World

Europe

Netherlands

Drenthe and Huntelaar full of doubt

May 11th, 2009 | By: Jan | 11 Comments »

Real Madrid, the champions of the last two seasons, shamelessly and without a chance lost last Saturday at Valencia with 3-0. The Dutch are full of doubt after a turbulent week.

But this defeat couldn’t be placed on the plate of the Orange players. Still, most of them are pretty frustrated with the way coach Juande Ramos treats them in his final days with the Royals.

Arjen Robben played the full game but wasn’t really happy doing so. He stood on an island on the right flank, in a team without a midfield. Rafael van der Vaart would have loved to play there, but he was only allowed 30 minutes, when Real trailed 2-0. Ramos had seven minutes playtime for Royston Drenthe while Klaas Jan Huntelaar got to spend the 90 minutes on the bench.

He wasn’t too happy. “I just got back from a slight injury. I was fit for Barcelona, but I didn’t play. So you hope at least to get another chance in the next game. But I was wrong. Not happy about that, but I’ll have to set my sights on the last games,” says the Hunter.

These will be games which could determine his future. Maybe it’s enough to convince the new chairman and coach, who will make the plans for Real’s coming seasons. The romance between Hunter and Ramos was a short one. Whenever Robben is fit, he plays up front with Raul and Higuain, who are allowed to fail game after game.

And that’s what annoys the Dutchies most. This team is like a skipper-less boat, awaiting a saviour. But they don’t get the chance to to help change the course.

Huntelaar: “I still have a contract, so I’ll stay. Who knows who will be the coach next year and what his plans are. Until then, I’ll be here and await what happens.”

Royston Drenthe knows what he wants. After two tough seasons, he’d like to be loaned out. So he can return to Bernabeu stronger. “No one knows what will happen but I want to look ahead. This season, I didn’t get the confidence I need. I’m not sure if I will wait for the new coach and his ideas.”

But, the ex-Feyenoord player doesn’t want to leave. “Listen, I have two young kids and I don’t want to keep on moving from one country to the other.” And he’s 22 years old now, he wants to play, needs to play. Whenever he made it in the team, he copped the humiliating laughter from the stands. Reasons enough to check out his options.

Maybe he could seek out Hedwiges Maduro for some advice and some optimism. The ex Ajax player was told that Valencia didn’t need him, at the start of the season. But Maduro stayed and worked hard. The result, Maduro is a regular for ten months now. In defense. “I will definitely stay here,” Maduro said. The ex-international had an easy afternoon against Madrid. “Raul? Wasn’t there? Higuain, didn’t see him either. I had to block Robben once, but that’s it.” The 3-0 brings CL football closer to Valencia.

Tags: Drenthe, Group C, Huntelaar, Maduro, Ramos, Raul, Real Madrid, Vaart

Netherlands World Cup RSS Feed

del.icio.us:Drenthe and Huntelaar full of doubt

digg:Drenthe and Huntelaar full of doubt

newsvine:Drenthe and Huntelaar full of doubt

reddit:Drenthe and Huntelaar full of doubt

fark:Drenthe and Huntelaar full of doubt

stumbleupon:Drenthe and Huntelaar full of doubt

Comments

By sonneveld | May 11th, 2009 at 10:53 am

speaking of transfers why would schaars go to bayern if they already have van bommel and signed a D.M named tymoshuck(or something)

By sonneveld | May 11th, 2009 at 11:05 am

There’s always a lot of talk about Dirk Kuyt from the anti-Liverpool brigade. The common misconception is that he’s rubbish. This is compounded by the fact that rather than Liverpool fans arguing that Kuyt is actually a very good player, they respond with ‘well player x is just Dirk Kuyt’, the implication being that said player is also not as good as his team’s fans think he is.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Dirk Kuyt is a great player, and one of the best wide men in the league on the right hand side. I honestly believe that he is good enough to play for any team in the world. His return this season of 11 league goals and seven assists is one behind Wayne Rooney. I’m not saying that he has Rooney’s ability, but as a statistic alone it’s a good return for a wide player. Add in his outstanding work rate, good first touch, clever movement, strength on the ground and in the air, and great professionalism and you have a player that any manager would want in their squad. Many full-backs have the pace to deal with some of the trickier wingers in England, but I have seen them struggle against Kuyt as he’s capable of winning balls in the air and shielding it to bring others into play. He’s shown that there’s more to the position than beating a player and swinging in a cross, although he can swing in a good one…

He had a bad season after his father died and many people were quick to write him off, but he got his head down and has worked extremely hard to find his form and become an essential part of the team. For every Torres or Gerrard you need a Dirk Kuyt, just as for every Rooney and Ronaldo you need a Tevez or a Fletcher. Next time you hear someone say that a player ‘is Dirk Kuyt’, think of it as a high praise indeed.
Joel Bradley, London

i didn’t right his but it is a nice little piece i found

By Alex | May 11th, 2009 at 11:08 am

Don’t know why. Haven’t heard anything about it.
BTW Maduro made La liga team of the week as centerback, I know enough, Ooijer out immidiately

Posted from Netherlands

By Alex | May 11th, 2009 at 11:13 am

i mean at least on goal.com

Posted from Netherlands

By LittiFan | May 11th, 2009 at 11:15 am

Hi guys,

Have You heard that in Finland this one great sneaker store called Popot made Ultra Limited Edition shoes called Adidas Kick2 Litmanen?

This edition was made co-operating with Finnish national team, Jari Litmanen him self and Adidas.

Only 150 pairs made. They were sold out in about one hour, 9.5.2009 here in Helsinki Finland.

Here is more about shoes:
http://popotsneakerstore.blogspot.com/2009/05/adidas-kick-2-litmanen-kenka.html

You can find videos about shoes in Youtube.

I was lucky to get these babies, i was in line infront of the shop like 4 hours before they opened.

If anyone is interested to get these shoes, please throw email at me to anttikiljunen@hotmail.com.

Shoes are size 8,5 US/8 UK and i can take photos or video of shoes if you like.

BR,

-A.K.-

Posted from Finland

By Caleb | May 11th, 2009 at 11:19 am

Juande Ramos is doing a terrible job at Real. When he first came it he did really well to steady the ship, but now it definitely looks like a “skipper-less boat”. What the hell kind of game plan is it to have two defensive midfielders and two wingers for your midfield?? There’s absolutely no direction or creativity in the center of the field! It’s a midfield just crying out for a player like Van der Vaart, but no, he plays Javi Garcia instead?? Idiot! And then up front he plays Raul and Higuain who look invisible and useless, and doesn’t even give Huntelaar a chance?
Real looked terrible against Valencia. Get rid of this joker.

Posted from Canada

By Jan | May 11th, 2009 at 4:54 pm

Hear Hear on Ramos. I’m disgusted and it all sank in with me with the Liverpool CL game. That’s where he lost it.

Thanks Littifan for the heads up on the Jari shoes. Cool!

And a great piece on Dirk! I think the man is 100% right!

By finnster01 | May 11th, 2009 at 5:13 pm

I’d be more interested in a Jari Litmanen wallet.

By gooranje | May 11th, 2009 at 5:22 pm

Can someone explain to me why Real Madrid has an election regularly for their president? This brings so much instability to the team because every time they sign a new bunch of so-called star players and kick out the good players.
I was so frustrated watching the Barca – Real game, Diarra and Gago did almost nothing in midfield, they couldn’t even pass the ball to the left for Marcelo, all I saw was Robben trying to cross the ball with his crappy right foot as there was hardly any support… The defense was bad also, I wonder if Casillas felt like he should leave the team like Given felt at Newcastle, humiliated and wanted to move on to another club…

Posted from Canada

By bobotoh | May 12th, 2009 at 7:07 am

Can AZ defend their title without van gaal? I read some news online that Van gaal is being approached by Munich.

Posted from Indonesia