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Holland – Romania: what to do?

June 16th, 2008 | By: Jan | 27 Comments »

The most discussed items concerning the third match of Oranje are: who will Van Basten play and will we give the game away to knock Italy and France out or not?

Before the EC, not a lot of fans would have predicted that.

Arsene Wenger, the French Arsenal manager said: “I’d lose to Romania if I were in Holland’s shoes. Why take the risk of meeting one of them again and allow them revenge. It’s about winning. I’d say: knock them out of the tournament.”

Wenger doesn’t believe in France anyway. “They can’t suffer for the team. They want to play good, they want to win, yes, but they don’t go all the way. This team doesn’t have it anymore.”

Cruyff, Van Hanegem and many current players don’t agree. Van Nistelrooy: “We have given so much to reach this level. Giving a game away would jinx that. We need to keep our game up. Keep momentum. We’ll need to go for the win and see what happens.”

Marco van Basten didn’t want to go into the so-called B-team theory. “We don’t have B-players. All our players a A-list internationals. With Van Persie, Robben, Heitinga, Bouma and Huntelaar on the bench, to name a few, you can’t talk about a B-team…”

It seems Van Basten has three options: disregarding yellow cards and other circumstances and playing the regular eleven (to keep the flow going), or…replacing yellow card holders and resting 2 or 3 players (allowing Robben, Van Persie, Heitinga or others to start)…or….replacing basically the whole team bar the players who really want to play.

I personally expect option 2, so to speak. De Jong and Ooijer will be rested and so will a couple of other players (Gio? Sar? Ruud? Kuyt?).

Van Basten didn’t want to go into the next opponent, Russia or Sweden, during the press conference. “We have Romania first. I want to focus on them. They are a tough opponent. We played them twice in the qualifications and weren’t able to beat them.”

Another item on the press conference was the quality of the grass. The new pitch in the Bern stadium is very slippery. “They put this grass in the Moscow stadium right before the CL-finals and I remember seeing a lot of players slipping and sliding. I’m not happy with that, but what can you do?”

Tags: Basten, Euro 2008, Holland, Kuyt, Nistelrooy, Oranje, Robben

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 27 comments.

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By ferenc | June 16th, 2008 at 5:01 pm

i would prefer the 3rd option and not to loose. and a draw in france-italy.

Posted from Hungary

By finnster01 | June 16th, 2008 at 5:34 pm

It’s nota question of losing. It is a question of doing what is best for the team. here isw a chance to let your bench guys have a run, you have to take it (just like Scolari did).

Doesn’t mean you are going to “throw” the game, but only make sense from a coaching perspective. It is a no-brainer, and you know what, given the confidence flowing around the squad, I would not be surprised to see Oranje B beat Romania. At the same time, I would not cry if we lost either to get rid of FRance & Italy.

If I have ever seen a win-win game for Oranje, this must surely be it. Either way, it will do the team a lot of good. No matter how you look at it.

Posted from United States

By Jan | June 16th, 2008 at 6:15 pm

True. And all that “fair play” stuff and calculating who would be in the semis is all a lot of bull. Just play your own strength. No one can blame Holland for anything. Whether we win or lose. If France and Italy wanted to move on, they should have won themselves against Romania. And Holland for that matter. No time for whiners, mate. Focus on the one game at a time and try to win them all. No headaches in that way. Simple.

By dave | June 16th, 2008 at 6:26 pm

The Romania lineup will be:

Bouma Mathijisen Heitinga De Cler

Engelaar De Zeeuw

Van Persie Affelay Robben

Huntelaar

Score will be: 2-2

Posted from United States

By dave | June 16th, 2008 at 6:27 pm

I left out Steks in goal.

Posted from United States

By Yevy | June 16th, 2008 at 6:45 pm

Romania 2 – 0 Netherlands. Write it down.

Arsene Wenger said what MvB and the rest of the Oranje are thinking, but can’t say: the Dutch have no interest in seeing Italy (and to a far lesser extent, France) again in this tournament. Romania is a solid, underrated, and extremely motivated squad that has beaten the Oranje in a recent match. The Dutch don’t have to be far off their peak performance to repeat that result.

Posted from United States

By tito | June 16th, 2008 at 6:58 pm

The Dutch should put out a sensible line-up and play a sensible game. This will most likely lead to a sensible loss or draw with no shenanigans required.

Posted from United States

By van | June 16th, 2008 at 8:50 pm

just be easy in the match. but make sure that no one injures and get a card!

Posted from China

By Eoin | June 16th, 2008 at 9:39 pm

Romania could just beat them, it’s not like Netherlands would have it all their own way in any context. Romania took 4 points of them in qualifiers. Say what you like about it being a reformed team but it could be that the Romanian style is just one they haven’t mastered yet.

Posted from United Kingdom

By stephen | June 16th, 2008 at 10:32 pm

I like Dave’s lineup, however I would like to see Melciot on the right and move Bouma to the middle with Heitinga

By Mario Rosado (Dutch admirer) | June 16th, 2008 at 10:35 pm

I would do exactly what Wenger said…if we have in our hands to eliminate France and Italy now let´s better do it before it´s too late. If we play against them in semis it will be a different game…Remember Amsterdam 2000?. I don´t want to go trough that again, we already beat them so let´s give them a chance perhaps in 2010 but now let´s play good but not 100% and let the Romanians pass. In the semis a Romanian or Spain seem a better option than France and Italy.

Van Der Sar had to make many saves so the score was a big one but not quite real, a 3-2 vs. France and a 2-1 vs. Italy would have been more realistic guys.

By drunvalo | June 16th, 2008 at 11:17 pm

the dutch lie down….blasphemy! they are a team of honour and destiny…no?

spain will have an easy time with the romanians, who will not deserve the quarterfinal spot they will be gifted. italy were all over them. spain, with their finishing, will beat them easlily, i think.

Posted from Canada

By --HedonistiX | June 16th, 2008 at 11:18 pm

I’d like to see Oranje rest some players and play as many subs as possible to avoid injuries or cards. Our subs won’t be much of a decline and they’ll have motivation to prove themselves but Romania is no push over. No sense in selecting Romania over Italy or France. If we beat Romania and Italy or France qualifies, no guarantee that they’ll be able to beat Spain (most likely not). I think Spain vs Oranje – if happening – will showcase one of the greatest moments in modern football, it’s been a while since we last saw entertaining and quality attacking football from 2 sides.

Fairplay is paramount, no whining, no selecting opponents but at the same time, select our players smartly. We’re in control with 2 wins and nobody can say anything to take that away from us.

GO ORANJE!

–H

By bobotoh | June 17th, 2008 at 12:20 am

The Czech republic did the same four years ago, they beat Germany in the last match, while they were already qualified. They also fielded an “B” team against Germany, but they were still able to beat the “A” team of Germany.

Posted from Indonesia

By peter | June 17th, 2008 at 1:04 am

@ drunvalo,

“spain will have an easy time with the romanians, who will not deserve the quarterfinal spot they will be gifted. italy were all over them. spain, with their finishing, will beat them easlily, i think.”

…or maybe I should remind you that just about one year ago, Romania beat Spain 1-0 in Spain (although friendly match); and no B-teams there…

By ayl | June 17th, 2008 at 2:10 am

The Dutch ‘B-team’ is far from being a walk in the park for the Romanians. In fact, i’d consider it a dissapointment if our ‘B-team’ lost tomorrow (and not just because i’d be losing money). They have so much quality, especially in attack, and they will be trying their hardest to impress MVB.

I predict a 2-0 win to the Netherlands with Huntelaar getting a brace. But then again… i predicted Netherlands to beat France 1-0, so, maybe you shouldn’t listen to me haha.

By Bruno | June 17th, 2008 at 3:35 am

I just want to say”He who laughs last who laughs best!”
Hope Netherlands will be champion!
Come on ,Holland!

By Robert | June 17th, 2008 at 4:36 am

B-team??
Yeah right. Here is the striker of that team.
Set to a great song

By Robert | June 17th, 2008 at 4:37 am

Hmm that didn’t work too well. Here is the clip the oldfashioned way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQbNneMKzsU

By Tamious | June 17th, 2008 at 6:13 am

Please beat Roumania!!! Please please please! We will take care for italia.

Posted from United Kingdom

By aj | June 17th, 2008 at 6:55 am

frankly i dont give a damn if ita or fran go thru from our group. they dont look good enough to beat spain in the quarters. v should go for the win. its possible that the italians or french can pose a greater threat and can tire out the spanish team before the semis..yes that is if v reach the semis

Posted from India