You make a point here. Strootman is not flop material. The fact that he was designated penalty taker within weeks at Roma is another small sign of this. Other players accepting him. He also plans his own career pretty smart. Sparta-Utrecht-PSV-Roma. Step for step he increases the demands of the environment. This is where van Ginkel disappointed me. Looked as a very balanced individual, but went to Chelsea. I bet that the extreme demands made him wanting to prove too much and eventually resulted in an injury like he had. Can't prove it, but instability in the head can lead to instability of the body and make it more likely that such a thing happens. I sense it increases the chance. I think Strootman will choose his next step wisely as well. That being all said, I am not a Strootman fan. I think he is a tractor and with the traits he carries does not allow us to play like a Japan for example plays. Japan plays the football I want Netherlands to play. Then again, with that game against Colombia 10 vs 11 for 60 minutes and Fer then also in the team, is where these kind of players excel. Grit, standing their ground. It has it's own kind of attraction at times that I can enjoy, but overall it's not the direction I have in mind that Netherlands should take.
The Italian league is just very poor. Juventus are top of the table yet they couldn't prevail in their CL group (mind you I'm a Juve fan and have watched lots of their matches this season; they play the most interesting football in the league and try to rely on an up tempo game), the rest of the teams are just average at best and the play is just too slow. I don't think that anyone can make a fair judgement about Strootman given this. I've never been a fan of his play and think that he gives up at points in matches. Maybe he figures out how to get better on his own, he's certainly not going to face high level competition in Serie A.
Yup!! I thought for sure he was gonna do a Dutch choke-job on that PK, but he didnt. He slotted it home nicely. Not easy to do under all that pressure at the San Siro
While I agree Serie A is slow as a turtle, I disagree that a player like Strootman needs speed to be successfull at the world cup. If he is played right as a defensive midfielder, he only needs to be quick as a box-to-box midfielder. Same way as how vBommel was played in 2010
So you're saying that he got injured because he couldn't handle the pressure of going to Chelsea? Couldn't it be that he just got injured because of this? Bad luck.
In 2010 the NT played the popular (at the time) 4-2-3-1 with both de Jong and van Bommel in the lineup at the same time. van Gaal is not likely to do this and will play a more normal 4-3-3 with only one holding midfielder. Based on "current" form Nigel de Jong is my choice for the folding position and if Sneijder is healthy and in form he will certainly be the second midfielder. The choice of the third midfielder is what Strootman and others will be competing for.
I don't feel that my point is represented well with the sentence in bold. We can agree it was bad luck to some extend. That claim is not contested by me. My point was about if that bad luck was pushed by the circumstances he was in. How did that bad luck come about and could the bad luck be helped a hand? Could it be badly influenced by demands placed on him that he was not ready for? Have you ever experienced that when you are extremely nervous about something, that your coordination is less composed? Your hand bumps to something, while normally that would never happen? Could a jump in quality and demands not lead to a certain fatigue or uncertainty in the muscles that would normally hold a body correction he was busy excecuting? A small detail, but I also noticed him kicking a ball high in the air and far away in a 5 minutes cameo some games before this happened. He could easily control it and play his regular football. It was out of character for van Ginkel. I saw a guy full of confidence after the Euro U21 in Israel, have a good pre season at Chelsea and slowly I saw more insecurity with him. Stupid little sub appearances in the the final minutes. Being played as a DLP while he is a box to box player. Maybe he did have the freedom to roam a bit, but Ramires and Lampard used every opportunity to use their freedom and commit him to stay back. He had to prove himself too much at Chelsea and in a way that did not suit him. This lead to instability in the head (IMO), which lead to less optimal coordination. Look at how weird that injury came about. I added in my comment that I can not prove it. These things are not really quantifiable. You can make a case that it is pure bad luck and would have happened also had he stayed at Vitesse. I feel differently about it and think bad luck was helped a hand by a sudden increase in demands and playing for a club where also the rhythm with which he was used to play changed (full 90 minutes every game, every month, even a few years in a row since van der Brom to rotation and short sub appearances).
A good read: http://afootballreport.com/post/72079101700/reinvented-by-de-boer-ajaxs-daley-blind Will LVG fly Blind in Brazil or navigate every opponent with him in the back 4? Nigel has been a sturdy member of the 'Flying Dutchmen' ... players like him are an anachronism in modern football though ... against Australia I'd expect that LVG is willing to take more risks and move full steam ahead without a 'windshield wiper'.
Doubtful. I don't think Van Gaal will rely on a very high possession game which is where Blind excels. There is also an extreme shortage of half decent left backs so I guess Blind will be in defense. The article attributes the move of Blind to midfield on De Boer's supposed admiration for Busquets. I find this pretty ironic considering De Boer's frustrating blindness (no pun intended) for the DM position, in which he time and again fielded unsuitable players like Janssen, Poulsen and Enoh, while only moving up Blind and Anita as a result of injuries.
LOL, it seems everyone has very short memories about things. Enoh was brought into the squad by van Basten(he is the only van Basten player left on the roster); he had a very fine first season but really did not progress much afterwards. FdB rarely used him. Anita was destined to be the controlling midfielder and the only reason he was moved all around the place was because of gaps at both fullback positions. Correct me if I'm wrong, but FdB only managed Anita for 1/2 season. van der Wiel thought he was the second coming of Maicon after the WC in 2010 and that every club in the world would be after him. Left fullback was quite unsettled and Dico Koppers had the first shot at it and didn't perform. Blind was pretty bad when he was slotted in and then Boilesen came into the lineup and really did a good job. None of us really know why Anita decided to leave the club for the wonderful club in Newcastle after FdB had finally decided to move him to where he should play. So Poulsen was brought in to fill a particular hole in the roster. On the whole he has performed quite well given his age. He's made some very fine defensive plays and realizes that he's only here for the short run. Blind would have been moved into this position a lot sooner had Boilesen not been injured last season and of course had a break out season as a left back. I think you can blame FdB for lots of things but not this.
Janssen was specifically brought in for the DM position which tells us that De Boer did not look for a Busquets type player at all. This was also after Anita had a good run of games on DM at the end of the 2010-2011 championship season. It wasn't until the United matches in the EL when Aissati was played there that De Boer seemed to realize the value of quick, short passing players on DM for the passing game, which was followed by experiments with Schone before Anita was moved. I understand the value of Poulsen's experience and that he was a stop gap measure after Anita's departure, but now a real defensive midfielder was brought in (when the team already had Enoh on the bench) and not a ball distributor. This pretty much suggests a manager slowly coming to grips with the demands of a key position, rather than some preconceived master plan.
@Antario2 - do you really think Enoh is a better ball distributor than Poulsen? Enoh is just too reckless of a player and picks up sill fouls. We'll never know what might have happened had Anita stayed with the club regarding Janssen (who was truly a very bad player for Ajax IMO) as he signed with Newcastle and was gone from the club. We now have Blind at the position for which we should be pleased.
@Orange14I think Poulsen has a better distribution than Enoh but both are primarily defensive players for whom ability on the ball is a secondary concern. Somehow the need for a player with good distribution was not anticipated in transfer dealings. There have been very long discussions on this topic on the Ajax forums. The eventual move of Blind to DM was predicted well before this season even started. For some reason, the role of DM in built up play is not very appreciated. Players like Clasie, Schaars, Anita and Blind have had a harder time making the NT than physical players like Nigel de Jong or Strootman.
But Anita was here the same season as Janssen. And we know that FdB had Anita on the bench while Janssen struggled at DM. The Boilesen went down and the excuse became that Anita was needed at LB, but before that Frank chose Janssen over him in that position.
I wanna see Verhaegh brought to Brazil this summer as a rightback option. He's one of the reasons Augsburg are a midtable team right now
I wouldn't be surprised if he would be our back up for that position. I expect Van der Wiel to be the starter. Van Rhijn and Janmaat really have no business being at the WC.
Janmaat I think is a bit better then vRhijn, but otherwise you're spot on. Goal.com gave Verhaegh an 8/10 against Dortmund today. Not too shabby: http://www.goal.com/en-gb/match/113131/borussia-dortmund-vs-fc-augsburg/player-ratings
I would not put van Rhijn and Janmaat in the same basket. van Rhijn is (with Fischer) the worst player for Ajax right now. Janmaat is developing nicely.
Robben injured again. Sheesh!!! http://www.vi.nl/nieuws/robben-mist-duel-met-stuttgart-wegens-spierblessure.htm
Preliminary squad for the France game (March the 5th): Keepers: * Jasper Cillessen (Ajax) * Tim Krul (Newcastle United) * Kenneth Vermeer (Ajax) * Michel Vorm (Swansea City) * Jeroen Zoet (PSV) * Maarten Stekelenburg (Fulham) Defense: * Jeffrey Bruma (PSV) * Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord) * Leroy Fer (Norwich City) * Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord) * Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord) * Karim Rekik (PSV) * Joël Veltman (Ajax) * Paul Verhaegh (FC Augsburg) * Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa) * Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord) * Gregory van der Wiel (Paris Saint-Germain) Midfield: * Daley Blind (Ajax) * Nigel de Jong (AC Milan) * Siem de Jong (Ajax) * Davy Klaassen (Ajax) * Quincy Promes (FC Twente) * Davy Pröpper (Vitesse) * Stijn Schaars (PSV) * Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray) * Kevin Strootman (AS Roma) Attack: * Jean-Paul Boëtius (Feyenoord) * Memphis Depay (PSV) * Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04) * Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahçe) * Luciano Narsingh (PSV) * Robin van Persie (Manchester United) * Arjen Robben (Bayern München).
^ Siem de Jong, Vermeer????????? Can't believe that they even warrant a chance at this point. Don't know why Fer and Clasie are listed as defenders (Fer has really not done much at all for Norwich though he does start).
Why the hell are Rekik and Bruma called up? the PSV defense has been laughable throughout the season and Bruma is arguably one of the worst defenders in the Eredivisie. Siem de Jong is also baffling, he was bad in the previous friendlies and was never really a good player to begin with and now he is worse than ever. Some positives: Klaassen and Promes getting called up is quite nice to see some experimentation and how it will work out. I wish Ziyech would get called up.
I copy pasted it from a Dutch website, only made it look more clear by putting an astrix before each name. I forgot to check their work before posting. Clasie and Fer are clear midfielders.
No LB and Blind is listed as a LB? The squad looks okay but no Lens? No Vilhena is a 35-40 odd member squad?