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Searching for Balance

March 24th, 2007 | By: Jan | 10 Comments »

The results Marco van Basten can show the world are impressive!! 32 international games, only 2 losses. That is just incredible. But, the execution on the pitch is poor. We did get some hope. Just after the WC2006, Oranje butchered the Irish (4-0). Stijn Schaars, Huntelaar and Emanuelson made their debuts and it seemed van Basten finished his jigsaw.

But, the real world was a bit tougher, it seemed. After Ireland, Oranje played 6 matches. We won four and got 2 draws. But the only time Holland played good, was the away game against Bulgaria. When the pressure was on due to a early Bulgarian goal. So, van Basten keeps looking for the ideal formation, the magic formula. Not just resulting in the results, but also in good, dominant and attractive football.
And, van Basten used 26 different players since WC2006, in 7 games. Only Mathijssen and Landzaat played all 7 games.

There is no doubt about the system. Although all internationals play 4-4-2 in their club teams, van Basten is fully confident with 4-3-3, whereby the center midfielder is the controlling midfielder. Van Basten beliefs the positioning on the pitch is optimal with 4-3-3 and he knows international opponents don’t like to play against 3 strikers.

Less consistent is Van Basten with regards to the actual players. He used four different center strikers. “We do not have the right man, yet. And that will stay that way until one of them really steps up to the plate.”

Those words apply to more positions. Three right backs (Heitinga, Boulahrouz, Jaliens) and the center midfielder role is also up for grabs (Schaars, De Jong, Da Silva). And although you never know with Marco van Basten, today it seems Demy de Zeeuw gets a go.

The task of De Zeeuw will be to pick up all the crumbles the five offensive players let spill. He will be the bridge between defense and offense and between left and right. “Sure, I need to control, but I also want to contribute in a footballing fashion”, the neo international said. De Zeeuw will play the crucial position in the team. Which is why we saw van Basten spending a considerable amount of time talking to him. “It was interesting and useful, although I didn’t hear anything other than I hear from van Gaal at AZ’.

Weekly football magazine VI invented a new term for De Zeeuw’s game: game accelarator. If the midfielder can take his AZ form with him to Oranje, van Basten may have found a key-element in his puzzle. De Zeeuw:”Van Gaal always says it’s one of the most important positions on the pitch, since you’re connected to all the players. And if you play well, you can really raise the game of the whole team…”

Tags: Demy de Zeeuw, marco van basten, The Netherlands

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Comments

By carrington | March 24th, 2007 at 9:21 am

can anyone tell me where i can watch the holland game for free on the internet 2nite??

Posted from United Kingdom

By Ragnar | March 24th, 2007 at 4:23 pm

5 minutes to the final whistle, and It´s been one of the worst games I´ever seen. MVB needs to be replaced period. When a team that has the players that Orange has, and can´t score one goal, let alone dominate the match, you know there´s something wrong. Landzaat needs to leave Orange, he never belonged in it, and never will. Not to amused with Jaliens either. Sorry about the rant but I´m so dissapointed now that I cant even think about one good thing of today´s game
grtz

Posted from Venezuela

By goose | March 24th, 2007 at 4:54 pm

Here we go again; it has been one of the worse games i ever seen them play..i remember i made this remark after the Lux. games but this one was even worse..really cant believe how bad we play(ed), not one single decent attack..NOT ONE!!
1. Stekelenburg: ok, nothing special
2. Gio; is just not a very good player and it showed again
3. jaliens: played so bad it almost made me laugh
4.mathijsen;defen. ok, rest shit
5.bouma; played very bad, not one decent ball to the midfield
6.Sneijder; not good, no decent passing, lacks the strenght in the one on one situation
7.vdVaart; try to show to much, didnt play good at all
8.Robben; one of his worse games for Oranje, did nothing right
9.Babel; started like the rest but was the only one who got to some kind of decent lever at the end
10.Huntelaar; did abs. everything wrong, no use
11.Landzaat; well what can i say: DISGRACE!

But i would say that the lowest mark of all goes to vanBasten.. im finished with the man…there is not only no progress at all, its even getting worse…
theres no game plan, no line to be seen, he lost vital players due to his lack in communicating, he selects on very subjective grounds, picks the wrong people and doenst seen to be able to learn them anything..
im almost to the point were im not gonna look at the game on wendesday (but i prob. will anyway)..getting really fed up with this..were losing respect and they’re losing the respect from their fans
why didnt vanBasten change Huntelaar for Kuyt, why was Landzaat on the pitch till vdVaart had to leave and vanbasten brought Seedorf?? Why is Landzaat there in the first place??
im so F#cking dissapointed, again!!
i say; lets get rid of vanBasten and his friends and try to get something going before its too late..really cant believe this..DISGRACE!!!!

Posted from Netherlands

By Mario Rosado (Dutch admirer) | March 24th, 2007 at 5:46 pm

Hello, my name is Mario Rosado and I am from México. I´ve been following the Dutch football and the National Team since I am 10 years old. Since that I have seen the progress of great players such as Davids, Cocu, Kluivert, Overmars, Frank de Boer, Ronald de Boer, van Nistelrooy, van Bommel, Zenden, van der Sar, Stam and many more that have succedeed so much that my passion for the Dutch game has increased, it is the type of play that I love the must, above any type of football…but right now this game is gone due to one man: Marco van Basten. KNVB, stop improvising and select a man that can handle the job properly. This boat is drawning and he is the only one to blame. Not selecting Ruud, van Bommel, Makaay and not supporting and doing what he did today vs Romania show that the man in charge is not doing his job. Landzaat instead of Seedorf, Babel as a starter???. Jaliens and Landzaat do not have the level to be selected in a National Team that has been one of the most famed ones. Mr Marco should resign for his pride or at least somebody should fire him and along with him all his staff that don´t function for this huge and talented team that is being wasted big time because the tacticts (4-3-3) and the players that he lines up are simply not the best. He has to go for good, to win and have a winning team you need just that a TEAM…and I am sure nobody wants to play for Marco Van Bastard because he can kick your ass in a very stupid way because he does not have to ability to guide a group as he has shown with players that have been very succesful in their careers such as Ruud, Davids, Seedorf, Kuyt and many others. I love and I will continue loving the Dutch type of game but with this coach the Netherlands is lost! It is a shame that Marco that was such a legend is doing such a bad work…since the failure of the World Cup and the snubbing at the very last minute of Ruud van Nistelrooy in the Portugal game I lost the faith in van Basten and since that this team is playing worse and worse each game.
Marco, you should go home with your ego to watch your goals and let somebody like Koeman, van Gaal, Hiddink handle this team properly and then dedicate to learn how to manage players because according to van Basten logic, the stars are stupid…so he would never have had the chance to shine if a coach like him would have coached him. Resign, fire him, go, and then the Dutch will rule agaian!

By ferenc | March 24th, 2007 at 5:53 pm

how long will the knvb tolerate the stupidities of this fuc**ing idiot? no concept,no strategy,no foorball,only landzaat (the substitute of wigan athletic)…

no comment.

Posted from Hungary

By Mario Rosado (Dutch admirer) | March 24th, 2007 at 6:07 pm

I agree with all of you guys…what do the KNVB is saying regarding to this stupid coach?. Marco is not even a coach…he is a caricature right now and should have to go. I am very sure that the President of the KNVB has made him a monster by make him thik that he can do and undo whatever he wants…we are dealing here with a team that has fans around the globe and I also support van Nistelrooy and van Bommel by saying that they will not be in the team as long as van Basten is the coach. After watching today´s game vs Romania I think Seedorf and Kuyt will not tolerate van Basten anymore…then he can screw with our new stars like van Persie, Huntelaar and Robben and in the end Holland will have in his starting eleven only players of FC Twente, Utrecht, Groningen, Hereenveen, Wigan and more mediocre teams. He has to go right, everybody knows that but I think that the bad things come from the top positions and along with Marco and his staff this stupid KNVB president can go too because van Basten in the beginning should not have had this job because only a recognized man with titles as a coach has the rights to have this huge responsability. Right now the question is: who should suceed Marco van Basten at the helm and why do you think that we can have a great future with your proposal???

By Mario Rosado (Dutch admirer) | March 24th, 2007 at 6:28 pm

I am waiting to hear in webpages or any media that van Basten is gone

By goose | March 24th, 2007 at 6:37 pm

@ferenc; we all know how long this is gonna last..till 2008 , well qualify without to many problems but we’ll play no serious role during the championship and after that vanbasten will be gone and well be able to make a fresh start..maybe we can be saved for the WC in 10..
how many times has it been with vanBasten as manager that we have seen a good Oranje?? Name two games..i can think only of the tjechie and the bulgaria match, which both were nothing really special but were games were we played decent..shame on us and shame on vanbasten who messed it all up

Posted from Netherlands

By Misha | March 25th, 2007 at 5:42 am

Hey fellow disappointed Netherfans, there is a now a conceivable chance that we wont make it into the Euros. Which frankly, may not be such a bad thing. Is it Van Basten or KNVB that’s ruining Dutch international football. The funny thing is I really thought I was being too hard on VB and KNVB, and that I should be more positive, but think I will stick to my instincts. Hup Holland.

By goose | March 27th, 2007 at 2:43 pm

@misha; my friend, we were right from the beginning..cant say im too happy about it but alas…

hup holland hup
laat de leeuw niet in z’n hempje staan
hup holland hup
trek het beessie geen pantoffels aan
hup holland hup
laat je uit het veld niet slaan
want de leeuw op voetbalschoenen
kan de hele wereld aan

sorry,

grtz

Posted from Netherlands

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