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The Selection Game - Hugo Borst

March 22nd, 2008 | By: Jan | 32 Comments »

Borst’s column in the AD:

Do you want to join me in the Oranje puzzle? Who does Marco take a long to the EC?
Borst picked 21 out of the 22 for the EC2004 in Portugal, which was relatively easy. Dick Advocaat was team manager and he is/was very predictable.

For the WC2006, with Van Basten as manafer, he missed 5 players.

This is the list Borst things is the right one: Babel, Bouma, Van Bronckhorst, De Cler, Emanuelson, Heitinga, Huntelaar, Afellay, Landzaat, Mathijsen, Melchiot, Van Nistelrooy, Ooijer, Van Persie, Robben, Van der Sar, Seedorf, Sneijder, Stekelenburg, Timmer, Van der Vaart, Vennegoor of Hesselink and De Zeeuw.

Remarkable stay-at-homers: Dirk Kuyt and Danny Koevermans. But it isn’t a big disgrace to stay home when you’ve got Van Nistelrooy and Huntelaar in front of you. And Vennegoor of Hesselink is a better pinchhitter than either of the two, so…there ya go. And both Kuyt and Koevermans aren’t regulars at their clubs, while Long Jan is.

The big question will be - bear with me - Clarence Seedorf. Clarence already stated that the relationship between him and Van Basten isn’t really warm.

Secretly, Van Basten thinks Seedorf is a player with weaknesses and his international status over-estimated. And his personality is difficult. It may sound weird, but Seedorf will still have to prove that he is good enough to be a bench-sitter for Oranje. And of course, another question is: will Seedorf accept that role.

Should Van Basten drop Seedorf, then there’s a spot for Bakkal or Engelaar. Fine. Bakkal is a promising allrounder. Strong and with depth. Engelaar has great skills and acts as the powerhouse on midfield.

One player does not deserve a spot in the group. Urby Emanuelson. And he is definitely not a left back. He was the worst man on the pitch many times this season. He can’t defend. Even Urby himself said that Vertonghen is better on that spot (at Ajax). But Marco is a fan, because Urby is so versatile. I can’t see it. He is too light for holding midfielder and lacks the skill for a midfield position.

Maybe Cruyff, Kees Jansma or his wife Liesbeth will talk sense into him. But then again: Michels once took Feyenoord player Henk Vos along to the WC 1974 and in 1988 he took Wim Koevermans along.

One player who doesn’t have a chance: Boulahrouz. He never plays in Sevilla. And Maduro won’t play either. Neither will Marcellis, De Guzman, Bruins, Aissati, Amrabat and Drethe. These boys will accompany teacher De Haan on a school trip to Bejing. Who, in the meantime, will lecture them on the suppression of Tibet.

Tags: Clarence Seedorf, Group C, marco van basten, Oranje, Royston Drenthe, The Netherlands

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 32 comments.

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By tiju | March 23rd, 2008 at 6:10 am

My twenty three will be like this
3-Goal keepers
Edwin vander sar
Martyn stekelneburg
Henk Timmer.
as per1-4-2-3-1
Diffenders -8
joris Mathjenson
johny heitinga
Andre ooiger
A tall deffender?(whom i will select?) like ron vaarl,luirink ,donk etc(to stop operstunic goals from(headers)luca toni,matarazzi etc
krompcamp and melchiot in right back
Giovanni and tim de cler in left back
holding mids (four memebers 2-2)
Orlando Englaar
Demy desaaw
Mendes Da silva/(stijn schaars if he is fit)
Royston Drenthe other wise boeateng (Cannt understand why can nt we use him inthe mid we willbe more profitted with his energy and stamina and better attacking skill than all other holding mid)
behind strikers sixmemmber(3-3)
most of this guys giving multple options so i will not go for a third striker.
vaart
vanpersie
Afalleey
Roban
castelen? dought full
Znijder
i would love to see th dancer casteln but i know he will not be selected
main striker
Nestel
hanlaar

By simon | March 23rd, 2008 at 7:21 am

I was thinking a bit about Davids. As a player, he would fit right in, but I’m not too sure it would be good for the squad. But if he and MvB could get along - I would have picked him over Boateng.

By simon | March 23rd, 2008 at 7:23 am

About Robben - yes, he havent been playing well or much, but it is the only winger we got, and its always nice to have one to throw in if someone - like Italy - got a really bad right defence. Sneijder havent played will in Real this season, but he’s been okey in Oranje and doesnt fuck up a squad like a certain Seedorf can.

By Ramy | March 23rd, 2008 at 9:33 am

i dont think Seedorf “fucks up” a squad, at all !!! if anything he brings diversity and experience..

id like to see Oranje play the newly successful 4-2-3-1 formation with him playing instead of sneijder, and then make our decisions on whether he’s good or bad for the squad.

plus i think emanuelsson has got a lot of potential/quality and should not be dropped, even though he can be dreadful sometimes.

i think its too late to try to use boateng. we coulve used him several times in the past, but we didnt.. and now i think its just too late. we should stick to the regulars and create more harmony between players. Gio and de Zeuuw did well against croatia. I wouldnt want to see anybody else for the two holding midfielders..

Posted from Canada

By dirk v.d berg | March 23rd, 2008 at 1:08 pm

I always liked Emanuelson, and thought he would be a good replacement for van Bronkhorst as left-back. But maybe that’s just me.

Posted from Canada

By ferenc | March 23rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm

sneijder today (goal.com) 3.5 on the scale 1-10.

Sneijder — 3.5: Squandered possession and looked uncomfortable from time to time, even when given a free role on the edge of the area, he failed to make any sort of impact. Was dreadful from his supposed trademark set-pieces as well. Very disappointing.

only cannavaro was worse than him. our playmaker’s actual form is not a great prospect for the ec… he had 5 good games at the beginning of the season,and that’s it.

Posted from Hungary

By simon | March 23rd, 2008 at 4:18 pm

As long as he performs in the national team, Im fine.

By Jan | March 23rd, 2008 at 5:59 pm

I love these discussions :-)… I think Sneijder doesn’t do well at Real (and he agrees with that statement by the way) because the balance / hierarchy is not settled. I think Sneijder should play in Guti’s role. I don’t think the two can play together. They’re too similar. Seedorf’s role in Milan is different to Sneijders. He will need to claim the top position in midfield at Real or otherwise he won’t be able to shine.

I’d always take Robben. If he’s fit, he can disrupt any defense and will commit at least two defenders. He could be our joker and the EC could be the platform for Robben to find his dancing feet again. Robben in form could bring us the title!

I don’t get certain choices (Bruma? Bodde?) that I read here, but I must be honest…I never saw them play, really.

I don’t think we need Emanuelson and if Davids holds his form, he deserves a spot

Posted from Australia

By Jan | March 23rd, 2008 at 6:42 pm

I’ll give it a go:

Goalies:
Sar
Stekelenburg
Timmer

Defense:
Mathijsen
Ooijer
Bouma
De Cler
Melchiot
Kromkamp
Heijtinga
Maduro

Midfield:
Vaart
Sneijder
Seedorf
De Zeeuw
Bronckhorst
Afellay
Davids/Engelaar

Attack
Van Nistelrooy
Huntelaar
Van Persie
Robben
Babel

I don’t have a lot of surprises here, sorry…

Posted from Australia

By Jan | March 23rd, 2008 at 6:44 pm

Afellay is injured an will not play this friendly.

Posted from Australia

By Ramy | March 23rd, 2008 at 7:00 pm

I couldnt watch the Real-Valencia game.. Maduro apparently was “the muscle in midfield and helped Valencia thwart Madrid”.. his recent form seems impressive.. i also didnt see the valencia-barca game which he also played in the whole 90mins.

id like to see him perform for Oranje !

Posted from Canada

By Miguel Rosado | March 23rd, 2008 at 8:01 pm

But for van Basten what Maduro is doing means nothing apparently.

He will not take him and will leave out van Bommel and Kromkamp. Of course every knows that van Bommel and Kromkamp don`t want to play for van Basten anymore but if van Basten goes to them they will reconsider their choice but he had enough doing that with van Nistelrooy. Hopefully we can cope without this players…

By Caleb | March 23rd, 2008 at 8:02 pm

I agree with Jan about Robben, he is a good player to have, and I have to disagree with anyone who says he’s been out of form this season. He’s been injured most of the season, which is completely different. The few games he’s been fit he’s played really well, lifting Real’s game which has been pretty uncreative without him.

Tiju - I’m wondering, why do you always spell the player’s names wrong? I know English isn’t your first language, but names are names, people from all different languages spell them the same.. sometimes I have trouble knowing which players you are talking about.

By ferenc | March 23rd, 2008 at 10:03 pm

my 23

vds
stekelenburg
timmer

kromkamp
melchiot
heitinga
marcelis
matthijsen
bouma
de cler
emmanuelson

de zeeuw
van bronckhorst
davids
seedorf
affelay
sneijder
vdv

rvn
van persie
huntelaar
babel
robben (actually yes - as a jolly joker)

Posted from Hungary

By Rob | March 24th, 2008 at 1:25 am

Yeah - Robben’s been Real’s best player when he’s played, even outshining the excellent Robinho. Don’t think Sneijder’s been THAT bad, he just hasn’t been an impact player for Real too much. Should be more comfortable for Oranje. Don’t see how Drenthe can not go though, he’s been playing games for Real and is probably THE big prospect for future tournaments, plus he can play a number of positions.

Posted from Japan

By tiju | March 24th, 2008 at 9:42 am

@caleb sorry caleb that is not intensivly
My english is like that
like dirk kuyt skills on ground(very limited)

By dirk v.d berg | March 24th, 2008 at 10:40 am

My turn

Keepers

van der Sar
Stekelenburg
Waterman (more international experience)

Defense

Mathijsen
Bouma
Heitinga
Emanuelson
Melchiot
de Cler
Zuiverloon

Midfielder

Sneijder
van der Vaart
van Bronkhorst
de Zeeuw
Seedorf
Hofs (odd pick, but he’s good I don’t know why he hasn’t been picked)

Strikers

van Persie
Huntelaar
van Nistelrooij
Babel
Robben
Vennegoor of Hesselink

Posted from Canada

By Caleb | March 24th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

tiju - I’m not trying to insult you or anything, I understand your English is limited (like Kuyt’s skills, haha) and I don’t have a problem with that, I’m just wondering about the names - because names aren’t English.

By Jan | March 25th, 2008 at 5:52 am

Dirk: Waterman more international experience than Timmer?? I don’t think so… Timmer keeped in AZ, Ajax and Feyenoord…

Zuiverloon is too soon. He is the man with the most yellow cards this season. That’s a signal. He is too eager to prove himself or he is too late in his challenges.

Hoffs is an interesting player but too slow for the real top, I’d say. Do you see him as an alternative for the creative three or for holding midfielder?

Posted from Australia

By simon | March 25th, 2008 at 7:28 am

I picked Bodde because he is a type of player we really, really dont have. Really rough tackler with decent passing. Yummy.

By goose | March 25th, 2008 at 2:08 pm

@simon (simon=lerkot?); you mean Ferry Bodde?? the one who went to Swansea?? he played for my team, Fc Den Haag..

@Jan; totally agree with your selection; i would make one change… ill change Engelaar(too slow)Davids (too old) for Kuijt!! cant let the guy go.. he can play on midfield and due to his mental attitude he can do his defensive duties always

Posted from Netherlands

By simon | March 25th, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Simon = Lerkot indeed. Yes. That Bodde.

By dirk v.d berg | March 25th, 2008 at 5:09 pm

@Jan I meant experience in the Oranje, Timmer only has like 6 international caps, and Waterman has a lot more, even if its at the u21 level.

Posted from Canada

By ferenc | March 25th, 2008 at 8:31 pm

actually i was thinking of replacing davids by maduro… i don’t know to be honest. maduro is getting better at valencia but he does huge mistakes. at the cup sem-final he gave an assist… to samuel eto’o (i was delighted by this,but certainly not koeman). so: davids or maduro. he’s definitely bettar than he was at ajax.

Posted from Hungary

By Jan | March 25th, 2008 at 8:39 pm

Gotcha Dirk… I think leadership in the goal is essential. The Oranje defense doesn’t play too often together and definitely not in the same line-up. So coaching by the goalie while under pressure is essential. Timmer - he has that personality as well - is much more a heavyweight in the group then Waterman. Timmer saw all these boys (incl Sneijder, Vaart, Persie etc) come into the limelight while Timmer was at Ajax, AZ and Feyenoord. He is outspoken and a good “coach” in the goal, like Sar. That, to me, should be the important element to go for, not so much the fact that Waterman keeped in the U21s.

Timmer has seen a lot of action in the Eredivisie and Europe and that counts as experience too. So, those are my reasons for Timmer. And he is an awesome goalie too.

Posted from Australia

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