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Boring Champions League: ready for retirement

December 10th, 2008 | By: Jan | 51 Comments »

On the last match day of the CL, the crumbs were handed out. Who will play in the UEFA cup and who will remain at home after the winter? All the numbers ones and twos were already known.

The last match day did serve up some exciting football, with Dutchman Steve Olfers of Aalburg upsetting the Red Devils at home in Manchester. Or Celtic giving Villareal a run for their money. Liverpool 2 did very well in Eindhoven (1-3, after PSV opened their account first. Ryan Babel scored the equalizer) and Real Madrid finally played a good game again against Advocaat’s Zenit St Petersburg. Real Madrid, in the run up to the Barca game in Camp Nou, finally played good football under new coach Juande Ramos. Raul scored after a goalie howler, Arjen Robben scored the 2-0 (named the best goal of the tournament so far) in Bergkamp chip style and Raul thought: if Robben can score like that, so can I. The all time top scorer in the CL chipped the third goal in after a shrewd Robben assist.

In the last CL group game, the only surprise left was Famagusta, but they were put in their place with a vengeance by Henk ten Cate’s Panathinaikos in Athens. And by Louis van Gaal in a tv studio in Hilversum.

“They’re slightly better than Holland’s best amateur club,” mumbled the AZ coach, who had hoped for more excitement.

This was one of the most boring group stages in years. In six of the eight groups, the numbers one and two were known already. The NOS, broadcaster in Holland, also stated that viewing numbers aren’t up.

“The CL is the biggest stage, but the ratings are down. And that’s an understatement,” says VI’s media director Jan de Jong. One of the main reasons is the lack of Dutch club success at this level of course.

“Hopefully AZ Alkmaar will change that next year,” the NOS management sighed.

The statistics tell us that structurally, the big clubs rule, have ruled and will keep on ruling. Think Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barca, Inter, Arsenal, Lyon, AC Milan, Man United, Porto and Bayern. Normally, Juventus would be among those, but the bribing scandal changed the Old Lady’s stats.

This year, Panathinaikos is the big surprise, who got lucky in the draw (Inter and Werder Bremen).

German clubs seem to be relegated to the second-tier. KNVB honcho Henk Kesler: “It’s clear now that in our talks to the UEFA, the German clubs and federation are on our side, the little countries in other words. In the past, Germany seemed to want to be part of the big nations and big clubs (Spain, Italy, England, France). The Germans are also annoyed that they have to compete with a club like Inter Milan, who can lose 100 million euros on a 200 million euros budget, because their chairman will easily open his wallet to pay the difference. The licensing rules in Holland and Germany are much stricter and more sustainable. But competition is therefore unfair, since other nations don’t take those licensing rules very serious.”

The smaller nations (and Germany) are lobbying for a European licensing policy as off 2009. “Michel Platini is actually doing very good work. He sees too that in this way the competition is unfair, the bigger tournaments are getting too predictable and the ones that spend like there’s no tomorrow are not sustainable. You must think about scenarios like Real Madrid or Inter Milan or Chelsea being removed from the scene because their sugar daddies decide to find another hobby. I don’t think we’ll see massive changes soon, but in three to five years, the world will have changed in European top football.”

Tags: Advocaat, Group C, Juventus, Manchester, Oranje, Raul, Robben, Sneijder, Ten Cate, Zenit

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 51 comments.

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By goose | December 12th, 2008 at 2:17 pm

——————- Stekelenburg——-

—Zuiverloon —- Heitinga—– Mathijsen—-Emanuelson—=

—–deJong——–vBommel——-Schraars—————

——————Sneijder——————————–

——Kuijt———————Huntelaar—————-

Posted from Netherlands

By sonneveld | December 12th, 2008 at 3:54 pm

goose a team without one of vdv robben or van persie? i would try to fit in all three

stek

melchiot—boula—-heitinga—-bouma

sneijder–van bommel–van der vaart

afellay—-van persie—robben

By sonneveld | December 12th, 2008 at 3:55 pm

actually switch vdv and sneijder

By goose | December 12th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

Sneijder on the wing is a waste .. it should be all about Sneijder…i just put in the fit players so no Robben and Bouma, haha
i would only play Robben in 4-3-3

Posted from Netherlands

By finnster01 | December 12th, 2008 at 5:06 pm

——————- Stekelenburg——-
—Zuiverloon —- Heitinga—– Mathijsen—-Emanuelson—=
————–VBommel——————-
—–Kuyt——De Jong—-Sneijder–——-Schaars—————
——————Hunter

With snijder in a free flowing and offensive role.

Glass Legs, VanAttitude, Babel, VdV, Afellay etc. all on the bench

By Jan | December 12th, 2008 at 5:40 pm

—–Stekelenburg—-
Kuyt—Marcellis—Bommel—Drenthe
Schaars—Sneijder—Vaart–Afellay
—-Robin—-Robben——-

KJH is my pinchhitter. De Jong, Gio, Babel, Heitinga, Wijnaldum on the bench.

By Carlos | December 12th, 2008 at 6:41 pm

Goose a quick one – have NOT seen Daley Blind but heard a lot about his potential ? Is he tall ? Defender or midfield ? Can u describe him please….

Posted from Singapore

By Michel-Olivier | December 12th, 2008 at 6:56 pm

much better
————————robben ————————–
vandewiel-heitinga-mathijsen-emanuelson
–————schaars——-de jong(siem or nigel)
kuijt————————-sneijder
——–vanpersie————-hunter———-

i agree kuijt is a hard working player and also a big game player unlike divaldo.

Posted from United States

By Michel-Olivier | December 12th, 2008 at 7:02 pm

any highlight of ajax vs NAC, i miss the game

Posted from United States

By finnster01 | December 12th, 2008 at 9:24 pm

where do these spam trolls come from?

By Jan | December 12th, 2008 at 10:17 pm

The interesting question is: where do they go when I delete them

Daley Blind is Danny’s son. Danny Blind was one of the most intelligent players Holland had in the last decades. He was the brain of Van Gaal’s Ajax, with a sixth sense for the position, pace, space and time. He knew instinctively when to move forward, when to pressure, when to backtrack.

Danny wasn’t a real “killer” or big personality compared to say, Frank de Boer, Ronald Koeman or John de Wolf. Koeman was the first man for the libero position in Oranje, otherwise Blind would have played many more caps.

Blind excelled in Van Gaal’s 3-3-4 concept, which Oranje never played.

Daley seems to have dad’s smarts. His vision and leadership. He was identified as super talent when he was 12 or 13 years old and his development has been carefully guided. He can play midfield (like Blind did when he was young) and central defense. He brings a lot of energy and worksmanship to his talent as well. A good passer, a dynamic player, reading the game well. Ajax’ new leader (not now of course, but in time…)

By tiju | December 12th, 2008 at 11:13 pm

@carlos,jan,goose,finni,ferenec
guys i know our hugly talented son of gods(RVP,Vaart,roban)do nt have the stamina for 90 minutes thats sure,but kuyt has that.
I have heavy respect for his workethics,hardworking,unselfishness,and his willingness to do anything for teams success.but he is utter waste as a striker
but i am looking for much more deep now we have some heavily talented team players better than him(wijnaldum,De Guzman,fer,castelen)
i thinnk with babel,RVP,hunter,and haiselink we dont have to waste a spot for kuyt thats what i mean.
he never scored acrobatic goals like RVN,RVP<roban,Vaart etc all are flukes or ordinary easy finishes.we dont need such kind of player in our front.

Posted from India

By tiju | December 12th, 2008 at 11:18 pm

@guys who opted URBy as a left back
Bear in mind this guy is too soft and doesnt know how to tackle and higly vulnerable in diffence.but if he joins with roban on left our threats from the left side will be the no 1 in the world(Coz this guy is too skilled and has good brain too).we may win the match by4-2 or 5-3

Posted from India

By Carlos | December 13th, 2008 at 2:26 am

thanks Jan – I do know all about Danny (was he not originally from Sparta ?) I remember someone once said he is the ONLY dutch player to win ALL the recognized club trophies from FIFA/UEFA ?? hmmmmm…but Daley is new and hopefully as smart and quick as his Dad – I was a big fan and often thot he should have played instead of Koeman, but then RK could take some freekicks but boy was he slow.
Tiju – one picks a team on Balance I could not have 10 RvPs in my side nor 10 Maradonas. Kuyt is there for balance and he is not chosen for his acrobatics/aerobatics nor great goal scoring prowess. – Just needed balance, even Castelen and Kuyt can not be compared, it’s almost like comparing Gerrard and Wright Phillips – different players who both have played on the right for England (neither too succesful).

Posted from Singapore

By tiju | December 13th, 2008 at 3:02 am

@carlos i mainly spotted wijnaldum,fer,de guzman
they are all better hardworkers than kuyt and in terms of talent kuyt is not eligible to compare with them in the aspects of talent.
and maradona had talent,brain and tireless stamina but our lads roban,RVP,Vaart dont have that,so for the balence i will take players like fer,wijnaldum,and de guzman and if i need physical advantage i will use ZNo,Haiselink,Jeffery castillion etc players
see the my below lineup it will be with perfect balence
Stekelenburg
RB-Mendes da silva(skilled and good superb lungs)
Cb-heitinga(good in air and half good in buildup and average lungs)
Cb-Mathjenson(Good in air and average lungs-i mean not bad)
Bouma-(good in air and average lungs-i mean not bad)
LHMF-Stijn schaars(Superb lungs with courage and vision)
RHMF-znijder(nothing to say the playmaker for orange with good lungs)
RWMF-De guzman(superb lungs with better skills than kuyt can swich with znijder and can go for the help for diffence)
LWMF-Arjen roban(for penetration but bad lungs)
BEHIND striker-Romeo castelen(superb lungs with superb skills and team player)
Striker-Huntlaar(As a main goal poacher and can be subsituted by babel/RVP later ie after65 minutes)
@carlos this guys will form a consistant winning team i am sure abt that,partially van gaal is proving this.

Posted from India

By tiju | December 13th, 2008 at 3:05 am

@carlos
in above mentioned team except roban all them have good stamina so they will keep balence.so Do we need kuyt?

Posted from India

By ferenc | December 13th, 2008 at 4:18 am

tju: castelen has been injured for at least 2 years. waste of time. he had some good games in 2004 but he hasn’t played too much in the last years. is he still in hamburg? de guzman and co still have to proove at feyenoord. kuijt has already proven at pool. one of the best european team is not the same without him than with him. this is something. much more than being a gifted player. i reckon that this time for experimentation but don’t think these guys are talented enough to win wc2010. who the hell is fer? i’ve never heard about him.

Posted from Hungary

By goose | December 13th, 2008 at 4:29 am

The new man to watch ; Elia from Fc Twente … this guy used to play for my team Fc Den Haag but he has realy flurished under Steve… if he goes on like this he will be capped very soon

@carlos ; didnt see much of the Ajax game last week…Ajax won v NAC yesterday with 3-0 and Blind didnt play as far as i know..

Posted from Netherlands

By dave | December 13th, 2008 at 9:32 am

@Goose, Daley Blind did play. He came on for Oleguer–who is brutal at times- with abt 20 minutes to go or so. Played in the central defense, but moved forward up the middle most of the time as Ajax dominated 10 man Breda in the 2nd half.

@Tiju, comparing a guy like Kuyt who had proven his value at the very highest levels of club and intl football with teenagers who have done next to nothing at Feyenoord…lets get real. Thats absurd my friend.

Posted from United States

By lowiesje | December 13th, 2008 at 3:48 pm

——Stekelenburg——
Nigel de jong-Heitinga-Mathijsen-Emanuelson
kuyt-sneijder-schaars-vdv
vpersie-robben (if he’s fit, he should play)if not fit: Babel (Elia is also an option)

Don’t know if Huntelaar fits in the starting eleven in Oranje. He doesn’t convince me. Lack of skill, cannot create his own goals. He only scores against Ireland, Norway and other low rank teams. For that he is usefull, but I’d like to see him score against the big boys, but if he proves himself at Madrid, I reconsider.

Posted from Netherlands

By Andrew | December 13th, 2008 at 6:29 pm

Goose, interesting comments about Elia. I saw him play in the Man City UEFA Cup match. I was very impressed. Played the whole field from his forward left position. Offensive threat, but he’d come all the way back on defense. Worked and ran the entire match. I take it, the game was typical for him. Question about Mendes de Silva: My recollection is that 5-6 years ago he was an 18 year old with what was considered a huge future (started with Sparta?)Then, he just kind of went off the radar screen. Now I see his name popping up alot. Is he a late bloomer? Defender who finally learned his trade? Any thoughts whether he’s considered an Oranje player?

Posted from United States

By goose | December 14th, 2008 at 2:18 pm

@Andrew ; hes 21 years old, im pretty sure he played for some young-Oranje teams in the past but im not sure
hes a player from Den Haag but he couldnt really improve there, since his move to Twente he has really bloomed..as far as a know he was always an attacker

today he played another great game (one goal, one assist in a 4-1 win over Fc Groningen), interest from big teams seems to be on the up; theres a change he will move in the winter

i reckon hes Oranje material

Posted from Netherlands

By 3ric | December 14th, 2008 at 6:17 pm

Let’s all forget about the disillusioned hype of Drenthe and Amrabat, and don’t even bother to mention De Ridder, Castelen, or Emnes. The legacy of Dutch winger lie on the feet of Elia and Beerens. I am afraid, however, neither will be remotely close to the glass man Robben in terms of prosperity and impact, especially in the international level. I wish you could combine both, now you get a winger with furious runs (Elia) and great cross as well as eye on goal (Beerens). To me the real test for both players is to resist temptation moving to a bigger club at the end of the season. I hope they stay where they are now and show that they have the consistency for another year or two. Then, they can start thinking about moving and getting called up to the Oranje.

By Jan | December 14th, 2008 at 7:46 pm

Mendes Da Silva did start at Sparta and was supposed to move to Ajax when Van Gaal was Technical Director there. But either it didn’t happen or he got injured or something. That sort of brought his career in a dip and he left for Willem2. AZ picked him up later (again: Van Gaal) and now he seems to have found his second wind. Goose, am I correct?

Elia indeed is a surprise in the positive sense. I agree on Beerens, but another player I always had a soft spot for is Julian Jenner. A traditional Peter Hoekstra like winger. Tall, good left foot, beautiful “scissors” tricks and good crosses. He got lost at AZ last season and is on loan at Vitesse. He may have to grow some balls, but he does have potential.

By Andrew | December 14th, 2008 at 7:55 pm

@Jan, Goose…Thanks for the comments/responses re: Elia and Mendes De Silva, you guys are a great source of info.

Posted from United States

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