Jan's Predictions for Season 2013/14

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by Jan

Do you feel the tickling sensation already?

The competitions has started already….

Time for predictions.

I will offer up mine here.

Dutch Competition

If Ajax will keep Eriksen, they will be a strong contender for the title again, but I don’t think they will hang on to him.

And therefore, I believe Ajax’ hegemony will be broken. By PSV. I think PSV have bought the right players and I think with Cocu they will be able to snatch the title. We will see Wijnaldum and Depay shine and I hope Park will sign soon as he and Schaars will rule midfield. I am not a big PSV fan as you all know, but hey…Narsingh, Depay, Maher, Wijnaldum, Rekik, Willems… pfff…

Christian_Eriksen1_1

Ajax will lose Eriksen before Sept 2 is my believe. Once Suarez is gone from Liverpool (he will go to Arsenal) Eriksen will go to Merseyside. Ajax will have a good year in CL but no prolongation of the title.

Feyenoord will be number 3, but will win the National Cup. AZ will establish itself high in the ranking, as will Vitesse. FC Utrecht will not sustain their level of last season.

The Dutch internationals in the Eredivisie will all do well. Janmaat, Blind, Maher, Clasie…no problems.

English Competition

Man United will not extend their victories. Robin van Persie will have a good season, but not phenomenal as Man U will struggle to find it’s rhythm under Moyes. Man City will not have a great season either. I expect Arsenal to win the title and Chelsea will be the fiercest opponent. Spurs will do very well as well, as will Liverpool. Swansea, Norwich and Newcastle will be favorites due to the presence of the Dutch players there. I see Arsenal win the title, Chelsea second, Man City United third, Spurs fourth and Man City will be fifth. Fulham will have a decent season with Stekelenburg in fine form. Pieters impresses at Stoke as does Vlaar at Villa. Pieters plays center back for the Potters. Heitinga stays at Everton but doesn’t get a look in.

Leroy Fer will have a cracker season at Norwich, as will De Guzman and Vorm in Wales. Anita will still struggle as will Van Wolfswinkel. Krul will have a great season too. I think Van Ginkel will see some action in the beginning but he will warm the bench in the business end of the season as such a move from Holland to the EPL is a lot to handle.

fer uk

I think Fer will take Van Ginkel’s spot in the WC squad.

Stijnis created a fantasy premier league for us on the barclays premier league website

http://fantasy.premierleague.com/

Bleed Oranje classic league code: 355721-91979

Bleed Oranje head to head league: 355721-92311

with all the latest group off Dutchies moving in to the premier league v.Ginkel, Fer, v.Wolfswikel, Steks, Pieters

sure to be a great season and great way to keep tabs on there progress

German Competition

Bayern will win it again. Pep will have a tremendous season again, with Robben again in a main role.

Werder, Schalke, Leverkusen and Dortmund to challenge. Elia will resurrect his career and Huntelaar will simply do what he always does: score. Dost and De Jong will also impress. I can see Van der Vaart having a decent season at Hamburg but he will have a serious injury. Helping him to be fit for the World Cup.

Italian Competition

Ola John will move to AC Milan and have a cracker of a season for Milan, alongside Nigel de Jong. Milan misses the title, which will again go to Juventus. AS Roma will have a decent season but Strootman will not excel as he drowns a bit in the Italian fighting style of midfield football. Strootman doesn’t have the time he needs in Italy and it takes time for him to get adjusted.

Nigel-de-Jong-AC-Milan-2012

Spanish Competition

Barcelona disappoints this coming season and the new coach will leave after this season. It’s too loose, not disciplined enough. Ancelotti on the other hand, wins the title and the CL with Real Madrid playing result football. Ozil loses his spot as Ancelotti goes for 4-4-2 and Modric gets a key position with Gareth Bale as free man on midfield.

World Cup Preparation

Van Gaal will pick Vermeer, Krul and Vorm as his goalies. Stekelenburg doesn’t convince him.

Van Gaal picks Blind as left back (knowing he has Pieters and Martins Indi as understudies) and Janmaat and Van Rhijn as right backs. For the centerback positions he picks Pieters, Martins Indi, De Vrij and Vlaar.

For midfield he picks Nigel de Jong and De Guzman for the holding mid spot, and Leroy Fer and Strootman as box-to-box players. Maher and Sneijder are selected for the playmaker role.

Robben and John are the left wingers, RVP and Huntelaar the central strikers and Narsingh for the right wing (knowing John and Robben can play there too). Van Gaal picks Van der Vaart as the wild card.

No Clasie, no Lens, no Willems, no Douglas, no Kuyt

clasie ginke

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  2. Sorry, I posted before reading 🙂 I see the codes now…

    Interesting predictions Janster.. on the one hand I agree with your Dutch predictions but you must have taken a bong hit before posting your English predictions.. 🙂 I think it will be 1. Man City 2. Chelsea 3. Man U 4. Tottenham.

    Arsenal/Swansea 5th. No way will Arsenal win, they haven’t even made any good purchases yet.

    As far as your Dutch WC squad, I agree but Lens will be there for sure… He is EXACTLY the type of player we need.. He shines on the big stage. I see a big move for him to a top club in the next 2 years. I also think Van Ginkel will be there. I think Van der Wiel should make the cut too. Jap Stam would be an interesting pick for CB 🙂 in our dreams of course. cheers!

  4. Mine..
    Dutch–This time i want PSV to win it and so am goin for bit bold prediction PSV and ajax as second.
    EPL-No one will touch my favorite coach MOU.bar SAF.when SAF is not there and looking to squad strentghs it should be Chelsea.if CR7 signs with Manu then they will be the champs.thats seems unlikely.So mine
    Chelsea1-Mancity-2 and Manu3
    Germany—
    1-Bayern
    2-BVB
    Spain
    1-Real madrid(if Cr7 stays and they buy suarezor bale)
    2-Barca-Will top if CR7 leaves Real,
    Cannt predict dutch national team for BRAZIL NOW.its hard
    but following things are sure
    Bruma-will have awonderful season
    Reikik-will have awonderful season
    Wijnaldum-will have awonderful season
    Ola john-will have awonderful season
    leroy fer-will have awonderful season

  5. I would like to see a follwing 23 man squad based on current form with 433
    Strikers
    ———————–
    Van persie
    Seim Dejong
    ———————-
    Wingers
    ——————–
    Arjen Roben
    Ola john
    Jermain Lenz
    Georginho wijnaldum
    ————————–
    Box to box Balalenncing runners
    ——————————
    Kevin strootman
    Van Ginkel
    Adam Maher
    Leory fer
    ——————————
    Pure Holding mids
    ——————————
    DeGuzman
    Nijel Dejong/??Clasie??/
    ——————————
    Defenders
    ——————————
    Annholt—(For & aginst speedy wingers)
    Eric peiters(sure will have a damn goog season with stoke)
    Bruno Martins
    Karime Reikik(will have a hell of season with PSV)
    Jefrry bruma(will have a hell of season with PSV)
    Stefan Devrij
    Daryl janmaat
    ricardo Vanrhijn(For & aginst speedy wingers)
    —————————————————
    gks
    ———————————————–
    Krul
    Vorm
    Vermeer
    ———————————————–
    stand byes
    Clasie
    Vaart
    Vlaar
    Luuk Dejong
    Urby
    Stij schaars.
    ONLY THESE PLAYERS CAN BRING WC TO US.IF LVG TAKES ANY OTHER ONE from these pool of and replacing wth any one it would affect thebalance of the team……

  6. Some bold predictions you got there Jan. Especially on the EPL.

    damn just realized Eredivisie has already started. Ajax beat Roda 3-0 on Friday, which is an odd day to begin the season.

  7. my predictions:
    serie a: 1. juve 2. milan 3. fiorentina
    epl: 1. mancity (pellegrini is a great coach) 2. chelsea 3. manu 4. arsenal
    bundesliga: 1. bayern 2. dortmund
    la liga: 1. real madrid (ancelotti effect,and they signed very talented young spanish players like illaramendi,isco and carvajal)
    eeredivisie: 1. ajax (if they keep eriksen, if not: psv) 2. psv 3. feyenoord
    champions’ league: barca will rather concentrate on the cl and if they sign a world class central defender (d. luiz or hummels) they’ll win it

    dutch squad:
    vorn,krul, stekelenburg,
    van rhijn,janmaat,de vrij,martins indi,pieters,blind
    de guzman,van ginkel,strootman,maher, sneijder,vdv,
    robben,rvp,narsingh,huntelaar,olah john – the rest: i don’t know.
    world cup: 1. argentina (it’ll be messi’s best year: cl and world cup glory) 2. spain 3. oranje 4. germany

  8. Eredivisie: Ajax hopefully… but PSV look very strong

    EPL: Chelsea but if Tottenham can make some good signings with the Bale money i think they will be the surprise chance

    Bundesliga: Bayern is the obvious but there abundance of stars could unsettle the team a bit. I think Klopp and his Dortmund wont be far off

    Spain: I’m going to go with Real due to the fact that Barcelona with there new coach Martino who may need time to settle un like Ancelotto who is used to the big European club’s and the pressure that comes with it

    Serie A: Maybe the toughest too pick but think it may come down to a battle between Juve and Napoli

    World Cup: I’m hoping that if Robben can stay fit, he will be the star of the tournament and lead us too a justified first World Cup for the mighty boy’s in Oranje!!!! Crossing my fingers

  9. About dutch league, I think Ajax will win again, PSV and Feyenoord behind.

    I also expect Fer to be a crack in Norwich, he won’t stay there more than 18 months and will join a team like Tottehnam or Liverpool.

  14. My predictions:

    Serie A: 1.Juve 2.Napoli 3.Roma 4.Milan

    EPL: 1.Chelsea 2.Man City 3.Man U 4.Arsenal

    Bundesliga: 1.Bayern 2.Dortmund

    La Liga: 1.Madrid 2.Barcelona 3.Atlético Madrid

    Eeredivisie: 1.PSV 2.Ajax 3.Feyenord

  15. I would not even be shocked if Rekik makes the final selection for the friendly against Portugal. 3 games in a row MOTM. The guy is not big, but wins almost every header. Calm with the ball and mistake free apart from 1 moment. Oozes class so far.

    Only wished he was a tad faster. What he does for an 18 year old is impressive however. This season we can see what his lower limit is. In other words, what his worst game looks like.

    1. laurent this UAE it is blocked and otherwis i would be earning full amounts in matches of some teams like Dutch NT,Ajax and ManU,Arsenal.Not any more barca at times Feynoor and PSV and Swansea.

  17. PSV played ok. They are young and nervous, and will get ripped apart in the CL. Need more veteran presence to settle play down. They need to play more possession and less like Stoke City, running every time they have the chance.

    Happy with the win, but not thrilled with the performance.

  19. My predictions are very different this time Jan 🙂 :

    Serie A: 1.Juve 2.Napoli 3.Milan 4.Fiorentina

    EPL: 1.Chelsea 2.Man UTD 3.Manchester City 4.Arsenal

    Bundesliga: 1.Bayern 2.Dortmund

    La Liga: 1.Barcelona 2.Madrid

    Eeredivisie: 1.Ajax 2.Psv 3.Feyenoord

    CL, from the most favorite to least favorite: 1. Barcellona&Bayern, 2.Real Madrid, 3. Borussia Dortmund, Man Utd, Chelsea, Juventus

    I’m pretty sure about the eredivisie (except maybe switching feyenoord and psv), the serie A (will be a two horse race in my book), the bundesliga too (but bayern will win it easily) and the spanish liga (Barcelona is much more consistent against minnows, but we have to see ancelotti’s team under pressure). Premier League is a bit more difficult to predict, but I seriously think it’s gonna be either Chelsea or Man Utd, depending on how Moyes will make the team play in clutch matches. Man City can only win it with lots of luck, Tottenham can’t go further than 2nd place for sure. Maybe Liverpool can finish ahead Arsenal, but Wenger’s team has been qualifying for the champions league for something like ten years in a row.

  20. Thx all ;-). My epl prediction is out there I know. I think Suarez will move to London and bale will leave spurs. I don’t like mourninho so I didn’t pick Chelsea. Man U needs some time under moyes and man city….dunno. I like pellegrini but I don’t like man city.

  21. Good think Heerenveen has no money to invest. That will force Marco van Basten to use the youth products and Heerenveen has some talent that might be interesting.

  22. What is nice from the PSV talents is that they are quite focus to fulfill their defensive duty. I saw images of Locadia pressing yesterday by a TV analyst, but Depay does the same and is not afraid of tracking back.

    Hope that Wijnaldum develops this more now he is captain. I felt that he could do more with the 3-1 conceding goal.

  24. wijnaldum is deal.i am sure kuyt wont be able to finish like him ,like the way he scored the firat goal for PSV aginst ADO.
    wijaldum is not choker with ball under his feet he is a LION.Adding wijnaldum with RVp and roben woul make our attacke supre potent.wijnaldum will drag 2 defnders with him and this will free up roben and persie and vice versa can also happen..WIJNALDIHNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    1. That, or he holds the play up for such as long time that both Robben and RvP will either be offside when he finally decides to give the ball away or teams have enough time to defensively organise themselves properly enough to deny the Dutch NT any chances.

      Wijnaldum scores goals, but people who watch his full games notice that he misses big chances as well. I’m talking about clear cut chances that have to go in.

      Wijnaldum is also a player that might sprinkles sand in people’s eyes. His dynamism cloud make you believe he will put in proper defensive shifts and that he will track back, but he often lets his man go. Look back at the 3-1 for ADO and tell me that Wijnaldum could not have done a little bit more.

      For the right wing he could be an option in the Dutch NT at the moment.

      1. @DRB am not satisfied abt wijnaldum’s defensive duties,he doesnt work like others.but he is a super offender,when he has ball in feet in opponent area he seldom loose th ball thats a rare quality.and easily drags 2 defenders to defend him effectively..reminds me of brazilian players.who single handly scored goals aginst dutch national teams.

  25. By the way, Stuivenberg (who took over from Pot) announced the preliminary U21 squad for the friendly against the Czech a few days ago:

    Keepers:

    * Nigel Bertrams (PSV)
    * Warner Hahn (FC Dordrecht)
    * Mickey van der Hart (Ajax)
    * Stefan van der Lei (FC Groningen)

    Defense:

    * Nathan Aké (Chelsea)
    * Joshua Brenet (PSV)
    * Stefano Denswil (Ajax)
    * Mitchell Dijks (sc Heerenveen)
    * Mike van der Hoorn (Ajax)
    * Joeri de Kamps (Ajax)
    * Terence Kongolo (Feyenoord)
    * Dico Koppers (FC Twente)
    * Ruben Ligeon (Ajax)
    * Karim Rekik (PSV)
    * Joël Veltman (Ajax)
    * Jetro Willems (PSV)

    Middenveld:

    * Thomas Bruns (Heracles Almelo)
    * Navarone Foor (NEC)
    * Kevin Jansen (ADO Den Haag)
    * Jeremy de Nooijer (Sparta Rotterdam)
    * Quincy Promes (FC Twente)
    * Fabian Sporkslede (Ajax)
    * Hakim Ziyech (sc Heerenveen)

    Attack:

    * Luc Castaignos (FC Twente)
    * Memphis Depay (PSV)
    * Guus Hupperts (Roda JC Kerkrade)
    * Ola John (Benfica)
    * Fernando Lewis (AZ)
    * Jürgen Locadia (PSV)
    * Alex Schalk (NAC Breda)
    * Bob Schepers (FC Utrecht)
    * Luciano Slagveer (sc Heerenveen).

    All I can say is: Dat LCB spot.

    * Kongolo
    * Rekik
    * Ake
    * Denswil

    Arguably the 4 biggest talents all fight for 1 spot. Though Ake will probably move to midfield as it’s pretty weak and Kongolo can also play right center back. Still, it’s a funny sight.

    1. Agreed on the weak midfield, I only know Ziyech and Sporkslede of the lot. Quite ironically, Ake moving to DM would occupy Sporkslede’s spot, probably the only one which I thought was ok in midfield.

  26. After watching psv yesterday i have to say that I think Ajax will be champions again. This psv is a very young team and I think they wont be able to play the whole season consistently. Their first half was great,but they faded so much in the second. Only Bruma and especially Rekik played great the whole match. Rekik is only 18,what a talent! Now I want to see his consisteny and what will he do after the loan.
    Premier league:Man City champions(Tottenham might surprise with second place)
    La Liga:Real Madrid Champions
    Bundesliga:Bayern Munchen(looks to me like the team to beat in Europe)
    Serie A:Juve

    From the young dutch players that moved to foreign clubs I am mostly hoping to see Van Ginkel having a great season.
    Strootman will do well I think,and Fer can be a beast i England.

    Here is Van Ginkel vs Inter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzBHHz63cXI

    1. The worrying thing about van Ginkels role at Chelsea is that I don’t see his characteristic deep runs. His strenght is not distribution in front of defense.

      Against Russia I think Strootman came off for Clasie, so that van Ginkel moved up in the E21 Euro. There was IMO an instant triangulation visible that was not there before when van Ginkel played as the most defensive midfielder. Van Ginkel is an oke passer, but not the man that really directs the plays of the team from the back. There is not enough magic in his passing for such a role.

      Either he is paired with another BtoB player that really gives him the opportunity to make his own runs and stays back to cover when Marco makes his deep runs, or he should be paired with a holding midfielder where Marco is assigned the responsibility to penetrate at times. He is a vertical player that now is boxed IMO.

    2. Petrovic Leoryfer is one of th most couragous player in dutch sqaud.and coz of am afraid of injury for him.Guy simply out muscle the opponent with with yellow card and thats cool..

    3. @ Petcovic, Thanks for posting this clip of Van Ginkle, i think he will become a key figure in Dutch football down the track. It was clear on the video that his team mates have every confidence in him as they freely passed him the ball when he was open and often let him create the play going forward, imagine in another 12 months how comfortable he will be in playing this sort of role.
      @DRB300 sure he does not pass like Snijder, but lets give him time, his work rate is exceptional im guessing youthful exuberance at this stage.
      Im not sure if his physique will change too much more so its looking like we have a thourobread on our hands, im excited about his future!

  27. I am sincerely excited about Rekik. So far he is a revelation for PSV. Not that stupid LB spot where he was put by the Championship teams or in his first game for City. He lacks speed and offensive weapons to be successful there. It’s maybe not a nice way to watch a player, but I am waiting for his first real mistakes. I want to know what a bad Karim Rekik game looks like. Thought yesterday there was one mistake, but then he repaired it himself. One could also say he lacks that bit of speed that might have given him the tools to correct the Bruma blooper like yesterday.

    All this of course with the thought in the back of my mind whether we should give him a chance to prove himself in the senior Dutch NT. One good thing is, that van Gaal is not afraid to give young guys a chance, contrary to Advocaat. I remember van Gaal giving Alaba his debut at Bayern before reaching the age of 18. If Rekik is the real deal, van Gaal will probably give him a chance.

  28. Let me say one damn truth..
    Since Nijel is also struggling for fitness we have only one trustwothy holding mid that is Deguzman..i would like to add one thing is Nathan ake is superb even at this 18 year.this guy is clearly able to play like an experienced guy in a tough match…its Nijel Vs Deguzman VS AKe.
    We can put Stroot,Ginkel,Clasie there but no one will give the sequirity of the first trio.

  29. I am not sure what Ake tries to achieve at Chelsea at the moment. That midfield is packed and will even be more packed if Mou gets his hands on Khedira. I have seen line ups where he won’t even make the stance, let alone the bench or actually the field.

    He should look at Rekik and try to make some real flight hours.

  30. Koeman finally put BMI as CB again. Mathijsen and Vilhena start on the bench.

    Goossens was missing all last year but is playing today, really intesresting player who can play almost everywhere.

  31. Watching Feyenoord play against PEC and they are having a really REALLY!!! Bad Game!! Awful game, there are some players that under Van Gaal commands seems to transform, like Janmaat for instance, reaalllyyy lame today, as all the team. The building capabilities of this team is pathetic, Immers is a joke of a player, and Shaken too. De Vrij and Indi looked solid, but they really havent enough of work today.
    Lets see the second half, I am hoping not to fall asleep!!!

  35. Gabriel let’s not to judge players on a hard away game. Zwolle has been performing good last year, especially against big teams. They’re very hard to play.

    1. yeah thats true, but they are playing bad, really bad, lets hope they can improve when Boettius return. Did you know Drost from PEC?? He is good!!

      1. I knew Jeroen Drost who was playing with Vitesse, but I didn’t know this one. He is apparently 20 years old and played only 13 games with Zwolle last year.

        Players from Zwolle that I liked on the few I saw from them last year were Achenteh ,really hard working player, able to hold all the left side alone,Benson who is quite known by eredivisie followers,and Mokhtar interesting technical player.

  37. Wesley assist Drogba in the second goal of Gala Vs Arsenal. It was a good assist but better the goal from Drogba, anyway I was seeing the play after the Feyenoord one, and wesley play oke, nothing fancy, some good passes, lets hope he regain his form

  39. I have to say that till this moment , Ajax is two levels above all eredivisie teams. The only case in which Ajax may not win the title is if they go far and concentrate more on CL ” like reaching the semi-final “. I hope the transfer window closes with Eriksen and Alderwild staying with the team.

  41. It seems like Van Ginkel had a good game against Milan today, Chelsea fans seems to beloved him to much!! I didnt watch the game, anyone saw him play??
    Any comments??
    He really seems to have a pretty damm good pre season under Mourinho commands

  42. one positive from feyenoord game is mathijsen has started his role from the bench, means LVG has no reasons to call him to NT and BMI can play regular CB.

  43. Urby played as left back for milan and he was not good at defensve duties,he was more attack minded and that caused some troubles for his team.but some how he made up with his work rate and speed.
    Nijel has shown age syndrome,he was overrunned by chelsea youngsters Mata,Ginkel,etc,thats an indicator for LVG.dutch older guys are loosing stamina and speed to stay in top flight.its an alarm to LVG and us.i never thought it would affect nijel also as he was best runner with kuyt in past tournaments since 2008.

    2. Van Bronchkorst was also awful many many games with Holland between 2007/2010, I remember that he had always troubles, even with Feyenoord. But during the world cup he was one of the greatest player.

      I trust N De Jong for such events.

  44. Read this
    Cruyff: Germans were stronger because they drank more beer
    The iconic Dutchman has reacted to claims about doping use in West Germany and joked he thought there were other reasons for their physique
    Monday, 5 Aug 2013 12:12
    By Stefan Coerts
    Netherlands legend Johan Cruyff is surprised by recent claims about systematic doping use in West Germany in the 1960s and 1970s and joked that he thought their impressive fitness was down to drinking plenty of beer.

    A recent investigation by the Humboldt University of Berlin revealed that the West-German government financed experiments with anabolic steroids, testosterone, oestrogen and EPO in various sports, similar to doping programs in the DDR.

    “I have heard the stories about the use of doping in West Germany and people have asked me whether I noticed anything at the 1974 World Cup,” Cruyff wrote in his column for De Telegraaf.

    “To be honest, I cannot even remember whether there were already doping tests after games back then. I didn’t see anything strange during the final against West Germany.

    “We didn’t know any better than that West-German players were always bigger and stronger than us. They were developed better physically, but everybody always said that was because they drank more beer.”

    Netherlands were beaten 2-1 by West-Germany in the final of the 1974 World Cup.

    1. The most interesting theory I heard is that people in Germany between 40-45 had decent food while people in Holland, Belgium, Poland, Czech, etc did not…. Malnourished. And that has it effect maybe two generations downstream. Who knows….

  45. Jake, I read that too. I did not know much about West Germany doping, but East Germany is well known for that. There was also rumours about some doping clinic in Spain that may have ties to Barcelona and many Spain players. Adding the Argentine Peru “match fixing” scandal to this, NT should have 3 stars above their KNVB logo on their shirts. I quoted from Jeremy Irons’ character in Margin Call movie: “There are three ways to make a living in this business: be first, be smarter, or cheat.”

  46. Nigel De Jong is coming back from a lengthy injury. Expect him to have some rust. He goes to brazil if fit.

    As for Jan’s predictions….

    1- Holland will be Ajax
    2- EPL will be Manchester City (Pelligrini is very good and has a more complete team than either Chelsea or Man Utd). Manchester United have been crap in pre-season. They need a midfield bully and Moyes has never been on the big stage.
    3- German – Bayern will win it but will lose their key games against Dortmund
    4- Spain – Neymar will settle in nicely and Barcelona will destroy teams like never before. Barca will win it all. (Bale will be good in Madrid, but no where near how good he was with tottenham)

  47. In some disturbing news, It seems like Robben will be benched in friday opening bundesliga game. He played full 90 minutes in the DFB Pokal against some average team.
    I hope Guardiola uses him as a regular in the Bundesliga, but I dont know.
    Toughts??

    1. With the amount of quality they have, I imagine Pep will be doing a lot of squad rotation. There’s no way Robben spends the majority of the time on the bench though.

  48. Van Ginkel was pretty good, played 65 minutes, had a few good looks, good passes, good defensive work, was happy with what i saw, but i only watched the first half.

    2. @Paul, that is exactly the way I saw Van Ginkel’s performance, as well. effectively. He seems to have good spatial awareness—on offense, he was pressured by players coming at him from the blind side, but he always seemed to be aware of them, and on defense he always seemed to know where the runs were coming from. He didn’t look lost or out of his depth. Hope they have him in the lineup against Real.

  49. My predictions:
    1- Holland will be Ajax. PSV and Feyenoord need 1-2 more years to mature.
    2- England will be Manchester United. RVP again will carry this team with good supporting.
    3- German – Bayern will win it. I predict Robben will be more on the bench, becoming more like a super sub, stays healthy for WC and explode in the WC to deliver the 1st WC.
    4- Spain – Real will win.
    5- Italy – Juventus will win.

  50. Pretty sure Guardiola will use Robben in the knock-out tournaments and leave him less involved in the Bundesliga.

    We all know he is injury prone and that he is the best player they have. He’s the cherry on top of Bayern Munich squad and I’m pretty sure Pep wants him there at the closing stages of the tournaments.

    Bayern won 5-0, Robben technically scored one, but in reality he scored 2 goals. Shaqiri stole his first goal. He also delivered one corner that Bayern scored from.

    Shaqiri, Muller and Kroos are all soldiers but nowhere near the quality of Robben and Guardiola knows it.

  51. Yet, of course, silverware is not the only proof of a manager’s greatness. Similarly, the mere contents of Rinus Michels’ trophy cabinet do not, of themselves, provide compelling evidence that he revolutionized the game. Michels, who won a European Cup with Ajax, a La Liga title with Barcelona and a European Championship with Holland, is best remembered as the creator of Total Football, elements of which are still visible today in some of Europe’s most successful teams. Accordingly, Michels has received accolades that, in their own way, are worth more than most trophies. In 1999, UEFA named him its Coach of the Century; upon his death in 2005, Johan Cruyff commented that “as a player and coach there is nobody who taught me as much as him.”

    from soccernet.com

  53. Paulo Bento names Portugal squad for Holland friendly
    Full squad

    Goalkeepers: Beto (Sevilla), Eduardo (Braga) Rui Patrício (Sporting)

    Defenders: João Pereira (Valencia), Fábio Coentrão (Real Madrid), Bruno Alves (Fenerbahçe), Ricardo Costa (Valencia), Sílvio (Benfica), Pepe (Real Madrid), Neto (Zenit)

    Midfeilders: Raul Meireles (Fenerbahçe), João Moutinho (Mónaco), Miguel Veloso (Dynamo Kiev), Custódio (Braga), Rúben Amorim (Braga), Rúben Micael (Braga)

    Forwards: Nani (Manchester United), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Varela (FC Porto), Vieirinha (Wolfsburg), Hélder Postiga (Zaragoza), Danny (Zenit), Nélson Oliveira (Rennes)

    Im expecting fireworks on the wings especially with Nani and Ronaldo. Both fullbacks , Blind and Jammant will really hav to be on red alert. Epecially Blind who lacks pace .

  56. FYI
    The remaining of 10 shortlist of UEFA Best European player award

    4th: Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund)

    5th: Arjen Robben (Bayern Munchen)

    6th: Thomas Muller (Bayern Munchen)

    7th: Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur)

    8th: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munchen)

    9th: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris St Germain)

    10th: Robin van Persie (Manchester United)

    1. Gareth Bale pretty muched RvP’d Tottenham to 72 points this year (which would have been enough for a CL spot most seasons, and enough for third if it was last season). There were many games this year when Tottenham was looking incredibly uncreative and average until Bale pulled a piece of magic to get the winning goal. Without him Spurs would have likely been a mid-table team this year.

      And yes, 100M is what Spurs should ask for him. Game changers don’t come cheap nowadays, and getting players who can compensate for losing him won’t be cheap either. Right now they’re also seen as an ambitious club by players (see Vertonghen, Holtby, Paulinho going there). That will be a hard label to maintain if they sell their best players two years in a row. They also don’t have a wage structure to compete with other top sides, so even if they are able to pay the transfer fees of replacements with the Bale money, they’ll cost a heck of a lot more than him in wages.

      1. Robben is certainly a better dribbler, but Bale isn’t exactly the kick and chase runner that people often like to paint him as.

        I think Robben is also a better playmaker and can play as more of a striker as well with the ball at his feet in the box. Bale is great with his head, but prefers to pick up the ball deeper and shoot from the edge of the 18, whereas Robben makes a lot more runs into the box off the last defender.

        But I agree, often when I watch Bale, I’m reminded of Robben. Both are really exciting players who take their teams to the next level

  58. Ooooh, how exciting!
    Predictions for the season:

    Ajax to win the Dutch league, again 🙂
    Bayern to retain the CL.
    Brasil to win the WC.
    Jan to continue posting superb articles.
    DRB300 to continue posting superb comments.
    Tiju to continue posting utter nonsense.
    Laurent to continue replying with utter nonsense.
    Srinjoy to continue copy/pasting Goal.com articles.
    The rest of us to continue laughing at the last 3.
    All of us to have a great year!

    Hup Holland.

    1. hahah boss epic…i actually had a good laugh at ur epic predictions…need more good banter like guys like u on the blog over random retards who just swear incessantly ..thats low class…but on a serious note …guys do let me know if copy pastin useful trivia from around the net annoys u…coz i do a lot of web surfing…so if u guys all visit goal.com anyway…and feel me copy pasting from there is unncessary spam…i wud def stop it…i only share info i think wud be new to ppl on the blog

          1. haha! i have noticed!
            …and i’m only pulling your leg, bud. I have no problem with you posting whatever you wish, Dutch, Danish, North Korean, keep it coming… the more the merrier.

    1. Haha cheers!
      Yeah, I picked the easy option – home advantage.
      A year is a long time. Any prediction now is nothing more than fun, really.
      There’s plenty a slip, they say, ‘twixt a cup and a lip.

  60. Despite finishing 11th in the Eredivisie last season, Zwolle boast the players and teamwork to spring a few surprises in 2013-14. The IJsseldeta Stadion-based outfit made some impressive signings in the summer as Feyenoord duo Kamo Mokotjo and Guyon Fernandez both found their way to PEC, while former PSV forward Stef Nijland also joined new head coach Ron Jans’ squad.

    The Zwollenaren started the campaign with a prestigious 2-1 home win over title candidates Feyenoord last weekend and with the Dutch league losing a host of big-name stars in the summer – such as Wilfried Bony, Marco van Ginkel, Leroy Fer and Nacer Chadli – the gap has closed between the top and the bottom. A Europa League playoff place is more than a possibility for Zwolle.

  63. Soooooooo disappointed !!!

    I am vacationing in southern Spain. At the table next to ours comes your usual dutch beauty with three young kids and a nanny. And she says to the waiter: “espera mi hermano, il signor Overmars”.

    So I get all worked up, don my orange cap, take out my camera … and five minutes later comes … a random dude. Pfffffff

    1. I think shalke 04 is a better team than Milan and zenith , Laurent.
      Believe it or not , I think this PSV may have a chance against the current AC Milan.
      I have to say Willems must get a call up to Oranje. He has become very mature. Best dutch LB atm.
      Wijnaldum was really good tonight. Cocu exchanged his role with Maher.
      Wijnaldum played as a holding mid and was really good. He has excellent physics. Was really good defensively and in building up especially in the 2nd half. Maher was better than the last game , but hasn’t reached his AZ form “yet”, was lucky to score a goal. Good for his confidence.
      Depay made a great assist in the 2nd goal , missed two great chances.
      Matavz is useless. Bakkali .. What a talent.
      Rekik bruma and brenet were all very good , with few mistakes.

      1. I also do believe they have a chance against Milan. Dutch clubs have been performing good against italian ones those last years. I think it would be two tight games, but Milan would finally win with the italian effectivness. PSV seems a bit too young and immature to face Milan, even if they’re probably less good than few years ago.

        Schalke is a good team for sure, they go quick forward with Draxler, Farfan, good midfield with Jones and Neustadter, and Huntelaar who can exploit PSV defender mistakes…Sure it would be hard to defend, but their defense is quite weak. I would see two open games with goals.

        Zenith is too hard for PSV honestly, they’re not necessarly stronger than Milan or Schalke but they really wanna do something in europe this year after their bad performances last year.

        Arsenal also too hard, especially playing in Emirates when you see how much space PSV players let for counter attacks, I don’t believe it.

        Lyon the best one for sure, it really became an average team with a poor offensive play. Especially when they miss Gomis. But PSV would still have to be more efficient than against belgians, cause they won’t get 10 chances per game.

    1. Liked his tackle on Isco.

      The point is that van Ginkel was used the first half as the holding midfielder at the most retreated position. That was my point a few days ago with my post above. Mou is turning him into an holding midfielder sitting basically in front of defense, while I think his passing is not magical enough to dictate play from there. Second half he was allowed to make more forward moves, but despite asking the ball second post he did not get it the 1 or 2 times he was in position for a goal attempt.

      He cleans up. Does a body check here (on Kedhira), a tackle there (Isco) and does a lot of good things off ball. On ball it is not very adventures. That having said, until he came off (and when I stopped watching) nobody at Chelsea’s side has been impressive on ball. Madrid is a good side making things hard for Chelsea.

  68. The only team PSV shud fear and will lose to is Zenit! Arsenal are a joke of a team, no one wants to sign for them except suarez who they wont get…milan r a volatile team and wont be able to keep up with the fitness of PSV…Schalke are in pre season mode…and not really a dangerous team…their star player farfan wudnt get into the PSV team anymore…now that even park ji sung is back..and lyon are abs the weakest team…which PSV wud abs thrash…so yeh this is PSV s wishlist ranked

    1) Lyon
    2) Arsenal
    3) Schalke 04
    4) AC Milan
    5) Zenit St Petersburg

    1. Srinjoy Arsenal,milan or schalke will burry them.these young PSV guys need experinece.that was evident in all matches they played they are way too young from 19 to22..22 year old Wijnadlum is the captain that says a lot.Yesterday he some what played like a holding mid with schaars both did well.both are intelligent enough to play in that spot.
      For me schaars was the best.followed by Wijnaldum,depay,bruma and rekik.Couple of times williems got schooled.at times Reikik too.Matavez is not great poacher,Bakali is younger brother of Afellay.Dribbles well but ends up in nothing and not good at finishing.(morocan style).Doesnt have the mental toughness to stay top and easily get out muscled.
      Luckily Zulte also had some useless fantasy trickery dribbblers in their team.So it was easy for PSV defense.That wont be the case with Milan.schalke and Arsenal…

      1. Tiny you make some valid points n Yeh some of them I fear too but u r underestimating psvs youthful exuberance … I for one still feel Psv will create enuf chances to beat schalke Lyon milan

    1. It was a lucky touch from a brilliant bullet header from our friend Leroy fer…Norwich will be Fun to watch..as will Aston villa Cardiff city n obv man united

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