Marco is puzzling yet again!

Since the friendly against Croatia, it seems Marco van Basten finished his puzzle. The system, the tactics, even the players he wants to take along this summer…it all seems to be fixed in his head.

Bad news for Dirk Kuyt, Roy Makaay and Mark van Bommel. Two players who are currently facing injury problems needn’t worry. Arjen Robben, if fit, will definitely be part of the group. And Orlando Engelaar is the second player who is still recovering, but was mentioned specifically by Van Basten as a strong candidate for the holding position in the 4-2-3-1 system he wants to adopt.

Clarity at last, although you never know with Van Basten. He recently said, during a press conference: “With me, you can go in all directions, sometimes even in the right one.” This was not a normal press conference, though. It was the yearly childrens’ press conference. Young players were allowed to grill Van Basten and Van ‘t Schip. What did the kids learn?

That Ryan Babel is responsible for the music in the dressing room, while Denny Landzaat takes care of the tunes in the bus. We also know Van Basten does his own laundry at home, while Van ‘t Schip takes care of the dishwasher. Johnny also walks the dog and feeds the dog. Both their daughters recently faced each other in a hockey game. When Schip and Bassie were able to play a player from another nationality, it would be either Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba or Steven Gerrard.

Van Basten also thought Van Nistelrooy reminds him of himself. Interesting due to the fact that the same Ruud van Gol was shoved aside last year by the team manager. “Ruud is an awesome striker and he can surely play football as well.” Van Basten also said he would love to return as team manager one day. That he recently was impressed by Edson Braafheid during the Twente - Heerenveen match and that Ruud is the best striker of Holland.

We also know now, that Van Basten enjoys watching football during the training camps at big tournaments, that he spends time with his players, calls his wife at night at home and likes to play sudoku. Puzzlin’ yet again, in other words. Luckily for him, the average time it takes to solve a sudoku is one hour, and not 3,5 years…