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Arjen Robben wants to please the fans…

March 30th, 2009 | By: Jan | 27 Comments »

Arjen Robben was told that he’d start against Scotland at 18.45 on Saturday. And he knew exactly what he wanted to do. “I really wanted to play a great game,” the ex Groningen player said after the 3-0.

“I’m doing well in Spain. I am fit, and I have my contribution in the victories and goals. And I wanted to demonstrate this to the home fans. It’s been a while,” stated the Madrid winger. And it was. Ten months ago, to be precise.

An interesting statistic: of all starting players, Robben was the only player with Van der Wiel who hadn’t played in a home game under the new manager.

The only minutes the winger got under Van Marwijk were in Russia, Macedonia and in Tunesia. Two friendlies and the opening of the series, away from home.

Holland – Wales in 2008 was Robben’s last game on his own soil. Saturday, the ex-PSV player met his own expectations. Robben was Oranje’s danger man against Scotland.

The 37 years old Alexander was his opponent and he flashed past him as if he didn’t exist. The high point was the one touch passing move, accepting a cross pass from Van Bommel. He took the ball and in one flowing move passed the defender. It took a courageous block by goalie McGregor to stop Robben from scoring.

One minute later, Robben had his share in the 1-0 and right before half time, Robben kicked the corner out of which Van Persie scored the 2-0.

Those cross balls to the flank are important for Robben, he admitted after his 39th international game. Whenever the team can switch the play some 40 meters, he might just gain those valuable two seconds extra time and space for a lively action.

Bert van Marwijk after the game: “I did see some elements I’d like to improve on. For one, we needed to play in Robben much sooner and much more often.”

Another remarkable performance last Saturday was Gregory van der Wiel’s. In his starting debut.

The 21 year old played it simple in the first half. In the second half he decided to seek more adventure. “For me it was pretty daunting. My first real game in Oranje. It’s going so fast now,” said Van der Wiel, who broke into Ajax this season and made his official debut for Oranje in Tunisia.

He purposely decided to first assess how the Scots would play. “You know, playing it simple. Short passes. Winning the challenges and not doing anything flash. Gaining confidence and settling into the game. And when that works, you can try to do a bit more. I have faith in my strong points and in my case that’s the offensive run on the flanks. I’m happy with lots of space in front of me. The support of the fans and my mates were all I needed. And Van Bommel and Ooijer were constantly coaching me.”

There’s a fair chance that Van der Wiel will start against Macedonia as well, with Heitinga officially out.

Van Marwijk on Van der Wiel: “Obviously, he was a tad insecure before the match. Any player making his debut would have that. But he played on his home turf, which settled him down a bit. He’s done very well.”

Tags: Bommel, Group C, Oranje, Robben, Van der Wiel, Van Marwijk

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 27 comments.

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By Mark | March 30th, 2009 at 1:34 pm

@alaa
you are exactly right.

Posted from Netherlands

By goose | March 30th, 2009 at 2:42 pm

@alaa ; he still cries like a little girl whenever hes touched, he may have improved a bit but still not enough for me..and i never said he wasnt a great winger, he is

btw ; vPersie is out for the game v Macedonia ; easy let off for Bert this time

Posted from Netherlands

By Samuel Knight (Oudegeest) | March 30th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

Robben’s most important statistic is assists.

If he’s passing the ball, he adds value.

When he holds it too long, he detracts.

However, I’d actually not start him next game. Too many games and he gets hurt.

Posted from United States

By Bart | March 30th, 2009 at 3:03 pm

Ok well seeing as he’s been playing for a while now without being hurt. I’d say he’s not ‘as’ injury prone anymore.

Posted from Canada

By Sol | March 30th, 2009 at 4:30 pm

I’ve never noticed Robben whining or crying that much. Then again, I’ve never seen him in his earlier career (only the matches he played for Oranje).

I think he might have made a bad reputation and he’s still paying for it, cause I just can’t see what some of you guys are seeing, and this year I’ve seen him at Madrid as well, no whining there either, at least not visibly more so then any other player.

And it’s also not a question that he’s too selfish when on the ball, it’s more a question about not knowing when to pass or when to go for goal himself. I’ve seen him made passes when he should have gone for goal himself and I’ve seen him gone for goal when he should have passed, so I think it’s more of an intellectual and tactical issue that he has to deal with.

Posted from Netherlands

By Sol | March 30th, 2009 at 4:32 pm

And situational awareness, something Kuyt and Huntelaar excell at.

Posted from Netherlands

By Sol | March 30th, 2009 at 4:36 pm

excell=excel

Posted from Netherlands

By Histow | March 30th, 2009 at 4:41 pm

Robben is simply the best =D He may dived a little too much before, but now he doesn’t anymore! And he isn’t injured as much as before! So Arjen Robben is going to be the best player of the world

By Michel-Olivier | March 30th, 2009 at 5:20 pm

@ goose
at least robben is not like divaldo

Posted from United States

By Jan | March 30th, 2009 at 5:23 pm

I think the comments made by his coach back at PSV (was the Hiddink??) that he should stop moaning everytime he was brought down are still hurting Robben.

He was a well protected lad from Groning’n when he moved to PSV at 18 years old and wanted some protection from his coach. The coach wanted to toughen him up and said something to the press about Robben being a little girl.

Since then, the guy played in the EPL, now in Spain, is 25 years old and definitely a tough bloke otherwise you won’t make it with Terry, Lampard and all the other butchers.

So, I think we should forgive Robben his facial expressions. I think many times the annoyance is aimed at himself more than the ref. It’s just how he is.

As for diving, I remember in the Portugal match in WC2006 that he was yellow carded for diving in the box. I thought that he did too. But the replay from behind the goal showed that while he was in full speed and both feet off the ground, he did get a little nudge. Only slightly. But enough to take him out. That actually should have been a penalty.

And therefore, Holland- Portugal should have been….[rest deleted by blog editors]

By Jeroen | March 30th, 2009 at 5:39 pm

Robben used to dive a bit, not anymore though. His face is whiny when he gets hit, but so are about 70% of football players’. Whatever diet he’s on now is working for him, because he hasn’t been injured in forever and is finally able to show what he’s about. I think he’s a bit selfish, but that is more than compensated for the danger he presents. He forces two men to mark him, which opens up another player of ours freely.
I think his problem is his face. In all honesty, he looks like an arrogant unfriendly guy. But that’s just by looks and says nothing about his real character.

Posted from Netherlands

By Carlos | March 30th, 2009 at 5:57 pm

Well Sneijder will be in, think Babel will be on the Bench and Huntelaar given 60-70 min (he’s on yellow). Apart from that no change. Wiel will continue and hope he makes the runs down the wing as he has ample cover in Kuyt Bommel and de Jong.

Posted from Singapore

By Carlos | March 30th, 2009 at 6:08 pm

Prediction time: Holland 3 Mac 1 – Think Wesley/Wiel n Robben will play out of their shoes here. There is so much competition to impress and do well. Even Babel may score at the end if he gets on. (Hope so)

Posted from Singapore

By bobotoh | March 30th, 2009 at 7:58 pm

Van Persie is injured. How bad is that? I think Sneijder will become the number 10 again. But, if Holland plays with one holding midfielder, then VdV would start (with Sneijder).

Posted from Indonesia

By Bruce | March 30th, 2009 at 8:12 pm

Yeah, I agree with comments here.

I, like Goose, can’t stand his facial expressions after he gets tackled, but who knows what I look like when that happens. He’s not someone like Ronaldo who would practice his reactions in front of the mirror whilst gelling his hair before each game, so he deserves that much credit.

In reality, from what I have read about Arjen, he is a very down-to-earth family guy, so I do think we need to give him some slack. It’s just hard because us Dutch are typically no-nonsense, tough guys.

And I don’t think anyone (even in Holland), would question his talent!

By Bruce | March 30th, 2009 at 8:27 pm

You can pick your starting eleven against Macedonie at VI.nl…. see how close you can get!

http://www.vi.nl/Competities/WKKwalificatie2010/KiesDeElfTegenMacedoni.htm

By bobotoh | March 30th, 2009 at 8:54 pm

My formation is almost the same as when Holland faced Scotland. Only replace De Jong with Sneijder, and van persie with Van Der Vaart.

Posted from Indonesia

By Jan | March 30th, 2009 at 9:46 pm

hear hear bobo

By Jan | March 30th, 2009 at 9:56 pm

Did we ever have a more skilled player on the left flank? I think you need to go back all the way to Mr Rob Rensenbrink in 1974. Even Marc Overmars wasn’t as skilled as Arjen…

By Carlos | March 30th, 2009 at 11:18 pm

Jan ? There was a certain Coen Molijn my uncle (Feyenoord Man) use to rave about ??? Any clips on him ? Overmars was just quick and 2 footed. Arjen has that ONE foot problem…but then so did Maradona right ? maybe that should be “left”.

Posted from Singapore

By Miguel Rosado | March 30th, 2009 at 11:30 pm

Robben has matured a lot, I remember him whining much more 1 or 2 years ago but in Spain he has grown a lot as a footballer and besides I really don’t care if he cries too much as long as he keeps playing the way he’s playing now.

By Bruce | March 31st, 2009 at 12:04 am

@ Carlos

Moulijn was even still a bit of a different player. He was more of a playmaker, whereas Robben is more of a goal scorer. From what I’ve seen of him in clips, he was quite amazing, and Cruijff had a lot to say about him…

Some clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTQwNb3Q9jc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQRQN4YR7nw&feature=related

By Jan | March 31st, 2009 at 5:10 am

@Bruce…don’t agree about the playmaker moniker for Coen. He was a dribbler. Much like Robben. Only a left foot to play with. Small, a big balding like Robben. He’d crouch down, pull his head in and take on opponents. There’s a famous clip (maybe on Youtube) where some South American (?) opponent kicks Coen Moulijn. Mayhem ensues. The whole Feyenoord team starts to chase that particular player and the ref is totally at wit’s end . Classic stuff.

In those days, Oranje had Piet Keizer, the Ajax magician (step over king and wonderful crosses) and Coen Moulijn. They said about Moulijn (probably based on the French word Moulin, meaning “mill”) that even if he’d go to De Kuip to play cards, 1000s of people would buy a ticket to watch him do just that.

There will be a statue for the man in Rotterdam soon.

But he was a true winger. Always glued to the touch line. Moulijn was Oranje’s left winger before Piet Keizer. After Keizer, it was Rensenbrink. Overmars was the first real left winger of any real impact. In between, we had players like John van ‘t Schip playing there (actually a right winger) and players like Bryan Roy and Rob Witschge who were too light. In the 1980s, Oranje played 4-4-2 and typical 4-4-2 strikers like Pier Tol or Rene van der Gijp or Pierre Vermeulen were tested but never really set the world on fire…

Goose, am I missing someone?

By Bruce | March 31st, 2009 at 7:34 pm

Yeah, you’re right. He was more of a dribbler, but he wasn’t a prolific goal scorer by any means, correct? I haven’t seen a whole lot of him, but what I have seen him do is dribble past 3 guys, before dishing it off.

By Jan | March 31st, 2009 at 8:22 pm

True. Wasn’t a great goal scorer. Started at the half way line, would stop at the corner flag and cross it in

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