Tag: Wales

by Jan

Oranje finishes campaign on a high!

Another match played in the “old rubbish stadium” of De Kuip. The final match of these series, after two wins and one draw. Oranje had to play in Rotterdam, much to LVG’s chagrin, as the Stones were supposed to play in the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, but due to a positive Covid test, Jagger had to cancel. How Rock & Roll is that? They performed for years in a state of drugged up drunkenness but Covid positive? No rock, no roll.

Van Gaal re-iterated before the game, that yes the pitch is amazing and yes, the fans and the vibe in De Kuip are brilliant, but he has no place to put his 50 odd staff members. WHAT?

Van Gaal fielded a team with players who 1) hadn’t played much yet and 2) players he wanted to test (in partnership and by themselves).

Cillesen was back from a slight knee injury (hit his knee to the post at practice) and De Ligt got the nod to play skipper and centrally in defence. Jordan Teze got a chance on the right hand side with right back Hateboer next to him. Martins Indi was our left centre back.

More importantly, Vincent Janssen got the chance to show himself. An “exam” is how Van Gaal put it.

Sadly, no Schouten next to Frenkie, I would have liked to see that combination.

The away game versus Wales was slow and boring to watch, at times. This time around, the pace was way better and the intent was clearly there. As was Wales’, who didn’t park the bus like the Polish, but who wanted to be adventurous.

This resulted in a fun match.

Vincent Janssen needed some time to settle and his hard feet did indeed show themselves early in the game. But as the game went on, the former Feyenoord prospect did better and better, resulting the assist for the first goal, by Noa Lang. Lang is a player who will always try something. Playing “normal” is not good enough for the cheeky fan favorite. He too needed some time to settle but demonstrated his talent at numerous times. None more so with the goal. A swivel, a chop, a turn and a shot: 1-0. In that move, Jordan Teze needs to be mentioned too. His forward press resulted in turnover of possession and got the ball to Janssen for his assist.

Not much later, Vincent also won two headers in a row, getting the ball into the feet of our #10 Cody Gakpo who scored the second time of asking: 2-0. Earlier versus Wales, it seemed the orange jersey was too heavy for the PSV star but this time around he played a great game. Demanding the ball, finding spaces and basically hardly losing possession. He’d end the game with a 90% pass accuracy rate!

We expected Oranje to push through and we did get chances. Vincent Janssen was close too after stealing the ball after another good pressing moment but the shot sailed wide.

It took a series of Oranje mistakes to gift Wales their goal. Teze, playing in Timber’s place, did exactly what Van Gaal didn’t like about Timber! He dribbled into midfield, without knowing what the plan was. He didn’t see an option, he doodled a bit and lost possession against Dan James. Still, there were 5 players (!) in the rest defence and a goalie. And they all failed to help Teze out: Hateboer could have squeezed, De Ligt should have stepped in, instead of dropping back and Martins Indi made a strange diagonal run which didn’t help. Last but not least, our goalie Cillesen made a little jump up right at the moment the shot came in. As a result, he was not able to be in time with his dive sideways and block the shot: 2-1.

Cillesen and his little “hop” right when the ball is shot on goal… costing him seconds…

Van Gaal would have been pretty peeved with these series of mistakes.

For the second half, Van Gaal made some statements. De Ligt was punished for his lack of leadership with the Wales goal and was moved to the right, in place of Teze. De Vrij came in to take care of the leader role centrally in defence. Hateboer was also subbed, for him came Dumfries, who’d play a key role in Oranje’s final minutes.

Both Hateboer and Teze couldn’t impress. Hateboer is not Oranje material. No idea in possession, wild and reckless in defence, positioning is awkward. He seems out of place and he seems to know it. Teze will be Oranje material in the future, but the Oranje right hand side was so impotent, even the Oranje players in midfield and on the left seemed to hesitate to pass the ball wide to the right.

Oranje got more control, with an outstanding Frenkie de Jong in midfield and a very busy Vincent Janssen up top. We’re waiting for that third goal, really and after a bit more than an hour, Van Gaal brings fresh legs for Noa Lang and Vincent Janssen, who both leave the pitch with an ovation from the fans. Both these lads are popular amongst the fans. Despite his arrogance and obvious skills, Lang also works very hard, something the fans appreciate.

Memphis and Bergwijn, the dynamic duo, came on and Van Gaal wanted to make sure we’d win the game. Memphis in particular had something to set straight with the fans, after his penalty miss versus Poland.

But the next goal was a Welsh one. With Bale and Aaron Ramsey on the pitch, Wales went for a late thrust. The cross came in and Roberts jumped backwards to head the ball on to Bale, while Tyrell Malacia jumped a bit towards the ball. No clash of heads, but a clash of elbow and head, with the Welshman coming off worst. Not a foul, in my book. A mere collision. Stopping the play for the physios to come onto the pitch, yes, but a foul? Not for me, and thus not a penalty either.

But the ref gave it, the VAR supported it and Bale converted the penalty.

Cillesen again demonstrated he’s not the penalty killer we need. His reach is limited and when you wait that long to react, you can only stop a penalty which is through the middle or chipped Panenka style. But we won’t be too harsh on Cillesen.

It seemed Wales did it again: a late equaliser.

And surely, Oranje would never again manage to score a winner in the next seconds.

The players thought differently. They huddled together quickly, and without interference or help from the coach, they came up with a plan. First ball back to Martins Indi, four players chasing forward to the right hand corner (Gakpo, Memphis, Bergwijn and Dumfries). The Inter man is strong in the air and he headed the Martins Indi hail Mary into the box, where Memphis was right on time to slot the ball under goalie Henderson: 3-2.

De Kuip exploded!

After the game, Van Gaal was – again – proud of his team and the spirit they showed. “Never give up!”.  Van Gaal explained his subs (see above) and he confirmed that Vincent Janssen did everything he hoped for (“Except score, but he was very close and we know he can score”).

Ratings

Jasper Cillesen – 6

Did most things right. Took his time when played in by the defenders, resulting in some nervy moments. He doesn’t look very confident, but that can be deceiving of course. Didn’t do too well with the first Wales goal (the hop) and was powerless against Bale’s spot kick.

Hans Hateboer – 4

Doesn’t add much to the game. No comparison to Dumfries, really. Good club footballer but not Oranje material.

Jordan Teze – 6

Teze did well with his forward press this time and was key for the first goal. He did loose the ball clumsily which got Wales on the board, but he wasn’t the only one at fault. Subbed to make way for De Ligt.

Mathijs de Ligt – 6

Another player for whom the band might be a tad heavy. De Ligt wins most of his duels and is ruthless and strong. Good on the ball too, confident and collected. But still making some errors. LVG moved him to his preferred position in the second half.

Bruno Martins Indi – 6,5

Started weak and off the beat. Handling speed needed improving, and he did. The game went on and Martins Indi grew into his role. The elbow attack which gave him a yellow was a high risk. Could have been a red. Played a solid second half and played the long ball to Dumfries, resulting in the winner.

Tyrell Malacia – 6,5

Show much promise. Confident on the ball, Davids-like mentality, had some good defensive tackles and plays along well in possession. His final pass needs work but he will make it hard for Daley Blind, I think.

Frenkie de Jong – 7,5

Strong on the ball, always on the move, always prowling and scouting for options. Some nice interplay with Janssen, Lang, Koopmeiners and Gakpo. I think he can still do better.

Teun Koopmeiners – 6

Didn’t do much wrong but isn’t playing to his usual strengths. Plays at one pace, square passes and dwindles a bit on the ball. Quite anonymous and he should fear for his spot, when the likes of Gravenberch or Van de Beek return.

Cody Gakpo – 8

Played a smashing match. Confident, demanding the ball, finding space and mixing up his passes, from short play to long passes. Great stats, high pass accuracy and creating good opportunities. Gakpo is close to a starting role.

Noa Lang – 7

Hardworking, always “on”, always trying to create. Showing some nifty touches and highly unpredictable. The type of player you want in the squad, to bring on to the pitch when things don’t flow.

Vincent Janssen – 7

Janssen needed some time to find his feet, but was key in the two goals and was close to scoring himself. Worked hard as per usual but could have played a bit higher up the pitch, in the #9 role. He did have some good sliding tackles to regain possession. Popular amongst the fans.

Denzel Dumfries – 7

We all know his weaknesses in the pass and move game, but compensating this with his great energy, work rate and explosive runs on the flank. Always keeping two opponents busy. Was instrumental in the 3-2.

Stefan de Vrij – 7

Came in to organise and lead the defence. Did a good job in replacing De Ligt who failed for his test in the first half. De Vrij is never “remarkable” but does everything business like and solid.

Steven Bergwijn – 6.5

Demonstrated his skills and speed. Always a threat. Clearly enjoying his time with Oranje and based on his recent games, he’ll be in the team.

Memphis Depay – 7

Needed to fix the miss versus Poland and was immediately in the thick of things, trying to make a difference. Typical strikers’ goal in the dying minutes, with a sense of timing and place. Oranje’s talisman.

Van Gaal – 7,5

Solid coaching at half time, taking Hateboer and Teze off and injecting some experience and quality later in the half by subbing Lang and Janssen for Memphis and Bergwijn.

Next up, the LVG’s Oranje Squad and an analysis of Louis van Gaal The Coach…

Watch this space….

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by Jan

Sloppy Oranje does just enough

“I want to see how these guys do under pressure. When they’re playing a match for real. To see how they cope with the Oranje Stress”. The words of Louis van Gaal when he announced to play 11 new lads for the Wales game.

The so-called “Black Team” as he calls them. This is the team of subs, dressed in black jerseys during practice, who won against the A Team twice at training. “This never happened to me before. The Black Team was better at the high press than the so-called A-Team. Although, I don’t call them A or B Team. They’re all Oranje internationals.”

Van Gaal had decided weeks ago already, with an eye on the schedule (4 games in 8 days) that he was going to use a completely different team versus Wales. What worked in Louis’ favour, was the win over Ukraine by Wales, getting them their first World Cup ticket in centuries (…). The Welsh coach also played a lot of new names and their super star Gareth Bale started on the bench.

The result? A sluggish game. Two teams well versed in tactics and the Wales coach copied the system LVG played, which resulted in a bit of a stalemate first half, from a tactical perspective.

Add to that the sluggish start by Oranje and the sloppiness on the ball and we were looking at a below-par first half.

Van Gaal started with De Ligt on the left hand side of the central defenders. Very much against his own philosophy. And it showed. The build up from the left was slow and with his right, De Ligt constantly “forgot” to play in Malacia.

The Dutch Tactical Maestro and next to him, Louis van Gaal

De Vrij wasn’t able to shine in this department either, as Gakpo and Weghorst were not able to find any space. Lang drifted in true Memphis style, but the tactical set up of Wales blocked any potential move through their ranks, also because the ball circulation pace was too slow.

After 25 minutes or so, Van Gaal instructed Blind to make some changes. Van Gaal had started with a 3-4-2-1 system, but as Gakpo and Lang were struggling, he decided to get Lang back to midfield proper, and push Gakpo next to Weghorst.

Slowly, Holland got more grip on the midfield and controlled the game, without creating serious chances in the first half.

Koopmeiners played a poor first half, not able to accelerate the game with his passing, as he tends to play in one pace, when he’s in Oranje. Schouten, on the other hand, impressed more. He showed some typical Frenkie-turns and is keen to find the forward pass. He takes risks, and is constantly available for a give and go. His only “weakness” is that he seems to refuse to use his left foot.

Jordan Teze impressed Van Gaal as a PSV player, but the youngster got a yellow card early in the game – the Swedish ref needs to find a nice music band to join so he can whistle all day long – and that seemed to be a heavy burden. Teze played insecure, his forward press was at times too slow and his passing was sub-par. He will get more chances in Oranje but he will have to deal with De Vrij, De Ligt, Timber and maybe even Veltman or Schuurs before he gets the nod again, me thinks. We’ll see him again now, I think, but moving forward, he will need to improve.

Another player who will struggle to wear the orange again is Hans Hateboer. The sympatico Atalanta players is simply lacking speed in handling. He dwells on the ball, his positioning at times is poor and without his killer sliding tackle he would have had egg on his face a couple of times. Time for Karsdorp!

Oranje got some half chances, but late in the first half, Cody Gakpo should a bit of his magic when he wriggled his way past a defender in the box and almost slotted the ball home. A late block had the ball richoche’d behind the goal.

Noa Lang would end up being the key player in the second half to turn things Oranje’s way. Van Gaal wanted more pace, more intensity and more simple one/two touch football. Enter Noa Lang.

Started as a forward but pushed back into midfield, where the roaming AC Milan target was strong in possession and was constantly looking to create something. His heat map will be interesting.

The Koopmeiners 0-1 came from the movement of Lang. Picking up the ball around the middle line, a couple of give and goes, then a move to the left and when Malacia played in Schouten, Lang made a forward run which gave Koopmeiners the space to take on the ball with his right (he’s a natural southpaw) and place the ball perfectly for his right (again). A dry, low shot was too much for the Wales shot stopper.

Koopmeiners’ first Oranje goal. Assist Schouten.

Despite being up, Holland still played sloppy and was not that good in retaining possession. For this reason, LVG brought Frenkie and Bergwijn, two players who can hold the ball well. Schouten came off, with a big high five and Gakpo, disappointing, made way for the Spurs man.

Still, Wales was able to play va banque and pushed hard to create something. Gareth Bale joined in and with some crosses and attempts from distance, Wales got closer to scoring.

In the first minute of the extra time, a cross from the right was defended poorly by Hateboer (again) and the Welsh dragons made it 1-1.

The Dutch decided to not give up and it was a masterful move by Barca man De Jong which resulted in a glorious winning goal. Under pressure, Frenkie chipped the ball out of harms way. Steven Bergwijn read the situation and played Frenkie in, who made a dart across the length of the pitch. Two Wales players tried to hack him down, to no avail and left back Malacia was on hand as left winger for the out ball. He didn’t dilly-dally and crossed the ball towards the penalty spot where a wounded Wout Weghorst warrior headed the ball in the top corner: 1-2.

Late goal for Oranje, Frenkie can’t stop running…

By then, Martins Indi was in the team for a tired De Ligt who got a case of the cramps.

LVG was quite realistic after the game. He praised the team for keeping on fighting. Schouten got the praise he deserved but LVG did make a point about him needing to use his left foot more. When asked about the Oranje team with or without Frenkie de Jong, he quipped: “He is valued at 110 million euros. Not for nothing.”

In my view, Cody Gakpo is a nice prospect for the future. He’s clearly dealing with his transfer. He seems out of sorts and a bit too timid.

Weghorst is useful as a super sub. But Luuk de Jong might be better suited. Luuk is a better header of the ball (sounds odd right after Wout’s winner).

Noa Lang is a type of player you need in the squad. Confidence, ballsy, difficult and unpredictable. His work rate in this game was amazing. He clearly wanted to be important for the team.

Teun Koopmeiners needs to step up in Oranje. Show leadership and accelerate the game more. Playing too safe too often and too much in one pace. We all know how good he can be.

Jerdy Schouten is a stayer. He will make the cut, I think. He’s a quick thinker, he’s aware and tactically smart. Overall good skills.

Hans Hateboer is too lightweight for Oranje I feel. Malacia on the other side was fine. Wasn’t used too well in the first half, but was key in the second half with a role in both goals.

De Ligt is world class. But not on the left. De Vrij was fine, no drama. Jordan Teze is also too lightweight for me, at this stage. I rather see De Vrij there, if Van Dijk is available, than Teze. Good prospect though.

Mark Flekken was a bit insecure. Couldn’t help the goal, but flapped a number of times. I also believe that Wilson free kick, he could have and should have held on to the ball. I don’t like all these keepers stomping the ball away. I think Bijlow will be #1, Cillesen #2 and Flekken #3.

Next up, Poland in Rotterdam. I expect a mix up of the teams.

Cillesen

Dumfries – Timber – De Vrij – Ake – Malacia

Schouten – Frenkie

Memphis

Lang – Berghuis

Something like this….

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by Jan

Crucial win in friendly for Oranje…

wales elf

Never thought I’d write that sentence… But… Holland needed a win. Blind needed a win! The Dutch media claimed Danny might lose his job after another defeat. Not that I believed this….

But after an abysmal series, we did it. We won. And it was good to see Arjen Robben back on the pitch.

I started this post hours ago and my computer crashed. I usually write my best posts off the cuff so you might miss some wisecracks I won’t be able to repeat….

Note to self: save posts regularly….

Danny Blind decided to go back to 5-3-2. Something Hiddink should never have abandoned. His son Daley organised the defense and played a sturdy solid game at the back. Wonderful in his cut outs and always composed on the ball. Van Dijk played in the center, Bruma too the right. Janmaat got his spot back and celebrated it with an assist. Kongolo played on the left and was clearly less confident on the ball but did have some good passages of play, including the first real cross for striker Dost to attack.

Blind wales

It was a 3-4-3 more than 5-3-2 as Wales sat deep and played how they were able to get their Euros ticket. They missed Ramsey and Bale of course and have a horrible record against Holland, never winning a game ever. Also, Oranje never lost on Brittish soil so Coleman’s team was happy for Oranje to make the play.

We started slow. Partly due to the bad conditions. The pitch looked like a Dutch cow paddock and was s l o w .

Our first real good one touch passage of play got us our first goal, thanks to a wide Janmaat run and a solid cross, allowing Dost his first senior Oranje goal: 1-0. The first change we created as after 15 minutes when the left wing back Kongolo found the Wolfsburg striker for his first attempt at goal.

It looked like we would control the game but Wales did find a way back, in a fortunate way. A late corner in the dying seconds of the first half and a shot blocked by Kongolo in the box with his hands. He did block the shot, but it would have hit his head otherwise and I found the penalty a bit harsh and the yellow card a bit ridiculous.

Dost

Cillesen is known to not be a penalty killer. He even got ridiculed in Holland for celebrating extensively recently when a penalty  was hit on the post. As close as he’ll ever get to stop a spot kick, the media laughed. But he did stop this one, only to be let down by his defenders. The upcoming Wales player scored the rebound and we had start all over again in the second half.

Blind’s tactics worked against Wales, although it was the crucial contribution of Sneijder and Robben in particular what won us the game. Promes had promising runs and shows intelligence in his movement. Clasie played solid but at times was caught out. Kongolo and Janmaat were not as effective as they could have been and Dost doesn’t have the Van Persie touch. But all in all, it wasn’t that bad.

robben sneijd wales

In the second half, Robben demonstrated that he can change and win games by himself. He should have scored 4 but ended up with a brace. A typical Robben move from the right coming inside finding time and space for the left foot curler… Everyone knows what he’ll do. That he’ll do it and still there is no stopping him. His movement was quite good, drifting like Cruyff in his best days, with Clasie and Sneijder always having their heads up to find him.

We did concede a second goal and again from a set piece. The team switched off when Wales took their corner quickly and short, no one picked up the players moving in and some Oranje players even had their backs to the ball. A fine header meant 2-2.

It was obvious that one more chance would finish Wales off though and a fine Dost pass into space found Robben, allowing him his 30st goal and allowing Oranje the win.

Virgil wales

I think we – and Danny Blind – can be happy with the performance. Defensively, apart from the two set pieces, we looked alright. Bruma has his wild moments, but Van Dijk and Blind did well. I particularly liked Joel Veltman in the second half, coming on for the injured Van Dijk. The Saint got a knee problem and is out for Germany, but the Ajax man – hailed for his build up qualities – demonstrated he can be tough as a defender as well. He had numerous break ups and went in like a man.

Kongolo needs more confidence but the youngster will come good. Janmaat played well and had his assist, offering more runs and crosses in the second half. Clasie was a bit subdued and doesn’t look 100% fit to me. But he did ok. Dost had an assist and a goal so we can’t complain about him. All in all, better stuff from Holland. For what it is worth.

I think we have the ideal players for a 5-3-2. Against tough opponents, we can play counter attacking football, from a tight defensive organisation, using the speed of our forwards and the intelligent passing from the likes of Sneijder, Clasie and Blind.

In games like these, we can switch to 3-4-3 or any other version ( 3-3-4) in a jiffy with the likes of Willems, Kongolo, Riedewald on the left flank and Janmaat, Tete, van der Wiel on the right. A fit Van Persie could be replacing Dost and with Bazoer, Wijnaldum, Klaassen in midfield we have legs, duelling power and football intelligence in midfield.

Robben Bazoer

We are ok for goalies and as long as Sneijder and Robben can play like this we have a good chance of returning to the top of world football in 2 to 4 years.

Danny Blind was happy with the team performance: “I think we showed grit, we showed creativity and patience. I am very upset about the two conceded goals though. We shifted to 5-3-2 to stop the onslaught of goals, but switched off twice to allow Wales back into it after set pieces. That has to stop.”

Ajax midfielder Bazoer made his debut for Oranje late in the game, replacing Jordy Clasie but he won’t be traveling to Germany with team as he has a slight hamstring scare.

Arjen Robben was delighted to be of importance. The former Groningen winger said repeatedly that he wants to follow Ryan Giggs in his footsteps and play as long as possible, focusing on nutrition and yoga to keep his body fit. “I am happy to have had an impact, although I should have scored four tonight.  But yes, Giggs got a different role in the autumn of his career, playing more from midfield. I like to think that my experience and vision will help me do that to when I need to. But the tests at Bayern Munich show I still am as explosive and quick as two years ago, and that gives me great confidence. I want to play another World Cup.” Asked about his Bayern colleague Philip Lahm, who recently retired from international duties. “Lahm has won everything. He won the World Cup in 2014 so that makes a difference. Once I win the World Cup in 2018, I might retire as well, hahahaha. But anyway, I’m happy with this game, at times we played really well.”

dost scores

Bas Dost is over the moon. “I am really happy, I have to pinch myself. I have players like Van Persie and Huntelaar usually in front of me and for me to finally start a game was a dream come true. When Janmaat whipped that ball in, I knew I had to score. That was my ball. I am so happy.”

Wesley Sneijder was quick to say that this system should be used from now on. “We are not good enough for 4-3-3. We conceded too many goals. You cannot qualify if you concede 23 in 10 games, or whatever it was. It is simple. When Danny asked us (Robben and Sneijder) about the change of system we both said yes… We need to. And like this, we can get ourselves out of the rut really quickly I think.”

23 wales

Asked if the 5-3-2 would have resulted in qualifications for the Euros: “I am not sure. It’s too easy to say this now. We missed a fit Arjen Robben and a fit Robin van Persie. We have great young talents coming through but these two are world class players. Without them it is hard. Take C Ronaldo out of Portugal or Zlatan out of Sweden and you have different teams. We are not a Germany or Spain with heaps of top class players and this series we were vulnerable. Most of our goals conceded were not the result of 4 or 5 at the back, but has to do more with sharpness, with focus. The two goals we conceded here as well. You can four Robbens and we’d still have conceded them. It is never just one thing….”

Cillesen: “Stopping the penalty was good but still conceding put a wet blanket on it. But I am not too concerned you know. The media made it into a thing. I never did. You stop a penalty, sometimes it’s just luck. I did well to punch it but I wanted the ball to go more to the side. Let’s hope next time it all goes well.”

cillesen pen

Blind: “It is a bit ironic. We have tremendous length in our squad now, with Virgil and Dost. Usually, we have the likes of Vlaar, Van Persie. We should not concede header goals. This sharpness, or lack thereof, needs to be ironed out. Against Wales in a friendly you get away with it, but against Germany or even Iceland when it matters, it is not enough. You can see we still need the smarts and vision of the older players too, going forward. Wesley and Arjen were instrumental for us. I wish we could use Arjen against Germany.”

With Robben, Bazoer and Van Dijk out, we will most like see the following line up vs Germany:

Stekelenburg

Janmaat Bruma Veltman Blind Pieters

Wijnaldum Clasie Sneijder

Huntelaar Memphis

 

 

 

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by Jan

Pre-Wales Update from the Oranje Camp

SEVEN DAYS TO GO. Gosh, I need a timer on my site…. Why am I so web-challenged… 🙁

Anyway, no matter. It’s one more friendly before we go for the big job.

Wales tomorrow, sans Bale and Ramsey sadly. Ramsey was one of my fave players last season. What a tremendous revelation he appeared to be.

Louis will play with yet another system. A bit cheeky of course. We will end up playing 3-4-3. With Sneijder close to RVP and Robben roaming where ever. Blind, De Jong, Fer and Janmaat in midfield (Blind and Janmaat covering the flanks) and BMI, De Vrij and Vlaar as defenders.

A system the players should be able to handle, without too much of an issue.

I like this. To me, it says Louis might be working with different systems vs our group opponents. Spain will most likely need a 5-3-2 approach (or a 1-9-1 approach, hahahaha). Chile depends a bit on their first result and how they play. Australia will most likely need a 3-4-3.

LVG

Van Gaal: “I selected the players also on the basis of their ability to play various systems.”

This probably explains why Van Aanholt was not needed. Blind can play on four positions, Kongolo on three positions.

De Guzman is out, as you know, and Clasie is not 100%. Odds are high that Fer will start. And from what I hear, De Guzman might not be out of the woods as yet, with his hamstring which might be very bad news indeed…

Wondering who LVG will call up if De Guzman needs to throw the towel…


Nigel de Jong is about to start his fourth big tournament as a starter. This time under Van Gaal. The 29 year old has an impressive list of clubs on his resume and after playing more than 10 years at the highest level, he still is hungry for the ball. “I have to be. That is how I can survive. You know, the playing pitch is like a jungle. It’s the survival of the fittest. I want the ball if I don’t have it and I must want it more than the other guy. Otherwise I don’t stand a chance. EWhen I played in the Ajax youth, we would win most games because we were better. When you play for Man City or Milan or Oranje, you don’t win because you are better. Because you are not. There are ten nations at the World Cup that could claim better players than us, spot by spot. Fine. We need to be better organised, better mentally, more hungry, etc. I reached the top in football not because I was the best player. I played with guys in the youth who were seriously, much more skilled than me. But I made it. And sure, when you are Lionel Messi or C Ronaldo, you can play frivolous and win. I can’t. I know my limits, hahahaha.”

Nigel

De Jong looks the part too. Muscly, buff, tattooed and a stern look. But when you hear him speak, he is an intelligent, soft spoken and humorous bloke from the streets of Amsterdam. Vilified and criticised for his harsh play and in particular after he was involved in a couple of broken legs and a chest kick studs up to Xabi Alonso, people started to feel De Jong was giving Dutch football a bad name.

“I don’t care too much about what others think. It makes life easier this way, you know? I don’t respond to these things. I know and Xabi knows whether I hit him on purpose or not. That is enough for me. I will not go and publically defend myself. I am hired to do a job and in my position I cannot not go into the tackle for fear I might hurt the other bloke. The team manager would take me off. The team manager selects me and I do what he wants me to do. I am now starting at my fourth Tournament, so I guess I am doing my job properly.”

Van Gaal overlooked De Jong in March. Was he ever scared he would miss out on Brazil. “Nope. The team manager told me he wanted to see others at work. I am confident enough to know that if I would focus on my own game, I would be part of the squad. I am one of the best on this position, full stop. When I am fit and happy, I can deliver.”

De Jong enjoys the new system. “Yes, it fits us. It is the right thing to do. And I believe we will have it down pat for Spain and I believe we will go for the win. That first game is very important and we will try and win it.” Is a draw not a good result? “No man! You always go for the win. That is why we play.”

The mood is good in the Oranje camp. The Feyenoord youngsters (Wijnaldum, Fer, De Guzman, Clasie, Vlaar, De Vrij, BMI, Kongolo, Janmaat) seem to have a dominant role in the squad . This clip explains their shenanigans. What they basically say is: Bruno Martins Indi is the joker of the group, always trying to fool a mate. Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt are the best mentor / motivator, biggest training animal is Bruno Martins Indi, Terence Kongolo is the worst in playing pool, player who most underestimate himself: Bruno Martins Indi, the man who knows much about football: Louis van Gaal.

Martins Indi remembers one of his first friendlies, when apparently Robben yelled really loud in the tunnel towards the field “There are no friendlies!! We are Holland and we play to win!!”.

Yolanthe, Wesley’s better half, presents the new Orange knickers to the world. You can order them through this website if you are interest. One word of warning: Yolanthe is not part of the offer!!

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