Players: We want Nederland B!!

Elia: Actually, I don’t need a bike….

The majority of the Dutch clubs hope that Oranje B will play their last game tonight, against Young Italy. The employers of the B-players are afraid of injuries, basically. They can’t see the value of these matches and want their players back, safe and secure. The players themselves, however, revel in the company of living legends like Neeskens and Bergkamp and in the orange jersey color.

The KNVB will do all it can to keep this team alive though, since quitting will stop the international development of numerous young and very talented players.

In September, Young Oranje will start the qualifications for the EC U21 in Denmark (2011). Players born on or after January 1 1988 will qualify to play in that team. Acknowledged talents like Roy Beerens, Eljero Elia, Nordin Amrabat, Urby Emanuelson, Piet Velthuizen, Kenneth Vermeer and Gianni Zuiverloon, all part of Neeskens B-team, are too old for Young Oranje. But not good enough yet for Van Marwijk’s elite, so they will need to make do without international games.

Heerenveen winger Roy Beerens: “If you look at the names I have in front of me, I get depressed. Those lads (Sneijder, Vaart, Robben, Kuyt, Van Persie, Babel, Affelay) are all so good and still in the prime of their game. They can go on for some time.” FC Twente’s Elia has the same opinion: “I’ll just have to wait for that one chance to present myself.”

Most of the Oranje B players are with sub top Eredivisie teams or lower placed foreign clubs (like Zuiverloon at WBA). These teams love to compete for European football but won’t compete structurally. And whenever a club like Heerenveen qualifies for European football, a heavy draw can end the dream quickly. Two or three top games with Oranje B per season could help develop their skills. But the clubs don’t like this scheme. They all point at the chance of players getting injured, while the odds are bigger that the player will injure himself at club level, due to the number of sessions they’ll have at their clubs.

This club-blindness is even more surprising when you take into account that the Eredivisie clubs need to accept the fact that they develop players to sell them abroad for a profit. Big transfers are need every season to keep the Dutch clubs afloat. But when Beerens or Amrabat dashes past a Heracles or Sparta defender, the international scouts can’t be bothered to request a DVD. However, when Amrabat tricked the HSV back Aogo time and time again, the scouts of AC Milan, Inter Milan, Bayern, Schalke, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool were all present to watch the German and Dutch talents do their thing.

KNVB honcho Henk Kesler: “When you see them play Young Germany off the pitch, it’s clear that this team has added value. I really want to continue this experiment.”

Elia: “This team is very valuable for players who are just not good enough yet for the Big Oranje. You gain massive experience and let’s face it: working with Neeskens and Bergkamp is a dream come true. Who wouldn’t want that for his players?”