Holland vs N. Ireland & Belarus - Euro qualifiers

6 points and zero goals conceded
100% Oranje

 

Too bad Stengs doesn't get a very deserved call up. Memphis - Malen - Stengs would be dynamite I think. Babel will not be good enough for the Euro, IMO, better to prepare for our best possible team. Since Koeman is a big fan of the 4-2-3-1 I'd like to see this:

Malen
Memphis - Stengs - Promes
de Jong - Wijnaldum​

Or

Malen
Memphis - Wijnaldum - Stengs
de Jong - van de Beek
​

Anyway, the second one with Promes over Stengs for this edition would be ideal, but we know Babel will keep starting.

 

De Jong, Van De Beek and Wijnaldum would be my preference in the midfield. Plenty of energy and attacking power. The forward-runs of Donny and Gini would split the defense, leaving open spaces for the front trio to operate. I don't believe De Roon would be much of a factor, and hence needed, against teams with clear intention to park the bus.

As to the attackers... based on the last matches, Depay and Babel seems to be certainty, leaving Promes, Bergwijn and Malen to fight off the last spot. I like Bergwijn as he's more tidy on the ball and can link up better. Both Promes and Malen, however, are more lethal and better finishers. So I guess it comes down to who's really on fire in the next week or so.

 

Why do we have so many capable of playing central defender in the selection? I count 6 of them.

 

Did you guys watch Liverpool and Redbull Salzburg. The one thing that has always concerned me about wijnaldum has been his consistency. He has given some big performance for Liverpool and probably for NT as well but consistency wise he is still the same old gini wijnaldum. He plays week in and week out at liverpool, his performance fluctuates on and off. What do you expect from him in a tournament where the situation will be more or less the same .

Its unfortunate though he is the only experienced one right in NT otherwise there is still a lack of creativity in that department in NT and someone who can really connect with the forwards.

Looking at what happened in the Nations league final, I have to say with the current squad NT will find it going hard in knock out stages. By the end of group stages most big teams will know how to take on NT. I mean the only thing koeman has is a fixed starting 11 and hoping to tatically overcome the opposition if due weakness. If none then he will be shouting from the lines.

 

What I ment to bring up was why not dump one of them in favour of a real wingback.

 

Wijnaldum is a very important player for both Liverpool and Oranje as he is capable of playing many different roles and is extremely flexible and tactically astute to handle these changes.

On top of that he’s an incredible professional with outstanding work rate.

Liverpool are not the same when he does not play as players like Henderson and Milner are both quite average players in my opinion.

Gini is a different class above clearly.

 

Koeman will not change much from the starting 11. It will be Cillessen-Dumfries Van Dijk, De Ligt, Blind - De Jong, Van De Beek, Wijnaldum - Depay, Babel, Malen. Need to beat N. Ireland b/c a tie is almost the same as a loss. 2-0 with Depay and Babel 1 goal each.

 

https://www.ad.nl/nederlands-voetba...-ricksen-en-mijnals-bij-duel-oranje~af4aacd3/
In the "Kuip" the recently passed away Orange players Mijnals and Ricksen will be honoured before the start of the Orange - Northern Ireland match.

Ook tijdens Fortuna - Sparta werd stilgestaan bij het overlijden van Fernando Ricksen © VI Images
Eerbetoon voor overleden Ricksen en Mijnals bij duel Oranje

 

Agreed. It's a pretty weird lineup. Also, why bench Malen if he's in such lethal form? Fair enough he's an ok super sub option but definitely VdBeek should be starting ahead of De Roon.

 

Veltman?

 

van de Beek and Malen should be starting for sure. Babel and de Roon should not keep getting selected. It's the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' fallacy; the team is doing well but it could be doing better with some simple tweaks.

 

Pitch seems pretty slippery. Pretty sloppy start. Babel can't control the ball under the press

 

Agreed. Unsurprisingly those two players have been awful so far. Great choice Koeman, Babel has been really good so far... touch of a brick wall.