Tag: Van Hanegem

by Jan

“Ajax’s biggest game ever”

We love hyperboles… We actually witnessed one in action yesterday. With Stevie G watching on from the stands in Anfield, the man who led his team to the CL win in Istanbul, after being 3-0 down at half time… That vibe was present in Liverpool yesterday and must have inspired the Reds like nothing else. And only a few people realised that we are watching a huge shift in hierarchy in world football. After many many CL finals, we will see a finals without either Messi or Ronaldo. Their reign ended. The new super stars are called Van Dijk. De Ligt. De Jong. And they will reign supreme in the next decade.

Tactics won yesterday. Tactics, Klopp’s to be precise, in combination with the typical English gung ho mentality and energy. And how is Wijnaldum a typical example of Liverpool’s heavy metal football. Gini runs, tackles, pushes, scores, jumps and passes… What a game, what a team! From their goalie to their right back to their Egyptian pharao Mo Salah. Respect!

And yes, Tottenham Hotspur will be inspired by the Liverpool feat. Sure. But it will also have done something with Ajax. Don’t worry.

Ten Hag calls it the biggest game in Johan Cruyff Arena ever. That is probably not true. But for him and his team, it will be true. And for all the fans tomorrow as well. It will be the first time in 23 years that Ajax might get into the CL finals. Two years ago, they reached the Europa League finals under Bosz, which was quite a feat already, but the prestige of the CL finals is unprecedented. In this century, no other Dutch club reached this far. In 1996 Ajax lost the finals vs Juve on penalties and that was it.

Should Ajax win the CL, they will add a cool 22.5M euros to their bank account. They’ll play the World Cup for clubs too which will bring them around 3.5M euros. All in all, this season Ajax could write 42.5M euros for reaching the group stages of the CL. And don’t forget, Ajax started all this early in the season as qualifiers… Ajax will earn around 100M in total as a result of their European adventure.

Dutch football in general will benefit greatly as Ajax will earn heaps of coefficiency points, which will result in an easier entry in European tournaments in the future.

What can we expect tomorrow?

It seems Ajax’ squad is top fit, with the exception of David Neres who has some slight issues (but will play).

Mazraoui is back in full fitness and his tremendous turn as a sub – in combi with Veltman’s not so great game – will probably mean he starts as right back again.

“When you have the ball you can avoid getting into duels. In the first phase of the first half, we demonstrated how this works” – Erik Ten Hag at the presser

This quote above tells us how Ten Hag will want to play. The same as he did in the first 30 mins at White Hart Lane. With Ziyech and Neres coming in tight. With Tadic dropping to midfield at times. With Frenkie de Jong dropping next to Blind and Veltman moving inside to offer more options. And zipping the ball from foot to foot.

“We didn’t anticipate their changes well enough and as a result it became fight football,” – Erik ten Hag on Ajax TV

Ajax failed to have enough players around target man Llorente to grab the second ball and entered the arena for fight where avoiding and using the space to play out of trouble was a wiser option.

“After the break we managed to set the team up to deal with Spurs. Defensively, we were well positioned and never really got into trouble” – Erik ten Hag for Veronica TV

In the second half, Neres and Ziyech don’t press together. Ziyech presses the central defenders while Neres drops back to support his midfield. Matthijs de Ligt follows Llorente to challenge the long balls while De Jong drops back to fill the space in the centre of defence. He also does this when Blind follows the wandering Moura.

When Spurs has longer spells of possession, Ziyech and Neres drop back as wide wingbacks. It’s telling that Hakim Ziyech had the most successful tackles of all Ajax players (6).

“We failed to execute our game in possession. We should have had the peace to keep the ball longer. There was so much space on the other end of the pitch and we should have used this for the change pass and to let Spurs run ragged. In those situations, you can pounce.” – Erik ten Hag for Veronica TV

Ajax sees most space available for the full backs and Ajax prefers to use Veltman, as Tagliaficio would use the space Frenkie de Jong likes to dribble into. The plan was for Ajax to use the ball on one flank and then use the cross pass to utilise the space on the other end. Ajax fails to do this. Until Mazraoui comes for Schone. The right back (and former playmaker) constantly finds space behind Eriksen, like with the spell which resulted in Neres shot on the post.

This will be the key lesson for Ten Hag: when Spurs uses the diamond in midfield, the interplay between Ajax’ holding midfielder and full backs allows them a route out of trouble. This will probably prove to be a convincing response to this Tottenham Hotspur version.

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Naive Oranje falls in German trap. Again.

When Ronald Koeman criticised his team for playing gallery football vs Belarus, he was clearly trying to temper the optimism in and around the team… Good goals, no goals conceded, some nice gallery play… Oranje will win the Euros AND the World Cup.

Koeman knew, that with a vengeful Germany coming to Amsterdam, he needed to get his team to be sharp and forget about Belarus. I mean… Belarus!

People in Holland were already claiming Oranje would beat the dreadful Germans 5-0!! As if. And Germany was never in the same situation as Oranje recently. We didn’t qualify for 2 major tournaments! In a row. That is not the same as an older Germany team that disappointed at the World Cup.

And that is what we saw in the Holland – Germany game. There was nothing mediocre about Germany.

On Saturday, before the game, Koeman already predicted that it was going to be a tactical game. “You never know which Germany shows up. They have been trying at least three systems in the past year… We don’t know who he’ll play or in what system he’ll play.”

Koeman is another coach in a not so long list of coaches who adapts his team and tactics to the situation. 4-3-3 was sacred for a long time. Van Basten made some changes in that system, Van Marwijk followed him and stuck to 4-2-3-1 for a long time. Van Gaal even went a step further with 5 at the back. A system Koeman tried and tested too.

Just like in an earlier match vs our neighbours, Koeman needed a tactical switch at half time to get his team to respond to a very good playing Germany.

The first 25 minutes…

Koeman already emphasized before the game that it was ridiculous for people to be too optimistic about the result. Oranje was tremendously effective in that 2-2 match, which Germany didn’t deserve to draw and decided to use Promes for Bergwijn, as the former has been playing as a wing back for Sevilla and doing really well in that role, allowing for more flexibility in his team. And with the tactical trick Low came up with (Goretzka playing as offensive mid to make Frenkie’s life hard), this was a good thing too.

Oranje without possession

Koeman and Lodeweges jotting down new tactics for 2nd half

When Oranje doesn’t have the ball, they revert back to a 5-4-1. With Babel (right), Promes (left) and Wijnaldum and De Roon in the mid section behind Memphis. Frenkie de Jong would drop back as third centre back, just like we did against France. De Ligt and Van Dijk can pressure forward when the situation arises, in this set up, as Gnabry and Sane love to wander and drift. Once Oranje loses possession for a spell, Holland plays even more compact, with Promes dropping back as left back, Blind squeezing inside as centre back and Frenkie de Jong pushing into midfield to put more pressure on the ball.

Oranje in possession

When Oranje does have possession, they stick to the 4-2-3-1. The main issue in this situation, is Goretzka, as he interrupts the passing line to De Jong, which blocks a quick and direct build up for Oranje.

Build up to the 0-1

The lack of grip in the first stage of the game is apparent in te 15th minute. A long ball doesn’t arrive, Gnabry drops back to midfield, plays into Kroos who has the field in front of him and without real pressure on the ball. Then, it all goes quick for Germany. Kroos launches Schulz on the left flank and his cross is expertly finished by Sane. De Ligt slips, which is a bonus for Sane, but Oranje’s centre is complete played off the turf by the running patterns of Sane and Gnabry. And even with Frenkie and Daley assisting Van Dijk and De Ligt, it simply isn’t enough for Oranje to get grip on the dynamic Germans.

Minute 26 – 45

Midway the first half, Koeman makes changes. Babel moves to the left and Promes will play on the right, converting to a classic 5-4-1 once Germany has possession. A copy of the tactics from Gelsenkirchen when Holland wiped the 0-2 off the board, to finish 2-2.

Oranje when Germany in possession

This seems to work wonders. In the first 5 minutes, Babel gets two massive opportunities, both presented to him by Promes. Germany realises quickly, by realising that they can now find space via the axis on the pitch. In the 34th minute, Gnabry benefits from this, when De Ligt doubts whether he should press on. Van Dijk has similar doubts with Goretzka. Rudiger recognises the moment and plays over the top to Gnabry. Van Dijk seems to push him to the left wing, but he doesn’t do enough. Gnabry turns inside and curls the ball into the top corner: 0-2.

Minute 46 – 87

In the half time break, the situation seems desperate. Holland is 0-2 down and has no control over the match, whatsoever. The biggest pain points: De Roon can’t get close to Kroos. And Gnabry is continuously unmarked while Oranje has no alternative for build up if Frenkie de Jong can’t be reached. Frenkie de Jong: “Our biggest issues were in midfield. Gnabry, Sane and Goretzka were constantly free. We were simply not positioned right and didn’t press on well enough. We also didn’t press Germany to the side well enough.”

Koeman brings Bergwijn for Babel and that was the difference. Holland switches to 5-3-2 and goes toe to toe with Germany. And suddenly, Germany is struggling to find the free man.

Another switch was made by Koeman in midfield. Now, Wijnaldum takes care of Kroos and he does a much better job. And Memphis and Bergwijn manage to push the ball to Ginter, which stops Germany using the strong left side (Schulz, Kroos, Sane). And Germany resides to long balls forward, which is bread and butter for Van Dijk and De Ligt.

These are all the ingredients needed by Oranje to stage a comeback.

It helps that Holland gets the 1-2 very early in the second half, from a super cross by Memphis onto the head of De Ligt. His first Oranje goal.

A good attacking move, started by Blind and executed well by Promes before it reaches Memphis via Wijnaldum, and Memphis scores the 2-2. Low tries to regain control by bringing Gudogan for Goretzka but Holland controls the match, as it is easier for the Dutch to forward press with Frenkie in midfield and Daley as third centre back.

But, as per usual, it is the individual class that will determine the end result. In this case, its Marco Reus. He surprises De Roon on the inside and passes the ball to the forward runner Schulz. It’s a combi of Reus’ class and miscommunication in Oranje that causes this goal, with De Roon ending up as right back and Dumfries completely lost.

The loss was unnecessary. Also something Koeman realised. “I am to blame. I could have made the change. It was 10 minutes before the end, I considered bringing Ake for Promes and cherish the draw. But we kept on attacking and Promes looked fresh and I figured we would win this 3-2 at the death. But we lost it.”

But the loss is not that terrible. Oranje should win all other matches and get a result away in Germany. Why not? And matches like this are necessary for the team to learn to self adept. In stead of waiting for the coach to come up with the solutions. Daley Blind, Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong, Gini Wijnaldum… You’d expect some initiative from them too.

With Davy Propper fit again and Donny van de Beek chomping at the bits, I can see Marten de Roon lose his spot. I also believe we have better right backs available… I hope Karsdorp will have a string of games soon as I believe he is better at this point than Dumfries…

Source: The Excellent VI Pro

 

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Happy New Year, Oranje fans!

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

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

We didn’t.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

The Big Ronald Koeman interview

It’s a tradition. Every last week of the year, this blog has an in-depth one on one with the most important man in Dutch football: the NT manager.

This is also my way of saying: Happy New Year and thanks for following the ramblings on here… It’s highly appreciated.

At the bottom of this blog post you’ll see a video with the highlights of this Oranje year.

I’ll follow this post with some nice predictions for the year to come.

Until then, please drink a lot of alcohol on New Years Eve and then enter an amount in the paypal option on this blog to support another year of the Dutchsoccerblog and press “DONATE” so I can also buy food and water for New Years Eve….

For Ronald Koeman, 2018 was the Year of the Resurrection. 2019 is the year we will really have to show what we are worth. Thanks to the AD Sport papers and VI Pro.

The big photo on the table shows a group laughing and cheering Oranje players. Young lads celebrating the second goal vs France, Depay’s Panenka. The goal scorer is the beaming centre of the grouphug, with Frenkie de Jong, Tonny Vilhena, Virgil van Dijk and Daley Blind as his rays. Matthijs de Ligt is seen in the background. Koeman looks at the photo and smiles: ” This is what we aimed for when we started. Have fun, enjoy yourself and radiate happiness to be part of the Oranje team. And all this, is visible in this picture.”

The photo does summarize the year Oranje had. The resurrection, the new swagger. Four wins, four draws and only two defeats in matches against top nations. And the first spot in the difficult Nations League group. “No, I didn’t expect all this,” says Koeman. “If we would have lost 6 games, it would not have been odd. That was a scenario I worked with as well.”

Koeman is at the KNVB Sports Centre, the new home of Oranje. After the abysmal results with Hiddink and Danny Blind, not qualifying for two major tournaments, Koeman decided to bring his squad to the forest in Zeist, as opposed from the holiday seaside town of Noordwijk. “I spent two to three days per week here. They had the KNVB Christmas drinks thing the other day, obviously I felt I had to be present for that as well. As a kid, 13 years old or so, I came here with the North Region rep team and also later with the Oranje squads. This is the hub of Dutch football. The facilities here are good but not as luxurious as what some top clubs offer their players. It’s quite impressive what is happening at Man City, Liverpool, Everton and Barcelona. We can’t offer that quality yet, so I had my doubts… How would the players respond to what can be seen as a step back, but the players actually loved it. There is more bonding going on, they tend to spend more time together playing games, and having fun. In Noordwijk, we had this one floor in the hotel but that place was so big, you could easily decide to be alone and not see other players. When you wanted to hang with another player, you really needed to coordinate that. Here, the rooms are closer, the communal areas are in the middle, you constantly see each other and have those impromptu little circles going on, players talking, playing cards, checking moves out, etc.”

Does this generation need that?

“Well, it’s mainly good for the image of the team. People always say “they make so much money and they don’t really work for it”, but these lads are focusing on football 7 days a week. The programs they run through, the nutritional aspects, the body work, it’s so different compared to my time as a players. In my days, we had Jan Molby at Ajax. His warming up was shooting 20 balls on goal. That’s it. Today, that would be unthinkable. So, this environment is the right one for the way the players today work, live and operate. I can’t see any other sport being more intense than football, as it used to be…”

What are your thoughts re: Memphis, the central figure in this photo?

“It definitely applies to him too. He does everything for his sports. We all had the idea, me as well, that he was a bit complacent. I met him in Liverpool when I wanted to get him in on a loan deal from Man United. And ever since that meeting, my view on him changed. I really feel a click with him. I mean, yes I see the Instragram clips and think, oh well… That cigar wasn’t needed for me, but at the same time, I think…so what? Leave him be. Players these days are constantly in the spotlight. Whenever they go out for a drink or a meal, it’s going viral on the net. So if Memphis enjoys doing those little clips: fine. Let him.”

In the past, you clashed with the young Wesley Sneijder and Rafa van der Vaart. This is now the more experienced coach talking?

“Yes, I guess. I was a young coach back then and I wanted to project my ideas, my values onto these lads. I was too rigorous in that, yes. Coaching is an experience craft. I have learned to see that everyone is different and that younger generations are different.”

The current Oranje players are of the same age as your kids. Doe that help?

“For sure! My kids love following Memphis and the others on social media. They are used to it, and it’s part of today’ sports culture. So yes, I sometimes check in with my kids to ask their opinion about things, and at times they simply tell me what they think and I can see more and more how things work for the younger generations.”

Ronald Koeman is not just the NT coach, he is now also the figure head of Dutch football and spoke at the NL Coach Congress recently, using an example of what happened at Ajax – Bayern Munich… “I used it as an example, but Bayern coach Kovac had two experienced bench players, Hummels and Martinez and he let them warm up in the second half, for at least 20 minutes. He needed something to happen, as Ajax was in front. When he finally wanted to use his third sub, he turned to Renato Sanches who was sitting on the bench. He hadn’t done a warm up. He used him, and Sanches went onto the pitch cold. I watched Hummels and Martinez, who looked at each other with confusion and a wry smile. That sort of thing has an effect. On the coach, on the vibe in the squad, the mentality of these older players, the hierarchy. Lets just say, it wasn’t smart of Kovac to do it like this. These are the little things that can work against you in terms of player support and team spirit.”

Wat did you do to re-establish a new hierarchy with Oranje?

“That happens in a natural way. Memphis doesn’t want to be the designated leader but he leads due to his way of playing. Virgil is a natural leader because of his age and his position on the pitch, his charisma and experience. Gini Wijnaldum, Jasper Cillesen and Kevin Strootman are key players as well. They play at big clubs, they’ve been around and share their experiences. And the technical staff is also about clarity. If things are unclear, we want players to speak out. If things are not clear, players get nervous.”

Was it important too that dominant personalities like Robben, Sneijder and Van Persie are no longer part of Oranje? Wijnaldum mentioned something like “a gap in the squad”?

“I guess so. But for clarity’s sake: I have asked Robben in the early phase of my role here, to come back to Oranje. He is still so good. But yes, with the big lads gone, there is space for the younger players to step into that space and show what they are made of.”

And with the rise of talents like De Ligt and Frenkie de Jong, the jigsaw puzzle suddenly seemed complete?

“Ha, I read somewhere that this coach has a golden dick, hahaha. But yes, a coach is only as good as his material and these two are really good. I actually spoke to Pep Guardiola about both, some while back. He is completely smitten with midfielders like Frenkie and he wanted to know everything about him. Frenkie has really made a contribution to Oranje. He is biggest quality, is that he can postpone his decision on the ball, just another couple of seconds so he can give that pass that another player wouldn’t be able to give. And everyone goes: damn! That was amazing.”

About the past couple of years… we thought our football was in crisis. Was that a knee-jerk response? Were we really that bad?

“Well, something had to happen for sure. We need to do more to get to the top. In Holland, we always thought that with our talent, we just need to play some good football and then we’ll get there. But the nations in Europe and beyond have learned as well, and developed. Countries like Iceland, Wales, Uruguay, Japan, Australia are no longer walk-over nations in football. It’s the same at club level. Look at Ajax in the past 10 years in qualifications of the CL tournament! It has become harder on all levels to get to the top. Belgium was a nice example for us. They can play re-action football like they used to do, and use the turnaround moments, but they can also dominate and play the “Dutch way” for lack of a better term. They are flexible within their format. I like that. And like Belgium, we have the players to do both, as well. And in 2019, we will face Germany again, for the Euro qualifications. I’m already thinking about how to approach those games.”

Oranje went from underdog to the favorite again. 2019 is a year with heavy expectations.

“I do wonder, if we can extrapolate the way we played this year, to next year. We will start vs Belarus and can we play like we did this year, against a ultra defensive team? Can Memphis be as important? Or, do we need to use Luuk de Jong as central striker and make some changes? We never had to do this as we only played strong, domineering teams but I do realise that in 2019, it really starts. I wouldn’t have minded another friendly before we start for the Euro qualifications against an opponent like Northern Ireland.”

Some players dropped in the hierarchy. Kevin Strootman seemed to have lost his starting spot. How do you deal with that?

“Well, Kevin will be part of the squad as long as I see that he wants to be. He’s important for the group, he’s in the players council. I will always check the dynamics of the players on the bench. Do they celebrate goals of the team or do the join in after a won game? That sort of conduct is taken into account.”

You once mentioned how Rinus Michels decided to take players like Hendrie Kruzen of FC Den Bosch and Wilbert Suvrijn of Roda to the Euro1988, as they were players happy with a bench role and still giving 100% at training. Does that influence your way of thinking?

“Absolutely. You have to take personalities into account. And particularly at a big tournament. You are so close for weeks. Look at Belgium again: Nainggolan wasn’t part of their squad. Judging from a distance, I suppose it has to do with hoe he deals with not starting a game. In our case, the Euros are still a bit away. A lot can change. Transfers, injuries, development of players. Take Promes, he started as a wing back at Sevilla! That could be an interesting development for us.”

Did you also ignore players in your selections to give them a sign?

“Yes, take Steven Berghuis of Feyenoord. He is a great player. With the ball. Without the ball, he needs to do more. I saw him recently play against PSV, and he was fantastic. That is what I want to see week in week out. He knows this.”

Now you’re back in Holland, after a number of years in England… Is there anything you like from what you see here, in our competition?

“Holland will always bring talent early. Recently, Orkun Kokcu at Feyenoord. 17 years old. In England I have Ward-Prowce, who was a bit older but our board said: he can’t play more than 10 games per year. In England, they see young players as a risk. We don’t. And I’m certain that in 10 years time, we’ll have the next De Ligt or Frenkie de Jong, chomping at the bits.”

You worked at the top 3 in Holland. Which club do you think is the hardest one to manage?

“I have to say Ajax. I think particularly today, with that trophy drought. Ajax invested heavily into more expensive players as well and sacrificed Keizer and Bergkamp. The pressure is on there. And Ajax always has several streams of important people behind the scenes, trying to pull strings. It’s always a difficult club. They also want to see attractive football. When De Boer won his fourth title in a row, he was criticized for the boring play. That would never happen at PSV. PSV is different. Similar top sport climate, but more a gentleman’s club. Whereas Feyenoord is hard because of the lack of resources and the enormous expectations and hunger of the Legion but the love and support of the Feyenoord fans is undying. So I have to say Ajax.”

It’s good for Dutch football to see Tadic and Blind back in the eredivisie, right?

“Absolutely. I worked with Tadic at Southampton and I saw what he did for his fitness, his rhythm. He is so fit and strong and has a great mentality. It’s so good for the youngsters to have him, for at Feyenoord to see Van Persie and before him Kuyt. The young players will learn a lot from that.”

You mentioned something you picked up from the Dutch women’s team…?

“Yes! I wasn’t even NT manager when it happened. I was invited to give them their award some while back, best sports team of the year. I said I loved to see them, and that their appeal was so broad because they clearly had fun. They played with a big smile on their face. And they are accessible and down to Earth. I think supporters like that. And when I compare that with the internationals I had at Southampton and Everton… They’d return from their Oranje stint and I didn’t see any enthusiasm.”

You turned it around quickly.

“But that isn’t my work. It starts with the players. And they are being developed and coached daily by the club coaches. By Gio, Mark van Bommel, Erik ten Hag, etc. I also realised that Danny Blind and Guus Hiddink had a lot of bad luck. And I don’t mean that Bas Dost goal vs Sweden, alone. Also all that drama at the KNVB, with the technical director, the decisions made by the board, assistant coaches leaving, there was no consistency, no positive vibe and when it storms at the top, when you’re on the ground you will feel the rain and get wet. The whole vibe around Oranje was negative.”

Did it all turn around? Or do we still need to make structural changes?

“The times we live in are different. This applies to society, but also to football. In the past Robben or Rep or whoever was our winger, could take 10 mins rest per match. Stay up and wait for that stray ball. Today, wingers are the first defenders. The physical demands are so much higher now. I am not sure if we have incorporated that into our development and you could even say, that culturally, we don’t like doing this. We seem to be a complacent and lacklustre, in general. Listen to all the players that make a move to a bigger competition. All of them, no exception, will tell you: wow, they work so hard, the training is so intense, we don’t see a single ball in the pre-season, it’s just running and weights…. That is such a clear signal to me.”

These days, the laptop coach is making his way. Using stats and simulations… do you work with this?

“Yes, you will always find ways to incorporate it, but it’s not leading for me. The interpretation is key. We had a lot of this at Everton. We played Chelsea and I took the stats and saw that Diego Costa made significantly more runs in behind than Lukaku. And we constantly had to go with him. So I used this in my prep with Lukaku: look mate, this is Costa, and this is you!”

“But the essence of coaching, is management of people. We have 20+ top players. All alpha males and they all need to go into the same direction. They all have their own ideas, they all have invented it and they know everything better. And to lead that, you can only do that by creating a bond with them, a mutual understanding.”

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Past stars: Rafael van der Vaart’s new life

For a long time, we lamented the retirement of the likes of Robben, Sneijder, Kuyt, Van Bommel and Nigel de Jong, fearing the good old times would never return. But with players back at top level at Liverpool, Olympique Lyon and Barca and a series of great talents coming through, we almost forget about them now. Even though De Ligt’s and Frenkie’s values would have plummeted after some heavy naive defending vs Bayern Munich (What was Frenkie thinking??), Oranje’s future looks bright. So despite the new series we started – Future Stars – we also applaude the giants on whose shoulders these stars will stand…

Rafa van der Vaart retired from football some weeks ago. A look at his new life and a look back on his career. Thanks to VI Pro, and Simon Zwartkruis.

As we all know on this blog, Rafa is a very warm and open and approachable guy. He gladly took time to be interviewed by your favorite blogger (yes, me) before and when Zwartkruis visits Rafael at home, the first thing the former Ajax playmaker says is: “Hey, you will stay for dinner, right?”

While dad Ramon is fixing dinner, son Damian is facetiming his dad from Hamburg and would later on skype with his daughter who spends time with grandma in Nijmegen and the NOS editors are trying to contact Van der Vaart for his role in Studio Voetbal, the #23 gets a call from a German tv team who need directions to get to Van der Vaart’s home in Beverwijk. Van der Vaart has accepted a role in the German tv show Darts with Stars… Van der Vaart laughs: “Don’t think I have heaps of time, now I am retired. I am more busy than ever.”

He decided a couple of weeks ago, to make that big decision. “I was at practice at Esbjerg. And believe me, with the ball I was still the best player. And I really enjoyed playing there, I did. But these fricking little injuries kept on coming back. I would train all week, prepare for finally another real match and on Saturday: bam! Another muscle issue. I told my girlfriend: this is it! One more injury and I’m out. And it happened. The calf. During practice. I stood up, walked to the dressing room. Grabbed my bag and I went home. I didn’t need to tell Estavana. She saw it in my face. And I also felt relief by the way. It was done.”

Before this season, I actually considered moving to Holland. I could sign with Telstar, which is just around the corner of course. But I have a girlfriend in Denmark, a son in Germany… I didn’t think it would work. I actually worked with John van ‘t Schip at PEC Zwolle in the pre-season to stay fit. And that was tremendous. It felt like I was 18 again, you know. Because John was my most influential youth coach at Ajax, I worked well with him. And of course he was our assistant coach at Oranje, in 2006 and 2008 and I think he is a top notch coach and guy. PEC offered me a deal and it looked really good. But it was too complicated due to my shattered family, so I decided no. Damian is the son of divorced parents. I wanted to be there for him. From Esbjerg to Hamburg is only 3 hours by car, so I choose family over career now. Finally.”

And I can see that he, like me, is all about football. He started off a as a shy kid, but is getting more self aware. I was raised with a “belief in yourself attitude” and that was also augmented at Ajax. We have that “We are the Best!” mentality there and sure, others will see it as arrogant. And it is. But bluf and self confidence are important for a sportsman. You need to walk onto the pitch with the attitude of “this is my home!”. I always wanted the ball, I always wanted to organise everything and be the dominant guy. Even when I made my debut at Oranje, in midfield. I played with giant, like Seedorf and Davids but I wanted to take all the free kicks, you know? I was convinced of my skills, but I wasn’t a dominant guy off the pitch. Don’t get me wrong. I felt uneasy at the start, with Oranje. The first years, I was quiet. I had a lot of respect for these experienced guys, I mean… Van der Sar, Stam, Phillip Cocu… God… I was totally different on the pitch, I played with flair and was cheeky but off the pitch, I couldn’t eat at lunch. So nervous. And I watched how the others would eat their meals or what they would do, and I would copy that, hahaha. I didn’t want to be told off. We had training camps of 10 days and I would count the hours you know. But on the pitch, I was able to make the difference. That Oranje was strong, by the way. I was a starter for Ajax for a considerable time before I was called up. Today, if you play 3 good games for your club you can expect a call from Koeman, hahaha. I was one one of the few from the Eredivisie, the rest all played at top level in Europe. When Sneijder, Heitinga and Nigel de Jong joined me, it became a bit easier. We had our own little group to hang out. And of course, when you can make the difference in the match, you will be easily accepted by the regulars.”

I was a kid of the club, at Ajax. And it felt like home. How different it was, when I moved to Hamburg. Unbelievable. My first practice session at HSV, I will never forget. I was a big money signing and I felt the pressure showing my team mates how good I was. I did it all, took on opponents, played slide rule passes, shoot balls in the top corner, the whole thing. And that makes for an easy entrance. The pre season friendlies went well and before you know it the mania started. Every day, articles in the media, there was a run on shirts with my name and number…. I was used to some attention at Ajax, but this in Germany was just out of this world.”

“When I left for Real Madrid I noticed my status was different. Of course, I need to add. The rotation system they used at Real was not for me. I had to get used to it. I scored a hattrick vs Sporting Gijon and the next weekend I was on the bench. I didn’t get that. It made me a bit uncertain and antsy. But, Real Madrid is not a club where you knock on the door of the coach, to ask if he’s seeing it properly, hahaha. And after my first season, Real decided to go shopping. C Ronaldo came. Kaka came. So you know it will get harder. And when the new president said all Dutch players needed to go, it was almost undoable. The technical director Valdano and coach Pellegrini told me I was their 6th choice for the number 10 role. Behind Raul, Guti, Kaka, Granero and talent Canales. But, I didn’t want to leave and I told them. I also told them they made a mistake as I was the best option for that role. And I would show them. I started to train like an animal and in the fourth playing round, I got my chance.  Away at Villareal I got a turn. I worked my ass off and had an assist. And from that game on, I was playing again. And that was just fantastic. After the winter break, I was a starter. For Pellegrini I was first choice for the #10 role. And I flew over the pitch, I was fit, scored goals and gave assists and we kept on winning. We played a Champions League game vs Olympique Lyon and Cristiano Ronaldo was angry with the coach for now playing me. They had this heated debate in the dressing room. That was a real compliment. I fought myself back into the game, I’m proud of that. They actually took my shirt number away, before the season and I fought myself back into the fold. At any other club, I might have said: fuck ‘m all, I’m out. But this was Real Madrid. Doesn’t get bigger.”

The Dutch contingent at Madrid, sans Huntelaar actually…

“After Madrid, it was Tottenham. I really enjoyed that time. We only played top matches in a crazy pace. My goodness. That is probably my best period in my career. I scored, I had assists and we had a sensational team, I think better than that Madrid team, actually. My partnership with Modric, with Bale, with Crouch. Special. The World Cup in South Africa was the high point and low point of my career. I went to Spurs right after it and I was in top shape and enjoyed my football. By the way, the lost WC finals vs Spain still hurts you know. I worked with Bert van Marwijk in Hamburg later on and we spoke about that finals a lot. Glass of wine and a conversation and the more wine we drank, the more emotional we got, hahaha.”

“Man, I enjoyed my career. I played for amazing clubs and lived in sensational cities… I have had great times with Oranje, more than 100 caps. And now I am free. I watch Damian play in Hamburg, I follow Estavana with her matches (she is a pro handball player in Denmark) and I like doing the tv work (Raf is co-host and analyticus).

Rafa being important for Spurs in the derby

I am doing this with Pierre van Hooijdonk and it feels like we have a click on tv just like we had on the pitch. Pierre loves football humor, like me and would always lead on the pitch.”

“And I am positive about Dutch football. Koeman is the ideal coach for Oranje. I worked with him at Ajax and obviously had my share of issues and clashes with him. He is quite pragmatic and can be direct and tough. And I was not really mature in those days. My position was simple: a coach that puts me in the team is a world class coach. A coach who benches me is a dickhead. But back then, at the start of his coaching career, he already was top notch. And I judge a coach now, on what he can make his players do.”

“Now I see Memphis working his butt off, I can Babel playing a wing back and defending all the way to his own corner flag, I can see the aggression in the defenders, wonderful! Just wonderful. And the home game vs France was a highpoint. A top team performance. The panenka penalty by Memphis as the absolute cherry on the cake. And if you see how Frenkie is making his mark already on the performances, and how Bergwijn is developing and also Wijnaldum, who finally gets to his level of Liverpool at Oranje. I’m very positive about the future.”

“But I have huge weak spot for Frenkie de Jong, which is probably quite natural. He is the one who can make the difference. And the trend is now that midfielders need to be like triathlon athletes, strong and tall and muscular. But some of them have really terrible ball skills. It starts with technique. The rest can be developed. And I love it how Ajax is now impressing in Europe with skilled, technical players. Frenkie, Ziyech, Tadic, Neres, Van de Beek, all great players. They’re great on the ball but also very agile and fit. Most fans of attractive football will adore this team.”

“I’m not sure of becoming a coach is for me. I have had an invite from Heitinga to assist him at Ajax, under 19. That will be fun. But for now, I want to enjoy life. And I am a romantic. When I see Isco on the bench at Madrid, I want to cry. Casemiro plays and Isco doesn’t not… I don’t get that. Although I have learned to see how certain types of players are important for the balance in the team. It sounds like coach-talk, but it’s true. You won’t win anything with eleven Iscos or eleven Rafael van der Vaarts.”

“But, I do think clubs are starting to over-analyse. At Midtjylland, I suddenly had half a computer around my neck. In a little bag. Could I please put this around my neck? Well, no. Sorry. I threw the thing in the bin. Come on man, you have eyes in your head? They could see how many sprints I made and in which direction. Bullshit. They could even see to which supermarket I went and what vegetables I bought, hahaha. I told them: why don’t we focus on playing the ball to a player with the same colour shirt. My goodness. For me, it all starts with the ball.”

When asked what Rafael’s Best Line Up would be, with players he played with, this is what he came up with…

“I had sleepless nights man, coming up with this line up. I had 109 caps for Oranje, played pro football for 12 years and was at a number of clubs, so I had sooo many options. But here it comes…

On goal, Edwin van der Sar. He was un-be-lievable. And I worked with some great goalies, like Casillas, but Sar was just unbeatable and a top notch skipper too.

At the back, Marcello on left back. He is a bit like me. A real football lover. Passionate about having fun and playing with flair. He is so good on the ball, so fit and such a nice guy. I tell you what, Royston Drenthe was the other left back and Marcelo and Roy were competing for the spot. They would play in turn. I remember Roy playing great in the Champions League and scoring against Barcelona. The coach wanted Drenthe to be the left back, but Drenthe wanted to be left winger! Can you imagine. And he ended up leaving. Otherwise he could still have been Real Madrid’s left full back, hahaha.

Ledley King is the surprise choice for centre back. I played with some great ones, but this guy… He never trained. He was not fit enough. He only trained for himself and maybe on the day before the match with Spurs he would sit in for the tactical training. He simply was not fit enough. Always playing with pain. But when he played during the match, he was like a rock. He was tremendous. I have soo much respect for that guy. And it didn’t matter that he never trained or even wasn’t at tactical sessions, he could perform anyway.

Rafa with captain Chivu winning the title in Holland

I have Christian Chivu as left centre back. Such a cool dude, a leader and super good on the ball. Header of the ball, long pass, didn’t matter. He could do everything. He could have had a much bigger career if his body supported that.

For right back, Sergio Ramos. He was right back when I played with him. A true leader and a very good bloke. And of course, a super defender. When Wes and I played at Madrid, he was still a rookie, but with a lot of bravado. For free kicks, he would come to the ball and make attempts to take it. Wes and I would say “Go away Ramos! You are merely the right back here!” hahahaha… And off he went. Now he’s a Madrid legend.

Midfield wasn’t hard for me. I played with Modric behind me and man man what an intelligent player he is. So smart, sees everything, great touch. We hardly spoke about football and didn’t need to. We had this telepathic thing. Same with Guti. Of all the #10s I played with or against, he was by far the most gifted. If only he was as serious as he was gifted. Boy, he loved to party and he was such a gregarious guy. Loved life too much. But his vision and his passing skills. I remember a match, I was 30 or 40 yards away from him, he was with his back to me, I made a dash into space, he turns and passes the ball blind into space, right on my left foot. Impossible! He couldn’t have seen me! But he did. Gareth Bale is my left midfielder. Because even though he was playing left full back at Spurs, I would use him as my left midfielder, because he can cover that whole left flank.

Up front, Arjen Robben as right winger is a no brainer. I loved playing with him. An amazing player, his mentality, personality, his speed… He is by far one of the best players ever. Of all time! As left winger, C Ronaldo of course. What an incredible talent and what a work ethic! So focused, so motivated and so good. And you know what, he’s a really nice guy as well. One of the blokes in the dressing room, a really good guy. I saw how his life is, from up close and I am glad I am not like him. He’s a rock star, he can’t leave the house to have a kick with his son or have a coffee with his partner. Whereas I can. In Amsterdam, people say hi, but leave me alone. I am the utmost respect for this guy.

Central striker, well… I played with Benzema, with Zlatan, Kluivert and with Ruud van Nistelrooy to name a few. But Peter Crouch is my man! We had a great partnership. I scored 6 goals in my first 5 Spurs matches I think, all thanks to him. He was a really underrated player too. The Messi of tall dudes, I called him. He really is and was a great player and also a very funny and nice guy. After his 6 assists on me, he came over to me and said:”Hey Raf, how about next time you find me and give me an assist for a change?” And I said “Nah, I think its going fine as it is”, hahahaha.

 

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Your vote: best Dutch international of 2018

It’s your time now!

As we close to the end of the year, a year in which the drab and disgraced Dutch National Team straightened the back and rose, like a Phoenix from the ashes. With victories over the newly crowned World Champs, the former world champs and good results and performances overall vs the likes of Belgium and Portugal.

And the result: group winner in the Nations League and a big jump on the FIFA ranking.

Most importantly: the fans love the team again and the team loves playing for Holland again.

And boy, did we see tremendous development in our player? I mean, Denzel Dumfries?? Pablo Rosario?? Marten de Roon? Tonny Vilhena? Ryan Babel?

Time to pick the best international of the year… I’ll help you with some insights, but the vote is all yours. I’ll give you until December 1, and then we’ll announce the winner here, with a cool interview/article on the winner.

The Candidates

Virgil van Dijk, our captain, deserves the first mention. What to say… His year was tremendous. The big money move to Liverpool. The winner in his debut vs arch enemy Everton. His stats are terrific. In Oranje, he developed into a great leader and skipper, with the deciding goal in the final minutes vs Germany. Does it get better than that?

Virgil is a true natural leader. The way he handles his team mates, the way he covered up the young ball girl when he noticed she was shivering in the cold, the warm manner in which he consoled the ref after the Germany game, when Virgil learned the poor dude lost his mum (and got notified of that fact during the half time break). Virgil… pure class!

Memphis Depay is in the key age group for top notch peformances, and it shows. The former Sparta talent is a changed man. From arrogant, self-centered, headstrong wannabe winger in Manchester, he grew into a lethal striker in Lyon. With stats that are only topped by Messi and C Ronaldo. Better stats than Neymar and Mbappe, to name other forwards in France. The loner, who clashed with the likes of Sneijder and Van Persie is now a team player. One of the leaders on and off the pitch. Ever since he found God, Memphis is a better human being, more humble, active with his foundations for the lesser fortunate ones and on the pitch he is unstoppable.

He creates goals, he scores them, has a sensational corner kick delivery, hustles and hassles defenders, keeps three markers busy while working for the team and stretching the play. He’s clearly in a positive mindset, as he coaches, encourages and directs the play from the front.

Every “Best Player” award should go to a forward. A player who makes a difference. A player that draws people to the stadium. Cantona, Ginola, Ibrahimovic, C Ronaldo, Ozil, Ribery, Rooney… Memphis falls in that category and I personally don’t care what hat he wears or what colour leather seats are in his Bentley.

Frenkie de Jong is probably a solid candidate as well, even though he only played 4 caps for Oranje. His talent was spotted many years back and both Willem II and Ajax decided to bring this kid slowly. He was 20 years old when he made his first foray into Ajax 1. As opposed to the likes of Seedorf, Kluivert Sr and Jr and many others who got their first games at 16 or 17 years old. But once Frenkie made his mark on the first team, everyone could see his tremendous potential. So much so, that Frenkie is already the new footballing leader (playmaker) of Oranje. Everything goes via him. And he is already seen as unmissable. And its expected he’ll make a massive jump from Ajax to a world class team in the summer (Man City, Barca, Bayern, Real Madrid, Chelsea….).

Gini Wijnaldum has also made a sensational growth, finally, to establish his position in Oranje. Making his debut more than 10 years ago (!) at 16, in Feyenoord’s first team as a #10. Used as winger at PSV. Signed by Newcastle as box-to-box midfielder and in 2014 suddenly part of the Oranje midfield that got bronze in Brazil under Van Gaal. Van Gaal apparently was reluctant to use Wijnaldum as controlling mid, believing the always smiling Georginhio would be able to play there, but he managed and even scored vs Brazil in the losers final. Klopp signed him at Liverpool and immediately told him he signed him for the controlling mid role. Today, Liverpool uses him on any spot in midfield. Despite all the new midfield signings, Wijnaldum – when fit – plays. In Oranje, Frenkie de Jong’s game allows Gini to play further upfield and be more decisive for Oranje, scoring important goals.

Mathijs de Ligt is considered one of the best central backs in Europe and like Frenkie, appears on all the scouting lists. The grounded Dutch lad, called “Dickie” as he used to be a tad overweight in the Ajax youth (in Dutch, the word for fat is “dik” so he was called Dickie), is only 19 years old but plays like a 26 year old. Composed, focused, and utterly complete. Fast enough, strong, fierceful header of the ball, able to dribble infield (Dickie used to be a midfielder) and with a good long pass as well. De Ligt will go places. He’ll be the Oranje centre back for at least another 10 to 12 years (if he remains fit). And we’ll see him playing for one of the top teams in the world for sure (Bayern, Barca, Real Madrid).

Ryan Babel‘s story is the come back story of the decade (in Oranje). He broke through in Ajax as a winger, but was considered an ideal player for a 4-4-2, a system Ajax back then simply didn’t want to play. Babel made his name in Young Oranje, under Foppe de Haan and impressed with his physique, his “hip” shot and his speed and power. Ajax was happy to let him go for a decent offer as he didn’t fit the bill in Ajax’ 4-3-3. By then Marco van Basten brought him into Oranje where Babel scored in his debut game. San Marco called him “the next Thierry Henry”. His big money move to Liverpool got waylaid as he tore his ankle ligaments right before the Euros2008 and was ruled for a spell, which forced Liverpool to sign alternatives and Babel got behind in the pecking order (behind Dirk Kuyt, amongst others). Bert van Marwijk kept faith in Babel and used him extensively after the 2008Euros. Kenny Dalglish, manager at Liverpool, decided to bring Luis Suarez to the club and let Babel go. The dark days followed, with a stint at Hoffenheim which didn’t work out. He went back to Ajax to rejuvenate his career, but ended up in the Turkish competition and not much later choose the money of the UAE league. He ended up playing for the reserves there and was relieved to be able to return to Turkey via Deportivo La Coruna. Now he’s at Besiktas where his good form got him a spot in Advocaat’s Oranje back in 2017. The explosive winger from yesteryear is now a mature team player, playing as a wingback. He clearly acts as mentor for the younger lads (on the pitch and potentially in the music studio as well) and his workrate and tactical smarts have brought him lots of kudos from all Oranje fans and pundits.

Other candidates? Jasper Cillesen? Top goalie on the Barca bench, but usually strong when relied upon. Both in Spain as in Oranje. Although the two German goals last time around did seem stoppable… Or Daley Blind? Mr Reliable? Good touch. Superb vision. Excellent passing. Pleasant positive personality. But vulnerable in defence? Just not tall enough? Just not quick enough? Quincy Promes than? Scoring goals like there is no tomorrow for Spartak, but always a question mark in Oranje (and Sevilla). Despite all this, his success in Moscow was always as a number 9, so maybe Promes should be seen as the understudy for Memphis?

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Oranje’s future: Frenkie’s Farewell Tour

He’s 21 years old, hasn’t had a full season in Ajax 1, but already is he the new leader of Oranje (on the pitch) and the most talked about Dutch talent since… Memphis probably.

Frenkie de Jong. Gifted. But also intelligent and levelheaded. An important quality, both in terms of football intelligence (decision making) and generic intelligence. Everyone knows his story by now. In summary. Grew up in Brabant (PSV territory) but in a family of Feyenoord fans. Both clubs courted Frenkie for years, but Ajax got him in. Rumour has it, that Ajax really took the opportunity to whoo the youngster. When he visited De Toekomst (the Ajax youth Academy “The Future”), Bergkamp, Jaap Stam, Marc Overmars, Ronald de Boer and Edwin van de Sar all popped in to shake the lad’s hand. He decided to stay at Willem II until he finished school and joined Ajax.

Not long after breaking into the Ajax 1 team, most top clubs in Europe knew it for sure. The youngster they had on their radar made the final step up and would be ripe for a deal. Bayern Munich, Barca, Real Madrid, Man City, Spurs, they’re all keen to join in on the hunt for Frenkie de Jong.

De Jong has demonstrated in big games, that he’s able to perform. With Ajax in the Champions League, with Oranje in the Nations League, he makes it seem easy. And even though Frenkie plays “behind the ball” in a holding role, Feyenoord coach Gio van Bronckhorst decided to change his line up and tactics to take care of De Jong, with Jens Toornstra coming in the first team to manage the youngster. But to no avail. Toornstra’s first foul came in minute 2. A clumsy and actually quite mean-spirited step with the studs on the calf. Worthy of a red card.

From that moment on, it was clear that Feyenoord and Toornstra weren’t their usual self. Van Persie played as #9. Jorgensen operated as a false winger on the left and Toornstra played in the #10 role but only to step onto De Jong’s toes when possible. As a manmarker in the playmaker position.

It’s logical though. Van Persie doesn’t have the legs to deal with the playmaker/holding midfielders De Jong and Schone. But Feyenoord did want to pressure high up the pitch, so… this line up could work. But the Rotterdam team was so uptight that first Jens made a nasty foul to be followed by St Juste’s stupid hack on Tagliafico, resulting in Jerry’s fasted red card in Klassieker history.

AJAX Game component* FEYENOORD
68% Possession 32%
24/11 Shots/On target 6/2
13 Corners 6
9 Fouls 10
698/619 (89%) Passes/Good (percentage) 332/253 (76%)
164/73 (45%) Duels/Won (percentage) 164/91 (55%)
35/17 (49%) Aerial duels/Won (percentage) 35/18 (51%)

After the red card, Feyenoord was lost. The confidence decreased even more and it was unclear how to proceed. Van Persie and Jorgensen decided to keep the press on, where possible, but half of the Feyenoord team didn’t participate. Usually, when playing with 10, teams will go to a 4-4-1 and aim for damage control but the timing in the Feyenoord team and the communication about when to press and when to drop deep was gone. And with the fact that Ajax has a better player than Feyenoord on every position, it makes it very hard. Only Berghuis might be good enough for this Ajax, most other Feyenoord players will have to accept being second-tier to the Sons of Gods.

It is telling that a young kid in midfield is the reason for Feyenoord to change their tactics and playing style. But Feyenoord isn’t alone. Benfica did it too, in the CL match last week. Gedson Fernades became Frenkie’s guard but despite that, the former Willem II playmaker was able to dominate the game and become one of the key players on the pitch, just like he got the Man of the Match award after the Feyenoord game.

How is it that Frenkie de Jong can play the way he plays? Well, for starters: the team is set up to get the most out of him. Daley Blind and Mathijs de Ligt have exceptional qualities for a centre back: great build up pass, wonderful ball skills and technique and good tactical vision. They both have their eyes forward always. Lasse Schone, the other holding mid is also a player with the skill to accelerate the game and as the two full backs will push forward and force the wingers of the opponent back, there is a quartet of Ajax players playing opposite 3 opponents. And all four are wonderful players on the ball. And should the pass not be possible, no worries, Frenkie simply drops all the way back next to Blind to offer an outball. As he has the ability to swivle and dribble his way into midfield.

The differences between Clasie and De Jong are interesting to observe and demonstrate the difference in intentions between Ajax and Feyenoord. Both players are the deep lying playmakers with the task to accelerate the game where possible. De Jong had 4 times as many passes as Clasie. And that is not just a result of the red card, as De Jong is constantly sought and found by his team mates, which is less the case for Clasie.

FRENKIE DE JONG ASPECT* JORDY CLASIE
Defensieve middenvelder Position Defensieve middenvelder
94 Minutes on the pitch 94
198/182 Total number of actions/good 72/60
5/2 shots/on target –
141/132 (94%) Passes/good (percentage) 40/33 (83%)
5/2 Key passes/good 1/1

Clasie is definitely more a passer. De Jong is more a dribbler. He is sometimes called a postman, but it’s not fair. His quality is to draw players towards him, when he dribbles, allowing him to create a man more situation by taking the opponent on or by passing to the free man. De Jong is an old-fashioned playmaker like Fernando Redondo or Gunther Netzer who can play from a controlling position, as he has learned to defend and re-capture possession when needed.

Ajax already received an offer for 70M euros for the player and as the season wears on, that number will increase, with allegedly an 80M offer in the making by Man City. This kid will leave Ajax next summer. The biggest objective Overmars has, is to make sure he’s not gone in the winter break.

Obviously, there are other players high on scouting lists. Mathijs de Ligt will have to cost a similar amount as the 19 year old captain has everything to become a world class phenomenon. Andre Onana is on the hit list of Spurs and Argentine captain Tagliafico will probably not stay much longer either, with several Italian and Spanish clubs preparing offers.

Enjoy these players while you can!

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Koeman’s Kids on the radar!

We didn’t qualify for two big tournaments, we burned through some very decent coaches in a short time (Advocaat, Blind, Hiddink), we produced thigh thick reports about how dreadful our football has become, bowed our heads in shame when Vincent Janssen failed at Spurs, Memphis failed at ManU and Bazoer failed at… I don’t even know where he failed… and we all need to learn how to play football again, from the Germans! That is only a year or so ago…

Today, Europe has taken notice. There is a new sheriff in town and he brought some exciting deputies. Koeman’s Kids is the phrase. And the mix of the squad seems to be quite good. From old hands Babel, Cillesen, Wijnaldum and Strootman, to team players Blind, De Vrij and Propper to stars in the making De Ligt, Bergwijn and Dumfries… We are excited again!

And with reason.

Some interesting little symptoms that bode well. Just randomly. A 70 mio euro offer for Frenkie, from Man City. Or, on the other end of the spectrum: a distraught and highly critical Pablo Rosario beating himself up after his below average debut. Or Denzel Dumfries who humbly admits his ball technique needs a lot of work (“I have hard feet”). This squad exudes joy, comradery, ambition and above all: exceptional quality!

The win over Germany and the draw against Belgium is another big step forward in Koeman’s mission to bring Oranje back to the top. And the signs are positive: the interception of Donny van de Beek, snakelike. The turnover and high quality counter. Within a nano second the ball goes from Promes to Memphis and his pinpoint pass has the angle and the weight, perfect for Danjuma to finish. All this, within 15 seconds of retrieving the ball.

Sure, Belgium had pressure, dominated and created chances, but Oranje fought and countered and could have won it.

And Ronald Koeman can take the credit. He brings balance, structure and maturity to the picture. Realism. The joy was big after the Germany win, but immediately after the match Koeman put his foot on the brakes. He saw some tactical mistakes in the second half. He saw the spaces becoming bigger, with the team on the fence between pushing up or sitting deep. “We keep on stressing the points we need to improve. We’re going ok, but there is much much more potential, things to improve. But give these kids three more years, all the Champions League experience and what not, and check again in 2021 where we will be.”

The players are happy with Koeman’s directness, with his clarity. His team selections and squad selections are logical, with a strong fixed core of players and players who get the chance to show themselves. Patterns and “automatisms” are showing more and more.

Jasper Cillesen is the number 1 goalie. Without debate. Even with him being a bench warmer in the Nou Camp. The central defenders duo will be De Ligt van Van Dijk. A top defender from the EPL with a top talent with a tremendous future in front of him.

In midfield, it seems Frenkie de Jong and Gini Wijnaldum will be the usual suspects. Gini’s qualities will become more apparent with a player like De Jong behind him. Marten de Roon was excellent vs Germany, but surely Propper and Van de Beek can fill the third man’s shoes as well. With Carel Eijting and Pablo Rosario making big steps, it seems Strootman’s role will become smaller and smaller.

Up top, Memphis is the key man, with Ryan Babel currently his side man. Bergwijn, Danjuma, Promes, but also AZ’s Stengs or Roma’s Kluivert can come in to complete the forward 3.

This Oranje does know how to deal with space. And with prospects like Fosu-Mensah, Van Aanholt, Dumfries, Karsdorp, Janmaat and even Ake and Vilhena for the wide back roles, the mix of talent and experience is really good.

In the international break before this last one, we got some colour back on our cheeks. Now, we can even muster a smile…

A tpyical weapon Koeman is putting a lot of time and effort in, is the dead ball. Every team works on that, of course, but Koeman made it clear he sees the free kick / dead ball situation as an extraordinary opportunity. “When you dominate, you will have opportunities galore to find a gap and create a chance. When you play more compact and will have less possession, against the stronger teams, the dead ball situation can make all the difference. For this reason, we put more emphasis on it. We even train and practice and talk through these situations on the match day. When you have players who can deliver, like we do (Memphis, Dumfries, Janmaat, Blind) and players who can win aerial battles (Van Dijk, De Ligt, Dumfries, Strootman, Ake) you’d be silly not to use their qualities.” And it shows: Van Dijk scored vs Portugal like this, Nathan Ake vs Italy and now Van Dijk again from a Memphis corner kick.

Memphis playing in between the lines, pulling away from the defenders and coming into the zone vs statically being there…

Another weapon we use with flair, is the false #9. Most central defenders like to play against static strikers. Lets make it an even battle, between strength, length, timing… Defenders like Ramos, Hummels, Skertl, Thiago and Ottamendi to name a few, will love to play against Luuk de Jong. But when Tadic plays #9 for Ajax vs Bayern or Memphis vs Germany their weaknesses show. It’s not new of course, one Johan Cruyff started it maybe, in the 70s. Every nation back then had a Gerd Muller like #9. Holland didn’t even play with a player wearing the 9 on his jersey :-). Messi perfected that with Barca and Memphis Depay is quickly becoming the new standard. The alternative to Benteke, Lukaku, Lewandowski and Giroud.

After the first weeks with Oranje, Koeman criticised Memphis for being to static. Playing like a pedestrian. “Move Memphis, run!”. And Memphis picked it up. He makes himself available in between the lines, he knows when to dribble, when to go deep without the ball, when to hold up play…. Against Germany, he had 5 attempts on goal and created 3 chances.

Holland doesn’t need to dominate anymore, to win. Based on our compact organisation, the effectiveness on dead balls and the world class qualities of Van Dijk/De Ligt/F De Jong/ Memphis we can kills opponents off without seeing much of the ball. A luxury Holland never had.

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Another positive match for Oranje!

A match vs Belgium is always fun, due to the rivalry. This time, it is an up and coming Oranje team oozing with talent vs the top class players of the #1 on the FIFA ranking…

Ronald Koeman was true to his word, he would play different players and rested some lads, in order to give Ake, Van de Beek, Strootman, Danjuma, Promes and De Vrij a chance. In those circumstances, with a starting eleven which never played together before, it’s only logical that the start is a bit rusty. And take into consideration that the players Oranje was facing have names like Hazard, Mertens, Lukaku and Witzel… Not a bad line up.

Holland started on the back foot and Belgium really jumped out of the traps. Hazard in particular had a real appetite and it didn’t take long for Mertens to score the 1-0 in a glorious fashion. I have to be honest, at that point, I really believed Belgium would eat us up, puke us out and eat us up again.

The first 20 minutes were horrendous with Ake constantly chasing his man and De Ligt and De Vrij constantly looking for their man. But slowly, Holland would grow into the game, playing compact and disciplined and it would be long before Memphis was offered a first chance, he should have put away.

When Donny van de Beek picked up on a lose pass in midfield, Memphis had the wherewithal to reach debutant starter Danjuma, and the Club Brugge wing man scored his first senior Oranje goal 1-1.

Holland fought itself back into the game and would get more opportunities even, with a good strike by Promes on the post. Belgium slowly drifted off, with their midfield being dominated by the Dutch.

In the second half, with 6 subs for both teams, the flow of the game disappeared a bit. There were chances for Lukaku and co and some opportunities for Holland (the Ake header deserved more, while Memphis was unlucky with a shot cleared by Aldeweireld).

We saw Pablo Rosario make his debut too in this game and the PSV midfielder had to get adjusted to the pace of the game as his first minutes in orange were a bit unlucky.

The end result (1-1) can be seen as pretty good in an away game vs the world’s #1. We could have won it even, but, as Memphis said post-match: we could have lost the game too.

It was a good effort all in all and Ronald Koeman was quite happy with the two matches. He felt there clearly was a good foundation to build up on.

And don’t forget: we played Germany and Belgium! Two powerhouses of international football. One win at home, one draw away. Not bad. And as Donny van de Beek said after the match: “Playing compact and disciplined, isn’t that how France won the World Cup?”

The axis of the team seems to be quite clear and quite solid too. Cillesen as not real competition, Van Dijk and De Ligt seem to be certainties too, with Frenkie de Jong as deep lying midfielder and Wijnaldum centrally high up the pitch. Memphis as the false #9 again played a very good game and is the danger man up front, this time with an assist.

Dries Mertens and Toby Alderweireld, both with a Dutch Eredivisie background of course, were full of praise about the Dutch. They were quite certain Holland would soon be amongst the European football royalty again.

Speaking about royalty. Mathijs de Ligt has played vs Robert Lewandowski, Romelu Lukaku and C Ronaldo, three absolute top goal scorers, and none of them found the net against the Ajax man. Another calling card dropped last night by the 19 year old Ajax captain!

He is the first Oranje player under 20 years old to play 10 caps in a row for his country, since 1933!

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Derby of the Low Lands… Never friendly…

The win over Germany resulted in some interesting responses. Ronald Koeman, usually critical and sceptical, was very positive about his lads. He lauded their work rate, their skills, their quality and actually said that he expects great things from this group… The Dutch media approached the result as a Dutch Spring after years of winter. Obviously, the German media focused on the abysmal form of the Germans and wondered if it wasn’t time for Low to step down.

Most international media (French, Spanish, English) concluded that “Holland is back”. Only the media in Belgium decided to have a typical Dutch arrogant approach: “Don’t think you’re back coz you beat the weak Germans! We are better than them!”. The rivalry between Holland and Belgium, it never bores. We are probably considered “the Germans of Belgium” so to speak…

The match up with Belgium is never boring. And it’s never a friendly either. Although the Rijkaard coached NT back in the Euro2000 prep came close to a demonstration game with Belgium, with a 5-5 end result. We had a 9-1 and all sorts of results… But in the serious matches, we also had red cards, razor sharp tackles and excitement galore.

Dutch squad entering the stadium in Brussels

This time around, Belgium is the favorite and Holland the underdog. Belgium is the #1 on the FIFA ranking (Holland is currently #17), with players like De Bruyne, Kompany, Hazard and Lukaku. In 2012, the Red Devils played Holland for the last time and won 4-2. In 15 minutes, Belgium scored 3 times and the southern neighbours played Van Gaal’s eleven drunk. Axel Witsel saw the Dutch game vs Germany, but wouldn’t want to use that as a “key game” in Holland’s reversal of fortune, just like that 4-2 vs Holland wasn’t key for them. “Holland is back, it’s clear, they do have a good group of talented players, but to speak about key games… It’s never one game, it all comes down to all the work done in the years prior. But we are looking forward to this match. It will not be a friendly, I don’t think.” For both nations, a lot is at stake. Belgium wants to keep their spot at #1, while Holland wants to further confirm their way back to the top.

Willem van Hanegem, Holland’s living football legend and oracle: “This match and the development of players like Frenkie de Jong and Steven Bergwijn tells me one very important thing: our youth development is still pretty good. All those years of whining and complaining. There is nothing wrong with what we do. But there is something wrong with how we look and how we observe. Players like Dumfries, Virgil van Dijk and Arnaut Danjuma were ignored by the top 3. Players like Rosario and Bergwijn (and before them: Promes and Elia) were sent away by Ajax. Marten de Roon was sent away by Feyenoord. It is all about recognising talent. That is key. What really irks me, is that 5 months ago, the whole Dutch football world proclaimed that we needed to do what Germany is doing. We needed to borrow their smarts. And now, 5 months later, we beat them and we are on the up and up and Germany is on the way down. All that opportunistic waffling… Scoreboard journalism, we are very good at that. We did not copy what Germany did, and still we are developing talent. I also think Rosario would have made his debut if he wasn’t suspended. It’s all about recognising talent and being careful and cautious with their development.”

Van Hanegem with one player who was recognised early as a top player and one who wasn’t…

Romelu Lukaku is a player at the top of his game. He’s only 25 years old and already the top scorer of the Red Devils. He scored 28 times in his last 26 internationals. Who will stop him? Mathijs de Ligt smiles: “This is a major challenge. He’s tall, strong and fast. I don’t think I ever played against someone like him. I know, I need to be 100% top and I look forward to it. The better the opponent, the better I feel.” De Ligt is already working on it. “I watch Youtube videos to analyse his movements, how and when he takes in a position. Lewadowski and Lacazette are also super strikers. Like Lukaku.”

Ronald Koeman gave De Ligt another compliment, even after his weak start vs Germany. “But that is the point, he started not so great, but he fought back and got back into the game. That is tremendous. Not a lot of 19 year olds can do that.”

Koeman will make some changes and not take too many risks. Captain Van Dijk is back in Liverpool already due to his rib injury and the expectation is that Rosario will make his debut at some stage. He probably would have played vs Germany, but just before the match, Koeman was informed that Rosario’s suspension at Young Oranje level also applied to the senior team. For Belgium, its seems De Bruyne, Vertonghen, Vermaelen and Dembele won’t play and the fitness of Fellaini and Kompany is a question mark.

If Virgil van Dijk is the new leader of Oranje, his Liverpool buddy Wijnaldum seems freed from the shackles in his new role in midfield. In previous outings, with Sneijder on the 10 position, Gini was the first player to get the ball from defense and was responsible for the through ball forward. That is a position where risk is to be completely banned. Wijnaldum was always told to keep the balance, make sure Robben and Sneijder don’t have to do too much work and play sober. Now, with Frenkie de Jong or Daley Blind behind him, Wijnaldum is the forward playing midfielder who receives the second ball in midfield. When he plays in between the lines. And boy, he demonstrated vs France and now vs Germany how well he can play that role. Wijnaldum: “Do I enjoy the compliments now? Yes, but hey.. many times, it wasn’t good. And I think it has to be said if it isn’t good. But at the same time, Strootman and myself became easy targets.” Now, Wijnaldum demonstrated his tremendous powerhouse role late in the game, when Memphis hit the cross bar with a rocket, it was Wijnaldum on the edge of the Germany box picking up the ball. When he lost it, he ran all the way back to his own box, to join in in the defence. When, however, the Germans were pushed back, Wijnaldum ran forward again, to pick up the ball, pass two Germans and hit the ball in the net. That is something not many players can do after 90 minutes of hard work. “Oh no, it hurts. It really does and it costs strength, but that is what I do and will do. This is just one match. We need to do this time and time again. Because we can.”

The final words are for Koeman. He is not surprised that the mood in Holland has lifted tremendously. “That is normal. Our fans have not been spoiled lately so a win like this is landing on fertile ground. But, it is my role to analyse also what didn’t go well. And we have way to go. We are on the right track but we are really back to the top, not when we reach the Euros but when we actually compete for the top spot.”

Bookmark and Share