in to support Frank de Boer in instilling a forward pressuring playing style into the first team. Timing, pace, coordination, reading the game, etc. And with Bergkamp and Spijkerman not keen to follow in Frank de Boer’s shoes, it is highly likely that Trustfull with be the successor to De Boer at Ajax once Frank leaves for greener pastures.

Congrats to PSV of course. It was about time though. Marcel Brands was capable of developing a number of strong teams over the last years and was not successful when he had the likes of Mertens, Strootman and Van Bommel in his team, under Advocaat. Depay, being the best player in the Eredivisie, supported by Luuk de Jong, Wijnaldum, Guardado and Willems made it happen. From Day 1, PSV was the team in form. Motivated, focused and professional. Not always with exciting football, but definitely with effective football.

Streppel

Jurgen Streppel, best coach of the Eredivisie?

As per usual, coaches like Rutten and Cocu were nominated for Coach of the Year (the Rinus Michels Trophy). Cocu I can relate to, he won the title. But there were other coaches in Holland doing much better than both. How ’bout John van den Brom? Winning 3rd place coming into AZ when there was trouble. The season had started. Van Basten had health issues and decided to take a step back into assistant coach role. Alex Pastoor was supposed to become the head coach but somehow was not deemed fit and was pushed out. Van den Brom played very good football with the likes of Gudelj and Berghuis and got European football. Van der Looij and Ron Jans got to the cup final. Van der Looij’s Groningen won it, but Jans got their for the second time in a row with Zwolle. Not bad! Or Marinus Dijkhuizen with Excelsior? Or Jurgen Streppel with Willem II. I think it is harder to do what Streppel did with Willem II then Mourinho with Chelsea or Pep with Bayern.

Even Ruud Brood wasn’t nominated. The NEC coach was able to promote back to the Eredivisie immediately, winning practically all his games, totalling more than 100 points… A record in The Netherlands. Brood got his promotion in the form of the assistant coach job under Philip Cocu and will assist the former Barca skipper when PSV enters the CL next season. Dijkhuizen makes a move to the English Championship, to Brentford. Fred Rutten will most likely move to his beloved but technically bankrupt FC Twente.

Speaking of Barca: there are quite some ex Barca professionals successful in the different leagues: Blanc in France with PSG, Pep in Germany of course, Philip Cocu #1 in Holland, with Frank de Boer #2, Mourinho (assistant to LVG) winning the EPL with Chelsea, Luis Enrique winning it in Spain while LVG secured CL football with ManU and Koeman secured Europa League with Southampton. Nice record.

And with the different competitions coming to an end, fittingly for all things FIFA/UEFA, Oranje has to play a qualification game some 3 weeks after the end of the season. The US is waiting for a friendly and then it’s Lithuania. Guus Hiddink took the opportunity in those weeks ahead of the games to test some young talents that made an impression earlier. Twente midfielder Ziyech, Groningen midfielder Cherry, AZ maverick Berghuis and Vitesse icon Davey Propper were part of the prelim selection. Hakim Ziyech had to leave with an ankle injury. By now, Jeroen Zoet (PSV) and Leroy Fer (lacking fitness) were sent home again. AC Milan destroyer Nigel de Jong is also not needed. Hiddink: “Nigel was a key player in Brazil but against the US and Lithuania we are looking for a different style player and we decided to let Nigel go.”

ziyech nistel

Former Heerenveen midfielder Ziyech with former Heerenveen striker and assistant team manager Van Nistelrooy

With De Jong, you never know. If Oranje gets a group at the Euros with Germany, Spain and Italy, Hiddink might want to use the beast in midfield but I am personally happy to see Clasie or Blind play in that position. Coach Guus has used the time to play and practice behind closed doors with his limited squad. Obviously, the play off players were not yet part of the squad, just like Sneijder and Lens will come to the squad after their obligations for their clubs. Ibi Afellay, his on Hiddink’s list of fave players, will not make the squad this time. Hiddink: “What can I do? He has not played for three months. He wasn’t even part of the squad. He is 29 years old and it will be important for him to find a club and coach that understand him. Returning to PSV? It’s an option but those come-backs don’t always work well. With Cocu, it did. Van Bommel did well too. But we have seen too many examples where it doesn’t work and you don’t wish that upon any player.”

The injured Ziyech can be seen as the most valuable player of the Dutch competition. The former Heerenveen midfielder was one of the few players at FC Twente, in deep doodoo, that impressed. He scored 13 goals, as a midfielder, and had 16 assists!! Not bad. I don’t think Ziyech will stay at Twente this summer. Feyenoord had a chance to sign him last summer but passed. It is not unlikely that he’ll go to PSV, in particular if Wijnaldum follows Depay to the exit.

jetro_willems_1

At the same time, Jetro Willems told the media he is ready for a next step. This is code for “I am going”. And he is correct. He started playing for PSV at 17 years old in the Eredivisie in the 2012 season and took the left back spot in Oranje at the Euros 2012 after Pieters got injured. He has 3 seasons behind him at the highest level in Holland and had a cracker season, with a good number of assists. Willems probably has the best left foot in the land… He doesn’t mind spending another season in Eindhoven, playing Champions League football but I predict a big future for him and if Man City, PSG, Barca or Liverpool come for him, he is gone. That is the level he will end up, for sure.

Van-der-Vaart-in-extase-bij-HSV-Mooi-voor-club-n-stad-sportnieuws-nl-14966478-1024x577

Rafa helped save Hamburg but killed the coach in the process…

Last but not least: Rafael van der Vaart retained his hero status in Hamburg, captaining HSV in their last game to keep their spot in the Bundesliga. It took penalty kicks for the Hamburgers to stay up and Rafa played his last game and did so for the full 90 minutes. The midfielder will leave Hamburg and will announce his new club soon. I am not sure Ajax will have a chance, as the Heemskerk born wizard wants to continue his adventure abroad.

This is the Season Summary for me. Soon back with Oranje news!!

 

60 comments

  1. Thanks Jan – too bad for Ziyech..
    I was looking forward to seeing him in action. Hard for me to find eredivisie matches to download besides the popular teams matches so I don’t seem him play.

    I love Willems, he def has the LB spot for me. I hope he goes to a team where he will starting lots, or at least like van der Wiel somewhere that he shares a position even if it is not clear if he is the first choice.
    Also I am interested by wilson’s post from earlier, on Buttner – curious that he hasn’t seen a chance yet but clearly Hiddink doesn’t value the Russian league. Hopefully Buttner has a good attitude like van Dijk in Scotland and keeps doing well regardless.

    Also this leaves Blind to battle with Clasie for the CDM spot and I like that competition. Both are great at reading the game, can control tempo, and have the ability to make pinpoint passes which are the most important qualities for CDM..
    Blind may not be too fast but I don’t think he is slower than Nigel, and like JC says “What is speed? The sports press often confuses speed with insight. See, if I start running slightly earlier than someone else, I seem faster.” Ha!

    1. Blind lacks Physical authority as a holding mid…thats big issue over there..Stroot,Van beek,Devrij,Hendrix are the guys who can do that for us with good football.ake was an option but not any more…Blind,klassen,Ginkel are brillinat runnerss Box -Box..helps defense and offense with pin point passes and excellence…they are world beaters if Properly mixed,i mean complimentry line ups or balanced line ups…thats what Foppe de han won 2 titles ,stuivenburg won too…..Its all finding the players who values team and trophy more than Ego and stupid dribbling..

      1. I agree, especially in the midfield there needs to be a good balance of characteristics.. And of course, all of this depends on timing, who is in form and who is injured so we’ll see.

  2. Nijel De jong…has become little slow,but his incredible,strength,Power,Focus…give night mares for any attacker..He instills fear every one he takes on..Born to be a defensive hodling mid…but it restricts our creativity IMO.
    Stroot,Ginkel,clasie, all are more attack orinetd and none is as pefcet as Nijel.I thought ake would be like Nijel ,But Ake seems goin backward due to chelshit academy and their so called Development strategy…unless Ake moves to a dutch club ,mostly we are going to loose ake too..Backward journey of a player..

  3. Jetro Willems vs Mexico. Those who are saying he is the finest talent in eredivise go and watch this game again. thats what gonna happen if he goes to Euro.

    Buttner vs Bayern Munich.only player to have man handled Robben.

    thats the gap between the two players.

    Eredivise simply doesnt has the same depth like before to use it as bench mark for selecting players.Even at the WC,Van Gaal built the team around the experienced Foreign based players,Robben,Sneijder,De Jong,Vlaar,RVP and used the eredivise players in a protected formation. But unfortunately these players are not in the same form this time around.

    Take Belgium for example today. If you have to pick out their squad for upcoming Euros,you can expect 99 percent of the squad to be foreign based players regardless of which club they are playing for,simply because the Juplier Pro League doesnt have the grit to use it as the bench mark for selecting players

    Eredivise vs Juplier Pro.

    Ranking wise yes NT has the edge over Beligum,but looking at both CL and EL,there is no doubt Juplier Pro League has a slight egde over eredivise. but yet when it comes to player selection for NT,eredivise is always used as the bench mark.

    well only when the two leagues are merged in 2018 then beyond reasonable doubt one can conclude which league is more competitive. but again whether to use it as the bench mark for selecting players over foregin based players is no way justifiable.

    Belgium vs NT. Last time under Van Gaal it was 4-2 and given how things has unfolded for NT to date you cant expect any suprises there if they go head to head. Beligum is definitely one step ahead than NT today. Why. They have been building the team around foregin based players.

    I think Hiddink should have started with foregin based players rather than continuing with players used by Van Gaal and than slowly slot in eredivise players if things didnt worked out.Those who cant see this are blind and wanna pretend believing that eredivise can still replicate its productiveness which it was once was famous for. The sooner they wake up the better for NT.

    1. I do not think there is any evidence that the eredivisie is necesarily used as the benchmark for choosing players.

      And also, comparing a serious champions league game to a international friendly is not so good. I agree that it would be nice to see Buttner get a chance, but you shouldn’t use one match to judge a player, let alone comparing 2 players..

      1. Steve what have being watching all this time. Russian Premier league is way stronger than eredivise,even Juplier League has caught eredivise in terms of competition level.

        I bit suprised why Hiddink hasnt called Buttner when he himself us familiar with the Russian terriotor

        1. Steve what have being watching all this time. Van Gaal overlooked the foregin based players to eredivise guys during the WC.How many etedivise players are there in the current squad and how many foregin based players are out there but have been overlooked.Van Dijik,Anita,Buttner,Krul,Van Annholt,Douglas,Wolfswinkle.

          Luuk De Jong take for instance,he was no show in Bundasliga and EPL.he comes back to eredivise gets some good assists,scores ans get selected. what does this mean, eredivise ia the escape route or what,Do they want everybody to come back and start playing in eredivise. this is ridiculous.

          Russian Premier league is way stronger than eredivise,even Juplier League has caught eredivise in terms of competition level.

          I bit suprised why Hiddink hasnt called Buttner when he himself us familiar with the Russian territory

          1. Well, I am definitely not going to watch the Russian league just to watch Buttner. Hahaha
            If you really want to know, I watch premier league, la liga, some bundelsiga and some eredivisie matches, and then the odd Italian or French league if there are Dutchman playing. once CL league as well, only watch Europa if a Dutch team is playing, it is quite a step down from CL..

            Anyways, did I say anything at all about he Russian league (besides that Hiddink must not rate it highly)? No
            I even agreed with you that would be nice for Buttner to get a chance.. Haha

            Have you given any actual evidence or reasons that you think Guus Hiddink must use the eredivisie as a “benchmark”?
            No

            Actually I probably wouldn’t choose any of the players on your little list over anyone on Hiddink’s squad. But who cares what I think anyways, this is just a cool blog by Jan where we can talk about how cool Dutch football is! So let’s relax a bit.

            Regarding the players you mentioned.. I bet that this is Hiddink’s mentality about them: they have either not been consistent enough, they play in poor leagues, or they haven’t proven to be better than the others who have been practicing with the NT and know the managers ideas.

            Also maybe consider to show a little respect and at least spell players names correct.
            (And don’t put words in my mouth!

          2. Steve the reason why I think Hiddink is using eredivise as the bench mark simply because if you go and watch dynamo Moscow vs PSV,PSV vs Zenit,Ajax vs Dinpro the standard of competition level of eredivise as whole was exposed big time and then again when you look at Hiddinks selection using the same players it jus makes you wonder whats in store for NT. Those who have seen this games will definitely agree with me. Only Feyenoord looked a class of their own but they were themselves to be blamed for lossing.

            the talents are certainly being produced but the eredivise itself is not providing the fertitle grounds for them to stretch their abilities to the the nxt level. if you put the same talents in Serie A ,Bundasliga or even EPL,within 1 or 2 seasons they will start to
            flourish big time. This is where teams like France,Italy and England and Germany has surpassed us and this where I think those players who are playing in tougher leagues than eredivise should be considered.

            The outgoing players every year is making eredivie weaker and weaker and when players are selected from here to represnt NT they crumble to adpot at the international stage with gap in competition level.The evidence is right in front of our face.can you tell in what direction is NT moving
            who is the No1 GK,or RB or LB,CB or DM especially after finishing third at the WC.

            I was specifically refering to NT when I said what have you watching all this time. the eredivise players easily getting the nod ahead of foregin based players even though they have looked vague at Championship level.Van Gaal did the same thing and it backfired bigtime against France prior to the WC.
            he than he covered the loop holes by changing the formation .Hiddink takes over,uses the same players in different formation,same story,nothing productive coming out but more pressure on him.

            As for miss spelling I will leave you to be the auto corrector. thanks for doing such a wonderful job.keep it up mate.

          3. Anyways, joking aside…
            I think you are misunderstanding me.
            Of course the eredivisie is weaker, no need to keep making that point (which no one is arguing about).

            I dont think Hiddink necessarily has a benchmark that is based on what league players are in, I think he looks at all the players and makes specific decisions about each ones.
            So you prefer Buttner to Willems, thats fine (totally ridiculous, if you ask me, but fine).
            You give other examples of who Hiddink has not selected Van Dijk, Anita, Krul, Van Aanholt, Douglas, van Wolfswinkel.
            But only one more example of someone on the squad, Luuk de Jong.
            Does not convince me that Hiddink uses eredivisie as a benchmark. Luuk has been around awhile and put up good stats. So why should he lose the spot to van Wolfwinkel who has less playing time and not as good numbers?

  4. wilson at WC…
    De vrij .wijnaldum and Depay were excellent for us…
    only BMI had trouble even Kongolo played well…So certain eredivise players are good and some are not good…
    Williams is no doubt the best attacking left back in europe…but he is prone to horrendous mistakes in defense..thats make him less relaible in defense…this is the fact..
    i really think eredivise players are brilliant and follwoinf are real deals..
    clasie,wijnaldum(arguabily as winger nopt as playmaker)Bruma,Van beek,kongolo,Hendrix are real deals
    Davy propper,Davy klassen are too.Jens toonstra..
    i consider williams as winger than defender where he make artocious mistakes..

    1. neither De Vrij,Wijnaldum or Depay have looked impressive under Hiddink.Iceland,Czech,Mexico,they were all schooled.playing with minor team doesnt prove anything.

      I dont wanna big mouth any thing
      now but lets wait and see how Depay turns out in Epl.Bony,Tadic,Mertens,Chadli all were promising in eredivise but none could replicate their form after depaturing for other leagues.

      1. its all depending on coach and their team mates in new teams unless u r Roben,Messi or Ronaldo..its all team game and dutch players are brilliant and we are force internationally due to our cohesivenss and brilliance on feild rather than individual skill..u need to understand the development system of dutch..Dutch young ones are allowed to play one touch fast and intelligent play with out winning pressure.they are not pressured or obsssesed about winning…so they develop together…this is not the case with forgin teams…so they fail over there..its natural…unless Roben or RVN kind of ones..i do agree that we have plethora of average players like Afellay and co…they are simply incompenet too..physically and mentally…
        LVG selected the perfect 23 for WC i think..
        Kongolo is multy positional player who is better defender than Annholt in my book.
        Wijaldum is 1000 times better than Afellay
        only issue i feel was Virjil VS BMI…May BMI was from begining vs belgium to help LVG .So loyal LVg selected him..Verhage slecetion i did nt liked though…

  5. whether Hiddink russia or scotland high…Virjil needs a chance to prove himself..So is buttner especially Blind and Willimas has weak points.oone lacks physical stretgh and speed and another lacks reading capability and anticipation.

  6. i think mitchell dijks is strong,tall physical left back than Blind and williams,good is air too..may be m itchell dijks and Annholt for LB..??annholt and Bruma are sensationally developing in another clubs after dark years with Chelshit academy..

    1. Buttner is the only LB who doesnt care about putting his body on the line.this is what makes him robust LB. Willems and Blind are pussy no matter how intelligent they are. Van Annholt is the only one who comes next to Buttner but his defensive game is bit sub standard as he often gets caught out when going forward.

  7. van der Wiel was great in the final v Auxerre, good passing, great on tackles and even got an I assist for the only goal of the match on a perfect cross. I wouldn’t be surprised if he holds the RB spot.

  8. Uh again!Dutch NT U21-France U20 (0-4).what they do?Nothing new.Halloween continues…But it is not issue.

    Cruyff revolution in Ajax is main topic for me.And very risky.He had good intentions but the route of big money are unbeatable.
    He wanted the old aces in all positions in AFC Ajax.If I understood him…He wanted the new models of players in youth school.New Van Basten,Davids,Bergcamp,Rensenbrink(dws),Cruyff…etc.He does not want too much foreign players who would be chief.(it is good for them and bad for Ajax mainly)
    It became impossibly and he went(?).Ways of advertising and money are stronger.
    First (A) team will always look for new Suarez,Ibrahimović…
    And my comment on this topic.Pure utopia…probably.

    If Ajax,Feyenoord,PSV have a gold Academy for young players do not need to sell them easily.(in plastic money clubs:Chelsea,PSG,Barca,Real,Bayern,ManC,ManU(o.k. LVG trying something),Juve…haha many people will jump on this)
    The point is to “sell” the worse(?) players from the Academy in the right way.”Player without the ball is more important than the player with the ball”-said Cruyff.
    Outsider players are sent to poorer and weaker clubs(mainly in western Europe) to prove themselves.And they are lost.They have no chance .In this clubs they can not develop self…
    When they are young 14,15,16,17..they should be sent to Brasil,Argentina,South America,Balkan,Mexico…(a year,two, three)
    Then put them back.Many people would be pleasantly surprised.Coaches should then plant alchemy between their “favorite players” and “outlaws”(if they have a character and inspiration for learning in this countries).
    In that case you have “2 vs 1”.Suarez,Romario,Ibrahimović,Ronaldo,….in that case they would have to play for Ajax,PSV..(not too much for themselves).Or to heat the bench.
    Thus Ajax,PSV,Feyenoord will have to fight for European trophies.And preserve the indentity of the Dutch football.With a gold background.
    Dutch NT was good 2010,2014…but it can also be a trap.Suddenly in the hell(Euro 2012)
    I know,Gudelj will play the best what he can for Ajax but he will want to go in the bigger(!!??)club..Against strong clubs he will try to be the best in Ajax.On the Ajax principle of the football.Good old movies.Old story.Old shit(?).

    I am very sorry for Feyenoord.Match Feyenoord -Seville 2-0 woke me up after WC.Great energy.

    Look at this .Monchengladbach for the Champions league.They play a good and beautiful football.Greater success requires a stronger character Lucien Favre (his(?) only weakness).haha Jurgen Klopp beats him on that card always…I am kidding

    And in particular congratulation for AZ 67 Alkmaar.

  9. @Richarde
    lets not say that they were not interested!!!!!
    that loss of interest can happen to a team that is doing great in qualifications and have nothing to worry about so it might slow down in a friendly!!! but this team has been disastrous since hiddink started managing it, and they had a lot to prove today before they start a series of games in the qualifications that they literally need to win all of them!!!

    KNVB keeps postponing firing hiddink!!! till when????

    1. This is what I learned;
      1) We are entering another “winter” like we saw from 1981-1987.
      2) Hiddink no longer has any coherent strategy.
      3) This team cannot defend, and has lost the ability to control the midfield.
      4) This team has no defining characteristics. They have no overriding identity. None.

  10. I am pretty sure Dutch were very much interested in winning this game, and when score was 3:1 they stopped playing and got three goals within ~10 minutes….Dutch can do that…

  11. Peculiar feeling:
    I am happy that my country won and sad that Netherlands lost at the same time.

    Anyway, I will probably stop watching another Netherlands game if I see the following in Oranje or on the sideline:

    Bruno Martins Indi
    Gregory Van Der Weil
    and
    GUUS HIDDINK

  12. Terrible defense. As an American im glad it was the US that won, but that defending is so poor.

    Blind was a mess. His positioning was off, he was slow, he lost possession, he was really awful.

    Hiddink has really lost his coaching skills. Time for the KNVB to make a change.

  13. If Blind’s father were not a NT coach, he’d probably not be playing.
    I have never liked BMI.

    What is the deal with Vlaar–the guy hasn’t played on NT since the WC?
    And Strootman? Is he close to ready? Can’t believe they gave up 3 goals late. Pretty pathetic.

  14. I am so freakin’ disgusted with this team and the recent results. And this guy, Bruno Martins Indi, single handed, gave the crap US team 2 goals. He was, and is, completely out of his element.

  15. Very angry!

    I mean, the game could have enden 7-7 or 5-5 or something like that. In the end we lost. It could have been a bigger scoreline because both teams sucked at defending and in the last minutes Oranje forgot to control the ball and play as a team, something Hiddink has not found at all.

    I think this result is the final call and Hiddink should resign after Latvia´s game or the KNVB fire him. I am sure against Latvia we will win but I am very negative towards the games vs. the C. Republic, Iceland and Turket. With a performance like today we will drop more points. It is a shame to see a team that has so much power upfront defend so weak and that is because some defenders are below par like Indi who is playing very ugly and Blind who is really a midfielder.

    We need a coach that can make this group of players a team, someone like Koeman or F. de Boer. If after Latvia´s game Hiddink is not fired or resigns I think we will not reach the Euro 2016. To concede 4 times vs a team like the USA in the Amsterdam Arena even with the injured players we had it is embarrasing.

    Go for Koeman KNVB, you will not regret it.

    1. Nope, I am working and have not watched yet.
      How about you?

      Something tells me I will be dissappinted 😉

      Why do you ask, what do you expect my comments will be?

  16. Those we are pointing fingers at Hiddink.Vlaar,De Vrij were unfit,Lens is committed to club,De Jong was deemed of no use and the rest is injured.so no use blaming Hiddink.

    1. No use on blaming Hiddink?? You must be joking my friend…Since the guy took over we have lost almost every game that we played. Sure as hell its not the players fault cause with these players we finished 3rd in the World Cup and now we are struggling to qualify for the Euro. And just to clear something out, i was one of the many fans of the Dutch team that got exited when Guus was appointed as our new manager but after our poor performances in the qualifiers and the friendly games i’m starting to regret that decision and i’m not the only one.

  17. Enough is enough…!! This team hasn’t performed the way they’re supposed to, so a change needs to be made in order for our team to have a chance of qualifying for the Euro.

  18. With Eredivise players Van Gaal did an amazing job. Hiddink is done, I don´t know if he will be in Riga next week but anyway after that game he has to go.

    The results are pathetic since he took Oranje. The squad must play 4-4-2 if all players are fit.

    1- Vermeer
    2- Janmaat
    3- De Vrij
    4- Van Dijk
    5- Buttner
    6- Blind
    7- Depay
    8- Klassen
    9- Huntelaar
    10- Sneider
    11- Robben

    No more Indi and Blind as a midfielder…we really miss a player like Strootman and…a hungry coach, not a moneyman like Hiddink.

  19. I just wanna say this one more time,Hiddinks biggest mistake was using the same players which Van Gaal used to play chess at WC.

    BMI,Depay,Blind,Cillessen,Wijnaldum featured prominently for Van Gaal “amazing job” at WC. But as soon as Hiddink changes the formation these same players look like amateurs. it was the formation which provided the cover for the weakness of some of these players which went unnoticed but now in a different formation its popping up from every angle.

    Once again Hiddink needs identify the right players and the formation which best suits them.

    The positive move ahead would be win vs Lativa and then hope come september vs Iceland,all the jey players are back with some other foregin based players. like Buttner,Van Ginkle,Strootman,Van Dijik,Krul etc.

    1. Wilson you are forgetting that Van Gaal used the same formation 4-3-3 in all the qualifiers for the World Cup and won almost all of them and guess what? He had the same exact players that somehow look like “amateurs” under Hiddink!!

        1. Even hiddink will able to beat them with current squad. vs France,vs Japan these were the games where their weakness was exposed and strootman injury on the last hour had sumed up everything fot van Gaal.thats why he changed the formation rather than experimenting other news players at the WC. He took the core of the players that had played together and used a more secured formation.

          1. but either way Tommy with the current squad you really think Hiddink could have done better.

  20. I think time is running out for Hiddink. The defense needs reinforcement and si does the midfield.

    Nigel De Jong should be brought back to anchor the midfield and the formation that will be best suite for thr enforcer role is 4-1-4-1. jus breaking down the play in front of the Back 4.

    Hunter

    Depay- Van Ginkel,Strootman- Robben

    De Jong

    Buttner- Van Dijik- De Vrij- Janmaat

    Krul

    maybe vs Iceland in September if all are fit to play.

  21. @Wilson

    Iceland, Czech Republic, Turkey and Latvia aren’t much better!! Against France you forget to mention that Van Gaal introduced a very young team since according to LVG he wanted to try some new players. After the injury of Strootman he decided that he had no other midfielder capable enough to do Kevin’s job so he decided to change the entire formation.

    You’re saying that even Hiddink can beat those teams with current squad but i haven’t seen anything like that so far!! LVG beat Turkey in both games, Guus on the other hand struggled to get a draw in Amsterdam. What makes you think he could of beaten Romania who by the way is above the Czech Republic in the FIFA rankings? Hell he cant even beat USA’s second team.

    Also you mentioned the weaknesses against Japan and France. But where were those weaknesses when Van Gaals team (using the 4-3-3) played friendlies against Italy, Germany, Portugal and never lost a game? In fact they deserved to win all 3 games….

    Do i think Hiddink should have done a better job with the current squad?? Hell yeah!! There is plenty of talent in this squad for Guus to build something good and to compete against any team out there. Not only he hans’t done that but he’s ruining everything that LVG built.

    Wilson, when Hiddink was appointed as the manager of the Dutch team he said “that its a privilege to coach this team that has so much talent and after doing so good in the WC”. He obviously liked what he saw thats why he picked the job. So how can you say that its not his fault?

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