I think it was important for v Marwijk to see players like Schaars, Braafheid, Mendes da Silva, van der Wiel, etc. It was important too that we had almost the whole team fit and although Oranje did not win hopefully this set of players can develop into a team with knowledge of each other strenghts and weaknesses because under van Basten what we never had was a team because he tried so many players. I believe it is positive that van Marwijk is working with a fixed group so in the WC they can perform as a real team…Schaars, yes, he will be very important not for the future but from now on he will play a very important role for the team…he reminds me of Davids attitude.

I also agree with Goose about Stekelenburg. Bad mistake on Saihi’s goal. Since he returned he’s not playing good. I hope it’s just a phase. I do like him. As Goose says (this is a “Goose-is-my-guru” comment…) , he looks like a more charismatic guy than VDS. And his physical is stronger (197 cms, 94 kgs… wow, I definitely wouldn’t want to be in front of this guy if I were a striker!).

But he DO needs to improve if he wants to be the undisputable no.1 at Oranje from now on. He’s not a younger anymore, he’s 26. And I’m with my friend Carlos: it’d be good if he left Eredivisie to a bigger league. It’s necessary, nowadays, if you want to improve. I heard AC Fiorentina wanted him. And Tottenham even scouted him before signing with Gomes…

BTW, greetings to Finnster!

And my Brazilian buds didn’t make that bad against Italy, did they? 2-0 against World Champions on-title…

Stekelenburg ; 4 ; one of the worst mistakes i ever saw a goalie make in Oranje..didnt have to do anything else; just that one shot and he did terrible

Heitinga ; 7 ; thought he played pretty ok, sill little use when it comes to the build up, too slow but on defense he was good and solid

Ooijer ; 6,5 ; same story as with Heitinga, looked solid in defense

Mathijsen ; 6,5; gets a bit boring, solid in defense not great on the build up, takes him too long to find the opening and has no long pass… btw; Mathijsen always looks like he just got out of bed!

Braafheid ; 6 ; not bad for a debutant, took it a bit too easy in the second half, a few mistakes but overall he did ok

vPersie ; 6 ; he did the best he could but couldnt make his mark on the game…the tunesians were all over him giving very little space…started on the right up switched with Kuijt after 15/20 minutes and played as a striker

vBommel ; 6 ; not his best game in Oranje..i reckon we should move him to the back since we have a great midfield for the future (holding) in deJong and Schaars…on defense he did ok but couldnt find the attackers enough

Sneijder ; 5 ; one of his worst games in Oranje..is out of form and it showed, had a real bad day at the office…prob. part is to blame on his problems in his personal life…needs to be better cause we cant do without him

deJong ; 7,5 ; i have made a 180 on deJong (altough it always was more of a personal thing rather than a football issue), i think deJong is great! he has played very strong in Oranje since the EC qualies..i have total confidence in deJong..he and Schaars are the future

Robben ; 5 ; not his game..had the same problem as the other strikers in the 1st half..no decent ball, too slow build up from the back..no room for dribbling etc.,

Kuijt ; 5 ; started as central striker wich just doenst work, switched position with vPersie but didnt play good at all

Babel (46) ; 7 ; looked pretty sharp and good, few goog rushes and some good assists, though im not a Babel fan and im still not sure how best to use him he did look very dangerous yesterday…great speed

Schaars (59) ; 7,5 ; Oranje’s future captain, savour of our midfield, best dutch midfield player in years…this guy will be a massive player, mark my words

vdVaart (46) ; 6 ; really tried, worked hard but was a bit unlucky..couldnt really make the difference

Mendes (59) : 6,5 ; played a good game, didnt see him do anything special but he also didnt make any big mistakes..i reckon thats good enough

Huntelaar (46) ; 7,5 ; 1 change 1 goal..thats pretty decent, it just shows that scoring goals (like Muller or vNistelrooij) is in his blood, whether he plays on a weekly base or not

first 20 minutes were terrible, no speed in the passing so little room for the attackers. the team does look very solid in defense and only Stekelenburgs error made the goal (altough the defenders didnt look great either)
after the Kuijt – vPersie position change things improved a bit, the game got some what interesting once the tunesians started kicking…
second half was somewhat better but still not good enough if you see what team we have

btw ; congrets to finn for what must be a pretty historic win away in Germany!! well done (Netzer was not amused!)

grtz