Kuyt: "Turkey won't park the bus!"

blog
by Jan

This weekend the WC qualification circus starts. for the World Cup Brazil. Holland is in group D and needs to battle Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Estonia and Andorra. Friday, Holland plays Turkey at home in De Arena.

Holland and Turkey played each other eight times before. Oranje won three, we had three draws and the Turks won two.

Holland and Turkey met before in the WC qualifications for the 1994 and 1998 tournaments. In 1994, it was 3-1 twice and Holland finished second after Norway. The Turks finished fifth and only kept San Marino under them.

Four years later, Hiddink’s Oranje had it tough against the nation he’d later coach. In Bursa Holland lost 1-0 (with that Seedorf penalty miss) and that was only a small year after his expensive miss against France at the Euros.

The home game ended 0-0. Holland did win the group and Turkey finished third behind Belgium. Turkey didn’t qualify yet again.

Turkey beat Holland in The Netherlands only once: in 1958’s friendly game. The first between Turkey and Oranje: 1-2.

Louis van Gaal played Turkey with Oranje before. In 2001 Van Gaal practiced against them and played 0-0 in De Arena.

Oranje lost it’s last four games. That is as bad as the series in 1954. In 1950, Holland lost five games in a row. They ended up losing eight back then.

Holland never lost an official game in De Arena. It won 12 games and drew 4. Bert van Marwijk lost one friendly in De Arena. This year, against Bulgaria.


He smiles now…

Oranje didn’t lose one game in the last 22 World Cup qualification series. The last one we lost? Under Van Gaal, against Ireland. We missed out on the 2002 World Cup back then.

Spain is the only nation with a longer list of won WC qualification games in one row: 10. The 22 games without defeat is a record for Holland. The world record is in hands of Spain, as they were once 45 games without defeat.

* Klaas-Jan Huntelaar needs one more goal to equal Johan Cruyff and Abe Lenstra on the top scoring list of Oranje. 33 goals are now good for a fifth spot on the all time goal scoring list.

Dirk Kuyt meets seven new team mates in the Turkey game from his new club Fenerbahçe. The Turkish team manager Abdullah Avi called on defenders from the Istanbul club, in particular.
Goalie Mert Günök, right back Gökhan Gönül, central defender Egemen Korkmaz, left back Hasan Ali Kaldirim and Bekir Irtegün and midfielders Mehmet Topal and Caner Erkin are currently Kuyt team mates.

Kuyt: “Mert Günökis our second goalie at Fener. The experienced Volkan is number one but injured. My biggest opponent on practice is defender Egemem, a killer with a beard… Strong in the air, great timing and tough as nails…”

“The full backs are very attacking minded. They take risks, and leave space behind them. These guys all play passionate football and try to get out of trouble with football solutions… They won’t park the bus in Amsterdam, I’m sure. That is their strength and weakness. If they trail, they start to make mistakes as they become hasty and rushed.”


Leroy Fer always smiles…

Kuyt knows his team mates are looking forward to the game. “They have a re-start too after the Hiddink period. They had good practice games but also lost a couple suddenly. I think that is in our advantage.”

For the first time in years, there is a lot of speculation again on who will start. It seems that only Robben, Sneijder, Huntelaar and Stekelenburg are starters.

But after the Belgium, even Huntelaar has to worry a bit. Robin van Persie impresses at practice and walks around with a lot of bravado. Van Gaal might favour Huntelaar now but for how long?

The midfield line up is going to be interesting. Over the last three years it was either De Jong, Van Bommel and/or Van der Vaart. All three are absent now.

It makes sense now that Van Gaal will pick Clasie as holding midffielder and maybe Leroy Fer, a type of player Van Gaal adores. “Fer is a pretty unique player. He has penetration without the ball. This is something our current midfielders are lacking. Johan Neeskens style runs into the box. I can’t use a midfield with all players who want the ball into the feet.”

Dirk Kuyt is currently vice-skipper under Van Gaal. He recognises the fact that opponents will have lost their respect for Oranje. “That is gone. If you lose against Denmark, Portugal and Belgium, you are back down on the ground. And we lost confidence too. Under Van Marwijk, we did have that feeling of “we will win this” whenever we walked onto the pitch. We need to find that again.”


Jordy Clasie wins the silver boot and receives it from his idol Willem van Hanegem

Kuyt doesn’t want to talk about the past anymore. “The issues that we had have been discussed. The meetings and talks were very good. The noses are pointing into the same direction. And we agreed not to share the information with the media, haha.”

“But the key thing is, to realise you are a part of a bigger thing: the team. If you as an individual can make that happen, you can win. Even if you’re Greece, like in 2004. We were WC finalist in 2010 as a result of this. And we can do it again in Brazil. We still have tremendous quality. Players like Sneijder, Van Persie, Huntelaar are in their prime. And players like Fer, Clasie and Narsingh will only get better.

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0 comments

  1. Kuyt, Since your absence, all hell have broken loose. Now I know why Van Marwijk insisted in your presence. I have to admit, I never understood your presence in the starting line up, but now I get it. So thank you for that
    If only you were a defensive midfielder, I think you would be playing in all of the games. Wait! that isn’t a bad idea…@VanGaal

  2. Hi guys!
    Great posts, great ideas, I really enjoy reading all your
    debates!
    IMO the most important is for LvG to balance the team and with all newcomers I believe that slowly the new great era will begin for Oranje.
    If I were LvG I would field the following lineup:
    —————-Steks——————-

    Heitinga–>–Vlaar–>Viergever–>——-
    —————-Clasie———–Willems

    ———-Fer——–Strootman———-

    Robben——————–<–Sneijder—

    ————–van Persie—————-

    1. Heitinga at RB (already played there) would be good cover for Robben and also move towards central defence to reduce space when under pressure.
    2. Vlaar and Viergever (or BMI) also moving to the left, so that Viegerver could cover Willems (more adavnced role).
    3. Calsie as the holding playmaker, Fer & Strootman as the box to box midfielders (covering a lot of space).
    4. Robben on the RW penetrating to the box (defenders will go at him, so there will be more space vor vP and Sneijder, also opportunities for shots and killer balls).
    5. Sneijder on the half left side (mix of AMC & LW) cutting inside from left (opportunities for shots and killer balls), with Willems with advanced LB role overlapnig.
    6. van Persie with complete free role, this what he knows best! just let him play like he wants and he will score loads (thats whats he is doing at club level).

    I know LvG wont do this, but I feel that this could be great balanced lineup for the future, but of course it needs time to gel this formation and players to understand their roles, and have a great knowledge of eachother.

    @Van Gaal as Gio would said 😉

  3. Telegraaf reports MAJOR changes to team….
    KRUL
    JANMAAT HEITINGA MARTINS I WILLEMS
    SNEIJDER CLASIE STROOTMAN
    NARSINGH VAN PERSIE ROBBEN

    Holy smokes – I dont mind it but talk about a totally unexpected team line up ??????

    2. that’s… huge. I’m really gonna be speechless if Van Gaal really sends out those man! 😀

      Not a bad lineup, some players already proven on their respective clubs…

      I never saw Janmaat’s game, so I can’t judge if he’s better than Van Rhijn (on PES, Janmaat is first choice on my Become a Legend mode, LOL :D).

      And Van Persie, although people tend to judge him unfairly when wearing orange shirt, he has good history when it comes to qualifying games (as I remembered… think of San Marino 11-0 rout…). So, no problem for me. Especially, on this lineup, Narsingh-Robben designed to cross a lot.

      This would be surprising for Turkey, but perhaps our player will be surprised as well. 🙂

  5. The only time I saw Oranje live was a friendly in the Arena against Turkey in late 2010. My memory is that there were as many Turkish fans as there were Dutch … certainly the Turks were louder, not to mention the half dozen flares their fans threw on the pitch.

    I went to get a beer and luckily as I was walking back down the stairs to my seat I saw Huntelaaaaaaaar score. It was the only score of the game!

  7. I saw LVG’s alleged line up and although I do like a surprise every now and then, I simply don’t get this….

    Clasie and Fer are not tested yet. Clasie never played for Oranje. I love the lad and he is definitely Oranje material, but why throw him for the lions NOW?

    And what has Strootman done wrong? He has been part of the squad for years now and is now suddenly told he’s behind Fer and Clasie?

    And didn’t LVG tell Van Persie only 3 weeks ago that Hunter was the #1 striker??

    So wtf happened??

    I think LVG is taking big risks!!

    Krul for Stekelenburg? Great.

    Martins Indi for Mathijsen? Yep.

    Janmaat for Van der Wiel (and before Van Rhijn). Ok.

    But the heart of the team with two new lads? Hmmm……

    And the Hunter / Van Persie thing seems weird to me.

    I would – by the way – always play them both…

    But that is me. Two top strikers. Count your blessings…

    I’d play them in a 4-4-2 (to make it 4-2-4 in possession).

    Robben Strootman Sneijder Fer in midfield

    Or something like that…

    DONT SCREW IT UP LOUIS….

    As if he is saying: “I am Louis van Gaal and I will make my mark on this team and do what no one expects…” Ugh….

    1. Easy, Jan. It’s just the Telegraaf. We’ll see what happens.

      The midfield is going to be overhauled, one way or another. Either Fer or Clasie will get a trial by fire…

      …but a 4-4-2? You’d have to put LVG in cement shoes in the Noordzee first. 😉

  8. kuyt is pretty vocal always,but most of the time orange won coz of skills of RVN, roben,sneijder,persie and the toughness of bommel and dejong in the mid and the loyal Joris + world class barca left back giovani…
    Eversince gio left the LB postion dutch had a problem..he was lucky to play with worldclass players like Roben,persie,Sneijder and vaart.Since 2004 to till date..when persie,roben,sneijder,vaart,dejong,Joris,Bommel,johny were young orange didnt had the problem,but when they had a bad time kuyt couldnt save the team.he got exposed.Most of the time he played as defender.it did help us in dying moments of evry game,but his presence always reduced the sharpness of dutch attack.He should hang up his boots and should make way for younger players.if he really loves dutch team.he should get out of his personal interests to reach 100 games for dutch team.or if he loves the team he could join the team as a mentor or workethics teacher,thats what he should do.

  9. if turks parks the bus or not…DUTCH MUST WIN…..
    IF Johny boy takes the lead in back with the help of Fer,strootman and clasie….it would be an amazing match.
    Dutch need a tough performance from heitinga…he can do that….My intution is saying LVG will stun evrybody and dutch will win a thrilling match…….3-2…

      1. actually this line up makes a lot more sense than the others posted before. Kuyt will help the right wing because he tracks back. We will lose a little in offense we gain a lot in defense. Persie and Robben should be able to score one anyway.

  11. Whatever lines up, I would expect everyone shows the desire to win, help each other out, no gap in the unit and plays like there is no tomorrow. Let’s go and win this game! Still nervous…

  12. Does anyone know what time the game is for North America? Would you be able to let me know (either in Pacific, Mountain, Central or Eastern time)? Just one timezone and I can figure out..
    Many thanks.

    1. the game is 6.30 PM UTC
      for central time zone, it’s -5 (DST) or -6 (non-DST). I forgot when the DST takes effect (my country doesn’t use DST, so I don’t bother remembering it).

      so, either 1.30 PM or 12.30 PM

  13. Krul in for Steks sounds like a decent idea to me… Stekelenburg has been in poor form (at least for Oranje, haven’t seen him for his club) for a little while now… and Vermeer is looking fantastic at Swansea too…

  15. LVG knows if he selects experienced players he is goin to loose so why not a gamble…….So he is gambling…i pray that he wins this gamble and new lads show what they have for national team

  18. I love the new call ups. Yes it’s a gamble, but sometimes risks pay off. Fer is a great midfielder and he’s only 22. He’s big, strong, has a great mind, can shoot, pass, tackle and dribble. I am a big fan of Strootman as well and I think he has progressed a lot. His passing is superb but PSV look a little lost at the moment with their play.

    The gem in all this Oranje youth is Jordy Clasie. Barcelona may be able to find and develop players for every position but the one player they don’t have an answer for is Xavi. Just as Italy will have a torid time replacing Pirlo. Clasie looks like that deep lying play maker. He can play holding or a more central role and dictate the game with his passing. I hope he develops a few more seasons with Feyenoord and Barca pick him up. Let’s see how he does today…

    Hup! Holland! Hup!

  19. You need to have balls to throw that eleven that seems very promising and exciting. New blood, talented guys. I was nervous of seeing Mathijsen there, the only player I am worried about. But it seems Van Gaal saw the same in him that we have said in this blog…he is useless now. Heitinga has to have a perfect game.

    A 2-1 win for Oranje I predict. Let’s enjoy!

  20. OMG!

    ‘Huntelaar, Van Rhijn en Fer in de basis tegen Turkije’

    07/09/2012 18:45

    Het beoogde basisteam van Louis van Gaal verschilt flink van het elftal dat de bezoekers van VI.nl voor ogen hebben voor de WK-kwalificatiewedstrijd tegen Turkije.

    Jordy Clasie en Daryl Janmaat mogen zich verheugen op hun eerste interland, maar in het favoriete elftal van de bezoekers van VI.nl zijn de twee Feyenoorders niet verkozen. Ajacied Ricardo van Rhijn krijgt als rechtsback de voorkeur boven Janmaat, terwijl Leroy Fer op het middenveld staat in plaats van Clasie.

    Maar ook in de aanval zitten de bezoekers van VI niet op één lijn van met Van Gaal. Waar de Oranje-bondscoach opteert voor Robin van Persie als spits, daar krijgt Klaas-Jan Huntelaar beduidend meer stemmen. De spits van Schalke 04 is met 65% onbetwist de eerste keuze.

    Ook de keuze voor Tim Krul als doelman wordt niet gedragen door de bezoekers van VI.nl, die met 78% hun voorkeur voor Maarten Stekelenburg duidelijk kenbaar hebben gemaakt.

  21. I had a dream… a nightmare that Oranje played all younger players and lost 5-0. I was in shock. Anyway, LvG is doing the right thing, he’s testing younger players and the road to the WC is long, even with a loss today.

  23. It looks like is true:

    XI #Oranje: Krul, Janmaat, Heitinga, Martins Indi, Willems, Clasie, Sneijder, Strootman, Narsingh, van Persie y Robben.

    @Jan, I think LVG made his team according what he observed on the practices, and the players physics conditions. That´s why he chooses Janmaat instead RVR, because the first one were in better shape than the second.

    I agree to choose Clasie over Fer, because Clasie is a faster MD with a lot of build up skills while Fer is more Strootman kind of player, box to box. LVG prefer one MD instead 2 box to box players. He likes a midfield with one 10, 8 and 6. So, (Sneijder will play 10, Clasie 6 and Strootman 8)

    Also I like BMI playing instead Mathinsen… we will see if he is better than Viergiver…

    Feyenoord come back to orange: Clasie, RVP, MBI, Janmaat!

  24. almost three months ago, we were playing denmark with a burden of 3rd favorite over our shoulder. everyone here was nervous. there was less excitement then.
    now things look to have completely changed. at least for me. i am less nervous and far too much excited to see the new bunch of guys. oranje revolution starts here led by LVG.
    share some live streaming links guys.

  25. Me too, very exited!

    U21 are beating Austria 4-1

    XI: Zoet, Leerdam, Bruma, Nuytinck, Blind, Maher, Wijnaldum, Van Ginkel, John, Zeefuik, Wildschut.

    Wildschust, the player I mentioned yesterday, is playing.

  29. Ok guys! Here go, I’m watching SBS6 broadcast and the teams are in the tunnel. Huge athmopshere at Amsterdam Arena and the optimistic talking-heads in the studio have predicted a 2-1, 2-0 win for Oranje. Lets hope they are right.

    Brazil here we come!

  37. good goal. Nice. The team is more cohesive at the moment.

    But imagine how it would be if BMI had scored an own goal. BTW, if BMI is nervous then I am 10X more nervous because of him.

  39. after a nervous start, a header close to the post by Turkey and a mix up by Krul-Martins, Sneijder lost the ball, we get better now. Jamaat just made a mistake! We need a second goal. Other than mix up Krul is in good poistion.

    1. our defense is still shit. LVG made too many changes. The only reason we didn’t concede yet, other than pure luck, is our midfield is actually cutting some attacks.

      But we look shit in the back. Sorry.

  51. SamDC, agree. What a disgrace for these fans to use laser at the game. The LB, RB worry me. I like Clasie and Strootman hustling. We are missing one more creative midfield so either Clasie or Strootman needs to raise up their level.

  52. Janmaat will get a rest this second half for Van Rhijn, I hope.

    Willems and Martins Indi both have had weak moments.

    We’ll see who LVG works in. It’s a lively match, that’s for sure. 🙂

  53. Action packed first half! Our defense is looking good with the exception of Janmaat. v.Rhijn needs to come on. Our main problem is this…

    Krul
    Janmaat – Heitinga – Martins Indi – Willems
    – – – – – – – – Clasie – – – – – – – –

    – – Strootman – – – – – Sneijder – –
    Narsingh – v.Persie – Robben

    There is just TOO MUCH SPACE BETWEEN ATTACK AND DEFENSE. I don’t understand why the attackers are pushing so far up. By the time a pass is played forward the Oranje player gets closed down and passes it back. We need to play tighter. Shorter easier passes and play our way forward. If we can fix that and sub out Janmaat we can have a great 2nd half. Hup Holland!

  56. Daryl Janmaat looks extremely shaky and vulnerable. Van Rhijn should replace him a.s.a.p.
    Martins Indi is so so tensed..He’s always looking to play the back-pass and find Krul.
    Strootman has been excellent so far and Clasie is a huge star in the making.He is quick thinking, has good vision and to top it all, he’s an excellent passer. He looks so calm and composed unlike the other youngsters..Certainly one for the future.

    Negatives- The build up is slow and the defence is still quite static and vulnerable. The build-up needs to start from the back and it becomes impossible if your LCB and LB keep on back-passing to the goalie like that.

    Narsingh and Robben should be quicker in releasing their passes.

    Clasie needs to be involved in the build-up play. I want to see Clasie combining with Sneijder to inculcate more fluidity in our attack.

  57. Janmaat is really bad !
    BMI made a mistake with Krul , but i think overall he was accepted !
    Narsingh should be replaced .
    i liked clasie and Strootman a lot .
    Sneijder is not in his best . Robben and Persie are very good .
    Heitinga is not bad , but he should be a more of a leader in the defence .
    i think kuyt and van rijn should play in the 2nd half . we need a better right side .

    Hunter in , sneijder out and try classic 442 !!

  58. Fer for Clasie would create more control in midfield. Too many side to side and back passes from the centerbacks.

    Janmaat needs to leave. I rather bring in Hunter for Narsingh.

  60. It actually looks more like
    Krul
    Janmaat – Heitinga – Martins Indi – Willems
    – – – – – – – – Clasie – – – – – – – –
    –
    –
    –
    –
    –
    –
    – – Strootman – – – – – Sneijder – –
    Narsingh – v.Persie – Robben

    This is why play is side to side and back. The backline has the ball more than our midfield. The midfield is where the ball should be and we should pass a lot more.

  74. Turkish players lost much steam. Also the changes have been good. Fer > Clasie and vRhijn > Janmaat. Narsingh is slow at passing sometimes he had two chances for players clear on goal and was too late passing the ball forward.

  79. Guys, it was a very tough game, but as long as result goes, HUP ORANJE!!!

    And I have a thing to say… ROBBEN DUTCH MAESTRO! 4 clear nutmegs, and terrific second half!

  85. Robben… Strootman… Martins Indi, once he settled down…

    Narsingh!

    Great match. Hup, Holland! Three points for WC2014, and a big monkey off of LVG’s back.

  87. people, can somebody explain to me were this kid Fer was during the euros?
    I don’t believe he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and became good in 2 months..please can somebody tell me
    thank you

    1. Fer has been a developing player for the last 2-3 years. He was a versatile player for Feyenoord before moving to Twente where he is fully displaying his talent. BvM was too stubborn to bring in any new talent and relied too much on an aging v.Bommel and bullish destroyer De Jong.

      BvM did bring on Strootman but Fer should have come on as well. Glad he’s playing for Oranje now

      1. thanks OranjeBoom good to know that….
        full marks to him, determination, concentration, positioning….everything we were looking for. I hope he keeps it up.
        Strootman man of the match
        but Fer really made me believe that Holland’s future looks good…

        1. Fer was great… but that pass from Strootman. Wow.

          There was some really fine Dutch football in the second half. I feel happy, and a bit tingly.

          Clasie had a fine debut, too, in my eyes. The Turkish midfield is tough. He held his own and then some.

          But that pass from Strootman….

  88. Heitinga plays better than I expect him to. I hope these young players learn well. In a big tournament we cannot make mistakes like these anymore, but that is 2 years away so a lot of time. It is a good start and we are lucky as well. We certainly can get better as there are room for improvements.

  91. Great result to get the ball rolling! A lot of heart and determination by Oranje. Hup Holland!

    It’s just my opinion but I don’t think this style suits Sneijder. Aside from the 1 incisive pass to Robben he didn’t contribute much of anything. He looked that way against Belgium as well. Janmaat was the weakest player on the pitch but Sneijder is far far below his 2010 form.

  93. this is the first competitive game for many of these kids.. they showed some skill and poise. certainly, you’d expect the nerve factor to be there but they settled well and didn’t cave in. I think Krul is better than Stekelenberg and I salute LvG for experimenting with younger kids. at points during the game I couldn’t believe how some of these kids are running all over the place. Strootman is a future vBommel and captain.

  94. Robben is much better on the left side in my opinion.
    Opponents cannot read him as good as on the right side where he almost always cuts in.
    A solid win,but a tough match as expected with all these new players.

  95. Let’s not kill Clasie, I think the nerves got to him and he was a bit confused especially with positioning himself…
    I still think Willems is a work in progress, he is so casual, bad at marking, cannot make decent crosses. Sorry but I don’t see him yet. If Van Gaal was able to try Janmaat, Van Rijn for the right back position why didn’t he try another player now that BMI is certainly going to play central.
    I hope pieters comes back, and to the form he demonstrated before his injury. Besides that, fantastic result and good game. Hup Holland

  97. it was an interesting and entertaining game. in the first half the defence was catastrophic,it could have been 4-3,but halftime luis corrected the errors,in the second half the team played in a more compact way,the turkish team had only one decent chance. good start,congratulations to luis.

    1. Agreed. Watching the first half, I was worried that we would conceed a goal at any time, not because Turkey were all that good, but because the defence was so horrendous.

      Second half I was never nervous. Whatever LVG said worked and the subs did the trick, Oranje looked comfortable from then on and I could not see us losing after the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half had played out.

      Well done Oranje and LVG, just what we needed.

  99. the best part was the number of goals we conceded today

    (*it certainly could have been a higher number but we will take it and store it the ‘learning curve’ drawer’)

  100. I only watched around 30 mins in 2nd half and I liked the play. Good technique, good effort in defense and ball denying, game was under control. Still we have difficulty translating chances to goals. Congrats to all Dutch fans. Good job LVG.

  101. I liked BMI a lot , the guy is very “educable” , can turn into an excellent defender within the next 2 years .
    i really hope buttner starts to play with man utd . we need him badly . Waiting for Pieters too .
    same case with Van der weil , Oranje definitly needs him but with 2010 form .

    i think douglas have a place in the back , same with boulahrouz .
    I liked van gaal and BMI after the 2ng goal 😀 😀 😀

    1. I don’t know but I thought the back 4 were solid after they got over their nurvousness.. Rijhn-Heitinga-BMI-Willems were all good. Douglas will need to fight for a place. No more slow players that get burned by quicker players like Euros.

  103. My ratings for this game

    Krul 7.0
    Had a mix up with Martins. Should clearly call for his ball so there’s no interference from defenders. Great save in the 2nd half.

    Willems 6.0
    Still has a lot to learn. Gave up the ball that could have clearly resulted in a goal. Better in the 2nd half. LB position is still up for grabs.

    Heitinga 7.0
    Decent game from the veteran. Feeling the pressure from the competition maybe?

    Martins 6.0/10
    He had a dangerous moment where he could have scored an own goal in a mix up with Krul. Recovered quickly and saved himself. Better performance from him in the 2nd half

    Janmaat 4.0
    Really looked shaky. The Turks immediately identified him as a weak spot and started to run their offense through his side of the field. Very risky pick for LVG. Needs a lot of experience. Can’t see him start in the near future if both Van Rhijn and VDW are fit.

    Clasie 5.5
    Did alright defensively. Not much in terms of building up or taking initiative. Substituted a few minutes after halftime.

    Sneijder 6.0
    Subdued game from the captain compared to his past glorious performances.

    Strootman 8.0
    Very solid performance. Could be an automatic starter very soon if he keeps this up. Not a flashy guy but does his job very effectively. Good defending when needed also.

    Robben 8.0
    Very active. Could have scored a goal if it wasnt for RVP interfering. Gave the defenders a very tough time on the left side. Good passing and no unnecessary shots on goal or selfish attempts.

    RVP 7.5
    Great goal. Decent game overall.

    Narsingh 8.0
    Cool and calm finish scoring the 2nd goal. Great speed. Had a much better 2nd half. 3 goals in 3 games for Oranje makes him hard to drop. He needs to work a bit more on his aerial crosses from the right side.

    Subs

    Van Rhijn 7.0
    Stabilized the defense after replacing Janmaat. Still developing.

    Fer 5.0
    Didn’t see much from him in the 2nd half. Should assert himself more especially when Sneijder seemed a bit withdrawn in leading the offense.

    Vlaar
    Only few seconds in stoppage time after replacing Heitinga who seemed like he had cramping in his legs.

    LVG 7.5
    Very gutsy starting lineup. Too many inexperienced starters for a very critical qualifier against one of the better teams in the group.
    Made good substitutions in the 2nd half.
    I was impressed with the team’s ability to grind out a result in the 2nd half. We were able to suck the pressure towards the end in order to put the three points on the table.

    2. Narsingh’s crosses will only get better. Didn’t he serve up twenty-something of them last season? His first touch looks pretty good to me, too. Really opens up the right side.

      I’d give LVG a bit more credit, for his emotional growth. 😉 We wouldn’t have won this match if LVG were as rigid as he’s made out to be: He started Heintinga and Narsingh to great effect.

      Neither one of them would have started if LVG had stuck rigidly with his own rule.

      And how about that pass from Strootman…

    1. I love Stekie.

      But with the whole defense in disarry, LVG took a big risk and — with the exception of Johnny H — just cleaned house.

      Krul had a great game. Hard to know how he and the defense talk to each other (esp. with that scary mixup with Martins Indi).

      Bottom line: Defense held today. Krul gets a clean sheet, and more confidence and authority with the NT. 🙂

  108. With Pieters, Van Rhijn, M.Indi, Willems, Douglas, Bruma, Büttner, Aanholt, Viergever, Vlaar…we have a good group of defenders. Heitinga payed well but we need him to lead them.

  110. @SamDC, have you lost your mind? 8 for Narsingh? He is absolutely terrible. Bad touch, bad decision, clearly not international caliber but right now there is nobody else. It shows why he does not even play for PSV. Van Rhijn was great and nothing dangerous came from that side the entire second half.

    2. @Jeff
      my ratings for Narsingh was purely based on his game today for Oranje. I haven’t seen PSV games this season so I can’t comment. There was nothing wrong with the finishing. He dribbled and was precise with his placement.

      If only Robben had done that two years ago, we would have that golden star on top of the Lion crest!

  111. Rewatching last part of the match shows Fer really did bring something different. By the end, he and Strootman physically dominated the midfield. They just pwned the Turks.

  112. Tough game but well played. I would keep the same team just replacing Janmaat and lining up Van Rhijn who is much better than van der Wiel too and Fer instead of Clasie. Fer was a powerhouse.. But Robben and Strootman stole the show. Strootman was the player we needed in Euros.

    We were lucky at times but that is part of the game too. Not like at Euro 2012 where luck was against the team besides some poor defending. Second half was great. Van Gaal won the game. At times Oranje looked great!! Good start!! See u in Brazil!!

  113. Martins needs to be a bit more aggressive. Harass the opposition a bit. He did a little bit of that towards the end where he pushed off the Turkish striker and the guy retaliated.

    I’m not saying he should be aggressive like Pepe but be more like Vidic. Needs to show a bit passion and emotion. He’s trying to be a bit too nice.

  114. Frankly speaking, I never doubted Van Gaal as a tactician. The only problem with him is that his head can get way too big sometimes, stubbornness kicks in and then players revolt against him. When a guy like mourinho, a self declared “the only one”, says that he respected VG as a tactician that really says something.
    Players can go against VG or turn their back on him cause he really puts pressure on them during training, shouting, directing, getting pissed off at very small mistakes. “the authoritative dictator” I read somewhere that he takes note of everything
    Maybe its good that he came back with a vengeance and seeks revenge. All d best Louis

      1. I honestly think LVG may be maturing.

        He violated his own rule to start Heitinga and Narsingh… so he let go of his stubbornness, and went with his analysis.

        Otherwise, he might have started, say, Vlaar and Lens. (Isn’t Vlaar starting now in EPL?)

        Regardless… things worked. We had luck, and some pretty voetbal for awhile. LVG can be crazy as a loon for all I care. But what he did today was a wholesale turnover of the NT, right down to going back to RVP over Hunter. He rolled large.

        With Hungary, we’ll see how things settle in.

  115. Watching a rerun on ESPN3 right now. Everytime I hear the dutch anthem it almost brings tears to my eyes as it reminds of the 2010 final. It also is a great piece of art. Great to hear the public singing the anthem and matching turks’ singing.

  119. I agree Mohammed. Nice to see the joy on the team. You could really tell that Wes, VP, Heitinga and Robben were there to coach and reassure the kids. It gave the team a sort of zest that had been cruelly lacking during the last year at least.
    Sam DC, come on you cannot be serious and compare the 2 situations (robben in the WC final and Narsingh today!). But fine, at least we won and that’s all that matters.

  121. Tonight game against The Turks is quite expected.I got my guessing score right.hehehe…

    The first goal from V.Perie is very important.For him,for the team,for the coach and for all fans.We waited for a goal from Persie for quite sometimes.It brings confident to everyone including himself.Cheers…..

    I was so touched by the game,the boys fight very hard.The youngsters are great tho they made some mistakes.But i do believe that if they were the old guns,they will be also making mistakes or might be worse.The new lads have the speed which is very important.I can see that they covered up the box quite well.Not like in the last few games,they were like a big mess.Anyway,our Oranje is back to real football and will be more to come.Congrats to King Louise,the true tactician.You proved and gained the big respect from the nation 🙂

    Hup Holland Hup !!!

  122. Some facts for further analysis :

    a. We play with five U21 players
    b. We defeat a very strong team.
    c. This was just second LVG game.
    d. we won but we could loose.

    Overall I am very happy. I truly believe on LVG projet.

    It’s not easy began a projet with a lot of new players and youngsters and defeat a strng team like Turkey.

    There’s a lot of work to do but we begin with te right foot.

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