Robin van Persie got red carded for a dangerous foul. I watched it a few times and I donot agree with that judgement. He didnot hit the player at all with his studs, just with his own shin.His studs went into the pitch. It was the weekend of the missed opportunities by the opponents of both Ajax and PSV. When do those jerks learn to kill Ajax and PSV when you get a blank range shot presented. We could have jumped over Ajax and closed in to PSV if those dickheads didnot miss at least three chances against each of both to score. 101379
Yes, they will. It's a known fact we beat PSV, even when they're better, just as it's a known fact we, when overpowering Ajax, we lose with a lucky goal...again...story of the last few seasons.
After rewatching the van Persie red action I'm not so sure anymore. His foot comes into contact with the Vitesse foot, but still think it's not a studs contact. 101453
The last match has alerted watchers to the fact that Feyenoord only is were it's now in the table because of the sublime class of van Persie. The fact that this is the case is an underlining of my pov that the mirage of the pot of gold at the end of the new stadium rainbow is part of the magical bullet thinking that tries to cover up the decades of underperforming management. Even with the current means we have at hands the selection isnot good enough to be part of the top of the league. The cup match, in which the complete first team besides Jan-Arie vd Heijden was replaced by reserve/bench players, showed a team of players that just isnot good enough to make way into the first team. That's a big worry, as the first team isnot overflowing with quality play at all. The difference in quality play put on the pitch between Robin and the rest is way too big. It's not like quality players are too expensive, when one has a good eye for what's available. We could have bought the NEC player Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld, who was exceptional in the second tier, but we didnot. Pablo Rosario was in our youth system and is filling in a role in the PSV midfield now we sorely miss. So not so good players management with loads of money just will become expensive bad players management, as the budget mantra by the Feyenoord board suggests they want to spend, while it is shown that within the budget constraints of today the right decisions arenot made. So how trustworthy is it than that the possibility to spend more will be done with more skill? We almost went down after a spending spree supposed to lift us to the top of the league and it back fired. Nothing I see now suggests we're in better territory now. Brugge trusted their eyes and now reaps the benefits of their decision to buy Groeneveld. 101541
^^ but it's not like Feyenoord have not developed some top players from the academy. Plus if you consider the players that left early for the English league, the record is not all that bleak. van Persie was a player returning to the team of his youth and that was a good buy but it will last maybe a year or two more and then what? PSV seem to be bringing in good players in their prime as well as youth players. van Geel was supposed to be a top rated administrator but he's gone now. I think your main point about cleaning things up before worrying about a new stadium is a good one but I'm sure that the magic of the new stadium is too much to ignore.
What's the reasoning behind wanting a new stadium? Is De Kuip just getting old? Seems like such a great ground.
On the topic of building a title competitive team it takes smart buying. The mantra now is that we need bigger budgets to compete. In it's base it's true, but it's not the whole truth and the missing part of the truth is competence. Take for example our left wing position. We bought fot 2 million a South American 19 year old talent nobody knows. For half that price (Brugge payed 1 million afaik) we could have bought Groeneveld. I wanted him, because he showed he has potential at NEC. Tens of matches to watch and analyze him. So either we didnot, or we drew the wrong conclusions. With Groeneveld we would have a ready class winger, as he now proves in the Belgian league and the CL. Our purchase didnot convince me in the cup match at all, while the other buys in that spot also struggle. The fantasy we will be contenders with a bigger wallet is only going to be true if we spend that money wisely. No sign of that yet. The fantasy also is that you need a big wallet for the best talents to buy. No, it isnot. Only in very rare cases a talent is immediately deemed worth over 10 million. All talents start at an affordable fee. You've got to spot them in time and give them a convincing development track to the first team. You donot need a big wallet for that. Another point to take care of is management of the selection. I really wonder if we analyze the squad at all. Take for instance Tapia. I've no clue why he's still in Rotterdam. As a Non EU player he has to be payed at least the double average Eredivisie salary. That's far too much for a bench player. For his and our sake he should have been sold before the WC2018 started. Looking at the performance against amateurs of many of the players getting a chance to play in the first team one doesnot get very happy. Is there any scrutiny of the composition of the total squad at all? 101619
One of the problems is that your team with the exception of the championship season two years ago consistently under performs. They don't do well in Europe when the qualify so players are not valued as much as those from Ajax and PSV (or even AZ) in terms of sell on value. I think Feyenoord have developed lots of good players from the academy (not as many as Ajax obviously) but the end result is just not there. On the Ajax starting eleven yesterday, eight were purchased players (I include Blind). Only home grown ones were van de Beek, Mazraoui and de Ligt. The most expensive purchase was Tadic who now looks like a great decision by Overmars.
Well, suspect Robin van P. has been acquitted from charges and is free to play coming weekend. "De vrijspraak is het zoveelste succes voor huisjurist Van Benthem. Eerder werden al Michiel Kramer, Rick Karsdorp, Eljero Elia en Tonny Vilhena vrijgesproken." 101749
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2018/10/0...-prima-zolang-ze-maar-topdrie-spelen-a2263703 NRC interview with consultants that screen stadium plans for investors. For those interested this NRC site has very good articles on the stadium saga. 101827
What can we conclude after this weekends matches? Malacia's stupid move while being faced by two Willem II players, trying a frivolous action did cost us 2 points. The title race is now a two horse race between PSV and Ajax. Feyenoord without van Persie quality wise is playing mid table soccer. From the back line all the way to the front line players either lack quality or are just in a comfort zone of parasiting on their quality. There's no cohesive play from day one this competition and their's no sign of progress. It's time to change whatever they're doing on the training pitch, cause there's no fluidity in connecting between players and no movement in anticipation on what the player in possession is going to do. A misfielder that has the ball almost has as only option to play the ball to Robin, as he's almost the only one using his brains and creating a pass opportunity. Players are as static as can be. They wear those electric devices registering everything, so also their sprints, distance etc. It must be possible to pinpoint lackluster mobility in a match and target those players culpable of it. When a midfielder receives the ball and from that moment the positions of the rest on the pitch relative to him hardly change, he might as well not have the ball. I'm now in favour of one of the poster's idea in here to use Jerry St. Juste as a midfielder plus removing Sam Larsson. We might as well play a 4-4-2 when the left wing doesnot deliver anything. 101923
In this AD Sportwereld article it is being discussed what I mention in the quote: https://www.ad.nl/nederlands-voetbal/feyenoord-kan-mee-als-de-bal-maar-stilligt~a5e818a0/
Robin van Persie has announced he retires after this season: ,,Ik ben straks 36 jaar, dan ben ik 18 jaar prof geweest. En vanaf mijn vijfde jaar ben ik eigenlijk alleen maar bezig geweest met voetballen. Ik zie het ook niet zo dat mijn terugkeer bij Feyenoord pas geslaagd is, als we de landstitel pakken. Wanneer het wel geslaagd is? Dat is het eigenlijk al. Als je naar het hele plaatje kijkt. Ik was het plezier kwijtgeraakt. Zo wilde ik niet eindigen, zonder plezier. Dat plezier is teruggekeerd bij Feyenoord." 102506
Well, the "Klassieker" is looming. Going by the comments in the media we donot stand a chance. Some even expect a bloodbath. The injured players Bergwijn and Ayoub seem to be recovering well and could be available for the clash. Robin never won a match against Ajax in Amsterdam. Well, if that still is on the bucket list and this is the last of this match you're going to play it would be a good idea to put a cross through it on the list with a hattrick.
Of course they have to play the game. Ajax should be a slight favorite as the match is in Amsterdam. Feyenoord have had all week to get ready while Ajax had the CL to deal with. It should be an interesting game but I suspect the weakness of the Feyenoord defense will be the deciding factor. What's the story with Sven van Beek? A couple of years ago he was the next great central defender and now he doesn't start.
Dunno. He had some weird injury that didnot heal properly for over a year and since then he's struggling to get back. Problem with our new EU privacy laws medical info is only allowed given by the person himself.