Rafael van der Vaart, Dutch Master

guess deJong had a last warning after the WC final

but i really dont think that this tackle was that bad….

Posted from  Netherlands

@faraz: why is that “awesome news” ?

Posted from  Netherlands

Really fun to see Raf play regularly. The only reason i started watching Real Madrid, was to see him and the other oranje lads play. I am still shocked another big club didn’t snatch him up. Bayern, Arsenal, Man U… they could have all used him.

Also, I saw the de Jong tackle, it was weird because no one reacted, not the ref, or players. Also, it was officially the third broken leg I have watched. Eduardo, Ramsey, now ben Arfa. A sad statistic.
But, really, I do think any manager would have been happy with the way he plays, you know, send out a message early, give the fancy players a couple of kicks.
A quote from everyone’s favorite book.
” Arie Haan recalls: ‘Before the game, we drew up a list of our players who would hit him with hard tackles early on….After four tackles, he didn’t want the ball any more. He didn’t give us any problems.”

So, Nigel was doing what Man City wants him to. I think it was unlucky, perhaps wild. But certainly no worse than Shawcrosses tackle on Ramsey.

@vd Berg are you not using one cynical butcher argument, arie haan, to justify another butchers´ uncontrolled actions..?
Football is meant as a physical but fair game and de Jong has lost the meaning of playing football… becos of players like him the game is becoming ugly to watch.
My congrats to Bert v marwijk….
De JOng is also not very popular with most ajax fans I know in holland. He played just long enough for Ajax 1 to get a nice transfer and once he was offered one he did not know how he could get the hell out of amsterdam fast as possible, just like vd Vaart en sneijder. They use ajax to make themselves known and get a big transfer.
Rijkaart, Bergkamp van Basten first won prices for Ajax and then they went but de Jong gave AJAX nothing.
He is not remembered fondly and has never gottten any real status for Ajax.

good news, besides rafa has to play with the form his in

Posted from  Australia

At first, I was disappointed with the decision of dropping De Jong, especially looking at the quality of the replacements– but in retrospect, this is actually a decision I strongly support.

First and foremost, De Jong clearly is not at right state of mind. With the media pounding on him hard, he is a very disturbed man, his confidence is at all time low. His game will likely be affected, and it can go easily spiraling down from here. By not selecting De Jong, Van Marwijk and KNVB is protecting his well-being. This is unlike the English FA, who incidently picked up Shawcross a few days after his leg breaking challenge to Ramsey. It clearly sent the wrong message to players and media.

Second, this decision shows who’s in charge. De Jong already received an earful of criticism from the coaching criticsm when he went hard on Holden in a meaningfulness friendly game against the USA. Then, of course, the kung-fu kick to Xabi didn’t help the matter. In essence, De Jong is overdue to disciplinary action, and he gets it now.

Finally (and probably the most important), this gives De Jong a food for thought. He simply needs to use his brain, and not just his body when playing. De Jong is a tough lad, mentally speaking. I have no doubt he will bounce back from this, and becoming stronger than ever. He’s only 26, and entering his prime time. Certainly change is part of the maturity process.

Posted from  United States

And as a bonus, Van Marwijk now has no reason to play 2 defensive-minded midfielders. Whoever comes in along side Van Bommel, Afellay or Vaart, will be a huge upgrade, offensively speaking.

Posted from  United States

de Jong is a very talented player, with an occasional failing: When instructed to execute a message, he sometimes takes it a bit far.

Holland will live forever with the memory of a flying karate kick — about which the rest of the world will not hesitate to remind them — since just about everyone in the world saw it. The names de Jong and the Netherlands are inextricably linked to soccer violence.

Bert had no choice, as I see it.

His son-in-law has developed an elegant understanding of hard play. Nigel will, too, I hope… but this step was an important signal to the world that Holland is all about beautiful football, and always will be.

I’m fine with it, personally. No matter how talented any individual player is, the team, the culture, the art and wisdom of the game…. that’s the winner.

Posted from  United States

VdV plays great in club level but can that be translated to NT? There are certain players who fail to deliver in the NT team, like Seedorf for example. It seems we have an abundance of middle park players, but lacking in the back.
I personally like de Jong and I hope he’ll be back soon.

@ Spanish bloggers from the previous blog. I didn’t get a chance to debate with them there.
It’s funny how they have converted to beautiful football lovers. These are the suporters of a team well known for rough challenge defenders, bruisers, leg breakers. Did they forget already the Camachos, Chendos, Sanches’, Goikotxheas?
This is like the saying: being more catholic than the Pope.
Give me a break!
By the way the defender with the most fouls in the WC was…. guess… a spaniard….Ramos

Posted from  United States

i really appreciate bert,kudos, he did well,de jong with his mentality he has no place in oranje squad (2 broken legs in 6 months like the “famous” goicoechea 20 something years ago). i hope he will learn from it and correct his game

Posted from  Hungary

yes vdv reminds me clarence seedorf. i’m happy for him,he’s a great player with fantastic vision. even when he played at real madrid i liked him enjoyed to watch him. now,in the epl i support tottenham

Posted from  Hungary

Jan: one more time the edit button would be great…

Posted from  Hungary

@ Adrian.
Certainly am not justifying anyone’s actions. Just pointing out that the club wants a “hard man” to do their dirty work. In the dressing room, Mancini and Brian Kidd are no doubt telling him to get stuck in.

I think De Jong, need to someone to tell him stop. and it came from BVM since the referee are not booking him.

it will be a wake up call for him. and again he will play in the dutch team.

The media in Holland put pressure on De Jong. One influential analist analysed De Jong’s tackles and claims it’s never on purpose but more clumsy ( like the Xabi hit on the chest). It’s true. This last leg he broke, he didnt hit him studs up but injured the bloke with his sliding leg. He’s simply clumsy.

I do believe that Van Marwijk decided to drop De Jong after talking to him. He told the other players “I don’t have another option”. Maybe De Jong is taciturn about it. He did say – apparently -that Mancini didn’t take him off so why would Van Marwijk be annoyed, or something like that….

Posted from  France

Good on Bert van Marwijk for dropping the talentless thug Nigel De Jong. But of course accoriding to Manchester City he’s “not that type of player”.

Just how many legs does he need to snap in two (or three in this case) in a year before he can be classed as “that type of player”?

Posted from  United Kingdom

*I remember Bert talking about this issue even BEFORE the WC started particularly about De Jong therefore I think he was right about dropping Nigel.

*About VdV: of course I love the way he plays BUT I think he is not a leader. Sneijder did well in Madrid although he was hit by injuries and now with Inter he is the brain and leader just as he has always been in the national team but I can’t say the same about VdV because he hasn’t done too much with the national team even when he has played so many times and tournaments but maybe at Tottenham he gains the confidence he has lost and shows his very best…that’s my wish because he has so much talent.

@Eric, don’t think all of the criticism is doing much for De Jong…not positive or negative….he clearly doesn’t give a crap what the media thinks.

Posted from  Netherlands

@alex: De Jong drew a lot of criticism when he first played as a defensive midfielder with HSV. He was deemed not good enough because he didn’t have the discipline and mentality to defense. He was at that time playing at the right side of midfielder and defense for Ajax. Lo and behold, the rests are history, De Jong excelled to become a combative holding midfielder. I didn’t see any reason why De Jong can’t change. If Van Bommel could clean up his act, then everybody else has a chance …

Posted from  United States

After vdv’s impressive form And de jong being dropped, I really hope Bert changes to a 4-1-3-2 formation with vdv playing behind huntelaar. We already know who the other players will be. What do you guys think about the formation?

Posted from  United States

My hopes:

Stekel
Wiel Heitinga Vlaar Pieters/Urby
Van Bommel Afellay
Kuyt Vaart Sneijder
Huntelaar

Posted from  France

41311, Van Bommel sitting deep in his own half to protect the back four, Sneijder running the show from midfield, Afellay and Kuyt hugging the lines, and Vaart marginally behind Huntelaar upfront.

Posted from  United States

Trivia question, as reckless as he is, how many times has De Jong received a straight red in his professional career (since 2002)?

Answer: As many as you and I have received it, i.e. zero! Mind boggling, isn’t it? His only red card (2x yellow) was when he was in HSV, back in 2005. This guy is clearly a master of his own domain ..

Posted from  United States

De Jong started to make as many fouls since he went to PL. His number of fouls and cards doubled when he moved to Man City…clearly he’s not finding the balance in PL. Can’t remember him making these kinds of sloppy, and stupid tackles when he was at HSV…

Posted from  Netherlands

De Jong deserved it less than another thief Mark Van Bommel everyone still remembers his silly stamp when Giovanni scored that beauty in semi finals of WC Netherlands should get rid of him first,and more importantly this decision has paved the way for hugely under utilized VDV