Van Basten follows Leonardo and De Guzman

Thanks goose…

And eh…what are your feelings on Leonardo exactly :-)?

Posted from  Australia

@Jan. sorry my friend, but hes the one player i really really hate…

btw: are you gonna keep it up with this blog for another year?? Were gonna have a long period without any news…..
grtz

Posted from  Netherlands

Yeah, well… I really like to. The BlogGods here are going to revamp and rename the site and I will add more and more Eredivisie stuff in, like I do already. It’ll be good.

We’ll keep on rollin. If Marco has the energy to keep going, so will we

Posted from  Australia

you know ill never stop commenting…in that way im a real dutchman..have an opinion about everthing!!! haha…as long as vanBasten keeps f#cking things up we have interesting stuff to complain about..its no fun if theres only good news (see portugeese blog..lol Luis)

Posted from  Netherlands

Hello Jan and Goose I have already posted some comments before.
I just want you to know that it’s a pleasure for me to take part on this little debates.
I started to follow the Dutch national team 12 years ago during the World Cup in the US, it was the game against Brazil when we lost that I fell in love with the Oranje because we showed great courage and football that game. And of course after that the great Ajax of van Gaal came and then the Oranje of Hiddink, I truly loved those teams and will NEVER forget them.
As goose said to you before I also hope you keep this blog for another year, I found it about 2 weeks ago and will keep commenting. You are doing a great job providing the news day by day, thank you very much.
Passing to the article I think Marco doesn’t need those 2 players and he must stop forcing the 4-3-3 system. I mean if that system is not working change it to 4-4-2 or another one.
Keep the good work Jan and thanks.

goose - I think you’re right. I might have to start some juicy rumors about PT just to make things more interesting…lol

Posted from  United States

@Luis; haha, its all going too well for your team… not kidding; ive looked up all the results we had against Port. and i think we only won like 2 out of 12…i realise more and more that you guys (and not Germany or Belgium) are our Angstgegner (gotta love those german words!!), im sure that if we would play your boys now we would really get slaughtered…

@MR: welcome my friend, well just keep posting and well get trough the difficult moments..would be great to see this blog still alive till EC 08 (and beyond!!),

keep it up Jan!!

WIJ HOUDEN VAN ORANJE

Posted from  Netherlands

Yes we have been enjoying a few good years, but you know how fickle football is. A couple of years from now it could all be very different. I just hope we manage to sneak in a major title before it all falls apart

Posted from  United States

well, hope not!!

do you know this tubevideo on our last match at the WC…what a game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKXq7xcnkis

grtz

Posted from  Netherlands

Ouch! My shins hurt just from watching that video.

Posted from  United States

yeah, it was kinda ridiculeus (hows the spelling on that one?), i guess, in all fairness (just this ones) it all started with the Boula - Ronaldo attack, was a grazy chalange…to bad but to be honest i enjoyed the game nevertheless, it was on the edge all the time.. i remember saying that on this blog after the game and all said i was a fool because of it…true there was not at much football as was possible with two team who can both attack

but it wasnt dull for sure!!

Posted from  Netherlands

Not dull at all. To be honest, it was probably the most gripping game in the WC, in my opinion.

Posted from  United States

So Marco is scouting non-Dutch players, some who don’t even start for their Eredivisie clubs(Leonardo), and leaving off very good DUTCH players who are proven in the big leagues of Europe - RvN, MvB etc. Fool!

Posted from  United States

@stephen; yeah, well i dont think this is gonna happen..remember the Kalou saga??

we dont need players who are born abroad (at least not for football, maybe icehockey or cricket) and just wanna play for oranje cause they think its more profitable for their career, we only need people who are proud to play for their country!! (like vanNistelrooy en vanBommel)

Posted from  Netherlands

Leonardo will be automatically become Dutchman in 1 year I guess. He is not playing for Ajax due to a severe injury. De Guzman has expressed his interest in playing for Oranje some time ago…

and eh…thanks for your support, guys!

Posted from  Australia

Marco van Basten has dropped some of the most important players during his time in charge of the team such as:
(Van Nistelrooy, Van Bommel, Makaay, Seedorf, Kromkamp, Davids).
So why is he scouting non-Dutch players when he already has excellent players at his disposal???.
The feeling that I get from him is that he doesn’t believe on this team anymore and is trying to add new players desperately.

Ahum… I think the news on Leonardo and Guzman has more to do with a question from a fan who asked if he was interested in them. You know, a theoretical question. and MvB said: yeah, theyr’e great players. It’ll be great if they could play for Oranje. Something like that. And MvB didn’t drop Kromkamp, Bommel nor Ruud. I think Makaay was very irritated when he once was left out of the squad and that triggered MvB to leave him out. There is no I in team and all that….

Posted from  Australia

It is an offense for the Dutch national team that De Guzman and Leonardo are considered as material for Oranje to Dutch players. I mean, van Basten thinks that he has no quality?. He is so wrong and many of you guys think the same. When you have Seedorf, van Bommel, van Nistelrooy, Makaay and even Zenden and Davids then you have to use those players. In a few years most of these players will retire from soccer but for me all of them have to be considered. Davids is not the same as he was 5 years ago but he still can add something to the Oranje, perhaps he might not be a starter and I guess he will not argue that like 11 years ago in Euro 96 but in the minutes he gets and the knowledge he can pass to the younger lads, that has to be gold to foment a strong mentalily because Davids has such a strong personality. Scouting mediocre foreign players show that he thinks there are no better options in Holland. Well, he says Ruud need warmth, Ruud does not need that!!!. Ruud needs motivation as any player or member of team or of a company, when you are the leader of the group you have to know how to motivate your players otherwise you are a bad leader and the results will be bad. van Basten started ok as a coach because most of the players had him as an idol, but now that he has shown no confidence in most of them that feeling has grown into most of the players emotions and the results and type of play has gotten worst and worst. He does not how to manage top players and if he thinks the motivation comes from nothing he is totally wrong, a leader has to add something to his people and then each player will add his own mental strenght but if you do not have confidence and back your players when they most need it then the players will turn their back on you and I have the feeling that is happpening right now with the Dutch National team.

Bad people management by Van Basten. He still has Clarence Seedorf (anyone watching him against Bayern?) or, there’s a player like van Bommel.

Stop using 4-3-3, try 4-4-2. I would like to see something like this:
——–back four———-
——-De Zeeuw————
Bommel————–Seedorf
——-vdv/Sneijder——–
—-RVN—van Persie/Robben

Posted from  Indonesia

I like DeGuzman, although I am not sure he is ready to play at the higher level for Oranje.
I do know that he has applied for a Dutch passport and he e speaks Dutch well.
The Scarbourough http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough,_
Ontario
native will upset, but not surprise, a lot of Canadian soccer fans if he commits to Oranje

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough,_Ontario

This is a better Scarborough Ontario link. We in Toronto refer to deGuzman’s home town as “Scarberia”

funny about de guzman, i saw him play for canada in an official (fifa-sanctioned) game as part of an U-19 or U-21 tournament. i thought that this would make him ineligible to play for any country other than canada. either way i’d much rather see van bommel back in the group rather than ppl like de guzman or leonardo.

Posted from  Canada

jajat - love the lineup, though it is only a dream as two of the players mentioned have been outcast. I would also throw Davids into the mix as a holding mid or on the left. Sneijder could also play on the right. Lots of flexibility. I would love to see RvN up front with Van Persie as a shadow. Robben and Hunter as subs. What a perfect balance of youth and world-class experience.

Posted from  United States

@jajat: weres the back four my friend??

heres my dreamteam:

vdSar

Kromkamp - Boularouz - mathijsen - Emmanuelson

deZeeuw

Seedorf - vanBommel - vdVaart

vanPersie

vanNistelrooy

Posted from  Netherlands

Picking De Guzman at this time for Oranje would be in Mel Kiper Jr. words a “reach”.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/melkiper/index.html