Match day 3; what have we learned?

Great news about Robben. Against Italy we showed he doesn’t have to start – but what a player to be able to bring on against tired defences – he can dominate them well enough from the start, so he should just tear them apart. Fantastic. Him and Van Persie can make a difference if the side’s looking too workmanlike.

Posted from  Japan

i think we should play the same team against france and use V.Persie and robben as secret weapon.

Posted from  United States

Good to hear that Robben is getting better. We have to take care and not risk him. He is a very important player and even though last night Holland showed we can do well without him we’ll need all our best players if we are to succeed in this tournament.

I’m very enthusiastic about this team. They have the mentality and the confidence.

RvP and Robben subbed in at half, is they are available. give the guys who played well vs italy another shot at it

Agree: Play the same team against France–I mean, they all deserve it. And let’s hope for the same results.

RE Romania: Yes, of course any team is tough to beat when they don’t move forward much and prefer to play defense. It’s not easy getting a ball many defenders and a keeper. That’s the worst thing about football and the reason I like the Dutch!

Posted from  United States

guys the italy game was incredible.. I was in tears and couldnt sleep cuz i was soo excited. they played really welland i was bewildered.. however i have a few worries… 1stly this team played extremely well as a team and a unit creating lots of passing and free flowing football. i am worried that with a highly skilled but selfish robben and van persie on the pitch the collective coordination will be lacking… just an opinion. Furthermore the attacking display was great but france is a counter attacking team who will wait for holland. This worries me particularly even though they didnt create much against romania given romanias great organization. I would really love to beat france as living in switzerland we get to listen to the french arrogant press and their coach the whole time. We have to be offnsive but carefull.. i feel a tense match Hup Nederland!

Posted from  Switzerland

@ marc
i agree robben and v.persie are sometime selfish, they have ego problem.

Posted from  United States

It’s a cardinal rule in sports: Don’t change what’s working. Van Basten should keep Robben on the bench unless and until he needs him, especially given that the player has a groin issue, and they are notoriously slow to heal and easy to reinjure. The squad we saw against Italy is very /unselfish/–and that is everything in football. Yes, Robben is dangerous, but he dribbles too much and is full of himself. This is why I love the group of Kuyt, RVDV, WS and RVN–it’s team first–and we saw what they produced.

Posted from  United States

I understand your point although I think Robben has matured a lot in that sense since going to Madrid he has learned to play for the team more than before and sometimes it’s better to have someone who is willing to risk and go for the run. Robben is made for this games.

Agree with everyone here…I love watching Robben tearing defences apart but then on many occassions Ruud/Klaas-Jan are left standing free in a better scoring chance. DON’T CHANGE a thing not even Boula ! Bring those 2 on with 20-30min to go and let them PROVE they should be in the starting 11

Posted from  Singapore

welcome
robben .welcome
he has seen how his colleagues played like a team, while he was absent.
he would have learned and back to be part of the team.

Posted from  Australia

Marco van Basten had better learn something from his Rinus Michel’s way of thinking. “Don’t change a winning team.” If he decides to put Robben or van Persie in the team, and they lose, he’ll become a pariah among the Dutch.

Posted from  Canada

Dutch fans lose sight of reality very quickly. Italy seemed fully in control until those two freaky goals. After that they fell completely apart. Such luck seldom comes around twice. France might turn out to be a very sobering experience, especially for a team besotted with over-confidence.

Posted from  Netherlands

Hi Jan n All Oranje Fans

Have a look at this video.Hope it brings beautiful feeling in our hearts

http://ek2008.nos.nl/video/bekijken/ID/tcm:5-385288/marcos-beleving-van-nederland-italie

Posted from  Netherlands

at johannes
even if we don’t make it to the next round everyone will always remember the dutch trashed italy when everyone was against them beating the world champions.

Posted from  United States

It was a solid game for the Dutch, but by no means should that mean we should expect to be champions, every team in this group has beat us before, and the underdog role should continue for the Dutch.

Stick with the 11 you started and work Van Persie in at the 60th minute mark. For now we must get ready for the French, should I remind all of our world cup lost to them in the 90’s?

Hup Holland Hup

Posted from  Canada

Spain were certainly impressive–I have never seen a team with better first-touch and ball control skills. Technically, they are very good–and I’m glad to see them thump the mafia crowd from russsia.

Posted from  United States

Don’t change the winning team, if you want to win the tournament. So, start with the same players against Italy. Robben can play only if Holland fail to score or after 60 minutes. Start with Kuyt, also start with Boulah.

Hup Holland Hup….

Posted from  Indonesia

Hi Kyle

Did we lose to the French in the 90’s WC ? Which games? 90? 94? 98 ? Dont think we played them…but I could be wrong. We beat them in Euro 2000

Posted from  Singapore

We lost against France in England’s EC in 1996.

@Lights: thanks for the video. I was happy to see Marco screaming and giving instructions to his players, last WC he didn’t do that and now he seems to be very involved with his players. He has changed but I hope he makes no crazy decisions.

In 2000, Holland beat France in the last match. I think Holland and France were already qualified to the next round. In 1996, Holland lost to France after penalty.

Posted from  Indonesia

johannes | June 10th, 2008 at 7:30 pm

I don’t know what game you watched, but before the 1-0 I saw Van the Man being touched by Buffon in a 1-on-1 situation, where he would definately have gotten the penalty kick, had he gone down.
And even thought the first goal was freaky, the second was simply a perfectly executed counter-attack, so there was nothing weird about that one.
The Italians had no control over the midfield at all untill halfway the second half and that’s where they lost the game. When they were in possesion this was in big part due to Kuyt’s up-front defending. On the dutch right wing I haven’t seen any upcoming Italian midfielder all match.

Granted, France is another match and it remains to be seen how that will work out, but the Italians simply got outclassed in monday’s match.

Posted from  United States