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Who can follow Van Basten??

June 24th, 2006 | By: Jan | 28 Comments »

The www.ad.nl spy/journo who had all changes in the squad right in the last weeks came up with the following revelations, after the closed training-session.

Ready for it?

No Ruud, No Boulah(!!) and no Van Bommel!!

Marco wants the best skilled players in the team. He sees that as the only way to compete against teams that are better/more experienced. Just like Cruyff, van Basten thinks this is the only way to differentiate from other football-nations.
These choices are surprising, to say the least. Van Basten agrees that Boulah is a better defender than Heijtinga, but the young Ajax-player is regarded a much better build-up player. He can play the ball in Van Persie’s run on the right, but he can also find Robben with 40 meter crosses to the left of the park. Heijtinga is a strong header as well, both defensively as offensively. Kuyt is regarded a better player with the ball and a good combination-player, so he’ll replace Ruud. Van der Vaart will start right on midfield and push Van Bommel on the bench, coz he is a (much) better technician than the runner/tackler of Barcelona. No discussions there, I’d say.

Van Basten seems to have watched his sounding board and friend Johan Cruyff closely. When he coached Barca there were several matches where he did not deploy any defender. None at all. According to their philosophy, Holland can only outsmart strong opponents – like Portugal, Argentina, Germany, Brazil – with the 4-3-3 sysytem. So much for all those 4-4-2 posts .

“These countries have perfected the 4-4-2 concept. We can not beat them at there game. So we do it differently.” And Van Basten meant “full stop”. “I think this is a highly interested phase, we’re in now…”

Still, a big difference with the Barca of Cruyff is that Oranje does not really play sparkling attacking football. The Dutch coach spent a lot of time pondering this. “It’s the last pass, the final ball in the box that’s just under par. That’s where we need to improve. And we need to improve that fast!”

Van Basten is looking forward to the game, also because the Portuguese play with wingers (Figo and C Ronaldo). “I think they are a very strong side, but we have showed against Ivory Coast and Argentina that we are strong too. I think it’s a 50-50 game.”

Now, guys… What do you think… Should we follow San Marco on this one?

Tags: marco van basten, Netherlands

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 28 comments.

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By richard | June 24th, 2006 at 10:11 am

Goose: what lineup would you play-and why? I’m curious. Which group would make the strongest midfield? cheers.

Posted from United States

By alaa | June 24th, 2006 at 10:17 am

guys plz don’t start to complain, i can see van basten’s point in every possible change we’re talking about.
i am a big vns fan but the way we play(4_3_3) requires a very techincal striker and i think kuyt maybe good because he is more skillfull than vns(vns is a better scorer), vdv is very skilfull while v.bommel has no skills at all.
heitinga can support the offensive part of the team while boulahrouz can’t do it.
van basten and the staff with him have for sure noticed that against argentina we were suffering, so maybe with the players we mentioned above and with the best left winger in the world (robben) we will be able to control the game more and we will be able to have more oppurtunities to score.
go hollandddddddddd!!!!!!!!!

Posted from United States

By goose | June 24th, 2006 at 10:58 am

@Richard, my midfield would be:

leftside: vdVaart, centre:Cocu, rightside:vanBommel

Cocu as a controler between defence and midfield, so right in front of our defence

my line-up:
vdSar,

Ooijer(rightback), Boula and Mathijssen(centrebacks), vanBronckhorst(leftback)

vanBommel(rightmidfield),Cocu (centre midfield/libero),vdVaart (leftmidfield)

vanPersie(right attack),Kuyt(centre attack),Robben(left attack)

maybe switch Boula and Ooijer if Ronaldo needs special attention.. guys realy think we need vanBommel, i know he hasnt played that great but hes got this fire!!!!

but well have to wait and see..

greetz

WIJ HOUDEN VAN ORANJE

Posted from Netherlands

By sk8erboi | June 24th, 2006 at 11:24 am

For me, I’d personaly rather see the same team that played against Argentina play, of course with Robben playing in the attack instead of Kuyt.

That team played better in defence and in midfield than the team that played in the first two matches.

By oranjok | June 24th, 2006 at 11:31 am

I think dropping van bomel was imperative. he was rubbish(offensively) against ivory coast(as was snejider) & was only effecting breakingup the game.
But as everyone who has followed ajax in past few years will agree, RVV and snejider are too much similar
and snejider’s runs when he is not on the ball are not very impressive offlate. so i think landzaat should play.
here’s my favoured midfield
cocu(as a holding midfield player), Landzaat and RVV on the 2 sides & when building up the play, heiteinga(or whoever is behind RVV) pushes up & RVV shifts into the hole.

Posted from India

By goose | June 24th, 2006 at 11:49 am

@oranjok, think Landzaad is to timide..we need ‘real men’, Landzaat is ok when you need to defend a result the last part of the game but dont think hes a player who will win you games or who will make war in midfield
dont need offensief qualities with vanBommel, i want him to be an asshole on midfield

cant believe vanBasten will pick Heitinga, sorry guys but he SUCKS, people talk about his built-up qualities but he has none..true hes a decent header of the ball but hes far to insecure, one mistake and hell fall apart..

marco must be sure people dont get the impression that players with an Ajax historie are getting special treatment!!

greetz

WIJ HOUDEN VAN ORANJE

Posted from Netherlands

By Rami | June 24th, 2006 at 12:10 pm

Well.. everyone seems convinced that Ruud should be benched and substituted by Kuyt !!

Sigh. I have to say that this would really make me sad to see.

I know the striker’s flair has been dropping sharply in the last year.. But he is still capable of exploding, and score 3 goals all of a sudden out of nowhere.

I’m still of the opinion his lack of good performance and goal scoring is due to the 4-3-3 formation we are using and our highly ineffective midfield.

Kuyt is not so effective.. He has a lot of will, just like many of his teammates including Van Nis. He is strong and dribbles well. But on the other hand, Kuyt tends to get lost in front of the keeper. We may only get one or two chances the whole match. And I really wouldn’t pick Kuyt to take those two chances.

The way Van Nistelrooy is being used in this squad is in my opinion wrong. My solution after the three group stage matches would be to find a way to deliver better offensively and really create chances for the striker. Not just bench him.

No.. i do not follow van basten on this one !! I’m rather angry.

Posted from Russian Federation

By Rami | June 24th, 2006 at 12:24 pm

“if Ruud fails, it’s because the system fails and not because Ruud doesn’t know how to play anymore…”

I applaud Koeman for this comment.

Exactly my point.

Posted from Russian Federation

By Mara1ona | June 24th, 2006 at 12:44 pm

Ruud dropped is ridiculous. The guy is class, proven at top level and a real goalscorer. What has Kuyt done?? How much experience does he have at this level?

Robben is the man to feed Ruud and he wasnt playing the last match. Ruud has hardly touched the ball this tournament but if there is a one on one with the goalie, lets be serious here, who are you wanting Kuyt or Ruud?

Exactly!! NO CONTEST.

By bash | June 24th, 2006 at 12:57 pm

Hey all
i personally believe that dropping van was a wise decision. personally i believe it is a tactic that van baasten is playing mind games ruud as he experienced the same when he was benched and then came back to score 5 goals in the rest of the tournie. van has a lot to prove to his fans,country and even ferguson. its the same as what happened with ronaldo, he may be over weight and received a lot of flack for his poor performance but stilled proved to everyone his skill by scoring 2 goals against japan. dont stress guys,van baasten knows what he is doing and ruud may not start but will play against portugal. besides, we do still have van de saar.

By Jan | June 24th, 2006 at 1:00 pm

Good thread this…
I agree with that Koeman quote, but I also think we don’t need a centre midfielder in a controlling role, I’d like to see the central midfielder close to the center striker (Ruus is my fave). And the two flank midfielders should be more controlling, since Robben and Persie join midfield when we lose the ball. One advantage is of course that they will have good space before them once we get the ball back,

Posted from Australia

By Mara1ona | June 24th, 2006 at 3:06 pm

This nonsense that Kuyt is going to replace Ruud is just that. Nonsense!

Dropping Ruud would be a disaster for Holland and if that was the case I would get my money on Portugal. You cannot underestimate the power Ruud brings to the national team. Every game he has been marked by 2 defenders. Can you see Kuyt striking the same fear into any defense?? If you can then you know hee-haw about football.

What has Kuyt done? Is he proven at top level? How many champions league goals does he have? He’s through one on one with the goalkeeper, is his ass going to hold out???? I DOUBT it big time!

Van Nist needs better service from midfield, this is Hollands problem at the world cup so far. Im sure Robben is going to provide Ruud with a few chances against Portugal and all this talk about Kuyt replacing Ruud is nonsense (for use of a polite word)

Boula has been outstanding from what ive seen of him so far, best defender ive seen at world cup so i would be a bit apprehensive if he was taken out. You need a defender to basically defend and all this talk about not joining in the attack is nonsense as well.

Holland should beat Portugal, its as simple as that. Here is where Van Basten is going to earn his money. He starts making ridiculous changes then he is going to pay the price. And dont say I didnt warn you, all you Kuyt lovers!

By Jason | June 24th, 2006 at 6:18 pm

RvN is hands down the best striker. He scores a goal every other game. I understand Kuyt because he is also very good but a better two way player than rvn. RvN is still valuable as a sub so we should cut Van Basten some slack he has done an awesome job. Boulah is more valuable as a sub, terrorizing Portugal offense when they are tired.

How would you feel if you were Portugal and Van Nistelrooy and Boulah came on in the 70th minute?

4-4-2 for Holland is nonsense. We are a 4-3-3 team. Dutch babies are born knowing the value of this formation. Besides what is all this nonsense about anyway, Robben plays LM in the prem and he can easily drop back if needed.

Anyway, everyone has an expert opinion about Holland, even me. Lets let Van Basten work his majik.

Hup Holland Hup!

Posted from Canada

By goose | June 24th, 2006 at 9:20 pm

@all you Ruud fans: still think Ruud just hasnt played well for quit some time now, its not cause he has scored so many this season that lost his place in Manchester.. been following Ruud since fc Den Bosch, i know hes a great goalscorer and i have a lot of respect for his mental attitude… BUT, hes just not in form

Kuyt should not be underestimated, he scored 51 goals last two seasons in Holland (29 times 2004/5), true he has no CL experience but hes not bad at all, lets start with Kuyt and Ruud can always replace him..

but what about this proposed midfield: Sneijder, vdVaart, Cocu and the defence without Boula ?? Cant imagine vanBommel not playing

greetz

WIJ HOUDEN VAN ORANJE

Posted from Netherlands

By goose | June 25th, 2006 at 12:14 am

sorry, nothing to do with the thread but…

For all you Holland fans, here’s three brilliant videos on the great dutch master himself, very good quality and nice pictures!!

JOHAN CRUIJFF

http://www.flabber.nl/archief/016732.php

greetz

WIJ HOUDEN VAN ORANJE

Posted from Netherlands

By Igor | June 25th, 2006 at 1:15 am

One way or another Oranje is going to line up with a great striker come kick-off on sunday. Ruud is the better finisher, but he hasn’t received very much service (not his fault). and with Robben on the pitch every attacking move is going through him and rarely does ruud end up benefiting from a robben pass. so marco is acknowledging the fact that the striker in this team is not really being used for finishing but rather as a target man. Since kuijt is the better target man it makes sense to play him. although i think that ruud will always be good at attracting attention from defenders and at converting half chances into goals (see euro 2004 against germany)…so no matter who plays for the team they will contribute something positive.

I also think that the midfield should line up with rvv in the hole and cocu and whoever plays on the right (sneijder/van bommel) playing deeper in a holding position, since i agree with those who have observed that robben and van persie always drop back any way to pick up passes, so we don’t need the mids to play up on the sides. maybe if rvv was on top of his game, we would see ruud start since he might be able to provide the service ruud has so far lacked.

one more thing, why have not seen oijer and boula start a match together in the centre of the D? boula has played great and should start somewhere in the back four! (even if it hast to be at right back) Heitinga is good but inconsistent, and it worries me to think what would happen if he had to make a challenge on figo in the penalty area…boula is a more reliable tackler, although he is often guilty of the hopeful long balls. whatever happened to kromkamp? i can’t believe we didnt see him against argentina especially after jaliens looked so shaky in the first half. well i could sit here and debate tactics all night but it wouldnt change anything so i’ll trust san marco to make the right decisions so that we win tomorow like i believe we will.

Posted from Canada

By goose | June 25th, 2006 at 1:20 am

@Igor, amen

greetz

Posted from Netherlands

By Mara1ona | June 25th, 2006 at 3:11 am

Im Scottish so there is no dutch bias coming from me.

Making my own unbiased opinion and Im telling dutch fans right now, if you are going to play with a 22 year old winger, another 21 year old winger and a 22 year old striker you will not get much joy from an experienced portugeese defence. Its what i would call unbalanced. You need vital experience in games like this and Ruud provides it. Bring him on as sub as so many on this blog wish but if holland are 1 0 down, you tell me what Ruud is gonna do? Work miracles?

The dutch need to take control of this game from the start, score a goal early and the portugeese aint smart or good enough to break down an eight man defense.

Im taking my chances and backing Holland to be winning at half time. Backing Holland to be winning at full time. Backing Holland to be winning at half time/full time. The reason im doing this is because i have total faith in Van Basten and if I was him, that would be my goal.

By micha | June 25th, 2006 at 8:35 am

If this lineup is true, then Van Basten is brilliant! Kuyt should start, Ruud will be substitute, in the second half, but by then the job should already be done. Kuyt, will play very well, if he does not score, he will contribute greatly to the dutch goals.
Van Bommel has played bad in all three games and doesn’t play at all like in Barcelona, no attacking through runs or mostly missed shots on goal, like he delivered during champian league play. Fuck him, let him sit. Heitinga will be more effective on the right side without van Bommel in the way. Boula is great, he will play, either as a sub or in central defence roll. I think these changes are all positive and will culminate in a decisive Dutch victory over Portugal. Prepare for the birth of a new Dutch football hero, the stage is set for Dirk Kuyt. This exciting stuff. Hup Holland Hop!

By micha | June 25th, 2006 at 8:55 am

Oh ya, and if the Scottish had any brilliant young superstars to debute, then maybe they would be playing in the world cup. I appreciate your opinion on the strength of experience on a team but this team is something special. They all have experience and impressive credentials in their respective club teams; moreover, they are all considered top young prospects of the highest value, they are the future of their clubs. But because of their youth they have never before had the opportunity to perform together on the world stage, under the oranje banner. Van Bommel is giving them that opportunity. To play a struggling Ruud for his experience instead of giving Kuyt an opportunity to play in his preffered position, in the center is cowardly. When should we play Kuyt? in 4 years? It this sentimental attachment to great performances of time gone by that would have Edger Davids or Yap Stam in the lineup. We have seen what they can do and now their best days are behind them; give these young stars a chance to become our new heros! Hup Holland Hup

By Rami | June 25th, 2006 at 9:58 am

I’d really like to see new stars shine too micha.. But this is absolutely beside the point.

I and many others are talking about van nistelrooy’s case, and his only. I’m not comparing between van nis and Kuyt.

In thursday’s speech Van Basten made it sound like the failure in offense is mainly due to Van nistelrooy’s poor form of late. He didn’t say anything about his limping midfield. Im sorry but my expectations tonight are mainly on Van der Vaart rather than Van Nis (if he plays) because hes the damn key to this midfield and hes the most skilled weve got in this position, and most importantly hes the main engine for a build-up of any offensive.

I’m frustrated at the way Van nistelrooy is being used on the field, the expectations that are assigned to him despite the little that is given to him. I only saw one good ball handed to Van Nistelrooy, during the match against IC. He capitalized on it and scored.

Posted from Russian Federation

By Mara1ona | June 25th, 2006 at 11:22 am

Yeah thanks Rami, spot on!

By Mara1ona | June 26th, 2006 at 12:48 am

Is there a Dutch smart ass aroung.

READ MY FUCKING BLOG.

Dont say i didnt warn you.

Fucking asshole Van Basten.

Fucking clueless.

Fucking told you so and you can all laugh at the jock bastard before you all pack you fucking bags and fuck off home, you stupid dutch fucks.

you stupid dutch fucks.

have been done over by you manager you is in the game and made a lot of money tonight.

otherwise how the fuck can you justify his crazy decisions.

you stupid bastard, van basten has done you over,

big time

suckers

By micha | June 27th, 2006 at 6:27 am

gotta hand it to mara1ona, you called it spot on and I’m a complete wanker. Maybe, it would have been different with Ruud maybe not. I’m sorry for anyone who lost their wager like me, I would pay the money tenfold if it could change the outcome we should have won, And i believed we would with or without v. Bommel/V nistelroy in the lineup. But I could not follow your advise and bet against my own team, it’s too personal for me. So congrats Scotsman hope you followed your own advise and bet on Portugal when you knew it was going to be Kuyt. But your reaction tells me maybe you didn’t.

By goldfish | September 2nd, 2006 at 11:31 am

I don’t care what anyone says you can’t drop Ruud from the side, he is the most consistant striker and forward on the team. Dropping Van Nistelrooy is the most stupid thing I have ever heard. The man just should not be allowed to manage

Posted from Australia

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