The new contenders….

@ tiju
yes romeo castelen is a flop since his move to Hamburg sv, he should of went to chelsea when he had the chance.

Posted from  United States

@ tiju
also france and netherlands will not turn into muslim countries.
aruba, martinique, netherlands Antilles, and guadeloupe have zero muslim people/maybe about 0.1% muslim people from the mainland.

Posted from  United States

@M.O. Lots of Muslims in France and Netherlands already, from N. Africa mostly, about 10% or so of the overall population and with muslim family birthrates more than double level of non-Muslim birthrates, it will become 30% or so pretty quickly and over half not long after, IF these birthrates continue. Be very interesting to see what happens to these famously liberal, tolerant nations then. Hopefully, all can be intergrated into a liberal, tolerant culture, but signs are not exactly pointing that way due to new arrivals adherence to the old customs of their homelands, often from the most backwards parts, and the govts misplaced emphasis on pure multiculturalism rather than a more integrationist approach.

Posted from  United States

@MO; agree with Tjiu; dont think Castelen is a flop .. he gets plenty of time on the pitch and seem to do alright

Posted from  Netherlands

Is Kromkamp injured?

I’ve got a list for ya if you want to talk about talent, to make it a bit more comfortable i’ll start with keepers and defenders and i’ll post other lists about midfielders and attackers. The players im mentioning aren’t all world-class talents or new Nesta’s, but yet they all have their possibilities.

Keepers
Tim Krul(Newcastle Utd.), Young and lots of talent, isn’t quite playing enough to really judge him yet
Kenneth Vermeer(Ajax), Impressed with U-21, developed quite a bit, but needs more matches to improve.
Piet Velthuizen(Vitesse), Undisputed number one for Vitesse, for me still the most talented keeper around despite Vermeer having played all of the OS games.
Michel Vorm(Utrecht), was very talented, had a bit of bad luck with injury but might grow to be a useful keeper.

Gianni Zuiverloon(WBA), RB
Daryl Janmaat(Heerenveen),RB, talented, strong defender that joins attack when possible, hope he can really develop from here.
Dirk Marcellis(PSV),CB, obviously the biggest defending diamond on our playing fields, no doubt he’ll make oranje pretty soon.
Gregory van der wiel(Ajax),CB, made good impressions but needs work on strength and other things.
Erik Pieters (PSV),CB, looked shaky in CL but still only 20 or something, and lots of room for improvement, possibly CB.
Kees Luijcks(AZ), talented midfielder that could be a very strong CB, but i think not really defending good enough for a central defender.
Ron Vlaar(Feyenoord),CB, Long, strong, big talent for me, but, constantly haunted by injury, too bad, could still change.
Ryan Donk(WBA),CB, also tall, strong, but still lacks concentration, good for him to taste the speed and level of PL football, might give him a big boost.
Daley Blind(Ajax), CB, very young but one of the biggest Ajax talents, can play defending midfielder as wel as CB
Arnold Kruiswijk(Anderlecht), pretty decent defender, but i think he’s almost reaching his full potential, too bad.
Patrick van Aanholt(Chelsea), LB/CB, very impressive with Chelsea reserves, tall, athletic, one hell of a shot, can also play CB.

Jeffrey Bruma(Chelsea), CB, can play on midfield and as CB pretty good, still very young i thought he was only 16. Does well with Chelsea youth teams and sometimes already with reserve squad.

Tom Hiariej, (FC Groningen), RB
Calvin Jong-a-pin,(Heerenveen)CB/LB,
Christian Kum(ADO Den Haag),CB, All three not very impressive, but they don’t make that many big mistakes, and who knows, they could surprise in the future.

Dwight Tiendalli(Feyenoord), Didn’t really impress at his first time with Feyenoord, did well with Utrecht and didn’t do to bad during his loan to Sparta. Could make a surprising come-back as rightwing back.
Royston Drenthe(Real Madrid), Possible leftwing back, Not that impressive since the U-21 EC, bit of a show-off. Decent substitutions for Real, but could still improve.
Urby Emanuelson(Ajax), Also possible leftwing back, seems to be further than Drenthe in working for the team, but still not really comfortable at left back. Also still some sloppy mistakes in his play.
Gijs Luirink(AZ), CB, tall, strong, was a very promising player with Groningen and U-21 EC in Portugal but keeps running into bad luck, bit like Vlaar. Is recovering pretty good and should be able to make his come-back pretty soon. I hope he can regain his former level.
Edson Braafheid(Twente), CB/LB, not very tall, think 1.76m but very sturdy defender. can play Cb and leftback, but i feel his lacks some speed for LB.
Glen Loovens(Celtic)CB, Strong, has developed really well since his Feyenoord days, was a real leader for Cardiff in english championship, made his move to Celtic recently. Hasn’t really played that much, but has the possibility of making the starting line-up.
Vurnon Anita(Ajax),again not to tall player, but very skilled and can take out a man just as good as a 1.90m defender, is really a defending midfielder but can also play CB, RB pretty comfortable.
Milano Koenders(AZ), What a shame, very promising with RKC Waalwijk, had a pretty provoking playing style, i liked his adventurous way of defending, but fell a very long way down with AZ, what is it with that club and talented defenders, they don’t seem to get along, but still only 22 years old so anything could happen.
Paul Verhaegh(Vitesse), Decent right back, has potential, i think he’s only 24 so he has room for improvement, captain of Vitesse and could have gone to Twente.
Henrico Drost(Heerenveen), CB, used to be praised, but made a bit of a sudden stop in his development, now still only 21, and yet again, anything could happen, but my guess is he isn’t going to improve that much.

Jens Janse(Willem II),RB, could turn into a decent right back, young, quick, athletic, used to play for PSV but with 2 or 3 right-backs in front of him he turned to another club in order to play matches regularly.

Rens van Eijden(PSV),CB, Talented defender, 19/20 years old i think, one of the biggest defending talents of PSV, currently loaned out. He should learn a thing or two this way.

The ones that i didn’t mention are average players like Zomer(NEC), Kromkamp(PSV), Dingsdag(Heerenveen), Greene(Feyenoord), Waterman(ADO) because they don’t really look like developing any further, and i could say they’re not quite good enough for a topclub. But then again i could be horribly mistaken in 4 years time.

For me there are a few players from this list that have already shown they could step up to a higher level as a defender, of course Marcellis, Zuiverloon, Vermeer, Velthuizen, but i think also Braafheid, Vlaar also if he can stay fit for more than a season.

Besides them i’d say maybe: Emanuelson, Pieters, Luirink, Loovens, Janmaat, v.d.Wiel and V.Aanholt. And after al that i still haven’t mentioned; Ter Horst, Horsten, Wormgoor, Fleuren, Supusepa, Slijngard, Timisela, Altheer, Nieveld, Jordy Buijs, Mustafa Amezrine, Sergio Padt, Erwin Mulder, Jeroen Drost, Wesley de Ruiter……

Posted from  Netherlands

oops, i forgot to talk about Zuiverloon, well he is a real quality player, especially when he joins the attack, still has to improve on concistancy in his defending but in the PL he could develop into a highly rated rightback.

Posted from  Netherlands

@Alex; thats some list,

Alex = Piet de Visser??

btw; good to see Janmaat on your list, a Den Haag guy and a pretty talented one

Posted from  Netherlands

Another blow for Ajax, as both Sulejmani and Oleguer have gotten injured. Sulejmani out for 2 monthes, and Oleguer out for 3 weeks.

Posted from  Canada

Wow Alex, man… That is impressive!!

Very good! keep those posts coming my friend

Alex how is Schaars going ? Is Wesley’s brother going to do anything ?
Great List ! Oh isn’t Kromkamp a veteran by now ? Thought he was on the downward spiral after WC06 – Spain-Liverpool ??

Posted from  Singapore

Kromkamp is 28 years or so, but when fit (and focused) still a great option for Oranje. Schaars is coming back, slowly and I think Alex left Rodney out because I mentioned him already in the post. Note how Alex lists other names that the guys that played in Ajax – Feyenoord.

I’d say Rodney Sneijder looks the business!

11-september-2008 qualifier against Iceland
15-september-2008 qualifier against Norway

Marcellis and Emanuelson should get a call

Posted from  United States

I think October, MO?

@ jan
ja
11-October-2008 qualifier against Iceland
15-October-2008 qualifier against Norway

Marcellis and Emanuelson should get a call
also Koevermans

Posted from  United States

@Mo
why we need kovermans get rid of him.
we have babel,hunter,haiselink,vanpersie in our bag so why koverkazhutha?(donkey).
agreed with marcelis and emmanuelson(coz Gio is injured).
My
backline would be

Calvin jong a pin(LB)
Marcelis(CB)
heitinga(CB)(this guy is fearful person i selected him beacause of his offencive skill and good heading ability only. at present we dont have another good option)
Zuiverloon(RB)

i think stijn schaars may play better than van bommel.

Posted from  India

We have a lot of great players coming through but we have to remember that our senior squad has experience but they are still very young and have a lot of future: Robben, Babel, Huntelaar, Sneijder, Vaart, Persie, etc…

Marcellis is ready for the senior squad. There are other players who are starting to show their qualities but at the moment he’s the only player I could think of calling, Zuiverloon too. Players like Sarpong, Biseswar, Vlaar, Donk, Anita, etc… still have to show they deserve to be called.

True Miguel, we’re in pretty decent shape. The only thing I need to see in Oranje is the Will to Win!!! I can’t see there’s any excuse to draw against Iceland for instance. No matter how bad the pitch, the ref, the weather whatever, we need to bag those three points.

Bad luck is always an option and I wouldn’t panick if we drop points per se, but man…we gotta want the three points! Van Bommel is instrumental in that and so is Sneijder! Robben, Robin and even Van der Vaart tend to think that being great is enough… It isn’t…

First of all, no offence, but i can say i’m not that proud to be linked to this backstabbing senior that keeps mixing up footballclubs, especially Chelsea with Sshellssea. I’d like to think i am a bit less full of myself.

But besides that I think Schaars is equal to Engelaar in skill, glad he has returned in AZ, i suppose he really was the engine of that squad, if he keeps improving, i’d select Schaars instead of Engelaar any day.
Marcellis will get selected sooner or later. Zuiverloon should get a chance if he continues to play this comfortably for West Bromwich. But the other names still have a lot to prove for me, out of all of them i’d say Emanuelson certainly has a pretty decent chance of making it, also because of his versatility, i would still like to see him make another step in his defending.
And people saying players like Biseswar, V.d.Wiel should be in the squad are talking sh*t, these young guys barely lost their pimples(I really shouldn’t be saying something like that since i’m only 17 myself..), only 20 year old Marcellis proved he can already perform impressively on such a level. I think these talents should get as much free room to develop as possible instead of wanting them to be decisive in every game, some of the biggest talents didn’t make it because they cracked under the massive pressure. By the way, i think i’m going to make lists of midfielders/strikers pretty soon, since my keeper/defenders list seemed to do pretty well, although i still detect some minor errors in it, i can get a bit carried away, it tends to blur my objective vision.

Posted from  Netherlands

@Alex; haha .. didnt know you were that sensitive, say whatever you like bout the man but he does know his players… was trying to give you a compliment

think a fit Schaars is way better than Engelaar (dont rate Engelaar high at all), he he can stay fit this season i expect great things from him

Posted from  Netherlands

to be honest i don’t expect schaars or marcellis to get a call anytime soon because bert will always pick the same players. i’m not expecting a revolution but bert should evolutionize the back four.

rafa vdv scored a hat trick against gijon.

Posted from  United States

robben score, 5-0.

Posted from  United States

football fans
http://atdhe.net/
good site for live sport, mostly football(soccer) and 10 time better than justin.tv.

Posted from  United States

Beautiful, beautiful goals from Van Der Vaart. You can download them here:

http://goalday.blogspot.com/2008/09/real-madrid-vs-sporting-gijn-24092008.html

Posted from  Republic Of Korea

Bruce, thanks for that link man! Cool…

And the goals look awesome. Is this a spanish cup game? Is Gijon a second rate team or was this La Liga action? Don’t bother, I can find the answers myself…