Tag: Tete

by Jan

Is Oranje good enough…?

In the past weeks, we saw some negativity posted here about the team which prompted me to respond. There were so many things said, that I felt a counter-post was warranted. I mean, Wilson and Tiju tend to vent their frustration with certain players and coaches here, but Jean Venette took it to a whole other level.

In general terms: you don’t need a team of world class players to win trophies!

For every France 2018 or Spain 2012, there is a Greece 2004 or a Leicester City 2016.

You need the best team to win trophies! And a bit of luck. I could end this post right here. Point made.

But, below I will quote Venette (and others) and respond:

“Jan is gonna write his opinion tomorrow and trying to convince folks that this team is good. HAHAHA”

I don’t do this. I am usually trying to explain why a coach does what does and why I think it might work. You can say a lot about our coaches from the past, but they all have a good pedigree and considered to be experts in their fields. We did have inexperienced coaches, but I am not 100% sure you can blame Van Basten for our exit in 2008 or Rijkaard for the dreadful misses v Italy in 2000…

What I do do, and what I do believe in: as a fan you need to support your team. You can be critical of your coach (I am), but the players deserve support. Yelling from the stands “Wijndal, you suck, you don’t deserve to be in this team!” is not my type of supporting.

And lets face it: how often did this group of followers here criticised players… Van Bommel, Nigel de Jong, Dirk Kuyt, Daley Blind… Every player less than Cruyff, Van Basten, Bergkamp or Sneijder gets insults, at times (on this blog).

“This Dutch team isn’t going anywhere. The team is suck….. Berghuis is suck and again he is a starter. LOL Most of these players as sucks.”

I don’t know why I would respond to this. Sounds like a spoiled kid criticising his dinner ( “this meatball sucks, this spinach sucks, I don’t want to eat this!”). The team doesn’t suck. This team (with Virgil) beat France, Germany, England and drew Italy away. So…

I think people in Lyon don’t think Memphis sucks. People like Pocchetino and Klopp don’t think Wijnaldum sucks. Apparently, Frenkie de Jong is the highest valued player in Spain now. So no, we don’t suck.

“You have a bunch of players in this squad that are bench players in their clubs or went abroad and could not perform.”

Someone remembers a certain Marco van Basten, in 1988? He didn’t play. He was not considered first team material by Michels.

The reason that Donny van de Beek doesn’t play at Man United is not hard to fathom (if you follow football, you’d know).

“You have to admit that this generation is suck except for a very few.”

We all know that Spain and England and France are stronger in terms of individual quality and options on every position. That is sadly the fate of The Netherlands. Small country. Less options. England has 5 top right backs, we only have 1 (in my opinion: Karsdorp). This is true. But having said that: how often did England win a big trophy in recent decades?

If you understand football, you know it’s not about the individual players. How many big trophies did C Ronaldo win with his country? Only the last Euros. When he was 33 years old. How many World Cups did Leo Messi win again?

Belgium has been playing several tournaments now with a top notch team with “world class players”. How many trophies exactly?

We have two of the top defenders of the Serie A. We have a true class act in Daley Blind. Frenkie de Jong is top notch. Wijnaldum is a world class player, anyone who begs to differ is not paying attention. He won heaps of trophies at Liverpool, played practically everything, scored key goals in the Champions League and at 30 could sign at PSG, Barca, Bayern or stay at Liverpool.

For me, Liverpool is World Class. So any Liverpool Legend must also be world class.

We have Memphis as top attacker and players like Gravenberch, Timber, Malen, Gakpo will surely follow suit. We don’t need a team of super stars. Those teams never win trophies. We need players like Klaassen and Weghorst who will put in a shift and help support the stars.

“Any tactical decision wouldn’t make any difference.”

Tell this to the German coach who won the Euros in 2004. Tactics are there to allow the players to play at their best level. Did you see the tactical change Koeman made at Barca? And the impact his shift to three-at-the-back made?

“If Berghuis was good enough he wouldn’t be in the Eredivisie by now.”

Why wouldn’t a player be able to decide to stay in Holland? Danny Blind never left Holland. He is considered one of the greatest liberos. How well have some players done when moving abroad (your own observation). So some move abroad and get criticism if they don’t break into a big team right away (Bergwijn, Van de Beek, Kluivert). Others stay in Holland and shine every week and then they get criticised for that?? That is not fair. Berghuis made a transfer to Watford. He decided to return to Holland and play weekly. He was offered a massive pay-check at Feyenoord and decided he wanted to be a big fish in a little pond. But don’t worry, there were more than enough suiters for Berghuis and he’ll make a move, for sure.

I compare him with Ziyech. Elegant technicians, with a tremendous left foot and great vision. But Ziyech is wasted in the high octane style of Tuchel (sadly) and Berghuis was wasted at Watford. I think we should be grateful that Berghuis stayed in Holland.

“For me I think we have to accept the fact that we have failed to produced talented players that we use to and figure out where and how we fell short and look into the future.”

You are behind the times. This process started in 2016 already (actually, after 2012’s debacle) and since, we have started to produce a lot of great talents… De Ligt, Gravenberch, Stengs, Malacia, Lang, Timber, Rensch, Ihattaren, Gakpo, Bijlow, all these names are coming through now and some hav established themselves (De Ligt, Gravenberch, Bijlow), others are on their way after suffering some setbacks (Gakpo, Lang, Malacia) and others struggle a bit with that last step up (Stengs, Ihattaren, Boadu)… The future is quite bright. Wijndal has indeed not progressed enough, I agree with that, but that is normal with young players. That last step is huge.

I pointed out that in The Netherlands (and I was there before the 74 World Cup and the Euros 1988) and before most tournaments, the overall attitude is shifting between “what the F are we going to do there” to “we’ll win this”. And everytime we believe we’ll win it, we go home disappointed (1990, 1996, 2002, 2012) and everytime we believe we have nothing to win, we do exceptionally well (1974, 1978, 2014).

Before the World Cup 1974, the expectations were truly low. We had qualified as a result of a referee blunder (Belgium had an onsite goal ruled out!) and we were missing all our central defenders.

In 1978, we didn’t have Cruyff and Van Hanegem.

And back then, players like Haan, Rijsbergen, Jansen, Jongbloed were not considered World Class.

And like with the criticism poured over Bergwijn, Van de Beek and co: Rep, Jansen, Suurbier, Rijsbergen and others did not have a glorious career abroad. Wim Jansen played in Japan and the US and returned to the Eredivisie, for instance. Rijsbergen made a name for himself at New York Cosmos but that was never taken as a serious team.

Wim Suurbier, party animal

In 1978, we had Poortvliet, Wildschut, Van Kraay, Nanninga, Brands…definitely not world class players.

In 2014, we played with a back 5 of all Eredivisie players. Except for Vlaar, who was playing relegation football with Villa.

In 1988, we had elegant and skilled players galore ( Van ‘t Schip, Vanenburg, Mario Been, Frans van Rooy) but Michels opted for a balanced squad with hard working players (Erwin Koeman, Suvrijn, Bosman, Wim Koevermans, Sjaak Troost) as he understood that these players would not upset the apple cart if they wouldn’t play.

But Van Basten was considered not match fit and Vanenburg was forced to play in service of the team, while 37 year old Muhren was brought in to add some experience and intelligence to the team.

And were we really brilliant? We lost our first game. We won vs England, but with luck.

So why would we now suddenly need 11 world class players??

In 1998, we had a very strong squad. Didn’t win. In 2002, we had one of the best coaches of Dutch history and amazing players. Didn’t even qualify.

“The world will not be talking about these players in 30 years time. Wijnaldum isn’t no Iniesta, nor a Donadoni, Enzo Scifo, Franchescholi, not even an Edgar Davids.”

I think you are wrong. Wijnaldum is on his way to play 100+ caps for Oranje. If you manage that, you will be considered a legend, whether you like it or not :-). He’s been exceptional at Liverpool, much loved there and respected and with a full trophy cabinet.

Memphis is a very colourful player. His foundation work, his clothing line, his funny hats and outfits, and mark my words, he still has his best years in front of him.

Daley Blind will go into history as one of the most gifted left footers we ever had. Frenkie de Jong will become one of our best ever midfielders. I think that in itself is already something to be happy about.

The thing is too: players are considered TOP after winning a big trophy. So, should Holland manage what Greece did in 2004, players like Weghorst and Klaassen and Dumfries will be considered “European top” suddenly.

I think we all have subjective opinions about coaches and players, and we need to accept that there is no such thing as “the truth”. Vincent Janssen is now somewhere in Mexico. Off the radar for most. If he would have picked another club than Spurs, who knows, right? He played 62 games for Monterrey, and scored/assisted 23 times. Which is one goal/assist every third game. Those are way better stats than Luuk de Jong. Janssen could have been on the radar if he would have chosen to play for Gladbach or Mainz or Club Brugge.

Frank de Boer is considered “a loser” but I think that is truly extremely harsh. Sure, his communications is not every enticing. It’s monotonous, he drawls a bit and has a lot of uhs and ohs and ahs… It’s like Emery when he was with Arsenal. He came across as a joker. But despite that, Emery is definitely a top coach, with trophies to prove this. De Boer won the Dutch title 4 times in a row. That is not bad, considering he coached Ajax in a period where they struggled.

He went to Inter, because they wanted to change from a negative, catenaccio style to a more dominant attacking style. The player revolted and the Inter board lost their spine. It took 3 coaches since De Boer and the appointment of Conte to change this. And guess what: Conte is out already, because according to him, the Inter board is constraining him too much.

Same story at Palace: the owners wanted a continental style football. De Boer could have had results in his first four matches but bad luck resulted in a ridiculous loss late in the (fourth) game, which meant the Palace owners shat the bed and chucked him out. They got Yoy Hodgson in and he went back to typical counter football. De Boer was sacrificed to appease the fans and some senior players.

His Atlanta gig can not be seen as a failure. He was there for a good spell and won trophies. What more did they expect?

I remember constant criticism on our teams and players. In 2010, Bert van Marwijk was considered a cautious coach. Our defenders were considered mediocre (Mathijsen, Ooijer, Heitinga). Before the tournament, our two friendlies were considered shambolic. In 2014, no one had any confidence in what Van Gaal was doing. And the story goes on and on.

As for the development of players, look at the 2016 squad and lets look at some names of exciting players who played for Oranje then:

Karsdorp – got seriously injured and missed two whole seasons

Fosu-Mensah – never was able to deliver on that wonderful promise

Hoedt – had a great spell at Lazio but had to re-invent himself after his Southampton move

Jetro Willems – got seriously injured and is now on the prowl for a new club

Bazoer – lost the plot and is now rebuilding his career

Davy Propper – got injured this season and struggled to get back into Brighton, after a solid spell there

Bart Ramselaar – never cut it at PSV, is now back at Utrecht

Van Ginkel – dramatic series of injuries, might return next season (PSV)

Vilhena – great move to Krasnodar where he is one of the key guys, but off the radar a bit

Obviously, Hakim Ziyech should have been on this list too, but his heart decided differently.

As a European football nation expressed in terms of population, we are 8th on the list. Poland and Romania have more people than us. But in terms of football ranking, they are way below us. The top 6 are: England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland.

It is logical that these countries have more talent to pick from than we do.

Only Portugal is way below us in terms of population, while being able to beat us regularly. All other nations below us (Belgium excepted at the moment) should be considered nations we can beat.

In conclusion:

We don’t need 11 world class players to win a trophy. We don’t need to play well in the pre-season friendlies. Even worse, we don’t even have to play great games in a tournament to win it.

Lets get some comments in on this topic (with respect please).

by Jan

No delight for Oranje

I hope you didn’t read “No De Ligt for Oranje”… I didn’t mean to startle you. No worries, Mathijs will be playing, but I was referring to the lack of Turkish Delight. We lost. And I needed two days to write this review.

I read all your comments and I have to agree with most of it. I am not as harsh on De Boer though. And that is because I believe a National Team Manager is not there to make the players better, that happens at club level. Nor do I feel he needs to be able to motivate them. Sure, he needs to hit the spot with the players personally. He needs to forge a bond, he needs to know how to reach them, how to inspire them. But he is not responsible for a lack lustre performance in my view. Players need to motivate themselves. It’s Oranje. You’re wearing the jersey, you’re playing for your country. After all the drama and missed tournaments, you, as a player, should be motivated to your gums to do well. I don’t think De Ligt needed it, or Klaassen or Memphis.

Your job, as a team manager, is to pick the best players for the best team. And to assess what system suits them best. And then instruct them.

I can not fault him very much. Sure, picking the squad…. Weghorst vs De Jong. In hindsight, I am not sure if it would have made a huge difference. Weghorst wouldn’t have started. He wouldn’t have taken the penalty. I don’t think it would have mattered.

He picked a logical tactical plan. And one has to assume, based on his pre and post-match interviews, that he instruct them well.

I don’t think we can ignore the fact that the players let him down. As they let us down.

We lost due to two things: amateur hour moves in certain key moments of the game, and a couple of strokes of bad luck.

Lets start with the bad luck. The first shot on goal, by Turkey, was a goal. Ball deflected, Krul wrong-footed… Goal. The second goal was a penalty. I haven’t heard anyone about it, but in my view it was very very harsh. For an English ref to point to the spot. He didn’t tackle him, Malen simply arm wrestled with the guy and he decided to fold. While passing the ball to a team mate! Why give a pen? Harsh!

Ok, I rewatched the footage. Malen’s foot indeed hit the leg of the Turk. I think the penalty can be given. However, if this happens elsewhere on the pitch, a collision, and the player manages to pass the ball on, I don’t think it would have been given as a foul.

Then we had De Ligt’s goal not given. And a handball blatantly missed. That is bad luck.

The amateur hour can be boiled down to the turn-around. We are in possession – corner! – and out of that situation, Turkey is allowed – a couple of times – to break and threaten us. I am positive that De Boer has worked on rest-defence as this is a key topic these days, but the lads failed.

Check the image above. The counter towards 2-0 (the penalty). We have a 2 v 2 situation after a Holland attack. Wijndal is facing the ball. Tete and Frenkie are sprinting back. This cannot happen. And is the result of dreadful lack of leadership on the pitch. De Ligt? Blind? Krul? De Roon? Who is the asshole on the pitch making sure everyone is in his position? Where is the new Van Bommel, the Dutch Roy Keane, or Soren Lerby?

Here is the corner. Not in your view, to the left, are two Oranje players at the corner flag, for the short option. We have 5 in de box. That is 7. And Frenkie on outside the box. With Krul in goal, we have 2 defenders covering our goal. With two Turkey attackers waiting on the edge of the box to turn defence into attack.

Check this situation here, another attack by Oranje. Again we lose the ball. Daley Blind reads the situation and wants to foul the player but can’t grab him. Turkey finds Calhanoglu on the left flank. Tete manages to slow them down but Berghuis has no idea that Yilmax is getting away. His shot will deflect via De Ligt into the goal.

Gini Wijnaldum, the skipper on the night: “Yes, the situation in Turkey’s box, right before this, was their handling of the ball, but we have to be honest. We had 40 seconds or so to deal with it. We made more mistakes after that, more than the ref, and we can’t blame anyone but ourselves.”

The deflection was bad luck. But the lack of organisation and the lack of communication was simply bad execution.

Another problem the team had, was the execution of the team tactics. In the 37th minute, you can see Blind exploding in anger when Wijndal is going AWOL and leaves a huge gap. Oranje tried to put pressure on the opponent, collectively, but they fail again. The plan was to have Malen pressure the central defence, so their right back would be the free man. Then Wijndal was supposed to get straight at him, but the AZ defender is playing too conservative. Something you wouldn’t expect from him.

As a result, the above situation happenes. Blind and De Ligt get into a 2 v 2 situation. Turkey is looking for that by playing the long ball, whenever Oranje wants to press. We lack the body in midfield to challenge for the second ball. Whenever our midfielders want to push up, their star man Yilmaz drops into midfield to give Turkey more options and we were not handling that very well.

Here is the 3-0 in production. Yilmaz drops into midfield. No one is covering him. He gets the ball, Turkey evades the pressure and Yilmaz finds a free man on the left flank. Berghuis worst moments come now. as he first allows the left back to drift away from him, and when the left back gets ball, Berghuis forgets to block the pass-line to Calhanoglu. Don’t give the AC Milan man space and time to shoot on goal!

The third issue is the Oranje right flank. De Boer wanted to have a more defensive right back. De Boer thinks Dumfries isn’t the best option to play with Berghuis: “Steven wants the ball in his feet, and early. So he can go outside, of come inside, or cross early… Dumfries tends to run with the ball and suffocate the winger. With Tete, a more conservative player, the ball will be passed quicker to Berghuis.”

However, the plan fails. On the left wing, we could see some patterns, with Malen, Memphis and Wijndal. On the right side, it was poor. Tete and De Roon both play way to conservative and the forward pass was so late, that Berghuis was blocked in, by defenders and by the touch line behind him. As a result, the best way forward was by crossing the ball into the box, but both Memphis and Malen aren’t aerial super stars, so that simply didn’t pay off.

When De Boer brings Klaassen, Dumfries and De Jong, he brings opportunism. With Dumfries and Wijndal both playing high, and with the aerial threat of the Jong, Oranje starts to press. Memphis gets more joy on the left flank and ends up with two assists to his name, while both subs – Klaassen and De Jong – score. The Davy Klaassen goal was a beauty, of course. It seems a final offensive might have brought us the draw, or even the win, but an all or nothing approach resulted in a foul in our defensive third… 4-2. The missed penalty by Memphis was a fitting final chord for this match.

Apart from some referee mistakes, it seems Oranje mainly lost due to a tactics that wasn’t executed properly, with simply not enough dynamics in the attacking moves on the right to break down the Turkish defensive wall. And at the back, we gave way too much away. When the key players (Memphis, Wijnaldum. Blind) don’t show up on the night on top, all this results in a painful and unnecessary defeat!

Frank de Boer: “This was a a painful blow. Totally unnecessary. And it’s unbelievable, they had 5 shots on goal and score 4. I have never seen them so effective. Everything went against us. But we have 9 more games to go. We lost, we dropped points, but it’s not devastating. We shouldn’t be in tears or anything. We didn’t do well, we need to turn it around and we have all the options to turn it around. But we were sloppy in our passing, didn’t create enough. We had to change flanks quicker and more often. Turkey parked the bus and we were sluggish. It seemed as if we were not at the races, but that is optical. We worked hard but we didn’t work smart. We ended up in situations which we should have avoided. We claim a hand ball and 20 seconds later they score. We give a away a penalty while there were many players still behind the ball. And the second half just started or they had a third in our net. Unbelievable. But even at 3-0, I had the conviction we would turn it around. We scored two good goals but sadly we gave it all away in the end. I am not looking for excuses, don’t get me wrong, but a WC qualification game should have VAR. We would have had Mathijs’ goal and that hand ball. The goal line technology does make the game more just.”

As Cillesen ended the warm up with a knee problem, De Boer called Marco Bizot of AZ to join Oranje as third goalie.

De Boer was quized about his tactics. Why start with that eleven? “We played in this formated well in other games, created chances and converted them. Take Poland away, in the Nations League. We conceded early but we turned it around after creating many opportunities. We simply didn’t have it today, and every shot they took ended up in goal.”

Skipper Wijnaldum was harsh in self reflection: “We were weak. You need to be ruthless in certain situations and in the turn around in particular, we were too soft.” Frenkie de Jong: “This was totally unnecessary. With all due respect to Turkey, they really are a good side, but we shouldn’t concede 4 goals. We weren’t dominant enough.”

Daley Blind felt the team did fight. “We did play at a good intensity level, this game was decided on details. Moments. If you get two fatal counters after a corner or dead ball situation for you, well…. you clearly fail in your organisation. Their effectiveness was killing. Two shots, a penalty and a free kick. This is football at top level and details decide games. We were not mature enough.”

Is the playing style, the tactical plan, maybe too predictable?

Frenkie: “No, I don’t think so. We mainly made individual mistakes, decision making mistakes. And we weren’t solid on the ball. We wanted to find the forward pass and we did so too quick at times.” Blind: “Malen got two good chances and on the left we were able to play in between the lines. But we lacked precision in our passing. The second to last pass was usually not good enough.” Frenkie: “It sucks that we lost our first game, always important, but we can still come out on top. We now need to move up a gear.”

You need to be ready for the next game this coming Saturday. Is it all going too fast?

Daley Blind: “Well, it’s nice to be able to take revenge on Saturday and set things straight, but we hardly had any time to prep for Turkey and now we won’t have that much time for Latvia. We haven’t seen each other for a while and you really need more than one training session. But, it’s no excuse. We know each other, we should have done better. No debate.”

The last time Oranje left Turkey empty handed was in 2015. The National Team coach then was Danny Blind. He had just lost and told the press he had the feeling he had bad luck hanging on his ass. When Frank de Boer is confronted with that quote, he can muster a smile: “I don’t have that feeling, I trust we can correct this misstep in the coming matches.”

I think they will bounce back and get 6 points vs Gibraltar and Latvia. Yes, I can predict some really surprising results hahaha. But lets face it, if we love vs Latvia and Gibraltar, I will immediately give up this blog and become a fan of Germany. And Belgium.

I think we will see the following eleven:

Krul

Dumfries – De Ligt – Blind – Wijndal

Klaassen Frenkie Wijnaldum

Stengs Luuk de Jong Memphis

And we will beat them 4-0. Klaassen the first (of course), Luuk will score 2 and Memphis will score 1.

Your view?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42XPBKHT6EY

by Jan

Memphis Depay: Downs and Ups

After a disappointing week for Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord in Europe, we can look forward to an interesting weekend, with Ajax-Feyenoord on the cards. Although it will most likely be a walk-over for Ajax, as Feyenoord is really lost, it seems.

Some comments: PSV should have won their EL match, hitting the woodwork twice and having so much possession. Feyenoord…what to say. Unlucky with the second penalty (I don’t think it was a foul) but that first handling of the ball by Ie?? Really dude???

Ajax was robbed! The photo clearly shows the VAR fukced up! How bad is this! Millions of dollars / euros are involved and they simply can’t pick the proper still. Un-believable!!

Left is the image used by the VAR, right is the image they should have used

AZ is holding our honour high, as we say. AZ played like Ajax normally played. Focused, with grit, with gusto and desire. Forechecking and with quality. I really think every single player in the team is top notch, except for Dani de Wit. I never really saw his value. He’s just average in every department. He does have a strong physique and runs a lot. Reminds me of Davy Klaassen.

Also good to mention here (as we do have some Bazoer fans) that after 4 clubs, Vitesse is now also considering kicking him out. The youngster has a tremendous ego and the mentality of a thug. Two weeks ago, he kicked an opponent in the face, but got away with it. This week, he picked a fight with Jay-Roy Grot and threatened to fukc him up after training. When Slutsky  interfered, he said: “Fuck off, I don’t even want to play for your stupid team!”. Vitesse is considering next steps now.

He’s trouble, he’s toxic, he’s full of himself and can forget about his career.

The man on the rise now, is the guy who was criticized for so long in the country, in Manchester and for a while, here too. Memphis Depay. The new skipper of Olympique Lyon.

He plays and played a vital role in Holland ressurrection. Yes, Virgil our fearless leader. Yes, Frenkie our gifted playmaker. But you need someone who delivers the goods upfront: goals and assists. Memphis (25) is the new figure head and attacking leader of the Dutch: “Yes man, you really want to be part of this!”

This is everything Memphis stands for in Orange. It all happened in one minute: result, honour, team, desire, fighting spirit. His goal in injury time vs Northern Ireland, his second of the night. The explosion of joy, his team mates around him, Memphis acknowledging the man with the assist (Frenkie) and then the Memphis stance: standing still, fingers in his ears and eyes to the heavens. And he yelled out to the fans: “This is what fighting looks like!”

The last international game (for now) vs Belarus, he couldn’t play due to a slight injury. But he was standing next to the team on telly, singing the anthem, with his right arm around his tv screen. Being part of it all.

Memphis is happy at Oranje. No more tension, no more awkward moments. Every since Koeman took the coaching job, Oranje got rejuvenated and Memphis was the ultimate personification of that. Personally, he entered a period of peace, of balance. And on the pitch, Memphis is turning into a leader. The proponent of the New Wave. Tense interviews are a thing of the past. And no one cares what kind of headware he is sporting.

It’s a interaction between player and fans, between player and coach and between private and profession. “I am doing well, personally, and it translates to the field. The results help of course. But the vibe in the Dutch camp is incredible. We are all mates and we created this, on purpose, with a mission. And we also keep track of each other when we’re at the club. We really care about each other. We have the group app and we find each other there. Talk about life, about the games we played and the stuff we experience. This, we need to keep in tact.”

“We are building something with this Dutch team. And we put a lot of positive energy into it. And even if it doesn’t work at club level, we all come to the NT with positive mindset. I’m really happy to come to the Dutch camps and it reflects in the performances.”

Team building and clarity are two core values Ronald Koeman applies. From day 1 he stressed: we need everyone! There will be no dominant egos in my squad. Yes, the squad as a variety of types, personalities, backgrounds and stories, but the mission is the same. After two missed major tournaments, we want to get back to the top. Koeman created consistency in his selections and in the playing style and we’re seeing pretty decent results now.

Memphis didn’t have a great time at Lyon, until now, with new coach Garcia handing him the captains band. Before that, Memphis never knew what the coach wanted from him this time. Koeman never worried. “Memphis is super strong, mentally. And whenever he had issues at Lyon or the results weren’t there, he would show his quality in Oranje. And it’s not just because he scores for us, his overall game is top. You always miss those types of players.”

In the first hour vs Northern Ireland, Memphis had it tough. His mates weren’t able to reach him and if they did in those compact spaces, he was fighting with the ball. It did resemble the semi finals vs England in Portugal, when he was struggling but still ended up with two assists. Against Northern Ireland, Koeman moved him to the left flank where there was more space for him and he paid it back with two goals.

When a junior, at PSV, he used to tell his coaches: don’t sub me, even if I’m playing bad. Because he always had it in him to decide a game. That cocktail of quality and confidence is demonstrated in Oranje regularly. In all 17 international games he was available, he played. He only got subbed ones, in the friendly against Portugal (3-0).

Koeman likes to use players in combinations. A combination that works well in Oranje is the tandem Memphis – Wijnaldum. “Our partnership is authentic,” Gini Wijnaldum says. “We learned to play together at PSV and we always try to create space for one another. We constantly monitor each other movements, so we can benefit from it. We don’t talk, it’s all about observing. The mutual understanding is key, that is what makes a team tick or not.”

And while Oranje looked light in recent years with our offensive players (Vincent Janssen, Bas Dost, Steven Berghuis, Anwar El-Ghazi) today, we are seeing more and more world class talents emerge, in Gakpo, Danjuma, Dilrosun, Bergwijn and of course Donyell Malen. Memphis on Malen: “Donyell is a fantastic talent, with fine technique and blistering speed. And he can score goals! Donyell is now taking that next step, from a promising talent to a player on which you can build. It’s great to see that process develop. I’m proud of him and happy for him.”

Memphis is creating friendships in life and in Oranje. Quincy Promes has been a close mate for many years. “I’m so happy how Promes is doing at Ajax. I knew it would come. People always put pressure on new signing, look at Hazard at Real Madrid. Some players are ready for their new role, because of the fit… Like Frenkie at Barca, and some players need to find their spot. But good players will always emerge. I never worried about Quincy. He’s strong mentally and he believes in himself. Most if not all internationals are playing so well. We work hard and we realise quality alone is not enough. It’s quality and mentality. It’s great to be part of it man, it’s really amazing to be part of this!”

This year, Memphis is the first international in this century to have an involvement in 14 Oranje goals (6 goals and 8 assists). With two more international games this year, he might add more to this list. In the 18 months under Koeman Memphis was involved with 21 of the 38 goals! Second on the list is Gini Wijnaldum, with 7 goals and 2 assists. Oranje had 114 shot on goal in those 18 matches. 45 of these were Depay’s (40%). And in the list of created chances, Memphis leaves his colleagues far behind him.

Memphis in Oranje

Aspect Before Koeman Under Koeman*
International games 34 17
Goals 8 11
Assists 7 10
Shots per 90 minutes 3,4 4,5
Shots on target per 90 minutes 1,6 2,6
Chances created per 90 minutes 1,8 3,1
Dribbles per 90 minutes 5,7 3,8
Successful dribbles per 90 minutes 2,9 2,2
Touches in the box per 90 minutes 3,8 6,4

*Since 23 March 2018

 

Other forwards with Wijnaldum under Koeman

Wijnaldum Babel Promes Bergwijn Malen
International games 16 16 15 9 4
Goals 7 4 3 0 1
Assists 2 1 2 1 1
Shots* 2,0 1,8 2,6 1,4 3,0
Shots on target* 1,0 1,0 0,9 0,3 1,3
Chances created* 1,0 0,7 1,9 2,3 2,2
Dribbles* 2,2 1,8 1,7 3,7 3,0
Successful dribbles* 1,3 1,1 1,1 2,7 1,7
Touches in the box * 3,3 2,8 3,0 4,0 9,0

*Per 90 minutes

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.

by Jan

Oranje builds foundation

The big word after the France game, was “hopeful”. Somehow, we lost again. But instead of the drama after Van Gaal’s loss (“we can’t play 4-3-3 anymore but we can’t play 5-3-2 either…”) and the despair after Advocaat’s loss (“I really thought Sneijder in a three man’s midfield vs Kante would work”) we now have hope. We have light. We see the future.

And maybe it is justified. We were played off the pitch in the first stage of the game. We never looked like being able to compete. But when France took their foot off the gas, Oranje started to dominate the rhythm of the game. Or…did we force France to take their foot off? Hard to say.

But fact is, we did ok in the second half. We scored a good goal and we could have more.

And after the game. Ronald Koeman was quite clear and transparant. And angry as hell. “Two bad goals conceded. In games like this, against top nations, we need players who have the courage and mentality to put their claw in the challenge. And we didn’t. Blind didn’t in the run up to the first goal. Promes didn’t do too well. And Blind lost Mbappe, allowing him a tap in. And the second goal, Tete doesn’t put Mendy under pressure, while Van Dijk allows himself to be surprised. That cost us points.”

Koeman was pretty livid and it seems quite reasonable that Tete and Blind will have to watch themselves. Quincy Promes also didn’t impress but we know he’s quality and he just made a move to Spain etc etc. But with Bergwijn on the up and up, it might well mean the PSV winger will take the Promes role in a future match.

Tete lacks rhythm, and yes, he’s a good defender but no, he didn’t defend that cross. And moving forward, he was not as threatening as Janmaat or Karsdorp. In the first half, he was timid. In the second half he did run forward and immediately had the assist for Babel’s equaliser.

Koeman spoke after the game of “players having to put their claw in” referring to the lacklustre defending of Blind and Van Dijk (with the first and second goal). It’s a typical Dutch problem. It’s not just them, I think Janmaat, Propper, Frenkie de Jong, they all have that. The almost polite “after you” mentality.

Obviously, Frenkie de Jong was the highlight in the match. A debutant demanding the ball and always playing with a swagger. Good to see and we expect more from him. I thought Babel put in a real shift for the team, while Memphis also had good spells as the lone striker. And as someone noticed on the blog earlier, Wijnaldum is helped with a player like De Jong behind him. Gini gets involved earlier now and can use the space he finds.

I think the “Ajax” model Koeman is using can work well. But I also believe we need some changes. Blind is a question mark. Yes, he can be used on many spots in the team but he doesn’t excel in any of them. I think Van Aanholt and Kongolo are better left backs in Koeman’s system, while De Vrij and Van Dijk and De Ligt are better centre backs. Blind can play holding mid, but at this stage Propper and De Jong impress more.

I would love to see Karsdorp or Janmaat on the right. More threatening going forward. Frenkie de Jong should always play and I really like Donny van de Beek as well. Babel or Kluivert or Vilhena on the left flank, Bergwijn or Promes on the right and Memphis is a shoe in for central. I personally don’t see it in Ruud Vormer. Not good enough. Nothing special. No speed, no precision passing, no killer shot or extreme free kick. A good club player. Nothing more. We have many like that. Guus Til. Marten de Roon. Jorit Hendrix. Kevin Diks. Bart Ramselaar. Not Oranje material.

This team will most likely qualify and then we might see some underdog magic at the next tournament. All the lads will be 1.5 years older by then and we might even see some of the future stars make their way into the team. Let’s discuss these kids in a next post!

The first goal in the making. Promes heading the ball to Matuidi. Propper responding. Mbappe sprinting away from Blind. Who is glued to the pitch.

The second goal in the making. Benji “hit the cross early” Mendy is going to…well…cross the ball early. Tete keeps his distance. Van Dijk is surprised by Giroud who scores a goal he will never ever again score.