I thought this merited its own thread as there's likely to be a lot of reactions. I have to say respect for Van Marwijk. I did not expect he would do it but thumbs up to the man.
http://www.volkskrant.nl/sport/article1425670.ece/Van_Marwijk_zet_De_Jong_uit_selectie_Oranje For those of you who don't know what this is about: it's for De Jong's bad discipline on the pitch. Van Marwijk has warned him over and over again. What he did to Ben Arfa was the last straw.
He told the press that he was going to have a word with him as far back as that friendly v the US. Don' t you remember that?!
Guess not, but whatever. A statement must be made. Time for De Jong to stop being a reckless asshole and start playing some football.
I watched the BBC match of the day programm, in which this match and foul was shown. The strange thing is that they didnot spend one word of condemnation about it and looking at it it wasnot (except for the injury) a foul in the category he is notourious for. I watched the Dutch programm Studio Voetbal before that and I expected the worst after the comments of Hugo Borst in that MotD programm. But nothing at all. To make things clear, I am glad he's out of the selection, something I asked for after the friendlies before the WC. But this action of BvM looks like having weak knees and giving in on a whitch hunt by some journalists. Van Marwijk out of the Orange coaching job.
First of all, Van Marwijk's got plenty of other options for that defensive midfield position so he can afford to drop De Jong. Secondly, De Jong REALLY is a liability in that you always risk him getting sent off.
I think the coaches and referees are equally guilty here. No punishments from either. Of course, he's gonna keep doing it.
Three players had their leg broken as a result of reckless challenges in the premiership so far this season. Something is very wrong over there - and I agree, both referees and coaches are to blame. The one argument that gets me is the 'he didn't intend to injure him' one. That's hardly the point is it. It's like saying "yes he stabbed him with a knife but he had no intent of killing him". Or "yes he drove a car while drunk but he had no intent of running that child over". We all know what players like De Jong do in a tackle. They go for the ball but they also intend to take down the man. Not to injure him but to take him down. But that is precisely what's so dangerous. The speed of the game is such these days that players often do not see a tackle coming. If you do see it coming you can jump or go along with the movement of the tackle. If you don't see it coming and have one leg firmly planted on the pitch it will very likely snap. The refereeing has to be adjusted to the current speed of the game. Yellows and reds should be given to potentially harmful challenges full stop.
The English league lets players get away with too much. You see bone crunching tackles with often not even a warning from the match official much less a yellow card. Seldom to you see a straight red card. This is in marked contrast to the other leagues that I regularly watch (Spain, Holland, Italy and Germany). It was one of the reasons I was concerned when Howard Webb was announced as the match official for the WC final (you can look it up in the archives). It's funny that Webb recently said that the one mistake he made in the match was not dismissing de Jong for his karate kick. As a result players who spend time in England often cannot adjust to international matches when you have officials who call a much tighter match. I don't know if the various leagues keep track of leg injuries but I would not be surprised at all if players in the English league suffer more frequent ankle, knee as well as leg fractures. While I like watching the speed of English matches, I do not like the way violent tackles are tolerated.
Hard, fast tackles after a +2 meter run, with your leg(s) off the ground with 'studs up' should always get a card. Nigel does this way,way to often. He also adds little to nothing, in passing and playmakeing. There are other NT players that can do a better job overall.
We have other options, but nobody as good as de Jong. Can you name anyone who's equal or better?? BvM is right to drop him though, let him cool off for a bit and learn his lesson. I just hope it doesnt lead to infighting like we had between Davids and Hiddink in '96
Maybe in buildup play we have better options, but when it comes to holding midfielders de Jong is top in Holland
I am at ease with the decision of dropping De Jong, although it's no secret that I am big admirer of De Jong's tenacity and aggressive approach. Like MD said, hopefully this does more goods than harms. Hopefully, in two-week time, when the league resumes and the dust is settled, he will come back with a changed attitude.
Why would it lead to infighting? If anything the Davids expulsion helped settle things at the time, that Hiddink move clearly paid off and this Van Marwijk one might too. De Jong is a physically strong defensive midfielder and he's very good in that role but he brings nothing going forward. I would personally question that we even need two defensive mids against most opponents seeing that they typically park the bus against us anyway. To me it is downright embarrassing when we play minnows in friendlies and qualifying and still have two defensive mids in there. What is the point. It's a bit hard to criticise the Dutch NT in my view as we've lost fewer games than Spain even over the past couple of years. But if there's one thing lacking in the Dutch game it's creativity in midfield so this could be a blessing in disguise really. I say stick Afellay in that position. As an aside, I was wondering if this is a first, a national team kicking a player out for this reason?
Story of our lives innit. One good thing has come out of that world cup: the international media have finally stopped romanticising the Dutch national team. And thank god for that.
Well for one thing you could get 2 groups of players, ones that agree with Bert and ones that dont. Boula for example doesnt seem to agree with it too much (although he chooses his words carefully): http://www.voetbalzone.nl/doc.asp?uid=122595 Some players would argue Bert's decision was harsh and irrelevant because: A) de Jong never got carded B) what does Oranje have to do with ManCity?? C) we need a tough DM for Moldova & (especially) Sweden ^^ all legitimate arguments IMO
Both Van Marwijk and De Boer have repeatedly told De Jong to get his act together. This after appalling challenges in FRIENDLIES v the US and Japan notably. He then does it again at the world cup and again last weekend so clearly he doesn't give a shit. Every single player who puts on that orange shirt needs to know he's representing his country. Everything he does, for club or even off the pitch, reflects on that country. Van Marwijk does not want De Jong to represent the Dutch national team right now. I happen to agree with him. You know the worst thing about it is that De Jong never shows any remorse. He makes no attempt whatsoever at self reflection. I mean when you badly injure two players in the course of seven months, the only thing that will help you in the PR department is some serious grovelling, but he doesn't even feel the need to do that. Yet another footballer with the IQ of a stoeptegel and without anyone close to him telling him to get feckin real. You don't seriously believe we need two defensive mids v the likes of Moldova and Sweden!
Not so much Moldova, but definitely vs Sweden we do. Also I'm not against the suspensions per se, I'm just saying I hope it doesnt cause any rifts. Maybe the smartest option wouldve been just a 1-game suspension vs Moldova and leave it at that
I again have to say that Van Marwijk has gone up in my estimation quite considerably. It takes balls to take a decision like that.