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KNVB wants a semi finals!

June 4th, 2009 | By: Jan | 45 Comments »

The Dutch football federation has published their strategic plan for the next 5 years, and in it the KNVB states that one of it’s goals is to reach a semi finals on one of the big tournaments.

Bert van Marwijk sees this as an exciting challenge. “I was surprised to read this in the newspaper, like most others. It has never been mentioned to me and isn’t part of my contract. But, I don’t mind having ambitions and I don’t mind the management to express these either. I’ve said it from day 1: if you qualify for a tournament, you should aim high. Players and technical staff only want one thing: to get as far as possible. That’s our mission. And the highest is winning the cup. But at the same time, it’s not something you just go out and do. There’s more to it of course…”

The first milestone can be reached this Saturday. With a victory in and against Iceland, the qualification is there. The second training on the road to Reykjavik was without a problem. Heitinga joined the group while Nigel de Jong wnet home for a spell to witness his son being born. Van Marwijk: “That was the deal. I feel that as a father, you need to be there when your wife delivers your baby. Football is important, but not that important.

In the Rotterdam Kuip, Oranje won the home game easily, 2-0 by Mathijsen and Huntelaar. “We’ve seen some images back recently, and I have to say, we’ve improved a lot since then,” Van Marwijk analyzed. “The idea is to become more consistent. And we’re doing fine. We are well organized and we can defend and attack as a team. FC Barcelona has shown the world what it’s capable of if the whole team works and plays like one living organism. The strikers are the first defenders whenever the opponent tries to build up.”

Before Oranje boards the plane, a third – secret – training is planned. The players will learn there who will start on Saturday.

Knowing Van Marwijk, he won’t change a lot. With Heitinga, the regular right back has returned, which could mean that Van der Wiel moves to the bench again. On the publically open sessions, it was clear that substitute Van der Vaart is very eager to prove his coach – and Real Madrid’s – wrong. “You can tell that Raf played a couple of games again. He’s eager, fit and his rhythm is back.”

However, Van der Vaart knows Robben, Kuyt and Van Persie are fit and eager too. They were the ones who started behind Huntelaar in a recent game.

Van Marwijk also learned that the Dutch team had climbed another spot on the World Ranking of the FIFA. But he didn’t start a conga line… “In all honesty, I don’t get those lists. It does mean something of course, and I do feel we’ve improved a lot recently and that shows itself in the recent games.”

If Holland beats Iceland this Saturday, the remaining games against Norway and Scotland are training games. Only one other European team won all their qualification games: West Germany in 1982.

Oranje, number 2 behind Spain, doesn’t always play exciting under Van Marwijk. Still, nations like Norway, Iceland, Scotland and Macedonia didn’t get a chance to upset the Dutch. Oranje scored 12 goals and conceded only one.

“We’ve become more stable. And that makes us strong and hard to beat. The players have developed tremendously and help the coaches very well with their tactical smarts and mentality. That is crucial at this level. Being a skilled player is one thing, but being able to do what the game wants you to do and recognizing that is something totally different. Recently I read an article on players who were never selected for youth teams, but are now regular starters at Liverpool or Real Madrid (Kuyt, Van Nistelrooy, and in the past players like Stam and Cocu)… Those players have maybe less skills but they understand the game, they can deliver the goods whenever they need to. This group start to develop that sense more and more. The work horses, but also the artists.”

“Also, allowing the team to play in the same line up helps. Players understand each other much better as well. That makes the team less vulnerable. So, don’t expect drastic changes this weekend.”

Tags: Barcelona, Group C, Iceland, Kuyt, Oranje, Robben, Stam, Vaart, Van Marwijk

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By sonneveld | June 4th, 2009 at 5:01 pm

i partially agree. for me if sneijder and vdv are off form we could be in trouble.

this huntelaar

rvp vdv robben

looks good to me

By Carlos | June 4th, 2009 at 6:20 pm

Portugal wont make the world cup. They are lagging far behind. Just go to their blog on this website. No one even wants to write for them. Even the Portugal supporters now say “Portugal Sucks”. Some great final games n that group like Denmark(leaders) v Portugal (4th) last game.
Of course Bert reads this forum because like most ppl he “googles” himself and this site comes up right in front if you google “Bert van Marwjk”.

Posted from Singapore

By alaa | June 4th, 2009 at 7:50 pm

off topic: according to calciomercato.it heitinga is going to be with bayern munich next year, looks like van gaal is trying to have a group of orange players with him, as he did with barcelona.

that thing of the knvb plan, the semifinal thing is bullshit, how can a big team like the oranje only have the plan to get to the semifinal, so thast like telling the players you get to semifinals and we’ll consider you did your job perfectly!!!!! thats not how big teams win the world cup, knvb is crazy!!!

van marwijk, can you just forget your daughter for two minutes and just send van bommel home and get maduro who has been doing great with valencia instead. maduro can play either in the centre of the defensive line or as our holding midfielder, and can you also stop being a sissy and try two skilled wingers together: usually robben and afellay , and this time elia instead of afellay, could you please bench kuyt, with all respect to kuyt but i think we need more skilled players upfront to lose less balls and dominate more and this way we can play our total football more and look more like barcelona who seems to be more dutch than our oranje in these days.

By Miguel Rosado | June 4th, 2009 at 9:23 pm

alaa, come on man van bommel deserves to be in the national team!. Maduro has played great and he has to be called up but Van Bommel is Bayern’s captain.

I’ve seen Sneijder perform great with the Netherlands, I even think he ups his game when he plays for the national team but VdV hasn’t done that much with the national team and it’s about time he delivers.

By Carlos | June 4th, 2009 at 9:30 pm

I think the Semi finals is what KNVB may have said was the “minimum” we should reach. At least I hope they meant that.
Every team including Australia (maybe 100:1) goes there to WIN the WC, certainly the top 10 nations should.

Posted from Singapore

By finnster01 | June 5th, 2009 at 12:10 am

Don’t even get me started on this finisihing second nonsense.

I grew up in Norway and believe me or not, we thought we could win the thing in the nineties!!! Maybe that’s why we don’t have too many Nobel Prize winners, but it wasn’t for the lack of trying…

I don’t care if you play Scrabble or not, but you play to win!!!!

By Jan | June 5th, 2009 at 12:41 am

Stijn Schaars signed a new 3 year deal with AZ.

Braafheid appeared to go to Ajax, but now Van Gaal’s Bayern is butting in and may snap him for his limited 2 mio euros fee.

By Alex | June 5th, 2009 at 4:12 am

Sol is being very pessimistic now. You’re forgetting Spain had a lot of difficulties against Belgium. BTW, Barca just won CL with Valdés in goal, and he isn’t exactly known for his outstanding and always reliable goalkeeping. Germany defenitaly isn’t better than oranje.

It looks as if it’s quite possible that Braafheid will be going to Bayern, I wouldn’t mind. Heitinga won’t leave Atletico now that he has a place in their starting line-up.
And it will depend on how things develop at Real if Sneijder or V.d.Vaart will go to Bayern as well. I think V.d.Vaart would fit better there than Sneijder.

BTW, the KNVB wanted at least a semi final, but also included that their goal is to win either a WC or a EC in the near future, so i’d say those are some fair ambitions.

Posted from Netherlands

By Tiju | June 5th, 2009 at 4:17 am

its a bad move for schaars.he should go to arsenal and should take the captaincy from fabergas.

Posted from India

By Tiju | June 5th, 2009 at 4:24 am

Ajax need a strong leftback so brapheids decison is good.
Donk can be used as a leftback in orange.this guy is good in buld up and also very strong in air.but needs some more experience for a cb positon i am thinkig about a solid diffence for orange.our diffence cannt stop ronaldhino,messy,christiano kind of players.christiano proved it twice even with stam we couldnt survive infront of him.
how will it work with following diffenders.
Ryan Donk
Brapheid as LeftBacks
Mathijenson
Bulahruz
Marcelis
Heitinga as Central diffenders
Vanderweil
Mendes da silva as right backs

Posted from India

By Tiju | June 5th, 2009 at 4:28 am

then it will work like this
in first eleven
Ryan Donk-LB
Mathijenson-CB
Bulahruz-CB
Vander weil-RB
in second eleven
Brapheid-LB
Marcelis_CB
Heitinga-CB
Mendes dasilva.-RB

Posted from India

By Tiju | June 5th, 2009 at 4:33 am

let us come to the holding postions let us see who are all the canidates
No1 should be ofcourse schaars
so
Schaars
De jong
Vanbommel
de saaw
Maduro
if i am in BVM postion i would go for
schhars-Dejong and
Maduro-De saaw and will give the captaincy to schaars.in the absence of schaars it will go to znijder or vanpersie.
we need some allround players like maduro and da silva in the team

Posted from India

By Tiju | June 5th, 2009 at 4:42 am

so who will come in to creative line(the three behind skrikers)
let us see the canidates
Vanpersie
Roban
Kuyt
Znijder
Vaart
Elia
Afaleey
Castelen (if fit hope next year he will do miracle with HSV)
de gusman(sure this guy will do miracle for faynoord next season)
Babel –these are all the candidates for the those six positions
i cannt neglect the goal stati of liverpool.even though kuyt didnt scored much.surely i cannt tell you the fianl six from this list.i will say that in MAY2010.ha ha but i am keen on diffenders and holding mids,beacause if we want to win the gold our base should be ver very strong

Posted from India

By Tiju | June 5th, 2009 at 4:46 am

So fnailly strker postitons
Sorry ruud with all respect to you cannt win title for orange or champions league.Even ethough i like you acrobatic style of scoring goals.i would go for–
Huntlaar and
Van wolfsenweinkel(sorry for the spelling mistake)-we dont have any backups in this postion.

Posted from India

By Jan | June 5th, 2009 at 6:52 am

Tiju, I love your spelling mistakes! Brapheid and De Saaw are classics.

I want to say a word of warning. The level of Oranje is MUCH higher than the Eredivisie. Da Silva, Braafheid, Castelen, Elia, Maduro…we’ll have to wait and see.

Van Marwijk wants consistency and will never revolutionize the team.

I think Bommel-De Jong works well. When one of those lads gets an injury, Schaars will come on. Don’t forget Cesc Fabregas started as a sub last EC!!

I think Bouma – when he’s 100% fit – deserves a go at LB as well.

My ideal eleven:

Stekel (or SAR!!)
Van der Wiel – Bommel – Mathijsen – Gio/Braafheid
- Schaars
Kuyt Sneijder Robben
Van Persie Huntelaar

Van der Vaart would be the ideal sub for Robben, Sneijder, Persie

Maduro, Elia, Boulah, Nistelrooy, De Jong, De Zeeuw on the bench.

By Caleb | June 5th, 2009 at 1:25 pm

Sorry Tiju, I’ve got to say your line ups are a little crazy! Playing Donk as a left back, when he isn’t even good enough in his preferred position (center back)?? Castelen again?? A completely untested kid from the lower half of the Eresdivisie instead of Ruud?? How does that work anyways – you seem to have an undying love for the ever-injured Castelen who made only the briefest of non-spectacular appearances for Oranje, but you’re willing to write off one of our best strikers, Ruud, whose had a long and spectacular career with Orange??
Lol, you certainly have a lot of imagination, but I don’t think it would work in real life

Posted from Canada

By ferenc | June 5th, 2009 at 4:43 pm

oranje should go for the title. it’s evident. anf the team is in the 4 best of the world. i’d say that spain looks the best,but there is not a big difference between them and oranje. we are at the level of argentina and brasil. it would be great to qualify tomorrow because we would have lots of time to prepare for the world cup and bert should try the possibilities,test players etc.
Jan’s starting eleven and the bench seems all right. mine is not the same but not too different:
stekel (vds)
van der wiel,heitinga,matthijsen,braafheid
de jong,van bommel
kuijt,van persie,robben
huntelaar
if we want more attack-minded team we can use sneijder instead of one of the holding midfielders,or start with sneijder and use robben in the last 30 minutes.
bench: marcelis,boulah,gio,schaars,sneijder,vdv,de zeuuw,elia,rvn

By ferenc | June 5th, 2009 at 4:45 pm

and babel on the bench as well

By sonneveld | June 5th, 2009 at 5:12 pm

funnny how in two games vdw has out himself in most of our line ups. he really did impress and it will be interesting what he can do if he plays tomorow

By sonneveld | June 5th, 2009 at 5:12 pm

make out put

By Jeroen | June 5th, 2009 at 9:16 pm

I was really impressed with VdW. In his two games he managed to produce more offensively then Heitinga does in 10 games (although Heitinga does have the occasional header goal!). Heitinga is not consistent enough in his performances; vdw we will have to see but im afraid bert will put heitinga in instead. I want to see Braafheid on the left, and Marcellis in the center with Mathijsen. I also want an Elia debut. Most importantly though, I think we have the ingredients to make a very good defense, much better than anyone makes it out to be. But that does mean putting the right players in the right positions, and looking ahead a year.

I just hope Bert gets rid of Ooijer at the very least…I mean come on, the guy is going to be 35 next year, Makaaying it up at PSV.

Posted from Netherlands

By Tiju | June 5th, 2009 at 10:48 pm

@carlos and jan
I was forced to neglect RUUD.even though i like him.coz i feel this guy lacks champion mentality.and once veira said he is coward,i dont think he is that coward.but some where i feel something wrong about him.thats why i dropped him.remmber withouthim MANU won 2007 EPL.with him they struggled in the previous two seasons

Posted from India

By Caleb | June 5th, 2009 at 11:40 pm

If there’s anyone on Oranje with a winner’s mentality, it’s Ruud!

By Ayl | June 6th, 2009 at 12:08 am

“i cannt neglect the goal stati of liverpool.even though kuyt didnt scored much.”

Do you mean that he didn’t score many for Liverpool? He was 3rd behind Gerard (16) and Torres (14) with 12 and was only 2nd to Gerrard (9) in assists with 8. I don’t thinks that’s all that bad. He’s level on goals in the EPL with Lampard, Bent and Rooney…. He’s equal 6th Top Scorer in the EPL.
He has definitely stepped up with Liverpool this season and has become one of the key players, he’s no longer just a hard-working likeable guy… he’s become much more than that.

By Karan | June 8th, 2009 at 5:28 am

@ Tiju..I dont know wtf is wrong wid u bro…do u actually watch soccer or r u one of those FIFA addicts , i actually read ur posts n IMO u seem to hve got all da wrong facts my friend not to forget the spelling mistakes!!!

I saw da match against iceland , we got complacent after da two goals nevertheless great performances from vaart n de jong..my line up would be :-
………………………Stek…………………..

…V.D.Weil……..Heitinga……..Mathijsen……Gio..
.
……………………..De Jong………………….
.
…….Kuyt…………….VDV/Sneijder…….Robben….
.
………………RVP……………..Huntelaar………

i would drop da bayern captain cos dirk kuyt is more of a defensive player and comes in handy during counter attacks n even the gr8 cryuff said during da euro’s when we beat france dat two defensive mid-fielders can look ugly
against opponents who play differently n hiddink proved him right!!

Posted from India

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