The State of Orange – how are we?

It’s all heating up nicely. Only 79 more sleeps until the start of the World Cup.

Let’s look at the state of the Oranje players. As we all know, past performances mean not much. Every tournament, some surprise helped us perform… Unless, we simply failed (1990).

We had Arie Haan and Wim Rijsbergen coming out of nowhere in 1974. We had the PSV players Brands, Wildschut, Poortvliet in 1978. Van Basten in 1988. Elia in 2010. De Vrij and Memphis in 2014. And dare I say it…. Weghorst in the Qatar World Cup, hahahaha.

Lets go through the list:

Justin Bijlow – made his move from Feyenoord to Genoa. Finally fit again. Playing some great games in Italy and hailed as a great signing. He will remain a question mark physically until he had a full season sans problemos. Bijlow is in the squad due to Roefs being injured. The Sunderland goalie is one of the outstanding new players in the EPL and will have his spot back if he plays in the coming EPL games.

Mark Flekken – good goalie. Moved back to Bundesliga. Struggling with fitness a bit but solid.

Bart Verbruggen – still impressing at Brighton and most likely making a move this summer. Big clubs are hovering around his agent.

Nathan Ake – Not playing much for Pep, but started in Carabao Cup final and received massive hugs from his coach afterwards. He will be part of the squad: reliable, experienced, level headed. A guy who will not only perform on the pitch, but also essential as dressing room leader.

Brian Brobbey – Lauded in the EPL. The MOTD team couldn’t stop talking about him. An old fashioned striker, ready to battle with any opponent and able to assist, score and hold up. Definitely in the final squad.

Virgil van Dijk – a shaky season for him, which is a first. Still the leader, the captain, the booming voice, the positional intelligence, a goal scoring threat, all around legend. He’ll lead the team and might retire after we won the World Cup.

Denzel Dumfries – he built up credit in Oranje but hasn’t played much this season. Not necessarily a bad thing. He’ll be fresh, fit and very motivated. He might eye one more big jump to another club after the World Cup and he does remain a unique right full back.

Jeremy Frimpong – stop and start season for Liverpool. When he plays, he is good and delivers. Struggling with the physical side of the English game. But always positive, both in playing style as in personality.

Cody Gakpo – has built credit in Oranje as he was our main man at two tournaments but his star is fading a bit in Liverpool. He still has the skills, but he seems to struggle mentally, a bit. Became predictable and needs a strong partnership on the left in order to shine. At Liverpool, Wirtz playing on the left side will cramp Cody’s style (and space) a bit.

Ryan Gravenberch – the unsung hero, quiet achiever, unique player for the 6 role. Sees the game, can dribble, tackle and score. He will have to compete for the spot with Frenkie, Reijnders and Schouten.

Jorrel Hato – class defender, good personality, was Ajax’ youngest skipper in tough times. Not fully trusted at Chelsea but getting  some game time now under Rosenior. There will be competition from Maatsen but Hato seems the favourite as he can play multiple roles, including centre back.

JP Van Hecke -strong performances by him for years now. Tough defender in the one v one and a great passer of the ball. He is ready for bigger things

Teun Koopmeiners – he is hanging on a thread, with Veerman and Frenkie de Jong as potential rivals. Started life at Juve with disappointments and didn’t impress often in the orange jersey. Midfield competition is killing.

Noa Lang – difficult time at Napoli, but seemingly inspired at Gala, with some good performances. He will remain a potential game changer for Oranje.

Donnyel Malen – revelation of the season at AS Roma. Didn’t disappoint at Aston Villa either, but never trusted to start a series of matches in a row. At Roma, he seems to have invigurated the team and can’t stop scoring as a central striker

Memphis Depay – hard to tell where he is in terms of form and fitness. Koeman will test him this break and a good Memphis has additional value, also off the pitch. As Koeman lacks good alternatives, Memphis will probably have his spot in the squad.

Tijani Reijnders – had a massive start at City and was hailed as a super signing early on, but petered out a bit in the second season. Not longer the first choice for Pep, it seems. He will need to step up to claim the 10 role in Oranje, if Kluivert recovers.

Jerry Schouten – doesn’t have the top season he used to have earlier on with PSV but he’s still one of their best and smartest player. Schouten moved to a CB role with PSV and is a very functional and handy “Swiss knife” to have in the squad

Xavi Simons – life in the EPL needed some adjustments but he is recognised as one of the highlights in Spurs’ disappointing season. Always positive, always intelligent and creative, but at times too light and too easily distracted into despair and mourning. Xavi will be happy with Ruud van Nistelrooy back as assistant coach.

Kees Smit – high potential, the perfect midfielder, always positive, great passer. Needs to be more decisive with assists and goals. Is he a 10, an 8? Or a 6? World Cup might come too early for him, but will be part of the future Oranje as key player.

Lucharel Geertruida – trusted soldier of orange, highly rated by Koeman, Slot and his Sunderland coach. Can play multiple positions, good header, good passer. Lacks real pace but compensates with positioning.

Quinten Timber – tough start of the season with injuries and contract issues at Feyenoord. Move to Marseille did him the world of good. Hailed for his mentality, fight, duel power and football smarts. All round midfielder, probably above Koopmeiners in the hierarchy for Koeman.

Luciano Valente – unique talent, game accelerator and perfect passer. Reminds people of De Bruyne and has unique vision but second half of the season is a bit drab, as Feyenoord has lost it and Valente is slowly drowning as well. I still think a player with his quality needs to go to the World Cup.

Mickey van de Ven – top defender, has everything one needs. Captain at Spurs, but due to disappointing seasons seems to struggle with his discipline. Not yet the leader Spurs needs, but will be at some point in his career. Great option as left back or centre back.

Stefan de Vrij – another trusted soldier, a good lad in the squad, will not give Koeman headaches if he doesn’t play. Still top quality in positioning and reading the game. Strong passer to and a good header of the ball. Until De Ligt ( or another centre back) steps up, Stefan is the man for Koeman.

Wout Weghorst – our pinch hitter. We used to have Kieft, Van Hooijdonk, Makaay and others as pinch hitters and we need to make do with Wout now, but in Qatar he demonstrated his value. He brings energy, fight and opportunism to the team, despite his lesser points and his massive ego.

Candidates for the final World Cup Squad

The following players will potentially wrangle their way into the final squad. Koeman said he wants to have 3 spots for young talents. I think this will be for Valente, Smit and Summerville/Emegha/Meerdink, I believe.

Jurrien Timber will definitely be part of the World Cup team, he’s the best right back on the planet for me (sorry Trent, sorry Denzel). Frenkie will push Koopmeiners out, I believe and we all hope that Roefs will be ready as well to take Bijlow’s place. Joey Veerman will also keep dreaming for a spot, as he has had some top games for PSV this season.

Then there is Justin Kluivert, of course, who seems to be seriously injured, Ken Taylor who is impressing in Italy and Guus Til who must be close to a re-call as he has been scoring for fun at PSV.

I don’t believe in fixed line ups, I think you play the best team for the occasion, but it seems to me that at the World Cup we’ll see  the following core team, with some changes as the games we play will require….