Van Basten, a firm believer

“We have demonstrated that in the first half. We could have and should have led by 3-0 after 45 minutes”

Nice one Marco – let’s ignore the hatfuls of clear cut chances that fell to perrenial bottler Bendtner shall we? 1-0 was fortuitous.

All that needs to happen for a stable defence is to crop Mathijsen and bring Ooijer into the centre, or Bouma. Then play Melchiot right back – De Jong if MVB wants to be really attacking.

Posted from  Japan

It is difficult to judge team readiness from the results of a “friendly” match. It would be interesting to look at the statistics from the match, including shots on goal, corners, etc. to get the sense of the competition. When professional athletes play matches that “don’t count”, their attitude is set to a much lower key that in “real” competitive games. Having said these things, from the comments of those who saw the match, it seems that it is the same old story–fairly effective offense, strong midfield and the ever present weak defense. We must ask the question of whether any of the starting Dutch defenders would start for any other team in their group or in the Euro at all? I think not. Therefore, I agree with Jan’s idea to play Kuyt in the back.He is a well-conditioned, tough, competitive footballer who would strengthen the defense even if he has not played it much. Based on the serious weakness of the defense, and in spite of what van Hanegem wrote, the Dutch will not come out of their group, I think–and with great disappointment. I sincerely hope I am very wrong. But…

Posted from  United States

Heitinga would make France’s defence, and he and Gio would definitely make Romania’s. Most of the defence did a decent job – it was really just Mathijsen who played poorly. The problem is in the centre – you play someone like Kuyt at right-back and you’ll be exposing them way, way too much. Oranje has a quality attacking line – no need to stick a centre forward at right back. Just play Melchiot there, because it’s his natural position, or De Jong who’s done it before and will bomb down the flank when necessary. Ooijer and Bouma will both make very solid centre halfs.

To say the Oranje defenders wouldn’t be at Euro 2008 at all is just ridiculous – they all play regularly in good leagues, for decent sides – France have Boumsong for crying out loud – it could be worse!

Posted from  Japan

think..we have some facts..after myth!
Robben..can make difference: but babel too..
Ruud or Hunter..killer instinct much needed.
Sneijder..heart and hub of the team:
vaart or kuyt or persie…at your choice
Sorry Mathijsen but Bouma:
Afelly: not for Sneijder but for De Zeeuw:
Ooijer not enough for left flank..may be melchiot:
Did we make mistake to let ‘boula leave?
So for me..solution has become
Sar
Melchiot, Heitanga, Bouma, De cler
Afelly, Engelaar, Sneijder
Kuyt, Ruud, Robben

Posted from  Australia

sphinx: I like your team, but I’d play Ooijer instead of Bouma and Van Persie instead of Kuyt.

Posted from  Japan

That’s aslo kool Rob!

Posted from  Australia

van der sar – melchiot,heitinga,bouma,van bronckhorst – engelaar,affelay – van der vaart (van persie),sneijder,robben – ruud. we cannot be sure about robin’s form and i don’t know how affelay could perform in the holding role. but we need changes because matthijsen’s and de zeeuw’s yesterday performance was really less than mediocre. i noticed that de zeeuws had made lors of unnecessary fault,irregular tackles,etc. it was a friendly but in a serious game he easily could have been booked. and danemark is neither italy nor france. if he is unable to stop without making faults danish players he will have real troubles against our top team opponents.

Posted from  Hungary

How did Engelaar play?. Is he ready to be among the 11?

Engelaar has to start. His passing yesterday was really impressive, he never gave the ball away and he got in a few good tackles and he’s just so much bigger and stronger than a lot of our players. The shambles of a second half was due to him and Sneijder being withdrawn – they provide the balance and control in midfield. He did look a bit loose with his first touch, but made up for it in strength and bravery. I’m really excited about this guy – he’s just what ORanje needed.

Posted from  Japan

Rob..agree..if you look for new Rijkart..it’s him

Posted from  Australia

I haven’t been able to watch Holland’s friendly games here in Mexico but it looks like Engelaar is the player we needed in midfield.

I just finished watching the game. The first half was awesome! Van Basten is right when he said we should have been (at least) 3-0 by half time. Our passing and movement was fantastic. We played fast paced and our pass completion rate must have been in the 90% range. And that goal – what build up play for that one! The madrid trio really impressed me for this game.

Rob – I’m not sure what hatful of chances for Bendtner you are referring to. The danes got a few chances in the first half, but nothing too clear cut. Our defense still looked kind of weak, giving them more opportunites then they should have, but we had a lot more clear cut chances. Let see what I can remember off the top of my head:

- 2 fantastic opportunites and one decent one for Vaart
- 2 Robben shots that just missed
- 1 chip goal for Ruud that was called for offside (debatable).

And those are just off the top of my head, and not counting the clear cut chances we missed in the second half.

If the team can remember to bring their shooting boots along next time, and we can play like we did in the first half, we’ll score loads of goals.

Posted from  Canada

Caleb, you got to see the game in Canada?
Which part of Canada are you in? and which channel?

I can just see the highlight from Fox

Posted from  Canada

gooranje – I got to see it in Canada (Manitoba), but not on T.V. Soccer coverage in Canada is crap, so I usually find a way to watch the game on the internet somehow. Lots of times you can watch it live streaming (not usually the best quality), and often you can find places to download it afterwards – torrent sites and such.

Posted from  Canada

No offence to Holland fans, but I think Holland will be the surprise upset of the tournament..

Offensively, the team is brilliant.. but again, the defence can’t be compared to Italy’s or France’s.. Very unconvincing..

And plus, I’m a big doubter of Van Basten’s abilities as coach when it comes to big tournaments..

Omission of Seedorf, Van Bommel? Bad relationship with RVN?

Hmm..

But hey that’s just my opinion..

Woah there Jan, not all of us. I don’t want that bastard Van Bommel anywhere near a Dutch shirt ever again.

And to Caleb, I can’t remember the chances so well now, but he had one where he lost Heitinga on a cross and I believe headed off target, but it was a free header. Another chance was where he had a left footed shot from about 2 yards out but buried it in the stands. Third one was a cross where he misjudged the flight of the ball and it flew past everyone. If that were Luca Toni, 2 of those 3 would have been goals.

Also, it’s all very well saying “if they’d just brought their shooting boots”, but that’s not good enough. Van der Vaart needs to go so a player who can finish a few of those chances off takes his place behind Ruud: this is either Sneijder or Van Persie. One striker who can finish and three guys knocking it about on the edge of the area while he’s marked out of the game won’t be enough.

Posted from  Japan

Yea Rob! I really suspect the scoring efficiency over Vaart…truely Sneijder or Persie could be different..vaart didn’t score for Humberg long already .right?

Posted from  Australia

oi Rob; some respect for vBommel please

Posted from  Netherlands

I’ve shown him as much as he’s shown the Dutch national team. Fair’s fair!

Posted from  Japan

I tend to agree with you about Van Bommel Rob – I don’t like his attitude either. Definitely doesn’t belong in this EC. Maybe after vBasten goes he can get a fresh start and it might work out though.
I remember some of those chances you talked about for Bendtner, but they didn’t compare to the chances we got. If both teams were finishing well we would still have won the first half. But I also agree that a dangerous player like Luca Toni could convert a few of those, so it might be good for us to also get a player who can convert ours (hopefully a fit vPersie in for Vaart).

Rob; are you not well informed on the vBommel story?? i really dont agree with vBommel having no respect for the national team… if you know the whole story you wouldnt say such a thing

@Caleb; and what attitude is that??

Posted from  Netherlands

van der Vaart scored 12 goals in 28 starts this season for HSV… and two in 5 starts in the Uefa cup. van der Vaart is a great finisher – if you were to of watched him regularly here play for HSV and for Ajax a few seasons ago, you wouldn’t be saying he can’t finish and needs to be replaced (and weren’t just judging him on a couple of international friendlies). He’s reguarded as one of the best here in Germany. And personally I rate him above Sneijder.

Note, vdV is also a great penalty taker.
Annnnd yes, leave van Bommel alone.

Posted from  Germany

Goose – Seems like vBommel has a big head/ego. Seems like he wants to be number one, important, the leader of the team, and he wasn’t getting that feeling from vBasten so he called it quits. I’m not trying to defend vBasten, he probably mishandled the situation, but if vBommel was more mature he could still play for a team where he didn’t like the manager (i.e. Ruud).