Oranje analysis: Defense

October 26th, 2011 | by: Jan |

wiel

Oranje’s defense has been a concern for quite some time. For years, every team manager puzzled and experimented. Van Gaal had to put Reiziger on the left, we had issues on the right full back and left full back spots and I remember Jaap Stam even being criticized.

Fact of the matter is: our midfielder and forwards play with the world elite. Our defenders are sub-top. They tend to want to football themselves out of situations and seem to lack the over-my-dead-body mentality.

But, our defense is alo underrated. The Dutch last line of defense has had a very consistent number of years, with a lot of wonderful records to show for. And face it: as a Dutch defender, they judge you on your defensive skills and your ability to hit a ball.

ORanje wants to dominate Barca-style and therefore our defenders need to keep the ball pace high and pass with precision and speed but also be alert on that quick counter.

The AD selected the following defenders for their analysis: Khalid Boulahrouz (VfB Stuttgart), Wilfred Bouma (PSV), Edson Braafheid (Hoffenheim), Jeffrey Bruma (Hamburger SV), Joris Mathijsen (Malaga), Erik Pieters (PSV), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax), John Heitinga (Everton), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord), Vurnon Anita (Ajax), Douglas (FC Twente), Peter Wisgerhof (FC Twente) and Dirk Marcellis (AZ).

heit

In all honesty, Van Marwijk doesn’t need a lot of time to determine who will play in the back line of Oranje. The Dutch national team only has four worthy players: Pieters, Mathijsen, Heitinga and Van der Wiel. The others are either not good enough or need to demonstrate their value over a longer period of time.

Rightback
Van der Wiel is still the best right back we have. In football technical terms, he’s a fine player who’s capable of working the whole channel. He’s got a decent cross and doesn’t freak out in the box, capable of scoring a goal. But, the youngster is going through troubled times at Ajax. He seems uninspired at times (Zagreb, Feyenoord). No opponent can be judged as “easy”. Van der Wiel can only be beaten by Van der Wiel himself…

Khalid Boulrahrouz is his logical replacement. The Cannibal is back in good form. He’s fit and he plays regularly for Stuttgart, under his new coach. Boula is ready to rumble.

Dirk Marcellis is simply not good enough, according to the AD ( and me). He is still not the Marcellis we saw make his debut at PSC. He played his best games as central defender. Marcellis is a great header but too slow for a full back spot.

Centrally
The right of the center is for John Heitinga. The Everton player has grown mentally and physically. He’s got a good long pass and is a good header of the ball. He is prone to the typical Heitinga mistake in every game, but there is no better alternative.

The 31 year old Mathijsen always cops a lot of flak, but he’s very consistent and always focused. Hardly ever injured and good in biting himself into an opponent. The former Willem II and AZ defender has made himself unmissable at Malaga as well. The criticism he gets is mostly aimed at his lack of charisma or personality. He’s a bit shy and his posture is a bit weak.

mathijsen

Jeffrey Bruma and joker Douglas are the potential replacements for these positions. Bruma is still very young and merely a prospect. Bruma had a tough game against Sweden. He’ll need to grow into a man first and the Chelsea player can do so in Hamburg.

Twente defender Douglas could be the surprise of the EC. He graduated for his citizen ship course ( to become a Dutch citizen) and the minister of the Interior determined that the Brazilian defender can become a Dutch citizen. If Queen Beatrix signs on the dotted line the Dutch Federation can ask for dispensation at the FIFA so he can play in the coming Summer. Without that, he can play for Oranje after September 2012.

So if FIFA offers the dispensation, Van Marwijk will have a tall, strong defender in his potential squad. In defensive terms, Douglas is better than Heitinga and Mathijsen but in the build up, Douglas is still a tad weak. The Brazilian needs to learn to control his emotions and could be a very usable stand in. Much better than Bruma.

Wisgerhof ( 31), Ron Vlaar ( 26) and Wilfred Bouma ( 33) are simply not good enough. Wisgerhof and Vlaar didn’t manage to impress the coach. Wisgerhof is slow, does have a wonderful long ball but doesn’t have that extra that Oranje requires. Vlaar is slow as well, but does bring a very lethal left foot to the game. Still, his weak defending against Ajax this weekend doesn’t bode well for the former AZ player. Bouma thanked kindly when invited for the Brazil tour as he felt he wasn’t ready yet. Bouma plays ok for PSV, but not sensational.

Left back
Erik Pieters has made his break through this season. The transfer to Newcastle never happened and the 23 year old was able to focus on his development in a trusted environment. Pieters plays like a diesel truck. Reliable and strong. Pieters is not the strongest defender and uses his offensive power to mask this and to keep his direct opponent at bay. Pieters is injured now but will return after the winter break.

Pieters

Edson Braafheid ( 28) plays his football at Hoffenheim and played all game so far. He kept Arjen Robben quiet when playing Bayern and might be on his way to his best season ever.

Ajax player Vurnon Anita is an allrounder. He can play left back, right back and holding midfielder and is used as stop gap by Frank de Boer. The 23 year old is a smart player and highly skilled but not a ruthless defender. Pieters clearly is better developed than Anita at this point in time.

It appears that Bert van Marwijk will -again – take seven defenders to the tournament. We believe it will be Van der Wiel, Heitinga, Mathijsen, Pieters, Boulahrouz, Douglas and Braafheid. Boulah and Braafheid can play central defender as well.

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 111 comments.

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By Sol | October 29th, 2011 at 9:42 am

Krul’s stats impress me the most, keep in mind he’s playing in a team that had the following results in recent years (rank/pos. at end of year):

2006-2007 > 13
2007-2008 > 12
2008-2009 > relegated
2009-2010 > not in Prem.League
2010-2011 > 12

If they can get any points from next match they move up to 3rd this year after 10 matches, that’s quite an amazing turnaround for such a small team. The stats don’t lie what the reason for so much points is (it’s not like they’re winning matches with 3 goals difference).

I can’t stress enough how eye-catching these Newcastle results/stats are to me concerning Krul. They really tell the whole story which is a little surprising (cause people always say that stats never tell the whole story, but in this case, they perfectly demonstrate what’s going on there, funny).

Posted from Netherlands

By primo | October 29th, 2011 at 9:53 am

Next month we will see Krul against United and City.

By Sol | October 29th, 2011 at 10:06 am

That’s why I’m saying Krul should be nr.1 in Oranje, and why I’m sad that with Bert v. Marwijk it won’t happen.

If he can be THAT important to Newcastle in the toughest league in the world (highest paid players, some of the best goalscorers in the world), he can be THAT important for Oranje.

Stekel still has to prove he can make that kind of an impact on AS Roma (a lesser league with sometimes still better defences, less efficient goalscorers because of that, or should I just say less goals overall, dunno really, just estimating).

Posted from Netherlands

By primo | October 29th, 2011 at 10:11 am

I think we can say that Stekelenburg made a bad decision going to AS Roma. Serie A is a dying league and AS Roma is playing like shit. He could have done so much better. In 2 seasons (assuming he keeps it up) Krul will surpass him I think.

By Susanne | October 29th, 2011 at 10:13 am

Elsewhere, Huntelaar also keeps on scoring

Posted from Netherlands

By OranjeRules | October 29th, 2011 at 10:48 am

RVP

By hien | October 29th, 2011 at 11:18 am

BVM is not going to change much for Euro12.
RVP had a hat-trick. RVP plays striker for Arsenal but Arsenal does not play like Oranje does. I think Huntelaar is better off in the central striker for Oranje. Starting RVP on the right wing. If Hunter does not play well, sub him with Kuyt, Robben, Elia then switch RVP to the central.

Posted from Canada

By Srinjoy | October 29th, 2011 at 11:27 am

van persie sensational…huntelaar goal machine..who to choose? haha

Posted from Bosnia And Herzegovina

By Finnster01 | October 29th, 2011 at 11:59 am

Even I have to take my hat off for RVP today. Outstanding performance!!

De Jong though hardly gets to play anymore and Heitinga is getting in the same predicament it seems like. Concerning.

By Demi | October 29th, 2011 at 1:25 pm

Hien, I totally agree. But I also think Hunter has grown up so this should be a rare occasion …

Posted from United States

By eric | October 29th, 2011 at 2:00 pm

LOL. Strange goal by Douglas, after a rather clumsy challenge by Toivonen. Labyad hit back a few seconds later with a weird mis-kick. Awesome match so far!

By faraz | October 29th, 2011 at 3:03 pm

any link for psv-twente?

Posted from United States

By eric | October 29th, 2011 at 3:11 pm

I am watching it through SopCast, MM4 channel.

By Jeff | October 29th, 2011 at 3:48 pm

I am very impressed by Ola John, Jetro Willems the left back for PSV, Wijnaldum and Douglas. Those 4 are all national team material.

By Srinjoy | October 29th, 2011 at 3:50 pm

i knew that horrific lucio clash will break stekelenburg’s career and it has just like cech’s the era of Tim Krul is upon us already!

Posted from Bosnia And Herzegovina

By eric | October 29th, 2011 at 4:01 pm

Twente-PSV 2-2
Arguably, the best match of this season’s Eredivisie thus far!! What a cracker, end-to-end action, high octane match. A few notes:

Douglas is MASSIVE. How in the world some still doubt him and oppose the idea of him in Oranje shirt? He is the best central defender in the league, bar none. Strong in the air, clean tackling and excellent composure. Made a couple of crucial interventions. And to those who said his build-up is weak, watch this game!! Most Twente moves started from his feet, especially in the second half, when Twente played with 3 men in the back. At one point, he dribbled the ball forward, bulldozed everybody who’s on his way. Great move! This is the kind of defender Oranje needs, somebody who’s comfortable on the ball and knows how to initiate attack. Also, good to see him on the score sheet, although Strange goal by him, I must say.

The future is BRIGHT for Ola John, I am more and more convinced every week. Played with confidence, and outstanding cross that set up Fer’s goal.

Chadli was excellent, as well. The rest of Twente was mediocre. I expected a lot from L. De Jong and Bajrami in match of this caliber. Luuk was always dangerous, but could have done much better with the chances that he had.

From PSV perspective, I’d say Wijnaldum played a good match. Speed and agility are his thing. He OWNED Wout Brama all night long. He needs to find his finishing touches, though. It’s frustrating to see him in shooting to the sky.

I think over time we will come to realization that Labyad is an unfortunate LOST to Oranje. He starts to blossom and before long we won’t hear the name of Lens in PSV anymore. Great future in front of him.

17 y.o. Jetro Willems was FUN to watch. High-flying, attacking-minded left back with plenty of speed to burn. Similar style to Greg v.d Wiel. He needs to tighten up the defense, needless to say.

By eric | October 29th, 2011 at 4:06 pm

Oh, btw, a very weird decision on Strootman’s red card. It was a hard tackle, no doubt. But I thought a yellow would have done justice. I think the referee must have got annoyed that Strootman yelled at his face (and spit some fluid from his mouth) right after the whistle was blown. Well, something for Strootman to learn, leave the crime scene and calm down… no need to over-react.

By Petrovic | October 29th, 2011 at 4:36 pm

I couldnt watch Ajax today,but I saw Lukoki scored.
So how was he besides that goal?

By Big Mark | October 29th, 2011 at 5:33 pm

“17 y.o. Jetro Willems was FUN to watch. High-flying, attacking-minded left back with plenty of speed to burn. Similar style to Greg v.d Wiel. He needs to tighten up the defense, needless to say.”-eric

Speaking of van der Wiel…where was he?

By Jeff | October 29th, 2011 at 11:02 pm

Eric, what game were you watching? Both Ajax-PSV and Ajax-Twente were much better. The second half was a snoozer.

By Jeff | October 29th, 2011 at 11:05 pm

Eric, other than that I totally agree with your analysis of the players although I am not as keen on Labyad as you are. But John, Strootman, Douglas and Willems are the real deal. I also agree with Willems looking like a young version of VD Wiel. I was in the Arena when VDWiel played his first match for Ajax. I remember coming out extremely impressed. Willems is that good I think.

By Jalepinho | October 29th, 2011 at 11:20 pm

Saw Ajax game. Very cool to see them play 3-4-3. Oijer starting,vdweil on the bench, janssen running back to defend out wide, and less balls playing back to the gk and quicker buildups. I also noticed they were unimaginative at times sending balls to the first available option with as long crosses into the box.

Posted from Hong Kong

By eric | October 30th, 2011 at 7:55 am

@jeff– I thought the second half was fun to watch, the two teams were surely going after the win. PSV-Ajax was a great game as well. I am not sure Twente-Ajax could be put in the same category. In my recollection, Twente was severely depleted at that time with Chadli, Janko, Bajrami, and a few others missing. They were in the back heel for the rest of the match, and got lucky to find the equalizer with De Jong’s header.

Re: Labyad, I’ve watched him playing three times in the past 2-3 weeks him since he took over the starting lineup from Lens. I am quite impressed with what I’ve seen so far, he contributes much more than Lens could ever do. I think he has a very high ceiling, but like for any other youngsters, the real question are his mentality and attitude. From what I’ve read, PSV is being extremely careful bringing him to the surface, as he’s seen as the biggest talent of his generation.

By Alex | October 30th, 2011 at 2:58 pm

@ eric, on labyad. biggest talent of his generation, meaning, within PSV. He is not the biggest talent of his age group in the netherlands.

Posted from Netherlands

By Tess | December 7th, 2011 at 9:29 am

Yeah that’s what I’m tlainkg about baby–nice work!

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