Dutch Press After The Game Might be funny to read www.vi.nl www.voetbalzone.nl www.voetbalonline.nl www.detelegaaf.nl
Well, that ain't too pretty. The first half was one of the dullest in recent memory. I thought the 2nd half was pretty exciting.
This is typically egotistical drivvel. The US was missing 5 starters. We don't have the depth after starting 11 (including a couple questionable starting selections by our coach tonight) to play high-octane game. We lost 1-0. Coulda been a tie game. That is a more than respectable result against Holland in their home, and given we are missing quality players. The quality chances were only slightly in Holland's favor (if that). If we sucked, you guys were not much better. But the result was same. 1-0. that mean's tight game. So go blow with your predictions of 4-0 and the like....
This is really just a joke. The U.S. sucked, yet only lost 1-0. I don't know where to begin here, but I seriously doubt the Dutch even understand what they are saying about their own team. From the perspectives we've seen on these boards, I'm sure of it.
The Dutch press knows exactly what it is saying. It is saying a couple of things. 1) That it underrates the US, for the most part, especially it's defensive organization (which at least the last quote shows someone understood.) 2) They overrate their own team. One of the problems with the Dutch football fans (like fans everywhere) is they believe the hype of the last result. "We slammed Scotland 6-0 we will win Euro '04." (kinda like - "We beat Germany 5-1 in Germany, we will win the World Cup!" "We beat Mexico 2-0, we're going the own the world!") Holland is constantly trying to regain the "Glory Days" and every team will be the team to do that. Of course, there is much more parity in international football these days. 3) That the Dutch were not as good as they can be, and they US was not as bad as they wanted us to be. There are some lingering problems with the Dutch side. Robben looks very good, but van der Vaart and Sneijder are not linking well together at the moment (odd for teammates.) Can Ruud generate enough as a long striker? If van der Vaart is getting through the first CD behind him and drawing the last back, yes, otherwise, it's harder. 4) The Dutch want their football pretty. Because of this, "plugger" teams like Ireland, Scotland and the US sometimes give them real problems. Because of this the biggest plugger team of them all, Germany, may give them fits in Portugal. They are worried about that game, as they should be. This team has to be able to dissect a defense like the US if they want to be able to beat Germany.
I think the Dutch reaction wasn't too far off the mark. We were very sloppy, especially in attack. Not suprisingly since half the team isn't even in season form and the side hasn't played with each other all that much over the past year.
Well, we know the US can play better and I imagine Holland can too, although I don't know much about Holland's National team.
Flan is onto a lot of good points there. There are no more consistently great teams. France sometimes, Brazil sometimes. But even those guys can look ordinary. The Dutch have enough talent to occasionally do a "oh, wow, are those guys good". International caliber soccer is mostly a cynical game, and I find it hilarious that Dutch press, Dutch posters, Euro posters like to publicly punish the Yanks for doing what the Italians (who have been very successful) and other top sides have done for decades. Its about results, and we almost pulled one...even with far less than our best out there. Don't worry, you want pretty soccer? You'll see a lot more in the future, but while we are undermanned, and playing on the road- we are going to play it conservative, and go for a result, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that...
You are right. The Dutch team does not seem to adapt well to different styles. They have to learn to be flexible. And that is what friendlies are for; to try different formations and combinations of players. Especially giving the younger stars more time on the field. Maybe they can avoid the ego crap that the older members created. As for the US side, I am totally amazed that the score ended with only 1 goal. We were missing a few key players, we are not as deep in talent. I would like to see the right mix of Donovan, Beasley, Wolff(if he can get back to form) and Mathis on the field. McBride may be past it. We definitely missed O'brien and Pope. I think Gibbs will develop when Bruce settles on a stable back line.
No news here. The U.S. is a darn decent team. A worthy opponent for any team. Not one of the handful of current/traditional powerhouses, but world-class team. Lacking much offensive flair (all too familiar to us,) but making up for it, usually, with good defense. It's basically a magic that happens where the team is much better than the eleven men, which is what you need. IMO, the FIFA ranking is justified. This is an "Any Given Sunday" team that no one can afford to write off. More than a darkhorse, but less than favorites, it is quite possible they can beat anyone in any one game in any tournament.
Friesland had it right, the Dutch should not be lulled into thinking they were as good as the 6-0 thrashing of the Scots indicated. Ruud, Makaay & the rest were made to look ordinary by center backs who play(ed) in the BL2 & Regionalliga respectively. Fortunately Robben made Hejduk his bitch and saved Dutch blushes from an embarasing shutout. Our strength is solid defensive organization & goalkeeping. Why be ashamed to admit it? That's what was so disappointing about the U-23s in Mexico, the utter lack of defensive organization. Our attack has a long way to catch up to our defense, but yet we created some good chances in the second half. Would we have stolen a result? Sure, but that's why they keep score.
Man, are you blowing smoke up the patoot of the USMNT. Yes we were missing starters - but that excuse is getting old.
Re: Dutch Press After The Game I think Keller is more deserving of accolades than Reyna. No offense to Claudio, but Kasey had some great saves.
Re: Re: Dutch Press After The Game Really? I think he only had three: Shot at his hands which he fumbled and Bocanegra cleared, low shot at the near post which he saved nicely, and then a long distance blast right at him which he spilled initially and then recovered. The only other thing I remember him doing was rushing out for a ball and just barely beating RVN to it, a play which I think was a poor decision by KK.
Not Dutch Press, but a better account of the US performance http://www.euro2004.com/competitions/EURO/news/Kind=1/newsId=145486.html
"van nistelrooij...was unfortunate to be adjudged offside before driving in after 12 minutes..." if being held back by a clearly correct call makes one 'unfortunate', then i suppose he was.
Re: Not Dutch Press, but a better account of the US performance A much more accurate assesment. Only a fool comes out and attackes Holland in Amsterdam. Especially when you have turnover machines/Armas & Hejduk on the field. Arena managed a brilliant game that should have given us a tie. We're not as talented as those guys offensivly, but we can excel defensivly with our imposing centerbacks and discplined zone, and that what we did. We played to our strength.
Re: Re: Not Dutch Press, but a better account of the US performance And Donovan, Convey, Mathis, McBride, Wolff, Reyna, etc. If we're going to play counter-attacking soccer that is fine. But we need to at least get the ball to the other end of the field on the counter attack, instead of handing it to the other team every time.
ahahhaha Am I the only one that thinks Gregg Berhalter had a great game? He cleaned up mess after mess of Frankies... Unfortunately the only one he didn't clean up resulted in the goal... I think its unfortunate that landon donovan saw so little of the ball... The dutch did a very good job of limiting our midfield and maybe if Donovan had gotten more play early in the game it might have been more exciting. Clint Mathis should have come on for Chris Armas instead of McBride. I'm really sick and tired of Armas. Otherwise, I think we did fairly well tonight. We basically marked Van Nistelrooy out of existance, Andy Van Der Meeyde was a non entity. Van Der Vaart didn't have anything special to offer... Was it just me or did Edgar Davids give the ball away almost as many times as Chris Armas? If we can ever find a two way right mid so we don't have to play this pinched formation I think we'll be fine. Part of Frankies problem was that he was all alone against Robben all night. Had there been a real right winger in front of him Robben might have had a harder time. But Bruce wants two defensive(ish) mids AND two strikers AND four defenders... so the extra guy has to come from somewhere. Cherundolo to right mid!
Have you noticed that every single Us loss you come with the exact same excuse ??? The Us were missing alot of starters, or they had a B team and the oponent had an A team !! That's soo lame !!!!
Re: Re: Re: Dutch Press After The Game What are you talking about? Since Keller barely beat a forward to a ball, it was a bad decision? So you think that if a 'keeper can't get to a ball well before an advancing forward, then he should let the forward get the ball, and try to stop the forward on a breakaway? That's a great strategy. And while I don't specifially remember the long distance "blast" you mention, in general, if a ball is coming in hard, with a lot of movement, even if it's "right at you", it's often safer to knock it down in front of you and then grab it, rather than trying to catch it directly. No, you're right, Keller had a poor game.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Dutch Press After The Game Can those who claim the US should have won it explain again why, I totally fail to understand their reasoning.