Dutch players at home and abroad worthy to be tracked in connection with the Dutch NT - Part 2

yeah, the whole thing where being left footed is the #1 requirement to play LB is dumb. If you aren't good at defending, then being left footed isn't going to make you better at defending the left side than someone who's right footed but can defend.
Besides, Anita's right footed, yet the only complaint people have about him playing LB is that it means he's not playing in the midfield. Lahm's right footed as well.
I'll take a good rightfooted player on the left over a bad left footed one any day

 

Don't get all innocent on us here. First there's the Bayern team doctor accusing the Dutch medical team of all sorts without even having seen medical evidence and afterwards admitting they didn't get world cup insurance for Robben, then there's Robben's team mates disrespecting him pretty much all season, then the likes of Beckenbauer saying will the Dutch ever learn after Robben misses a penalty. But the Dutch are to blame here for getting pissed off at Bayern for how they're treating Robben, arguably their best player? Do me a favour.

I would personally never argue that Robben is likeable in general, or that he's a team player. But Bayern knew all of that when they signed him for a shedload of money so what are they boohooing about now. Robben always was a winger in the Dutch mould, did Bayern seriously believe they could turn him into a German player, of the he works hard for the team but he's totally lacking in personality type? Also given the historical rivalry between the two countries it is downright irresponsible for people affiliated with Bayern to be stirring up things again. The Dutch have gone to great lengths to normalise the situation between the two sets of fans. And that's including the Dutch media who have let no opportunity go by to big up the current generation of German footballers. The Germans have acted in total contrast.

 

On the basis of what Beckenbauer said. Quite literally.

 

i know of no evidence that Robben's teammates have disrepected him all season. What evidence do you have?

 

I'm sorry but you'd have to be blind to not see it. Muller not or hardly thanking him for assists, no-one standing up for him after what's his name got in face after he missed the penalty, plenty of examples. There's clearly very little love for him in that team esp from Lahm and Ribery. All fine with me but it's clear Robben will be leaving Bayern at the first opportunity. And then Bayern fans can join the ranks of Chelsea and Real Madrid fans, hating him when he was playing for their club and all wondering why their management ever let him go after he left.

 

so its all in your head.

 

So that means you will be proven wrong if he extends his contract in a couple of weeks?

Btw, Robben's only assist for Müller's goal this season:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8l3vD1c1nc"]Thomas Müller Goal vs Basel (Home) 2-0 Goal Thomas Müller HD 720p - YouTube[/ame]

And I think I finally found out Müller's problem - he is Dutch:

"I hate it when team-mates constantly raise their hands and complain," said Robben, after the match, explaining why he lost his cool with Muller. "It is disrespectful. We are a team. We don't need to do that. We have got to be role models and should not make such gesticulations."

Bayern coach Louis van Gaal quickly downplayed the spat after the match, preferring to concentrate on Bayern's win, which elevated the Bavarians to third place on the Bundesliga log.

"It is normal in Holland that we complain with one another and say what we need to, but it is another culture in Germany," van Gaal said.

 

Clasie and Anita were schooled as attackers, and that is how it should be. Strootman is a perfect example of the recent 'Germanification' of Dutch football in the last decade. Strootman was schooled as defender, as a reactive player with some field-coverage. Anita and Clasie are schooled in a classic pro-active fashion.

The trend is to think more defensively but at the same time the defending is poorer than ever. Why? Because the Dutch teams forgot their roots. Defending in a man against man sense was never a big forte of Holland but controlling space was.

Clasie is the old-fashioned exception. He was schooled as a number 10 and has an awareness for time and space. And still, he was almost dropped out of the Feyenoord academy because "he wasn't strong enough."

The old pro-active football spirit is dying out.

Clasie is compared with Xavi; it doesn't surprise me. Xavi has grown up, more than Messi, with the quasi-Dutch football philosophy.

 

I agree with the point that you don't see any new Sneijders or Robbens around. However, i believe we have a very strong group of young kids coming up. I'm not going to lie, i'd rather have a team full of good players then a team with 1 or 2 great, a few good, and a few average. The youth coming up right now has a lot of potential.

I know the Germans on right now won't like this comparison, but i believe our youth has the potential to be on the same calibre as Germany. If you really look at it, Germany has a lot of very good players. However, I don't consider any of them to be on the same level (maybe Ozil) as Sneijder and Robben.

 

I see De Jong and Dost also as products of the 'wrong' corrupted philosophy. De Jong is a type of striker Germany used to produce at an insane rate; in the past that is.

Maher is good but you have to remember that Verbeek constantly praises his ability to walk and run, with relatively little wear and tear. Don't get me wrong: he is technically excellent but he also seems a product/selection of the 'wrong' philosophy.

Clasie is a great exception but as said; he was almost dropped out too with as reason "not strong enough" and "can't run enough". It didn't happen, luckily.



It matters a lot where your philosophy starts: does it start with an emphasis on technique and is the rest a 'bonus' (cf. Ruud Gullit who was a physical beast but had also decent technique). Or does it start with an emphasis on running and strength, with technique as a 'bonus'?

Ajax reaching the final of the 'next gen' doesn't say a lot to me; their key players in that squad were foreigners. Fisscher is a foreigner, to start with. A bought foreigner, not an internally raised product.

But above all: the poor defending in the league can be diminished if they go back to their roots. Is Barcelona defensively strong in a one-on-one sense? No, but they are good in controlling time and space. That used to be a primary strength of Dutch football. Man-marking never was because the Dutch generally don't have the focus, concentration and discipline for this. Dutch have the natural tendency to do a bit more than just running and marking.

But this loosening of the 'classic' philosophy is imo also related to the dark and gloomy zeitgeist of the past 10 years. This zeitgeist favors a reactive reformation above a proactive attitude.

Mario Götze is very good.... and actually a product of the 'Dutchified' renewed German youth academies. If you listen carefully to the ones who renewed the German education system (it is more advanced than ours), you hear they were influenced by 'old' Dutch practices.

 

Couldn't agree more Puck.

 

In my assessment, it comes down to what approach Van Marwijk will take against any particular team. Against Germany and Portugal, I can almost guarantee he will field a very defensive-oriented backs to limit opponent's wingers. I think Schaars probably fits the bill closer than the other alternatives. I know he didn't have a great game last time in Oranje shirt as LB, but it was his first experiment in that role. I'd be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. More practices needed to adapt and develop the understanding. While he doesn't have the jaw-dropping speed, Schaars always strikes me as a guy who is very discipline and good in positioning. And of course, his experience and leadership can be a big boost in otherwise shaky back-four.

Against Denmark (first match of the group) is a must win for Oranje. I think Van Marwijk should gamble and field an attacking line-up. That said, Urby is the man for the LB job. The defense will suffer, no doubt. But if the team can dominate the possession, the defense should hold up just fine. Besides, Urby with his quickness can defend the counter-attack better than anyone else.

Anita to me is a utility player in the team... jack of all trades, master of none. He can defend, he can attack, but he does it in mediocrity. Which is not a bad thing necessarily. In fact, I'd be glad to see him in the final 23 as a back-up. I just don't think he adds a real meaningful value in the LB position.

Van Rhijn is an interesting option. I know he has a good 2-3 months stretch since v.d Wiel was injured, but to have him starting in Oranje (in a position that he may not be comfortable with, I should add) is a bit scary to me. He will be subject to crucifixion when mistakes are committed, which may be detrimental to his seemingly fine career ahead of him. Well, at the very minimal, maybe he should be tested at LB with Ajax.... just for grins and giggles.

 

Anita is like the Dutch Busquets. Good passer, high handling speed, good vision, intelligent, good spacial awareness, responsible personality, no ego, no fear. Perfect central defending midfielder.

 

Anita's development might be the single most determining factor on how successful Oranje and Ajax become in the next decade.

 

FYP. He is VERY good as a defensive midfielder, so you can't say that he's a master of none.

 

The DM position has always been important. But it's just a matter of trend whether coaches implement it. If it wasn't for Barça, everybody would still be playing 4-2-3-1.

 

10 years ago, everyone wanted to play with a Makelele-like destroyer - some teams preferably even with two Makelele types.

Why has this changed?