VS. Match date: 06-02-2013Stadium: Amsterdam ArenACapacity: 53052Referee: Cüneyt Cacir Head to head record: (Red= Netherlands, Blue= Italy) Detailed competitive record: Detailed friendly record: Fifa ranking of both country's since it's introduction: Group position for WC qualification 2014:
And Robben replaces the injured Huntelaar.. Brilliant. He must want playing time no matter what, as he's not getting much at bayern. Lets hope he doesnt get injured from the playing time he'll absolutely get.
There's no and I mean no reason for Robben to not start. Robben should automatically start everytime. This was the perfect time to test Lens at ST that if he had it. Maybe 45 minutes of Lens vs RVP both alternating at ST position. Ola at RW, Robben at LW. Anyways I would have liked to see Van Ginkel-Strootman-Clasie ahead of Maher being selected. Good choice. Lots of deserving people selected. The first 11 is a Great Choice, I can see why Maher or Lens or the others are chosen. Having said that I prefer Strootman at DM with Clasie as DM as Strootman has a more physical presence while Clasie is brilliant on the ball and is very quick and has two good feet which can work wonders slightly higher up the field. And Vermeer ahead of Krul would have been my preferred choice.
Janmaat is decent and very offensive, vRijn is still mostly potential as far as im concerned. I expect vRijn to become a starter in the near future if he doesnt go down the vdWiel path though. Pretty excited to see this line up against a hopefully good Italy.
It's mostly fringe players what we're going to see against Italy. Van Rhijn will play when it matters. Janmaat played in the last friendly while van Rhijn took over in the qualifier. I think El Shaarawy and Balotelli upfront will prove too big a test for our makeshift defence. Hoping for a draw, but expecting a loss.
Janmaat is a pretty poor defender though. Is also less smooth on ball than van Rhijn and on top of that has a bad cross. IIRC Janmaat had to be taken off as he could not deal with aerial threats from Turkey ..... Don't remember that well, maybe another game. Janmaat at right back is a pretty big sign towards va Rhijn if there are no other reasons other than quality motivating this decision.
I am not bothered. It is just a friendly. Janmaat to me is better offensively, but is a suspect in defending... Van Rhijn is more all-around. My guess is that Van Gaal wants to get another look of Janmaat in a meaningless match, and see if he is worth to keep for the next qualifier rounds. Van Rhijn is the future, he should be an automatic starter when it counts. LB is still the area of concern to me, as usual. Not entirely convinced with Blind, though I am pleased he got the recognition. Who else are in the pipeline? I hate to see BMI 'sacrificed' in LB position, as I think he's the CB for the next decade, assuming he's progressing upwards. I am hoping (obviously) for a win or at least a well-contested draw, but I think Italy had a stronger team, just by looking at the squad selection from end to end. So tough loss is rather expected, hopefully not too embarrassing.
Italy have lost 5 friendlies in a row. Now I'm even more convinced that we're going to lose, they're bound for a win (or a draw lol). G. Buffon I. Abate A. Barzagli D. Astori D. Santon A. Pirlo D. De Rossi R. Montolivo A. Diamanti S. El Shaarawy M. Balotelli
Midfield will also get a real workout. This is a true test for the new generation and it is up to them to show they are worthy successors.
We will first have to earn it. We are on a new sheet of paper. Big test for the young players. It has been calculated that this is the youngest Dutch side in well over 90 years. Buffon has more caps than the entire Dutch starting line up. Hope the kids are up for it.
Van Gaal is making a mistake going with Janmaat. We should start van Rhijn so that we can go 3-4-3 by pushing Blind up to left midfield.
Van Gaal is the self-proclaimed best coach in the world. I'm not sure he's capable of making mistakes. Don't you know that the current success of Barça and Bayern is entirely thanks to his philosophy and the the current trainers such as Guardiola who work according to his philosophy? In all seriousness, I hope we play with Clasie as a single holding midfielder and with Strootman and Maher in front of him. That would interest me, rest of the match not so much. Maybe the development of Ola John.
H's totally right about Bayern. He took a 16 year old Alaba and played him at LB. Alaba was taken from a local competition. Muller and Badstuber were taken from the 4th Division Bayern 2 Team. Robben & Ribery as Inverted Wingers and Schweni at CM after he had failed at RW/LW. The whole idea of possession football, football from the back. having 2 good players in all positions was started in Bayern by LVG. LVG is MAJORLY responsible for Bayern's success otherwise they would still probably be an old age home hoofing the ball
Man, every time i see Buffon seeing his national anthem, i think to myself, i wish we had a player like him. Nothing but respect for him
I think we started good. Sets us up for the hammer for course, but so far we did well in the start of the game.
These first 10 minutes are already so much better than all that shit we've had to watch under Van Marwijk.