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Luigi Bruins, Arjen Robben and Mark van Bommel
I’m a bit late with this post. I’m a tad busy you see… But nevertheless. We had some interesting action in the Dutch Eredivisie last weekend. PSV dropping points. Ajax taking care of business. Feyenoord winning in style (ok, against ten men) and Makaay scoring again and Twente winning thanks to a brilliant Ken Perez.
Luigi Bruins in Oranje jersey…
Things will heat up in the Eredivisie. And despite my criticism on my homegrown competition, I do love to watch Dutch football. Can’t help it. It’s in the blood. I see an EPL match on the weekend before I see an Eredivisie game and the difference in level appalls me, but I still love it. The venues (Sparta’s Kasteel), the names ( Denneboom, Engelaar, Beenhakker) and the clumsy defending….
I’ve added a clip of Feyenoord’s win over Roda JC. It’s the 8 minute highlight reel. Now, I’ve gotta say, it’s not Man United or Barcelona, ok? But I’ve seen some bright spots. Or one, actually.
Luigi Bruins. The playmaker of Excelsior of yore. Came to Feyenoord three seasons back. Had a wonderful first season and an abyssmal sophomore year. Mario Been wanted to lose him in the winter break, but Bruins fought himself back in the starting line up thanks to a Tomasson injury. Watch the clip and follow him closely. That’s the type of play that motivates me to watch football.
Willem van Hanegem says this about him: “Luigi Bruins’ game made me happier than Feyenoord’s victory. You can tell that Bruins is a born football player. A natural. A player with creativity and vision. He sees things a second earlier than other and he sees things different from others too. It’s important that he remains confident and that the others support him. He came back from far but he is capable of making Feyenoord better. Watch him play the through ball in one go in Makaay’s stride. Makaay scored on his first touch of the game, but thanks to Bruins’ pass. Those are the moments that make my football weekend and he had a number of these smart moves. He has Sneijder’s skills but lacks Sneijder’s personality. This is something to work on and then he might still become a great player.”
The Eredivisie will heat up, with Ajax – PSV on the boards for coming Sunday. Hoping to catch that live again. I predict Ajax to win and Twente to win the title. Umbrella man 
.
Bayern Munich played a memorable game against Fiorentina in the CL. Memorable due to two beauty’s by Dutch internationals (as if you hadn’t noticed). And memorable due to horrible defending by Bayern. The Sud Germans progress to the next round and will need to get their act together Schnell if they want to get even further.
But Ribery, Schweinsteiger, Van Bommel and Robben are ready for it. Van Bommel’s goal sums up his qualities: a nose for space and time, vision and the ability and composure to place the ball in a controlled fashion in the opposite corner. A placed ball. A beauty!
Robben’s goal sums up his: speed, aggression, dribble skills and a killer left foot. And I haven’t even mentioned his quick feet when dispossessed or his wonderful combination skills, set-pieces and corners and his threatening runs. And sure, Robben is selfish at times. And he does overdo it every now and then. But I rather have that than Babel’s senseless runs or C Ronaldo’s prissy self-glorification. Although I do believe Kuyt is a better right winger than Robben, of course.
Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 91 comments.
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Quotes for Vanbommel–Roben..
Quote by Roben
“Tell your father in law ,that i am the best in right wing, …..and not that liverpool boring man”.
Posted from 
India
Elia is the man for left…….he will not do any selfishness in WC.Now he is playing in right wing???Thats how coaches kills the career of players…
Posted from India
@Jan it is so sad that we are missing lots of comment after one sleep……plz take care of that.
Posted from India
@Tiju: One more Kuyt comment and you will put me to a lot more than “1 sleep”. I’d be looking at about 2 weeks worth.
@Sorry finn buddy …i couldnt stop commenting that roben quote…..will take care…
Posted from India
Dutch bracelets??????????????
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1863/world-cup-2010/2010/03/12/1828950/world-cup-2010-beaded-bracelets-to-fire-up-dutch-fans
Posted from India
Hi all, the comment complaint has been sent in weeks back and they’re trying to fix it. Me thinks…. Sorry that it takes so long. It’s annoying, I know!
Someone asked about Bruins… He does have that skills that Willem Van Hanegem talks about. He’s a natural and sees openings where his team mates sometimes don’t even see it .
The problem with Bruins is, he’s a fair weather player. If the going gets tough, he’s not home. He is too complacent and mentally not that strong. He can miss total sitters and then drift off out of the game.
If he takes care of that, he could be a good player, but I doubt if he will ever be Oranje material. He did play in the U21s and other youth teams though.
It seems De Guzman is injured again so Luigi will get more playing time.
I’m personally a big fan, he’s clearly a very gifted lad.
The longer I look at the Bommel-Robben picture, the scarier it gets! Robben with his stockings and red shoes. That tremendous smile… I guess Mark says something truly naughty to him. It also seems there’s “mid-sections” are very close together… Is it me???
Whatever Tiju says, Kuyt would never allow someone take a pic of him like that… Can you imagine….? Kuyt and Carragher? Or Kuyt and Mascherano?
Will.Never.Happen.
@Jan: LOL. It is scary.
However, “never say never”… This one looks like Kuyt is just about to give Torres a big wet one…
http://www.givemefootball.com/GMF/files/2c/2c2b0869-46d5-49a7-897f-4ab2faf5120a.jpg
ha ha, Jan, I noticed…
Posted from India
Juventus apparently is looking at Drenthe
Jol says that Van der wiel can become the new Dani Alves in a couple of years.
Inter plays at 2:45
Any news anyone has on Van Persie is greatly appreciated
Video might take a little longer than expected for the blog
Re: Bruins, if you just look at the skill level, Bruins has a big upside. However, in my view, his physical strength, or lack thereof, is the primary reason why he could not advance his career in a more positive way. He has trouble staying on his feet when challenged, and unfortunately, he doesn’t have the stubborness which Sneijder or Afellay, for example, often displays. To Jan’s point, it probably has to do with his mental strength as well. And of course, to compound his problem, injuries and bad lucks were not kind to him.
Sad. Three years ago here I was sitting, imagining who would take the the relay stick from Sneijder or Van der Vaart as the playmaker in the national team. Some talents were quite promising and on the verge of breaking through. You could make a case for at least three individuals, Bruins included. The other two were Aissati and De Guzman. Nowadays, all three had plenty shares of their own issues. Their careers were derailed for one reason or another … who knows if they would ever make it to the level one would have expected.
Posted from 
United States
well said eric…i had da same feeling about aissati…neways ive gotta feeling that siem de jong could turn out to be a decent enough playmaker!
What about Barazite?..is he still at Derby ?
when you get the chance watch Inter’s first goal, brilliant pass from Sneijder
At least one Dutch player is getting recognition since late, this new thing Castrol ratings, Robben is currently listed number 9.
http://www.castrolfootball.com/rankings/rankings/
Posted from 
Netherlands
@Alex: Interesting. Thanks for posting the link mate.
I’d like to see how they correlate between leagues because any ranking that manages to put Sammy Hyypia ahead of Ibrahimovic raises a few red flags with me.
Well, it’s based on ratings per match, andd Ibrahimovic hasn’t exactly been shining of late, which would have affected his ranking quite fast since it’s way in the top of the list, where Hyypia is just about a revelation and top performer in Bundesliga in this season. It’s an odd sight, but the difference between a central defender and a striker is always difficult, yet they can both outperform each other on average ratings. Still, it’s still somewhat of an incomplete list.
BTW I’m excited as young midfielder Geert-Arend Roorda is due to return soon from a severe injury which ruled him out this season. He plays for Heerenveen and impressed me quite a lot. He’s physically strong, 1.91, pretty good technique and passing and can play as a holding midfielder. I was a fan from the start but unfortunately he got badly injured.
I do hope he returns to his level and develops further to play at least 10 more years, cause he looked very promising, more than some other young oranje players.
Posted from Netherlands
Alex, what do you make of Groningen’s Holla?
In case anyone is interested Roorda just turned 22 more than a week ago.
Well Jan I don’t really know, he’s not too big of a guy, has had very good spells, but I usually already get a feel for a guy through a name, an action, his appearance, one goal or free-kick, but Holla, it’s all good, but I don’t often see that glance of brilliance that says to me a player could succeed.
Never was a believer of Babel either, he then impressed me at the U-21 tournament, then I thought he could be a fair succes cause I also saw some negatives then. But he’s still the Babel he was at Ajax, only a tad better allround, but he is still struggling at Liverpool and I’d like to be proven wrong, but it seems he won’t make that step up to the absolute top.
So how do I feel about Holla, well he has a strong and good shot, not the finest technique from what i’ve seen, looks like a Rooney type, althought at a really different level. I have my doubts about him though, I guess he’s gonna be excellent for Groningen, might be fairly good for Dutch top in longer run, and at best decent at a midtable or subtop club in Germany.
However commenting further on Roorda, that guy actually he has his body with and against him. Basically has the same problems as me, strong and big body for a young guy, but that also made him vulnerable for injuries, especially at his joints. I had the same thing, struggled with masses of injuries since my 14th. Roorda’s career as a youth player has been full of them as well. Still if he can get that behind him and play every week in Eredivisie from very soon, he could well have a maximum just a bit higher than Holla, I’d say clubs like Valencia, HSV would be the most likely, but I his potential was big, and I dare say was big enough to grow to be an Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, ManU player. It’s still unclear where his potential has gone since his last injury. It’s sad.
Posted from Netherlands
I thought Roorda was a toptalent, but I have no idea how he’s gonna come back. Plus he’s had almost 2 seasons of delay in his development.
Will be interesting, I’ll be following this guy for you. xD
Posted from Netherlands
BTW according to Castrol rankings Brouwers is on a steady climb, and should be able to enter the top 100 at about spring 2011 along with Heitinga. xD
Posted from Netherlands
I think Castrol rankings should be explained in more detail because you have to use different measures and gradings for a defender compared to a striker.
It can be an accurate way to grade players but every position on the field has different responsabilities. Anyway, if Robben is in the top ten list is because he has avoided injuries lately and as I have said many times before, this boy rocks but unfortunately for him, his teams and Oranje, he gets injured almost every other week. Hopefully he´ll stay away from injuries because he is crucial for Oranje in order to reach the final stages at the World Cup.
Kuyt may change his position to defensive (workhorse ) midfield alongside Bommel and de Jong ,no winger because he’s brainless with powerful leg to run to protect team no creative idea to make scores . Kuyt is very useful player to help team to not lose but not help team team to win like Robben RVP the Hunter RVN or Rafael.
Posted from 
Thailand
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