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The Specialist: The Cross

June 27th, 2009 | By: Jan | 31 Comments »

John van ‘t Schip, didn’t need to take on the defender…

In today’s game, allrounders are key. Players who can tackle and repossess the ball, who can score, penetrate into the box, cross the ball in and work for 90 minutes. Dirk Kuyt comes to mind. But there have always been allrounders with that little bit extra. The cross is one of those specialities. Manfred Kalz was an ok full back, but a tremendous crosser. John van ‘t Schip was an ideal playmaker, but his cross made coaches always play him on the wings. David Beckham is known to have placed a perfect ball on a strikers tie and Piet Keizer rather not do anything at all, but scissor his way past defenders to curl the ball into the box.

In the Dutch Eredivisie, Croatian international and new Bayern signing Danijel Pranjic is the King of Crosses.

The History
Every successful team in Holland’s history had tremendous wingers with precision crosses: Ajax had the aforementioned Keizer and later John van ‘t Schip, Bryan Roy or Finidi George. Feyenoord had legend Coen Moulijn and in later generations Pierre Vermeulen or Regi Blinker. John van ‘t Schip could cross a ball in without even passing his direct opponent. This was in the days when it was normal to put a left footer on left and a right footer on…you guessed it… The winger would reach the touch line and curve the ball away from the goalie right on the forehead of the incoming man. Wim Kieft would go to the near post. Peter Houtman was lurking at the far post. Cees van Kooten would simply storm through any defender… But, the space got scarcer and due to double marking, it became harder and harder for wingers to threaten the opponent. So, coaches started to experiment, with left footed players on the right and right footed players…well, you know… These wingers would have two options: come through the middle, go wide, or simply pass and move.
Feyenoord 2003 under Bert van Marwijk was the last Dutch team to reap success with a left footer Van Persie on the left wing and the right footed Kalou on the right wing.

The new Bayern signing with his cross…

The Position
By that time, however, Ajax played with anti-footers, like Marc Overmars and Peter van Vossen. And today, we even think it’s normal. Robin van Persie operates from the right and Ryan Babel operates on the left wing. The cross is now the territory of the full back or the midfielder, while the winger operates as a combination player or delivers an inswinging ball. Danijel Pranjic – last seasons at Heerenveen, next season under Louis van Gaal – is the exception to the rule.

“I prefer playing on the left, although I can also play from right. It’s maybe even better for me, because I can attempt a shot for myself, but for the team I think I need to play on the left. I can cross the ball in with my left, turning away from the goalie, which is ideal for a striker.”

The Skill
Pranjic: “The key is looking. You need to know where you want to place the ball. A great cross into nowhere land is horrible. You normally hit the ball with the inside of the upper-foot. You can give it speed, precision and spin like that, but it does depend on the situation. Is the striker marked, does the ball need to travel a bit because the striker is on his way, or does the ball need to be fast because he’s already there… You also need to look at who it is, you know… Some players are good headers, others want the ball at knee-height for a volley… But, sometimes you just can’t look up when the defender is putting pressure on. You need to feel what your mates do. You can get there by training and talking… I also talk with the strikers about how they move and what they do. The great teams all have that quality. And it’s not that hard to do. It’s awareness, isn’t it? I had a great rapport with Klaas Jan Huntelaar. He will always do the contrarian thing, coming fast into the box, but then suddenly stopping and moving away from his opponent. I do think I was born with the feeling in my left foot, but you need to train your crosses. Not everyday maybe, but twice a week at least. Hitting the ball from all angles and understanding what happens when you’re out of balance and all that.”

The Best
Pranjic: “Well, the King is David Beckham, without a doubt. His vision and skill are unparalleled. He has so much feeling in his feet… From midfield, from the touch line, free kicks, he can do it all. Curve, slice, spin… I can watch him for hours. He has the gift of placing the ball between defender and goalie. Very hard to defend and ideal for a striker. You only need to walk into the ball. The pace of the ball is perfect too. Yeah, he is the best ever. John van ‘t Schip had a tremendous cross too. He could even curl the ball around the defender, as if he wasn’t there. I also saw many clips of Johan Cruyff, who used to drift to the left. His best foot was his right, so he used his outside of the right foot to curl the ball away from the goalie and it was as if he played in slow motion. My best cross was without a doubt the one against Germany for Croatia at the EC. I didn’t reach the touchline, because there was a gap between the defense and the goal. I curled the ball into that area, like Beckham haha, and Dario Srna only had to touch the ball to score. All the training, all the excercises, it all happened at the highest level, for my country. Goosebumps…”

And when you say goosebumps and JC, than this is what you get:

Tags: Cruyff, Group C, Keizer, Overmars, Pranjic, van Gaal, van Persie

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 31 comments.

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By Carlos | June 28th, 2009 at 7:27 pm

Finn, trouble with common sense – not very common !

Robben being eyed by Man City. Hunter to Milan looks more likely now.

Posted from Singapore

By Mario | June 28th, 2009 at 8:22 pm

Brazil…always know how to win! Impressing how they recovered!!!

By Oranje_For_Life | June 28th, 2009 at 10:28 pm

Ya, massive respect for the U.S. A nation where soccer is ranked #5 in team sports (after Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Hockey). In World Cup 06, the U.S was a joke… that you all have to admitt that after only 3 years of improvement, the results were definitely favorable.

Posted from United States

By Tiju | June 28th, 2009 at 11:06 pm

I think in 1998 to 2000 we played dominant football with lots of possession but they lacked natural goal scorers from the midfeild/Back only an exception was franc de boer.except bergcamp and kluivert none of them had a killing finishing skills.if you want to win a WC or EC you need goals from back/midfeild also.thats why they failed in WC98 and Ec2000.but even in lost matches they played much better than the opponent.
Anothet point is as like jan said they were too predictable in their shots on goal.but they played with spirit thats for sure i cannt balme on that.

Posted from India

By bobotoh | June 28th, 2009 at 11:37 pm

@Carlos, I also read that Milan is chasing Adebayor of Arsenal. But I hope that Huntelaar will go to MU, Milan, Inter, or any other big clubs, even Barcelona (if Eto’o leaves for Man City).

Posted from Indonesia

By Tiju | June 28th, 2009 at 11:58 pm

what is main difference between the current team and 1998-2000 team is 98 team played dominant football with the absence of crucial goals.Current team is way better than them in terms of scoring crucial goals against bigteams.
For me
Van der sar=Zuiverloon
Japstam>Bulahruz
Franc deboer>=Mathjenson
Numan>Brapheid
Davids>De jong
Cocu=Schaars
Overmars=Roban
Bergkamp=Vanpersie
Zeadorf<znijder or vaart
Kluivert=Huntlar

why i prefer zuiverloon is,he is the closest to raiziger
Stekelenburg coz current steke is way better than 98 SAR
Only bulahruz is close to stam except in headers.
comparing to franc de boer mathijenson lacks some playmaking in the back.
in position of numan,now hio is out of contention,only brapheid is close to him at least in diffending.
Davids no explanation needed
Comparing schaars and cocu,schaars is a real leader and know how to win important matches and knows how to handle pressuer situation,cocu lacked this.
the main diference is znijders and vanpersie,’s goals scoring skills and assisting skills this determines the outcome of the match.
I rate roban and overmars equal because one is injury proned and other one had only predictable shots.
in between hunter and kluivert both are different players but i have more hope in hunter.

Posted from India

By Mario | June 29th, 2009 at 12:36 am

Tiju, van der Sar=Zuiverloom??????????????????????????????????????

Don´t get it!

By Jan | June 29th, 2009 at 1:33 am

I remember most games of 1998 and we didn’t play that well, you know…

The Argentina game was close ( equalizer in the last minute, we squeezed a red card out for them, Batigol hit the post).

The Brazil game was very close. They missed quite some chances too.

The Yugoslavia game (winner Edgar Davids) was close and Dennis needed to be red carded in that game ( and he wouldn’t have been around against Argentina to score that dream goal).

By Dr.Mansur | June 29th, 2009 at 1:39 am

The 98-2000 team was better than the current team.But both these teams lack the mentality and sheer tenacity to win big trophies.

Posted from Australia

By Mohamed | June 29th, 2009 at 4:10 am

Hey guys ,
i read your comments .. And i have to agree with alaa that 98 was a better , but in the end … they didnt win any trophies .. Damn ! They didnt even qualify to wc !
They always underestimated other teams .. So they didnt qualify ..
But look at our team now .. We are the 1st to qualify to the wc ..
This team understood the russian lesson well .. And i think marwijk also works on this point ..
Another thing also i have to say ..
Brazil 98 team is better than this team
italy 98 team is better than this team
france , argentina , germany
are all the same !
england and spain may be the exceptions !
Anyway , i’m sure this team will do what all previous dutch teams couldn’t do
and they will win wc 2010 we just have to work on our defence ..
Boulahrouz , donk , zuiverloon , brafhied
mathijsen , emanuelson ,weil & maduro (may be mercellis or heitinga )and it will be great !
Be optimistic .. WE ARE COMING FOR GOLD !

By Tiju | June 29th, 2009 at 4:27 am

@mario sorry mario it was
Vandersar98Zuiverloon

Posted from India

By Tiju | June 29th, 2009 at 4:36 am

What we need to do is get rid of Ooiger,Gio,heitinga from back line and dont give kuyt as central striker,always play with kuyt-hunter together and give the captain band to schaars.
Take emmanuelson as another holding mid and drop vanbommel even though he is inconsistantly doing well.
its sad that bauma may force to retire from football itself.so we need another backup for brapheid.
i saw some games of Ryan DONK as a leftback for WBA this guy did well as a leftback.But cannt give the CB position now.
We need to look into players like de guzman and emmauelson seriously.if de guzman plays a good season for feynoord.we should pick him.

Posted from India

By Tiju | June 29th, 2009 at 4:37 am

if schaars is injured then we can call vanbommel and we can give captain band to him.

Posted from India

By Tiju | June 29th, 2009 at 4:39 am

hope castelen,Deguzman,Elia will have an injuryless fantastic season(09-10).

Posted from India

By Oranje_For_Life | June 29th, 2009 at 4:43 am

Bouma is being forced to retired from football itself? Where did you get that news Tiju? Also, I’m very very anxious to see the Holland-England friendly comming up.

Posted from United States

By Mohamed | June 29th, 2009 at 4:50 am

@ alaa .. You also forgot players like elia & drenthe ,
if drenthe can gain his form again with fiorintina .. He will be like davids ..
I still remember drenthe in u21 championship
i felt this guy will be the best in the world one day ..
So , we can say
drenthe = davids
bommel = cocu
schaars = jonk
robben = overmars
persie > zenden
huntelaar= kluivert
bergkamp > kuyt
vaart > seedorf
sneijder > r. De boer
elia > hoijdonk
babel > hasselbaink
stek > sar 98
de jong = witer
emanuelson > numan
brafhied > gio

who is better ?
As i said .. We only have to work on defence and this team can be better !

By Mohamed | June 29th, 2009 at 5:07 am

@tiju , agree with you
no place for gio ,heitinga and ooijer
we need high quality players like donk , maduro , vlaar and mercellis with boulahrouz and zuiverloon
btw donk is back to az alkmaar .. I wish he can gain his form as CB again
But tiju .. I think emanuelson is better as a lt. back
and drenthe can play as a DMF .. I’m pretty sure he will do well in fiorintina

By Tiju | June 29th, 2009 at 5:32 am

@Emmanuelson is very weak in diffencive duties and also he needs some physical strengh for that post.At present he is too far away from the spot.But his versatality can be used in mdifeild especially in holding mid ie like a buildup player from the back.
So idaelly i prefer
Schaars
Dejong
De saaw
Emmanuelson as my Holding fours depending on current form.i am not happy with vanbommels attitude it may create some problem in the team.thats why i am droping him.

Posted from India

By Tiju | June 29th, 2009 at 5:35 am

@orange for life
Bouma’s injury is heavy somebody in this blog stated earlier.i too read that in some articles about seriousness of his injury.

Posted from India

By sandesh | June 29th, 2009 at 5:54 am

i almost forgot that there is a guy called emanuelson. thanks guys for reminding me of that ajax guy. i think he is good moving forward, plays as a holding mid as well for ajax (most of the time last season). i hope he gets recalled in the team he can be a good backup for left back, left mid and defensive mid.
how bout mathijsen, castelen, RVDV? are these guys leaving their clubs??

Posted from Nepal

By Alex | June 29th, 2009 at 6:50 am

I can be very clear on this
The only possible real weaknesses i see are Ooijer and Gio.

the best attacking talents are Afellay, Elia right now, and besides them we still have De Guzman, Emanuelson, Beerens, V.Wolfswinkel, Nijland, Donald, Sarpong, Wijnaldum, Amrabat, Biseswar, Vejinovic, Barazite, Castaignos, Geert-arend Roorda, Fer, Ozyakup, Isoufi, Castillion, Rodney Sneijder. That’s a lot of talent available, whoever does best at the moment should be selected, and at this moment that are Afellay and Elia, actually Babel is neck on neck with Elia . Emanuelson and such come close, but not close enough.

About defensive players

Marcellis and v.d.Wiel are without a doubt the most consistent young defenders we have right now.

-Donk didn’t live up to his promise, now joined Belgian Club Brugge and can still succeed, but it’s looking more and more like he’s not.
-Vlaar is in my eyes still a posssible world class defender, if he can return on his former level from horrible muscle injuries, though now still only 24 so that’s an advantage.
-Loovens is doing good at Celtic, and is close to a spot in oranje.
-Maduro developed phenominally at Valencia but according to some people i spoke, you can still see he’s not a natural defender, though, he is only 23/24 so that might just be our next Rijkaard.
-Luirink is already 25/26 and back from serious injuries, it can go either way, we’ll know in two years whether or not he can get back to impress.
-Zuiverloon, amazed everyone in PL, but his performances dropped and his future is stil doubtful, but playing in championship won’t do his career any good.
-Pieters is promising, but dissapointing ever since moving to PSV, still only 21.
Besides them, there are some other talented young defenders, but who have yet to really show if they have what it takes Janmaat, V.Eijden, Ter Horst, V.Aanholt, Bruma, Blind, Hiariej, Nieveld, Wormgoor, Kuipers

So my conclusion, talents have to earn their spot and at the moment, V.d.Wiel, Marcellis, Afellay, Babel and Elia have already been in the selection, and they deserved it. I stand by V.Marwijk that a player should do well and be consistent for more than just half a season, preferably 2 seasons.

so the most realistic possibilities for the WC could be
Attackingly, Emanuelson and Beerens are the best of the rest right now, behind them the whole bunch of V.Wolfswinkel, Wijnaldum and such.

Defensivaly, if Maduro, Loovens, Zuiverloon(if he can play in a decent league) really impress all season long, they are the biggest contenders \. Vlaar would be too, were it not that we have absolutely no clue how he’ll come out of recovery and nobody wants to rush things, same with Luirink.

BTW, I’ve given up on Kruiswijk, Tiendalli, Koenders, and I think Bakkal and Luijckx could be added to that if they don’t improve significantly next seasons.

Posted from Netherlands

By Alex | June 29th, 2009 at 6:54 am

V.Bommel can easily make it through to the WC, after that however, Schaars, De Zeeuw and co might be heavily knocking at his door.

Posted from Netherlands

By Mohamed | June 29th, 2009 at 12:39 pm

@ alex … Amazing !
But also we havd to add drenthe .. Hope he can gain his form in italy with fiorntina .. He is strong enough to play in calcio , and he is really talented .. Just need a good coach who can work on his talent to be one of the best players in the world …

also daniel de ridder and marvin emnes .. Amazing wingers with unbelivable skills ..

but i felt sad for donk !
I think he put an end to his career by this move =”C

By Jan | June 29th, 2009 at 8:46 pm

I think Donk will be back! Adrie Koster is ideal coach for him at Club.

By bobotoh | June 29th, 2009 at 10:03 pm

I cannot find any news about Drenthe moving to Fiorentina, I have been so busy lately . Is it official? It is good for any footaballers to play regularly, not just by sitting on the bench.