I don't like this new phenomena where Dutch players go to Portugal as a next step in Ola John, Wolf, Schaars and now Luuk de Jong is apparently rumored to go to Benfica as well, but there is maybe one positive. I have worries about Ola John's mental stability. In this respect I deem Luuk de Jong very strong. One could even say that the main reason why this "houten klaas" has made the top is his mental stability. Gradually improving year after year and working hard off and on the field. Maybe his presence at the same club will create a bond between the two and will Luuk's mental stability effect Ola's in the way that he sees it as something he can learn from. In any case it could be a good influence on Ola and keep him grounded, as Luuk is as grounded as it gets. Ola is a priority for Dutch NT to develop on the left wing. Yes, Afellay does nice, but who has ever seen a successful Afellay cross? After generation RVP, we see a lot of poachers coming, so those need crosses. Even Huntelaar has some good years left in him. So I am not against Luuk going to Benfica in this respect. Plus they could further build on their chemistry and that would be a good thing for Dutch NT as well, though I don't see Luuk taking the starting spot very fast.
I don't understand where the Portuguese teams are getting the money to pay the salaries. Country is an economic basket case.
If David Luiz is sold for 25M,Coentrao for 30m & Di Maria for 25M,you get where they get the money from. Ola John's release clause will be 45M. They are masters of selling their players at a very high & over-rated price. Apart from that going to Portugal is nice. Its not a huge step up from Eredivisie. A comparatively smaller step.
Source. I am very curious, what the club is for Maher. It is essential this talent develops well. In the Netherlands it can only be FC Twente (Ajax forum has said de Boer is looking for 4 positions, he does not play on), PSV have Wijnaldum and Feyenoord is dirt poor, plus have their own Vilhena. Outside of Netherlands he would be a fool to go for top clubs that want to buy him for the future. He needs to play week in week out. However he also does not want to play outside top 4 leagues and not a relegation candidate's. So obvious it's international sub top and by default competition there is pretty tough. I have no idea. Also because IMO he just isn't ready for the international sub top to be the player that will play week in week out.
i don't know where he's being linked to, but he should stay put, AZ will play in the europa league, so he will get experience playing against some tougher teams, along with being in holland. FC twente is in europa league too, but they have to go through 4 stages of playoffs to get to the group stage, AZ only has to play one playoff. and at the same time, if he really, really, really wanted to go somewhere, it would have to be a relegation level team. or some mid level teams in france or portugal
Relegation football is tough as hell and a good way to risk losing a talent. Also this guy is not aiming to play that "sh*t" when he can pick any club he wants. France is very physical. Portugal is an option. Especially with Sporting's and Benfica's recent love for Eredivisie players. What worry's me is that I saw some very warm looks going back and forth between van Persie and Maher and rumor is that Ramsey is maybe going to Fulham..... I also know Schalke might need something on 10 or midfield. Maher can play both and Schalke has a Dutch coach. Dortmund have sold Kagawa and they are a club that likes to invest in big talents, though that would be an insane jump. Italian league would be plain stupid. The point is, that looking at these clubs I have one problem: playing time. I would like him to keep developing in Eredivisie. Twente need a creative mind, so maybe he can go there.
thats why i think it's best for him to stay put, he plays another year for az, he gets to play against good competition in the europa league. schalke and sporting are two of the teams i watch a lot, and schalke is very interested in van der vaart, elia and some guy named gaston ramirez, never even heard of maher, They want holtby to be the number 10, plus schalke is gonna be in the group stages of champions league, why risk it on a youngster like that ramsey isn't the main guy at arsenal, it's jack wilshire who's been injured forever, so i would guess maher is gonna be on the bench, it's not worth it. although portuguese teams are loving eredivisie players, the main teams in portugal really don't have any openings that i know of, unless they sell some players and borussia dortmund is an absolute mystery to me, they will also be selling ivan persivic (croatian dude who scored against arsenal) so i don't know if thats a smart move for maher If he gets no playing time, he has set his career back. he shouldn't even complain about dutch league weak or not, because in europa league, Ajax played twice vs manchester united, az played against udinese, valencia, two better teams of the "bigger" leagues, I just can't imagine a good scenario for him, my mind draws blanks, except maybe a team in ukraine who plays champions league, maybe he goes there, gets that kind of experience. then be ready for next step to transfer somewhere else.
thats making me very angry, van persie only had 2 assists, Dirk Kuyt had 3 assists, 3 assists is tied for the most at the world cup. what the hell is this guy saying, it was clear to see on the field,and van persie missed 12 great chances,. this is bullshit,
^I read most of the first paragraph. It was so full of sh*t that I really had no reason to read anything else Arsenal fans hate the fact that their star player isn't the star of his national team. In fact, they deny it
^the Arsenal fan who wrote the piece appears to be highly delusional. Anyone who claims Afellay is doing well at Barca cannot be trusted to slop pigs.
http://www.telegraaf.nl/telesport/voetbal/az/12434943/__PSV_meldt_zich_voor_Maher__.html supposedly it's psv who made an offer for maher,
They are also supposed in for Narsingh: Depay needs to be developed and I like to see him in striker position and create an understanding with Maher. Tamata has a right foot and so I put him on the right. Pieters needs to give his spot for left back to Willems and develop at left center back. Marcelo and their new man Danish center back can trade places as much as they want. If this happens I am going to watch a lot of PSV coming year. It also means Wijnaldum after just being there for a year and had to endure a lot of drama by the Feyenoord fans is probably on his way out. Then the question is? Where is Wijnaldum going?
^where is the club getting the money? I haven't seen them sell anyone. the only consolation is that as long as van Bommel starts for the club they will be in danger of losing most games. I also haven't heard anything about Strootman's knee. Wasn't he scheduled to have some surgery after the Euros?
Well I suppose they will do some selling: Manolev Toivonen Wijnaldum Maybe Strootman is sold? Is also a possibility, but Wijnaldum out-Maher in makes more sense. Both Narsingh and Maher will be costly. I don't know. PSV alsways seem to have some money. Not sure. Have heard nothing about.
^well for sure they can't go back to the city of Eindhoven. I wonder how much they are paying Advocaat to manage the team?
The Castrol index currently has Koevermans ranked as the best player in MLS, 35 points above Thierry Henry
i think wijnaldum would go where strootman is, or a little more advanced and van bommel will be lone holding mid, 4-3-3. i keep hearing strootman to manchester united (a move i think is a mistake) but i never hear anything solid on it, like i would think with manchester united, they would have news everywhere, and everyone would be talking about it. maybe they get their money from phillips company!
Strootman had 1/2 of a good season (he wasn't all that good during their spring collapse when everyone thought they would win the league). I can't see any big club buying him at this point in his career; it's just too big a risk. PSV don't get much if any money from Philips and longer. Most recent in depth analysis was done a year ago by The Swiss Ramble HERE.
Where is the keeper? Obviously every top club wants Tyton and PSV still have Zoet right? So sell Tyton for 10M and put in Zoet. I hope PSV go full Orange
it's not that big of a risk if the price is right, but i heard something like 14 million euros for strootman, and i think no way, he's staying at psv, but inter and ac milan want him?? seems a stretch, i don't know the validitiy of this site http://www.examiner.com/article/man...clubs-for-15-million-psv-star-kevin-strootman
I am very happy by the way that Maher stays in Netherlands in case this transfer will happen. I mean if PSV will play with the team I posted (or something like it), a nice understanding between some leading candidates can take off. Strootman with Maher and maybe Depay. Pieters with Willems and Strootman. Nice.
I surely hope Wijnaldum can turn things around... such an exciting talent and seemingly a hard-worker off and on the pitch. The last Jong Oranje match I watched (against Bulgaria, 5-0), he stood out for me. Extremely active, and arguably the only attacking threat from the front trio. His finishing was quite atrocious, though... I am not sure what's a good position for him long term. I don't believe he has the vision and passing skills to 'play in the hole' as a no. 10. He can play on the right wing okay.. definitely has the speed to beat his defender, but his crossing must vastly improve before he can make a real impact. Maybe he should be tested in the middle of the pitch as a central midfielder. Perhaps as he matures, he will bulk up and become more dominant. If I were to guess, he'd probably end up like Afellay. A utility player. Will play where the team needs him the most. Should be good enough to be a fringe player in Oranje, but he needs to prove a whole lot to get regular call-up. His priority for him now though is to get plenty of playing minutes at the club level, wherever that might be.