World

Europe

Netherlands

Seedorf: not enjoying his supporting role

September 10th, 2007 | By: Jan | 26 Comments »

Wesley Sneijder had to leave the training yesterday with an ankle injury. Marco van Basten didn’t blink an eye. “Than I’ll play another player on that position,” he must have thought. Like Seedorf. The AC Milan midfielder seems the most desperate to get a starting position in tomorrow’s match against Albania. When he did his warming up last Saturday he got a spontaneous applause from the fans. When he came onto the pitch, the fans cheered. That has never happened to him before in Oranje.

After the game, Van Basten reiterated that Seedorf had a good 20 minutes in the game, that the differences between players are small and that he might change the whole team around for the Albania match.

Seedorf: “I highly enjoyed the who game and the atmosphere in the Arena. It was fantastic. I even heard people chant my name. That really helps me cope with my bench-role.”

,,I find it hard to swallow that I don’t have a starting position in Oranje. Mentally it’s tough. I play every week at AC Milan, there is no question about it. But in Oranje I have a different status. It’s a process I guess. I’ll get there.”

Describe the process?

Seedorf: ,,Well, I was away 2,5 years. It’s normal that after such a long time, you’re not the coach’s favorite immediately, right? The fans support me now and also my team mates think it’s great that I am back. I feel it’s just a matter of time before the team manager will start to use me more.”

Apparently you have to make it even harder for him?

,,Harder than I do, I guess. But, it’s not just my qualities. Van Basten won’t think “I can place all my bets on Seedorf”. That’s logical. And there is fierce competition for the midfielders and there’s interesting combinations to be made too. I don’t believe in the “it’s either Sneijder or Seedorf” stuff. We can play together, no worries. I played with Rui Costas in one team. Gattuso made sure the balance was in order. But anyway, I don’t think I should discuss the line-up here… “

So how does the best midfielder of the last CL-season his current role in Oranje?

,,It’s a supporting role. Between brackets I guess, but it is a supporting role and I don’t enjoy that. I want a more leading part, but I will have to support the coach in his choices. I will remain professional in my position. The prices I won don’t count. I want to help the team reach the EC. We have two games now to get a step closer and that’s my focus.”

Is there a time frame within which you want that leading part?

,,No, I will just remain positive. I feel that I’ve a good chance against Albania. I don’t have any clues for that, but that’s what I usually feel.”

What do you know about Albania?

,,Nothing. The coaches will inform us during the tactical meetings. I’ve never been there, but I gather it’s another opponent playing with the knives between their teeth…”

Tags: Clarence Seedorf, The Netherlands

Netherlands World Cup RSS Feed

del.icio.us:Seedorf: not enjoying his supporting role

digg:Seedorf: not enjoying his supporting role

newsvine:Seedorf: not enjoying his supporting role

reddit:Seedorf: not enjoying his supporting role

fark:Seedorf: not enjoying his supporting role

Y!:Seedorf: not enjoying his supporting role

stumbleupon:Seedorf: not enjoying his supporting role

Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 26 comments.

Read the rest of the comments

By goose | September 11th, 2007 at 1:11 am

yes Mario; vanBasten is that stupid..hes even stupid enough to get rid of our best defensive midfielder/attacking defender, vanBommel
the Port. game was a decisive moment for me too..to bench one of the best striker in the world, humiliate him and then after a year phone him and telling him ” we need you back..please??” is pathetic
vanBasten is just the worst manager ever

comments on the big teams is very true..like i said before..during qualifications you just have 2 or 3 difficult games..as long as you dont loose them youll qualify… but then; when you meet the ‘big ‘ teams theirs a great change we get slaughtered

Think Seedorf is proven to be a real man and a real pro..he really won back the hearts of the people in Holland..

GO CLARENCE GO CLARENCE

hope hell take his change cause i think he gonna play tomorrow!!!

GO CLARENCE

grtz

Posted from Netherlands

By Miguel Rosado | September 11th, 2007 at 1:53 am

Schuster train Holland please!!!!!!!!!!.

How can Guti and Sneijder play together and Seedorf and Sneijder can’t?. I don’t get it.

I think Seedorf is at his peak phisically and mentally. Marco needs to take advantage of that, we need a very experimented midfielder and he is the one we should be relying on.

By Miguel Rosado | September 11th, 2007 at 2:37 am

Is Marco a good coach???.

Kromkamp: Marco said he made a terrible mistake by taking Jan to the WC, no ppl management, can they work together again after that? wow I think not.

Seedorf: not called for 2 years and when called in the bench. No doubt he is not the type of player Marco wants. We don’t need to say he is the most winning player we’ve nowadays in the team.

Davids: At the start of Marco’s reign he was given the captain armband and then was insulted when Marco compared him to Jan Vowters.

Huntelaar: Top scorer of the Eredivisie with a prolific year and excluded at the age of 22 years old because he needed to prove himself at the U-21 EC???, good news Marco he actually did. Champion and top scorer of the tournament, he did prove you WRONG.

Opdam: a regular during qualification. Heitinga played well for the last 2 months of the league and got called instead of him, I feel pity for Barry although I do like Heitinga.

Maduro: played in very important games during qualification and those games we played well (Czechs, Romania, etc) but I don’t know what happended because now he’s totally overlooked. We don’t have many holding midfielders so we could try something with him.

Castelen: Problems with right wingers, where is Romeo?. Proved himself many times and danced against Ashley Cole.

Boateng: one week before announcing his final list for the WC he complimented Boateng giving him hopes of reaching the WC but just because Middlesbrough lost in a terrible way to Sevilla he was left out. I mean how can you leave out a player for one bad game???, I’m no fan of George but poor guy.

Kuyt: he played in the most important game of the WK against Portugal instead of Ruud but just after the WC San Marco takes away all his confidence by playing Huntelaar. Is that good management?.

Makaay: is Hesselink better?. I know Roy hasn’t done much at international level but come on Hesselink?, please!!!.

Ugur Yildrim: poor Yildrim he will never have international career.

Van Bommel: he simply knows there´s no future under Marco.

Van Nistelrooy: left out of the most important game of his life. After the WC Marco went to apologise and ask him to go back but I don’t know what he did but he didn’t managed to do it. He simply didn’t convince Ruud, we have a no leader as a coach.

- Marco we want to remember you as a player and maybe in some time after you get experience as a coach but now please step aside because you have no clue of what you are doing.

By Jan | September 11th, 2007 at 4:29 am

Well guys, you rock! Good post Miguel… What can I say… :-)?

“I play Gio instead of Seedorf because of the balance of the team…”

Posted from Australia

By tiju thomas | September 11th, 2007 at 9:26 am

Wat a comment miqel fantastic 90% i agree with u.
We can drop kuyt and bommel(we dont wat such kind of players)
we r having nestel/hanlaar/haiselink pinch hitter they why dirk
we r having roban babel then why dirk?
we r having van persie and castelen (dribling masteros)
then why we need dirk?
can u compare dirk with any of these guys
van bommel already had rift with san mark
we r having several players in tat position
de zeew
hedwings
davids
evander zno
gio vani
all r far better than bommel so we can drop
and its pitty tat guy is getting dropped MR van u will pay the penalty for tat

By ferenc | September 11th, 2007 at 9:48 am

actually i don’t like at all van bommel - his mentality,yellow and red cards,his behaviour (even as a barca fan i thought his gest against the real supporters after his goal at the bernabeu at real-bayern was disgusting),etc., etc. but i should admit: we really need him.

clarence? of course, without any doubt he has his place in the starting eleven. we have only 3 untouchable - “saint” - players,and he’s one of them (van der saar and ruud are the other two). benching them is an insult.

Posted from Hungary

By goose | September 11th, 2007 at 10:17 am

but ferenc, his (sometimes) obnoxius behaviour is the thing we need.. every team needs an asshole.. remember players like Jan Wouters? remember his elbow against Casgoine?? Neeskens?? they were all assholes.. it surprises me btw that you get offended when real fans are involved..dont you hate those people??

@Miquel: agree with most on your list, except
1. Maduro; has played really crap last year in competition..seems to have lost it, think its right that he doenst play (at the moment)
2.You really cant compare Makaay and Vennegoor..theyre to different
3.Yildrim; really dont know why he was ever called, sitting on the bench at Heerenveen now
4. Think castelen will get his change
5.Davids; way over his prime

think Clarence will play tomorrow, hope he plays well so vanBasten cant bench and humiliate him again

@tiju thomas; keep working on those names my friend! hahaha

grzt

ps; its gonna be a shity match

Posted from Netherlands

By ferenc | September 11th, 2007 at 10:30 am

@goose: i don’t hate real fans. i hate the club especially calderon and mijatovic,but i don’t have any problems with the fans and with the players,especially with the dutch ones.

i hope it won’t be too shity, and clarence perform well for ex. scoring twice and giving an assist to ruud:-) i hope i can watch it on the net,but usually it works (http://myp2p.eu).

Posted from Hungary

By goose | September 11th, 2007 at 10:36 am

oh, knew you didnthave a problem with the dutch!! haha

just think Marco will play some second team…and its always the same in these kind of games; we attack, have ball possession all of the time..the opponant will not leave their own half…in the end we win by 2-0 or 3-1 after a crap performance and all will say; its 3 points and well qualify..

no progress will be seen cause there isnt any

Posted from Netherlands

By Caleb | September 11th, 2007 at 11:01 am

Yildrim was called up to seal his commitment to the Netherlands (in case he becomes a great player in the future, I guess). He had the choice of which country to play for, the Netherlands, or wherever his family came from (Morocco?). He chose the Netherlands and he got called up once so that after that he can’t play for the other one anymore. Just being cautious in case he becomes really great.

Posted from Japan

By goose | September 11th, 2007 at 11:08 am

yes, youre right Caleb.. btw it was Turkey.

grtz

Posted from Netherlands

By Miguel Rosado | September 11th, 2007 at 12:01 pm

One good thing van Basten did was to persuade Afellay to join the Netherlands. He has a great potential and could give us lots of satisfactions.

By stephen | September 11th, 2007 at 1:25 pm

Miguel left one thing out, van Basten’s continued obsession with Landzaat. Truly mystifying.

And you have to admit goose, a past-prime Davids is better than an in-prime Landzaat and may be just the a-hole you are looking for. hahahah Played well for Ajax last year. Of course van Basten ruined that relationship also with his snide remarks.

Posted from United States

By goose | September 11th, 2007 at 3:06 pm

@miquel; heared rumors that either Affelay or Aisaati wants to play for marocco i.s.o. Holland… either one would be a loss, great skills..but both very injury prone

vanBasten has more obsessions stephen; how about Nigel deJong??

maybe true but a past-prime Davids has nothing to do in Oranje (just like an in-prime Landzaat doenst)

finally watched all your tapes?

grtz

Posted from Netherlands

By stephen | September 11th, 2007 at 3:27 pm

Agree on de Jong. Wow, whats wrong with MvB?

Still disagree on Davids, I know you dislike him, but he brings attitude, toughness, experience etc. just what we need in midfield. Sorry goose, I just like the guy, one of the first Oranje dudes I fell in love with, kind of an icon you know. I guess I need to let go sometime. hahaha

I think we can all agree on one thing, MvBast is the worst coach in a long, long time, maybe in Oranje’s history? Hopefully the talent laden Oranje will win and play attractive football DESPITE Marcos blunderings.

I have one game left, and I’m sure you know which one it is. Ok, so I already know the result and I have taken a sneak peek at the first goal and there is one thing that I really didn’t like: After the first goal, you see grand master JCruyff telling the troops to calm down. And of course they go ahead and don’t score again. And from what I gather from reading about it (David Winner’s Brilliant Oranje) they were cocky and wanted to rub it in and just play around with the Germans. And of course it backfires. If I’m JC, which I am not, instead of calming down the troops, I tell them to go for the jugular and get a couple more goals before half and bury the Germans. Oh well, its history. I guess I’ll watch the game anyway.

Posted from United States

By ferenc | September 11th, 2007 at 3:34 pm

edgar davids is one of all the time heroes (cruijff-rijkaard-davids),but i’m agree with goose. he belongs to our glorious past (and he’s injured too). hpoe that drenthe will be similar.

Posted from Hungary

By goose | September 11th, 2007 at 4:06 pm

well, still think he was a great player but true, never liked him much

dont know if hes the worst but actually cant think of anybody worse so maybe..yes, think you make the same point as did Jan a few days ago..the players have to take matters in their own hands to get things done on the pitch.. pretty sad atcually

coincedence; was just watching some clips from an english program on the WC (tube links below, watch the others parts too, all kind of highlights..best matches, scandals etc., was just watching their clip on WC74 and they made the same assesment as you do… my mother always told me that the worst that happened at the WC74 was us getting that penalty that early in the game..we became too arrogant and wanted to humiliate the germans..big, big mistake

how about that kick on Neeskens at the end og the Brasil game..sick

2/5 WC98 (HOL-ARG)

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=3o5EbewcA-Y

3/5 WC74 from 4.38

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=fHdc0btUg9Q

grtz

Posted from Netherlands

By netherlandfanboy | September 11th, 2007 at 4:47 pm

@goose: Aisaati said that after playing for Young Oranje, he will play for Marroco. Afellay already chose Oranje.

Posted from United States

By tjeerd | September 11th, 2007 at 9:55 pm

good videos goose, we really blew it in 74, the better team lost.

By Miguel Rosado | September 11th, 2007 at 11:04 pm

Do you guys think Drenthe should be called already to join the national team???.

I mean Emanuelson, Vlaar, Maduro, Babel have already played in the senior team and obviously Drenthe was the best player in the U-21 so why not call him already? and of course take him step by step. We need someone like him.

By Jan | September 12th, 2007 at 2:00 am

My 2cents:

Emanuelson: was called because MvB thought we had some trouble on the left back spot: Gio getting on and maybe losing his spot at Barca, Tim De Cler not reliable enough, Bouma out of form, etc.

Maduro: was part of MvB’s squad at Ajax and was a exciting new talent back then. Couldn’t make the leap (yet).

Vlaar: got time in the AZ squad because of injuries when Adriaanse was coach at AZ. Played some great games in the UEFA cup. Went to Feyenoord and had a dreadful year - like the rest of the team. Got injured as well.

Babel: A long time question mark at Ajax. Not a real striker, not a real winger. Didn’t have the real fighting spirit. Was almost sold before Henk ten Cate became coach. He knew how to use and motivate Babel and the rest is history.

Drenthe: seen as a huge talent in Feyenoord. Never impressed last season, though. Very clumsy, undisciplined, over-zealous. Etc. In Foppe’s team he did great, but it is another level, guys. See: Maduro, Rigters, Quincy, etc.
Now at Feyenoord they’re still laughing that they sold him and for me it’s a real question mark if Drenthe will make it in Madrid.

So…yeah, IF he does will in Madrid, maybe Marco should take him along to the EC… That’s a couple of ifs, buts and maybes…

Posted from Australia

By Felix | September 12th, 2007 at 2:14 am

Aisaati said that after playing for Young Oranje, he will play for Marroco. Afellay already chose Oranje.

Where do you get that news?

Posted from Indonesia

By Jan | September 12th, 2007 at 3:37 am

I read that as well. The two friends played for PSV (well, they still do, but Assaiti went to play for FC Twente on loan) and were contacted by the KNVB. People thought they’d both either would chose for Morroco or Holland. Afellay picked Holland, Assaiti for Morocco.

Posted from Australia

By Felix | September 12th, 2007 at 3:56 am

I hope Aissati will play for Oranje first team… he is very talented.

But we have Sneijder, van der Vaart, and Affellay in the same position. So, it must be tough competition.

I read article: Foppe de Haan said the problem Afellay/Aissati in PSV now is the same as Sneijder/VDV when they were in Ajax.

I watched PSV’s games. Aissati was played on the wing…. I think I agree with Foppe de Haan: “Aissati is real attacking midfielder and playmaker, not a winger”.

Maybe, Aissati should go to Ajax to replace Sneijder?

I think Aissati will play for Holland in Olympiade 2008, and of course play for Oranje first team….

Posted from Indonesia

By goose | September 12th, 2007 at 11:14 am

Heres the line-up (probl)..remember its not my choice..hahaha

vdSar
Melchiot
Matijssen
Ooijer
Bouma
Snejider
deZeeuw
vBronkhorst
vPersie
Babel
vNistelrooy

NO clarence again!!

grtz

Posted from Netherlands

Comments are closed