the Seedorf saga
the Davids saga
the Nistelrooy saga
the Bommel saga.

A seasoned coach would have handled that much better.

On the other hand, expectations when he was assigned (after the bland Advocaat) were high. He did fuel those himself of course (not smart, but very honest) and he did have to rebuild the squad.

I’d say: a 7-.

Advocaat was a 5.

Rijkaard an 8.

Van Gaal a 4.

Hiddink an 8.

Bert scores a 10. For now

In the back I thought Marcellis did very well. At the beginning he looked nervous and passed every ball that he got backwards (probably influenced by Ooijer and Mathijsen), but as the game went on he got forward more and played well down the right flank. I also thought he looked quite solid defensively for the most part – there was just one time when he didn’t cover his man closely enough in the first half which resulted in the player getting the ball in free space at the top corner of the box, but I think he covered back and blocked the shot though (mostly because the Icelandic player took too long with the ball however – with a more dangerous forward it could have been costly).

Offensively I thought we were a little lacking. We scored two goals but could have scored more for sure. Sometimes we seemed a little uncreative and sometimes it seemed like no one wanted to take the chance. Playing it safe and keeping possession I guess…
I thought Huntelaar in particular looked kind of mediocre. He finished one chance very well (although he did narrowly miss a free header in the first half that he should have scored from), but I thought he always looked a little bit off… like a little bit slow in some situations, not alert enough in other situations… just didn’t quite work. He needs to anticipate the play a little more – there were a few times when a pass or loose ball came near to him but the defenders were always able to get there before him – he looked a little flat-footed. Could have just been an off game though; I still think he is a very good player and will grow more.

Babel played very well in the first half, playing out wide on the wing and getting in behind the defence. We can definitely use play like that against Norway on Wednesday. I’m not taking back what I said about him previously, but he did play excellently today. Maybe he is starting to mature. The second half he played more in the middle of the field and didn’t do nearly as well though. Afellay did better again when he replaced him. Sneijder looked really sharp when he came on for 10 minutes as well. I guess he is really eager to get back into it.

Sorry for the long, rambling post… just my thoughts on the game.

In the end, a draw was a fair result. Great result for Oranje. 3 points on Wednesday, and this thing is over. Book tickest to South Africa. A loss and the group becomes interesting again. Carew looked indeed dangerous, and should have scored twice. He also is an excellent target man because of his size and created several chances for others with flickons and headers. Oranje need to button him down. Pedersen (Blackburn) came on as a sub in second half and immediately made an impact. He should probably have started, but he has had a string of mediochre performances both for the NT and Blackburn. He should know ooijer well though, and I would not be surprised to see him start on Wed. Norway’s defense on the flanks looked horrible (as I predicted). Speed on the transition and good old school wing play will cause them many problems. The goalkeeper, Knudsen, made his debut as a 33 year old. He plays in the domestic league for the front running team, Stabaek, and has had a very good season. However, he is inexperienced at this level and although he didn’t make any big mistakes, I felt always nervous about him, so there’s another angle to exploit.

The one danger on Wed is the set pieces. Don’t create stupid freekicks outside the box (Pedersen and Riise both have hammers and then you have the 2 meter brigade inside the box, Carew, Iversen and Hangeland), in addition to throw-ins (Riise make them look like corners). I predict Oranje will win as Norway is not anywhere near that quality, but have some very good individuals that will cause big problems if given the opportunity.

I think we could have scored more but we have started brightly under van Marwijk. I think that Norway and Scotland will fight hard for the secont spot because we are much better than them and they tied today.

Hup Holland, thank God van Basten is out doing stupid things with his Ajax.