Melchiot and Slory start against Korea

interesting line up,
more like 343 fromation bron khorst and melchoit taking the wings.
Slory at the left wing couldn’t for long term i thought.
we have bulk of left wingers.
As Ruud returns, Kuyt may have to find a place at the left.
Why Basten test a new left winger instead of a new defensive mid-fielder?
Lanzaart for ever?

Posted from  Thailand

Zuid-Korea - Nederland 0-2 (0-1).

32. Van der Vaart 0-1 (pen); 72. Van der Vaart 0-2.

Nederland: Maarten Stekelenburg; Mario Melchiot (85. Nigel de Jong), John Heitinga, Joris Mathijsen, Wilfred Bouma (56. Tim de Cler); Demy de Zeeuw (59. Landzaat), Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Wesley Sneijder (63. Orlando Engelaar); Rafael van der Vaart, Klaas Jan Huntelaar (62. Romeo Castelen), Andwelé Slory (55. Dirk Kuyt).

Posted from  Hungary

How did the team looked???. Did we play the whole game with the 4-3-3 formation or San Marco made some changes during the game to test other systems???. As many of you say, the results on these games are totally irrelevant and the coach should try to play in different systems so when a big tournament comes we can addapt to many scenarios and not just have the 4-3-3 one. Well, at least we won. =)

Posted from  Mexico

Jan, please update…….

Posted from  Canada

What happened?? First game i missed in a 100 years (seriously first one i miss since 91, including friendlys..were the report from our people on the scene?? was it any good??

Posted from  Netherlands

Hey all. I was at the game. First Oranje game I’ve seen live! IT WAS AWESOME! Here a brief summary from the back of head:

Oranje played a 4-3-3 the whole game. Although we won 2-0, it still was not a stellar performance. We had more possession and never looked in danger of losing the game, but it still was not a dominating performance. The scoring chances on the South Korean net where few and far between. In fact, I’d say the scoring chances were even for both sides, with Oranje holding a significant advantage in possession.

Stekelenburg: Great game, made a fantastic saves early, and then two unbelievable stops in a row later in the second half.

Melchiot: Great return. Looks just as useful as Emmanuelson. Very fast, and good cross to set up Rafael’s second goal.

De Zeeuw: Looked strong the whole game until Marco took him off for Landzaat…

Sneijder: Poor game. Some good passes, but had very poor finishing in the net. Blasted one or two balls well over the net.

Orlando Engelaar: I wasn’t even aware that Englelaar was coming on the trip. Didn’t show much quality last night.

Van der Vaart: Great game! Menacing runs on the wing, superb finishing, and spot on positioning.

Huntelaar: Decent control. Attempted a bicycle kick in the first half that flew over the net. Was pretty quiet the rest of his match.

Slory: Poor game. Very poor finishing. He is very quick, but couldn’t use his speed to our advantage. Got himself in some great positions but couldn’t take a good shot. Missed the net twice from very close range. He did get us the penalty shot though because of his speed…

Kuyt: Very useful with the balls he got. Drew a lot of defenders away from the wingers which allowed vdV and Castelen some space to roam. Never got a shot on net.

So there you have it. If anyone has anymore questions about the game I’d be happy to answer them.

Bruce.

Posted from  Republic Of Korea

Cool Bruce, our special reporter from the Republic of Korea… Next post is “my” view on the match

Posted from  Australia

Bruce!
How is Slory in defensive role?
can he contribute more than Robben or Persie?
And stronger physically?

Posted from  Thailand

cheers Bruce; nice to have a report form ‘ground zero’.

didnt see the game… was wondering how vanBronckhorst played??…heared he was a midfielder (looks like vanBasten has spotted the problem at last)

tell me, how was the atmosfhere? were there other Oranje fans?? were you dressed in orange??

how did the team look as a whole?? did they look eager/bored etc.? did you have an opportunity to visit a training??

thanks again for the report, really appriciate it..

grtz

Posted from  Netherlands

Yeah Bruce, it’s certainly great to have had your eyewitness report. As Goose indicated: we’re hungry for all details you can give us…

Posted from  Australia

goose/jan:

I figured holland would be in their away kit (which they were) as korea would be wearing their home red, so I wore my away kit. There were many Oranje fans. When I cheered for the goals a few chaps behind me were cheering as well, but on the way to the game I spotted many people wearing Oranje. Even lots of Koreans were supporting the Dutch. After all they love the Dutch after Guus Hiddink (who is somewhat of a god out here) brought them to the semis in WC02.

The atmosphere was fantastic. The Koreans love their football. Huge banners, flares, constant chants. They loved the chance to try their luck against the Dutch. The stadium is also really quite impressive. Nice pitch too.

Although I never got a chance to see a training session (the stadium is a good 90 minutes from were I live) the team looked to be in godo spirits. Other than Sneijder’s perma-scowl the team looked to be enjoying the friendly quite a lot.

van Bronckhorst did play mid. And he did quite steady all game. He was very defensive (naturally) and added the much-needed experience/leadership for the team.

Sphinx: Slory didn’t have the ball all that much during the game. He was making the runs and almost played in a more advanced positions the KJH. His pace is very useful but I think van Persie is far more threatening then Slory could be. Not sure how Robben compares. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen him perform well or play a full game for that matter!

Any other questions? I’m happy to answer!

Posted from  Republic Of Korea

And now it’s my turn to ask the questions…

Goose! or anyone who lives in Europe who might be able to help me out:

I will be traveling to Europe next year in June for Euro-08 and I was wondering if anyone knew of any ways to get tickets for games like that. I missed the application period the UEFA offered last March and now I am lost at how to get some tickets…. Any help/suggestions?

Posted from  Republic Of Korea

Pffff….tickets…

Goose? Do your thing, man!

Posted from  Australia