About Toivonen, I thought one of the reasons why you were after a striker is not that Toivonen doesn't want to play there but that he's contemplating of leaving? I remember him saying this in a Swedish newspaper around the same time that Afellay left and Rutten has also hinted at it this week.
Overall it was close to the same as Ajax---the Bosman ruling has really caused the Eredivisie to become a feeder league there is not enough population or TV revenues to compete-- -it makes sense to join up with the Belgian or Danish and Swedish leagues and have perhaps 6-10 top clubs in Holland in this international division that then can compete with the best with the added revenues- -because the Eredivisie has some of the best management people, player development and talent in the world This has been proven over and over---there simply isn't enough revenue the way its set up right now for our clubs to play with the giants
He doesn't like to play there and he indeed might want to leave if PSV doesn't improve. Although he said: Last year PSV accepted a 10m+ offer from Liverpool, but Toivonen wanted to stay.
What I still don't fully understand is how the top three Portuguese teams can be so successful in Europe. Country is about the same size as The Netherlands but in severe financial difficulty on the government level. They do produce some good homegrown players but I suspect that their real advantage is they still get good young South American players who want to use these clubs as stepping stones onto bigger Euro teams. I think the Swiss Ramble said as much when he wrote up FC Porto last year.
Very attractive tax-climate for football players (tax climate one of the reasons why they are in huge financiel problems), cultural link with Brazil.... Portugal is much smaller than the Netherlands, 11m vs 17m. Portugal is similair to Belgium, both 11m.
I like the formation PSV is using (for as much as that's possible of course). Engelaar central defense; Strootman, Toivonen and Wijnaldum on midfield. That's a lot of attacking football. Now Bakkal comes on.
Altidore finishes the game. First AZ chance I've seen since I tuned in at the 60th minute. 3-1 Adam Maher, another one of these Amsterdam kids who should have been an Ajacied, gave the assist.
80% of the goal was his patience to look when he should give the pass and on which height. It was really good. Didn't know he was ex Ajax. Altidore behaved like a jack*** when Pieters was just being amicable. Good he got yellow for that. Wijnaldum should have scored + should have passed to Ola. That was unforgivable, would be a goal. I am not convinced by Wijnaldum. Rutten continues where he was. Attackers that don't finish their chances. Don't know how long people will accept it and want him out.
They can certainly use him going by their game today, so there's more reason for us now to only sell him to a foreign team.
Maher was never scouted by Ajax regardless of his reputation on the streets and pitches of Amsterdam. Altidore I don't like already. Technically weak, physically overweight and mentally not right. Personally I think it would be best for PSV if they can sell Toivonen and get a proper striker.
Agree on the technical part, but typically Americans compensate for that with excellent fitness and a strong mental attitude. Altidore has always jogged around too much for my liking. He could use a bit more energy out there. Still, it's nice to see him get on the scoresheet straightaway.
That was 80% brilliance from the passer. It was strange of him running away from the passer instead of celebrating the goal together. Maybe ecstatic joy from his first goal for AZ but next time he should go to the person who gave the perfect assist. Hope he settles nicely by the way.
he probably won the striker job with that goal He has not played at all with AZ --comes in and 15 minutes later notches a goal- -I think being critical because he did not thank Maher for the pass is disingenous and smacks of an overly critical approach as my boss always says--when someone is negative when something positive happens--look for motive
It's an observation one makes after Altidor wildly pushed away Pieters like he is about to choke him while he was only nice to him. You said you didn't saw the total game, I hope you can see the incident back. It was just an aggressive action and the ref agreed with me giving him a yellow for it. Then in hind site I think it would have been nicer of him to thank his team mate because it was a sweet pass. Quality dripped off that pass. It is forgiven as it is his first goal. It was something positive for AZ and even to some extend American football. As I said, hope he settles well, but without the attitude.
Those 2 observations combined with his expectation that he will only stay at AZ for 1 or 2 years lead me to the conclusion that his mentality is not right. His lack of technical quality and the fact that he's huge seem pretty obvious.
Yeah, he does have the thought that he's bigger and better than AZ and he's using AZ as a stepping stone. I think he might want to lower his expectations... Villareal was way too big for him, a club like AZ might just be the perfect size.
The truth is AZ is using him as well and its all part of the big picture No one stays at AZ for a long time if they can make a better deal. No one stays in the Eredivise if there are bigger$ $ somewhere He's like everyone else but to be cynical about his motives after he's played less than one half is silly--he may be the signing of the summer Had this been an Ajax signing 95% of this board would have been going crazy about what a find he will be and his great potential--but becaue he's not he's seeen by this board as a carpetbagger--get real folks Had Sigi scored today no one would be questioning his motives but if Sigi does develop he will only be at Ajax for a couple of years as well--or they ditch him for a real striker if he doesn't The Eredivisie is a development league so any thoughts that a player does not want to move to the next step as some sort of horrible thing is as I said very unrealistic and to call a guy out on it after 30 minutes or to say this is where he belongs as vagegast sounds so much like the Ajax point of view that is very very prevelant Anyone else must be crap or have other motives if he does not play for the gang in Amsterdam
I'm not an Ajax fan. I'm a fan of the Dutch national team. That's where my loyalty is. I want the most optimal climate possible for the Eredivisie to develop (Dutch) players. On the spectrum of role models we have a Ballotelli at the extreme left and a Bergkamp on the extreme right. Two ends of a spectrum kids can choose from. A Ruiz, Engelaar, Ozil and maybe Kaka are good role models at the side of Bergkamp. Altidore moved a bit today to the side of Ballotelli. We can find a guy like Materazzi also on that side of the spectrum. Last year I called out El Hamdaoui (an Ajax player) when he refused to shake de Boers hand. Why can't we call a spade a spade without making someones motives suspect. Un Ballotelli ca suffit. As I said, I hope Altidore settles well and with that, becomes relax so he drops the attitude he displayed yesterday. Let's move on
Lets move on is right This will and already has given AZ and the Eredivisie little more exposure here in Canada and I'm sure it has in the USA as well--this is all good Fox Sports actually had the goals of the Sunday games starting with AZ and Altidore last night-usually this is a little later in the week
Sightorsson could have gone to Newcastle but only wanted to go to Ajax. Eriksen could be at any club in the world of his choosing right now, but he wants to stay at Ajax for his development. For players with a proper mentality it's not just about the money. Altidore doesn't even have the faintest clue of how little he knows yet. I'm not anti-any-team or anti-anyone, I'm just anti-shitty-footballers and Altidore is one. He reminds me of Evander Sno.
He wasted the formative years in the US youth system which has a special live-in academy in Florida. Far as a I can tell it's pretty useless for training young football players. He also made a crucial error in going to Villareal when it was obvious he would not get any playing time at all. I don't care what people think of Micheal Bradley, he was smart in going to Heerenveen where he played decent first team football. The sooner American football players realize they need to move to the Euro leagues that encourage good all around play the better off they will be. I would disagree with your final statement, Sno at least had some skills but didn't want to put the work in. It is not clear to me that Altidore does. The best US striker of recent years was Charlie Davis who suffered life threatening injuries in a horrific auto accident two years ago. He's just getting back to playing with my home team but it's unclear whether he will ever be the same. He really had it all, strength, speed and a quick shot.