Comments on: Oranje, it’s now or never…

By: goose

goose — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 08:32:12 +0000

@MR; with all respect; but Engelaar only playing for Twente is not my problem…

so can anybody tell me what it is they like about Engelaar?? maybe an example from a game??…

cant understand

By: Mario Rosado (Dutch admirer)

Mario Rosado (Dutch admirer) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:13:21 +0000

Guys…Engelaar is no Davids but he has played nice. Against Italy he was very strong and against France he had trouble but remember that he has only played less than 10 international games and it seems he has played for Holland for many years. He is a player that we shouldn´t be critizing like that because he has shown interesting things during the EC.

By: goose

goose — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:55:30 +0000

@Jan; my friend..how come we cant seem to get an agreement on Engelaar..i mean; we both have seen the games, how come i see a player who just cant cope with the speed of play and you dont, i dont understand….

and im sure vBasten is trying to keep Engelaar as confident as possible so he will never critize him

@Irog; agree on vdVaart, he really plays for the team, a different role than at HSV..

By: Igor

Igor — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:12:35 +0000

I think that Robben’s true skill shines most when he comes on as a super-sub, like others have mentioned, to take advantage of the defenders tired legs. from the start i find that robben plays with “blinders” on too much, and forgets that often his teamates are better positioned than he his and he should therefore pass earlier. i mean there’s no doubt that he’s able to run the ball all the way down the pitch 8/10 times but what is the point if once he get there everyone is covered…on the flip side, he would be more effective by passing the ball early and opening up the opposition (remember, even robben can’t run as fast as a passed ball).

otherwise, like Jan, i think that vdv has been the unsung hero of the team and that is maybe why he will the one to drop back into the holding role, his mentality (if not his skills) will allow him to adapt. but i don’t think that this really suits him, and come on marco, do you really think that vdv tackles as well as engelaar? personally i’d rather see the same line up that started the first two games…engelaar may not have been spectacular but gets the job done most of the time and i think that the likelihood of russia winning is much greater if they score first, so why invite them to do so by changing the team’s balance? like i said i think robben and van persie make excellent subs, and keep the pace of oranje’s play high just as the opponents begin to tire. if we play all of the best right from the start who do you bring on to maintain that pace of play (which IMO is really what killed italy and france)?

but so far van basten’s has been bang on with the strategy so let’s hope it continues…

By: Caleb

Caleb — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:43:29 +0000

Van Basten – I think you are crazy to suggest Huntelaar starts instead of Van Nistelrooy
But seriously, Huntelaar was not very convincing for me in the Romania game. Too many loose first touches and not enough contribution in the build up play. I think he has a bright future but there is no way he should replace Van Nistelrooy.

By: Zhalgas

Zhalgas — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:37:10 +0000

Engelaar or De Zeeuw? My opinion is – you can’t test the reliability of DMF in the games against much wicker teams. Now those 2 r at the same level. The only thing E. already played 3 games and has been REALLY tested twice. It’s his debut in tournament like this and in general, he quite succeeded. Also he has good understanding with De Jong and rest of the team (even France game wasn’t so awful). Anyway, we gonna get all answers after the game against Spain(or Italy). But till this moment my choice is Twente’ Monster!

By: Jan

Jan — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:12:44 +0000

I agree with the Pro-Engelaar camp. And Van Basten said it too: whenever a holding midfielder gets in trouble, nine out of ten times it’s because his team mates up front either didn’t put pressure on the opponent’s build up or the mates don’t make themselves available. Bassie said Engelaar played a so-so match against France, but it wasn’t entirely his fault. And I concur with San Marco… Or…he concurs with me

He will play Robben from the start I think. Marco will want to use Robin maybe in the semis or final. Remember, he is still not 100% match fit. The Romania game wasn’t important as such, so Robin could do the 90 minutes and take some moments rest. Against Russia, everyone needs to be 100%. Robin will get his chance. Anything can happen yellow card and injury wise.

Against Russia, we need depth. They leave space behind their defense. Lots of it. And they’re left full back is a pretty good player so Kuyt starts on the right to keep him – Zirkof? – back. Robben left and Sneijder central.

When Robben or Kuyt are “empty”, Robin will come on and steal the show, hahahahahahhahaaaaaa (mad scientist laugh again!!)

By: goose

goose — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:02:52 +0000

my guess is that Engelaar wont play… i cannot believe people writing that he played well… i think he was the weakest link by a mile during the last 2 games ;only against the old italian midfield did he get enough time to ‘ do his thing’ ; the guy is just too slow

i think vBasten will play vPersie and will let vdVaart move on the Engelaar position

By: GD

GD — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:23:41 +0000

And my opinion of Engelaar is that he still isn’t ready against strong teams. He did only OK vs Italy. He was absolutely horrible vs France. I didn’t bother watching NL vs Romania longer than the first 15 minutes because it was a snoozefest, but even if he did well again: who cares? Romania sucked that game. He needs to be on top of his game against strong teams that have strong midfielders, and so far he hasn’t shown he can do that.

By: GD

GD — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:19:23 +0000

Van Nistelrooy’s job isn’t always about scoring. He’d said so himself: he’s also needed in a support role, when the others have a better chance at scoring. I think his experience and his versatility make him a must in the game. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t always score, it does matter that he can provide his skill for the team in other areas of the field when it’s necessary, and he does that beautifully IMO.

Like our second goal against France, Van Nistelrooy made a brilliant move that allowed Robben to get the ball and get rid of 2 players at the same time to rush the left flank. And our fourth goal, where he was all alone up ahead with the ball, keeping the ball to pull the defenders to him, then passed it away at the right time so Van Persie was all clear to do as he wished (and he passed to Sneijder, who was practically free of being marked as well). When you already have so many top strikers in the team, there’s no need for another pure striker. You need one that can do more than go for the goals.