Tag: El Ghazi

Noa Lang: Rebel with a Cause

And a heart of gold, if you believe the people who know him. The former Feyenoord talent, ex Ajax prospect and current Club Brugge start got the MoTM award in a game inwhich a certain Leo Messi played as well.

He was already knocking on the orange door, but last week’s CL game turned into a heavy boom. And Van Gaal decided to open the door, albeit cautiously. Noa is part of the provisional squad. But based on LVG’s comment that he is not happy with the available wingers in Oranje, he will most likely jump at the opportunity to get Lang in his squad.

So, when you’re 6 year old and you live close to Rotterdam and Feyenoord knocks on the door. What do you? You go. But in Lang’s case, he decided he didn’t want the Feyenoord sports bag. Why not, was his dad’s question. “Because I am an Ajax fan,” the blond lightning strike answered.

He was a remarkable talent, at his age. “He would shoot balls at me that I simply couldn’t stop. So hard. And when he played his first game when he was five years old, he went about his business with sliding after sliding. “I will never forget a match for the title. Noa played in a team with older and bigger players. One of the opponent kids, a tall player, went alone to score the winner against Lang. He jumped on the kid’s back and hung on his shorts and that guy scored the goal with Noa Lang hanging on his shorts, hahahaha.”

Noa Lang, left, duelling with Ajax captain Mathijs de Ligt

Noa was influenced by Edgar Davids, that much was clear. He would play through the pain and never complained. “If I asked him if he wanted to come to the cinema, he would usually say: I can’t dad, I need to train!”

His mother divorced his dad and got into a relationship with Ajax forward Nordin Boukhari. “He was so excited when he learned I played for Ajax. He would come with me to matches always. He was completely obsessed.”

Boukhari played his football with FC Nantes and Besiktas as well and little Noa would briefly play his junior football at these clubs as well.

When he was 13 years old, his dad asked him again: “If you are really an Ajax kid, why do you stay at Feyenoord?”

And off they went. Noa Lang became an Ajax player. The head strong and articulated fellow would get himself into trouble regularly. Not by being a pest, but simply by asking questions or maybe by being a bit of a smart-ass. His mum: “He’s not trouble, but he’s outspoken and sees through fakeness. But he’s loyal and very honest. A social kid who really values family. And he will definitely sacrifice everything for his sport.”

Noa was always close to Ajax players, as a result of his step dad being part of the squad with Sneijder, Heitinga and Nigel de Jong. It was normal for him to be amongst these guys and he ended up collecting shirts from players like Van Persie and players from Ajax opponents. He once got the Bastian Schweinsteiger shirt, one of his fave players, but he would call him Einsteiger. He simply liked that name better.

On holiday with Nigel de Jong (left) and as youth player at Besiktas

Leen Boer, his coach in the Under8s: “He got into my squad and immediately told me honestly: coach I like Ajax. I didn’t care, I said he would probably change that preference in a couple of months. But he didn’t. But what a player he was. He scored the most amazing goals. And even now, when I see him, he will always come up for a hug and some smalltalk. A great kid.”

His dad: “At home it was all Ajax. Posters on his wall, PJs, his bedding, Ajax Ajax. One day he went to Feyenoord for training, wearing his Ajax shirt. That is when Feyenoord told him: ok, this is taking it too far!”

Eventually, Feyenoord allowed to let him go to Ajax.

When Lang was 16, disaster hit. A back injury became so severe that the medical pros feared for his career. He was struggling with it for years already. Living with a brace for a long spell eventually helped him to “fix” his back. His recovery was almost miraculous.

Two ex Ajax wingers: Boukhari and Lang

His C1 season was not that great, but when he got into the Under17s he had Richard Witschge as his coach.

Witschge told Lang he was considered arrogant, even if he wasn’t. But his mannerisms, his hand gestures, you will make it hard on yourself. And Richard knew all about that. They had a similar type of personality. And Witschge would call him out if he had to. Call him ‘asshole’ in front of the group and usually Noa would accept a dressing down.

His mother, Manon: “He plays for the fans. As a kid he would sometimes be more enthralled with the action on the stands and I can tell when he’s showing off for the fans and when he starts to become cocky. He loves to hear the ooohs and aaahs. And when I try to talk to him about it, he is all like “don’t worry mum, I know what I’m doing”. He feels no pressure.”

Lang would make his debut in Ajax 1 but felt there was not enough future for him at Ajax, after a couple of clashes with captain Dujan Tadic and coach Erik ten Hag. Despite this, Ajax wanted to offer the youngster a 4 year deal, but the feeling was gone. Lang wanted out. Leeds United was interested, but a loan spell to Club Brugge resulted in a firm transfer to the Belgium champs.

It all goes fast for the 22 year old. Lang’s performance in the Champions League got people taking notice. With MBappe, Messi and Neymar on the pitch, it was Lang who got the headlines and the MoTM award.

There was no player in the first CL round with more attempts on goal (6) and he had a higher Expected Goals value than goal scorer Vanaken.

Louis van Gaal lamented the lack of wingers when he was just appointed. But with the likes of Bergwijn, Gakpo, Malen, Memphis, Danjuma, El Ghazi, Berghuis and now Noa Lang as well, it seems the old Maestro must stop whining. Most of the ones above prefer the left side or the central striker role (Malen and Memphis), both Berghuis and Lang can play on the right wing. Finally a back up for Ajax winger Berghuis!

Why does it work at Club Brugge and not at Ajax? Noa Lang himself: “I am given more freedom here. The coach knows that serves my game best. The Ajax set up is more rigid. As a winger at Ajax, you have to stay on the wing. Whenever I drifted inwards, I would get told off. But that is not me, I am not a winger. They always play young players there because it’s an easier and less demanding role but it’s not me.”

Coach Clement uses Lang in different roles but he always has the freedom to roam. He can play right winger and drift inwards for an attempt on his left foot. But he can also cross balls in to Bas Dost or start from the left, in a Memphis-type role.

Lang’s image in The Netherlands is that of a complacent, somewhat arrogant difficult kid. In Belgium, they can’t understand any of it, as he’s the model pro there. A team player with amazing stats. His image in Holland was probably fueled by on camera spats with the likes of Tadic and Ten Hag during a couple of friendlies.

Noa Lang’s performances for Young Oranje will not convince anyone about his potential. Coach van de Looi allowed Noa’s debut back in 2019, but he never became a stalwart. He had three sub turns and one starting berth and in the group phase of the Euros U19, he got injured as he also missed the group stage due to injuries. Van de Looi does see Lang as a right winger, in his set up.

Van Gaal likes to use a left footer on the right and vice versa. He instructed Gakpo to “come inside and shoot on goal with his right”. This is also how Berghuis – a leftie – is used on the right. But Lang is right footed, just like Anwar El Ghazi and will have to battle Gakpo, Malen, Bergwijn if Van Gaal sticks to his principles. Which means Berghuis still is the only real option on the right.

Van Gaal will look at his options and pick the player that has the form of the day. Gakpo will probably shine in the Eredivisie, while Malen, Bergwijn and Danjuma might face tougher circumstances in bigger competitions. Van Gaal thinks Danjuma is a real option but he’ll need to demonstrate consistent form at Villareal, like Bergwijn and Malen will have to play and perform as well. For Gakpo and Lang, the circumstances to shine are better.

Danjuma for now is coming in from the bench and he catches the eye with his dribbles, just like Gakpo.

Here is a comparison:

It will be interesting to see if Van Gaal wants to return to the 5-3-2 system, because Lang can play well in that set up as well. At Club, he played in that system in a free role. The statistics won’t let Lang down and that he can bring it is no longer a secret or a question mark. Just ask the Belgs…

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.