Tag: Van der Wiel

by Jan

Oranje wins the blame game…

We might not always win the trophy (actually, we hardly ever do) but we usually win the blame game after the tournament. Whether it was 1980 Euros, with the AZ players trying to break the Ajax dominance, the 1990 WC, with Beenhakker pushed onto the squad instead of Cruyff, the 1996Euros with Davids/Hiddink or the Van Gaal debacle in 2002…

According to the well informed media, there were again two camps in the squad. Camp Sneijder (Robben, Vaart, De Jong, Huntelaar, Van der Wiel, Heitinga and the little big man) versus Camp Van Persie (Boulah, Afellay, Van Bommel, Van Persie himself). The Sneijder camp wanted all out Ajax-like attack. Van Persie wanted WC2010 style tactics. The result? Half the team played upfront, half the team pushed their behinds in their own box.

It’s not clear where Willems stood, but footage shows there were times he wasn’t even aware himself…

The tension increased and at a certain point someone in the staff told Huntelaar: “And now you shut our face or we exit you from the players’ hotel!”.

The post match interviews clearly demonstrated that some players felt they weren’t enabled to play their normal game. In particular Greg van der Wiel had tears in eyes of anger when he said this team didn’t allow him to play to his strengths and that his relationship with Oranje was disastrous.

Arjen Robben concurred “things had happened” while Van der Vaart said he “didn’t think it was appropriate to mention the reasons for this drama right now”…

And to make matters worse! The so-called Oranje fans at Schiphol Airport this time around didn’t show up as Orange Indian chiefs or dressed in traditional frocks. Instead they came in anger to lynch a couple of players and a coach. Van Persie was yelled at “arsehole!” while all the players were made out as “money wolves”…

Can you imagine?

This is unimaginable for me… You support your team through thick and thin. Sometimes they grab silver, sometimes it all goes to pieces. That is when they need the support most.

If you want these lads (or others) to bounce back, you need to support them.

People have made mistakes ( players, coach, KNVB) but life goes on and the key thing is to take those mistakes and learn and adapt.

Here, we will follow the homecoming of the Oranje team for a bit and will then move on to analysis. What went wrong? What would be a better strategy? What options do we have? Which players will be key?

While we also follow the rest of the tournament.

And look out for the new season’s warm ups…

Exciting times ahead!!

by Jan

And we're out…

C Ronaldo scores twice, hits the post twice, misses chances and offers team mates chances.

Huntelaar gets first shot on goal in the 86th minute. And misses the target.

End of review…

But seriously… We were simply not good enough. We scored early. And we did get more chances in the second half. Vlaar’s header, Van Persie’s run into the box, Van der Vaart’s shot on the post. But that’s it.

Portugal got at least 10 open scoring opportunities. This game could have ended 8-4.

I hate to say it, but Portugal was simply better. They outplayed Germany before. Now they outplayed us. Their midfield bossed us in the first half, which is an almost obvious result of the line up we started with.

We just didn’t click. Van Persie played an invisible first half. Van der Wiel was atrocious, yet again. Vlaar couldn’t keep up with C Ronaldo if Wiel lost him. We were simply not good enough.

Skipper Van der Vaart: “We didn’t play well enough. We lost three times. Then it’s clear where you stand. We started this game ok, but after our goal we slipped away and they got stronger. We didn’t deserve it.”

In this game it became painfully clear why Van Marwijk insisted on playing with two holding midfielders. The Oranje defense is shockingly weak.

In the first half, Sneijder was supposed to play on the left flank but he was hardly engaged, while Van Persie was simply not able to be important. Robben had his moments and in an offensive way, Van der Wiel did ok. Even had one good cross.

In the second half, Sneijder played more centrally and Van Persie took the flank but it didn’t make much of a difference. Every time Portugal took over, they looked like they could score.

Bert van Marwijk: “This was highly disappointing. I failed. And with me, the group. It’s too early to talk about my future, so quickly after the game. We’ll do that later. But I believe we had trouble overcoming the first dip against Denmark. We constantly started well but somehow insecurity came into the game. And we missed crucial chances up front while giving away too much at the back.”

He continues: “The vibe in the group was great. We had a different dynamics then during the World Cup of course, but despite the losses everyone was positive. I had to deal with some players who were dissatisfied, but that’s not something I can concern myself with. I can only play eleven players so you’re bound to disappoint a number.”

Arjen Robben: “I have no explanation for this. We constantly start well. We play well for 20 minutes. In this game, we even scored! And still we let it slip. What is that? Intend? Physical strength? Focus? You tell me… But suddenly we make silly passes. We start to lose the ball and insecurity sets in. But we need to be straight: we lost as a group. In 2010, we did it as a group, and now we lost as one group. The players and the staff. Should Bert leave? That’s not for me to say. That is for him to determine, with the KNVB.”

by Jan

The Danish ate us!!

I’m going to keep this brief. It’s almost 4 am and I’m not a happy trooper.

My goodness. We have the best strikers in the world. We couldn’t stop scoring in the qualifications and here we simply can not find the target. AAARRGGHHH…

Let me start by saying that the Danes did really well and are most certainly not the weak side. They were shrewd and they worked hard.

What exactly went wrong with us?

I believe we were a little to cocky and complacent I think. A bit too easy maybe. Denmark played with intensity which I didn’t see from our lads. But other than that, we didn’t do too much wrong. No big blunders, but we simply didn’t demonstrate the hunger and desire one should have at this level.

A second problem I had with our team, is that the field was too long. Our defense ( 4 players) kept at the back too much, against one striker! Van der Wiel had to be invited for seconds to come and overlap (Willems showed much more eagerness) but in general there were too many gaps between our forwards and our midfield. Nigel was invisible and not as domineering as he normally is and there was not that much support for Sneijder/Afellay/Robben.

But, all of these things would have been a moot point if Van Persie would have taken his hattrick.

According to my stats, Holland has 29 attempts on goal but only six (!) on target…And zero in the net. Oh and did I mention the two handballs in one single action? Late in the second half?

That tells the whole story.

So now, we need to simply beat Germany and Portugal. And I think that was always our plan, so nothing changed.