Well. That kid Bogarde is on another level. So good on the ball and smooth passing. Really nice Fk from Hoever. Not impressed with Taylor. The player that is taking my breath is actually Hansen from Ajax. Damm that winger is good.
Stupid kick by Raatsie right to the Italian striker and deservedly punished. Unuvar is good at this stage and is not even 16 yet. Taylor was better than against Spain but not sure if he can make it at Ajax; seems just too slow on decisionmaking. Rensch is another good player and just turned 16.
I don't know what people were watching with Taylor...he kept the flow going all game, controlled the tempo, distributed the ball well, and his passing was always on point. He also was very, very good off the ball. He shows the awareness on the field of a professional already and I think he's one of the most likely of this team to make it as a pro. Like I said before...Netherlands were just on a different level to this Italian team...could have easily scored 8, and that was with Unuvar on the bench for most of it who is already one of the best players at this level. Would have rather seen France vs. Netherlands. Bogarde was incredible; he really impressed me in this tournament. Hansen finally had a really good game because he was pretty underwhelming for his talents. I was a bit disappointed in Brobbey but he also looked a little tired...he's played a lot of football this season. Maatsen has been a revelation in midfield as opposed to his 'natural' position at leftback and I hope he continues there. All in all a completely deserved win. The scary thing to think is that despite winning the u17 Euro 2 straight years it looks like next year's team is going to be even better than the previous two. The future is very bright for the Netherlands for sure.
Well, I don't think there's as big depth in '03 as it is in '02, and I wonder if Unuvar will play the next year considering he's a champion already with Rensch. But that's another great team in the making for sure in full strength. This year's team has ridicolous depth, in most cases there are 5-6 good or great talens and complementary players in even championship level team - in this team, basically every player looks like potential international player and that's not overreaction.
I agree about the depth but '03 has some really special talents if Unuvar stays (and I think he will play again). There will also likely be some other stand outs that emerge between now and the next tournament. Still, like you say in this team in particular almost everyone looks like they could be a future international (of the starting XI I like all of Hoever, Bogarde, Rensch, Salah-Eddine, Maatsen, Taylor, Unuvar, Hansen and Brobbey. Taabouni and Bannis have talent but I don't know that they have what it takes for the next level. His nephew.
Nephew. And amazing prospect, he was considered to be the best Feyenoord's prospect but suprisingly he left Netherlands not to best english clubs which were interested in him, but to Hoffenheim.
The calm that Bogarde put into plays is speechless for his age. Really good ball control, handling and vision. Made a couple of mistakes but he is indeed very talented. Kinda reminds me a little bit to Kongolo. I hope he reaches the very top.
Stupid move to Hoffenheim, while with a little bit of patience because of our CD couple becoming too slow and too old and with a coach who was a world class CD coming, he could have been Feyenoord's de Ligt next season.
The Netherlands became the first team to retain the U17 or U16 title twice (in 2011 and 2012 they beat Germany in both finals; in 2018 and 2019 they beat Italy in both finals). Just for fun, I researched the U17 squads that won the title in 2011 and 2012, and here are the starting line ups, respectively: 2011: Boy de Jong (GK), Daan Disveld (C), Terence Kongolo, Karim Rekik, Jetro Willems, Kyle Ebecilio, Yassine Ayoub, Anass Achahbar, Tonny Trindade de Vilhena, Memphis Depay, Nick de Bondt 2012: Nick Olij (GK), Djavan Anderson, Riechedly Bazoer, Jorrit Hendrix, Joris Voest, Thom Haye, Nathan Aké (C), Rai Vloet, Tonny Vilhena, Jeroen Lumu, Queensy Menig. Basically from the two winning teams, three players (Memphis, Vilhena and Ake) ended up as regulars in the Dutch senior team. A bunch of fringe players (Kongolo, Rekik, Willems, Bazoer, Hendrix), who made debut for the senior team, but never really hold their spots nor made any impact. The rests are who-knows-where. That's a pretty low "return" and shows how difficult it is to predict future success based on early (u17) wins. Not to rain any anybody's parade... Congrats Dutch u17 team!!
The same thing can be said of the two back to back U21 championships in 2006 and 2007. 2006 Vermer; Tiendali, Vlaar, Lurirink, Emanuelson; Aisatti, de Zeeuw, Schaars; Hofs, Huntelaar, Castelan 2007 Waterman; Zuiverloon, Kruiswijk, Donk, Pieters; Maduro, Drenthe, de Ridder; Bakkal, Rigters, Babel Huntelaar is the only one of this bunch who had an outstanding career for club and country.
What is fascinating is that Gravenberch and Ihattaren could have played this competition,they were born both in 2002. Maybe they will be selected for the World Cup. I really enjoyed Maatsen: his ability to break lines and his dynamism are impressive. Taabouni and Unuvar are technically very good. Bogarde and Rensch (who has just signed his first professional contract with Ajax) are also very good. I think this team was more complete than last year, much more technically talented.
I was gonna post something similar. I hate to break it to you guys, but historically very few U17 players go on to become great players. The problem is many guys peak at around age 18 to 20, and then they dont become much better
What is cool with Wikipedia is you can key in 'year' UEFA U17 and pull up all the results and teams. The 2015 U17 team didn't even make it out of their group and here are some of the players: de Ligt, de Wit, Bijlow, Fosu-Mensa, van Drongelen, Eiting, Dilrosun, Malen, and Peeters. de Ligt captained the 2016 team that lost to Portugal in the semis. Go figure.
Yes you're right this is one of the big problems of Dutch football. We are the best up to 17 years, but after the players are down. We often perform poor results in u19.
Yes, I remember. I had at the time exciting exchanges with DRB300. There was in this team Justin Kluivert, Tahith Chong, Ferdi Kadioglu, Donyell Malen. I said at the time that the players had been physically outclassed by the Portuguese. I feel that we have made progress on this front. However, I would be surprised if Unuvar, Redan, Gravenberch, Brobbey, Bogarde did not become very good players at the highest level.
Just checked and this thread started back with the Euro U17 in 2012!!! Good set of comments can be found within.