Tag: Babel

by Jan

De Boer on his Euro plans

The competition is done, in The Netherlands. The biggest shock probably Emmen’s relegation. After a dramatic return to form the popular club fought themselves back into a relegation play-off and after 90 minutes of attacking and creating dozens of chances vs NAC Breda, they failed to score and got relegated after losing the penalty-series. The big leagues will all be done with competition football this weekend so it’s time for a look at the Euros, with Frank de Boer.

“It’s key to create a good vibe. We’ll be together for weeks and having a good atmosphere or not-so-good atmosphere will be key. I have been around when the vibe was not good, in 1990 and 1996 and look at the results. Whereas in 1998 we had a real connection in the squad and we overachieved.”

Johan Cruyff liked to use the conflict model to drive players to higher levels. Frank thinks it’s an outdated concept. “You can use the conflict model with individual players. Not everyone responds well to it. But overall, I am a fan of the Deschamps method. Any coach would want Benzema in his squad but Deschamp left him out for many years, as he would be toxic in the group. No Benzema in 2018, in other words.”

Louis van Gaal tweaked the traditional Dutch 4-3-3 for the 2014 World Cup after realising that Oranje couldn’t beat the strong teams in that way. Arjen Robben back then was the only real winger in the top of Europe and different playing styles were needed. Bert van Marwijk was also a pragmatic coach and Frank de Boer soaked it up when he assisted Bert in 2010. “I will definitely sit down with Bert before the Euros to revisit that World Cup. He got the maximum result out of the team and we weren’t the favorites back then.”

How long would you want the squad together prior to a tournament?

“I’d say, ideally 3 weeks. Now it’s less than two weeks. We have four days between our friendlies vs Scotland and Georgia. But…”ideal” is out of the window. Ideally, we have full stadiums too. You also see big droves of Orange coloured fans marching towards the stadium, that is all not going to happen. Or maybe at least a bit.”

How do you look back at that Euros in 2000, also in The Netherlands?

“Very positively, actually. I don’t see those two missed penalties vs Italy as my trauma, no. I think we are all proud of what we did, despite that match. And playing in our own country. And now again, three games in Amsterdam. We are favorite in the group, I get that. We won’t skirt away from that. But, Ukraine kept France at 1-1 and also beat Spain 1-0 in the Nations League. The same Spain that embarrassed Germany 6-0, you know? And Austria, they do have quality players from the Bundesliga in their squad. You may have heard of one David Alaba?”

What is the objective for Oranje at the Euros?

“I want to say semi-finals, at least. That is where I think we should aim for. Final four. But, everything needs to work with us, no injuries, no silly red cards and key players in form. Anything beyond semi finals would be a tremendous results. Our first 13 players are all top class. And I see we’re homogeneous, as a team. I can see parallels with the 1998 team. And we have some exciting youngster on top of the 13 and some great utility players. The mix is excellent. We can reach far but I think we are not the real faves. I think we’re an outsider. Belgium, France and Spain are top favorites for me. And don’t underestimate Portugal, England, Germany and Italy. I think we belong in that second series of 4 nations.”

How will we play?

“We’ll vary, I want to be able to shift systems instantly, during games. I want to move from 4-3-3 to 5-3-2 or 3-4-3. We will work on this in the prep period. I have discussed this with the players already and some of them, those 13, are used to this already with their clubs. As a coach, I used to play 4-3-3 predominantly. We want to be dominant. Holland isn’t a team that parks the bus. Also, counter football is not our thing as we lack pure speed up front. Whether it’s Memphis, Luuk de Jong, Berghuis or Weghorst, speed is not their weapon. Only Malen has that in his arsenal. But we need to make decisions. What happens if we lose possession here. Or there, you know. Do we have the lock on the door? Is the rest-defence properly organised? Turkey away, for instance… What went wrong? Two goals conceded from a turnaround moment in the game. That is completely unnecessary. In Poland, same thing. One moment of concentration loss and boom, you concede because you’re wide open. That needs to improve. When we played Italy in Bergamo, we did way better. The Italy version of Oranje, and whether you call it 5-3-2 or 3-5-2, I want to use these systems and want to switch during a match, if need be. But not in the first round. Only when we play tough opponents who want the ball even more than us (Spain?) We also need to assess which players are top, which are truly fit, after this long and tough season. And then find a way to have your best players excel. The good thing is, all players, even the youngster, have played with a back three, so no one will say “Wtf is De Boer cooking up for us now??”….

What will be Ruud van Nistelrooy’s role?

“Well, among other things he will work with our forwards. If there is one player who knows what it takes to score, it’s him. He is also a very good analyst, so he’ll do scouting and analysing for us as well. I also want him to talk about 2008, under Van Basten. We played a sensational set of group games, only to lose focus afterwards. And in the first knock-out match, we get beaten. Ruud has seen it all.”

How was your own debut in 1992 and what did you learn from that?

“I was never coached or guided by the older players. What can you expect, how to behave, what to be aware of, etc… I want to do things differently. Back then Michels said: “You’re in the squad. Do your thing.” He never said how he wanted me to play, for instance, what the plans were. But also 1998 was a big lesson. I remember thinking “Wow, we’re playing a nice tournament!”. But the team focus was never “We can win this!!”. We were quite happy with ourselves and when we lost the semis vs Brazil, we even felt like “Wow, being beaten by Brazil…yes, that can happen…”. Now, I look back and think: we should have approached that game differently. And many 1998 players look back at that match and feel the same way. We were satisfied with playing the semis. That is not good enough, hahahaha.”

What does it mean for the hierarchy in the dressing room, now Captain Virgil isn’t present?

“We will miss him dearly. His leadership, his charisma and of course his football qualities. But the hierarchy… there won’t be a vacuum, don’t worry. Wijnaldum is very vocal in the dressing room, Memphis as wel. They’re leaders. Then we have players who lead by example, like Blind and De Ligt and Frenkie. We have enough leaders. Our training sessions will be intense and no one will pull out of a challenge.”

Did you not select Weghorst in the past because he might disturb the vibe in the squad?

“Huh? No… I never thought about that, with him. Never looked at it like that. No, Weghorst position was already doubly booked, so to speak. Babel and Malen on the left, Stengs and Berghuis on the right and Memphis and Luuk de Jong centrally. End of story. And Wout is doing so well, he is a top striker and whether he is an asshole in the match or not, I don’t care. But as long as he’s an asshole to the opponent, hahahaha.”

You know already which 26 players will be selected?

“I have a couple of players where I am not 100% sure yet. I still need to lay that egg. I also considered bringing Virgil as one of the three additional players, even if he couldn’t play, just for his presence in the squad. But I won’t.”

How will you deal with the social media stuff?

“It’s part of life now. Players do a lot with this and it’s all good. We do have someone in the back room staff who will take care of films and photos, so the players 1) don’t have to worry about that and 2) can be assured they’ll look good on the pic, hahaha.”

Do you support a mandatory vaccination policy for the players?

“No! That is an individual decision, people should be free to decide for themselves.”

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by Jan

De Boer follows this blog

We’ve seen it before here, with National Team coaches taking advice from us Oranje experts. The call for Weghorst, the confusion around Babel and Strootman, the omissions of Karsdorp, Frank has taken the hints and acted on it.

When De Boer took over from Koeman (actually, from Lodeweges) he didn’t have much time to play around with the squad. He only had half a day to prep for his first game and understandably, he stuck with Koeman’s choices.

It was always clear that he would pick his own squad ahead of the Euros, with time on his hand to analyse the larger list of players (Danjuma, Lang, Gakpo, Stengs, Karsdorp) and to develop a game plan.

The latter, we’l’l have to wait and see. We will slowly see his ideas emerge in the coming weeks. The prelim squad tells us a good story, though.

He dropped Babel and Strootman, while previously singing their praises as “important lads for the dressing room”. It doesn’t feel like a glorious compliment a player wants to hear. “We’re taking Toornstra to the Euros as well, because of the way he carries the practice balls. And we have picked Vilhena due to his amazing musical selections for before the game.”

No, when the sharp ends comes closer, you pick the players who can win you the trophy.

For me, the squad is logical. I don’t see any player that makes me cringe. But I would have liked to have seen Noa Lang and Danjuma in the squad. At the same time, you can “only” bring 26 players so a number of pre-lim players will be dropped.

Add the fact that Jong Oranje also has a serious tournament this summer and Van der Looij will require some of this stars to play for him.

If there is one surprise, it is the absence of Calvin Stengs. The one-time super talent of AZ is not in the prelim squad and the surprise is less to do with his amazing skills and performances of late (there weren’t any) but because he is Frank de Boer’s son-in-law and the coach has risked a family feud by not selecting the AZ winger. His coach, Pascal Jansen: “I can fully understand De Boer’s decision. I’m a Calvin fan, and he is special. But you do need to show that on the pitch, and he hasn’t this season. He needs to make a step up and show the coach he cannot ignore him. For now, Jong Oranje is more his level.”

Virgil van Dijk confirmed what most of us knew and actually hoped for: the Euros are too early for him. The risk for him to play anyway was such, that he could have completely destroyed his career at Liverpool and Oranje and the World Cup next year. We’ll have to do this without him.

Daley Blind, on the other hand, does seem to be on schedule to return. A good thing with Daley: he never had to need games to return to his full form after injury. He’s one of those players that will be able to pick up where he left off.

The introduction of Jurrien Timber was hoped for. The Ajax centre back impresses weekly. He’s strong on the ball, lightning fast, he plays with courage and he head up and defensively focused, not unlike that other young (former) Ajax talent, Mathijs de Ligt. Timber can also Cody Gakpo also makes his entrance. Frank simply couldn’t ignore him, after his return from injury. A big plus for Gakpo: he can play left winger but he can also fill in the 10 role in a different way then Klaassen or Van de Beek.

And then there is the return of Karsdorp – finally – and Anwar El Ghazi. The latter was a super talent in Ajax’ youth – compared to none other than CR7 – and has been playing regular football for Villa, scoring goals (8 this season) and being important. He used to be a tad lazy and complacent but life in the EPL and being coached by John Terry will have had this trait removed…

Rick Karsdorp is Roma’s wingback on the left and starts most games in the Serie A and in the Europa League. He has 6 assists and 1 goal in 32 matches and galops along the right flank like he used to do before his injuries. Yes, Dumfries, Hateboer, Veltman, Tete and St Juste are also part of the prelim squad but if De Boer wants a 4-3-3 line up and a 3-4-3 line up, it pays to include Karsdorp. Tete is not a regular in Fulham and wasn’t able to keep the Cottagers in the EPL, whereas Karsdorp reached the semi finals of the EL. I think Hateboer won’t be match fit after his injury woes and Veltman will probably go to the Euros as utility player (left back, centre back, right back).

Lastly, Weghorst. Of course he will come to the Euros. The additional 3 players De Boer is allowed to bring will mean he simply cannot ignore the Wolfsburg striker.

Arjen Robben is not part of the list. Whoever came up with that joke had a lot of fun. I think Robben mentioned it as a pun after his first game in many months (2 assists) and the media and pundits took it seriously. He would be an amazing assistant coach though, but as a player? Ridiculous!

What is next?

On May 24, De Boer starts his first practice camp, with the full squad. Wednesday May 26, De Boer will announce the final 26 man squad. On Saturday May 29, the squad will fly to Portugal for their prep. On June 2, the first friendly vs Scotland is planned and on June 6 Georgia will be the opponent in the Twente Stadium in Enschede. The Euros will start on Sunday June 13, with the home game vs Ukraine, with Austria on June 17 and North Macedonia on June 21. All games played in the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.

I will now re-jig the selection I think Frank will go with (with the know-how of the prelim squad).

Goalies:

Cillesen, Krul, Stekelenburg

Defenders:

Dumfries, Karsdorp, Veltman, De Vrij, De Ligt, Blind, Wijndal, Ake

Midfield:

Frenkie de Jong, Gini Wijnaldum, Davy Klaassen, Donny van de Beek, Marten de Roon, Ryan Gravenberch, Teun Koopmeiners

Attack:

Malen, Memphis, Luuk de Jong, Wout Weghorst, Berghuis, Bergwijn, Cody Gakpo, Promes

I doubt only the last name. Quincy Promes was part of Oranje for years now and I think that will be the difference between him and El Ghazi. De Boer might decide against Promes should he feel the ex Ajax man is too much of a distraction with his off pitch antics and pending court case.

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by Jan

Great night for Oranje

I wish I followed my instincts and wrote in my previous post that I wouldn’t play with the same eleven vs Gibraltar.

I would have gone with a 3-4-3 and probably leave out Dumfries. I didn’t so I can’t claim to be smarter than De Boer but I have the feeling most of you would probably support that notion anyway.

Frank started the game with the same eleven as he did vs Latvia. I can understand the sentiment, but against a 5-4-1 dogged team like Gibraltar you really don’t need 4 at the back!

Even stronger: in the home game, I think De Boer should put De Ligt on goal!

The first half, we simply had too many issues breaking them down. The two main problems: the ball pace was way too low and our bright midfielders ended up clogging up the box with their bodies making it easy for the Gibraltians (?) to defend. That, and their excellent goalie of course.

Denzel Dumfries ended up with the most issues. And according to influential football magazine VI, he was the only player who got a bad rating. He himself has said, that at times he has “hard feet”, meaning, he lacks the technical finesse to play in small spaces.

The Gibraltar coach is renowned for his tight organisation and there was hardly any room for Dumfries to do what he does best: run into space.

He did play a crucial part in the opening goal in the first half, but Frank subbed him at half time and brought prodigal talent Ryan Gravenberch as midfielder, to cover the space on the right. His contribution would become vital, allowing Berghuis to grow into a Man of the Match performer.

The first 20 minutes were shambolic. Uninspired, slow and sluggish. The first goal made the difference, as we all knew it would. It should have been scored sooner though. The second stage of the first half resembled the Latvia match: heaps of opportunities and half chances, but no sharpness in finishing. Davy Klaassen was against guilty of not having his sights sharp.

In the second half, some things that could be predicted happened: the second goal broke the back of the opponent a bit. They got tired. They were no longer able to track everything. Gravenberch played his part too, being the deep lying playmaker next to Frenkie, allowing Berghuis to stay wide and forcing the defenders to choose: do we stay, do we press, do we follow the runner…

Here are some examples: Latvia had issues with Klaassen as they played 4-4-2 and didn’t have the man available to take care of the Ajax midfielder. Gibraltar had 5 at the back so there was always the free defender to pick up Klaassen. The two wide midfielders would assist with stopping Dumfries and Wijndal. Because of this, Oranje needed to find space centrally.

Look at this situation. Wijnaldum needs to pass the ball. We have four players standing in line, up front: Frenkie, Luuk de Jong, Memphis and Klaassen. The midfielders have pulled their direct opponents with them and as a result the spaces became even smaller. And with Berghuis moving inside as well, the suffocation was complete. Frank de Boer even mentioned this problem beforehand, when he said: “Playing more forwards is not going to work, as the spaces will get smaller. We need to lure the opponent away from the centre and then make quick combinations into that open space!”

Oranje runs into these spaces and fills them up and does Gibraltar a favour!

The two first goals are good examples of what is needed. The first goal is the result of depth without the ball. A run in behind and it’s Dumfries who creates it. Berghuis finds the ball in front of his left wand and knows how to bury it.

In the second half, for the second goal, we see what was missing in the first: players coming into midfield to ask for the ball and creating space behind them. Here it’s Memphis pulling a defender with him, and Klaassen does this with the left back. This results in Berghuis getting more freedom and Luuk de Jong is then one-on-one in the box: 2-0.

Gravenberch offers more options in midfield. The Gibraltar players are pulled into the midfield more and this is how the pockets of space appear.

The fourth goal is a perfect example. Gravenberch, Klaassen and Memphis join at the right side in midfield. The left midfielder is now forced to stick to them which puts Berghuis in a one v one situation with the left full back. In the first half, Dumfries runs would bring that left midfielder next to the left back, making it tough for Berghuis. The Berghuis cross ends up with Wijnaldum who scores the fourth goal.

Same story for the fifth goal. Gravenberch lures an opponent in, Berghuis gets space to play with. He then pulls two opponents towards him allowing Memphis to pass into Klaassen who runs into space. His pass to Malen is a simple tap in. The two final goals are the result of a similar situation but then with Wijndal on the left.

The big lesson for Oranje: lure the defenders out of their comfort zone and use the dynamics to play in the wide players who are capable of taking on an opponent with an individual action. Another big change, was to play Memphis in midfield and having him want the ball in his feet.

The win was predictable. The number of goals was enough, not overly spectacular, but enough. And Frank de Boer finally showed his qualities by analysing the first half and doing what was needed in the second half.

A good night for Oranje, also because Turkey forgot to win against Latvia. They threw a 3-1 lead away and had to be content with a draw. This resulted in a wry comment by De Boer: “Hmm, so the 2-0 against Latvia actually wasn’t that bad after all….”.

A big wet blanket was placed over the win by the sad demise of Daley Blind. In what was a rare outing up front for De Barr, Blind was pulled to the ground by accident and one of his feet got stuck in the turf, which may have damaged his knee or his ankle. Unsure at this point. It looked terrible and the Ajax star had to be taken of by stretcher. It didn’t look too good.

Frenkie and Memphis both were quite happy with how it all panned out. Both players realised during their post-match interview that things ended up pretty well for Oranje. “Yes, we did the job. It wasn’t great, I know. We started weak, it was sluggish, we had to get used to the pitch and they were really dogged. But I think if you told people up front that we would win 7-0, everyone would be happy. I think at least. The second half was ok. And yes, Turkey dropped points of course, so it actually was more than ok. Yes, we actually had a top night!” So spoke Frenkie de Jong.

Skipper Gini Wijnaldum had a frown on his face: “The first half was very frustrating. We were a bit pissed off at the break and unhappy. It resembled the match vs Latvia. So much good intentions but so little to show for. The 7-0 was fine at the end, but it could have been double figures and I’m not happy that we failed to do so. We didn’t really celebrate our goals, we were on a mission. And yes, it’s awesome that Turkey dropped points, but we need to stop looking at others and focus on our own performances and improve!”

Last but not least, Young Oranje did tremendous business. It beat Hungary 6-1 and Cody Gakpo was the main man for the Dutch. When the reporters after the game asked the PSV winger whether he was going to play for the seniors or the youngsters, Gakpo was about to answer. And then coach Van de Looi walked by and coughed loudly. Gakpo: “Oh, I think I’m not supposed to answer that question….” Young Oranje ended this little group as group winner: well done lads!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFXo1bcV0xo

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by Jan

The Great FdB interview

We’re back! Oh Goodness Gracious Me, the site was down. Some weird error, and it took me some time to sort it. Also because support was hard to find in the Xmas/NYE days.

Not a lot of news re: Dutch Eredivisie or Oranje anyway, but the Premier League keeps on powering, just like Italy, Spain and Germany have started up again.

Traditionally, the national team manager gets the big interview at the start of the new year and Frank de Boer gladly agreed to do his part.

Louis van Gaal saw it first…

Fdb: “That I was going to be a good national team coach? Hahaha, yes we were doing a canal boat tour in the winter some time back. Ronald and his partner was there too. It was a gastronomical tour, very good fun. And Louis told me that he thought I would be the prefect for the job, but the KNVB picked Ronald Koeman, back then. I thought that was actually a fine choice. Anyone could see there were some amazing talents coming through.”

When Van Gaal resigned in 2002, he said he might have been too much of a club coach. How is this with you?

Fdb: “Well, yes but it was totally different, as we were all in our early 30s. We weren’t young talents anymore. We had won basically everything. I think in such a scenario, a Hiddink type coach would be better. It was important to manage the vibe in the group, but not to tell Ruud van Nistelrooy to button up his shirt! Or tell Van Hooijdonk to wear socks! Pierre never wore them. We all knew this. And then there was a new physio, Raymond Verheijen. He’s a good man, with expertise but he was years younger than us! And he presented himself as the clone of Louis. We had more than enough to do with one Louis hahaha. At the World Cup 1998, and this is not to be negative about Guus Hiddink, but we determined how we played. Not Guus. We never trained tactically. He just made sure everyone was feeling ok and was happy. And at certain times, he had to step in and be razor sharp and he was. But he knew exactly what he needed from this group. I think that is key for a national team manager.”

What does the current squad need?

“A mixture of approaches. We have a mix in ages too. They all know what they want, but… not everyone has been there. Gini and Virgil have had big successes with Liverpool, Daley and Gini and De Vrij and Memphis were at the World Cup. But other players haven’t. It’s all new. Dumfries, Frenkie, Malen, Van de Beek… They still need to learn what it means to play a tournament.”

Are you now more manager than trainer?

“Yes, it’s part of your development too, and it’s also because one can’t do it all alone. Management is an important part of the job but I think I actually prefer to be trainer.”

At Palace and Internazionale, there was criticism of how you lacked empathy.

“Managing a squad is a skill and being more social and show interest in someone else, yes, it is something that doesn’t come natural to me, I had to learn this. And that is why they say being a coach is an experience profession. And I started at Ajax, where I had played for 20 years or so and I knew everyone and everyone knew me. Supporters, sponsors, management, ex players, the works. And my vision was developed by Ajax basically, so the match was perfect. I had to learn to work in a non Ajax environment and that wasn’t so easy.”

What went wrong?

“Well, at Inter it was always my plan to take into account the Italian culture, the club culture, traditions etc. I also wanted to bring in my own ideas. And I noticed really early on, that the basis of my thinking, the basis of the Dutch way of playing is passing and receiving. That is something you have to be able to do. Look at Frenkie, at Koopmeiners, Bazoer, Propper, Blind… But the Italians didn’t like it at all. They fumbled, they became childish, they tried to screw the other players by playing hospital balls… They preferred to do sprints, with the stop watch or play tactical practices. They didn’t feel good with my approach, they felt they needed more intensity. They also didn’t do rest. If a player had a big couple of games, I would sometimes give them a day off. The medical staff went berserk. I was supposed to clean the situation up, like Koeman at Valencia, years ago. But there was resistance. And mind you, after they fired me, they used and fired two other coaches before they came to Conte and it started to click, with a completely new squad.”

Was it a mistake to go there?

“No I don’t look at it like that. I learned a lot. It was a good experience. In England, I did change my way a bit. Crystal Palace wanted to play continental but I analysed my squad and noticed I couldn’t do that, so I adapted to a 5-3-2. I think the tactical choices were fine, but I was a bit too harsh to certain player. Scott Dann had been skipper for many years and I was certain I wasn’t going to use him so I took his band. That was not smart, the way I did it. He has a lot of supporters in the club and I created my own resistance, in this way. We played four games, lost them all and we didn’t score one single goal. We needed some luck and we didn’t get it. We played away vs Burnley, my last game in charge. We played really well, we created chances and put them under pressure. But we didn’t score. We did have a short back pass to the goalie and Burnley took their chance and scored. That is also part of being a coach: you can’t do it yourself.”

The KNVB was looking for Koeman 2.0. They actually signed De Boer 2.0 it seems?

“I do think I changed as a coach, yes. I have more patience and more empathy, I think. The experiences at Inter, Palace and Atalanta were important. They wanted to go the Koeman route with me. I didn’t want to say too much about it, but I am not Koeman. I am different and I will have to do it my way. Even Koeman at one point said – from Barcelona – that he didn’t want the KNVB to look for Koeman 2.0 as it would only lead to failure. A national team coach needs to be autonomous and independent.”

Not a lot of people had you on the top of their list.

“I get that. I understand that names like Van Gaal or Ten Cate or Peter Bosz were mentioned. I was out of the picture for a spell. I did think it was tedious that I had to defend myself all the time, when I was signed up.”

It doesn’t happen often, signing a national team manager after two failed adventures.

“But I also won the title 4 times in a row with Ajax. And I won trophies with Atalanta. I mean, sure, I understand that some people focus on the negatives. It’s up to me to win them over.”

Four times the title with Ajax. It sounds as if it was an easy job.

“Well, it was a different Ajax back then. We had Tobias Sana, Danny Hoesen, Niklas Moisander, Lorenzo Ebecilio. Nothing against these lads, but no where near the level they have now. But still, we won against Barcelona and we beat Man City. But the only thing people seem to remember is the square passing, hahaha. But hey, you’re as good as your last match. You know what my biggest memory is from all these years as Ajax coach? That last game when we lost the title against De Graafschap. And not the title vs Twente, in May 2011 and won it for the first time in a long time. I can’t blame people to focus on the bad experiences, I do that too. We won the title 4 times in a time when Ajax did not have a lot of money and we had a lot of managerial problems back then as well. But what is the strongest memory of these days: me in the bus, having lost the title in Doetinchem.”

Ronald Koeman once said, that people in Holland enjoyed themselves if it didn’t go well with Ronald Koeman. Is that something that applies to you too?

“Probably yes. It’s not that people actually enjoy it when you fail, but they need to know that big name players can also fail, are human. All that glitters ain’t gold, that sortathing. It’s human nature, I think.”

You started with a loss vs Mexico and a draw in Bosnia Herzegovina. But it seems that you turned it around really quickly.

“That was maybe the lessons learned in Milan and with Palace. I came into a situation with an existing squad and a technical and medical staff that worked well together. I don’t think changing things around is handy, in that case. So I had some indepth talks with my staff, with the players. What do they want, how do they see the game. And after that, I was able to make some subtle changes. I also have to take into account who we play. I changed things for Italy, and changed it back for Poland. And sometimes, you have players who suddenly give you options. There was Owen Wijndal suddenly, well… I loved using him. And when you play Wijndal and Dumfries, you need to make some tactical changes, as you can’t have both of them stampeding forward all the time. Away against Poland, we were lucky when they broke for what could have been a 2-0. We did have enough players behind the ball by the way. It was the timing of the interference, or the planned interference. De Vrij was a step too slow, and a meter here or there makes the world of difference. And these defensive issues aren’t new, those were here under Koeman as well. We love to attack, but how do we organise ourselves defensively. I am working on this with Dwight Lodeweges now. We can improve there.”

Is this Dutch team world class without the ball?

“Maybe, when you look at the specific qualities we have. We have defenders who are world class, yes. But we want to dominate and we do have the players to do so. Frenkie, wants the ball. Daley wants the ball. Memphis wants the ball. We have a team that wants to take the initiative. We did ever so well under Koeman in the Nations League, but also in those matches, we were lucky at times.”

Still, our defenders are world class: Virgil is the best in the EPL and De Ligt the biggest defensive talent on the planet.

“And Frenkie de Jong? And Gini Wijnaldum? Memphis? It’s all a bit cyclical, I remember a time when we had mediocre defenders – according to the media – and world class strikers. But we have Donyell Malen, Cody Gakpo, Justin Kluivert… A couple of amazing attacking talents. And our new right full back?”

Dumfries?

“No, Bergwijn! At Sputs, he is used as wing back and he does that. He tracks back, he challenges and hassles. He realises, when I want to play in the EPL I have to work my socks off. And he does. I can see him play up front, together with Memphis. Steven is fast, and he has a click with Memphis.”

You brought the classic #9 back into the team, with Luuk de Jong. Is this purely to play versus lesser opponents?

“Exactly. What we need, is movement. A lot of movement. It’s like in basketball, the 3 second rule in the circle. Move into the box, you don’t get the ball, move out again, keep circling, like sharks. Like Man City does it. What you need to have is good peripheral scanning ability. You saw this against Poland away and Bosnia at home. Memphis, Berghuis, Malen, Wijnaldum, continuously moving. And yes, you go 10 times but don’t get the ball, but the 11th time you do and it’s the break through. The most simple and hardest-to-defend ball is the pass over the defense in behind. You can’t defend against pace. We need to improve. But Mbappe, Messi in his top years, CRonaldo, Sterling, Mane, Salah, Malen, it’s all about pace and getting that yard. “

So where does Oranje stand now, 6 months before the Euros?

“We can beat any opponent. But we will need to be top to do so. Should we reach the semis, I think we’ve done a good job. Belgium, France and Spain are top favorites. I Think England, Italy and Germany are right behind them. And then it’s Portugal and us. Portugal won the Euros in 2016 but didn’t impress in any of their matches.”

And thus…

“We need to raise our consistency levels. Not now and then a great match. Every match a great match! I don’t want to be dependent on one or two players. The difference between us and France or Spain, is they have top notch players on every spot in the team. Double, even at times. We have some world class players and some who can become a world class player. Wijndal can become world class. Gravenberch, as well. It’s amazing what he does, but can he keep on it. It’s very hard to predict the career path of players. Look at El Ghazi, or Bazoer.”

You need experience, to guide them? In other players?

“Sure, this is why I think Babel is important. I get all these questions about Ryan. Same with Strootman. But you need some of these types: experienced, professional, never whining or being difficult and working their asses off. Their mentality is amazing. I called Strootman to explain why I wouldn’t be selecting him and he said he agreed! That is the sort of mentality we need. And some people tend to ridicule them or the fact us coaches say they’re important in the dressing room. People who haven’t played top football have no idea. They are key for the intensity of the training sessions. You usually need 16 players who could all be in the starting eleven, and then 6 players who simply accept their role and work their butt off to keep the rest sharp. Strootman and Babel are those types of players.”

Louis van Gaal spent as much time with the reserves in Brazil, as he did with the starting eleven…

“Yes and I get that. You need them. For a tournament, the training sessions are so important. Remember Ooijer in 2010? In South Africa? He didn’t expect to play a single minute. He was constantly teasing, and taunting. You know Andre? He has that Amsterdam style cynical humor. He was giving the physio a hard time all the time. And then suddenly, in the warming up for Brazil, Mathijsen couldn’t play. And Ooijer slotted in and played a top match. Why? Because he was super fit. He was sharp. It’s always the weakest link – not meaning Ooijer per se – who determines the strength of the chain.”

Koeman moved from Huis ter Duin in Noordwijk to a training centre in Zeist…

“Oh yes, at first I thought it was a step back! But when I look at it now, we have two fantastic pitches, we have that living room vibe in our hotel. That wasn’t there in Noordwijk. You wouldn’t see players in the communal space. Some were gaming in the room of player A, others were playing golf, the next little clique was walking the boulevard… Now, they’re all together, chatting or playing board games or watching a game together. Way better for the team building.”

What do you do when you don’t have a lot of time to practice?

“You can talk. You can discuss the organisation, the defensive positioning. If this happens, we do that. If this is the way they attack, we do this. Before the Italy game, we discussed our tactics. Do we play 4-3-3 or 5-3-2? We had a great session and then we went on the pitch and man, the sparks were flying, I was worried that we needed medivacs on the pitch, they were sharp, they tackled and challenged like how they play their match. It was very satisfying on the one hand, but I also thought “Goodness, I hope no one gets hurt!”. This immense pressure on the players, in their competitions. I mean, Van Dijk’s injury. Would that have happened if he was super fit and not having to have played so many big matches? Who knows? We see a lot of muscle injuries now, hamstrings etc. We need to manage this. For the Euros, I have only 2 weeks preparation, while Louis had 4 weeks for the World Cup in Brazil.”

Will Virgil van Dijk be ready in time?

“It will be a race against the clock, really? I do hope so, but it needs to be responsible. Liverpool won’t let him go if it’s not the right thing.”

What do you do now, in this period?

“Watching games. And there is a lot to watch. We do know about the usual suspects, the Wijnaldums, the Frenkies, we want to now focus on the category that is up and coming, such as Sven Botman at Lille or Jerdy Schouten at Bolonga or El Ghazi at Villa. This category player can be very interesting for us and we’re mapping that now. We do have some firm spots taken but from spot 17 to 23, it’s wide open, as far as I am concerned.”

How did Corona affect you in the US, at Atlanta United?

“It was typical for the US, very well organised. We we had 4 weeks of serious quarantine, than we opened up a bit more and I was allowed to fly to Holland to visit my mother-in-law who was in bad shape. After three weeks we could train in bigger groups and we entered The Bubble. We all went to Florida, we were all based in a couple of hotels and we tested and played, tested and played….”

And that was your final phase at the club?

“We both felt it was good as it was. We run our course. I can not say anything negative about the club, I had an amazing time. The facilities were top notch, we won two trophies and the lifestyle was great. But I also started to feel the impact of constantly on the road, flying, time zones, etc. Now, I realise how nice it is to not have to do that all the time.”

The good life as team manager…

“Yes, you know what a big difference is: you don’t need to focus on negative stuff. A player who is unhappy, or needs attention, or a medical staff member with opposing views, you always deal with that at club level. It’s constantly putting out fires. And the lads that work really well don’t get the attention they need. And now, it’s great. I play tennis, I go to Zeist twice a week for meetings and planning and I have dinner with my family. This is a big benefit of the team manager’s role. We do get stressed, but always a short time, hahahaha.”

Good to be home at Xmas!

“Well, in all honesty, I lost jobs before Xmas so I have had Xmas with the family, hahahaha.”

Source: VI Xmas edition

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by Jan

Oranje back on the field!

We were without NT football for 10 months! The last time it took this long, was during World War 2!

Oh, before I forget, due to the plethora of football matches in the past weeks and due to a very busy worklife, I was not able to “moderate” the blog as often as needed and this debate ensued re: antisemitism ? Or something racism? I read the posts, and even though Tiju makes my head explode at times, I don’t think there was any racist malice implied and I have emailed the upset poster to share my position with him but I haven’t heard back.

I hope we can put this beside us soon, as it seemed to be a case of misunderstanding.

Football!

Interim coach Dwight Lodeweges is thrown in the deep end but the experienced coach doesn’t flinch. He is missing some players at the back, as Dumfries, De Vrij, Blind and De Ligt are all missing ( not a bad back four). Dumfries will become father, De Vrij came into the camp with a slight issue and Blind and Mathijs’ stories are well known.

CB options Nathan Ake and Perr Schuurs

Lodeweges decided not to call on another defender: “We did use Teun Koopmeiners as a fill in at practice, borrowed him from Young Oranje, but no. The guys we have now will have to do it for us. I think we have enough to be ok.” Asked if he was ready to give the debutants (Schuurs, Wijndal) a go: “Oh for sure. They are ready. Otherwise I would have invited them. Wijndal is positive, good left leg, quick, recognises the opportunity. Schuurs is open and like a sponge. Then we have Ihatarren, they’re all good kids. And you want them to play, don’t you. They’re so keen.”

So who is Dwight Lodeweges?

I wouldn’t be surprised if the KNVB will hang on to Dwight in this role, particularly when the two upcoming games go well. The players seem to enjoy his style.

Lodeweges was born in Canada, in Turner Valley. His parents were looking for a brighter future in Canada, post World War 2, but returned to Holland when he was 7 years old. Lodeweges was developed as a talent at Go Ahead Eagles and was a youth international for Holland. When Hans Kraay Sr went to play for Oakland, he jumped to the opportunity. When he arrived in California, it appeared the club didn’t exist anymore and Kraay and Lodeweges went to play for Edmonton Drillers in Canada. This was the start of the life of a football nomad. He played in Northern America and in The Netherlands. As a coach, he also had stints in Canada, in Japan, back in Holland and for Al-Jazira in Abu Dhabi.

Dwight in the middle, for Go Ahead. Left on the photo, Nigel’s dad Jerry de Jong

After a dramatic and painful season at FC Groningen in 2003, where a horde of hooligans jumped him with baseball bats, he decided to only work in pleasant environments. If something didn’t work for him, he’d get up and leave. He left NEC after three months in the job and also closed the door voluntarily at SC Heerenveen. Hans Schrijvers was his assistant coach at FC Groningen, Edmonton and Jeff United in Japan: “He is a pure person. What you see is what you get. If you trick him, or lie to him, he’ll pack his bags. He is totally honest and loyal and the way people treat him and one another is key for him. He has high expectations of himself and the people he works with, as he will give every inch, every drop of sweat he has. When he realises a group isn’t open to his football ideas or philosophy, he’ll end the relationship and moves on. Contracts or money don’t interest him.”

Henk ten Cate is, like Dwight, a kid of Go Ahead Eagles and in the 1960/70s, Go Ahead was the shining light in terms of youth development. The typical Dutch school was perfected there: build up from the back, good positioning play and combinations to create chances. Ten Cate explodes when we call Dwight “a good field trainer”.

“What is that?? People say this of others. I have been told this! And now Alfred Schreuder gets that label too. Because we were once loyal assistant coaches? But a field trainer can not be a good trainer and a bad coach? How does this work? Dwight is a complete coach. He is a great field trainer, but also a solid tactician. Very driven and professional.”

What is his strength? Ten Cate: “What every coach must be able to do, Dwight does really well: he can create practice forms that fully support his football vision. So he tells the players, this is what I want to see, and then he gives them many tools and ideas and practices that will support them in that goal. He is also open with his staff, he wants them to challenge him and create an even better level. Players who play under him usually realise during the game that everything Dwight predicted, is happening. Like Louis van Gaal.”

Dwight at amateur club VVOG. He is happy working at this level, and at Oranje level

Lodeweges works this way at Oranje, but also at Edmonton when there were no balls, no jerseys, no field… “He is a football fanatic. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Dwight talks with Frenkie about football. The level of detail and insights. Must be wonderful. I also think he deserves a job at the highest level,” Ten Cate goes on.

Sef Vergoossen worked with Dwight as assistant at Al-Jazira, Nagoya Grampus8 and PSV Eindhoven. “I am not surprised with Dwight at Oranje. He’s a top professional. He reads games amazingly fast and can tell you within minutes where the problems lie. He can correct this swiftly too and control the game. That note was a typical example.”

It’s November 2018. Holland is trailing 1-2 vs Germany. Koeman gets a note with some line up and system changes. Koeman takes the notes and instructs his captain to make the changes, with 15 minutes to go. Right at the death, Van Dijk scores the 2-2 and Holland reaches the finals! The note is found and auctioned of for 35,000 euros for a good cause. Dwight thinks the humbug of the note is all hogwash. But he smiles when he learns that his note results in a Cruyff Court in South Africa!

Vergoossen: “In the past, players would come to Oranje for a little reunion and R&R. Seeing mates, playing golf and prepping mentally for a match. Under Dwight (and Koeman), it was different. They would come to the training camp and work with laser focus on the specifics needed for that particular opponent. Tactical training sessions, aimed at the little subtle details needed to win a match.”

Van Dijk scoring after some tactical changes by Dwight

Cambuur CFO Gerald van den Belt has seen a different side of Dwight. “He is extremely down-to-Earth and won’t get carried away. I think he is all these things that Ten Cate and Vergoossen and others tell you, but he can also be an absent minded professor. He was successful with Cambuur, and when our big rival Heerenveen offered him a step up to the Eredivisie, he took it. This was so sensitive here, that the club and the fans almost exploded with frustration. He never expected that. He didn’t realise how big his impact was here and how he was loved. He is authentic as a person and has always remained the same Dwight Lodeweges. One has to respect that!

Expect some cool stories soon re: Donny’s Man U move and Nathan’s Man City move. More info on Barca and Frenkie and way more :-).

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by Jan

Covid-19 impact and more news…

Eric Gudde, the KNVB GM on the photo. Symbol of Chaos.

Hi guys, hope you are all staying safe and sane without live football?

I was planning to make the Johan Cruyff 1990 post now, but the Covid situation deserves some attention – as commented on by some of you – and we had the news of Ronald Koeman’s hospitalisation as well.

To start with that, it is not clear what he has, exactly. Probably needs to have a vein clearance situation, as Ronald is known to enjoy the good life (wine, food).

He is given all the space to recover by the Federation and with our football agenda empty, he will get that time easily. People like his brother Erwin and Dick Advocaat already mentioned publicly that they expect him to return to his job, no worries.

The impact on the Dutch football scene of the Covid-19 situation is huge. As you will appreciate: most Dutch clubs are not wealthy and in the second tier – Keuken Kampioen Divisie – it is tough going.

Even a rich club like Ajax will get hurt, if this goes on too long and if we indeed have to play without fans for a long spell, it will everyone badly.

So the Dutch Federation decided to end the competition and as they believe there would have been time for the two relegation candidates to play themselves safe… So, in their infinite wisdom, they have decided not to relegate anyone and not to promote any club from the 2nd tier to the first.

As the UEFA does want to hear how the competition ended re: European spots, Ajax is the #1 (but not the champion) and goes straight into the CL. AZ will play CL qualification football with Feyenoord straight to the Europa League and PSV playing Europa League qualification, just like… Willem II. The Play Offs have been canceled and there is a fair chance that the Dutch Cup final  ( Feyenoord – FC Utrecht) will also be canceled.

There is a lot of anger about this amongst the clubs. Feyenoord probably the only club without any hang ups. Ajax wanted the title. AZ wanted a way to challenge Ajax for the title. PSV wanted the coefficient ratios over the last 5 seasons to be counted, so PSV would get the Feyenoord spot.

Cambuur coach Henk de Jong called this the “Blackest Day in Sports History” and that got him an interview on the BBC

FC Utrecht has the most reasons to complain, of them all. They had 1 game in hand, and 1 point behind Willem II. Their goal difference was better than that of Willem II. Based on this and on the coefficient ratios, FC Utrecht would have been the better choice to play European. Also, because they made it to the National Cup final.

RKC and ADO Den Haag ended up not being relegated. Good news for them. But both Cambuur and De Graafschap were miles ahead in the 2nd tier and would have been promoted in any other situation.

So, these clubs (Cambuur and De Graafschap) along with FC Utrecht are making their way to the courts.

People like Marco van Basten – independent as ever – have slammed the KNVB for their way of working: the outcome but also about the process used.

At some point, the KNVB wanted the clubs to vote for relegation of clubs or no relegation.

From the top of my head: 15 clubs said “YES” to relegation. 9 clubs said “NO” and the rest refused to vote (PSV, Ajax, Feyenoord, Groningen, Vitesse and others), as they “didn’t want to have a say in relegating their colleagues”.

FC Utrecht sad. RKC happy.

This tells you, that the non-voters actually did want the two bottom clubs to get relegated but they refused to say it. If not, they would have picked “NO”. Right?

But for some reason, the KNVB added the non-votes to the NO! Meaning that the majority allegedly voted NO to relegation. Which is just plain stupid.

I think the court cases are being held today/tomorrow.

The KNVB was capable of cancelling the competition because – as opposed to the situation in Spain, Germany and England – the tv money has been paid out in full, by Fox Sports, which is a good thing in a way.

So, in France (where they ended the competition as well) and Holland, the result of all this is anger, frustration and court cases.

Dutch consultants Hypercube have come up with an alternative plan, which would mean that all competitions will be played out after all!

They have pointed towards the World Cup in Qatar, which is being played in the Winter of 2022. So why not use this calendar year to finish the competition and start the new competition at the start of 2021. So use Calendar year as a season, instead of August till May.

Gini using the off-time to find out how his tools work…

Then, the Football Federations have the option to go back to the broken-calendar structure for football seasons after the World Cup 2022.

“This takes a lot of strain and pressure away from the clubs and the federations. The English and Germans want to finish the season whatever the cost, due to the tv money they need. The number of seasons remains intact. Every competition will have a winner, a champion and all decisions are made on the pitch and not in a board room or a court house”, so says Managing Director Pieter Nieuwenhuis. And the oft criticised winter World Cup in Qatar can suddenly be the solution we hoped for.

Nieuwenhuis: “This is way more sensible. Otherwise they’d have to plan competition games, European games and national team games from September onwards in a very full season, and if something goes wrong, we are all in deep doodoo again!”

Virgil van Dijk posted this

Hypercube also claimed that in 2023, the clubs/federations could decide to start with a short competition until the summer of 2023, and then go back to the normal structure, of August – May. “We calculated this through, as the clubs will suffer financially from this plan in the first months. We believe for Europe, there is a need for 8 Billion Euros to finance this. This is a lot, but if you take into account that the turnover of Football Europe is 30 Billion Euros, it’s not that bad. Surely, playing half a season in empty stadiums is even more costly.”

The UEFA and FIFA together have 3 Billion Euros in cash and could be guarantors. This would require zero subsidy money. Call it the Marshall Plan for football. “What we need now is a long term plan with solid financials, because if we just rush into this, certain clubs are at risk of going bankrupt.”

The big question though: what to do with players’ contracts, who now go from July till June.

“We don’t have all the answers. There are options, you could say: all players’ contracts will be shifted to the Jan – Dec format. Or, you could decide to keep the contract terms as is, meaning players will suddenly finish the season with another club. I think the international Players’ Unions will need to weigh in on this.

Memphis wants the cup in 2021

As for the Covid-19 impact on our lads… I don’t think there is any. Players like Memphis and Malen will have more time to get fit, and apart from Babel and Strootman, all our players will benefit from the additional time to get ready for the Euros. Blind can deal with his heart issue (we hope), as will Koeman. Zirkzee, Wijndal, Stengs, Boadu, Kluivert, Karsdorp, Bijlow and others will have a bit more time to build on their strength, while Marco van Ginkel might be joining in again as well?

A fit Koeman, a super motivated Memphis, Malen in form and Frenkie with a strong Barca season in his back pocket, why wouldn’t we win the Euros this time?

How are you guys doing? Share your stories below.

 

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by Jan

Oranje’s future…

What a year we had… With Ajax in last CL season and with Oranje… first in the Nations League and of course in our Euro qualification matches… We have seen Frenkie and Mathijs go to the big leagues, we saw Chong and Zirkzee making waves, the likes of Tete and El Ghazi making good on their promise and AZ impressing domestically and internationally… But we also saw Ajax being shafted by the VAR this last half year, Mathijs sidelined at Juve, we saw Daley Blind going to grass and Memphis and Malen with serious injuries…

Lets look at what this all means.

Memphis and Malen

I think we need to be realistic. We shouldn’t count on them for the Euros. Donyell Malen, maybe. He might be back in April or May and right in time to make a Marco-Van-Basten-style return… Memphis is probably sidelined until next season and it might be best for him – and therefore, for Oranje – when he focuses on 2022, in Qatar. The question is not: can they be fit in time, but: would it be wise for them to even try….

Memphis working hard

Donyell Malen in Florida

Daley Blind

It’s really vague what’s going on. Ajax doesn’t tell us a lot. “Insurance policy and privacy of the player”. Daley himself is optimistic on his Insta-feed but he didn’t travel to Qatar and we haven’t had any serious updates. His loss will be felt, should he not be able to get back to his old level, both at Ajax and at Oranje. His leadership, his passing, his sense of positioning… I don’t think we can find a player in the squad who can offer what he has to give. Let’s wait and see.

Mathijs de Ligt

I don’t think him not playing for a spell would be a serious problem. We’ve seen that his Turkish rival also got injured. It would sense if Sarri will sign another centre back in this transfer window but despite that: Mathijs will get his minutes. He is still highly regarded and he had a pretty amazing late block in the match vs Roma. He and his team mates cheered the interception as if he had scored. He’ll be fine.

So when we take into account the incredible development of the likes of Boadu, Stengs, Wijndal, Koopmeiners, Ihattaren, Gakpo and the fact that we have Ake, De Vrij, Vincent Janssen, Jetro Willems, Tete, Weghorst, Wijnaldum, De Roon, Propper, Van de Beek and many others in the wings, I don’t think we need to worry too much.

Willems staying longer at Newcastle

However… replacing Memphis, who was so important for us, will not be easy. His work rate, his showmanship, his leadership and personality, his free kicks, corners and crosses, his important goals (even when he plays like shite all day, he’ll score you the winner)… I can see several players doing what he can do, partially. Babel can work his arse off. Stengs can score goals and dribble. Promes or Berghuis can hit a free kick, Weghorst can hassle, but there is not one player who has it all. Like Memphis.

So what are the options for Ronald Koeman?

Like I said, he can opt to replace Memphis for another player. Some say Babel. Others want to see Weghorst. Another group yells Boadu. Promes also played centre striker at Spartak…they’re all good options. But I want to propose a different one. Also taking into account that we might miss Blind as well.

Memphis: “I’ll tell Koeman that you should replace me!”

I would opt for a 3-4-3.

Playing three at the back:

De Ligt – De Vrij – Van Dijk

With a four man midfield, with Blind on the left (when fit). Or alternatively, Van Aanholt or Wijndal.

On the right hand side, I really hope for Tete or Rick Karsdorp. But Hateboer or Dumfries are decent alternatives. Not great. But decent.

Frenkie on the left inside, with Van de Beek next to Frenkie.

Then three players up top. Promes with Wijnaldum as false striker and Bergwijn or Stengs on the right.

Obviously Cillesen or Krul as the goal keeper (depending on the rhythm of Cillesen, who lost his spot briefly).

With this tactics, I don’t think we’ll have to worry too much defensively. When the opponent plays with three forwards, Daley can drop back and help the back three. But most opponents will play with one striker or two strikers, these days. The centre backs are all good build up passers, and De Ligt can easily move into midfield when the opportunity is there.

Blind can act as a playmaking midfielder alongside Frenkie, allowing Frenkie to roam while static Blind keeps his position. When Frenkie stays put, Donny van de Beek can make penetrating runs, with De Ligt covering. Obviously, the communication between Van de Beek, Tete and De Ligt needs to be top.

Tete, Karsdorp or Dumfries can make marauding runs on the right, allowing for Bergwijn/Stengs to dart inside to support Wijnaldum or even take the #9 role when Gini drops off. This also allows Van de Beek to penetrate into the box as well, and like with Ajax, Oranje will become a Total Football team with players constantly moving in and out of position.

We’ll have length enough with set-pieces. Wijnaldum is a good header of the ball, as are De Ligt, De Vrij and Van Dijk.

We’ll have more than enough legs and penetration, with Donny, Gini, Bergwijn and Tete/Karsdorp/Dumfries.

We’ll have enough football guile and intelligence, with Frenkie, Blind, Promes and Wijnaldum.

And we have goals! Bergwijn, Promes, Wijnaldum, Van de Beek…all good goal scorers.

And should Daley- God Forbid- not make it, I think Wijndal or Willems will offer the footballing skills we need on the left, although Koeman could also opt for the legs and the opportunistic play of Van Aanholt… Even Tonnie Vilhena is an option for that role, should Wijndal or Willems not cut it, for whatever reason.

This would be my line up.

With Ihattaren as the first sub from the bench, being able to play playmaker (even in Frenkie’s role) or as false striker in the Wijnaldum role.

And Weghorst for if we need a pinch hitter.

Boadu would also be in my squad.

My 23

Cillesen – Krul – Bizot

Tete – Karsdorp – De Ligt – De Vrij – Van Dijk – Blind – Ake – Wijndal

Propper – Van de Beek – Frenkie de Jong – Wijnaldum – Ihattaren – Marten de Roon

Stengs – Boadu – Weghorst – Bergwijn – Promes – Babel

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by Jan

How Oranje can beat Belarus

This coming away game vs Belarus could well be the one cementing our spot at the Euros 2020.

What a new sensation that will be. Talisman Memphis Depay will not be there to guide us. The Lyon forward with the dazzling stats has a hamstring scare in his thigh and decided to let this one go. Koeman: “It’s not good. He simply can’t play. It’s not a serious injury but we can’t risk it.”

And despite the importance of the former Sparta talent in previous games, we all think that Oranje should be able to beat Belarus without him, as we do have enough goals in the team anyway.

On Sunday, we’ll be playing against the sturdy and rugged Belarussians and against the pitch. Koeman decided not to train in the stadion to protect the pitch as it is in pretty bad shape. “October is typically a month where more rainfall and colder temperatures affect the circumstances here,” Koeman knew.

We might also be playing against ourselves again, as we did against Northern Ireland. Ronald Koeman has been able to repair the issues again, as he did before, but the former Everton coach admitted after the match that when the Northern Irish scored, he didn’t think a win was possible. He also gave credit to assistant coach Kees van Wonderen as he was the one who suggested some changes. Apparently, former Feyenoord captain Van Wonderen is focusing on Oranje’s play without the ball while Dwight Lodeweges focuses on Oranje with the ball. Van Wonderen found the subtle changes needed to regain control, last Thursday.

Koeman will need to find a replacement for Memphis and it’s not likely that he’ll start with Luuk de Jong. Sure, the Sevilla striker broke the deadlock for us but bringing him into the starting line up will mean Koeman foregoes Plan A and goes straight to Plan B. I don’t think he will.

He will either use Promes in the striker role (as the former Ajax talent did for Spartak Moscow and Sevilla) and keep Babel on the left, enabling him to bring Malen off the bench as impact player. Or he will bring Babel to the centre in Memphis spot and start with Malen on the left flank, rewarding the former Arsenal talent for his wonderful turns in Orange.

Ronald Koeman might not change much more. As Koeman isn’t one to change quickly. “I don’t have a lot of time before matches to try out different things. These qualification games are played to win. Not to try out stuff, or to experiment or to give another player a chance. We are playing these games to qualify and once we qualified, another situation starts. People who know me, know I won’t be changing for the sake of change. I trust the core group we have and I also look at – what I call – couples. It’s never about one player vs another player. It’s about the specific qualities of a player in combination with his team mates. That whole De Roon – Van de Beek discussion for instances. It’s rubbish, but it’s what the media do. I don’t mind, but I am not playing along. For starters, I don’t want to take the coupling of Memphis and Wijnaldum apart. So these two are in the team. Frenkie is a midfielder who wants to dribble and who wants to find space to roam into. With him, I simply want the other midfielder to hold the space. De Roon is very disciplined like this, like Propper. Propper is also a very good passer of the ball, while De Roon is better in the personal duels. Van de Beek however, is a different player. He also wants to penetrate and run forward. I can’t have this with Frenkie exposed. It is that simple.”

People here think Nathan Ake could be a better alternative than Blind. Could be. There is no evidence that he will. Ake is a strong header of the ball and a good defender. Blind is not a strong header of the ball, but a tremendous passer of the ball. Here we are comparing apples with pears. Blind is in the team, also because he is used to playing alongside Mathijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong (and Donny van de Beek or Promes should they play). That coupling, as Koeman calls it, is important for the coach.

Stefan de Vrij is seen as a top defender in Italy and the media there can’t understand why he doesn’t play. But Koeman will not bench De Ligt for one bad touch, and select De Vrij. Because if he does this, Koeman will have to be changing the team constantly.

So, Koeman is not going to replace Blind for Ake “because that could work”. Or De Vrij for De Ligt. That is not good enough. Blind is the experienced defender who has played most matches since 2014 and that experience will not be foregone by Koeman because he made an error. I think we only had one player in Oranje who hasn’t made an obvious error. That is Frenkie de Jong. De Ligt had a number of howlers.  Virgil van Dijk had one vs France (Giroud’s goal) and so has Dumfries, Babel and all others. Koeman will not replace a player for making a mistake. Football is a game of mistakes. Koeman will replace players only if an alternative has been significantly better for games on end than the existing player.

Now Koeman has to replace Memphis. This will probably make the odds that De Roon doesn’t play smaller. Koeman doesn’t like to change much. I do hope Dumfries will make way for Promes as wing back. Against Belarus (and Northern Ireland) we really don’t need a fourth defender. The space will be limited so Dumfries will not be able to play to his strength.

I would go for the following line up:

Cillesen

Promes – De Ligt – Van Dijk – Blind

Van de Beek – Frenkie de Jong – Wijnaldum

Bergwijn – Babel – Malen

Although I do think Koeman will play De Roon and start with Van de Beek from the bench. Wijnaldum will be #10, but with Memphis missing, I would opt for Wijnaldum in his Liverpool role as holding mid and Van de Beek behind the striker on #10.

The former Barca centre back said recently he does like to have options on the bench to bring in, so if Malen starts, I think Van de Beek will be used as impact player.

Tell me how you would want to see it?

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by Jan

Oranje nicely on track for Euro qualification

Well, that title had to wait for years to be written again. After a failed Euros in 2012 and a missed one in 2016 (and a no-show at the 2018 World Cup), finally Oranje seems on track to qualify for a big tournament again.

This is mostly good news, but keep reading until the end, as I will finish this post with a horror scenario….

We lost vs Germany at home but got the points back by beating them even better in Hamburg (last Friday).

There’s a couple of smaller footballing nations in our group and every one knows, you can’t win trophies if you don’t beat the small opponents.

And Estonia away is one of those matches. We drew twice against them before (and those were the big highlights in their football history) and Koeman and Co were warned for another deception. Imagine grabbing 3 points in an epic match in Germany and spilling the points vs Estonia!?

The 0-4 was the result of a patient, focused and at times lethal Oranje, with Ryan Babel and Memphis as Men of the Match and special mention for Donyell Malen!

The PSV youngster got his first starting spot, after scoring as a sub versus the Teutons.

Koeman: “When you play the smaller nations, they will make the space limited and we’ll need extra depth and speed to break open their defensive structures. Malen is a player who can do this.”

Malen came in for Promes.

He also selected Propper for the midfield spot, over Marten de Roon: “Davy was a starter before he got injured and he’s proven himself to be a potential starter, like a couple of others in the squad. De Roon’s strength is repossessing the ball. That is what does so well. But vs Estonia this quality is less relevant as we will have most of the possession anyway and I can use a player like Propper more, as he has the same passing qualities and fleet of footness of Frenkie de Jong. Davy plays simple, but he also has an eye for the forward pass.” Propper for De Roon in other words.

The last member of the right flank – Dumfries – was also sacrificed for Joel Veltman. “Veltman has better ball control. Denzel lost possession a tad easy and got us in trouble as a result. We won’t be needing Denzel’s runs forward, as we won’t have the space vs Estonia. So I prefer a more thrifty player, who also has a very good cross, which could be useful.”

Tactically, Oranje set up differently to the Germany start line up. Ryan playing more to the left, keeping the field wide, while Malen was the ideal distractor with his runs, contribution in particular to Babel’s second goal, with a superb run.

It was two defenders with the first opportunities to score, early on. Virgil tried it with a blistering shot from distance, just sailing past the post and Joel Veltman broke the line once but ended up in offside and a second chance came to him when the goalie boxed the ball right towards him. His side-footed attempt sailed over the bar.

It was Frenkie in the 16th minute who found Daley Blind on the left winger position with a nice pass, and the left footed Blind placed the ball with a curve right in that danger zone between defence and goalie, allowing for any hungry forward to have a tap in. It was Ryan Babel, 32 years old but playing like a 22 year old, who was first at the scene: 0-1.

The Galatasaray forward was already one of the better players vs Germany, this time he got his reward. All the potential excitement about the game was gone early in the second half, when Babel scored his second after a great attacking move. Malen set it up, and made a forward run into the box, pulling a central defender away from Babel… Memphis got the ball on the right flank and crossed it in sharply in one go. Babel is not known for his heading skills but he nodded the ball with great composure into the corner: 0-2.

Great stats for the former Liverpool winger, but the King of Stats is still Memphis, who played a super game yet again. He saw a gap, ran into the space while De Ligt carried the ball forward. The former Ajax skipper recognised the opportunity and passed the ball perfectly into Depay’s stride. His first touch was brilliant, the turn was as well and with his left, curled the ball into the corner: 0-3.

The objective was reached. And from that moment on it was important for all to keep their ankles and knees healthy. Late in the game, a fourth goal was scored, Memphis with the assist from a set piece and Wijnaldum nicking the ball from Virgil’s forehead and heading in the final goal: 0-4.

Memphis could have had 2 assists AND 2 goals but he kicked a sitter just next to the post, otherwise his stats would have been even better!

Koeman allowed Berghuis 15 minutes, with Strootman and Luuk de Jong getting playing time as well.

Donyell Malen does deserve a special mention even though he didn’t score and didn’t have an assist. From the first minute onwards, Malen did exactly what Koeman required from him: making runs in behind, even if only 10% of these runs get rewarded with a pass his way.

Usually, the forwards will be facing their own goal (and back to opponents goal) when the opponent parks the bus. Memphis will make runs in behind, and Wijnaldum will attempt this now and then, but with Malen we have a player who will do this all day long. And his running actions will add to the chaos at the back of Estonia and in particular with the 0-2 you can see what the value is of an unselfish dummy run.

There is one aspect though, that will potentially give us all a headache!

Koeman’s contract ends formally in 2020, after the Euros. There is an evaluation moment in the contract, allowing both Koeman and the KNVB to part ways. With all the successes Koeman is having and with the fact that he still has Barca blood in his veins AND the fact he knows exactly how to use Frenkie de Jong, it’s quite likely that Barcelona will knock on his door once Valverde is done and dusted in the Camp Nou.

Examples above and below of the typical runs Donyell Malen kept on making….

And will Ronald Koeman have the strength to say no? Probably not.

He had two dreams as a coach. One, to coach Holland (tick!). And the other, to coach Barca.

Should that second dream be close, he might accept abandoning dream 1 (with a Euro title?) and hop on the Barca-train (to use Koeman’s expression).

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by Jan

Another Germany – Oranje…

Dutch football is on the rise. Ajax’ campaign in Europe last season was unheard of. And the resulting interest in some of the Dutch top players a logical next step, with big moves for De Ligt and De Jong, Champions League football for De Roon and Babel, a new adventure for Cillesen in Spain… In the usually so challenging August month, 4 Dutch clubs impressively reached the group stages of the European competitions and Virgil van Dijk was awarded the European Footballer of the Year award… ahead of Messi and C Ronaldo.

All wonderful news. And on top of that, Ajax managed to keep Onana, Mazraoui, Ziyech, Van de Beek, Tadic, Neres and Blind on board with disappointing striker Kasper Dolberg leaving for Nice. Lasse Schone, for years a loyal key part of the different Ajax teams was allowed a final money move to Genua. Ajax’ investments in new players will definitely prove to be a gift for the Eredivisie, with Dutch international Quincy Promes amongst the new signings.

PSV is looking sharp (and young) with Malen, Gakpo, Ihatarren, Dumfries and Bergwijn as regular starters while Feyenoord seems to take shape too, slowly but surely, under Jaap Stam with Steven Berghuis in the leader role and former Oranje players Karsdorp, Narsingh and Leroy Fer back in Holland to revitalise their careers.

And the Dutch flag ship team, the Lions, are set to start their season as well. And why not against Germany? A good opponent to kick the season off with….

It’s the fourth meeting in eleven months. The games were all considered “tactical matches” by Ronald Koeman and in the third edition (2-3 loss), it was Joachim Low who outsmarted his Dutch counterpart.

Koeman is not all too relaxed when faced with Germany again. “They are problably one of the strongest teams around. Forget their abysmal World Cup campaign and forget the victories we had over them in the Nations League. This Germany oozes quality.” Their strength is, their flexibility and ability to change their style mid-game. They have speed and guile upfront, a couple of killer strikers and a lot of movement.

In the last meeting, Koeman went for a 4-2-3-1 system, with Babel and Promes on as striker partners for Memphis.

Holland doesn’t get a grip on the game, though, as Gozetzka is successful in shielding Frenkie de Jong. The movement is too much for Holland’s midfield and Koeman goes back to the 5-4-1 he used in the first victory over Germany.

Quincy Promes played on the wing back spot (as did Babel) and the former generates to opportunities for Babel at the start of the second half. The Germans seem rattled but soon find out that now the space is to found in the axis of the field.

Koeman brings Bergwijn for Promes and changes again: this time to a 5-3-2 and the two striking partners (Memphis and Bergwijn) keep pressure on the German defence and allow the midfield to take more control. Wijnaldum takes on the job to cover Kroos from De Roon and the Liverpool midfielder manages to contain the Real Madrid playmaker. The result is that Germany starts to play the long ball to bypass midfield and as a result, Virgil and Matthijs can play to their strength, winning the aerial battles.

Oranje fights back from 0-2 to 2-2 and it seems another draw is on the cards. A series of communication errors after a number of subs results in players being unmarked allowing the Germans one more attempt at goal: 2-3.

The infamous note of assistant Dwight Lodeweges for coach Koeman

Koeman is fuming after the match: why didn’t he make a final change to make sure the 2-2 wasn’t further endangered. He concluded that the number of players in defensive roles wasn’t the issue, but more the series of wrong decisions made….

A key conclusion after that game is: Holland isn’t as good as we hope / think we are. We still have steps to take. The coach is still important in the changes he makes. When the team gets stuck, it needs the changes from the bench to repair the problem. The next step is that this team (De Jong, Propper, Van Dijk, Memphis) will see what needs to be done for themselves.

For the match coming Friday, Leroy Sane – one of the trouble makers in the last match – is missing with injury. But on the other hand,  Germany has multiple options to deal with this omission as Low is able to use Reus, Brandt, Havertz and Werner he could use to good effect coming from the flanks. We’ll know it 30 mins before the match…

Eight internationals made a move this summer. Lets zoom in and see how they faired.

Ryan Babel – Galatasaray

Babel went from Fulham in the EPL back to Turkey, to play for Galatasaray. After 6 years without a call up, he made his way back into the orange jersey under Koeman. On the left, Babel covers the whole flank, doing his defensive duties and supporting Memphis in attack. Babel played central striker in the first competitive matches and has his first goal already too.

Jesper Cillesen – Valencia

Cillesen was a highly regarded goalie for Barca for 3 seasons but wanted to play every week. And with Valencia, it seems he has that opportunity. His new employer hasn’t started too good but Cillesen was able to stop a spotkick by Denis Suarez and secured the #1 spot (for now).

Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld – Bournemouth

The youngster went from the PSV Academy to NEC in the second tier, because he wanted playing time. After one season, Club Brugge picked him up and now Danjuma made his debut for Oranje and signed a super deal with Bournemouth. Danjuma hasn’t played a minute for Bournemouth as a result of a foot injury. Eddie Howe is frustrated: “We did every single test on him and didn’t find a thing. And now this. We don’t even know how serious it is!”

Frenkie de Jong – Barcelona

The most talked about transfer of the summer. Frenkie had a super pre-season with the club, making an impression. In his first Liga game, Barca loses, partly due to the man marking Bilbao had for Frenkie. He can’t get rid of the marker and needs the help of Rakitic to get some joy on the ball. In the second game Frenkie is the left midfielder in the Betis game where his contributions on midfield resulted in three Barca goals. In his last game for Barca, he plays on the left again but can’t avoid a draw. He had the least contacts of the whole team in that match, a strong indicator that he is not yet firing on all cylinders.

Luuk de Jong – Sevilla

PSV attacking leader and goal scorer Luuk de Jong tried in a bigger competition for the third time. Failed at Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany and Newcastle in England, the Spanish are quite taken with the header specialist. De Jong hasn’t scored yet but was crucial in two instances, and two goals. The Sevilla fans have seen the value Luuk can bring.

Matthijs de Ligt – Juventus

What appeared to be a longwinded transfer soap opera ended with a move to Juventus. Not as predictable as Frenkie’s move, but the young Ajax skipper proclaimed to have been a Juve fan from childhood and a big follower of Italian defenders. Surely, Cristiano whispering in his ear will have helped too. His pre-season wasn’t too great, with some clear adaption issues (and an own goal). He didn’t play in Juve’s first match but got the nod when Chiellini got seriously injured for the top match vs Napoli. His direct opponent scored and according to the ruthless media, De Ligt defended as a girl and was guilty of three goals. Juve did win that match, to soften the blow. Ronald Koeman laughed the criticism away: “I had a horrific start at Barca as well and if you ask the people there today about me, I don’t think anyway will mention my start. Matthijs was at fault of one goal, not three. I am not worried.”

Quincy Promes – Ajax

The young former Ajax talent made his way to the top via FC Twente and Go Ahead Eagles, making his name at Spartak Moscow. His move to Seville wasn’t a success as he was mainly used as stand in for the wing backs. In Amsterdam, they expected the exit of Ziyech, Neres and Van de Beek and they signed the former Russian top scorer early. Now, with the Ajax three signing on for more, Promes started on the bench and even getting a nasty foot injury. He started for Ajax last weekend and managed his first Eredivisie goal vs Sparta.

Tonny Vilhena – Krasnodar

The Feyenoord version of Edgar Davids was named in transfer rumours for years. Bundesliga, Serie A, EPL (Leicester City), they all came and went. For personal reasons (his mom was very ill), Tonny didn’t move away from Rotterdam until this summer and brows were raised when it was Krasnodar. Vilhena scored and assisted one in the shock win over FC Porto in the CL-qualification game. Vilhena plays either left or right midfield for his new club and Koeman knows the youngster can also play left back or left wing back. That versatility is a big plus for Koeman who loves players like him, Ake and Daley Blind who can offer the coach options.

Ronald Koeman claims he has the ideal eleven in his head for the match tomorrow. The full squad is fit as it is and it is expected he won’t change anything in his defence and midfield. The injured Bergwijn needs to be replaced and the experienced Promes is the most logical option.

Oranje is way behind the leaders in the group but this is because of Holland’s Nation League campaign. Winning or drawing vs Germany is not essential but losing does mean Oranje can’t afford a single misstep.

I believe we’ll win this match 1-3, hitting the Germans on the counter, with a key role for playmaker Frenkie and goals for Memphis, Promes and sub Donyell Malen.

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