Tag: Dilrosun

by Jan

Dreaming of an Orange Xmas…

All the most wonderful season’s greetings to all of you, loyal fans and followers of Oranje and this blog!! Whether you celebrate Christmas, or Hannukah, or the winter/summer solstice… I wish you a great time.

But I wish Memphis Depay, Donyell Malen and Daley Blind even more good wishes! In case you forgot who Memphis is, I put a top video with his skills below at the end of the post. Goosebumps. Boy, that kid can play!

Memphis Depay has been operated on, and at first glance, successfully in Rome. The optimistic noises are that he might be ready for action in 5 months. But that is when everything goes well. And that is not always the case with these knee ligament operations. Some players can easily be out for a year… Also, even if Memphis makes it in 5 months, he’ll have to work his ass off to be ready for a top match. And then I’m not even talking about the risk he will run for the rest of his career. He wouldn’t be the first to risk it all for one tournament. 25 year old Memphis might be best off to stay on the sideline for the Euros and come back with a real vengeance to win us the World Cup in 2022.

Memphis in hospital, in Rome

Doneyll Malen’s injury is not 100% clear, at least not the severity of it. First indications are that he might be out for 3 months, but again, it can easily make a turn for the worse… For him, the same consideration works… Working really hard to get back into fitness might derail his career further down the track.

And Daley’s injury (inflamed heart muscle) is the most vague one. He says he’s feeling really good. But he’s not training and playing. Some doctors became talking heads on tv and a number claims it’s really nothing, while another sub group of experts claim he might never play football ever again. Stressful days for the Blind family, as the uncertainty must be hard. At least Memphis and Donyell’s trajectory to fitness are clear. Tough, but clear.

Malen off the pitch with a bad knee injury

In the days of joy, gay times and Christmas cheer, most news sources will give you nice insights and stories about the past year or even decade (as we’re moving out of the ’10s).

This post will not do this. We’ll look forward, to the upcoming 2020 summer, the Euros. Holland did ever so well to qualify, and also in a way inwhich we get to play 3 home games in Amsterdam! How good is that.

The fact we might miss our attacking leader, our young talented mercurial goal scorer and our brains and visionary at the back puts a big cold, wet blanket over it all.

How will we replace these three (if we indeed need a replacement for Blind)…?

Start with Memphis. His contribution? Brilliance. Power. Leadership. Assists. Goals. His movement, his unpredictability means opponents need two players to guard him. For me, Bergwijn or Promes are the only players that could take that role. They both have experience, are strong physically and can do all Memphis can do, except maybe for the leadership part. For this, others will need to step up (Wijnaldum?).

This is leadership: taking the initiative to remove a negative banner from a Lyon (!) fan

As we now have Stengs making an impression for the right wing, we could well use Promes as central striker (as Spartak did for many a game) and move Bergwijn to the left.

Donyell Malen’s qualities? Goals. Assists. Speed. Runs. And lots and lots of runs. In behind. Dummy runs. Dirty yards, on and on.

I think Malen might not have been a starter in Koeman’s ideal XI, so for Malen we can pick an alternative that – like him – is still considered a youngster. A player with speed and the willingness to leave it all on the pitch. Dilrosun comes to mind. Danjuma comes to mind (even though he is struggling with injuries himself now, too), and as Willem van Hanegem commented: Joshua Zirkzee comes to mind too! Why not.

(Zirkzee is only 18 years old, but you know what you could expect, when Bayern Munich uses him as the super sub with 5 mins to go, to force something. And twice he did already. When you’re old and good enough to play for Bayern, surely you are good enough for Oranje…)

Young Zirkzee at Bayern

Myron Boadu would be a sure fire option of course. Yes, he’s a central striker but he can also play from the left. He’s good speed and good work ethics. His conversion stats need to go up, though.

Some outsiders for the position are Cody Gakpo and Noa Lang. Gakpo is a PSV gem. A player with the right foot of David Beckham, work ethics and speed too. He can score a goal, and assist a goal. Used as a left winger in PSV, he can also play from midfield. Noa Lang is a player Ajax has tremendous faith in. He’s also unpredictable, fast and can score and assist a goal but recently his strongheadedness came to the fore, and Erik ten Hag had a right and loud go at him during a national cup game. Also, Lang doesn’t make the runs he should be making, but instead wants ball to feet a lot.

Our hope for a good world class striker: Myron Boadu

Lastly, Daley Blind. Probably the hardest player to replace. Top passing. Vision. Build up skills. Leadership. Positioning. We simply do not have any other player like him. So replacing him at left back will result in Koeman having to rethink his shape. We do have some exciting options for the left back spot. I personally rate Owen Wijndal high, but I think Van Aanholt would be the first option to replace Blind. Feyenoord’s Haps could be an option too as is Robin Gosens of Atalanta.

Whichever player gets the spot, none will do what Daley does, so we’ll have to find another solution for his role in the build up. We will probably play with two typical full backs, players with lungs and legs more than brains and passing. So another Dumfries type on the other flank, meaning a midfielder (Frenkie) will have to drop back a tad more often, to allow for “3 at the back” and to allow the backs to push up. Which would work well with a player like Bergwijn on the left flank, as he can then move into the half space.

Daley on the turf, vs Valencia in CL. Really strange that Ten Hag didn’t take him of…

This might result in a role for a “playing” holding mid, like Davy Propper or Donny van de Beek next to Frenkie, as opposed to a more defensive blocker such as Marten de Roon or Kevin Strootman.

In the meantime, fingers and toe crossed for De Ligt and his position in Juventus. For Rick Karsdorp coming back to full fitness and form fast.

My squad, based on the knowledge of today and without Blind, Malen and Memphis…

Goalies: Jasper Cillesen, Tim Krul, Marco Bizot

RB: Karsdorp, Dumfries

CB: De Ligt, Ake, Van Dijk, De Vrij

LB: Van Aanholt, Wijndal

Midfield: Frenkie, Wijnaldum, Propper, Van de Beek, Ihattaren, De Roon

Forwards: Stengs, Promes, Bergwijn, Danjuma, Weghorst, Boadu

Obviously, all three players (Blind, Malen and Memphis) will be welcome in my squad when fit. I would take out Van Aanholt, Boadu and De Roon if these three end up being fit.

Robin Gosens of Atalanta… dark horse for LB?

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by Jan

Happy New Year, Oranje fans!

Hi all, I will start with apologising for taking a bit of time off, with the Eredivisie (and Oranje) in their winter break. Sure, I noticed the EPL was still going, but I just wanted to take a breather.

Every year, I contemplate the future of the blog. In 2010 and 2014, I considered stopping at the high point of Oranje’s World Cup exploits, expecting/hoping that we would win gold.

We didn’t.

Then we ended up in the boondocks with Oranje and I simply couldn’t quit while things were so bad. And now…we’re heading back up again. So… maybe I’ll hang in a bit longer.

Having said that: do let me know if you wish to contribute or partner or even take over this blog. I do believe time will come soon now, for me to retire and rake in the big bucks. Well… not rake in the big bucks actually… This little hobby costs money, but hey…

So leave a comment below if you want to join in. We’ll see how we can set that up.

By the way, this is also the right time and place to thank you for all your support and ongoing participation!

For 2019, I think I can only see great things.

Oranje will probably win the Nations League. We are so hungry now and Koeman will want to get his team in the habit of winning. So check! That is trophy number 2 for Oranje. And with the Euros coming up, I think we need to make space in our trophy cabinet. Or better: we should actually first make a trophy cabinet…

Ajax will dazzle in Europe, which is great. Can they win the Champions League? Why not! The draw will be key but I firmly believe they can beat any opponent on a really good day. But lets avoid PSG and Man City for now.

PSV will get stronger too. Van Bommel is doing a great job and it’s good to see some solid players come through there in Eindhoven. Rosario, Malen, Bergwijn. There are some others in their youth system too! Excellent.

Feyenoord has brought Stanley Brard home as the new Youth Academy leader. He used to be in charge back in the day when the likes of Wijnaldum and Fer came through. I think Gio will move on and it might well be an idea for Feyenoord to consider a coach like Wagner (recently fired at Huddersfield), who can bring some new vibe into the club. Usual suspects Henk Fraser (just signed with Sparta) and Dirk Kuyt (too early) or Kevin Hofland (doesn’t have proper diploma yet) might be considered in the stage beyond Wagner?

Our youthful talents are getting the headlights again. Hoever at Liverpool? Wow!! Chong at ManU? Great. And with Danjuma, Delrosun, Van Drongelen et al, the future looks bright.

Ajax’ success will mean their key players will leave. I think Onana will be off to the EPL (Spurs?) with Frenkie hopefully chosing between Barca and Man City. De Ligt will probably make a move too (Barca or Bayern) while Ziyech might be off to Italy.

The youngsters coming through in Amsterdam are of high calibre as well and players like Blind, Schone, Tadic, Labyad and Veltman will probably not go anywhere.

Still, challenges ahead for Ajax, but it’s a good thing Overmars has started to spend some money on good quality players. A guy like Tagliafico will definitely make the club money so investing/spending wisely will pay off.

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by Jan

German victory for Oranje…

Oh the irony… Gary Lineker once defined football as a game “between two teams of eleven and at the end of the game, Germany wins…”. Last night, Lineker tweeted: “Who ever said that doesn’t know a thing about football”…

We can immensely enjoy the result vs the Germans and we are clearly not alone. The English can always appreciate a good German thumping.

And what a hammer blow it was. Because let’s be honest: we didn’t deserve it. Germany played well. Didn’t have a big game 4 days ago. Played at home. Nothing to play for, but their coach and their reputation. Low fielding a number of highly talented youngsters and they took the game by the neck.

Good goals, good attacks, lots of movement and the right tactics.

The Germans populated the midfield. In their 3-4-3, Holland had trouble taking on their midfield and was second best on all levels. The only thing worse than Oranje was the pitch. Terrible surface, not doing us many favours.

But we got the draw in the end, and we won the Division A, a group where criticasters believed we had no right to be in. And would never be able to top. While only 5 months ago documentaries were produced to show how terrible the state of football was in The Netherlands and how every expert (bar some) proclaimed how Holland needed to go to Germany or France and learn from their ways of working. Because we lost our edge and didn’t know what we were doing…

And very untypical for the Dutch, we now got the wind in our back and where everything turned against us under Hiddink/Blind, under this coach, everything seems to fall in its place. The Germans could have scored 3 more but failed. And we were able to grab the point we needed in German fashion right at the death.

Euphoria and joy, after 94 minutes.

But pointing fingers, screaming and gesticulating after 20 minutes. Ronald Koeman sees how badly his team started. Lethargic. Slow. Lack of communication. Wijnaldum picks up the signs from the desperate coach and receives instructions. He brings the messages to his team mate, but not much improves. In the first 20 minutes, we concede two goals, only have 40% possession and did not have a single opportunity to put Neuer to work.

Stats that do remind us of the Hiddink/Blind era. Koeman had to go for Plan B. Which was Luuk de Jong as target man and Virgil van Dijk as his partner striker.

That tactics was handed to Koeman, on a little note. “I didn’t come up with this. Apparently my assistants Kees van Wonderen and Dwight Lodeweges were talking in the first half how to force a beakthrough. They gave me this during the second half and we went for it.”

The comeback does fit the trajectory Oranje is in, under the new coach. He’s pragmatic, he can switch systems, created a good vibe between the players and he makes his own luck.

Germany starts with an aggressive tactics. Three forwards, playing close together, with two wingbacks playing high up. And one v one at the back. The four midfielders had the better of the Dutch midfield and in particular De Roon on the right hand side was constantly forced to decide: do I press high and take on Kroos or support Tete and allow Kroos space to penetrate? He did both and in in each scenario was Germany able to score. The central defenders weren’t capable to press up, as the third forward would have a free run into space. In the second half, partly due to injuries (Dilrosun and Babel), Koeman switched it with pushing Frenkie back as centre back and using a 3-4-3 to mirror Germany.

Promes scored Holland’s first from a central position. “The coach told us in the half time break, if we don’t concede anymore and score 2-1, we will go and make it 2-2. He was right.”

Promes played as Steven Bergwijn was injured (ankle) and wasn’t in the selection. Dumfries wasn’t 100% either so Koeman decided to switch the pair. Tete, considered a better defender than Dumfries, was brought in, in particular to take care of Sane. The Olympique Lyon defender had a bad night as Sane showed Low why he always needs to play.

The Man City player demonstrated his quality with the 2-0, when he slipped away from De Ligt and got a lucky deflection to score 2-0. Holland really didn’t have a lot to say. The only opportunity we had, was a header by Sule on a Blind cross, which cleared the bar.

In the second half, Germany kept on going where they left off. Wijnaldum played an invisible match and was subbed for the energetic Vilhena. Holland started to play a bit more ballsy and with Luuk de Jong for the unfortunate Dilrosun, there was a swagger coming into the team. The Frenkie de Jong block tackle on Sane’s attempt, followed by an excellent shot by Memphis on the German goal gave us a snippet of what was to come. In the 86th minute , Holland was patiently trying to find an opening when Luuk de Jong laid off to De Roon who passed into Promes. The Sevilla man used the body of Hummels as a shield to curve the ball into the corner: 2-1.

The final minutes were electric. Koeman pushed Van Dijk forward next to De Jong and it was the energy and belief of Vilhena, who played well as a sub, which kept the ball alive. He took it off Kroos’ foot, dribbled close to the corner flag to whip it in with his powerful left. Kimmich got a nothing header flick on the ball, making it a tad harder for Virgil, but like Marco van Basten, he volleyed the ball brilliantly out of reach of Neuer: 2-2.

And so: Holland wins this Group 1, and will go to Portugal next summer, with Portugal, England and Switzerland.

Not a fantastic performance, but an exhilarating battle all the same. Van Dijk was the hero, but we did see more good performances. I thought Blind was important, with his composure on the ball and his experience in the final minutes of the game. Frenkie didn’t shine as per usual, but again demonstrated guile and elegance. De Roon for me was one of the key man in the team. Totally understandable why he’s on the pitch, but I do think he’ll have to battle for a spot with Davy Propper.

Promes, Memphis, Babel, they were ok. Worked for the team, were threatening. Wijnaldum and Tete appeared to have a bit of an off day, while Vilhena and Luuk de Jong both had a great turn in the team, lifting the energy and belief.

Add Dilrosun, Danjuma, Van de Beek, Rosario, Bergwijn, De Vrij, Ake, Janmaat, Van Aanholt, Propper, Klaassen, Berghuis, Kluivert and there is quite a solid squad in the making.

We can have closure this year, knowing that despite missing the World Cup, Dutch football is back at the top. We have it all to play for with a very young and talented team and a pragmatic coach who taught us what winning is again. And who made us remember how fun it is, to win.

Now lets win that Nations League next year, as the money the KNVB makes at that tournament can be put to good use, to help clubs with artificial pitches in Holland to throw these out and go back to grass again. How it is supposed to be.

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by Jan

Oranje’s future: Javairo Dilrosun

It’s Spring in The Netherlands’ football world these days. After a spell of drought in the talent department, we’re witnessing numerous potential world class players coming to the fore. We’ll look at the winger who made a detour to get to the top. Javairo Dilrosun.

And for the first time in eight years, the most dangerous forward with a Dutch passport is not Arjen Robben.

The 20 year old has just finished another practice with his current club Hertha BSC and is panting and struggling for air. “Training is quite tough here. I’m used to a good intense level of training at Man City, but here, it’s even worse. It took a while to get used to, but now, it’s going quite well.” Understatement of the year. Dilrosun has started the season like a rocket!

The youngster learned to play football on the streets of Amsterdam West. And made his move to Man City when he was 15 years old. After 4 years on the City books, he was allowed to make a free exit and the European clubs were queueing up: Ajax of course, Juventus, Leipzig, Valencia, Benfica and Borussia Dortmund all were in the race. But the youngster decided to go to Berlin, where Hertha promised him something crucial: playing time.

When he left Ajax for Man City, the Dilrosun family followed him. Now, he decided to go to Berlin alone. “My little sister and brother need stability in school. And I’m old enough now to live alone. I spend a lot of time with Karim Rekik who is wonderful for me. I don’t speak German yet, but I am learning. Our coach doesn’t speak English so I have to get used to the new language but Karim is my translator and friend and he helps me a lot!”

The youngster might be a bit unsettled off the pitch, still, but on the pitch he seems really at home. “I scored in the pre season games and did well, but the coach didn’t use me in the first Bundesliga match. He felt I need to get stronger. I played with the second team and scored in my first official match. A week later, the coach decided I was good enough for the first team after all, hahaha.”

Against Schalke 04, Javairo started on the bench. And when Rekik is the one who needed to be subbed due to an injury in the first 10 minutes, his buddy Dilrosun came on. And had his first assist. The media and fans in Germany were surprised. “I was not. I worked hard for this. And when you do get the chance, you simply have to take it. That is how it is.”

The Dutchman got his starting berth and would have 3 more assists and score two goals. Even Arjen Robben can’t say that. And end of September, the two faced off against each other. Hertha wins, 2-0, in front of 75,000 people. “I met Arjen before the game, he was always one of my heroes. I’m a leftie too, like him. He wished me the best. I wanted to exchange shirts after the game, but I couldn’t find him anymore, sadly. So I didn’t get the shirt.”

Where Robben took the step-by-step route (Groningen, PSV, Chelsea), young Dilrosun took another avenue. He started at Ajax when he was 7 years old and Ajax Youth Academy director Said Ouaali was his youth coach, for a spell. “Javairo is a really really good player. He is lethal. So fast and but still with tremendous vision. He can go outside, come inside, take on a player with speed or with his trickely and skill. He could play midfield too, but his goal scoring abilities made him a perfect attacker. And, not unimportant: he is a very nice, decent and quiet lad. Very respectful and always with that wide smile on his face.” Dilrosun was part of the team that also brought us Donny van de Beek, Carel Eiting, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Pablo Rosario. Somehow Ajax never presented the winger with a contract. Dilrosun: “I still wonder why they never signed me up. It took so long and I didn’t hear anything. I became impatient. Ouaali doesn’t want to go into it. He prefers to talk about the future, not the past.

Several clubs in Europe want to follow suit and offer the lad a contract. Man City is the first to fly him in and Patrick Viera, in charge of the City youth academy, shows the Amsterdam born around and explains the big plan they have with him. Dilrosun is convinced. He wants to be part of the City adventure. Master scout Piet de Visser (at 86 still working for Chelsea): “A lot of people think that City and Chelsea just throw money around to gobble up talent, but that is so not true. They really develop plans for all their youngsters and invest with purpose. They train at high level, they play 40 matches per season, get the chance to play in the cup competitions and when they reach a certain age they can train with the first team. People say that Chelsea and City are trading in players for profit but that is false. Whenever a player is unhappy and keen to leave the club, they are never blocked and always allowed to leave. Players like Van Aanholt, Bruma, Rekik and Ake will never be negative about their treatment, as they all landed really nicely, didn’t they?”

That is exactly the story Javairo will tell you. “It was tough at first. You feel alone and you are part of something big, which makes you feel small. I got injured too and that is even harder. But you do grow mentally, as well. The last year, I trained with the first team. Man, you make big jumps forward when you work with the likes of Aguero and Fernandinho and Kompany, I can tell you.”

Dilrosun is there when City breaks every record in England and sees how Pep the miracle worker is the catalyst of all that beauty. “Guardiola is special. Everything he says makes sense. He was always working with you, in my case, explaining how to use my speed and when, how to position myself, my running patterns, my first touch… everything. He is so good and he sees everything. And he taught me how to defend too, hahaha.”

But despite that and despite the fact that Pep wants his future Man City team to be build around a core of homegrown players, today City has 4 wingers who are valued at 230m euros. And these guys will play. Only three youth players were used by Pep last season and these lads played 106 minutes of the 10,260 minutes City players played (Foden, Diaz and Nmecha). Time for Javairo to go elsewhere and get some miles on the clock.

The fringe player of City is now a starter at Hertha. And every 100 minutes of football results in an assist or goal by the winger. And his lungs and legs also make him a weapon to contain the offensive full backs of the opponent. It was Dilrosun who kept Bayern’s Kimmich quiet in the duel vs Bayern.

Dilrosun is ambitious and he has every right to be that. Asked about his plans moving forward, he is clear. “I want to be important for Hertha and keep this up. I want to score 10 times this season and maybe have 10 assists. Obviously, I am ambitious, this is why I left Holland when I was 16 years old. I won’t make any rash statements now as I am prviliged to be here and happy to be here, but of course, eventually, I would love to play at European top level. And win trophies. I will do all I can to play for the likes of Bayern, or Barca, or Man City… That is the ultimate goal. And I want to play for Oranje. That is the Dream. And I want to deserve it too. I will never claim I am ready, that is for the coach to decide.”

A lot of youngsters who left Holland early cop a lot of criticism, as if they went for money. Dilrosun smiles. “I know some players didn’t make it. That is always sad, but I think it worked for me. I mean, I trained under Guardiola. That has made me a much better player, for sure. I am really ambitious and I am very focused. Now I am here and I have to demonstrate that I am not a fluke. And I will.”

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by Jan

Oranje’s future

Young Oranje would usually be the vanguard for the Oranje future, but the two strikers Zivkovic and Sam Lammers demonstrated against Young Scotland why these two will never reach the top. It seems Young Oranje again will miss out on a big tournament.

The strikers in the Under 17 and Under 19 teams however did show their class. Daishawn Redan, skipper of the EC title winner and now striker of Under 19 did what he always does: score. And Myron Boadu, of AZ, did the same.

It was a week in which the KNVB deployed their new strategy. “Closer to the clubs”. The aim is to get clubs to be more generous with allowing their talents to play international matches. By organising matches vs England for instance, as the English seem to dominate all the youth tournaments. Director Football Development Art Langerer: “All our youth teams struggle against England, we had two defeats, one draw and one win this week. But I think that is good. We need good opponents to grow.”

Oranje does seem to win all the matches vs the weaker nations, as Under 19 wiped Israel away, Under 18 beat Russia and Under 19 crushed the Czechs 5-1.

Another problem the KNVB faces is the focus on the ball. Erwin van der Looi, the Young Oranje coach, has many good attacking midfielders to pick from but they all play in the ball. “I am having a hard time finding one midfielder with depth, who runs in behind. Only Guus Til, but he’s now close to the senior team. It’s a bit un-Dutch apparently.” The club do pick it up now and at Ajax, young Dani de Wit is a player who has that penetrative power. The youth coaches of the 15 year olds and working now to generate more different types of midfielders. Langerer: “It is time we also assess players for their work off the ball.” We have been lauding the likes of Redan (Chelsea), Boadu (AZ) and Ihattaren (PSV) for their creativity on the ball and rightly so, but we need other types of players too.

Another project Langerer started are the so-called master classes. Getting the exceptional talents together for a coaching day with Ronald Koeman, or semi-retired coaches like Van Marwijk or a coach in between jobs Peter Bosz or Frank de Boer. Why couldn’t Peter Bosz for instance analyse an up coming opponent of Oranje? Bosz: “Yes, that was mentioned to me, and why not? If it fits the schedules, bring it on.”

With all these supportive activities to bring Dutch football back to where it belongs, it is time for check in on our Golden Boys. We have Mathijs de Ligt already as Ajax skipper, Frenkie de Jong as new Oranje playmaker, Donyell Malen has presented himself at PSV, Malacia is a starter at Feyenoord. We do seem to have some spectacular talents. Lets have a look with Piet de Visser (master scout for Chelsea) and Aad de Mos.

De Visser – 83 years old- has seen them all. He saw Cruyff, Keizer and Van Hanegem break, he was there when the generation Van Basten and Gullit presented themselves all the way via Sneijder and Van Persie and Robben to the current lot of talents. “These waves of talents, they sometimes skip a generation. It always comes in waves. But, I think we have some players with amazing potential. I’ll name De Ligt and Fosu-Mensah as examples. De Ligt has a wonderful personality as well. He knows when he makes mistakes and works on it during the week. This is so underrated, a player working on himself, being self-motivated. Fosu-Mensah is a beast and is making big steps in the PL. I can really see a new stream of tremendous players come through.”

De Visser is still working and scouting for Chelsea. The old master is annoyed with the criticism the London based club gets. “Chelsea doesn’t sign the talents for the trade, as some people suggest. They really make development plans for every talent. The Chelsea talents play at a high level and play 40 matches on top level every season. And when they make it to the squad for the first team, the club wants to loan them out, so they can get experience and Chelsea is happy to pay the salaries of the players. And when players do want to leave, Chelsea won’t block them. Look at Bruma, Ake and Van Aanholt. They have done really well for themselves.”

De Visser is very excited about the current lot at Chelsea: Daishawn Redan and Juan Castillo. Both made their move in 2016, from Ajax to Chelsea. And Redan in particular impresses.

“Redan is an ice cool striker. It’s something unfathomable isn’t it. The ability to be cool and collected and score. It’s hard to train too, you have to have it. Redan is very explosive and quick. Redan scored 20 times in 24 international games for Oranje Under 17. Redan scored four times in five matches in the Youth League for Chelsea, and lost the finals vs Barcelona.

Juan Castillo is a creative midfielder. A player with good vision and a killer pass. He is less developed than Redan but according to De Visser, this can change just like that with youngsters.

Aad de Mos is not too positive about these youngsters making their move abroad so early. “I think most are being lured by their agents. Isn’t it much better for these kids to have two seasons of Eredivisie football in their backpack. Take De Ligt, do you think he would play 34 matches for Man City, if he’d go there? No. It’s important to play. Now Justin Kluivert is a benchwarmer at Roma. Why? He could have played Champions League football with Ajax this season.”

Joshua Zirkzee made his first minutes for Bayern Munich in the preseason and even scored his first goal. He made the move in the summer of 2017 from Feyenoord to Munich and the competition there is killing.

Tahith Chong is also from the Feyenoord Academy and made his way to Man United in 2016. He impressed in their youth system and as a left footed right winger has a Robbenesque signature move. He’s also quite mature and doesn’t mind making dirty yards for the team. Mourinho took him along to the US in the preseason and used him vs Club America, against which he had an assist.

Imannuel Pherai was transferred to Dortmund in the 2017 summer from the AZ Academy. The holding mid had a tremendous season with AZ under 16. Ajax and Man United were eager to sign the right legged playmaker. He’s got a good shot and is a fierce tackler as well. He is said to have qualities rarely seen in German kids.

Bobby Adekanye came to Holland from Nigeria at a young age. He started with the amateurs and was picked up by Ajax. In 2011 he moved to Barcelona and came to PSV in 2014. After that, he made his move to Liverpool. The 19 year old can play all attacking positions.

Nathangelo (all those names!) Markelo. A surname from Volendam, a first name and appearance from somewhere exotic. Markelo made his move from Volendam straight to the EPL. The Oranje youth international (right back) is playing in Unsworth’s under 23 team for Everton. The right footer can also play in midfield.

Javairo Dilrosun switched from Ajax to Man City in 2014 and when he was released there, he signed for Hertha BSC. The left winger made his debut already in the Bundesliga and has his first assist. Speed is his friend.

Leandro Fernandes is a central midfielder, who moved from PSV to Juventus. He went along with Juve to the Champions Cup, like Zirkzee and Chong and he played vs Bayern, Benfica, MLS All Stars and Real Madrid. A real playmaker, who played for all rep team in Holland and is hoping to get his debut for Juve this season.

Last but not least, Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld. He signed for Club Brugge and will make his debut in the Champions League. “This kid will play in Oranje in 3 years time.” At NEC we knew him as Arnaut Groeneveld, at Club, he will play with Danjuma on his back. Aad de Mos, who follows the Belgian competition like the Dutch one, has seen if within 45 minutes. Danjuma made his debut for Club and De Mos tweets: “The Dutch top clubs were caught napping again. A top player signed for Club Brugge!”. Now Arnaut is a big name in Belgium, everybody wants a piece of him. Club Orange is the nickname of Club Brugge now. Ryan Donk started the Dutch invasion, Ruud Vormer is their playmaker, Denswil is a starter, Vermeer and Clasie went there and now we see Amrabat there as well. And now Danjuma, how did he get there? Well, it started with PSV Eindhoven but two years ago he left to play for NEC, as he was plagued by injuries and never got into a PSV team. He impressed there, so much so that interest came quickly. Danjuma: “It’s a myth that the Dutch top clubs didn’t come. They did. There was interest from all over, Germany, Italy, England and France. But I follow my intuition. Club Brugge is the right step up for me. And they really wanted me. I need to feel that. And yes, Man City was also in the race, I can say that much.” The Nigerian born could also select Nigeria, even though he played for Oranje in the youth team. “The Dutch national team is my dream, but I also feel African. I would seriously consider playing for them, but my real desire is to get to the Oranje senior team.”

 

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