World Cup 2018 Qualification

Rene Meulensteen

 

Rene Meulensteen.

 

But first get rid of Bert Van Oostveen.

 

I can't decide anything but I would do a reboot.
First: A balanced midfield with a DM a CM and an AM
Second: Defence needs a total revolution with the exception of de Vrij
Attack: It seems we can't score in any way. Lately the only players who seemed to be able to do something were Huntelaar and van Persie, I would use both, with Robben obviusly. Despite they are ageing they are still our best players.
This may be my asset:

-----------------------Huntelaar---------------------
van Persie-----------Sneijder------------Robben
---------------Blind-----------Pröpper--------------
Pieters----van Beek-------de Vrij-----Karsdorp
------------------------Cillessen----------------------

 

I agree. We can forget about WC 2018 if they do not change. It looks like they are not moving away from direction that they are heading (http://www.football-oranje.com/knvb-director-blind-must-stay/ and http://www.football-oranje.com/danny-blind-i-want-to-remain-netherlands-coach/). The sad thing is that they do not apologize, admit that fix/change is required, no showing of humility at all.

 

This paragraph from Van Oostveen saying it all: "We have started a process together where we now know that everything that could go wrong did from game one until the last game. Symptomatic of the whole qualifying round. But we also know what we are doing. We have taken the risk to say that we begin with this staff. This staff are not only tasked with renewing a team but also molding a team for the future. The national team is following the trend of (Dutch) club football that has not been doing well for a long time. We take responsibility and that’s why this staff must stay."

From Sun Tzu's Art of War: It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.

Looking at our records vs Iceland, Czech Republic and Turkey (the crucial 0-3 match where we only need a tie or a win) I don't think Van Oostveen and Blind even know themselves what they have, let alone how to use them.

 

So, the knvb is going for Seedorf it seems (of course its a rumour till now) but lets see what's in store

 

Exactly what we do not need. We need Foppe de Haan. The kids need instructions.

 

For god sakes, not Seedorf please

 

For the supervising position?

 

I don't really care that much right at this moment who comes in if it has to be an immediate appointment (hopefully temporary) as long as the current group in control get the boot.

 

Let Seedorf lead the UN or something. He has a lot of charisma, is a nice guy among other qualities, but no way I trust him to be a good methodological instructor that gets the basics right again with a young inexperienced group. He creates a good atmosphere, but we need so much more.

 

Blind seems to think its going to be easy:

http://m.telegraaf.nl/telesport/article/24622403/plaatsing-voor-wk2018-wordt-makkie

 

Blind? Or the writer of that article?

 

That article is ridiculous. I'd be embarrassed to put something like that on the internet.

 

I didnt read it properly, so yeah I guess Telegraaf thinks its gonna be a makkie.

Either way its a stupid opinion

 

How good is Ron Jans? Remembered him playing some nice attacking football when he managed H'veen some time aga... had a trio of Dost, Narsingh and Aissadi upfront. I think he's been pretty decent with Zwolle too, is he not?

 

At this point in time I think it is more to do with the players rather than the coach. Supposingly if Van Gaal would have continued after the WC, would he had achieved what Hiddink and Blind couldn't do. With Robben injured in most of the qualifiers I don't think so should he had continued with 3-5-2. The WC for NT was just about one man and just one man, Robben and that whom Van Gaal built the team around. Without him that formation wouldn't have flourished.

Under Blind and Hiddink the midfield weakness only came under limelight when Robben didn't play meaning less ball possession, which usually is in the favor of NT when he is around. The balance shifts and this is where the work rate in midfield increases due to more defending .

This was where the it went all wrong. Blind, Wijnaldum and Sneijder were all defensively average and left the backline exposed and the rest is all history.

To make it sort and simple, reinforce the backline with midfield players who fit the position discription and have separate line players to lead the attack. End if story NT will be back on track in no time.

 

Rule#1 we have some time on our side to sort this mess out.
Rule#2 not sure here, but I'm not confident in Blind.
Rule#3 it's sad to say but "out with the old and in with the new or uninjured/recovering from injury"

 

Right, actually some people don't realize how much Robben helps in the ball possession. The only dutch player that can keep it 5 sec on his feet.The team can't play as bad as they've done lately when he is on the field, they feel they have a reason to play for. They know where to give the ball everytime. We started great against Iceland before he goes out. Robben is even more important than Messi or Ronaldo in this aspect, he is just always present. I still have that picture of the selfish and non effective player he was before 2010 and sometimes I was a bit hard on him but he really improved in his passing, decisions, teamwork...

Talking about the midfield, it's sure we lacked presence. Physically first, Blind is 180cm, Wijnaldum 175 and Sneijder 170. And none got Nigel's body type.
Blind runs a lot and can retrieve some balls but he doesn't really have a presence with/without the ball. He will always be a kind of shadow player. Wijnaldum even worse. You just barely see him. Sneijder has never had presence, he is a 1/2 touchs players, keeping the ball has never been a strong a point for him.

I read some people saying it's useless to have players that can keep the ball if you can rather play with few touchs like Spain has done so well last years. The difference between Spain and Holland is that Xavi or Iniesta could keep the ball 10 seconds without to lose it if they wanted to. Xavi always had a fantastic ball protection and was able to turn quickly with his feet. Iniesta a great ball control and could get past players without even accelerating. Those players could play a quick tiki taka or keep the ball if they wanted to. They really could chose.
When Sneijder or Wijnaldum play quickly, it's because they can't do anything else with the ball. It's not tiki taka, it's getting rid of the ball, it's a despite sign. They both have a bad ball protection, and an average ball control.Depay tries to keep it at times but he is just messy with the ball, poor ball control as well, ends up losing it very easily. It's actually better when he crosses without dribbling like he did last games.

Actually as much as people can criticize Afellay on some of his actions and poor decisions, he does have a good ball control and a presence with the ball. He gets it, turns with it, asks players around for 1/2 combinations, eventually tries to get past an opponent after...The team had a better ball possession in the games he started as midfielder.

How many players able to keep the ball do we have ? Very few, let's not even not talk about the strikers. How big is the difference between Ruud and Huntelaar/Dost/Luuk in this aspect...

 

Lack of movement off the ball would help all phases of keeping possession by creating options and space for others, and that is a HUGE issue.

The Forwards other then Depay and Robben just do not have the ability to stretch opposition backlines. Van Persie and Huntelaar are too slow, and finished at this level.

That said, we obviously miss our true World Class player in Arjen badly and that is no suprise. Memphis has been predictable to play against during these qualifiers. He needs to clean up his game moving forward. He MUST bring more and hopefully as he gains experience at ManU this will benefit Oranje.

Playing Daley Blind in midfield brings no speed or energy to the game either. Although I am not a fan of him he is a good passer of the ball, and reads the game well at times, but the truth is he often gets exposed for being average to poor athletically, and despite this, the reality is he will walk into the team somewhere especially as Daddy is Coach. UGH!

Sneijder can run a mf with his range of passing still but he needs more help. I Love him, but he has little time left at this level. We need to develop another option sooner rather then later. I know, I know its not easy to do.

Wijnaldum will run and has that dynamic movement that the mf needs, but he won't shine if Oranje continue to play so slow imo.

Wingbacks like Janmaat and Willems will help speed up play and add help to the attack, but they need to use better judgement and timing and improve their defending.

In general our poor defensive play needs quick fixing too obviously. Our defenders switching off in general needs to stop. I still cannot believe the first goal conceded at Turkey with a simple through ball cut open the backline like they were U12 schoolboys. Piss poor that was. Distribution from our centerbacks is not good enough and generally its longball too now. Wtf is that all about?

Defensive shape must be tighter and more compact without the ball at ALL times end of story. If our central defenders continue their shite form we are in big trouble, and of the current list of candidates they need to be protected therefore we are looking at a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Coaching philosophy needs a real change to the current mentality. Simply put is to play proactive in all phases of the games and not reactive. Proactive is bright, alive, fast, and entertaining as well. Sadly we have played reactive which is slow, afraid, lost, and 2nd best.

 

The CB's look also so poor as the midfield is so poor defensively. Mulder (analyst on Dutch TV) said it right during the Czech game. We do not defend as a collective. How that is not emphasized more I don not know. This is especially something what a coach should do. Blind simply failed at the basis level. That is why we should be careful not to over analyze. Yes there are many things to fix, but a lot also has to do with simple bad organisation. If Oranje would play more compact, we would have looked a lot different. Go watch the Colombia game and then any game under Blind. This is something any team can do. If we do not, then the coach is the primary reason for that, even when the team does not do it and he has given clear instructions. Apparently they think they can do that to him or think they can get away with it.