Top clubs fiercely resist the Oranje B team!

PSV, Ajax, Feyenoord and Heerenveen have some serious resistance against the KNVB’s newly installed Oranje B team.

The four clubs are investigating whether there is a legal obligation for them to release their players to Johan Neeskens’ new team.

Feyenoord’s Verbeek already expressed his views on this new initiative. “We only need to release our players for official FIFA games. If Oranje B is not recognized as such, we won’t let our players go. I want them to train with me, instead. I have work to do with them and I can’t just let my players go because someone in Zeist invests a new team. Sorry.”

PSV general manager Jan Reker agrees. “We are already faced with a full calender. We need more time to gel teams together and instead we end up with even less training time. We are going to study this very carefully.”

The pre-selection has three Feyenoord players (Fer, Wijnaldum, Hofland), three PSV players (Koevermans, Amrabat and Bakkal) and four Ajax players (De Jong, Vermeer, Van der Wiel and Emanuelson). Ajax wasn’t at the club-meeting where the three other clubs expressed their reluctance. Danny Blind in a reaction: “We miss a lot of our players a lot of the time. We have many internationals in our selection. We understand what the KNVB is doing and we are sympathetic towards the idea, but we do want to know where we stand legally.”

KNVB honcho Kesler: “Oranje B will come into life, whatever the position of the clubs.” Bert van Marwijk: “The KNVB will definitely guard the interests of the clubs and we will take their interests at heart. We’re talking three games for now, only in the weeks when the Oranje A-team has two duels, the so-called double internationals… It is in everybody’s interest that we have a strong B-sdie backing the A-team up. We explained this carefully to the clubs. If they still oppose, I am disappointed.”

Gertjan Verbeek: “I understand what the KNVB tries to achieve, certainly. I do think it’s important for these players to gain international experience. But, it has to be regulated. It disrupts my work now, so I draw the line with FIFA regulated games.”

Feyenoord refused to allow keepers trainer Pat Lodewijks to work parttime with Neeskens and Bergkamp for Oranje B. Van Marwijk made a last attempt to pull him in yesterday, but Feyenoord again said no to their former coach.