Tag: Lens

November 9, 2016 by Jan

Derby of Lowlands insignificant: Oranje weakened…

The ones who have been with me and the blog for years know my stance on friendlies. I don’t like them.

I have told you many times why. Won’t go into too much detail. But this Belgium derby appears to be horrible in timing. We are lacking many players, probably will play a starting eleven (vs Luxembourg, the game that counts) that never played together before.

A coach would want to be able to use the days prior to the big game (Luxembourg!!) to practice. Get the players working together, bond, discuss tactics and roles. Instead of taking on a much stronger Belgium in a friendly. We all know what can happen. Belgium could tear us apart. They are better. As a team, most likely. Individually, surely. And as per usual, they have that inferiority complex and will want to beat us.

So in that scenario, say we lose 0-4, we need to shrug that off before the Luxembourg game. Media will hassle us, fans will ask questions and players might lose more confidence.

It’s also likely that Belgium will turn it into a real match. Which might lead to injuries.

All in all, not great. Or, our players might feel compelled to take the game to Belgium. Which might result in an ok result (0-0) or a great result – a win – but it doesn’t mean shit and we might end up with fatigue in the Luxembourg match.

And all of this, only for commercial reasons. For the KNVB to make money. As if they need it.

Danny Blind will not say it publically, but he will not be amused with the timing of this prestigious friendly.

Playing Luxembourg in a tough phase in the season is not so bad. Even if the first 22 are injured and we’d need to play Fosu Mensah, Nouri, El Ghazi, Toornstra, Denswil, Babel and Pieters, we’d still win it. Or we still should win it.

This Belgium game can be disruptive though.

Against Belgium, I don’t care who Blind uses. It will be for him to decide which player he wants to see (Zegelaar? Schaars? Lens?) and which to rest (Sneijder? Van Dijk?). We do have a number of players who are rested nicely. Daley, Wijnaldum, Janssen, Clasie…they all have had games off in the last month, so that’s not that bad.

Most will play with something to prove, but again: it might work against us.

Danny Blind remains the master strategist, who can always see positives. “The game does count for me. Winning vs Belgium means we improve our ranking. This might be key in the World Cup draw. So we will take the game seriously.”

Arjen Robben is keen to come (and play) but Bayern will only allow Arjen to sit on the stands for the Belgium game. I’m good with that. We need one moment of magic from him vs Luxembourg. Should we lead 2-0, I think Danny needs to sub him. No risk. Although, goal difference might become important in our group, so maybe he needs to keep him on.

The meeting with Belgium four years ago was Louis van Gaal’s first as Oranje coach in his second term, Oranje lost 4-2. Belgium is ranked #4 in the world, a whopping 16 spots higher than the Netherlands…

Maarten Stekelenburg will be on the team sheet, I’m sure. Cillesen lacks rhythm and so does Vorm. Stekelenburg had a screamer of a game vs Man City but made mistakes vs Chelsea and France, but overall he’s still a top goalie.

The match vs Belgium back then was Maarten’s last in Oranje, as Van Gaal picked Krul after the game. Due to the current Ajax’ goalie’s injury, Stekelenburg was offered two more games between the sticks and then it was all over. “I never watched Oranje at the WC2014. Too hard for me to watch. I should have been there.”

Back then, Van Gaal allowed De Vrij and Martins Indi their debut, while it was the last game of Sneijder and Van der Vaart together in midfield.

Stekelenburg came back from a dark phase in his career. “I can still have a bad day, like vs Chelsea… I had to do better on 2 goals. And yes France… I know. But I don’t panick anymore after a bad day. I spit in my hands and go on. The worst period I had was under Magath at Fulham. I didn’t even get a jersey number… Now, I can focus on my next game coming weekend and that is the best thing to do to shrug off mistakes.”

Stekelenburg knows he is not yet the Oranje #1. “Danny hasn’t said it to me or any of the other goalies. The situation is a bit fuzzy now with the injuries (Zoet, Krul, Vermeer) and Jasper’s position at Barca. But, I’m 35 years old at the WC2018, which is a good age for a goalie. The team is getting younger so an experienced goalie might be a plus.”

In 1999, Frank Rijkaard managed a Dutch side in a friendly vs Belgium which ended in a famous 5-5. Saw some amazing goals in that game….

May 25, 2016May 25, 2016 by Jan

Dutch football cameo for Euro 2016

It is quite annoying to take too long to write posts. Before you know it, things change and Louis van Gaal is out. Propper is staying with his pregnant girlfriend and Steven Berghuis is in…. Read on… This is the time when Oranje fans dust off their orange gear… Wigs, hats, trumpets, jerseys, sun glasses, flags… But not this time around. Most Oranje fans are still debating whether to support Belgium, England or even forfeit the whole bloody thing and focus on Max Verstappen! With the EPL and the Eredivisie coming to an end (almost done… FA Cup Final just behind us, relegation / promotion play offs and EL play offs finishing soon, Copa del Rey in Spain (not that we have any players in that)) and of course… the Euro 2016 warm up games! Sadly, we are the sparring partner. Nothing more. Playing nations that do go. With players keen to prove something to their coaches. So it will at least be competitive.

Louis through the exit

Let’s look at the finish of the season, here and in England (and Italy and Germany, but otherwise there are not a lot of Dutch world beaters active). So Ajax lost it in the last game. No Bazoer in the starting line up. Something is up between him and Frank de Boer. The team choked, it was playing lethargic and nervous. The 1-0 seemed to calm everyone down, but when De Graafschap equalised (horrible back tracking by Ajax), the team choked. Young Czech talent Cerny did have a sensational open chance at 1-0 and if he scored that, Ajax probably would have snapped up the title. Frank de Boer had some erratic subs at 1-1 and took of top scorer Milik, resulting in El Ghazi playing striker, who made a mess of it. PSV played like we’ve seen them before. In the CL for instance, and mostly in the competition as well. Cocu said it weeks ago already: “If we win every game, we’ll get the title” and he was right. Good stuff, as PSV can now look forward to millions from the CL and maybe try sign Ziyech and Vilhena….

Peter Bosz back in Holland Things at Ajax aren’t looking great at the moment. Frank de Boer will go. Peter Bosz (ex-Feyenoord, ex-Vitesse, now at Maccabi Tel Aviv) will come in. Dennis Bergkamp will probably never leave and Hennie Spijkerman will stay on as well. Both assistant coaches clashed seriously with Orlando Trustful, the former Ajax and Feyenoord playmaker who was added to the staff by Frank de Boer. The former international worked at the KNVB for a spell and brought his modern vision of coaching to the mix. Frank de Boer adores Trustful and already said he’ll take him with him to his next adventure. This will probably ease the pressure. Ajax might miss out on millions if they don’t qualify for the CL and the team needs a shot in the arm, as Younes, El Ghazi, Van der Hoorn, Gudelj and Fisher seemed to have peaked. Youngsters like Bazoer, Tete and Riedewald will be definite future stars but the team misses leaders and creative players. Klaassen, who took the leadership role in the beginning of the season, also faded away at the end of the season. Milik might have a good Euros and Ajax might sell him with a profit, to get Huntelaar back in as the striker. PSV will most likely see Narsingh leave, while Willems could be on his way out to, if PSV wants to make some money before he leaves transfer free. Marco van Ginkel’s future is still in the hands of Chelsea and apparently there is a lot of interest in Jeffrey Bruma. Feyenoord had an ok season. Great for them to win the National Cup but their Eredivisie campaign was disappointing with then dropping points in 7 games in a row. Next season, Gio and his lads will get European League group football which is excellent. With players like Kuyt, Elia, El Ahmadi, Karsdorp and Kongolo in the mix, the frame of the team is solid. Vilhena even stated that he actually might be convinced to stay. Ziyech and Vincent Janssen might be good additions for Feyenoord in order to go for the title, but does Feyenoord have the 15mio or more to spend? Probably not. I can see Ziyech play a bit longer in the Eredivisie, with PSV or Ajax, but Janssen will most likely move to the Bundesliga. FC Utrecht and AZ impressed with their run this season and good things might come in the future. Ramselaar, Letschert and Barazite caught the eye, as did AZ’s Joris van Overeem. Ron Vlaar will sign on for two more seasons with AZ and small clubs like Heracles and NEC impressed with Bel Hassani the key man for Heracles (potential target for Feyenoord) and Foor and Santos (sadly not Dutch) impressing for NEC. In England, Van Gaal missed out on CL football with Man United, which is quite a disappointment after a weird season altogether. Small time Leicester snatching the title and Spurs almost finishing second put pressure on Arsenal and City, while United and Chelsea took the brunt. Daley Blind can look back on a very decent season, while Memphis underperformed. Good news of course, is the arrival of Timothy Tofu-Mensah. He was dropped from the Oranje squad by Blind, however, due to fitness issues.

Memphis and Timothy Fosu Mensah

Man U did win the FA Cup after many years. A good performance by Man United. Winning the FA Cup didn’t keep Louis in his job though. Missing the CL qualifications and the disgruntled fans made the board decide to release Van Gaal, with Mourinho coming in. Van Gaal is now holidaying in Portugal but has already said he won’t go for the KNVB job. The Technical director job is too boring for him. He doesn’t want to coach a club per se, but might. But taking a national team to the World Cup, that is definitely on his radar… Two notable Red Devil legends opposed. Ryan Giggs doesn’t see it in The Annoying One and will most likely turn his back on the club. Louis wanted Giggs to take over and I think Ryan one day will. Eric Cantona also doesn’t believe in Mourinho: “I think Mourinho is an excellent coach, but not for Man United. His playing philosophy is even worse than Van Gaal’s. The big mistake of Man United is that they didn’t go for Pep Guardiola. The football son of Cruyff, who is the architect of Modern Football. And now, Pep is going to manage the rivals. Bad situation. Maybe Man United should sign me to take Guardiola on!”

Other notable EPL Dutchies, are Pat van Aanholt who was impressive all season, while Leroy Fer seems to have found his way out of the quagmire. Steven Berghuis had to be happy with a role in Watford 2 but whenever the winger did play for Watford he had something to offer. Nathan Ake developed into a solid EPL player, while some Dutch Toons were highlights in Newcastle’s season, despite their relegation. 11 goals for Wijnaldum, a good run for Anita but a disappointing one for Siem de Jong, while Janmaat missed the games in the business end of the season due to a groin injury. I can imagine these players might wanna stay in Newcastle should Benitez decide to take on the project long term. Jeremain Lens had a couple of highlights this campaign, but was overall disappointing for Sunderland. The Southampton contingent did very well, as did the whole club. Koeman is a sought after coach and Virgil van Dijk made it into the European Team of the Year! Clasie struggled with injuries and is again not with Oranje as a result. But when he played, he did his job thoroughly. Stekelenburg took over from the injured Forster and held himself well. Huntelaar had a hot-cold spell at Schalke and will most likely leave. The Augsburg lads also did a decent job and in Turkey, it was pleasing to note that Robin van Persie is playing close to his usual level, scoring, moving well and enjoying his game. Both Sneijder and Van Persie play the Turkish Cup Final this weekend and as a result, among other reasons, are not with Oranje. Then some more on Oranje. Danny Blind was the guest of Kees Jansma in De Tafel van Kees (Kees’ table). On Oranje’s disastrous campaign “It is devastating not to be there. But we need to move on. Look forward. We can work towards a new team that will get us to the World Cup. In 2014, people thought we were weak and shouldn’t go, but we went and finished 3rd. We finished 2nd in 2010 and had a disastrous Euros in 2012. This is not uncommon for a small football nation. Too many things went wrong in this campaign, but we also have some bad luck. Players like Robben, Vlaar and Strootman are key players for us and we lose quality when those kind of players are not there.” On Blind’s decision to add Dick Advocaat to the Technical Staff: “Ruud van Nistelrooy wants to work regularly with players on the training ground. Where he’s at in his coaching career, that makes sense. Usually the KNVB opts for young up coming coaches to assist the head coach, but as I am myself not overly experienced, I actually wanted to go for a man who has seen it all before. Dick has been at 5 major tournaments and has done so much as club coach as well. Funny, now I am team manager with two former team managers as my assistants. That is pretty unique, I believe.” Whether the KNVB pushed an experienced coach onto him: “No, it was my decision. Bert van Oostveen (KNVB general manager) even had to get used to the idea. I met Dick weeks ago by chance in Manchester and we had a chat and I left with a good feeling about him. There was a click. I gave it some thought and we talked some more. He wouldn’t want the final responsibility anymore but he is a football animal and he wants to work with talent and players still. I think with his passion and focus he can surely add something to the fold. I don’t think ego clashes will be an issue. If I had any ego in this, I wouldn’t have made this decision, would I? And Dick is all about the game, he is like he always was.” On the decision to not select Sneijder, Huntelaar and Van Persie? “Both Wes and Robin play the cup final this weekend. I think it’s not that handy to get them to come in for friendlies after that. And to be honest, I know what both players can bring. I am keen to see some others perform on those spots now. Sneijder wasn’t fit in the last weeks, but Robin played very well in the last months and I won’t look at age or anything like that. Whether you’re 35 years old or 18 years old, when you’re good enough, you’re old enough… Huntelaar, similar story. We know what Klaas Jan can do. This time, I won’t use him but want to see the younger lads play. So I rather have him take a nice break and prepare for next season. In September we play a serious qualification match, so I might well need him then.” On Ziyech and the role Blind and the KNVB played in that… “Why do we have to talk about that yet again?? This is now 10 months old. I won’t go into it. He was selected for Oranje. Due to an injury he never made his debut. We didn’t select him for the next game coz he played central striker for Twente, and we had Luuk and Klaas Jan and Dost for that role. I told him this. The next thing I know, he decides to play for Morocco. That is his decision. If he wanted to play for Oranje, he could have made contact and ask us about our plans with him. I would have gladly told him. But he made his decision. After playing for Young Oranje and after accepting our first invitation.” On Strootman: “He is a key player for us. I have been in touch with him a lot in the last months. Whenever he feels it’s good to come back, he’s welcome. I have also spoken to the club. As long as we stick to his program for his recovery, he can come and join us and make minutes. I am very keen to bring him in again.” On the Eredivisie level vs Championship in England: “The Championship is a serious competition. Probably on par with Eredivisie. Different in tactics and physical impact but none the less a serious league and we do follow the players at that level as well. Kieftenbelt (Birmingham), Chery (QPR), Ola John (Reading)… we follow them all and for some players, a stint at that level could be really good. Some EPL clubs rather sign players with Championship experience over Eredivisie experience.” It does seem Strootman can look forward to a starting position in Oranje against Ireland. Memphis, Janssen and Promes play upfront, Wijnaldum and Bazoer alongside Stroot and Willems, Blind, Bruma and Veltman in defense with Cillesen on goal. Most likely. Just to remind you: Ireland is on 27 May, Poland 1 June and Austria on 4th of June. Klaas Jan Huntelaar said in an interview recently that he asked Blind not to be called up. “I will never give up on Oranje. I am not bigger than the national team and if they need me, I’ll come. But it felt like the best thing for now. The young lads can have a go. And asked Blind for some time off and some time to think about my future. But playing for Oranje is always a big honour for me so I hope to be part of the future, still.” Steven Berghuis back in a New York minute Steven Berghuis only played 222 minutes for Watford this season, but while on holidays in Manhattan he got the call from team manager Hans Jorritsma. “I never counted on anything anymore. I mean, this season was a disappointment and I thought I was off the radar. Holiday is nice, but playing for Oranje is super. I caught the first plane back and love to be part of it. It’s great to be with the group and to be able to show the coach I’m still here.” Blind called Berghuis after Locadia had to retract injured. “Steven hasn’t played a lot but we followed him and he two impressive turns as a sub. He is fast, has vision and he is a threat. With the fact we are not equiped with many wingers, I’d love to see him up close and personal for a spell.” The little general, Dick Advocaat. Got his nickname as assistant of the General Michels. And now, the experienced former team manager is back in that spot. Assisting Blind… He was not as present for Oranje at practice as he was at Feyenoord. But he will still be the same. “It’s new for me, now. I have to observe a bit and take it all in. But I am always going to be me. And Danny is cool with me expressing me. I think it will be a good trio, Marco, Danny and me… I look forward to helping Oranje going to the World Cup, but after that, I will call it quits.”

November 7, 2015 by Jan

And here we go again: Oranje assemble!

There was a storm of protest, disgust, confusion and all out mayhem after Oranje failed to qualify for the Euros but a month later, it seems it all died out.

We are back to talking about Ajax’ abysmal performance in Europe, Cocu’s tactics, Memphis disappearance act and Dirk Kuyt returning to Oranje, maybe this time as a goalie.

Bert van Oostveen lacks support in the football world and will be assessed this month. The loser said with straight face to the cameras that “not qualifying is bad but we are obviously in a build up phase”… WHAT? You finish third at the WC2014 and you are in a building up phase?
More like a tearing down phase…

But….I doubt that he will go.

Like I doubt Blind will be sacked, but to be honest he is not our biggest problem.

We have lame strategic management at the KNVB, which needs to be addressed and the new management should question Blind whether he is capable of playing effective modern football with the talent at hand. Forget BS like “4-3-3” and “Total Football”. Like we have many other obsolete cool stuff in our world that we need to leave behind such as capitalism, the fact that Bill Cosby is cool, coca cola and MacDonalds and the belief that eggs are bad for you.

Ruud van Nistelrooy said in an interview recently that the Dutch mentality is not the issue here. “I see a team like PSV beat Man United and Wolfsburg. I see Feyenoord battle Ajax. I think we have desire. But sometimes it simply doesn’t go your way. I had that too in my career. I have had moments galore where I doubted myself. It’s human. It is ebb and flow I suppose.”

We used to eat steak for sports lunch, prior to matches. We don’t do that shit anymore. We need Blind to tell us he can construct a 5-3-2 / 3-4-4 from this squad and win games with it .

If he says “no” then he needs to go. Otherwise, leave the lad.

Blind has given a stern warning to Memphis Depay, before including him into the Dutch final selection. Who else do we have with Elia for the left flank? But Blind said: “Memphis needs to be more important for the team. He needs to work harder. This is his process. I trust that he can and will.” He was left out of the prelim squad but is back.

Louis van Gaal covered the Memphis issue in his Man United press conference prior to the Moscow game. “There is no problem with Memphis. He is exactly what I said he was: a tremendous young talent with exceptional qualities but who needs to learn a lot still. His move to Man United was a big step and he needs time. I am convinced he will return and he will return even better.”

Another recurring name is Dirk Kuyt’s. The team manager asked Kuyt, who retired from international duties, to see if he was keen to come and help the team out in the final two matches of the campaign. Blind: “Dirk has additional value. Both on and off the pitch. He is doing exceptionally well still at Feyenoord now, and I checked if he was keen to come and help. But he wanted to know if he would start and I cannot give players a certain starting berth, so I said no, and Dirk declined.”

Kuyt confirms the story: “Well I didn’t demand a starting spot but I did say that I wanted to help the team on the pitch. Not in the dressing room. He knows and I told Guus Hiddink this as well, earlier on.”

Another remarkable move is removing Jeroen Zoet from the keepers list. Ken Vermeer is now part of the squad and rightfully so. The Feyenoord goalie is playing really well while Zoet is having trouble. Talent enough, but needs to work on personality. Also Stekelenburg, playing regularly in the EPL is part of the squad what with Krul out.

Obviously, Robben is back – with a CL goal to celebrate the occasion but Robin is out. “He is not looking sharp, not fresh… He doesn’t play enough and needs time. I have certainly not written him off. A good Van Persie is still the best striking option we have.”

Arjen Robben is part of the squad but he himself isn’t sure about playing. “I just returned from injury and have yet to get match fitness. I came on vs Arsenal and scored and all that, but I am not sure if it is wise for me to start against Wales and Germany. We’ll see. My focus is to get a good series of games before the winter stop and we need to see if playing now for Oranje is a good thing. But don’t worry: I will discuss this with Danny Blind and the Munich medical team and I’m sure we’ll sort it out. We usually do.”

Kongolo is picked over Pieters, an enigma for me. Pieters plays week in week out well against top opponents while Kongolo is not convincing in the Eredivisie. Van Dijk is given another chance as a result of strong performances in England. Veltman had some good performances for Ajax while Kenny Tete is probably the biggest defensive talent at Ajax. Still strange to miss the name of Sven van Beek.

Marko Vejinovic

The big surprise in midfield to me is Marko Vejinovic. Good player, for sure, but slow. He is impressive on the ball and in games where Feyenoord dominates. But against strong teams, it seems like his coach prefers Vilhena over the Amsterdam born Serb. But with potential rivals like Leroy Fer, Marco van Ginkel, Ibi Afellay not playing good enough or not playing at all, it makes sense for Blind to look at options. Davey Propper for me would be more logical to pick. Blind however, sees Vejinovic as the center mid defensive man, as alternative for Clasie, while the other spots will be for Sneijder/Klaassen and Wijnaldum/Bazoer.

Upfront no big surprises, bar Van Persie. Quincy Promes impressed recently at Moscow and will be back in the squad.

Van Persie said recently in an interview that he will work to get back into the squad. “What is there to say. Danny called to say what he had to say. I didn’t have a lot to add. I took notice of it and that’s it. I have a special feeling for Oranje and love playing for my country. So I will do what I can to come back. I am not ready with Oranje.” Rumours about his relationship with Danny Blind were waved away. “No, my relationship with Blind is fine. You have different coaches and different relationships and all that, but we are fine. We have no issues.”

I do hope Blind will take the opportunity vs Wales and Germany to test a 5-3-2. We have the players for it:

Janmaat – Bruma – Blind – Van Dijk – Riedewald

Wijnaldum – Clasie – Sneijder

Robben – Memphis

So here we go again… Let’s call this the new start.

As for the blog, I am contemplating some changes. I have asked a couple of people to maybe share the load with me and add some contributions to the blog in the form of posts. You can put your hand up to send me articles you’d like to contribute and I can increase the frequency of new posts this way. Obviously, I will edit as I see fit ;-).

Also, I am considering producing an e-book. I am in need of ways that helps me to fund what I am doing a bit more. Donations only go so far, of course.

The e-book I am contemplating is cool stories that are not so well-known, spanning from 1988 to now, the period from the last drought to the current one :-).

I would be happy to know who would be interesting in this and how much you would be willing to pay for it…

For all of you losing confidence in our skills and abilities, check out this video of Arjen Robben doing a keepy uppy with Rafinha 🙂

September 13, 2015 by Jan

Do the Dutch still have Clockwork Orange material?

All sorts of things race through my mind and many new posts are being formed in my head while we still process those dreadful two games.

A question I got on the blog is “What do I think of the players we have coming through the system…”…. Well let me go into that a bit.

Lets start with some key comments:

In my view, having to have great world class players is not everything. Greece 2004 did not have world class players. Yet they won the Euros. In 1990, Holland had amazing individual players and the end result was horrific. The key is, to have a strong team. Probably with a number of world class players, but we don’t need eleven or sixteen world beaters.

Another comment I need to make is: what do we want? Do we want to play Total Football. Dutch School? If yes, what is that exactly? And if that is our objective, is qualifying or winning trophies important as well? If so, what is more important? Or…do we want to be say “forget Dutch School” and let’s just play to win. Like Van Gaal did in 2014. Realistic football, based on the quality at hand.

Van Oostveen is not looking too confident here…

I believe Bert van Oostveen made a mistake in giving Hiddink/Blind the charter to “return to Total Football”. Return to 4-3-3. We don’t have the players for this and most teams these days do not play 4-3-3. They play 5-3-2 (which makes 3-5-2 or 3-4-3) or 4-2-3-1… Somehow, Hiddink and co. wanted to move away from Van Gaal’s “anti-football”. It was the purists complaining (Cruyff, Van Hanegem) but maybe it is important to be realists. I didn’t complain when LVG went 5-3-2. I didn’t complain when we almost made it to the World Cup finals.

If we want to play at top level, competing for trophies, we need to create a system that fits our players. Louis did this…

As for talent, I also want to point out the typical categories we have seen in the past (and present) and what we can expect in the future…. And let’s not forget: we don’t need eleven super world class players to win trophies. We need a healthy mix….

1. Super talents and became real consistent quality players

2. Super talents who never really converted their talent at the top level

3. Overlooked players who became world beaters

So lets look at some players we know today and see what can happen…

1. Super talents who became real consistent quality players

In my book, players like Frank Rijkaard, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp, Frank & Ronald de Boer, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben spring to mind. Players who were spotted as young talents, both by their coaches, the media, the public and the KNVB. Usually, these kids have the spotlights on them at a young age and manage to work and develop their way to greatness. At this stage, we are looking at lads like Vilhena, Bazoer, Stef van Beek, Jairo Riedewald, Jetro Willems, Memphis Depay, Nathan Ake and Davy Klaassen… I think Daley Blind, Willems, Memphis and Bazoer will make it. From what I have seen…

The jury is still out of course. Memphis played approx 6 serious games for Man United and only impressed against Brugge, which is sort of the level Memphis was used to at PSV… I haven’t seen him dazzle against the EPL opposition as yet. Willems had his little setback season already but from what I have seen since, I think he is the real deal. Bazoer impresses me every week but with all these talents it is a matter of 1) will their bodies be able to withstand the pressure, 2) will their mentality be strong enough, 3) will their management do what is best for them and 4) will they make the right choices in stepping up from their current level… Royston Drenthe comes to mind… A huge prospect, who left too early, to the wrong club and Royston probably also did not have the mental strength to deal with all that stuff.

When all worked….

In the past, Rijkaard was almost led astray (PSV, Sporting Lisbon) and Dennis Bergkamp had trouble at Inter…. Robben suffered physically and Wes also got lost in the desert for a spell.

Ricardo Kishna and El Ghazi are also seen as “sensational talents” but Kishna didn’t really prove to be one at Ajax while El Ghazi is just starting to deliver on the promise.

2. Super talents who never really converted their talent at the top level

Here we get to the level of Cedric van der Gun, Frans van Rooij, Mario Been, Jantje Peters, Marcel Peeper, John van ‘t Schip, Gerald Vanenburg, Edwin Gorter, Ryan Babel, Hedwiges Maduro, Royston Drenthe, Kyle Ebicilio, Quincy, Peter Hoekstra, Bryan Roy, Ibi Afellay, Richard Witschge. All these guys had super reputations when they were playing for the youth teams. Most of them played rep football for the Dutch from a young age and most were compared with the great Johan Cruyff, the great Willem van Hanegem or the great Ruud Krol (depending on their role in the team). They were all brought carefully into the first teams at their clubs and most of them made their way into the Dutch team… But somehow, they never delivered on their promise. Some had the bad luck of physical problems (Van der Gun, Pepper, Peter Hoekstra, Afellay), others made the decision to leave their club too soon or go to the wrong club (Royston Drenthe, Richard Witschge) while others simply lacked the mentality to make it big…

Johnny Rep, Ruud Krol and Jantje Peters

They seemed uncoachable ( Quincy) or lacked discipline or simply couldn’t be bothered to be team players. Some players excelled at youth level but couldn’t make it work for them at senior level (Vanenburg, Babel, Gorter, Been). At this stage, Holland has a number of these lads. I think Adam Maher currently is in this category. I think Boetius might be the same and players like Fer, Wijnaldum, Davy Klaassen, Siem de Jong, Luuk de Jong and Martins Indi might end up in this basket. Exciting players when they’re young. Highly impressive in the Dutch league when they first make their appearance. But when the surprise factor wears off, they appear to be mediocre… Not that there is anything wrong here… Players like Vanenburg, Van ‘t Schip, Roy and Afellay have had good runs at their clubs and country but they simply never made it to the level that was expected of them when they were young… At this stage, Bruma, Klaassen, Wijnaldum, Narsingh, Promes, Lens could all end up in this category.

3. Overlooked players who became world beaters

This is an exciting category. Philip Cocu, Arthur Numan, Jaap Stam, Jan Wouters, Dirk Kuyt, Roy Makaay come to mind. This is the category of players that suddenly catch your eye. I saw Jaap Stam coming. I remember him at Cambuur and Willem II. And after a couple of weeks, you hear this name more often in highlight reels and you realise that this unknown lad is a powerhouse. Cocu, similar story. Brought as flegmatic talent at AZ. Went to Vitesse as a left winger and mixed good games with invisible games. PSV took a gamble, he ended up playing in midfield and became one of Holland’s best midfielders ever. And the somewhat complacent left winger became a mentally strong leader, who captained Barcelona! Jan Wouters is another example. Overlooked by many clubs and brought to Ajax by Cruyff when he was already a tad older… Marco van Basten highly criticized this signing until he realised that with Wouters behind him, his job was easier… And in West Germany, in 1988, it was Wouter’s pass in the semi finals that led to Bassie’s winner… Arthur Numan was a big fish in a little club (Haarlem) until he became a smaller fish in a big team (Oranje!). Dirk Kuyt made steps from Katwijk, to Utrecht, to Feyenoord, to Oranje, to Liverpool. And with every step, people said “he’s not going to survive that level” and everytime he did! Kevin Strootman is in this category as well, as is Jordy Clasie. The latter was told time and time again by his youth coaches at Feyenoord: “laddie, give it up. It won’t work for you. You’re too small for top football.” In the past, the Dutch team saw players like Winston Bogarde, Michael Reiziger, Peter van Vossen, Adrie van Tiggelen, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Nigel de Jong become important, on the basis of their mentality, grit and personality. In today’s team, I rate Strootman and Clasie of this level but also Dost and Ron Vlaar.

Jan Wouters, FC Utrecht, vs Lerby Ajax. Both would become midfield captains at Bayern Munich

My point with all of this, is that in every successful team in the past, we had players that were known to be bright stars and we had players that came from nowhere. We had players that were essential to the team but they weren’t considered great talents.

The 1974 team won silver in West Germany and had usual suspects such as Cruyff, Van Hanegem and Rensenbrink, but Wim Rijsbergen was a nobody. Slow and definitely an ugly player. But tough as nails. Young upstart Arie Haan played as center back. And Johan Neeskens was quite an unknown playing for HFC before someone tipped Ajax to sign him.

Top dogs Piet Keizer and Sjaak Swart didn’t get a look in. And Michels only found the winning line up days before the Tournament started. Oh, and did I mention that Oranje actually had a terrible qualification series? And actually shouldn’t have qualified as they scored an offside goal against Belgium, which when disallowed would have meant the exit for The Netherlands? Freaky, no?

The 1978 team got silver in Argentina. Big name players like Cruyff and Van Hanegem were not present. Young upstarts Brands, Poortvliet and Wildschut impressed, with Haan and Krol as the leading players. The three PSV youngsters were not rated as hot talents but they fitted perfectly in the team.

In 1988, in West Germany, Holland won it’s first and only trophy. Playing 4-4-2. With under rated Erwin Koeman in the team to cover for Arnold Muhren. Limited players like Berry van Aerle and Adri van Tiggelen completed the team, while wonderboy Gerald Vanenburg was working his ass off for Gullit and Van Basten.

The 1998 Oranje was very close to playing the finals. Looking back on that performance, players like Bergkamp and Cocu admitted that they never really considered themselves good enough for the finals. They didn’t play like they had a chance to win it. In hindsight, they can kick themselves.

My point being…the whole debate about 4-3-3 being the “Dutch School” is silly. The whole point about talent and skill and experience is silly. It is about Team. With capital T.

Team. Tactics. Tenacity. Skill and talent and experience are very handy. But without team, without desire and without a clear idea as to how to play, we will never win anything. This is what made the Greeks win 2004. And what fuels the Germans always!

So sure, our lads can all play. Outside foot passing, pannas, dribbles, cool step overs… all nice and dandy. But the Mark van Bommel / Edgar Davids / Johan Neeskens will to win, is essential. Because at a Euros or at a World Cup, every player can play football.

Piet Wildschut in 1978

With the players we have, I think we should be able to 1) qualify and 2) win trophies.

As the past has demonstrated: a team full of super players doesn’t necessarily mean you win trophies. And vice versa, many mediocre teams have won trophies over the years. From Greece to Germany (1996) to Atletico Madrid and FC Porto.

If we, for the sake of discussion, simply accept that all the Dutch players are capable in handling the ball. And we accept that they all are fit enough to play top football, then the aspects we need to focus on are: 1. tactical strength, 2. mental strength and 3. desire.

If I have to judge our current players on this, then for me the jury is not too positive on the following players: Klaassen, Promes, Narsingh, Martins Indi, Lens, Van der Wiel, Afellay, Boetius, Maher.

Players that get the benefit of the doubt are: Wijnaldum, Van Ginkel, Fer, Bruma, Riedewald, Tete, Berghuis, De Guzman, Bacuna, Van Dijk, Van Beek, Vilhena.

Players that I believe have what it takes in this particular department are Daley Blind, Luuk de Jong, Clasie, Bas Dost, Pieters, Janmaat, Willems, De Vrij,

The good thing is, that the question marks are all playing in the EPL or at top level in Holland (so we can spot them well). Playing in Holland is not necessarily a good thing. I am certain Bruma developed well with Terry and Lampard and Drogba as training buddies while at PSV it is all bit more laissez-fair. The ones that make it in the EPL will most likely have what it takes in the work rate department…

The ones that demonstrate the right development path – such as Blind, De Jong and Willems – will definitely be the backbone of future Oranje squads. I just wish some of them would lose that “lets play some nice football” attitude and develop a “over my dead body” mentality…

All in all, I am not negative about our potential futute. We certainly have the quality. We now need to pair the quality with the grit and pick a coach who will use what he have in a tactical system that works…

Danny Blind can still be that guy, if he leans more to Van Gaal and less to Cruyff. If not him, the likes of Ronald Koeman, Frank de Boer, John van den Brom or Ron Jans come to mind as future national team coaches.

Danny Blind with son Daley Blind

September 6, 2015 by Jan

Turkish Delight or Drama for Oranje….

My dear friends, let me start this blog post by showing you something that will fuel your hope for the future. Dutch football is not dead. When you have players like Vincent Janssen, Nathan Ake, Bazoer and Tannane there is a future. Let’s see how far these guys can go. And I know, it was only against Young Cyprus and all that, but you can see what kind of talent we do have.

The seniors were on a mission to win four games. They lost the first, as you probably will have noticed, and now a draw against Turkey is enough to finish third… Well, I don’t believe in “a draw is enough”. There are more games to play and who tells me that Holland will win the last two? Therefore, we need to play to win!

I have watched the press conference and some of the interviews and it really is not that inspiring. “Yes we will try and win.” “Yes we want to silence the crowd”. “Yes we are full of confidence.”

Whatever. We need to see it tomorrow I suppose. The Turks aren’t that good but they definitely aren’t shabby either. They play with intent, with a sense of urgency and they can play. They might be erratic at times, or undisciplined but hey…so do we.

We need to realise that we are not that great team (at the moment). And I am not referring to 1974 per se. We are also not that great team of 2014. Even if we almost have the same players. The team simply isn’t there.

I watched the first 30 minutes of the game again and despite what some say, Van der Wiel wasn’t the problem. Sure, he created the penalty and that was absolutely ridiculous, but the first 30 minutes, when we played 11vs11 and it was 0-0, the problem we had was created by the lack of movement by Klaassen and Wijnaldum. Our defence did not have an outlet. And when Sneijder got the ball the movement around him was absent.

Not, with Robben out, we have a mediocre team. Which is ok. We have four outstanding players. Two used to be World Class (Sneijder and Van Persie), one will be (Memphis) and one is a goal scoring machine (Huntelaar). The rest are all ok but need to play in function of these four.

With RVP not 100% match fit, it is only predictable that Hunter will start. When Oranje is in front, expect a like for like change with RVP. If Oranje is trailing, Blind will bring RVP to play next to Hunter…

I have my personal ideas who Oranje should play but I don’t think Blind shares my ideas. I do believe he will start Van der Wiel again. He has no options. If he’d play Tete he would basically have to send Wiel home and get Janmaat in his place. Lots of loss of face.

So Van der Wiel will start, alongside De Vrij and Bruma and Blind, most likely. I imagine Blind will keep the midfield intact but add Lens on the right as a false winger. He’ll play Depay left and Hunter centrally.

I think.

I would have made many different choices. I would have had Janmaat with De Vrij and Blind as left center back (like he plays for Man United) and Pieters as left back. Blind can build up well from behind and speed up the game.

Virgil van Dijk

I would have Sneijder, Anita and Wijnaldum in midfield with Memphis and Hunter upfront and Lens as false right winger (allowing Janmaat his runs in the channel).

You’d have Blind and Memphis on the left hand side, who know each other. You’d have Janmaat, De Vrij, Wijnaldum and Anita who sort of know each other.

Klaassen for me is a left midfield player. Not a defensive mid.

Should you need more fire power you can always sub Pieters for Van Persie.

Anyway…we’ll see. It will be a nail biter.

I hope we get a sensational win but it could well be a chess game ending with 0-0 or something like that…

We played Turkey eleven times before and won five times. We lost twice. Last game in Amsterdam was a draw with Huntelaar’s last minute equaliser. We lost our last game against them in 1997. The infamous Seedorf penalty miss game…. The Turks have a scoring issue at the moment. They haven’t scored more than once every game for a while. Yilmaz, team mate of Wesley, is the man in form in terms of goals. With Turan their bearded leader and playmaker.

RVP is our top goalscorer with 49 goals. Huntelaar is behind him with 41 but the Schalke man is prolific in qualification games, so who knows. For superstitious people, Promes shouldn’t play today. The former Twente winger never won a game with Oranje. He lost five.

The best number 3 is qualified directly, by the way. If we have to play play offs we are most likely the best ranked “number 3” and we will have some protection and probably will get an opponent like Norway, Slovenia, Israel or Ireland.