Never mind John. It's our defenders that we need to worry about. Again, same old, same old. Italians so far a massive disappointment.
Well, that sucked. Until the whole defense is sorted out, I am afraid Oranje will stay in mediocrity for a while. Van der Hoorn is a joke. Maher has a long way to go match his hype. His game is like an on-off switch. Decent performance by Strootman and Van Ginkel. Everybody else was not worth mentioning.
I was out all afternoon and just finished watching the replay not knowing the outcome of the match. Clearly the Italian team is not very good and were outplayed for long stretches. I feel sorry for Van der Hoorn being tested so soon after he came on and not being up to the job (maybe he would have done no better had he been on for a long stretch of time). Italy sure know how to coach their youth in time wasting as the clock ran down; this makes a mockery of the sport. Sometimes the best team does not win and tonight was a classic example of it. If you cannot put the ball in the back of the net, you cannot win.
Holland isn't very good either. And Strootman not wanting to give the ball back to Italy after Caldirola was blatantly hit in the head was pathetic. Not to mention the multiple unpunished elbows. Very poor sportsmanship by Hollandaise players. You could see where that losing legacy stems from.
Whatever floats your boat. I hope the Spanish school you in simulation and time wasting antics then complain about your sportsmanship on your forum. Although, credit to them, their U21 hasn't shown that side of their game yet. They might need to against your side though; they r ready to go down for 10 minutes if an opponent sneezes in their direction.
Quite right and I think they realized that their bunker down defense and pray for a counter attack goal was the only way they could win this match. I cannot see them having much success against Spain but then strange things happen in football.
Maher can't touch the technical brilliance of those two. Hence, Verratti is a starter for one of the richest clubs in the world and Insigne is on his way as well. A proper benchmark is Isco though. Isco is 1.80m tall, which is from a Dutch perspective a better player to watch instead of the 'midgets'.
We will see, both are very young. Maher had chances to go to a bigger club but pot those down wisely. Verratti had his tints of invisbilty too but just like Maher you can see the class in his movement. Our problem more lies in that our players can't seem to form a solid stable team. Always been. But we aren't the only ones now, the German team under Löw should under all means be big favourites to win the cup next year in Brazil but Löw can't seem to mould them in the ruthless machine of the old Germany. The cold fact we must face however is that, we never were the Germany/Brazil/Italy/recent Spain of the world, we were always more the England/France/Argentina's of the world. Not direct favourites but more dark horses.
Historically we have also done much better than Portugal which is of comparable population size which is maybe a much better benchmark.
10 million vs (almost) 17 million. That is quite a difference. Population is not the only relevant factor ofc.
The good news for the Jong Oranje is that they have a year to mature and figure this out before heading to Brazil. As this will likely the last tourney for the Robben, Van Persie, and Sneijder, a first-round exit next year would be very devastating. GK: I think the options are very good, though none really stands as a "can't miss". Vorm, Vermeer, and Krul. Steke is going to EPL, good chance for him to be tested against the world-class striker. Center Defense: This is the sucky area, as it's always been. The best scenario might be that BMI and SdV will have a year to develop a meaningful partnership at the club level. I've given up hope on the old guards like Heitinga and Vlaar. Maybe there's a miracle that Bruma, Van der Hoorn, or Nuytinck will turn out as reliable option, at least to sit on the bench. Right now, none of them is worthy to mention. Or Douglas lights up fire in whichever club he ends up with. Full backs: Another area which I think is very depressing. I gave passing grades for Van Rhijn and Blind in this tourney. At the senior level, they won't be good enough. Janmaat is a good option on the right, though I think he is only a slight upgrade from Van Rhijn. Blind, however, doesn't have anybody pushing him-- really hoping that Jetro Willems makes a very strong come back and maybe Buttner somehow becomes a regular at M.U (don't hold your breath!). Center Mids: I really liked the options on the table here, I think we're in the nice position. I thought Strootman did very well in vs. Italy. Just exactly what I wanted to see.. power and dominance in midfield. If he could continue to do this, I'd have to side with LvG and consider him a force to be reckoned. The other position is contested between de Guzman, Van Ginkel, Clasie, Fer, and maybe a resurrecting Afellay. Pretty darn good option! Attacking Mid: Sneijder is the man here, although I am rather skeptical how much he can regain his excellence after months of obscurity. I don't think he will ever be ever WC 2010 good, but 75-80% of that is still better than the other options. Unless Maher makes a super gigantic leap, I don't think it's for him yet to take the baton. Vaart still has plenty in the tank, I'd suppose. Scratch off Siem De Jong. Wingers: Robben. Period. Lens is becoming a reliable option. Hopefully he's smart enough to choose his next club. (Russian league isn't exactly the most people's list!). Ola and Narsingh are nice to have on the bench. I am quite torn on Wijnaldum. Though he's not a traditional winger, I really appreciate his explosiveness and direct approach. Only one thing in his mind: attack, attack, and attack! Impressed with his ability to keep the ball, too. I think he could be a wild card here. Striker: Van Persie, 'nuff said. Wonder if he gets to keep the captain armband long term. Maybe this will take him to the next ladder (in Oranje, that's is ).
The Italians were time-wasting scum. It's really in their DNA. They would sell their own mother if that mean they were guaranteed to win the match. Maybe neccessary to be succesful in football but that doesnt mean I have to like it. But yeah, we have ourselves to blame. Should have finished the chances.