Also, Klaassen's first shot on DeGea was poor, but DeGea's clearance was equally poor, causing the 2-0
This "B" team has players like De Gea (one of the 7 best goalkeepers in the world last time I chacked), Pique (who's in fantastic form), Isco, Bernat, Carvajal, Cazorla and Fabregas. In face, given the fact that Iniseta and Casillas are declining, this might be actually A slightly BETTER line up than their "A" Team.
Still not many with the creativity of Sneijder out there. He can really pick a pass and put in some good crosses.
I don't hope everyone will think that everything is OK now. It is also not as if Spain is outplayed for 60+ minutes. Sneijder seems to benefit from RvP and Robben not playing actually. Connection with RvP was always poor. Klaassen is very good, but if I'm allowed to say he is an 'un-Dutch' player. I don't like BMI and Narsingh. Narsingh in particular is way substandard and below what should be minimally asked of a NT player. Wijnaldum showing why he shouldn't start. Janmaat is doing well, considering who plays on his flank. I don't understand why Van der Wiel got the nod, because Janmaat was in good form for Newcastle (even as central defender). Depay played good for 60 minutes. Nice.
Off course nobody thinks that now. But I think that what this game prooves is that our bad form was more because of Hiddink and less because of the players - which is a good think to know in the long term.
I agree, for the Turkey match Hiddink was a greater problem as the players itself. Difference is though that vs Turkey they had to make the game. Now for 70 minutes they didn't need to create the plays. But between minute 5 and 15 Oranje made the play and did quite well.
I really suffered watching 135 minutes of Narsingh in 3 days, why didn't he get subbed tonight ?! Depay had a fantastic performance, Blind and De Vrij come just behind.
Kept a clean sheet even absorbing a huge amount of pressure in the 2nd half. Players seemed to be able to make the clearances but then the resulting pass was usually quite poor and right to a Spanish player or out of bounds when there was an open player to pass to. Had Spain been clinical this match could have easily gone the other way at 2-4. Martins Indi was better defensively in the second half but is not helped by Willems who refuses to defend. Fortunately Depay was tracking back all day; I guess he really wanted to impress the scouts for the big €s this summer when he leaves PSV. Blind was good in the middle and showed how badly de Jong slows games down. Narsingh was poor. Huntelaar never got the ball inside the box. Maybe this match and the next one against the US can build some confidence going into the matches that count.
My point is that Spain's B Team is still 10 times better than Czech Rep's/Iceland's/Turkey's/Mexico's A-Teams.
Uhm, I would counter that with if Holland had been more clinical this match could have easily gone 5-3 for Holland
Nigel shouldn't be called for the next qualifiers games. Clasie can do the job alone against Latvia and Kazakhstan, Blind would be something a bit safer against Iceland, Czech and Turkey. Klaassen had a really good first half, he was defending, distributing decently and I liked the fact he doesn't hesitate to enter the box. He scored thanks to that. He considerably disappeared during the second half though, seems like his stamina was done. Wijnaldum played 30 minutes again without doing anything special, except a shot near the post after a good pass from Depay. I wouldn't call Wijnaldum anymore if I was the coach.
Vermeer: Makes clear that when we want a keeper that can also stop a penalty, he is there. I am aware of the inconsistency argument. This game he was damn good though. Janmaat was a breath of fresh air. Maybe not always defensively tip top, but I have seen some blocks from him and also some classic storming up the pitch stuff. I really like him a ton over van der Wiel. De Vrij did well this game. That zidane turn was fun at the end. I did not like his back header to gift warp a chance for Spain. That needs to go out and I am not sure he can play a perfect game. BMI had some boner passes and also should have scored from up close. Overall not high on his performance to day or any day. I love the guy for loving to play for the NT, but he is not good enough of we want to reach a higher level. He also uses his hands too much to defend. Willems was horrible. I am starting to suspect that it is even worse than that. What has been a really good game of Willems for the NT? See the point? He is a potential NT under performer. Happens. Never thought he would be the one, but I consistently see him doing better for club than country. Really annoying. Blind did well. He even had some nice vertical passes, skipping stations. Not so many as Clasie would have maybe, but Blind did proper. Klaassen was good first half. Brings grit, though he scored his first shot on goal was poor. I like his pressing, but when his engine runs out, he adds significant less. He is not a very special footballer. That ball on Depay should have been inch perfect, but he gives it to de Gea. We need midfielders that ánd can press like him with that mentality ánd play ball. Klaassen also missed to spot Narsingh going deep, though one other time he did give a good deep ball. Sneijder had some inch perfect deliveries. Also worked hard. He did well. I don't like his first touches these days and his dropping deep is not my thing. He will have his reasons. Narsingh was not too shabby. He did was within his own possibilities. There is not much more in store with Narsingh than what he gave in this game. He just does not have a super high ceiling. Huntelaar was bloody poor as the previous game. Fouls, never really won headers from Pique, looked clumsy on ball and could not become dangerous. Bad. Depay gives hope that something is about to happen. There is a threat thing about him. H is not too clever, his first touch is meh, but his trickery and power bring something. I love how he releases his tension with that goal of de Vrij. I also saw it when RvP scored vs Spain during the WC. He is into it. Love it. Wijnaldum. I was 100% sure he would miss his chance and he missed. I just know it. Also during the WC game vs Spain at the end he missed a giant chance. He just does that. I am not a fan of Wijnaldum in Oranje. Hope he will get replaced with another runner soon enough. Dost. I liked him more than Huntelaar now for 2 games. Seriously, give him a start if this is what Huntelaar delivers. He wins headers, brings a bit more speed, more size and maybe even passion, though Huntelaar did work hard. Might be the same. Guzman. Well not seen so much from him. He is oke filling, but wanted to see Clasie. Not payed too much attention to him. Hiddink. Looked a bit better. Lines were closer to each other and we finally beat a big opponent. Good for him. Means nothing if we do not win all games in the group now though. Not interested in this third place bullsh*t. Make it happen. Cheers
Ultimately can we not be happy with a win? A win is not an unfair result for the Netherlands today, and I would say Spain were much closer to their strongest team than the Netherlands were. Honestly I like Willems a lot but his contribution to defence worries me against the top teams. I would say our best line-up, with everyone healthy, right now would be this: Janmaat - De Vrij - Vlaar - Blind Clasie - Strootman - Sneijder Robben - van Persie - Memphis Though even here I only have Sneijder for nostalgia and his ability to come up big in important moments. Otherwise I would say Klaassen should be there. I would also really, really like to see Vejinovic called up to play until Strootman is fully healthy again.
Yeah, sure I am happy. Props to the guys. 1 thing I came back for to say: Willems gave the assist on Klaassen IIRC and also gave the pre assist to Sneijder in one time. Sure, it was all about the good delivery from Sneijder, but Willems played it again in 1 time. He also was the one giving the ball in one time to Sneijder for the Turkey equalizer that finally was made by Huntelaar with a semi deflection. No Willems was not good, yet he was in the chain of the 3 goals of these 2 games. Coincidence? He also has a bucket load assists and key passes for club. Just wanted to mention this.
The problem with Willems is that he is always at risk of conceding a goal which at this level is crucial. Look how much Depay tracked back to help out even when the Spain fullbacks were not dangerous. I don't think having Willems and Martins Indi on the left side inspires confidence. Willems offers something on offense but the question in my mind is whether the defensive liability outweighs this and IMO it does. Klaassen has been playing with a stomach muscle problem for the past two months and the only times he plays a full 90 for Ajax is as a DM and not up front as he was today. I think this is why he was spent in the last 25 minutes. Still this was a victory against a top 10 team whose players are all starters for top Euro or Spanish clubs. They were trying to win the game and just couldn't finish any chances. EDIT: Also on Martins Indi - remember how easily Pedro pushed him off the ball when he was trying to let it go over the goal line? This resulted in a dangerous chance for Spain. He also had three cross field passes that were meters away from the target and went into touch. This type of play is troubling.
Hmm, good comment. I agree about the left side. If Willems plays for attacking purposes, BMI is a risk next to him. Not good enough. Together they make is really weak on the left.
Uhm, yes he was pretty good. It was BMI who was horrible, he let Pedro go not once, but twice dammit!!!
No Willems was not good. Against an oponent with a sharp attack, we would have been down 1 or 2 -0 due to his mess ups first half. Then you don't even get to the phase were we lead or take a 2-0 advantage as it was within the first 10 minutes or so. He actually continued to misplace passes over the whole game, something he is normally good at. Even passes over 5 or 10 meters went wrong at times. No need to put it under the blanket. Can happen, but I start to suspect more with him. There is definitely a level he reaches at club and one at country and the country one is certainly not the best of the two.