Why Frenkie picked Barcelona….

blog Euro 2020 WC2018
by Jan

The news was out this week and it surprised nobody. Well, maybe PSG was surprised. But it was a done deal from the start I think. Barca swooped in late, brought their A-Team (chairman included) and made Frenkie and Ajax an offer he/they couldn’t refuse.

Ajax will make 75 Mio euros now with another 11 Mio in bonusses. Bonusses which, according to Marc Overmars, are seen as guaranteed. Willem II and RKC Waalwijk will also be paid a handsome couple of millions for their youth development work.

Frenkie on the how and why.

The Decision

“I decided on Friday last week. We would tell the media this last Wednesday, so on Tuesday I apped all the players via our team app. I couldn’t have it that they would read it online or in de newspaper. They were happy for me. I love that we have clarity. No more questions about it, the media, people in the street. Don’t get me wrong, I never minded it, as people are curious. Fine. But I love to get on with football now. On Friday, I bit the bullit. It had to be Barcelona. It’s all about the club, the jersey. As a kid I had dreams of playing there. Now I had the chance. I had to take it.”

“Our process was simple. We had all these clubs interested, so we made a list of what I wanted from them. In terms of football, vision, style, but also city, and all this. I had a short list of PSG, Man City and Barca. And with those clubs we talked. First my manager and friend Ali, and then I had talks with them. And I am always doubting you know. I overthink things too much. It takes time with me, but I’m happy I have made this decision.”

PSG

“Paris St Germain would have been awesome as well. They made a real impression on me. Great team, super coach and I think they offered me a real chance on a starting spot from day 1. The French league can be an advantage too you know. You do get time to grow, it’s a bit between Dutch league and Spanish, in terms of intensity. But when Barca came and they were so keen, I couldn’t resist it.”

Manchester City

“I never went to check Barcelona out. Simply no time. They came to Amsterdam, twice. I did go to Paris and met with Thomas Tuchel and I visited Guardiola in Manchester too. Both clubs made a real impression and I don’t think I could have selected a wrong option here. It is not that I decided against Man City or PSG, but more a decision pro Barcelona. Spain is top. The challenge is biggest there. The French league is fine too, but I don’t think I would want to play there for the rest of my career. But in Spain…why would you leave Spain if you can play for Barcelona for 10 years, right?”

Barcelona

“Three years ago I went to see Barcelona – Sevilla in the Camp Nou. I had just signed for and moved to Ajax. I never could imagine then that this would happen. But once you are with Barcelona, I don’t think you’ll ever want to leave. Top climate, best club in the world, that is the dream scenario. I was told I will have a real chance to start in the starting eleven. That perspective was key for me. They do have a lot of midfielders and I wasn’t given any guarantee, of course. I am quite realistic, myself. Busquets is easily the best defensive mid on the planet and he’ll be there for a while longer. I am not delusional. But there are other spots on the midfield and Barca sees that I can play on all these spots. I am going there to become a starter but I won’t be saying “I will play him or him out of the team”. ”

Transfer fee

“It’s an obscene amount of course. And I really enjoy this for Ajax, Willem II and RKC and for Ali as well of course. I personally can’t be bothered, whether I am valued at 20million or 120million. I am just happy I could decide. I can tell you, I have been lying in bed wondering what to do, hahahaha. It’s a luxury problem to have right?”

Messi and Suarez

“It’s amazing to be playing with Messi, of course. That is all I can say now. For me, it wasn’t key. The key was the club. And yes, I am a big Messi fan, he’s the Best Ever for me. And I think I will enjoy playing with him but I am not going to go there as a fan. It’s about the club and the team. Luis Suarez sent me a message the other day, welcoming me at the club. And he was keen to help me with stuff. Just like Jasper Cillesen. I spoke with him about Barcelona before of course.”

Oranje

“Ronald Koeman believed all three options were great for me, but I think Barca was his fave as well. He said “now I have a reason to go there and watch Barca play” hahaha. He was excited for me.”

Challenge

“I do think at times: am I good enough for Oranje. And in particular because I am never so self assured. Barcelona was quite confident about me and my chances, hahaha. So I will listen to them. But no, if I work hard and learn the language etc, I will give myself a good chance. I don’t want to blame myself in the future. And if my best is not good enough, well, at least I tried. I’m only 21 years old, I will still get better.”

Trophies

“Some people say “it went quick” but I don’t think so. I had to be patience at Willem II, at Ajax 2 as well as I played mostly for Young Ajax. Once I got into Ajax 1, finally, it went fast. And I do have competition here. But I am hungry to win trophies man, I really only have this season to win something with Ajax. I want a trophy this season, but everyone thinks like that in our squad. It’s all about the trophies.”

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251 comments

  1. I would have been devastated if he went anywhere except Barca. When the news was breaking that he was going to PSG, they had won the bid, I was heartbroken. PSG to me is a sell-out. He’s right it’s maybe half a step up from the Dutch league, but PSG is out there winning league games 9-0, that’s pointless.

    With Barca, even if he’s not starting he gets to train in the right environment, and develop much faster than any other club.

  2. Yes, I’m glad he didn’t go to PSG or Man City for that matter. I feel the premier league would have subdued his style a bit.

    The other club I was keen on him going to, although they appeared never to be in the running, was Bayern as they need a huge overhaul I feel.

    Or, if he were to have made an intermiediate step before the big time, Dortmund.

    Hopefully he is given the right amount of time at Barca. It usually takes a player 1 season to make the trainsition at a big club, and Barca have been worryingly impatient with some of their recent transfers…. Yerry Mina and his half a season, Malcolm is all but out of the door after his summer move, Dembele was taking knocks after his injury hit first season, Andre Gomes out on his coattails… the list goes on

  5. I am really happy for Frenkie and for Dutch football. It is great that Dutch players are starting to become more valued in the market.

    De Ligt to Bayern would be great and there is still Van de Beek and Bergwijn who can also move to top clubs.

    Kluivert is doing better, and Karsdorp is now fit so things are looking good for the future.

    1. Van Hanegem lyrical about Ryan Gravenberch

      “Willem van Hanegem finds four players on the Dutch players exceptional in talent. One of them is Ajax player Ryan Gravenberch, who at the age of sixteen was already crowned as the youngest debutant and goal scorer ever in the Amsterdam main squad.

      ‘That midfielder looks like Pogba’, Van Hanegem starts talking to Soufiane Touzani . ‘He is really good, even though they (Ajax, ed.) Have a lot of nice players. He (Gravenberch, ed.) Does belong to the selection, I think. He has so incredibly high quality, ‘says De Kromme , who also briefly talked about the upcoming Classics.

      Feyenoord – Ajax is on the program during the second Eredivisie round after the winter break and Van Hanegem thinks that the team from Amsterdam will win in De Kuip. “I hold my heart,” he answers honestly as Feyenoorder. ‘They (Feyenoord, ed.) Are going through a very bad period and Ajax has started to play better and has better players. However, I do not think it’s the merit of the trainer.”

    2. Frenkie’s got 5 caps for Holland and you’re already looking to replace him?

      I don’t think any players on the radar right now are “replacing” Frenkie, if anything they’ll get a chance to play next to him.

  7. Peter Bosz had his first win of the season in Bundasliga after Bayern Leverkusen beat wolfburg 3-0.he has some of the raising german talents at his helm and hopefully he will bring some more from eredivisie in near future.

    Weghorst also featured for wolfburg but was un decisive in front of goal

  8. Poor Vincent Janssen

    I agree with advocaat here

    What made
    Him ended up like this situation ?if he isn’t able to find a club in the next few days it will be a big bit to his career

    He really deserves better from
    Spurs and shouldn’t be treated this

    -anyways ehh not coming back to Eredivisie???

  10. feyenoord absolutely tore apart ajax 6-2 and which will most probably go down in the history books. 2 games , 10 goals conceded.what an atmosphere even before the game. training, pre game build up.alarm bells ringing now whether Barcelona paid too much for FDJ.Ajax,were a shadow of a team that we saw in the champions league. Jens Toornstra,wow what a game he had. Van Bronckhorst has been using him sparingly but he delivered man of the match performance with 3 assist and goal and certainly will have everyone talking as to why he is on the bench.

  11. Man i dont wanna , but after watching how they got destroyed by Feyenoord ….. I’m not so sure now if they got , how much chance against Real Madrid

    Barcelona might have immediately regret paying all that money buying Frenkie de Jond also

    I mean man! What the heck happened with them yesterday ? Totally not the same
    Ajax that I know or is it Feyenoord was just too strong ?

  12. Also is there still anyone on this planet caring about Vincent Janssen?

    I’m not a fan of him but now I really feel for him

    That bloody stubborn totenham coach deserves losing all his matches by keeping his stubborn philosophy

  13. 1. Vincent will stay at Tottenham and be featured in the first team. Do not know whether he si going to be use but he will be a part of the first team

    2. In today game against Emmen, Calvin Stengs scored one goal, one assist, two key passes and three completed dribbles. He has scored last three games.

    3. Adam Maher increasingly gains his form. His passes and way of thinking were instrumental for Alkmaar’s four winning streaks.

    4. It looks like AZ Alkmaar have solved their defensive problem, in the last four games they scored 12 and conceded zero.

    1. At some point in time I would like to see koeman go 4-4-2 with Depay and Stengs up front or stengs as a false striker.there is one thing you notice about Stengs is that he you can find him all over the field.

      Fingers crossed he will break into NT come euro qualifiers.

  14. Cody Gakpo had a goal and assist for PSV after coming on for Malen.Ihattaren also came on for Bergwijn demolishing Fortuna Sittard 5-0. I said this before, malen and bergwijn especially will be overtaken by some of the upcoming PSV.the funny thing is bergwijn was heavily linked with Man United in this window. Aboukhlal is also not far behind.

  16. I was just watching the highlights of AZ-Emmen. I know, I know, it was just a few minutes of highlights, and Emmen is a lower tier team, but man, Stengs…his call up to the NT shouldn’t be far away (especially now with the unfortunate injury to Bergweijn…last week he was being followed by big teams, now this.)

    I’m only curious—and am asking those of you who have seen him play over the course of several games—how is his commitment to defense? Only asking because you never see that aspect of a player’s game in the highlights.

  18. I do not think Calvin is defensively good. He is running back, but he tried to stay away from direct confrontations with attackers. In current AZ, there is no need for Calvin to go deep into defense as midfield play very compact. I heard that Ajax is sneaking around him and ready to pay $15k for his transfer. I hope Calvin is smart enough to stay in AZ and develop further. Ajax is not right place for him.

    1. Why do you think Ajax is not the right place for him?

      I think he can be a good replacement for Ziyech as a winger and also He has the potencial cto learn to play in Ziyech’s midfield role too.

      What do you think?

      2. Ajax have been a graveyard for the underdeveloped AZ talents. Calvin is still underdeveloped and it is too early for him to move away from Alkmaar regardless of the destination. In Alkmaar, they carry him in arms and create all conditions for his development. In Ajax he will be sidelined if something goes wrong. Plus, I think Calvin needs to develop physically too, he looks so fragile in the field. Also, I do not think AZ should sell players to rivals. I am sorry but for me AZ comes first and then Oranje.

    2. @Wilson, AZ, Thanks for the comments. I was asking because in the NT set up, it seems like both Babel and Bergweijn do quite a bit of tracking back, and that is a quality that Koeman will require.

      1. Babel I will agree but Bergwijn? Has he played for NT? Once I believe.I dont rate Bergwijn highy at all and I dont think he will survive the competition when it stars to heat up. I mean Tahith Chong, Gakpo, Zwarts, stengs, Aboubhkal. Even now when Groeneveld returns from injury, he surely will be a starter. Bergwijn has speed for sure but he is not crafty.

        This is jeremine Lens at PSV.
        https://youtu.be/z27m8W-QyBk

        He was more explosive than Bergwijn now at PSV but that only never paved his way of becoming a top winger especially when Dick Adovcaat brought him to sunderland.

        At PSV Bergwijn does track back and looks like to be folowing the footsteps of Depay at Eredivisie but until he proves otherwise after movig out of eredivisie then it would be worth taking another look at him.

        Also him being scouted by big clubs like man United was jus rumors and was meant for publicity only.to think about it martial is sitting on the bench at united, why will they wanna come for him.

        1. Sorry which Martial is shi$%%ting at bench of Manu??..He is the Top performer for them in this season…Dont SH$%%t.
          Berjwin Track backs,he works his bu%%T off..So is Babel….When Berjwin and Dumfries are not there ,we were out played by Germans…

          Berjwin work rate is so superior to Berghuis,stengs,Danjuma and co…Berwijn is decent talent 1000 times anwar elghazi the hedlesschiken …
          i dont think Aboubhkal will make it furthur,Coz they lack natural football intelligence…

        2. @Wilson,

          Well, Bergweijn started for the NT twice…in the 3-0 win over Germany and the 2-0 win over France. (Good results, no?) I believe Promes started the 2nd game against Germany because he had an injury…it had seemed to me that Koeman had settled on Bergweijn as his preferred starter on the right.

          Not sure what you mean by your comment “Babel I agree, but Berweijn?” My point was that in those Germany and France matches Bergweijn performed his defensive duties. Whereas Babel chooses his spots (wisely) and was always in a safe position, Bergweijn would often get up field and then really bust it to get back when he and/or Dumfries had attacked and then the ball was going the other way. Did you see it differently? That Bergweijn was up the field out of position and shirking his defensive responsibilities?

          As to who will ultimately end up in that spot? Who knows? Competition is great. I would like nothing more than for Kluivert or Stengs or Berweijn or any of the others that you mentioned to separate themselves, become a star at a big club and make the forward spot his own; none of them are there yet…but as the Nations League qualifiers finished, Koeman seemed settled on Bergweijn in that position

          Unfortunately, its probably all moot now given his injury. But now there is an opportunity for one of the individuals you mentioned. But whoever it is, Koeman will require that they see to the defensive side of the game as well.

          1. I get the picture which you are trying to portray. I think apart from Robben, most of the wingers have been productive both in defense and attack. I mean if the opponent has got the possession, you except everybody to track back right.

  19. Mitchell Bakkers transfer to PSG collapsed due to administrative delays. Looks like they made a U turn on the last hour.wonder what will happen to him now that he had already said goodbye to Ajax.

    1. @ Wilson,

      Teun is my the most favorite player in AZ. He is mature, serious, smart, and physically and technically gifted young man. However, his current situation in the club is interesting. He is a defensive midfielder and in my view he is one of the best defensive midfielders in Eredivisie. However, due to a lack of central defenders in AZ, he has been currently converted into central defender. I think this situation works against his development as defensive midfielder.

    1. I read the article as well and they are already calling him the next frenkie. Mind you Frenkie also started his career from willem 11 but as far as him is concerned at Excelsior I think if he really lives up to his bill then he needs to try and get a move to the top 3 in future. Playing at Excelsior will never be sufficient enough for the dutch pundits to even look at him for selection.

  22. Oks guys,I didnt realize that the EC qualification starts in March.I was under the assumptions that it would start after the Nation league wraps up. Well looks like I was wrong, either way with so many causalities,whom do you guys thinks should be selected given the club performance thus far.

  23. I remember in one of the past blog I mentioned about the development of some of Italys young talents in Serie A and most of the names I mentioned in there were selected by Roberto Mancini in the extended squad.

    Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino);

    Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Parma), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Andrea Conti (Milan), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Mattia De Sciglio (Juventus), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Armando Izzo (Torino), Manuel Lazzari (Spal), Alessio Romagnoli (Milan), Leonardo Spinazzola (Juventus);

    Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Cagliari), Marco Benassi (Fiorentina), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Roberto Gagliardini (Inter), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Stefano Sensi (Sassuolo), Sandro Tonali (Brescia), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma);

    Attackers: Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Fiorentina), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Roberto Inglese (Parma), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Moise Bioty Kean (Juventus), Kevin Lasagna (Udinese), Matteo Politano (Inter), Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdorida)

    I would like to see koeman do the same and give nod to potential players regardless of which club they play for.

  24. Rick karsdorp could force his way back in the NT especially with the determination he has made the come back from his injyry. Remember he was on the brink of being off loaded after his fallout with Di Francesco. Well looks like the tide has changed.this is what he has to say about him now.

    “Karsdorp has been more consistent defensively in the last few games – he’s really been working hard and has given us balance.”

    1. Also with Dilrosun,Groeneveld and Bergwijn injured, new faces should be expected to cover up for Babel and Promes who are currently active in their respective clubs. Kluivert, im not really sure given he seems to be fading somewhat.he is getting minutes but impact wise he has been quite average.

      1. I am getting a little bit impatient with Danjuma

        How long has he been injured since ..?!

        Promes with all the new faces emerging on the front line I don’t think it will be easy for him , given the face he is struggling at his own club and miniminal scoring figures

        Having said so , I can see Danjuma going to be one of our main strikers in the long run , and exceeding all the other few such as kluivert and dilrosun ? Yes injures afain )

        If Bergwijn keeps improving he will hold a firm position , but only if he keeps improving

        Kluivert is still one of the weakest as he is unable to score goals somehow

        1. They only mentioned it was a injury injury, how serious it was or recovery time seems to be sketchy. Club brugge also seems to have been struggling since his injury. They have consistently dropped points and have also surrended the lead on points table to Genk

  25. As of this moment , Babel is the most promising one I watched his games for Fulham

    Let’s see how he plays against Man Utd tmr

    Unfortunately when the Euro comes he’ll be 34 already

  26. let’s hope the Others like stengs and Sam Lammers will keep improving themselves also

    Koeman will starting to get headaches on the upfront selections and combinations

      1. To be honest I don’t know much about him as I haven’t followed the everdevesie much until lately

        But based on his match and against Ajax he looks a huge potential . A bit cocky of a guy but that’s what we need

        Again , all these so called potential strikers / wingers got to keep score and improve

        We don’t seem to have our goal machines anymore. all of our forward it seems so difficult For them to score goals recently

        1. Sam lammers is the type of striker who needs servicing like any other.he has a feet for goal but that if you have the right players around him. I mean you look at what happened to Huntelaar, Dost and Van persie when Robben was around. The balance factor was never there.you have to ask this question why Dost scores so many goals at club level but in NT he is often isolated. The answer is simple, no servicing , no goals. If lucky he might score one or two if any ariel ball comes long his way. This is what happened to him in NT.

          The same will happen to lammers if he does gets the nod in NT. You have to bring depay in the equation here and visualize whether will they be able to complement each other or no. I think the scenario will be the same like before.Depay is Depay and everybody knows what to expect from him. He will always be off balance factor.this was the exact same situation at Chelsea except for the arrival of Higuan now. The complementing factor between hazard and morata was very critical.

          It would be in the best interest to continue Depay as a striker where he is looks to be the most
          effiient.

          1. https://youtu.be/_VIYwRCWEwk

            Look at some of his movement on goals. He looks so deterimental when with possession or ball at feet. I think he will be deprived of this with Depay around and plus wijnaldum typical AM /fitter.
            On a positive note he remains me of Edin Dzeko and his time will come not far in distance future. I think he still needs to play against some top defenders especially at CL or EL level.

          2. ” plus wijnaldum is a descent attacking midfielder/ fitter”

            I wont mind koeman giving him some minutes vs Belarus especillay if tbe game is already in the bag. Lammers already wasted one whole season sitting on the bench for PSV. Maybe this could fast track things up for him. Luuk will just waste of time.

    1. Roma wining this one 3-0.kluivert had a late cameo. with under injured you would have expected kluivert to relieve him but with karsdorp coming back into thr picture means Florenzi has being freed upfront to his prefered wingers position. He really needs to start shifting a gear up.

  29. I have watched Man Utd against PSG last night and man what a match

    PSG is on a different level which I think is the same as Barcelona Real Madrid Juventus top tier etc

    Again the media has fooled the whole England and all English fans are now waken up

    Both martial and Lingard are now injured and Sanchez who was subbed in got blamed that he didn’t do much .

    So I think this is the chance tahith chong ( as a right winger ) had been waited for long

  32. What ajax see in dolberg?? i really cannot undrestand. i can play there better insist Dolberg who destroy ajax hope. his every touch was wrong and he realy kill ajax hope. also i see soemthing positive in van de beek who look more confident than before and do really good job.

    1. Yeah Ajax created ton of chances but their finishing was really bad. Also this ref sucks, the VAR call is dumb and wrong but again this is Real Madrid so they are favored by the ref anyway.

      1. Yep. While VAR may be good in theory, I’m going to guess that when all is said and done the a statistical analysis will show that the decisions will weigh in favor of the more famous and wealthy club teams, and the preferred NT’s.

        Ajax played a good game…but they didn’t finish…Tadich’s shot off the post, Ziyech’s early miss, other chances when they had a numerical advantage…Ah well, it’ll make it that much better a story when they win at the Bernabeu, right??

    1. It’s getting more and more exciting seeing all these talented midfielders

      Koeman will have so many Choices for our midfield. Really looking forward how our midfield will look like

      How would you people compare ihattaren to Van de Beek ? They seem to be playing the same position , which means no conflict with de jong

      I am still looking another strong sub for Frenkie in case he gets injured 🙁

      1. Ihattaren is more james Rodriguez type of player.he likes to run with the ball at feet/ creator. Van der Beek is upgrade version of klaassen,right time at the right place and is more a distributor. To be honest I dont think VD Beek is a all rounded at tacking midfielder and this is where Ihattaren might be better. Clasie is another good example of this.

        Again Ryan Gravenberch is the midfielder to look out for in future. His trajectory is looking good and when De jong departs for Barcelona, he could get more opportunities in Ajax first team. Carel Eiting also.

        1. Ihattaren, Gravenberg same style of Winajdum, Bazoer, Vilhena who have good potential but insure where they will become, Frienky de Jong & de Ligt are very special at top level that even got admirer from Mbappe who is best player in the worl very soon.

          1. Yes I can already see that Ihattaren got more talent than Van de Beek and by the time comes once he got the spot there is no chance for Wijnaldum to start anymore

            However , Is any of you worried that he will follow Ziyech’s footpath and choose Morocco instead of Oranje?

    1. The cash is tempting

      This move has proven enough that he has loat all his self confidence already

      I once had High hopes on him and he really looked likes someone of becoming big star

      It’s over Let’s forget him for now

  37. Erwin van der Looi was an unusal spectator in the Club brugge vs Slazburg europa league fixture.it was reported he was sent by koeman to scout Stefano Denswil. Intresting?

  38. In conclusion, at middle field box2box player now we can consider materials from de Jong, Winajdum, Roon,Rosario, Vilhena, Hendrix,de Beek, Bazoer,Til, Ihattaren, Gravenberg

    1. Ruud seriously? Ihattaren box-to- Box MF. Either you havnt watched him or you are just assuming like you have mentioned comparing him to those players. Ihattaren is pure all rounded attacking midfielder.have a look.
      https://youtu.be/OyJicfW4rA4.

      Van Bommel has beig rotating him now in as many games with Pereiro and he has been impactful bringing his signature play as in the video. Check this one out vs heerenveen over the weekend. He gets subbed on around 6:57 and instantly takes over at set pieces.

      https://youtu.be/lfdWh7Ut0T0

      The days for BTB and holding mid is over. Gravenberch is central MF and he plays the same position as Frenkie. When frenkie departs for Barcelona, and schone as well, most probably it will be trio of VD Beek, Gravenberch and Eiting in the midfield for Ajax.

      1. Haha, nowaday modern football even u can see de Jong 1 midfielder can play as 1 defender or Blind can play as 1 Ct or LB or CM so b2b i mean he can play around mid-field or dven as a winger but he sure not a real striker like Redan or Boadu or Vente

        Ps: I have already watched him, very potential & promising talent. I have high hope on him, Gravenberg, Boadu, Redan, Chong, Kluivert, Steng, Drongelen,Pierie,Malacia to be footsteps of de Jong, Ligt

      2. but yes, i agree with u that he more main position maybe AM who can play number 10, able to score & work right be-hide striker

        he’s kind of player as Sneijder, Vaart who we are lacking now at NT, we can see a little of Til but he doesn’t have massive potential

  39. There are videos on youtube which are predicting how the teams will line up in 2020. I have managed to see Spain, Portgual,germany,England, Italy, Croatia and france but unfortunately dutch one has not being made yet. I must say Portgual looked very impressive with the most improved lineup given the current performance of their players. Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes,ruben neves their raising star Joao Felix and off course ever green Ronaldo. In all honesty and I said this before if dutch contigent relay on van dijk and few other players,they will be caught out.

    1. “Rely”

      All in all every team is improving with repect to the performance of their players to date.unfortunately the same cant be said for the dutch.this is should be course for concern.
      I mean you look at players like
      Krzysztof Piątek (Milan), Chisea (fiorentina), Zainolo (Roma), Vinicius (Real Madrid), kai havertz (leverkusan), sancho ( dortmund), Coman ( bayern). Come the internationals they will add more artillery to their teams. The dutch need to be looking at armory as well.

  41. Its not looking good at all for Justin kluivert at Roma. He finally got his chance vs Bologna to start but failed to take his chances and make most of it. El sharwaay came on off the bench and made an instant impact leading to the opening goal while kluivert stood a cut out isolated figure and just couldnt get into tbe game. These are the moments which could make him or break him at Roma.

    https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2019/2/14/18224816/where-in-the-world-is-justin-kluivert

    1. First season at a bigger club/league, with 19 appearances in total so far(although only 8 times start), in the top of appearances of Roma team then it’s not that bad for our lad, but yes for sure he need to improve more to be key player, more mature , more goals, more contribution, to be higher level.

      look at Fosu, Chong to see his future clearly brighter.

      1. Young lads needs a coach who understand their key strengths..and motivates them in regular..he has psychological impact on them..Kluivert,Fosu,Chong should search for that and joins such coaches.unfortunatly there are very few coaches are like that..
        Even virgil was shappen by Koeman..one old fa##RT SH%$%^it can spoil the future of a bright talent..Jose is prime example of that..

        2. Correct

          Jose has ruined too many Dutch talent . Completely destroyed them all

          J kluivert , he’s still young but scoring only one goal in 19 appearances is a complete failure . He’s lucky that his coach still let him play in every game

          Look at fosuh Mensah . Look at chong .
          look at Mullen baars and Joshua Zirkzee . These so called Dutch potential stars are all wasting their time , they should be playing every week

          Take a look at Leroy sane he’s already one is he top wingers in EPL at the age by 21

          Our talent keep destroying their career because they are dreaming in their respective academic teams . But none of them get first time experience for the entire season

          1. Can you tell me over which players in their respective team should the guys you have mentioned get the nod?.

            I think chongs time will come and most probably a season loan could well pave his path for united future. Or If Man united do clear the dead woods in the summer then next season could be his break through season for him. I think the departure of players like Likaku, Sanchez and Mata should free spaces for Academy talents.

            The rest were all premature moves.

  42. There are more than a few

    But I think chong is the closest one that is about ready giving the chance ( he already got his debut )

    Man Utd fans was expecting him to play in the FA cup just only because it was Chelsea ole couldn’t risk him. It was a way of protecting him, the way I see it

    But I’m sure his chance will come soon within the next few months , and then it will be up to him if he can impress ole

    To me, I think he is too skinny . Yes I Know that some of you are telling me that there are a lot out there than are not muscelar type but chong is seriously needing a few more pounds added

    1. The points that you have mentioned about his physic is quiet legit but you cant blame him for that as the guy is still 18. This is why his transition has to be smooth other wise he will become a regular causality facing the rugged defenders in epl. He is certaintly a top talent but looking at his debut you can tell he needs to mature more to get off the blocks at epl level.

      You also look at Callum hudson odi at chelsea. He is all ready but just because the pressure is mounting on chelsea and sarri, they cant do much. They have willian, Hazard, Pedro on wings.experimenting him over players who can get goals would be like putting the fork in your own foot.

  43. Hope Im not saying this to earlier but Lyon could a dark horse in CL season. I haven’t seen any team shut out Barcelona like how they did in the first leg especially with 4-4-2 formation.

    There is one thing I would say about Depay. He is improving especially trying to go out and use his left foot. 4-4-2 really suits him but as a main striker.he started behind dembele in that match.

  44. I think this site is quite accurate assessment, at the moment we have only 4 players in top 100 in football industry

    van Dijk, de Jong, Depay, de Ligt

    https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2018/dec/18/the-100-best-male-footballers-in-the-world-2018-nos-100-71

    Hopefully next time, some players such as Kluivert, Chong, Berwijn, Danjuma, Dumfries, Boadu, Redan, Malen, Gravenberg, Ihattaren can jump in the list as their potential.

    1. Danjuma , Nathan ake , Dumfries should be in the top 100 soon

      Kluivert , unfortunately is he still maintain one goal in 20 games .. then bye bye

      I hope Bergwijn and dilrosun can show some significant improvement also

      Then I can see ihattaren be another big star rising but I am worried that he will choose Morocco like the others (. Aren’t you guys ?)

      1. I am really love & support Ake but i don’t think he can reach top level, he ‘s quite lucky with current situation, everyone may think he ‘s almost floppy.

        He can play cleansheet for a mediocre club but big club, he doesn’t have special skill like van Dijk, de Ligt.Personaly i even rate him be-hide de Vrij, van Drongelen

        1. He will prove his worth once he is back to Chelsea

          As a defender , he has been scoring 5 goals already for Bournemouth , which is more than any of our defenders or some of our strikers

          But he is too foolish staying in this average team . Should go to a better
          Team and playing champions league then only we will see how good he is

    1. Some of players in this list are overrated…if Salah plays against Gini wijnaldum…Gini will shut him like a little boy on the pitch…Deligt or Dumfries will eat him alive…Even Mbhappe is struggled vs Deligt…
      and Raheem sterling yes he has pace…but over all berjwin will be a better tea player than him considering working rate and intelligent passing skills of berjwin..
      Dutch players are mostly underrated

      1. He’s done! He’s finished ! Game over for him !

        He had his best chance while the entire attacking force were not available in his club. and guess what ???? He got “injured again “ all in a sudden and lloretto grabbed the chance with a few goals and assists.

        Not in a zillion years Vincent Janssen will become the same goal
        Machine once he was in the Eredivisie ~

        Justin kluivert is gonna be the next one

  48. Poor Bakker, no where to be seen after the failed transfer to PSG. He was training with ajax first team before the transfer window and now is not even on the bench for Jong Ajax.looks like he facing the full brunt of the managerial action for taking part in the failed bid. he will be free agent come summer transfer window and with PSV and feyenoord have good upcoming LBS in their ranks, bakker will might have to look somewhere else or maybe ajax might consider giving him a new contract especilally with Tagliafico being linked to Real.

  49. the glass man is also back from injury and had a run with ADO Den Hag for any hour or so. he is still technically a lazio player. hopefully he can get back to fitness in time for the pre season at lazio.

  50. juninho bacuna has made a big impression in last couple of games which has really impressed their new coach David Wagner. he has started in the last 4 games after that dreadful debut in which he scored an outrageous own goal and as given a standout performance from an individual perspective. its a pity there are doomed at the bottom of the table and will highly likely be demoted from epl but he seems like the midfielder that NT needs. hopefully some club will scout his talents.

    1. you have to look at the big picture here. it was never going to be easy for him. El Shaarawy is already a established winger at Roma and is technically better and versatile than kluivert.the competition was always going to be between kluivert and Cengiz Ünder.again Cengiz Ünder turned out to be technically better and more skilled than Kluivert. the tide looked to have changed in kluiverts favor when Cengiz Ünder got injured but then karsdorp came along freeing Alessandro Florenzi up front. again kluivert was no match to his experience.

      being said all this I think Kluivert did get his chances but he couldnt make much of impact overall.even Patrick schick who was another highly rated youngster, is in the same boat as kluivert who was brought in as coverup for Dzeko.he also has failed to establish himself.

      1. Of course I know it wasn’t easy for him

        And by all
        Means he is a hundred times luckier than Vincent Janssen cod at least he got playing time

        But he really needs to improve and score a few goals otherwise very likely he will be loaned
        Out somewhere else

        1. Tbh I dont like Di francesco at all. He started zainolo on the wings vs lazio and then came on perroti on the wings which is fine but then he subbed El shaarway with schick who is a striker. Thats a very clear indication that kluivert is not in his plans. Lets see whats happens in CL vs porto.

  52. Our NT u18 could be very strong i believe

    Jayden Braaf,Boadu,Redan,Hoever,Pierie
    ,Zirkzee,Maatsen,Gravenberg,Ihattaren
    ,Bakker,Ekkelenkamp,Kökçü,Baars, Buitink

    BTW, anyone know about this guy Fedde De Jong of AZ, we have so many de Jong 🙂

    Not sure if he has any related family to Frienky or Nigel or Luuk

    1. I think the best place to gauge the development of this bunch will be when they reach the u21s.the typical dutch trend is that you need to be playing competitively at to get the first preference in the u21s and then comes others who may be seen as potentials but not playing competitively. A very good example is when Reidewald and hendrix were prefered to nathan Ake who was going out on loan from chelsea at that time. Im not sure if this trend will be forced to be changed if players like Redan, Braaf, Zirkzee or others playing outside of eredivisie and are top propects fail to make it the first team of their respective teams. Looking at centre forwards for example, Brobbery is destined to break into ajax first team very soon. The same cant be said about Redan at chelsea and Zirkzee at Bayern and as I said the trend is the first preference always goes to if those who are playing competitively.its not brobbery but Venema,Boadu as who have already established theselves in eredivisie. This could well change the course of some of these players.

    1. @Wilson,

      Myron is recovering well but I doubt he will play this season. He will start training with the team in April. WE will see him next season. Let’s see the vision of AZ new coach, Arne Slot. Arne is very different coach than van den Brom. He is very pragmatic and fan of the super organized football. Under him AZ will not go crazily forward forgetting to defend. I am looking forward to seeing Arne Slot as head coach of AZ Alkmaar.

  60. PSV better live up to expectations in CL next season if they go on to win the title.they cant just go have a free ride and waste all thr hard work Ajax have done this season.

    If Ajax wins the title then off course what a season this would be for them and plus most of the big names might just stay apart from frenkie. If not frenkie should also extend for another season at ajax if this is likely the case.

    1. Barca did not pay all that money for Frenkie to stay at Ajax. That’s a non-starter!

      De ligt is also gone by this summer. Hopefully, they can hold on to as many of the players as they can. After beating Madrid 5 – 3 the way they did, the vultures will be circling for all the top players.

  61. What a great victory for the Dutch football which we haven’t seen for a long time

    Does anyone knows exactly what this win means in terms of the Coefficients ranking ?

    Correct me if Im wrong , but Does it means that two Dutch teams will automatically go into next year’s champions league group stages ?

  62. Masterful performance by Ajax tonight. The first two goals were pure world class goals. Exquisite touches by Ajax players.

    They are definitely the dark-horse contenders this season.

    1. I would give that tag to lyon. Ajax haven’t meet a full strength top team yet.bayern and Real both are in transition. While lyon has beaten full strength city and hopefully with the squad they they can full off what ajax did today vs barcelona which they are capable of looking from the first leg.

  63. —de Ligt—
    Dominated Ronaldo vs Portugal, Mbappe vs France, Bale vs Real Marid then put them in his pocket, won Golden boy award.

    A real monster but baby handsome boy, captain Amsterdam at age of 18 then reach quarter final at Champion league 2019 but still show more ambitious.

    http://www.football-oranje.com/de-ligt-we-are-not-done-yet/

    Number 1 defender ‘s coming?

    –de Jong—
    Dominate Kante, humiliate dBallon Modric, Grizeman consider he as the best player who he has play to, best club in the world Barca has already booked a place for him with a big money, help ajax to reached round of 16 by eliminated a Real Marid with bunch of stars

    Number 1 box2box defender is coming?

  66. Provisional squad

    Patrick Van Annholt, Steven Bergwijn, Marco Bizot,Ryan Babel, Donny Van der Beek, steven berghuis, Jasper Cillessen, Memphis Depay, Wout Weghorst, Virgil Van Dijk, Nathan Ake, frenkie De jong,Marteen De Roon, Denzel Dumfries, Mattjis De ligt, Davy Propper,Quincy Promes,Kevin Strootman, Luuk De Jong, Terence kongolo, Kenny Tete, kenneth Vermeer, pabolo Rosario, Darly Janmaat, ruud vormer, georgino wijnaldum, Stefan De Vrij,Tony Vilhnea, Jeron Zoet and Daley Blind

    2. IMO, if Koeman think for long term he should exclude Strootman, Weghorst,Vormer, Luuk de Jong

      Some of them are too old & some are not potential but not outstanding to utilize as material for NT, If they will be selected i believe they can just contribute on the bench , in that case why don’t we just try to promote someone else for training & check their potential & suitability such as Denswil, Hanstoeber, Juste, Mensah,Karsdorp,Willems,Gouweleeuw
      ,Brenet,Rekik, Bruma, Bacuna, Drongelen, Til, Ouwejan, Koopmeiners, Steng, Chong,Vlap, Haps, Kluivert, Avert, Hoedt, Malacia, Locadia or even Boadu/Malen/Ihattaren/Kokcu

  67. A very weak upfront I must say

    Without dilrosun and Danjuma , I don’t see this can be stronger than the team that beat Germany and France

    Feel sorry for kluivert , although he had been playing 19 games for Roma he is still not included

    Hopefully next time we will have all
    The new fades back including Chong, zirkzee redan ( 2020?)

    Quincy promes is lucky that he is still here

    2. Agree on Promes, in the past i really appreciated him but now he seems be-hide Bewijn/Danjuma/Dilrosun even Kluivert/Steng/Chong will become better than his current form soon.

      1. Naaaaa, I dont think either will make the cut. Van Drongelen though is more a centre Back and has a bright future ahead. Unfortunately for him he had to take the long road but still,things are looking good for both him and Hamburg.

        Ouwejan has been a big waste considering he featured prominently for jong orange and the transitions to NT stalled.this is where he should have been given the benefit of doubt and drafted in NT for sake of backup options and rotation.Again the eyebrows should be raised here on player selection at U21s level, how well they are being cropped for better transition in NT

        Overall I think the u21s has been weak platform for the dutch and its high time somebody start pulling the strings right. The left back position in NT has been a high talking point for number of years now but what has failed to eventuate is to oversee that potential players are groomed at U21 level for future transition. Going down the line, Nathan Ake was made to shift to LB, overlooked at DM for Riedewald and Hendrix when clearly he should have rotated there. You look at hendrix and Riedewald now. This…..this has been a major drawback for the dutch when it has come to transition. After Ake it was Ouwejan and again it looks like they dont consider him as NT material. Then why the hell they invested in him in the first place. Well off course he was a regular at AZ at that time but then again he is still there now. Also yes there wasnt much options either there at that time as his back up was only clavin Verdonk who was on loan from feyenoord at NEC but this shouldnt have stopped them from realizing the downfall

        If you look at the current u21s, the story is the same. Van drongelen at make shift LB and Malacia on the bench. Again it looks like they are sailing blind and looks like no consideration has been given from transition point of view and whether they are the best options going forward with NT in mind. Van Drongelen is out of the picture here as I said,his strong hold is centre back and come NT he might one day be van dijks out going replacement. Malacia should be starting at LB but his situation at feyenoord could complicate things and hence the same trend will continue.

        Being said this I think the management should look out of the box now that it clearly not working. They should look bakker and Castillo and draft them in the squad for better competition and mould them for NT. Bakkers situation has deteriorated after the failed transfer to PSG but he looks to have a better ceiling than Malacia and he will find another even if he departs Ajax. Castillo I would say has a very high ceiling and even though he is in the chelsea Academy, he the type of player they should invest in,looking from his ceiling. I hope they dont make the same mistake with him like they did with ake.

  69. This is what I don’t understand about koeman

    You are building a future Oranje team , no?

    Why not letting the young boys coming in first such as stents and Sam Lammers . I think they really deserve it .

    Let go the likes of strootman or Luuk get the new faces in

    This is exactly what England is doing right now

  71. Stengs is not ready for any international games. He needs to stay injury free for at least one season and get physically stronger. If you watch him playing every week you will understand what I am talking about. He is a great talent but needs further development at Eredivisie level.

  72. Apart from a stellar performance Ajax was also extremely lucky yesterday. But you can’t win without luck at Bernabeu. Tadic was perfect, Blind was fantastic. DeJong showed immaturity when holding and then losing the ball which almost cost us a goal. You CAN”T do that in a game of such caliber. Immaturity showed also in a couple of occasions when we had numerous advantage in attack and could have scored instead of retying to show off. It could have been 6-1 dammit 🙂
    A REAL pity this team will be half sold by end of this season. We could have had another 88-96 team. Screw you Bosman!

    1. Frenkie de Jong’s game by numbers vs. Real Madrid:

      100% tackles won
      100% aerials won
      91% passing accuracy
      75 touches
      6 ball recoveries
      3 clearances
      2 take-ons completed
      1 interception
      1 shot blocked
      1 foul won

    1. I saw the game. Chong was like deer in the headlight. Couldn’t hold the ball for more than 1 sec and almost all his passes were wrong. Emotions I guess. It could also be his hair. He probably took hours for the look.
      On another note VAR is destroying the game. Ajax had a perfect goal cancelled in the first game, 3rd goal during 2nd game was almost cancelled too as the ball was clearly out of bounds but miraculously it stayed. Today United gets a penalty for a ball going outside the stadium in the last minute, Porto gets a penalty for a shirt touch when another ball was way out of reach for Porto. VAR sucks. Why have referees any longer, use cameras and robots. It can’t fix fraud because those who call VAR reviews are people behing walls who can use the system any way they want. In addition the game cannot be 100% perfect. Mistakes are part of the game.

      1. K so I watched all of the games too. Chong misplaced two passes, right at the end, made a couple of dribbles and won a few throw-ins. He came on at a time where his team was looking to kill the game, so no he was never going to go out there and dribble around defenders and score.

        The first VAR decision was incorrect in mine, and many pundits’s opinions.

        The Tadic goal was legitimate, because it’s 100% of the ball has to cross 100% of the line. From all of the angles, you could only see the bottom (smallest part of the ball) was out.

        The United penalty was legitimate, the defender jumped with his back to the shot and his arms away from his body.

        And the Porto penalty was legit as well, Lorenzi literally pushed the guy when he realized he was a step behind him.

  74. on Chong vs PSG, he’s not that mature on possessed the ball & team work, lack of confident, his rhythm/run in match for youth but not a senior level.

    He need more playing-time at senior level to become more mature, he & Kluivert & Ihattaren almost same situation

    de Ligt, Danjuma, Berwinj, Dilrosun, de Jong, Malen, Rosario, de Beek are much better

  75. Hoever, Ihattaren, Gravenberch, Kökçü, Pierie, Malacia, Boadu even younger than Chong, Kluivert but they showed solid & more mature in debut game at senior level

  76. Chong kluivert and ihattaren are ok very different situations

    Chong is still fighting for regular playing time . Mind you he just got his debut playing minutes only , and according to Today’s news ole is thinking loan him in order to get first time
    Experience . He could be on his way to Ajax .

    Ihattaren is already getting Minutes and getting more and more playing time . The only thing that worries me is that he will follow Ziyech and choose Morocco over Oranje. That would be a big loss for us. This guy is a great talent

    Kluivert …..
    Forget about him
    Now if he scores only one goal in 19 matches , then we can forget about him now . He should have listened to
    His dad maybe

    1. Yea I read that

      I got mixed feelings on this

      If he goes to a good club in the premier league and get playing minutes , it will be good for him

      However there is a chance he will end up like fosuh Mensah, which his cereer is now dropped into a black hole

      Am not sure if this is actually rumours as he is already at the edge of getting into first team

      Unless ole has really given up on him which I hope he won’t

      Many of those loaned out over 98% won’t make it back to Man Utd

      Same like kluivert it says that Roma gonna koan him our

      Two Dutch talent wastes a reminder to those who want leave the Eredivisie early

      Hopefully zirkzee will be different case and will make it Bayern first team

  79. Provisional selection for U19

    Jurgen Ekkelenkamp (Ajax), Jurriën Timber (Ajax), Mitchel Bakker (Ajax), Ryan Gravenberch (Ajax), Sven Botman (Ajax), Jasper Schendelaar (AZ), Justin de Haas (AZ), Peer Koopmeiners (AZ), Thijs Oosting (AZ), Daishawn Redan (Chelsea), Juan Familia Castillo (Chelsea), Kjell Scherpen (FC Emmen), Daniël van Kaam (FC Groningen), Ludovit Reis (FC Groningen), Tapmahoe Sopacua (FC Groningen), Ennio van der Gouw (FC Twente), Fabian de Keijzer (FC Utrecht), Mike Eerdhuijzen (FC Volendam), Lutsharel Geertruida (Feyenoord), Orkun Kökcü (Feyenoord), Wouter Burger (Feyenoord), Jeremie Frimpong (Manchester City), Ole ter Haar Romeny (NEC), Sepp van den Berg (PEC Zwolle), Mohammed Amine Ihattaren (PSV), Rico Zeegers (PSV), Tijn Daverveld (PSV), Zakaria Aboukhlal (PSV), Kik Pierie (SC Heerenveen), Bradly van Hoeven (Sparta ), Levi Bouwense (Sparta),Kees de Boer (Swansea City), Thomas Buitink (Vitesse), Evert Linthorst (VVV-Venlo).

    1. Again zwarts is a notable absentee here and cant blame him for that as feyenoord contingent are only playing in u23 grade and have been overshdowed by those playing in eredivisie and eerste divisie.him and Summerville have just joined Dordrecht on loan in jan.

      He will most probably be overshadowed by strikers like Buitink and few others who are playing at higher level until he breaks into feyenord main team.with van persie retiring at the end of this season and If jorgensen departs ,the doors could open for him as well. He has had a good start at Dordrecht.

      Not to mention here Buitink is not a bad option also.scored his first goal for Vitesse last week vs Breda and looks set ompete for more miutes this week.

  80. Anyone knows if Jan is ok ? Or if he has given up on this site already ?

    He normally wouldn’t be away for so long , and would definitely write something with this Ajax biggest victory in years ..

  82. Some good news for kluivert as Di Francesco has been shown the exist and Ranieri takes over for the remainder of the season. Was given the nod straight away by Ranieri but was forced to make way for karsdorp after Florenzi got the red mid second half. Although Ranieri plans to use too man upfront, it will now come down to how well Kluivert can convince him.

  83. Mohammed Ihattaren, despite he defined & playing as an attacker but his playing style 99% like Depay we can say he’s another version of Depay 🙂

    1. Are you serious?for starters how can you can you compare him to Depay when he is a lefty.looks like you are trying to shoot the arrow in the dark.

      He is a pure attacking midfielder like sneijder was but instead of cutting in from the left, he looks to do the same from the opposite flank which also is his strong hold.

    2. Ihattaren is an attacking midfielder. And it Looks like
      He would become someone very promising in the future

      I would be really looking forward to see how he works well with Frenkie de Jong , and I don’t think once he grab the starter
      Position there will be a place for Wijnaldum anymore

      What really worries me now is that he will follow Ziyech and the others choosing Morocco instead of Oranje

      I hope this won’t be Happen it will
      Be a big blow for us . So far we still don’t have anyone close to the level of Frenkie but ihattaren seems to be an exception

      Do u guys think he will go for Morocco or Oranje ?

      1. Dont think KNVB will make thesame mistakeas they did with Ziyech unless its a personal preference as Mazraoui did. The trio of Ziyech, Mazraoui and Idrissi was a good catch for them and you expect payers like Ayoub, laybad and Mahi to follow them soon.

        1. What mistake did KNVB made with Ziyech ? Sorry I didn’t follow that part

          I thought it as a personal preference / family pressure with Ziyech

          By all means. I trust that deep in their heart they should opt opt for Oranje

          1. Daddy Blind was such dumb a** that he couldn’t recongize his talents to that of klaassen. He called ziyech up just to come and warm the bench and failed to lock him down like what they did with Depay and groeneveld who were both being eyed by ghana and Nigeria respectively.

          2. This is not true. Has nothing to do with Danny Blind. San Marco was assistant coach with Oranje and Ziyech and Marco were not good. But Ziyech would always be selecting Morroco as the family demands that.

  84. The full provisional U21 squad.As expected stengs called up to build up minutes.

    Goalkeepers: Jan Hoekstra (FC Groningen), Thijmen Nijhuis (FC Utrecht), Maarten Paes (FC Utrecht)

    Defenders: Danilo Doekhi (Vitesse), Rick van Drongelen (Hamburger SV), Justin Hoogma (FC St. Pauli), Tyrell Malacia (Feyenoord), Nathangelo Markelo (Everton), Armando Obispo (PSV), Shaquille Pinas (ADO Den Haag), Perr Schuurs (Ajax), Giovanni Troupée (ADO Den Haag), Deyovaisio Zeefuik (FC Groningen)

    Midfielders: Deroy Duarte (Sparta Rotterdam), Abdou Harroui (Sparta Rotterdam), Ferdi Kadioglu (Fenerbahce), Teun Koopmeiners (AZ), Dani de Wit (Ajax)

    Attackers: Mitchell van Bergen (SC Heerenveen), Tahith Chong (Manchester United), Javairo Dilrosun (Hertha BSC), Cody Gakpo (PSV), Jay-Roy Grot (VVV-Venlo), Justin Kluivert (AS Roma), Donyell Malen ( PSV), Kaj Sierhuis (FC Groningen), Calvin Stengs (AZ).

      1. This is not true. Has nothing to do with Danny Blind. San Marco was assistant coach with Oranje and Ziyech and Marco were not good. But Ziyech would always be selecting Morroco as the family demands that.

        1. http://www.football-oranje.com/ziyech-to-turn-his-back-on-netherlands-to-represent-morocco/

          This was under hiddink in May 2015. After him Danny blind took over and never looked at him. In september he decided to choose to represent Morrocco and again the KNVB and Danny Blind never took any steps to tie him down. Initially he refused to play under Herve Renard who was the coach of morroco and it was not until october he made his debut for Morroco.

          There was nothing published on his rift with san marco and his desire was only to play which was not looking possible at that time.

          1. This was around the same time when danny blind gave anwar el ghazi his first cap as he also was in the mix of choosing whether to play Morroco or Nerthlands.

            Ziyech was not established player at ajax at this point in time like what he is today and was also playing in the shadow of klaassen. With both sneijder and klaassen in the picture, he simply had no chance to break into NT.

  85. Ziyech was a loss for us…but others are not up to dutch NT level,yes i agree Ayoub is better than klassen but we dont need them both…One diamentional thinking of ex dutch coaches have cost us a lot..
    San mark Vs Ruud vs Portugal2006
    Advocate ve Kluivert vs 2004
    Bert choosing kuyt over Vaart 2010
    Bert choosing Bommel over strootman 2012,when strootman was in his top form.

    1. I thought Ziyech didn’t want to play for Oranje because he chose Morocco …..

      Damn I would say he is a big loss really

      Is there no chance that he can play for Oranje anymore in future ?

      Imagine with him now our front line would be look like with Ziyech Depay and Danjuma / Bergwijn

      Babel is getting old and We are still missing a lethal winger at the moment

      1. He has already represented Morrocco at the World Cup or was it the Africa Nations Cup. Yeap both. Ihattaren would probably the only player that comes close to him and this time around the KNVB might just be smart to lock him down.

        You talk about wingers, there is so many on the horizon and again it will come down to the coaches as to who they want. Bobby Adekanye will be free agent at the end of this season at Liverpool and has being linked to lazio but nothing official. He is another winger to look out for adding to others who have switched to potential clubs to fast track their development. Sancho,Resis etc. Chong of course, Gakpo and zwarts as well who can play anywhere up front.

        If you ask who will be the next one to break into NT. Easily and with a doubt stengs. This guy gets back to full fitness, he is in.

        1. Hopefully koeman will give chances to other youngsters in the qualification so that come euros they can market themselves. A good example is Pavard whom Bayern has already signed after he burst on to the scene with that scintillating performance at the world cup.

          LB is a on going area of concern and probably needs reshufflig.this is where one would expect koemen to come up with trial and error experimenting. Blind has been playing in the shadows all this while and everyone knows what will be the outcome when disaster strikers.if there aint much options then others players like Buttner, Dijks and Gosens who father is a dutch should be atleast get to compete with Blind.

          1. I was also expecting lammers to be called up. He could have played some minutes vs Belarus. Cant understand whats with koeman and Luuk De Jong.

  86. Yes theee are quite a few of numbers knocking the door unfortunately all of them are not getting first team experience yet

    Until then we will know What their real standards are. Kluivert is had been playing 25 games for Roma but stlll that is not enough for koeman

    Chong obviously has not convinced the Man Utd supporters yet with his 3 debuts . Let’s hope he can get longer minutes and score a few goals otherwise he will be following fosuh mensah’s path …….. dropped into a black hole

    Sam Lammers – I really hope he will keep developing and improving. I quite like him as he keeps scoring goals . Not sure also why koeman doesn’t include him and keep sticking with Luuk

    Perhaps he cannot deny Luuk as he keeps scoring also

    Now stengs is another one which we will closely monitor

    Let’s fingers cross ihattaren will go for Oranje in the end . I really think that There will be somebody more talented than Wijnaldum in that position

    1. With all honesty I also not a big fan of wijnaldum either. Klopp has developed him as having jack of all trade and master of none and this will always have pros and cons at NT level. Being said this he will alway overshadow VDBeek just because he is a starter at liverpool so you cant expect anyone dethroning him from the midfield at the moment or anytime soon. Not sure what van ginkel might inject in the midfield when he return but it looks like koeman is not a big fan of him either. Still there has been no date for his return and the best thing for him would start in the pre season. Chelsea has been hit with transfer ban and who knows he might get some playing time. If PSV do decide to cash him in then he might be idle replacement for out going periero.

        1. I had been following Van Ginkel since his unlucky period in Chelsea

          It was that
          Time I started to hate mourinho also

          He should have stayed in Milan too bad he wasn’t due to many reasons

          Unlucky man throughout his career and I don’t think it will be easy for him to convince koeman

          As for the central midfield position , with Wijnaldum I am never convinced that Oranje will reaches its strongest formation .

          Patiently I will be waiting for “ the one “ . And I don’t think that will be Van de Beek either ..
          Maybe ihattaren, who knows ( if Frenkie plays on the left )

          1. Ziyech case was different,infact he wanted to play for dutch..he was waiting but Blind was really Blind to Avoid better players like Him,Babel(babbel was back on track).Danny was playing ring a ring rosa with Strootman,klassen,Daley blind as LCB,BMi as LCB etc..no wonder he spoiled our party..
            On the other side Hakim had some issue with marco van basten(which is very common with marco he is superegoistic)..Blind culd have tied him up with NT..if Blind had vision but you he is Blind…Blind proved he was joker when he played 18 year old Deligt with BMI at back for a crucial world cup match…i think that blunder sealed our fate for WC2018.

  87. Future could be when babel leaves

    Groenveld—-Depay—–Berjwin–
    ———-Donny———
    —–Frenkie—–Gravenberch–
    kongolo—Vandijk–Deligt—-Dumfries
    ————-Cillessen————
    on bench

    Stengs
    ihtatren
    Devrij
    karsdorp
    Ake
    St juste
    etc

    1. Front three is ok . Stengs
      And another 2 top strikers / wingers to be added ( redan , zirkzee , chong , kluivert and definitely dilrosun

      You go for Gravenberch instead of ihattaren who already a starter for PSV? Let’s
      Wait until Gravenberch starts for Ajax first then we will see
      If he is up to Oranje level

      Apart from
      That rest looks fine but I don’t think koeman will exclude Wijnaldum easily with all his experience

  89. Does anyone knows if Salzburg wins the game against Napoli tonight , will it affect the coefficient ranking and kick Ajax back to
    The 12th spot again?

  90. I mean I’m not sure now the coefficient ranking exactly works

    If the last Austrian team Salzburg still win 2-0, they will be out of the competition

    But since they won the match , they still get marks do they ?? And would that be enough for Austria to surpass Holland ?

      1. I have read this article already

        What I mean is if Salzburg win the second leg tonight ( Match only ) but stil lose on aggregate, would that still affect the coefficient ranking again ?

        Anyways it’s a real big shame how on earth could we have let these counties Russia turkey and Austria surpassed us !

          1. I got it wrong.yes they will move ahead and ajax will have to win or draw in one of the legs.

    1. don’t worry, we will back soon when Ajax at least have a draw upcoming matchs.

      With current performance & quality , i am confident home way they can win any opponent even if that is Barca 🙂

      1. Wel said Ruud !

        With this Ajax , we are not afraid even if we draw against Barcelona or Juventus.

        But no Man City or Liverpool pls ….
        Don’t wanna face Van Dijk … will be hard to watch

        1. You are correct

          Juventus: they have only Ronaldo if de Ligt can put him in pocket then done ( de Ligt has already made Ronaldo silent at national side)

          Barca: i believe Messi now afraid on de Jong, if de Jong possess the ball good then limit chance of Messi, de Ligt can stop all of Suares, Coutinho.

          Tadic, Mouzouri, de Beek, Ziyech, Neres can feel free to earn their name on scoresheet.
          ^^^^^

  93. Confirmed squad.

    Patrick Van Annholt, Steven Bergwijn, Marco Bizot,Ryan Babel, Donny Van der Beek, steven berghuis, Jasper Cillessen, Memphis Depay, Virgil Van Dijk, Nathan Ake, frenkie De jong,Marteen De Roon, Denzel Dumfries, Mattjis De ligt, Davy Propper,Quincy Promes,Kevin Strootman, Luuk De Jong, Kenny Tete, pabolo Rosario, georgino wijnaldum, Stefan De Vrij,Tony Vilhnea, Jeron Zoet and Daley Blind.

    * kevin strootman.

    Vormer is in way better form them him.

  94. Ajax vs. Juventus. It would be great if Ajax get points against Juventus. However, I do not believe Ajax will be able to pass this team. Apart from Ronaldo, Juventus will not make those defensive mistakes that Real did. I consider it the most possibly difficult draw for Ajax.

    1. Actually the majority ( non Dutch fans ) also thinks Ajax will win this

      I don’t think Juventus are actually that strong and I think Ajax with all the preparation will win both legs

  95. The full u21 squad

    Goalkeepers: Maarten Paes (FC Utrecht), Thijmen Nijhuis (FC Utrecht), Jan Hoekstra (FC Groningen).

    Defenders: Perr Schuurs (Ajax), Tyrell Malacia (Feyenoord), Rick van Drongelen (Hamburger SV), Justin Hoogma (St. Pauli), Deyovaisio Zeefuik (FC Groningen), Armando Obispo (PSV), Danilho Doekhi (Vitesse), Jordan Teze (PSV).

    Midfielders: Dani de Wit (Ajax), Ferdi Kadioglu (Fenerbahçe), Teun Koopmeiners (AZ), Abdou Harroui (Sparta Rotterdam), Deroy Duarte (Sparta Rotterdam).

    Attackers: Justin Kluivert (AS Roma), Calvin Stengs (AZ), Tahith Chong (Manchester United), Javairô Dilrosun (Hertha BSC), Kaj Sierhuis (FC Groningen), Cody Gakpo (PSV), Donyell Malen (PSV).

  96. The german squad.

    Goalkeepers

    Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt)

    Defenders

    Matthias Ginter (Borussia Monchengladbach), Thilo Kehrer (Paris Saint-Germain), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea), Nico Schulz (Hoffenheim), Niklas Sule (Bayern Munich), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen), Niklas Stark (Hertha Berlin), Marcel Halstenberg (RB Leipzig), Lukas Klostermann (RB Leipzig)

    Midfielders

    Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Maximilian Eggestein (Werder Bremen), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City), Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)

    Forwards

    Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Timo Werner (Leipzig), Leroy Sane (Manchester City), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund)

    I really fancy this squad over the dutch and as mentioned eariler while the dutch are contemplating on staying put, the Germans seem to have taken a stride.

    Will be interesting game.

    1. Oranje’s squid is boring , and it’s a weaker
      Team compared to the one that Played against Belgium few month ago

      That’s because there is no Danjuma and there is not much depth on the bench

      Koeman should
      Have at least brought in some new faces but no he sticker with the original ones

      I would love him to bring in ihattaren or even kluivert in . And dilrosun

      Give Them a few minutes at least

      But no he kept Luuk and strootman and even Vormer ( who will never be Oranje material ) instead .

      Very dissspointed

          1. I think Jurgen Iocadia and Bacuna at least should have being called up given they have very active with brighton and Hudderfield respectively. Bacuna has been a revelation for huddersfield in the midfield.its very unfortunate that they will be relegated and with it bacuna as well.

            Locadia also could have provided that ariel presence in the box.

          2. LUUK IS NOT BAD..He did really well when he replaced dilruson…but strootman hell no,neither i dont want to see vormer..
            we have Babel,Promes,Depay,Berjwin and berghius up front thats an okay thing but There should haven Calvin stengs..espcially when Danjuma is absent

  97. A very strong U19 side named by marteen Stekelenburg. If he fail with this contingent again KNVB should show him the exist for all levels.

    Jurgen Ekkelenkamp Ajax
    Jurriën Timber Ajax
    Mitchel Bakker Ajax
    Ryan Gravenberch Ajax
    Sven Botman Ajax
    Jasper Schendelaar AZ
    Peer Koopmeiners AZ
    Daishawn Redan Chelsea
    Juan Familia Castillo Chelsea
    Kjell Scherpen FC Emmen
    Ludovit Reis FC Groningen
    Lutsharel Geertruida Feyenoord
    Orkun Kökcü Feyenoord
    Ramon Hendriks Feyenoord
    Wouter Burger Feyenoord
    Ole ter Haar Romeny N.E.C. Nijmegen
    Sepp van den Berg PEC Zwolle
    Mohammed Amine Ihattaren PSV
    Tijn Daverveld PSV
    Zakaria Aboukhlal PSV

    1. This is typically the type of team you wanna see for NT. Up to two to three potential players in every position.good competition could be on the cards with the likes of Bakker and castillo at LB, Ihattrren,Kokcu, Reis in the middle.

      Also for the very first time it seems like somebody has gotten the benefit of doubt. Yes Redan off course and Buitink looks to have become a victim of this and left.this is very not common in dutch football. I did mention about this earlier and finally the criteria looks to have been bent.

      2. Talking about Daishawn Redan , I’m not sure if he should still stay at Chelsea

        No matter how many goals he scores, I doubt if Chelsea would ever let him go to the first team

        He better make a decision and or follow dilrosun go to somewhere where he can play every week

        1. If you think about it he would have collided with Brian Brobbery if he would have stayed at ajax so in a way his move to chelsea was not bad.such was also the case during in the u17s that won the EC but he receive the benefit of doubt over brobbery. His contract at chelsea expires in 2021 and in 2 years time he certainly would be in pecking order behind the likes of Lammers, Malen, Venema, sierhuis who are playing in top flight at this point in time.one thing for sure he has made a mark for himself and with the way things are unfolding like his selection in the u19s, it shows the dutch selectors are willing to give him top priority status. Both him and brobbery were in the u17s, brobbery moved up to u18s, while redan moved up u19s. This has been very rare to see especially when you are not playing in nerthlands.it further shows they have tagged him to become next big name striker.(in contexts to kluivets heir). If you compare him to Malen when he was at Arsenal,he never received he same privileges.

          Chelsea has a good relations with Vitesse and thats where Redan should target to see off one year of the remaining two years. This can prepare his platform for ajax return when his contract expires and becomes a free agent.If he signs a contract extension, he will probably end up like callum hudson Odi, Manson Mount and few others who are playig championship. At 20 even he returns to ajax it wont halt his development at at all. With the contigent that ajax have in the youth ranks. Schuurs, gravenberch,lang, Brobbery,Dest, Unuvar, if these guys collide in 2020,Ajax will be the team to watch and off course CL will be the icing on the cake. I think this can be the best route for Redan.

          castillos contract also expires in the summer and ahe also is looking for a escape route.

          1. Projecting the 2020 ajax team with redan

            Brobbery – *Redan

            Lang-Gravenberch- Eiting-*Doan

            Bakker- *Pierie- Schuurs- mazzaroui

            * scherpen

            * already made contacts.

  98. Very detailed cheers

    By the way , it seems that you’re not that worried with the departure of the de Jong and De Ligt and still think Ajax can shine the same next year ?

    1. It will be intresting to see who all depart from Ajax after the season comes to a end. Neres, tagliafico,Onana,De ligt,Ziyech are on the radar and has been linked to prominent cubs.if this has to happen then ajax will require a massive overhaul. Ajax still have veltman, Christensen and Mallagan on the bench for CB options plus schuurs.

      In the midfield gravenberch is an ideal replacement for De Jong. Eiting probably could be another option with schone who most probaby will retire at Ajax.Matusiwa is also on loan and pretty active at De Graafschap. Might recall him as well.not mention daley blind who always have the hand of god on his head.

      On the hand hand im very curious to see what happens to daley sinkgraven. He might get the opportunity once the midfield gets less crowded.

      1. Well indeed

        Ajax is a club least to worried about selling their best players . Because it takes less than 3 years to get a new batch of world class players ( used to be ….)

        Anyways , really disappointed with their loss last night . If they play like this no way they gonna best Juventus

        Was completely different from the team they best Real Madrid

        Good thing Danjuma is back . I see him as an exceptional one for Oranje

        By the way , I watched Quincy Promes last night

        Although he didn’t score any goals but I must say he impressed me . And he will bring something to our frontline as he is dfifferent than Bergwijn but quick also then

        Good to use when the opposite is tired

  100. I was really hoping Ajax would get the title this year

    Because I simply don’t think PSv deserves it , based on the way they played in champions league

    Sorry I may offend. Psv fans but Ajax has
    Made Dutch football shine again and Psv didn’t

    Jan are you still alive ?

  101. the U19s beat wales 2-1. Castillo had put them ahead only for the Welsh to equalize.van der berg struck the winner late to secure the victory. Strong contingent as expected in the starting 11 with Zirkzee coming of the bench.

    castillo – Redan – Ihattaren

    Kokcu

    Reis – Gravenberch

    bakker – Botman – Van Der Berg – Geertrulda

    scherpen

    1. Joshua Zirkzee keeps scoring for Bayern and it reports that he is on the edge of getting into the first team

      Anyone knows why he is not selected for Oranje or did I miss anything ?

      1. I think I have already touched on this. When it comes to dutch football the “benefit of doubt” factor only comes in 1. When you are a player of high quality and the KNVB wants to tie you down or 2. You are playing consecutively at a top level or in a prominent club.

        Again Groeneveld is a good example I followed this guy at NEC and if not for his move to Club Brugge, there is no way in the name of almighty that he would gotten the nod in NT.this is what dutch football about.its either you prove beyond doubt you are the real deal or you simply go down trying to do this.In Groeneveld case he made his mark in the first four games for Brugge and then in CL as well where scored that stunner.that was it.

        Zirkzee will never receive a call up just by playing and scoring at u23 level for Bayern. He has been even overshadowed by those in the u21s who are playing in eredivisie. Malen, kaj sierhuis etc.

        You might ask youself here if tahith chong is there then why not zirkzee. (in the u21s). Again it comes down to talent. Chong ceiling looks much higher to that of zirkzee and this is also evident with Redan starting ahead of him in the u19s.

        There are other players as well who have become victim to this kind of *policy.Bacuna being one of them whose future looked bright when he was at Groningen.he was a constant starter at u21 level and now even though he is active at Huddesfield, the doors slam shut on him.

        Bakker and Pierie are other players I feel should have been in the u21 squad.

    1. TBH the tete incident basically throws the limeight on the integrity of his selection itself. Tete has played very little for lyon and should have been deemed to be unfit but like I always say, Koeman wouldnt have expected Dumfries to get injured and hence Tete was just there to make numbers.I mean this is where I always emphasize on the need to rotate players for good back up options. Off course tete has had a fair share of playing time at NT level and defensively offers more stability, the fact that he hasnt played much should have not been overlooked. Thats what happened, I cant remember him warming up to that of propper and luuk on the side lines. Hateboer, Janmaat or karsdorp should have been called up instead. Imagine if this was a crunch match and they had to play with 10 players.

  114. I have no problem with Babel
    , he is giving his best same as when he’s playing for club

    But I’m not so sure what is going on with Bergwijn ? He seems unable to snow what he is capable of When with Psv ?

    Really hoping for the new bench of wingers and strikers to come in

    We need to build up the strong depth of bench before
    The likes of Frenkie , Depay gets injury

    1. I said this before and im saying this again, in eredivisie Bergwijn scores because of medicore back line in most teams except for the top 3. He easily gets diffused when defenders double tag him. This is why I don’t rate him highly unless he raises his stakes outside of eredivisie or in CL like groeneveld did then it becomes legit to have a look at him again. Otherwise he just another average winger. Im sure alot of team must have been scouting him in this internarional break and if he was average vs belaraus then you cant expect anything more from him vs germany. The germany backline is in a transition and maybe this could be an advantage for the dutch attack.

      Whats starting to get me about koeman is that fact that he has said he doesnt wanna make much changes which remains of that dump daddy blind who persisted and persisted only to find himself sweating every time there were injuries. This is what I dont understand about dutch football and koeman who dont wanna prepare for rainy days what so ever. Depay, Frenkie, Van Dijk, any of the big 3 gets injured, koeman will be scratching his head. I mean he needs to build Ake and De Vrij combo or van Dijk/Ake or De Ligt/ Ake combo rather than just waiting for any of de ligt or van dijk to get injured and then finding himself having no chemistry in backup options.

      Tete incident just shows he was selected on the basis of NT cap under his belt and not his form and probably this is why hateboer or janmaat was overlooked.To be honest this is where the menality needs to change and players need to be called up based on their form and not where they play.

      1. @Wilson,

        Totally agree that players for the most part should be brought in based on form. However, I’m not 100% following your comment: ” I mean he needs to build Ake/De Vrij combo or Van Dijk/Ake or De Ligt/Ake combo rather than just waiting for any [of them] to get injures and then finding himself having no chemistry or backup options.”

        What would be your proposal for how he should he go about building that chemistry given the restrictions of operating a national team.

        The team is only together for brief periods over the course of a calendar year, and much of that time must by necessity be geared to tactical sessions, not all out practices. My guess is that Ake and DeVrij are playing together at practice, and maybe swapping in with the others. But other than brief practice time, how do you get Ake or DeVrij time with VVD or De Ligt? Would you have started one of them against Belarus? Doesn’t it make sense that De ligt and Van Dijk would play together in the Belarus game so that, after not playing with one another for months, they can re-acclimate to each other as preparation for the Germany match?

        People can, and will, always argue about selections…been going on since the dawn of sports. But once the selections are made, there really isn’t any time over the calendar year (especially now with the nations League taking most of what used to be the friendly slots) for Koeman to try different combinations, or to work with players so that they can play other positions (for example, Ake as a MF— ever since he has been a regular in the Premier League his club managers have played him as Defender. Koeman isn’t going to turn him into a MF in one practice session)…Koeman is doing nothing more or less than NT managers have always done—selecting and starting the players he thinks will give him the best chance of winning the games that count, and hoping that his selection gels. So far it has.

        I completely agree that the team is in trouble if Memphis, VVD, FDJ, De ligt get injured…but, in my view, the drop off will be caused by the drop off in talent more than a failure not to groom a replacement…I mean how do you replace a VVD or an FDJ? Those guys are unique talents.

        Anyway, this is just my view.

        1. Thanks Andrew. You have some legit points there but I think the part where you said;

          ” once the selections are made, there really isn’t any time over the calendar year (especially now with the nations League taking most of what used to be the friendly slots) for Koeman to try different combinations, or to work with players so that they can play other positions” is quiet not true.

          I think koeman did have fair share of time with team. Before the nations league, the dutch played around 7 friendlys.koeman started with 3-4-3 and reverted back to 4-3-3.In most of these games De ligt and van dijk featured prominently together including the nations league.others being Blind, Rekik ,Ake and De Vrij. All in all apart from rekik the rest have being regular call ups by koeman and like you said in training or practise runs they must be swapping in,itself should lay the platform for back up players to transition themself to the point where they can called upon any time given they are training together to getting well versed with each other. the only thing that remains here is for the coach to go with the guts and give them the nod other wise its just a waste of time calling them.

          My argument is this,if there is a player who is playing exceptionally well at club level then he should get the nod at some point in time to see if he can be an upgrade to existing options.
          To think about it how did De Vrij went from a regular to a bench player in NT.how???

          Here is another scenario.what if tommorrow both Ake and De ligt get transferred to big name teams. What if Ake experiences turns to provide him a firm grip in that team while De ligt on the other hand finds it going tough. I mean its back to square one, isnt it. Ake will easily get the benefit of doubt and maybe de ligt will find himself on the bench, like de vrij now.

          This has being common in thr past years where players have gotten the nod in NT because of their exceptional performance in eredivisie and never to be called up after the failure to cope up abroad in other leagues.

          This is where I think a good rotation can come in very handy.
          I think its all about nailing it,coming with opportunity. The same thing happened with. Promes and Groeneveld. Groeneveld nailed it when got the nod and im sure he will get the nod over bergwijn and promes again when he is fit.

  115. Watched england and czech Republic and I must say jordan sancho will be the next star for england.the only thing left for them now is to build a good chemistry in midfield.henderson and Dier cant play together. Last time around when dutch played England both teams were in transition but this time around in the nations league it could well reveal who has gone to build a better foundation a in terms of player development.

    1. In a way Gareth Southgate is more bold in using new players compared to koeman

      Am not saying koeman is not giving the youngsters the chances but he is taking less risk in this aspect

      The current Oranje team has not much depth in the the front as well as midfield

      Perhaps ihattaren is the missing puzzle we are waiting for

      It’s good that koeman has a coffee with him … fingers crosss we won’t let him escape to Morrocco

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