Now that the group stage is over and the Oranje have qualified for the upcoming Euros, lets now use this thread to discuss players and tactics. From the early 2000s to 2014 there was a core of players that were automatically in the team but the cruel transition of 2015-2018 gave rise to a lot of doubt about the future of Dutch football. We were all looking at the proverbial 40 years in the desert. Fortunately, that did not happen. Let's hope that Koeman and the staff use the next several months productively!!!
Ukraine and Oranje together in a group is confirmed. From Pot 3... the possibilities are Portugal, Turkey, Austria, Sweden and Czech Republic. Denmark is also in Pot 3, but as a host, they can’t be with Oranje. Romania (Pot 4), if makes it through the playoff, will be in the group with Oranje as well.
Saw this on Twitter... Myron Boadu is the first player born in the 21st century to score for Oranje. He is also the youngest scorer in Oranje since... (drum roll) Ryan Babel, in 2005. What a fitting transition... from Babel to Boadu Sold!!
Don't know. According to FIFA, the next International break is March 23-31. Euros fall in the next break June 1 - July 12. I think the playoffs for the Euros falls in the March break so teams playing for those places would not play in a friendly. Euros start on June 12. So a friendly could be scheduled in March and a second one prior to the Euros. If Koeman was really brave he would see if Brazil was available in the March time frame as they often play friendlies away from home.
There will be two friendly matches in March as I heard... Koeman has selected the opposing teams, but apparently he can’t reveal those yet due to the unsigned contracts.
Looks like one of the friendlies will be against Spain: https://www.voetbalprimeur.nl/nieuw...is-enrique-tijdens-oefenduel-met-oranje-.html
I have to say and you have to fully agree with what orange14 has said in the " holland vs NI and Estonia thread" about holding mids covering up for fullbacks and wingers tracking backing as well. If you look at the current balance in NT then the left side has more stability given van dijk,Frenkie, are all in the same axis with Blind who pretty much sits comfortably getting coverage from either. Dumfries was criticised for his recent performances but people dont realize that the balance on the right side is not the same as compared to left. You have de ligt ,De Roon/Propper with dumfries overlapping. When Dumfries gets caught upfront the right side simply collapses because De Roon/Propper/De ligt are not on the same level as van dijk and Frenkie who lead the line vertically. No fullback will be able to change this offset on the right unless the bring in another frenkie or somebody who can start controlling that RCM like how frenkie does. I know right now there is no one who is up to frenkie level but at the same this where pushing Ake upfront could be a worth trying. Either frenkie moves to right or moves forward with Ake in the engine room pushing gini further up where he looks the most dangerous. Van der beek,Propper are defensively weak and De Roon is not fast enough. Ake is a package deal, arieal threat,Defensively not afraid to put his body on line, fast and agile as well. This could also bring in a good shift in the midfield especially on the right with De ligt,Ake,Wijnaldum on the same axis while van dijk and frenkie remain on the left with frenkie moving up and down. ----------------------Malen---------------- Depay---------wijnaldum--------Stengs frenkie--------------------- ---------------------Ake----------------Karsdorp/Dumfries Van Dijk-------De ligt
@wilson00 - I only see nine outfield players in your diagram above. I'm not sure if it was van Marwijk who popularized the 4-2-3-1 when he employed it back in 2010 when the Dutch made their run to the finals of the WC with van Bommel and Nigel de Jong as the deep MFs. Spain also had two deep MFs in Busquets and Alonso. Both Dutch full backs had liabilities. Gio was at the end of his career and needed some help covering pacy wingers. van der Wiel was never anyone's idea of a defensive FB (and if you think the RB is a problem these days, think back to 2010 when there really was no alternative to van der Wiel). Of course the front four players were all exceptional talents and had both Robben and van Persie been fully fit for the tournament things might have been different in the final. IMO, teams go to this type of formation when they do not have a solid pair of central defenders. I'm not sure what the best approach is for Koeman. van Dijk is one of the best if not the best defenders playing today. de Ligt is one of the best young defenders playing and will only get better. Frenkie is a good defensive player and remember that he played LCB several times last season for Ajax when there were injuries early on (the disastrous game away to PSV which de Ligt missed was an example). This is not to say that they should not have a second deep lying MF. I also take exception to the statement that van de Beek is defensively weak. He often dropped into a deeper position last year when Schöne (a real defensive liability) was not in the game. This season he does not since ETH has confidence that Martinez can mop up everything as a single holding MF. I'm still not convinced by Pröpper since he seems to dwell on the ball too long and is not as good as de Roon defensively. to me it all comes down to whether wingers are effective in tracking back.
I vaguely remember these games so I had to look up the formations, but Oranje played with 2 holding MF'ers (Engelaar and de Jong), so I disagree with you that we played with an attacking lineup (even though we killed Italy and France)
Wow, did Uefa ever make this complicated. Playoffs draw: D-route Halve finales: Georgië - Wit-Rusland Noord-Macedonië - Kosovo C-route Halve finales Schotland - Israël Noorwegen - Servië B-route Halve finales: Bosnië en Herzegovina - Noord-Ierland Slowakije - Ierland A-route Halve finales: IJsland - Roemenië Bulgarije - Hongarije
Yes indeed! Somebody in Uefa had too way much time on his hands to come up with a complicated scheme. Anyway... here's what I have distilled so far. Maybe somebody smarter than me can validate. - Oranje and Ukraine are both confirmed in Group C. - If Romania win "Path A"... they will join Group C - If Romania fail to win "Path A", then the winner of "Path D" (one of Georgia, Belarus, North Macedonia or Kosovo) will join Group C. - Any one from Pot 3, except Denmark, can join Group C. So, in sum, this could turn out to a somewhat favorable draw for Oranje. Worst case: Oranje, Ukraine, Portugal, Romania Best case: Oranje, Ukraine, Austria, Kosovo. There are no easy games these days... but emerging as top 2 in group stage should be very much achievable.
The system is super complicated thanks to all the host nations. Hopefully 2024 with only one host nation makes it a lot easier to follow. I am really excited for a potential Northern Ireland vs Ireland game though. I really hope that is the playoff B final
And pretty damn unlikely that Romania will get through that playoff. A match in winter in Iceland and then a match in Bulgaria/Hungary. Lots of travel while their opponents will barely travel at all. Plus Romania are probably the weakest of the 4 teams to begin with.
As I in the old thread posted it would be prudent not to play Depay, he was played and now is injured. Lyon coach is pissed. https://www.ad.nl/buitenlands-voetb...-geblesseerd-respectloos-van-koeman~ac949aa1/