AZ gives Eredivisie clubs hope!

real 2 barca 6 (robben 0 – messi 2)

against chelsea it will be a different game,different team. i’m very happy,but don’t overrate the result because apart casillas every single barca player is better than them.

pathetic display by RM, no cohesion. Fantastic display Barca – slick passing. Men playing Boys reminded me so much of Ajax v Bayern n CL 1995.

Posted from  Singapore

real need to sell lass, the italian, drenthe, heinze, saviola, and the german.

Posted from  United States

real should keep casillas,sergio ramos,robben,higuain,huntelaar probably raul because he’s raul and sell the rest.

I haven’t seen Real play much, but when I have it’s always a disappointment. The only reason I watch them is because of the dutch players there, but I would prefer if they were just sold off to other clubs so I wouldn’t have to watch this travesty anymore. Their defense was just so horribly unorganized; yes Barcelona outplayed them, but real madrid also defended like little kids with all four defenders going for one attacker and leaving the other completely open. On top of that, only Robben is in the starting eleven. This is not good for our national team; we should have players who are consistently in the starting 11, especially when i see someone like Gago, who really sucks, get picked above VDV. What is this coach thinking? I’m glad some madman is coming to take over Real who wants to sell the dutch players. Good. Let them leave this crap club. Having said that, I have some suggestions as to where I would LIKE these players to go; probably won’t happen but would be awesome if it did.

Van der Vaart – Arsenal (though he has more chance of starting at Chelsea). I think he would really shine at both clubs, but Arsenal is just much more fun to watch anyways .

Van Nistelrooy – Back to Man U if possible. He’s only got 2 more years or so left in him though I think, so really it’s his choice. I don’t see him going to Man City, but they definitely want him.

Sneijder – Is already being linked to Inter. Not a big fan of Serie A, but this deal seems to be underway already. Sneijder needs to play for a team that plays attacking style football, like Barca or Arsenal.

Drenthe – Go to a club where he can get starting time. Maybe a stint at HSV/Bayern Munich will let him actually develop as a player, instead of a benchwarmer/coffeegetter.

Robben – Wow, I think pretty much any team on the planet would want him it seems. I would love to see him back in the Premier League with one of the top four. But he still has fitness issues that need to be addressed (he’s gotten less injuries, but still weak). I’ve noticed he lacks the balance to accompany his speed; training on that should significantly help reduce his falls as well as self-produced injuries.

Huntelaar – Apparently he’s staying. I hope not, he will not get to start till Raul is gone from the club which will be like…2025. Scoring 8 goals in 6 games was apparently not enough to convince the coach for a starting spot. Most clubs have their attacking talents covered, can’t really imagine him ousting berbatov, drogba, etc. The only club I can imagine is Liverpool, every game ive seen Torres play since the EC has been a disappointment. Too selfish. Put somewhere like Huntelaar at striker with the types of passes Gerrard gives and you will have lots of goals.

I couldn’t even enjoy watching the game last night, simply because I knew that the Dutch players were being passed up when they shouldnt have been, and they only get to play when theyre 5-2 behind. At that point, you cant do much. Ive also noticed in some other games that they just dont get to play their game, their style. Theyre forced to play differently and that seems to especially hurt VDV. It’s better if they go to clubs where they will have a bit more freedom to dictate how they play if you know what I mean.

Where do you guys think they should go?

Posted from  Netherlands

Think some Dutch Magnate should buy West Brom and fill it up with the Dutch overseas players not playing regularly for big clubs.Built it up the way Muhren and Thijssen were the envy of every English club when they played for Ipswich.

Posted from  Singapore

@ ferenc
sneijder and gago should stay

Posted from  United States

Jeroen: i think you’re absoliutely right. i’ve been saying that from the very beginning of this dutch period at real. no point to be there for warming the bench. real’s style will never ever become dutch school. vdv was a world class player at madrid now he’s the pale shadow of himself. very,very sad. you cannot touch raul so huntelaar will always be his replacement. drenthe should go to hamburg. and they all should move this summer for having time enough in their new clubs. i want them to see playing not sitting on the bench. they made mistakes for going to real just because of the name (and the money): a club with glorious past but with less than mediocre present. this year they met 3 top clubs: juventus,barca,pool. against juventus: 1-2,0-2,against pool: 0-1,0-5,against barca:0-2,2-6. and yesterday we didn’t play at 100%.

@jeroen: Agree with ost of what you say. The main exception is Huntelaar. First of all, Torres has played many a good game for Liverpool since the EC, and I have seen every single game they have played. He took a while to get fit from his injury(ies), but you can’t fault Torres play. When you play most of time in what is effectively a 4-5-1 formation, your lone striker will have to be selfish. However, I don’t view Torres as a particular selfish player. In any event, if Hunter was there, what do you do? Do you change a pretty successful formation and play both of them, do you rotate them Benitez style and piss both of them off, or do you have one of them drop back as the holding striker/attacking midfielder and then where do you put Gerrard? Besides Torres is already a fan legend at Anfield. Not a great environment for a similar predator of a striker to be accepted. There just isn’t a good spot for Hunter at Liverpool. If the Prem was an option, Man City would be great for him or even better Everton, but they don’t have the money.

I think an abitious club with all the resources in the world would be perfect for him. He would unquestionably be their top striker, and playing in front of Robinho or have him serve it up from either side, isn’t bad at all. I think Hunter would be great in the Prem. Even potentially at Arsenal although Man C would be perfect for him

Finn, Man C offered 40 mil Euros to Ajax for Hunter in August last year.

Posted from  Singapore

@Carlos, yes, but if you have to sit on the bench week after week after producing the goods, you will be annoyed and maybe City is still an option when they settle on all of their own issues for next season, including the manager question.

At least with Man City, money will not be an option as opposed to Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton and even Man Utd. Arsenal will also have the cash though in the summer after clearing out.

28 mins gone at L’pool 2-0 up against Newcastle. Kuyt an assist and the second goal. Sorry Tiju, but he’s looking real good again.

Newcastle running out of games and points.

Excellent performance by Liverpool. 23+ attempts on goal, three on the bar.

As for Madrid, I think Ramos makes a mess of things. In big games he plays Gago and Lass. No creativity. Real couldn’t hold on to the ball. Higuain misses vision and Raul is over the hill. The back four was horrible this time around. Cannavaro can’t handle the pace, Metzfelder is an old fashioned stopper and Heinzte is horribly overrated. Without Guti and Sneijder Ramos should have started with Rafael. Benching Huntelaar says a lot too. Coward!

Real have no consistancy, neither in coaching nor in their squad.Coaches and players come and go like crazy. V.d.Vaart, Sneijder, Drenthe an Robben do deserve better. I say Barcelona for V.Persie then Arsenal/Chelsea/Juventus for v.d.Vaart. Drenthe to Fiorentina, HSV, Werder Bremen, or some other in that categorie. Huntelaar can play anywhere. AC Milan would seem like a perfect match for him. Sneijder maybe an Italian club.

Posted from  Netherlands

I totally agree with Alex. The problem of Real is that they have too much money so that they just buy new players and coaches. They don’t protect their players except Raul, Ramos and Casillas. Look at VDV, he was a phenomenon at the start of the league and then they throw him to the bench when he didn’t perform. Same for Sneijder, one very good season and one bad season then they want to sell him. They should definitely go to other clubs.

Is Sneijder injured? I did not see him on the bench. All Dutch players must go to other clubs. VdV must leave Madrid. It is an order! There’s no place for him at Madrid.

Posted from  Indonesia

Yeah, Sneijder wasn’t fit.

I’m with Jan – Ramos just makes a mess of things. No wonder they lose against the big clubs when he plays Lass and Gago in the midfield every time. It results in no creativity, inability to hold the ball, and just crappy overall play. With the exception of their defense, Real still has a lot of very good players. If they got a new coach and some better defenders to go with Sergio Ramos and crazy-ol’-Pepe, they could potentially have a pretty decent team. But I’m not convinced they will fix anything this summer, and so I think most of the Dutchies might be smart to move to a new team – but not to an Italian team like some people are suggesting… Italian teams are crap lately.

Posted from  Canada

italian teams might be crap but:

cl 1/16 2008: as roma-real madrid 2-1,2-1
cl group stage 20008/2009 juventus-real madrid 2-1,2-0

it means that italian teams are still better than real madrid,so our merengue boys wouldn’t make any mistake to go there instead of playing in madrid

madrid downfall is not only juande’s mistake. in the midfield you need at least one holding midfielder,it means you cannot start with robben,sneijder,vdv,marcelo because someone has to defend,especially against barca. anyway lass and gago didn’t defend,neither…

btw,luis will stay at alkmaar. great!

Rumours are rife in Manchester that Tevez will join Real in the summer.

Not sure that is what they need. How about a capable defender or three?

Finn: to be honest,what’s the reason for top players to join madrid? go from one of the best – if not the best – club of the world to a team always eliminated in the 1/16 in the cl? in 2000 perez had a far easier job: real won the cl,they were the best team in spain with world class players (raul,roberto carlos,steve macmanaman,redondo etc.) etc. the best players of the world are in top clubs so i cannot see too many possibilities for perez. first they should look around at their youth system and try to build something from scratches. and i really hope for the oranje that it will happen without dutch players. drenthe could be a regular starter in a top german club like hamburg. vdv could be the playmaker at valencia. huntelaar could have joined manunited. sneijder could be the playmaker at inter or mian (both of them are far better than real madrid). robben? different story because of his injuries. if i were a top manager i wouldn’t sign him. too risky. and ruud should return to psv.

I agree about Ramos. The mess started way back. When Capello was insulted and told to leave while winning La Liga. Since then it was all over the place! Where’s the youngsters? Michel, Butra, Raul, Morales…all great Madrid developed lads. Guti is the last one. Sergio Ramos was also signed.

Marcello, Heintze, Cannavaro, Gago, Higuain…they should go. Drenthe and Vaart should go too. Then they need some strong replacements and guys with lungs and mentality. Kuyt! Oops…Dutch…

Very off topic: But just as I am sitting right now wearing my 1971 Johan Neeskens signed Ajax jersey that he gave to my brother’s ex-wife , what is the best jersey ever in your opinion?

My calls:
1) The Oranje Big Ass Lion in the Middle shirt. Best ever. Just intimidating beyond belief. You just can’t play properly against someone wearing that stuff. Never mind the legends that wore it.

2) The old Ajax shirt from early 70′ies. Totally awesome.

3) Barcelona home shirt has always looked very good and appealing to me. A few very good players wore those colours…