Ruud slashes Marco

Good point about Ivory Coast game. Just pathetic way to treat your stars.

And not bringing him on against Portugal - when the team desperately needed someone who can operate in a packed box. That was just so stpuid.

Cripers.

Posted from  United States

Its one thing to try to weed out potential troublemakers but this is starting to get ridiculous. ITs almost as if MVB confronts players to see if they will react. How long until Van Persie loses it on MVB? Pretty soon Lanzaat will be team captain.

Posted from  Canada

I’m really hoping the Van Baasten has turned a corner on his treatment of players. Because if he knocks out one or two more players, we’re going to be in a situation where the non-van Baasten all-stars could beat the Van Baasten all stars!

Van N and Makaay up front, Van Bommel and Seedorf in the middle. Add a couple defenders and it gets to be a good team awfully fast.

But I remain optimistic - he really seems to be learning a bit. Hopefully, he’ll reach out to a couple of these guys and show that he’s changing.

Posted from  United States

i miss van the man… scored a pair of goals today against dynamo kiev bringing his european tally to an astounding 48… congrates to him on being a father…!!!

Posted from  Canada

It’s funny…. Last week the media filmed a very intense discussion between Ancelotti (AC Milan’s coach) and Seedorf. He yelled: Seedorf, play faster!!! Don’t stall so much!
And Seedorf replied: why don’t you stop screaming from the sideline and do some real coaching. That would help, instead of that nervous behaviour!
Then Carlo shouted back: you’re lucky I already used my substitutions, otherwise I would’ve taken you off the pitch now!
For everyone to see and hear, this little chat…
After the match, both men reacted very mature. Ancelotti said: I am not longer mad at Clarence. I am mad at the media, for putting their mikes where we don’t want them…
and Clarence: There’s nothing wrong between me and the coach. This is just two grown-ups discussing their work. We have a lot of these discussions in the thick of things and we do not always agree. But we can both handle it, and a day later we drink a glass of wine.

Now, can you see MvB working like that?

Posted from  Australia

I absolutely cannot hehe.

I hope Kuyt starts instead of Huntelaar as centre forward in the upcoming EC qualifying matches.
Jan , mike you guys should post something on Kuyt’s amazing performances in liverpool. I cant wait for tonight’s matchup between liverpool and galatasaray.

I really think van the man should be in the squad. He is by a million of miles better than Hesselink.. However, I think we can all come to agree that this is not the criteria Van Basten is making use of these days in picking his squad. And thats is obviously sad for our dutch football… and a shame!!

That said, on the other hand, I’d like to add something. Aside from Hesselink and Babel(i dont know what that guy is still doing in the Oranje squad), I do not think that Van the Man is better than Kuyt or Van Persie or robben anymore.. I’m not sure when compared to Hunterlaar… But in all cases, I think we should also all come to agree that Van the Man is not the Man he used to be anymore.
I wish him the best, and hope he gets to improve again.. bas as far as “now” is concerned, i’d gladly put Kuyt in his place as centre forward and a Huntelaar as his substitution.

your comments?

Posted from  Russian Federation

I agree actually, Ruud is not the player he was 3/4 years ago. He hasn’t really played to his full potential since euro 04 in my opinion, but would I have him in the squard ahead of Hesselink? yes, certainly. Kuyt has been great at Liverpool too like you sad and he’s a crowd favourite there already.

Good to see PSV win last night, I think they will comfortably make the last 16 of the champions league. And with the players they have (Alex, Gomez, Farfan, Cocu, Kromkamp, Afellay, Méndez etc) and a little luck I believe they could do quite well, last 8 again maybe.

Posted from  Denmark

I sure hope I’m wrong on this, but my optimism for EC 2008 is sinking as fast as RvN’s chances of being put back on the pitch in Oranje.

Van Basten needs a cluebat upside the head, and fast.

Posted from  United States

Um… I’m just wondering where you guys are getting this Van the Man ain’t all that much “the Man” anymore… I mean, you have been watching Real Madrid in the last few weeks, right? Like the two goals Van put in this week. I mean, he can be better, but let’s face it, I think MvB crushed his ego this summer. I just hope they can get along again. I know what MvB is doing; he’s trying to have a very young team play together for a long time, so they get really good. The thing is, it doesn’t work too well unless you have leader on the pitch. I think MvB is relying on vdSaar for that now, but it is hard for him, since he isn’t included in a majority of plays. I’m sure Cocu used to do that, but with him retired, I don’t think there is another player that can express himself enough of the field. During the WC, the team obviously thought it should be Robben, considering all the passes he was getting (especially in that game vs S&M where Van the Man and vPersie weren’t playing… oh wait, they were actually playing). The problem is, Robben isn’t in the #10 spot (like JC used to be). He’s a forward that’s good at receiving passes and running as fast as he can, which isn’t exactly a commanding position. We need a Ballack, a Beckenbaueur (he did pretty good considering he was defense), a JC, someone who can lead the troops. And you know who that man is: Kuyt. Since he is such a great player at adapting, and since we need such a player so badly, it’s only logical. He’s an OK center striker, but his real use is his versatility. We need him to gain a lot of confidence (by playing for Liverpool?) and be able to come on the pitch, play behing Van the Man or Makaay, and command the ball. Where it goes, who it goes to, how the other players are on the pitch, and the most important thing: he needs to complain! It’s a must. If you look at videos from the 70’s with JC and all, if a player was disastisfied with another players work, they didn’t hide it. Although I’ll admit they didn’t go Rambo on the guy, they definatley made it understood that he had better options. Now, most of the players are young, they don’t want to piss off the coach, they want to keep their spot, so they just play, like little shy children, without ever complaining about each others work. And so, they never know what others think about their work (except the coach) and most importantly, they never know to correct it. I must admit that this is quite a drastic change, but it has to be done. I only see one other possibility: Robben becomes more of a midfielder, since the team already seems to have so much confidence in him, it would only be natural. The only problem is that then you are not using his potential to the fullest, since he would have a hard time coming from behind Van the Man to in front of the goal while passing through all of the defenders.

Latest news:

vanBasten has selected vanBommel!!!!!!

this is a hopefull thing to happen…has vanBasten learned at last??? Will he call vanNistelrooy??

greetz

Posted from  Netherlands

yessss:-)

and will he call one day clarence?

Posted from  Hungary

@ferenc, think Clarence (and Ruud) are a bridge too far at this moment in time BUT im more hopefull than ever that vanBasten is changing his views on certain players… so why not on Seedorf in the long run…well have to keep on dreaming

greetz

Posted from  Netherlands

vanNistelrooy should be in the team, if only cause of his winner-mentality, as he sub he should do better than Vennegoor..but true: hes not as good as he used to be (hes getting older, 30 already) btw: his goals last week were pretty easy.

mrfocus is right about the problem of leaderhip…vanderSar is a nice guy and a very good goalie but he isnt a natural leader (and his position is lousy too)
Cocu was the last one we had, im telling you that it should be vanBommel, hes the one with the holy fire!! Kuyt is in my opinion a perfect second man in commant, he runs a marathon each game and he can fire things up aswell..to bad we cant let him play on midfield, we need a player like him..

what about Seedorf, hes a born leader (maybe a bit to much), I say give the guy an opportunity

Posted from  Netherlands

Leadership. The playmaker. Too bad Van de Vaart keeps on getting hurt obviously.

Van Persie is the other guy I saw making things happen.

What’s tough as the coach is to figure out how to meld so manh very good options. Kuijt, Van P, Robben, Van N, Makaay, KJ, they are all very good players - and you could make a good case for almost any combination.

But seemed lacking was any real consideration of how to make the pieces work together. You need a guy to cover space better in the midfield? Heh, Arjen - you mind?

You want to make Van N more of a force - excuse me Van P and Robben, could one of you guys, you know occasionally just run hard and cross it in? You know, like Overmars always used to do?
Please?

That seemed to be some of the stuff that Klinsman was doing during the cup, as was Italy. They shifted tactics during games - but Oranje didn’t seem to quite do it.

Call up of Van Bommel - another good sign! Talks nicely about a guy who’s pretty washed up (Kluivert), brings up someone he beat up on! Heh, guys remember this is his first coaching assingement. Maybe we should remember that when he pummel him for not doing the exactly right things in the WC. Or learning to communicate as a coach rather than the best striker in the world.

Posted from  United States

@Jan: there is a van basten interview with - probably - interesting questions at http://www.knvb.nl/archief/oranje/knvb.nl_oranje_nieuws/zijn_er_nog_vragen_voor_van_basten_

i’m sorry to ask you (or someone speaking dutch), but could you translate it? thx

Posted from  Hungary

(I went straight to the questions)

PC: Press conference people
MVB: Van Basten

PC: what does Van Nistelrooijhave to do to get back in the team

MVB: play outstandingly
PC: He does not play outstanding at Real?
MVB: A lot has happened, Van Bommel has moved to Bayern Munich he plays good at a good level. Van Bommel belongs in the best 6 people that belong in selection. We look purely at what a player shows on the field. period.

PC: Is there a chance Van Bommel is going to play for the defense?
MVB:I don’t think so, his best ability is to play attackingly.

PC: What about Seedorf?, he’s been playing good for a while.

MVB: We looked at all the players. In the end we didnt choose him.

PC: Why select Heitinga and not someone like Greene?

MVB: In defensive play, we think he’s stronger

Posted from  United States

What does van Nistelrooy have to do to be able to return to Oranje?

van Basten: “Play noticable.”

His game at Real Madrid hasn’t impressed you?

van Basten: “Not to the point that we decided to take him back. It’s all on him to prove us wrong.”

so Van Bommel’s playing has impressed you at this point?

van Basten: “If you look at recent time you’ll see that a lot has happened. Mark has moved from Barcelona to Bayern Munich. He’s playing at a high level and he’s handling it well. Van Bommel belongs to the best six players that are available for selection.”

“We are only purely looking at what a player shows on the field. Period.”

Is there a chance that Van Bommel will play in the defense?

van Basten: “I don’t think so. His strong suit that he can play with the point forward.”

Has there been discussions about calling up Clarence Seedorf. He has been playing well again for a while now?

van Basten: “We have been by all of the players and we’ve discussed him as well. Our choice didn’t land with him. We gave the preference to other players.”

Why Heitinga and not for example Greene?

van Basten: “In defensive terms we find him stronger at the moment.”

simply players will land only at his preference. end interview

Posted from  Singapore

Van Bommel refused to play for Dutch under the present regime.
I’m so disappointed because of the coach and the players of Dutch team.

Posted from  Australia

@all:

latest news:

vanBommel and vanNistelrooy both refused to play for vanBasten (vanBasten called both due to injuries),

im very pissed!!! VanBasten should go!!!!!!

Posted from  Netherlands

http://www.nu.nl/news/838197/43/Mark_van_Bommel_bedankt_voor_Oranje.html

dont know of any of you read dutch…

gtz

Posted from  Netherlands