As much as I like Gio, that was really bad marking by him. And I think the other person was Van Der Vaart, but I'm not 100% sure on that. I thought the person had a number in the 20s.
Another Dutch choke, how can we play so good in the group stage, and then suck so bad in the quarters?????!!!!!!!
Big hat, no cattle. When it comes down to the wire, we choke. Therein lies perhaps the brilliance of Hiddink; enforcing the perennial "Dutch Choke", with which he is so familiar of course. That was great about Rinus Michels wasn't it? Who dared choking whilst he was in his heydays? We need a foreign Bondscoach, a Capello of sorts.
all we need to do is appeal to Hiddink's patriotism!! However, I want to know whether the tax problem he had with the government was ever resolved.
I'll bet they easily can, but I think they're rather afraid to set a precedent. To be sure: Who wants to pay Bert van Marwijk 4 million????
I watched a couple times late in the game Van Der Vaart walk back while the Russians were attacking. I was shocked, totally inexcusable.
Who would we get that would be any better than a number of Dutch born choices? Most of the good coaches are going to stay with their clubs. In terms of football that best resembles what we aspire to play the only name I can come up with is Arsene Wenger. No way is he leaving Arsenal and even if he does it would be to manage France. Would we accept an Italian manager? Don't think so as the mentality is different. Morinho might be a posibility but wouldn't he manage Portugal first? Sir Alex Ferguson might be an interesting choice when he steps down from Man U but he is on the older side. Rikjaard is between jobs right now and had a good spell back in 2000 as manager. Too bad the Federation didn't anticipate him getting axed by Barca, he would be better than Mr. Conservative from Feyenoord.
You are correct... It was Van Der Vaart. I think Ooijer was the one who was beat by the Russian to send in the cross. Sorry. On a side note, the Russians did show TWO weaknesses in this match: 1) the much-discussed frail backline,and 2) the amount of wasted chances; they had a couple of open nets that they should have converted into goals. Also, I think it is fair to say we had some chances to swing the game in our favour, especially in the first half. Still, we just couldn't pull through for the full 120 minutes.
The mentality difference is what I was referring to. And I believe that it is exactly the mentality that needs to be improved upon. What is Marcello Lippi up to lately??????????
I know, this makes no sense. Just stressing the point. However: There ARE alternatives and there ARE precedents, and the mentality argument is a joke. As I recall, Feyenoord won the EC in 1970 with Ernst Happel at the helm and Ajax won some obscure trophies during the seventies with a foreign manager as well. (I tend to forget all about Ajax other than their occasional failings...) The Russians were hesitant to hire a foreign coach as they believed that no foreigner could "fathom the depths of the Russian soul". But still, I believe the average Russian would quite willingly attest that hiring a foreigner wasn't a bad idea after all. Perhaps we need a foreigner to complement our game. I think we do because this, quite frankly, is a disgrace.
Disagree on this point. It's why Italy and Germany despite adversity always seem to make it through. Also Dutch history of PK misses is mainly mental and not physical. Same thing was seen the other night in the Croatia/Turkey match
If you are suggesting that there is a mentality problem, I entirely agree. What I was referring to though was the problem relating to the argued difference in mentality between Ducth football players an foreign coaches. I say that this particular argument is rubbish, as both domestic style and foreign coaching can complement eachother. We should give it a try.
Damn, why can't we grow defensemen like Italy. they are rock solid against Spain and now onto penalties.
The old saying holds up, "play for penalties, die by penalties!" At least we were still trying to win in extra time yesterday. I would have been disappointed if we turned out to be as cynical as the Italians. Still question why Del Piero wasn't one of the early penalty takers for Italy.
UEFA 2008 :It's you that is embarassing yourself. Your ignorance is amazing. How did I embarass myself ? I compared a team (USA) that reached the quaterfinals of WC 2002 ,outplayed Germany but lost due to one of the worst non-calls by a referee in a WC match, with the current Russian team who had the most incredible luck just to qualify for the "great" Euro 2008. The US played well at WC 2002 despite having a terrible coach. They didn't need their mafia to hire the best coach in the world . You are the fool. European teams are very overrated. They have never won a World Cup outside of Europe. Compare the more accurate ELO rating with the FIFA ratings. Quite a few less European teams in the ELO top 20. Oh, wait, isn't FIFA mainly a European organization. What is Russia? A team with good but not yet great young players? Who are you to insult me because of my observation about athletic performance ? Are you an expert on human physiology? The USA just tied FIFA's number one rated team Argentina despite having a coach who couldn't successfully coach a club in the Hungarian League and recently beat Poland 3-0 in Poland. Poland qualified for Euro 2008 at the top of their group. Since you love Russia so much I leave you with a Russian expression "Yup foya mat"
Why are you here? You, obviously, know nothing about football. I am pretty sure everyone else agrees with me on that. I am not making fun of you for that but please, please, please don't compare USA to Russia. Try to be a bit more objective with the sport, will ya? "It is better to keep quiet and be thought to be a fool then to open your mouth and remove all doubts" Now, to add you to my ignore list.
I don't quite know how ELO rankings work but the Dutch were #1 going into yesterday's match (way overrated but who cares; we could claim to be #1 in the world for a short while). The loss was worth +60 to Russia and -60 to Holland. We dropped to 3rd and Russia vaulted to 10th. Spain by virtue of their penalty victory today is now #1. BTW, US stands 20 based on its stirring victory over Barbados. I assume if Russia beats Spain they will move up even more.
Why shouldn't I be "here"? I know more about football than you asswipe. You repeat your idiotic "You know nothing" and repeatly use that quote above which describes you perfectly.But you fail to show how any of my statements are inaccurate. Which one is inaccurate? I will compare Russia with the 2002 USA world cup team,so you can go fcvk youself. But since you are such an expert : Has Russia made the quaterfinals at any world cup? No. You are very brave typing insults at your keyboard. I'd be willing to discuss football and my "confusion" and ignorance with you in person. Are you ever ini NYC? I wonder how brave you are not hiding anonymously behind a keyboard.
You two --> Gizhukov and UEFA2008 <-- do not seem to be searching for compromises are you? This was a nice thread untill you two started bickering and we Dutch are generally a civilized people. So why don't you continue your discussion somewhere else? If you get mad, don't write.