Last battle of words before the game starts…

November 14th, 2011 | by: Jan |

Sneijder kuit

Last news… Sneijder took a knock during training. Bloody Van der Wiel!

Sneijder left practice and Van Marwijk mumbled: “We have lost a number of key players in Robben, Afellay, Van Persie, Van der Vaart and Pieters so it would not be too good if we lose Sneijder too…. We need to see how the response of his calf will be….. But it’s clear that we’d like to have a fit Sneijder for this game.”

Oranje vs Die Mannschaft. Everyone in the Netherlands gets a tad more excited when this game is on. Whether it’s a quarter-final, semi-final or final. Or whether it’s a friendly. The current internationals feel the same way. The older ones remember seeing the semi finals of the 1988 and 1992 tournament and heard stories about the legendary 1974 clash. The younger ones remember the 2004 game best. Some played that game, even.

The AD asked two players about their sentiments re: this game.

Germany – Holland by… Dirk Kuyt:
‘For me, it’s the second game. I was part of the 2-2 in 2005 in De Kuip. A typical game, in a way. We were better and came at 2-0 but that German quality of never giving up brought them back. It’s their strength, the mental aspect. Believing that you can turn a game around. I thought Germany was one of the surprises of the World Cup and they’ve grown since, but so have we. It’s going to be a massive game. It sure doesn’t feel like a friendly. It’s a classic like Feyenoord-Ajax.”

robben celebrates
Kuyt celebrates Robben’s 1-0 in De Kuip

Germany – Holland by… Wesley Sneijder:
‘I’m so psyched for the game. I look forward to it. A full stadium of German fans who want to see us fail. These are the sort of games that motivate you as a player. But, at the same time, we shouldn’t over do it. This has nothing to do with the European Championship. Winning or losing doesn’t really matter. There are no extra points. But it’s the perfect opponent to practice against. You need 100% concentration. Two teams that want to win it next summer, some people might expect a draw. But I’m telling you, it won’t be. Both teams will go for the jugular.”

Germany team manager Joachim Low is confident about today’s game. He doesn’t see a reason not to.

“We’re not scared of Holland, of course not. I do expect an attractive game with two teams playing to win. It will be a game of offensive play and very interesting to analyse. It’s a great challenge for us to play the number 2 of the world.”

Low said that Ozil will play in the starting line up but striker Klose might not be fit in time. Klose has a knee injury.

Germany played 3-3 against Ukraine last Friday. “We haven’t perfected our new way of playing. I do expect a better game against Holland in a technical sense. Holland plays a very skilled game and they’re among the best in offensive play.”

Bayern forward Thomas Muller is happy that Holland lost the World Cup finals against Spain. “Can you imagine what Robben would be like in the dressing room at Bayern, haha… I wanted to play the finals with Germany against Holland. I think that would have been massive, but now – at least- Robben is not as annoying.”

Muller is positive about Oranje. “Listen, they have sensational players. Van Persie, Robben, Sneijder are all world class. And they don’t play with blinkers on, they can defend and play on results too. Van Bommel and De Jong are fearless midfielders and tough too fool.”

hsv oranje
Oranje on sacred ground

It’s never really a friendly, as Muller knows too. “But the rivalry is different now. Back then it was quite negative, with the Rijkaard-Voller incident and Ronald Koeman and the German jersey in 1988… It’s a bit more fair play now. But Germany is better now. There is no player in Holland that I would like to see in a German jersey. Sure, there are world class players in Oranje, but we have world class players too and ours are younger. I think we will have the upper hand.”

From someone who doesn’t know a lot, to someone who invented the game .

Johan Cruyff knows what comes up when playing the neighbours from the east…

“It’s a confrontation of two top teams in the world. The number 2 vs the number 3. That gives pressure in itself. Players who were disappointing against Switzerland will be top in the Germany game. That’s how it works. Funnily enough, the Switzerland game is more important that the Germany game. Oranje ’s level dips tremendously when it plays a less inspiring or weaker team. Every one is top against Germany. Fully concentrated. But Bert van Marwijk will have learned more from the Switzerland game. There are simply more “Switzerlands” than “Germanies”.

Remember the World Cup? Disappointing against Japan and Cameroon but superb against Brazil…. Whenever our international give 100% they are world class. But when they play 90% of their capacity, they lose a lot of quality, relatively speaking. Then we suddenly lose against Sweden and play 0-0 against Switzerland.”

hunter mask
Hannibal Wayne or Bruce Lecter?

Well, let’s finish with some super hero powers then. Klaas Jan Huntelaar looks like one. “Hunterman”. Special power: scoring always. Where some see a Batman mask, however, others think he looks like Hannibal Lecter. Klaas Jan suffered a double nose break but it doesn’t impede him in the game.

“I can play no worries. This mask is made to fit and protects me where needed. It’s supports my cheek bones and foreheard and frees up my nose. I can go harder into the duels than normal, hahaha….”

“The only weird thing is that the mask sticks out a bit and I constantly see the tip of the mask. But that’s ok. I can head the ball and do anything. I’ll wear the mask until the winter break.”

So, is it Batman or Lecter? “Hahaha, Lecter had a special bit for his jaws right? I’ve ordered mine, it is in the mail…”
sneijder flying
We need a flying Sneijder tonight….

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 173 comments.

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By Ahmer | November 15th, 2011 at 5:09 pm

I couldn’t understand why Moyes wouldn’t start Heitinga on the backline for Everton. After today, I can’t blame him

By faraz | November 15th, 2011 at 5:12 pm

netherland problem, can bold in future years. in germany when you can play for bayern or dortmund or shalke, you are good enough to play for country. but look and netherland league. Alkmar with 5 or 6 points clear. where is alkmar playaer? where is twente players? where is psv players? just strootman?.
from top three teams, we have just one player in our starting 11 squad. wth?

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By faraz | November 15th, 2011 at 5:13 pm

anyone know about de jong suitition in man city? is he still fix for starting 11?

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By AGerman | November 15th, 2011 at 5:13 pm

O don’t give me all our chances come from counters nonsense. Holland is poor without the constantly injured players. What did we learn tonight? Nothing because it’s a friendly. How am I going to feel since this is the last game of the year? Splendid! Till we meet again ciao!

By SamDC | November 15th, 2011 at 5:15 pm

@ Marc
If you don’t see a problem in this game with the coaching or the abilities of certain players, then you are truly lying to yourself.
We played decently? We came to win my friend! We are not San Marino or Andorra where we say we played decently when we get our asses whooped by our fiercest rivals.

If I got an F in class, I don’t tell my parents my friend Johnny got an F also. I don’t care I Spain is losing to Costa Rica.
(BTW, I’ve long been out of school. I just used the analogy to make a point)
If we want to be champions, we can’t just ignore crucial games as meaningless. We are a world class team and we demand world class performance and effort from every single player to coaching staff!

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By SamDC | November 15th, 2011 at 5:21 pm

@ Ahmer
I support Barca but I watch a lot of Premier league games.

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By Marc | November 15th, 2011 at 5:21 pm

@SamDC
I’m not saying there were no problems in this game: I pointed out some problems (Kuyt, Huntelaar, Defense) but I’m saying there is no point getting all worked up about a game that ultimately does not matter. BvM will see the issues and fix them, and he knows that we were missing VdV, Pieters, Afellay, Elia, RvP, and ROBBEN. I would say that these are pretty important players. Germany are a much different team without Muller, Gotze, Klose, and Podolski much like we are a much worse team without the ones we missed.

By Coracao | November 15th, 2011 at 5:22 pm

Wow.
Braafheid always out of position. Should have used Anita, at least he’s better at attacking.
Strootman and Van Bommel were terrible, NDJ wasn’t better either.
Kuyt kept running as a “kip zonder kop” (headless chicken?), useless.
Sneijder was sloppy, very much below his level.
Babel has quick feet, but he’s no good. Still, the second best.
Huntelaar, out of form, invisible.
Heitinga & Mathijsen were ok, they couldn’t really do much.
Vd Wiel, the best player on the field…but didn’t get many balls from his teammates.

All in all, it was embarrassing. But I’m glad they lost.

Great blog by the way

By Ahmer | November 15th, 2011 at 5:38 pm

@ SamDC
I support Barca as well. I’m sure you know it but what a lot of other people fail to remember is the style that has made them the world’s best club was formed, innovated and perfected by Rinus Michaels and Johan Cruyff… who are Dutch. We have the skilled players to play that style, and we should.

If we setup the equivalent…

Stekelenburg (Valdes)
VdW (Alves) – Douglas (Pique) – Mathijsen (Puyol) – Pieters (Adriano)
Leroy Fer (Busquets)
Snijder (Xavi) – Strootman (Iniesta)
Robben (Messi) – L. De Jong (Villa) – Wijnaldum (Ronaldinho/Pedro)

I know Villa plays wide on the left but Wijnaldum plays the way Ronaldinho did for Barca and would work well with his blistering pace, dribbling and creativity.

By SamDC | November 15th, 2011 at 5:39 pm

@ Marc
I agree with most of what you said. Yes we are a better team with our missing players but this friendly has shown us a lot of out weaknesses and none of our strengths.

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By OranjeRules | November 15th, 2011 at 5:40 pm

Braafheid was awful, Babel broke up as many attacks as he did.

Hate to say it, Kuyt is done as the number 7. He is a bench player now.

Hopefully Douglas can get is papers in order, we need him in the the number 4 spot bad! Mathijsen did not look good at all.

Strootman invisible?!!? Does this kid think his spot is so assured he can get away with that crap?

De Jong looked disinterested! That half assed play on the ball that led to the third goal was not like him at all.

Babel was a bright spot, I think he is rounding back into decent form.

Sneijder looked to be going through the motions.

Huntelaar did not see much service but was not prepared to get dirty.

Pretty much a half assed effort and the Gerrys were ready to lay us to the sword!!!

By Petrovic | November 15th, 2011 at 5:43 pm

Well now,I think this past two games could be a lesson for Bert van Marwijk. He needs to use more players!!

We all know that the best 4 players of Netherlands are very injury prone,and we are afraid that they might get injured before and wont play EC.If that happens,then our chances are slim (as was an example in this match)…
So that is why Van Marwijk needs to use more players,so that those players can get experience,confidence,and then they could better replace those best 4 players if something happens.
He cannot just pray to God that all players will be fit.

By Jeff | November 15th, 2011 at 5:46 pm

I am with Marc about the result. But what concerns me is that the team has reached its maximum with what it had. It is a very dangerous situation, the same that happened to France after the 2006 WC. The issue is do you stick with the guys who got you to the final of the WC or do you radically change the line-up, and if so how? We started playing poorly against Hungary at home, and it is now getting worse. We lost to Sweden, then the draw against Switzerland now this. I keep remebering BVM saying that every match is important and should be prepared so it can be won. It is clear there is a dynamic of victories that is important in establishing confidence and self belief. We had it before the WC but we don’t have any more. I hope we get it back after the injured players come back, otherwise it may be 1st round exit at the Euro.

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By Marc | November 15th, 2011 at 5:47 pm

@SamDC actually in my opinion there were two bright spots: Babel, who was so direct, hardworking, and skillful. And Greg VD Wiel, who has shown that while is form may dip for Ajax he always seems to perform wonderfully for Holland and that is a good sign.

My negatives:
Our transition was also terrible. Every time we lost the ball they would immediately get a decent attacking chance, so that is a concern. But that transition should be better once we have our usual line up

Kuyt- movement is good, but he can’t do much in those good positions because his touch is horrendous

Center Backs- Can’t be faulted for everything because they were left exposed on the counter, but they still fail to do well even when teams are not counter attacking

By Petrovic | November 15th, 2011 at 5:49 pm

I know BVM is not that kind of guy,but at least in friendlies he should use more players like Joachim Low. Look at how his team can rotate. Germany doesnt have that amazing players on the bench,but they are very well implemented and trained to replace anyone when needed.

By Mohamed | November 15th, 2011 at 5:55 pm

well , i can say we ” needed ” the loss anyway
hopefully we’ll see some changes in the team , especially in the defence

bommel is no longer the player we’ve known ,
however , i’m sure he’ll impress if he played as a central defender .. he’ll not need to do the same effort as playing in the midfield and will be great in the building up
Bommel & Douglas in the center back if we want to go far in the Euro

schaars is playing great for sporting , why didn’t Bert give him a chance ?
why wijnaldum and de jong didn’t play more than 4 mins ? tbh i think it was a joke to see them coming in the last 4 mins

we miss ” in-form ” Elia , far better than babel actually .. simply more talented
kuyt may need to be back to feynoord if he wants to play in the euro , he is not the player we know since he got benched in liverpool

mathijsen and brafhied should be dropped out of the squade

bommel , douglas ( maduro , heitinga )
VDW ( heitinga )
pieters ( schaars )

in my humble opinion should be our 7 defenders in the summer

btw , both stek and sneijder were bad tonight

By jake | November 15th, 2011 at 7:37 pm

We’re certainly lack of depth without our key players,no one is close the level of robben, persie, affelay, vvaart. Our current squad is only good to take orange to semi/ quarter final, but if we want to win against Spain/ Germany, BVM need to take immediate action within 6months.

Brafheid should go, he is embarrasment to orange, he is below par as backup for pieters, it does not matter how many time he’s given a chance, he was flop in WC final and now again become our weakest link. I rather gamble with vAanholt or martin indi, at least we can expect something better than Brafheid. Its time to drop kuyt & mathijsen to the bench, heitinga should be drop if he cannot go back at least to his old form within 6months, but huntelaar is forgiven because he was wearing mask, he is still the best striker we have after vPersie. Bommel is too slow to anchor midfield, even back in his Bayern’s time, he looked a lot less dynamic compare to Schweinsteiger, he should drop back to CB partner with Douglass/ Maduro/ Vlaar? Kuyt showed again he was only good when others play brilliantly, he can not make the play or create anything. The only place for him maybe as backup RB for Wiel as Boula is also useless. Sneijder is out of form, his shootings and passings are average and lack of motivation, BVM should replace with Wijnaldum earlier. Wiel played well, babel has some good individual actions but he doesn’t click with others, I don’t think he is improving from his liverpol’s form. I’ll take Elia ahead of him. Beeren had some good runs and crosses but it was too late.

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By jake | November 15th, 2011 at 7:50 pm

Stek looked bad after the incident, he’s lost his reaction, miliseconds but made a difference, old Stek would have saved one or two of the goals. the second goal he didnt’ even react to make a save. I don’t know maybe we need to gamble with Krul from now on.

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By Robert | November 15th, 2011 at 8:00 pm

Maybe changing the formation to a 4-3-3 would get the offensive juices flowing. As barca has taught us, ball possession is the ultimate defense.

By jake | November 15th, 2011 at 8:08 pm

Germany will be stronger in Euro12 when Schweinsteiger & lahm are back, I think they’re capable to beat Spain this time. Hopefully we can get Douglass and our attacking force in time.

Wiel/Kuyt – Bommel/Vlaar/Heitinga – Douglass/Maduro – Pieters/Bruma/Aanholt

Dejong/Strootman – Sneijder/Schaars

Robben/Wijnaldum – vVaart – Affelay/Elia

vPersie/Huntelaar/van Wolfswinkel

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By Keko | November 15th, 2011 at 8:38 pm

Braafheid is the worst player that I’ve seen wearing an oranje jersey…

By Ahmer | November 15th, 2011 at 9:26 pm

Stekelenburg1
VdW2 – Douglas3 – Pieters4 – v.Aaholt5
Leroy Fer6 – Strootman8
Sneijder10
Robben11 – Huntelaar9 – Wijnaldum7

GK: Krul, Vorm
DF: Heitinga, Bruma, Nuytinck
MF: VdV, Afellay, Schaars, De Jong
FW: v. Persie, L. De Jong, Elia

Pieters has been one of the best additions to Oranje since the WC final. In the last year he has saved so many balls off the goal-line held down the left side and pushed forward brilliantly. His size and skill make him a good Center Back. This move can be made depending on how well van Aanholt can develope. He’s looked good for Wigan this year.

Time for Kuyt, Mathijsen and v.Bommel to move aside. Love these guys but they just don’t offer much to the side. Babel/Braafheid have always been useless that is why they haven’t been able to stick to a club and get a starting spot.

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By Petrovic | November 16th, 2011 at 5:38 am

I agree with most of you that Van Bommel or Heitinga should be used with Douglas in defence. And Van Marwijk should start to train that way from now on.

By Henny | December 7th, 2011 at 2:55 pm

I cannot tell a lie, that raelly helped.

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