England vs. Orange, Friendly: Wednesday 29/02/12, 21:00 [R]

I criticized more than just Kuyt. Besides, he can't help that he isn't good enough, it's Bert's fault for keeping him in the starting 11. Look, all Bert has to do is take out Kuyt for a real winger and only play one defensive mid. That's it, but he refuses to do it and the whole team suffers for it.

 

I like Bert.. I really do.. I would even defend his preference for Pieters.. but Ron F**KING Vlaar and Stijn Schaars?? Really Bert!?!? REALLY?!? for f**ks sake..


As for the game.. Mhe, who cares.. Robben after all this time finally went Super Saiyan and finished the game flawlessly on his own (He is not even 50%). England = 2, Holland = 1, Robben =2.

 

The pass that Matthijsen was not able to save in the second half at the left side of the field was from van Bommel. If you disagree, please provide footage.

 

Schaars was Quite Good. Damn Good considering he is NO LB. That was a good change.

Pieters was DOWNRIGHT shitty. I defend him all the time but his display was a HUGE JOKE. Absolute Crappy Quality. I would even put Braafheid ahead of him. H e was that bad.

 

Not talking about that. Talking about the MULTIPLE BACK-PASSES from De Jong to Mathijsen which had to be back passed to Steke & kick backed into the opposition half.

 

Agree. The whole world will talk again about how horrible Dutch defense is, but England could only score until Schaars and Vlaar came on on the back positions.

Vlaar played the first England goal scorer on side, while CD stepped away. His mistake

Goal 2 was from Walcott, was Schaars man and Sturridge should have scored also after Schaars mess up.


While it looked as goals through center defense and partly was, but it was the backs again.

 

In just fourth months we'll have Douglas, at least.

 

You react on me MR S. If you start with NOPE, then it might be possible the person you are communicating with gets the impression you disagree with what he says.

I think in the core nothing chanced. Bert said it himself. Too low ball tempo ( red: and Sneijder having to do a lot of build up). We still have a problem in midfield.

 

Kuyt is not a risk. That's the bottom line. I too would've liked him to try Narsingh and John, but he likes to be on the safe side.

 

As right or left back? Don't think so.

 

when it comes to defending people don't give Robben enough credit. They think that because he doesn't track all the way back he doesn't defend, which is totally ridiculous. He defends from his position at LW. You don't have to track back like a fullback to be defensively helpful. BTW is it true that Robben requested to be played out on the left for this game? He was absolutely amazing there today and I hope to see him there in the Euros.

BTW did anyone else notice how absolutely useless Luuk was out there today?
I didn't see the first half of the game so I don't know how Van Persie was, but I saw the second half, and those 15 minutes that Hunter was on were the best of the second half (and I'm going to assume the game because of what I've heard). The attack actually worked. Sneijder connects better with him than RvP, and he linked with the wingers as well. I also loved how he set up his own goal with the pass to Kuijt. After he went off the attack died again

 

That's true, at least with Kuyt you get no surprises, he's always shit

Anyway, this game is just proof we need a new coach after the EC, or we will be in bad shape for the 2014 WC. Young players will not get a chance under Van Marwijk. The average age was 29 something today.

 

Yep! Especially that one moment where he had his back to the goal when he could've poached the ball in after Hart had bounced it back in.

 

OMG how could I forget about that. I think we have a winner. I am going to nominate that for the worst moment of this match. The country where Ruud van Nistelrooy was born and raised. Ruud would had converted that moment like a Hema worst. With Luuk, it din't even looked like chance for the outsides not watching the game often enough.


The opposite of predator instinct.

 

I think why I will call RVP irrelevant again, contrary to what others think, because he should have back flipped it to Robben going around him instead of the simple pass to Kuyt that was blocked. He got away from the goal many fouls, but at the Netherlands he stands on an Island and Hunter is better at that against the less good country's. If we face the Germany's he becomes useless, but he was pretty good with what he did today and his will to go back in the field, puts a smile on my face. Eager.

 

I don't know who played him onside, but Vlaar left him unguarded, that's why Mathijsen reacted so angrily to Vlaar.

Stekelenburg was just worried that he might injure himself or Walcott in a collision I think.

 

Good intervention. Heitinga moved to right back, where he already failed for Atletico. The moving around with players to create a place for letting Vlaar get minutes has lead to this goal then, because CD was pretty good until then and now they can cut through the middle a back (Heitinga) played him "onside".

Was offside by the way, but let them have it:




PS looking the goal back Mathijsen is going ape sh*t on Vlaar. Don't like that as Heitinga made the mistake. Hope a journalists point that under his nose. I hate it when the new guy gets blamed to have the back of your buddy who messed up. So simple. Vlaar being good or bad has nothing to do with that, but just decency and fairness.

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrQKv5UDSvE&list=PLD9081BF5C7B970ED&index=7"]Goal, 2-3 Arjen Robben scoort bij Engeland-Nederland (2-3) - YouTube[/ame]
Watch De Jong here on Robben's second goal. Robben has the ball in the box for a good three seconds before he shoots. There are five players in a line between Robben and him, meaning he's in a completely useless spot. In that situation he could have run back parallel with the spot where and made himself open for a pass in a good position for a shot, or he could've made a run to the far post, or he could've made a run in behind made a run in behind the defenders to the near post, but instead he just stood where he was and waited for Robben to do something

 

Yeah Luuk de Jong's movement and passing was horrible, though he did bring two players down, maybe creating a bit of havoc and spce for Robben to profit from. But after HSS reminding of that moment where do Jong looked the other way instead of profiting from a distance shot hart released (Ruud goal) I will go with you TFC. I am not very forgiving for that kind of behavior. I mean at least you should look at the damn goal when somebody is smashing it on to it and show some damn anticipation intention. Dude was looking at the crowd....

 

Vlaar did had one good tackle. I just don't feel safe with him. Can't change my feeling.

I am angry at Mathijsen now. I also know why he did it. He is under pressure himslef making him a less kind person. He is suspect after Sweden, Germany and at club. He just want's to make sure the first news cycle it is put on Vlaar or in any case let his teammates believe it's not on him.

Heitinga is not a good right back, so I am going to put this one on Bert.

 

Robben to the rescue!

p.s. when do our new home shirts come out?

 

What I learned today:

- (Unsurprisingly) Sneijder and Robben are the backbones of the team. One of them fail to show up, there goes the chance to winning a game. The good news is that both will come to Euro with chips in their shoulders after a season of turmoil at their respective clubs.

- Van Bommel is still an important player, though he really needs to stay conditioned. He bossed the midfield very well, but there were times he looked he ran out of gas. I was pleased that he got more involved in the attack. The final goal was case in point.

- De Jong was a waste of space. His contributions were meaningless passes. I think the only time I noticed him on the pitch was when he flew and kicked Parker on the air. Would love to see other Strootman getting another look next time, or just play with one defensive midfielder (Van Bommel) to free space for another attacking-minded player.

- Schaars at LB could be a band-aid solution until some real left back talent comes along. Huge risk considering he doesn't play in that position at the club level, but options are very thin at the moment after Pieters' display.

- Van Persie vs. Huntelaar.. same old debate. 'Status quo' for me at the moment. I loved Van Persie's movement in the first half, but the Hunter can't just stop scoring.

- Luuk de Jong and Emanuelson are massive downgrades, but their roles are simply 'fillers' to begin with. They won't start, and realistically will only get garbage minutes when the game needs a change in direction. At least they worked hard on pitch.

- Disappointed that Ola John and Narsingh didn't get their debut. Oh well, there's always next time.

 

I'd actually like to see Emanuelson play right midfield in the next friendly. He'd be an improvement skill wise and he wouldn't really be a downgrade defensively. I'd also like to see if he can develop an understanding with RvP like he has with Robinho