Watching the 66th minute now (with half an eye). Oranje more dangerous by the looks of it. Silly foul by Strootman. They need to stop that. That is what undoes us against Portugal usually. Come to think of it, that may be our (footballers') major weakness. We (they) may be from near Northern Europe but we (they) are not cool headed. We tend to loose composure when the pressure is on, or when we feel wronged. And we (they) are terribly bad actors and hopeless at sneaky fouling. (Not all of them of course, van Bommel, Wouters come to mind) So we lose games to teams that provoke us in ways the referee misses. The name Couto just popped up in my head.
Yes, I have seen it. It was a nasty match, worse than the match againt Portugal in 2006 as refs didn't protect players at all back then.
Anyway, this thread is not done until it has a gif posted of that Schaars turn on midfield. Not just a nice moment of skill. More so it's funny he felt like doing that being up with 10 men and to top it off, of all players, him doing such a thing.
By the way, the stat that Netherlands is the only team in 2013 who is unbeaten is not true. Gibraltar played their first match in history and draw vs Slovakia.
very proud of the team's performance ..... very brave and exceptional work rate.....just what I like to see....I was furious to see the antics and refereeing decisions in the first half......I don't mind passion at all but Columbia seemed to have taken that into hostility in the first half........second half things calmed down a little bit......exceptional performance by Strootman! Very glad he put in that commanding performance......What a debut by Veltman!!!! Regardless of the error he made; it was a breath of fresh air to see a defender that can read the game well and carry the ball forward......hope he continues to impress.......wouldn't mind seeing him paired with Martins Indi for a friendly I wonder why Sneijder wasn't called up? He is not having a bad season at all so far....we really could've used him in midfield.....VDV did well this round of friendlies .... I think they are both important players for us for the classic no 10...confidence restored ....where was Nigel when we needed him?
Why strootman was captain over van der vaart??? i remember that van der vaart was like the second captain under van marwiik
Hmm. Was beaten here and there. Also won the ball at times. Had some decent crosses in. Not super solid, but was oke-ish. I think he suffered most from the red card as before that it looked promising with his surges to the front. After the red card he had to pipe down and then he does not play to his strength. So his performance should be seen with a bit of context.
Well, he was not always started for Netherlands under van Gaal. Actually Sneijder started as the main captain and the main captain always plays under van Gaal. As Sneijder and vdV are both 10 in van Gaal's system he sat at the bench when Sneijder was fit to play. Which was not that often. Sneijder's form also dipped and thus RVP became main captain. Robben is second captain. Stroot is third captain. That last choice has to do with quality, always playing and wanting 1 of the 3 captains to be of a younger generation. As RVP & Robben were injured and not playing, Stroot was captain. But you are right. It's a bit weird to see a guy with 25 or less caps get the captaincy over a player with 100+ caps and one of the most gifted Dutch players of his generation.
yeah actually in colombia ocurred something similar.....falcao since belgium match have been the captain, but during all the wcq captains were 1,yepes (injured for the tour) and 2, perea (i think that played more matches than yepes) , and pekerman decided to choose falcao over him and mondragon (memeber of the nt since 1993 and 42 years) for these ones and i think that in the world cup too.......maybe is because mondragon, perea and yepes will retire after the wc.........yepes-cordoba duo have been captains since 2000....
Hmm, last Euro, him and Huntelaar were forming a block to get into the team and they did pressure the coach. He did get his game on the Euro against Portugal, scored, but we lost the game. Also due to lack balance on midfield. Every turnover became dangerous from Portugal. Had also to do with Netherlands having to win with 2 goals difference. It is believed though that him (but especially Huntelaar) were kind of disruptive for the group harmony. Other then that, vdV has been a great force for the NT. 3rd most capped player in Dutch NT history, soon will get past Frank de Boer and then he has some work to do to get past van der Sar. This qualification campaign he has been quite prolific and must be considered number 1 for the 10 role over Sneijder. Props to him.
That's odd ... a Dutch guy is happy when Germany wins ... good to see that our more subdued rivalry is still alive ... enjoy your Schadenfreude. Still with a bit of sympathy you would have known that we weren't bruised mentally after our friendly against Colombia ... physically however, all of our guys left the pitch with bruises. Physicality is part of the game ... eventhough it can lead to injuries (e.g. Benteke in the friendly vs Colombia). Brutality is a different story and simply doesn't belong in football ... otherwise it would have been called the ugly game. PS I'm pretty relaxed about the result of these friendies ... when it means improving our chances in Brazil and tempering the expectations, I'd even prefer losing a few friendlies. Especially when you look at how our squad operates, we'd gain more of an advantage when we're underestimated instead of overestimated ... e.g. compared to Holland who feel good about being the favourite, we'd be more comfortable in the role of an underdog. Actually I should encourage as many people as possible to sell my team short ... yet that would rub me the wrong way ... still this is 'merely' perception ... on Brazilian grass we'll have to provide hard proof that we can outplay, outmuscle and outrun the teams we face.
Yeah after this game we had against Colombia I am can relate and sympathize on this point ... I think Netherlands operates great when being the underdog. Take 2008. Everybody expected us to come third in our group being drawn with the 2 WC finalists. 9 points. Then everybody expected big things from us. Lost to Russia. 2010. Nice group, not too hard, not too weak. No firework and we kept expectations low. Kept going on and reached the final. Euro 2012, the WC finalist would advance from the group. Already lost to Denmark and crashed out. This mechanism of low exceptions and playing energy economical is also for us the way to go. It might be a universal thing.
Wilmots nickname is 'Kampfschwein' (regardless of how talented you are, everyone works hard and the collective is the main focus) ... he might look to the likes of Jupp & Jurgen for inspiration ... defensive solidity, balance in midfield, high intensity direct attacking football (a Wilmots variety of Gegenpressing), etc. Having the ball, taking the initiative, playing pass move football isn't his style ... he should however deliver clean sheets and know how to play containment football if we've build up a safe lead early ... doubting that he can deliver on the 'BOOM' part when we're favored though. When your attack is unrecognisable, you’re in trouble ... when it’s unpredictable your opponents are in trouble. At the moment I've seen too much of the former ... while I'd like to see more of the latter: playing out wide and through the center (making the pitch narrow & wide at will), using dribbling to take on opponents when the situation demands it (if it allows all their defenders to organise, you're doing it wrong), through balls and crosses both high and low, blitzing counter-attacks (or at least be as quick as possible in the transition), etc. The German NT and clubs like (Jupp Heynckes) B.Munich have all the resources to make this work ... more importantly LVG's work at B.Munich probably is the reason why they've beaten BSV at their own game. I'm interested in where Pep will end up at the end of the season.
Sorry Colombia, but if you can't beat our B-team in a friendly, you're gonna have a real hard time making it to the quarters or semi-finals in the world cup
you guy are so concerning about colombia hahahhaha .......it is funny that a man from a team with so rich in worlc cup history, is focusing a lot and writing with hate about us........so we are doing the things good and im sorry for you low self steem , if you think that colombia will win this match before, when you were homies, no matter the names a team have to respect this conditios from others ....the other thing is that you are taking so seriously results in PREPARATION friendlies....so in your theory belgium (a team that defeat you) will failed, spain too, england too, germany that cant defeat in home with starters the wors team of conmebol two months ago... so nostradamus keep thinking in colombia it seems that we are so important for you
My impression is that star attacking players for the Netherlands tend to be on the volatile side personality-wise, which might not be a great trait to some managers assigning captaincy. Based on VdV's ability and track record as a a player he has great qualifications for the armband, though.
Honestly, I didn't like his attitude and body language on the pitch. Couple times I was watching him and he was kind of ball watching, not much movement to get open for a pass. Saw that a few times. Passing wise, he didn't seem to connect well with Narsingh, missing a few runs down the wing and his crossing was not very good.