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Oranje impresses: 0-3 vs Croatia

February 8th, 2008 | By: Jan | 22 Comments »

After the impressive wins over England and qualifying for the EC08, some pundits - Leo Beenhakker for one - tip Croatia as a dark horse for the EC title. And in the run up to the Oranje friendly, coach and players stated that they wanted to win the fixture against The Netherlands. But they didn’t…

Van Basten used this match to further optimize the new 1-4-2-3-1 line up, with this time De Cler as left back, Heijtinga as central defender and Babel on the Van Persie position. The injured Van Nistelrooy was replaced by Ajax’ Huntelaar.

Oranje took the lead early in the game. After 9 minutes it was a bullseye Sneijder free-kick that connected with John Heijtinga at the far post, 1-0. “We practise these kicks on training a lot. Three players come to the first post, creating diversion for the man at the far post,” was Van Basten’s commentary.
Oranje was much less predictable playing in the new style. In particular Sneijder and Van der Vaart were a constant threat. They were always free to and available and changed positions a lot. Both players equally impressed with their free-kicks and corner-kicks.

Tim de Cler, finally awarded with a starting positions, played a strong game, with his Feyenoord buddy Gio van Bronckhorst on the left side. In the 37th minute, it was a 1-2 combination between the two that resulted in a text-book cross allowing striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar to score the 2-0.

In the second half, with Sneijder as the conductor in midfield, Oranje remained in control, despite the more serious efforts by Croatia. The hosts did get their opportinities, but it was either sloppy finishing or Van der Sar denying them a goal. Ryan Babel was taken of and replaced by Ibrahim Afellay and it became clear that in the new Oranje style, one of the midfielders needs to be quick and penetrating. With Van der Vaart and Sneijder directing, the third midfielder should be a type like Van Persie or Babel. It doesn’t seem Seedorf can fill in that role.

Afellay created the 0-3 with a run deep and a cross pass on the other sub Vennegoor of Hesselink. Even the fanatical Croatia supporters greeted the goal with applause.

The fine performance came just in time for Marco van Basten, who received a lot of criticism in Holland in the last months. With this result and performance, the team manager can expect to be able to work in relative peace and quiet in the next months, preparing for the EC.
Rust

On March 26, the team manager will be reunited with his group for the away game against Austria, one of the host nations. He looks forward to the return of Van Nistelrooy, Seedorf, Van Persie and Robben. It will be hard for Seedorf, though, to claim a starting position. In the new set-up, he will need to compete with Sneijder and Van der Vaart. When these two are fit and in form, it seems Seedorf will be starting on the bench.

Van Basten: ” I am pleased with the quality of our game. That gives me a lot of confidence. I am satisfied. I can’t tell you why suddenly we performed so well, after a couple of weaker performances. But that’s football. Against Luxembourg, we played similar. We had a lot of opportunities in that game, but we scored only once. Against Croatia, we scored in the first ten minutes, which helped us settle down in the game. This time, we were able to bring a lot of real football. Sneijder and Van der Vaart were constantly threatening. And Afellay did very well when he came on. It was fun to watch.”

Van Basten was also very positive about his defense. “They did great. Heitinga was strong with Mathijsen and De Cler was important in our build up. This was partly because Gio and Demy de Zeeuw played exellent in their holding roles, enabling the defense to support the build up.”

Ryan Babel was the only weak link this time. San Marco replaced him after 55 minutes. “Babel started weak. The first four balls he got, he lost in a simple manner. You can’t play top football like that. I was very unhappy with that. I wanted to replace him after 30 minutes but decided to cut him some slack. After 55 minutes, it was enough. And Afellay did a great job.”

Van Basten didn’t want to be too positive about the result. “Don’t forget it’s just a friendly. We learned a lot, but the actual result is just that…a result. If we would have lost, it wouldn’t have meant anything either. But I’m happy we did well. Good for our confidence, good for the general feeling around Oranje. And it’s great to have an alternative playing-style. It does give us confidence, because although it was a friendly, Croatia is a serious opponent.

Goalie Van der Sar: “The circumstances were tough. A good opponent, a lousy pitch and very aggressive fans for the homeside. But we played exactly like Marco wanted us to, it went very well. We could really use this.”

Tags: Afellay, Croatia, Group C, Oranje, The Netherlands, Wesley Sneijder

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Comments

By Jan | February 8th, 2008 at 8:53 pm

I’m sorry I’m late with this article. I know most of you covered it already, but I wanted to complete it anyway… I saw the highlights and Croatia wasn’t that bad either. It wasn’t as if they didn’t want to win this. Bad finishing and great goalkeeping stopped them from scoring, I guess. Well done!

Posted from Australia

By bobotoh | February 8th, 2008 at 9:34 pm

Congratulation Holland!

I am happy to hear this. Maybe, the 4-2-3-1 formation is the best formation so far. If Van Persie returns, I guess the 3 persons behind the striker is –van der vaart–van persie—sneijder—

Posted from Indonesia

By Ramy | February 8th, 2008 at 9:42 pm

and what bad goalkeeping on their behalf too.. he was clueless, and clumsy and unlucky..

Sneijder was amazing..
heitinga-mathijsen, gio-de zeeuw partnerships extremely impressive.. and melchiot was a true cannibal. i should watch it again and count how many tackles he did.. that luka modric was turned to

i do feel sorry for Seedorf.. but i guess like you said Jan, we are going to have to sacrifice him for the better of the team. nevertheless he can still play a big role, if used at the right time and right place..

Posted from Canada

By bobotoh | February 8th, 2008 at 11:54 pm

And, if van persie returns, Holland has 3 free-kick taker: VdV, Sneijder, and Van Persie himself. Who is the best between the three?

I think the future is bright. But, I hope that Holland will try a friendly match against Italy or Germany (very strong defence).

Posted from Indonesia

By Ronald | February 9th, 2008 at 3:35 am

Not only Seedorf, Robben is sacrificed too..
Indeed I wanted to see De Zeeuw + Nigel De Jong or Engalaar in holding midfield…the latter 2 can tackle better than V. Bronkhorst..and he’s too slow..

Posted from Hong Kong

By Jan | February 9th, 2008 at 5:58 am

Engelaar could be an interesting choice… V Persie is the best kicker I think. Very hard kicks with lots of spin. Persie from right (with left) and Sneijder from the left. Corner kicks for Vaart and Sneijder since Persie is also a good header. Robben and Seedorf as subs will impress too. If the team is stuck, you can bring Robben. That will scare the sjite out of the Italians and French :-)).

Posted from Australia

By sandesh | February 9th, 2008 at 6:05 am

is this blue dress their new away jersey??

Posted from Nepal

By Genio | February 9th, 2008 at 7:43 am

Don’t know Marco that well to be honest but I thought he was very blunt in his assessment of Babel… >_>

Posted from Singapore

By Ronald | February 9th, 2008 at 10:23 am

@sandesh: yes, Holland’s newest away jersey..

Posted from Hong Kong

By tjeerd | February 9th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

3-0 over a strong Croatia team, some encouraging news after that depressing Derkson article.

By dirk v.d berg | February 9th, 2008 at 6:21 pm

So now that we’re more comfortable in this line-up, who do you guys think will be playing where in Euro 2008? I assume that a lot of them will look the same.

—————–sar——————-
melchiot-heitinga-mathijsen-emanuelson

——-de zeeuw—–van bronkhorst—–

-van der vaart–sneijder–van persie-

————-van nistelrooij———–

I’m not completely convinced with de cler, and I think van der vaart is a better winger than sneijder, but it’s pretty much the same as wat we used in this game.

Couple other questions too. Can anyone imagine van Basten subbing van Persie out for Robben, if he gets called up? Because now that they play the same position I don’t think he would do that.

And why has Nicky Hofs been called up to the National team when players like Engelaar and Slory have?

Posted from Canada

By Jan | February 9th, 2008 at 8:51 pm

Marco can be blunt. Ask van Nistelrooy and Van Bommel and Seedorf. And Kuyt :-). As for the line up, in an ideal world the full backs will need to play wingers (see De Cler’s cross for Huntelaar’s 0-2). When in possession, the backs will advance (most opponents don’t play with wingers) so the backs will have space to advance. Both De Cler and Emanuelson have the skills and so have Kromkamp and Melchiot on the right. The holding midfielders will then protect those zones. Vaart and Sneijder will play close together on midfield and Van Persie will hover around Nistelrooy, with the freedom to chose whichever direction to run in.

In my view, the line up will be:

Sar

Melchiot - Heitinga - Mathijsen - De Cler

De Zeeuw - Gio

Sneijder - Van Persie - Van der Vaart

Nistel

In ball possession it will be:

Sar

Heitinga - De Zeeuw - Matijsen - Gio

Melchiot - Sneijder - Vaart - De Cler

Persie - Nistel

Allowing Sneijder/Vaart to penetrate and/or De Cler and Melchiot to reach the touch line.

Robben will be the replacement for Van der Vaart if Rafael can’t play and Seedorf will be the replacement for Persie and/or Sneijder.

To be honest, with Engelaar, De Guzman, Afellay, Boulah, Robben, Seedorf, Huntelaar and Babel as subs we don’t have a shabby outfit…

BRING IT ON!

Posted from Australia

By JVB21 | February 9th, 2008 at 9:14 pm

The colour Oranje is a fickle, temperamental and delicate thing, but I like the way the sun shines brighter when they play better. I like the way our mood swings up with the results. I like the way Goose’s words smile when we play well and win.

Posted from Canada

By CroFan | February 9th, 2008 at 9:21 pm

Discrace performance by the croats midfield didnt play well as used to defence is weak and old i think slaven bilic will change the defence he need’s to change because they were just walking around and wathcing goals being scored it could have been 2:1 instead 3:0 oh well holland the better team won that i gotta to say we really need to play like we did against england when we come to glasgow against scotland.And holland fans are great unlike english scums good luck at euro 2008 win the group so we can play again huh.

Posted from United States

By Caleb | February 9th, 2008 at 10:18 pm

Classy response CroFan (unlike some other visitors who have come on to this blog after playing us). You are right, it could have been 2:1 for sure, you guys had some good chances too.

Genio: San Marco doesn’t have the best people managing skills sometimes, but he was dead on though (if quite blunt). Babel played a very poor game. I don’t know, maybe players sometimes need a jolt like this. Players with good mentality will use it as motivation. Players with poor mentality (players who are too full of themselves and seem more like divas than football players) will have problems with it. Lately Babel has been terrible for Orange. He needs to step it up.

dirk v.d berg: I don’t agree about de Cler. He has looked great every time he’s played for Orange and he did so again against Croatia. I’m not so convinced about Emanuelson. And I think probably Van Persie will be in the center and vdv and sneijder on the sides.

I like Jan’s line up. That’s the one I’d choose too. Melchiot played another great game. Like I’ve said before, I think he is our best right back.

Posted from Japan

By Mario Rosado (Dutch admirer) | February 10th, 2008 at 9:00 pm

The line up for Euro 2008 will be:

1- van der Sar
2- Melchiot
3- Heitinga
4- Mathijsen
5- De Cler
6- De Zeeuw
7- Sneijder
8- van Bronckhorst
9- van Nistelrooy
10-van der Vaart
11-van Persie

Bench: (don´t pay attention to the numbers )
12-Stekelenburg
13-Waterman
14-Jaliens (unfortunately he will be called up)
15-Bouma
16-Ooijer
17-Seedorf
18-Afellay
19-Maduro
20-Babel
21-Robben
22-Huntelaar
23-Venegoor/Kuyt

There are other players who can still make an impact to enter in the list but it seems to me that the players I am mentioning here are the ones who count for San Marco and being objective they are great players. We have a very competitive team, our defense is not at the level of Italy´s but we have good defenders. From midfield to attack we have an excellent set of players. The bad thing is that Kromkamp and van Bommel will not have a chance of going to the tournament unless there is a last minute surprise.
I liked a lot the formation van Basten used, I didn´t have the chance to watch the game because it was not broadcasted in my country but I saw the highlights and we played pretty good. This victory comes at the right time because winning at Croatia is very hard and we smashed them 0-3. It is the best result that Holland has gotten since the World Cup and we had had very bad times during the Euro 2008 qualification losing important games and playing very bad. And in friendlies we were outplayed like in Switzerland but I think that van Basten has now told his players that if they want to go to the Euro 2008 to win they´d better start improving otherwise they will be very punished against Italy, France and even Romania. I am very happy for the team and hopefully this is a good sign for the tournament. I have not been very happy with the way van Basten has managed the team and I know most of us think alike but in I wish him all the best because in my best dreams I would love Oranje lifting that the European Championship tournament. We have the talent, we have the material, we need some luck and have the hunger to do so. We are very capable of winning that trophy.

Hup Holland!

By Jan | February 13th, 2008 at 3:48 am

Robin van Persie will be out till March, Wenger stated today. He doesn’t want to take any chances…

Posted from Australia

By Marien | February 18th, 2008 at 10:55 pm

Why hasn’t anyone mentioned Drenthe? He is young I know, but he is smart and a utility player. He could play left back, left wing, or center mid

Posted from United States

By Rocky | February 28th, 2008 at 8:05 am

I am really pleased with this 3-0 win against Croatia.
Croatia is a good team which expel England from the tournament.
I suppose this is a good reverse performance for Marco’s team after being poor performances in the qualification phase, especially when I watched they win 1-0 against Luxembourg.
I think the two key players in Holland Team are Sneijder and Van Der Vaart. But I still would love to see Seedorf to play as a starting line up, coz nevertheless he is the only player who has win Champions League Cup with three different club and has the most experienced in world class tournament, but never told him to take a penalty kick (95% will be missed).
also, I would like Robben and Van Persie to return to the team, they are very skillful player with excellent penetration to enemy’s defense.

Viva Holland

Posted from Indonesia

By sphinx | March 1st, 2008 at 10:20 pm

4-2-3-1 surely will be the best for Euro..2008. Our hopes lighten up again. I notice all other big Euro-teams has lack of generation.
Afellay, Vaart and Sneijder at 3 man row being so exciting! It would allow fully fluid play.
Holding line? Some suggest De Zeeuw+ De Jong or Eglaar..then Gio.
De Jong has consistancy problem. Eglaar so strong… good for some opponent. There we need some one new eggar Davids!
Loan striker? who will comptete VNS.. Persie more agile.. Hunter no where better than VNS. JVH more physical..

Posted from Australia

By torontocroatia | March 1st, 2008 at 10:35 pm

frindly whos give a damn uefa euro 2008 n world cup 2010

is the real deal

croatia will win uefa euro 2008 with dudU on the bench

»Stipe Pletikosa Vedran Ćorluka »Robert Kovač Dario Šimić Josip Šimunić

Niko Kovač Niko Kranjčar Luka Modrić Darijo Srna Ivica Olić Mladen Petrić

goalie-good

d fence- weak

midflied - bad/good reason bad d fence

forward- no dudu is ok was good—– olic petric more luck than skills

By finnster01 | March 2nd, 2008 at 12:24 am

Stay on decaf coffee. “Croatia will win Euro08″? I noticed you left Eduardo out so at least you must have got that news. Obviously you didn’t think that was a big loss though, since you evidently will easily win without him.

With respect to the rest of the lineup, I am still trying to figure out if these are actual players or just a bad Croatian curse everyone utters after too much Slivovitch.

Posted from United States

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