I think Weghorst has really adapted well in this team (it's been only 7 caps in Oranje). Back-to-back goals.. so he is on the roll! Memphis had a difficult match v. Ukraine... hopefully it was just a one-off, and that he will be back stronger! The lingering question to me if it'd be better to have a more all-around midfielder to replace a defensive-minded De Roon (is he really needed when De Ligt is back?!?) Somebody like Klaassen or Gravenberch would really add an extra offensive punch. Though FdB would then say, we scored three goals no problem!
Not 100% sure, but I think it goes by Uefa ranking. So if Portugal finish 3rd in their group, its unlikely we'll draw them because we are ranked similar. We are more likely to get a lower ranked team. Dont quote me on that though
I agree... Memphis and Wout's opposite skill set works very well together. I think they've lacked a guy who is just there to score goals/run around like Wout (wish he was called up earlier) does. Not pretty but he's there for final product which is the biggest thing missing from this squad. It's a weird set up where it's based off of who qualifies. So if ABDF have the 4 best 3rd place records, then they're set up to face certain teams. The Wiki explains it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2020_knockout_phase
DeLigt supposedly is fit, but Stentler brings up a good point. Why risk him against Austria/Macedonia if we dont necessarily need him?? https://www.voetbalzone.nl/doc.asp?uid=389755
Flashscore has a live updated 3rd group standings page. I have bookmarked it: https://www.flashscore.com/football/europe/euro/standings/ We may even face Ukraine again
My guess is that we will see Klaassen before Gravenberch or Koopmeiners, but we will see De Roon to start in Austria. Frank may rest De Roon vs N.Macedonia. Up front 5 and goalkeeper will be the same. De Vrij and Dumfries will start. Frank is trying to determine the LB/LCB combo. That are 3 positions of starting 11 to debate, including De Ligt to play or not.
Looking at the bracket, as far as I can tell, we can't possibly meet anyone from our group again before the semifinals. (Not for every group, since e.g. Group A teams could potentially meet in the quarters). It's as wynaldaisagod has said, there's a table which shows what the R16 match-ups will be based on which 3rd-placed teams go through. It may seem complicated, but it's what they did for the 1990 and 1994 WCs, and it's pretty straightforward to work out on paper (it's what we had to do for the brackets of those Panini sticker albums from back then). You just cross out the group letters of the two 3rd-placed teams that didn't go through, and then by a process of elimination you can quickly determine the teams for all of the "1 vs 3x/y/z" matches. EDIT: forget that last bit about being able to work it out for Euro 2020 purely by crossing out letters on paper. That was possible for e.g. 1990, but since they have four possible letters for some matches (1 vs 3A/D/E/F and 1 vs 3A/B/C/D in 2020), it looks like you need the table.
You are right, I was looking at the wrong group. As far as I can tell there's a 1 in 3 chance we have to face Portugal if they finish 3rd in their group. Do I have that right?? I suck at math
I was at the match yesterday in Amsterdam and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sitting near the corner that Dumfries ran towards after the 3-2. A good performance, despite the sub-optimal 5-3-2. My choice for MOTM was Wijnaldum. There's plenty of room for improvement of course. There often seemed to be gaping holes in midfield whenever Ukraine launched a counter. They were very wasteful with these opportunities, yet still managed to score two in quick succession. I never really felt safe, even when it was 2-0 (several times I wished they had something stronger than beer in the stadium). Can only imagine how hard it will end up being against some of the teams later in the tournament. In the first half De Roon pleasantly surprised me (a few times I had to look twice to make sure it was him ). But still, playing this kind of 5-3-2 with De Roon will surely leave us very vulnerable to some of the better, faster (counter-)attacking teams. Hope they can sort this out asap. Really happy for Dumfries, awesome that he could get the winning goal after those earlier misses. Will be great for team morale going forward. On to Austria!
Yes, if all things remain equal, I believe it's indeed a 1 in 3 chance (on paper) to face Portugal in that scenario. But of course as more matches are played and certain groups get more or less likely to provide R16 qualifiers, the chances will change. If the 3rd-placed team from Group A doesn't make the cut, for instance, then the chance of playing France/Germany/Portugal in the next round would be 0% [if Holland finish first]
Defense is also very mediocre. Declan Rice is a typhical over-hyped person in midfield by the English Media & I don't like the defense (Atleast the coach benched another overhyped slow as tortoise Maguire). The point is now England is producing wingers & attacking midfielders who are quick, can dribble, pass & have good technical skills like Foden, Mount, Grealish, Sancho & Sterling (although I think Sterling is a headless chicken). Sancho is not playing as he is a BL star not a EPL star. It is more to do with the type of players. Lampard for all his goals never had amazing speed, vision, creativity & Beckham also never had top tier speed, dribbling ability etc. Very interesting to see England produce these players. Although I don't rate the team as title contenders. France has Coman, Dembele, Mbappe. Germany have Sane, Gnarby, Havertz (not in that level but look @ the type of players). Portugal have Bruno Fernandez, Jota, Bernando Silva etc. All teams have above average to great 10s & Wingers. My point is not compare average strength but to compare type of players.
This is the most idiotic post I have seen in this forum. And the person who liked this post are equally stupid. I don't want to dignify this kind of non-sensical post with a reply but I am honestly laughing at how stupid people can become !
Yea but does Depay (your best attacker) do better in as the lead ST or some-one behind the ST? I would say #2. And you probably need 1 ST in this kind of formation. I don't know. If you have Sneijder & Robben type players you can make it work. Sneijder even played DLP type positions before the defense in his last few competitive years. You also need good Full-backs who attack in a 5-3-2/3-5-2. Dumfries was very good. Hopefully PVA also adds width. You can play Klaassen or Van De Beek in a mid-field 3 because of the back 3 & because De Jong is very good sitting infront of defense. Beek will add more running. Klaassen possibly goals & assists. Klaassen's off the ball play & runs is good but on the ball he is not good enough & Van de Beek hasn't played much this year. This team needed a Nouri type player with Wijlandum & De Jong. That would have been a great mid-field.
Finland’s win over denmark has really squashed the chances of third best qualifying from Group B , so you can put a circle around that group and take them out of the equation. Belguim will definetly beat everyone and qualify as group winners whereas the rest are likely to end with 3 points unless Russia beats both Denmark and Finland and qualifiers as runner up with 6 points. if this eventually becomes the case then it will be NT vs third place of either Group D,E F the situation in Group F is most likely to be, France , Germany and Portgual, all beating Hungry, so three points each. lets say draw in the remaining games. so all three will qualify with 5 points. if it comes down wining amongst the 3, who ever wins will be in commanding position in that group. group A also looks weak as its stands , so with Group A and B removed, its highly likely NT VS 3E. Either of Spain, Slovakia or Sweden.
I wouldnt mind either 3. Even Spain I think we can beat. If that scenario happens I think we can easily make the QF
To be honest Frank de Boer has gotten a lot of hate for his 5-3-2 set up, but a lot of us have wanted this for a long time. My main complaint is that he waited until 2 games before the EU to finally try things everyone has been calling for for a long time (5-3-2, Wout Weghorst) - had he started with this earlier it could have been better ingrained in the team! That being said I think it does have potential. We need to be real about the fact that we have shit wingers and that this set up does allow us to play our best players. It's just unfortunate injuries and other circumstances have meant that we cannot necessarily field the best team. Without injuries, imagine a 5-3-2 with: Van Dijk, De Ligt and De Vrij as centerbacks. Willems as leftback (amazing crosses to better utilize Weghorst) That would have been epic. Then stretching even further imagine having Mazraoui as RB... Willems + Mazraoui would add so much actual playmaking skills to our set-up. That being said Dumfries proved his worth this last game so at the moment we can't complain about him. But man... I would want to at least give a try to this team in 5-3-2... ---------------------- Depay --- Weghorst ---- -------- Wijnaldum ---- De Jong --- Klassen/Gravenberch ---- Willems --- van Dijk --- De Vrij --- De Ligt --- Dumfries Please ignore the exact formation of those players, its hard to place it on a forum. But basically a 5-3-2 with those players.... I would want to test it with Gravenberch or Klassen instead of De Roon given the security of Van Dijk, De Ligt and De Vrij. Of course if that fails or we need extra stability we can bring De Roon back in. But these are things De Boer should have been testing in his friendlies before the Euros, then we would have at least had something to go by. Now it is just a lot of speculation. But going forward towards the WC2021, if we keep this set-up that could be a very interesting team. Then consider other players challenging for the LB & RB positions like Karsdorp, Rensch, Timber, Frimpong, Wijndal, Haps, Malacia, etc. Another thing we miss so much without Van Dijk and De Ligt is the aerial threat by set pieces. Both of those players are such a weapon and every time you see both of them go forward on a corner you know there is a decent chance you can score, especially when you add Weghorst to the mix. Sad to miss that at the moment.
You dont want to dignify the post with a reply, but can't resist the urge to post an insult to both the poster and the 3 who liked it. What a sucker are you, sir.
@feyenoordsoccerfan and @Mr.S - I don't want to see any insulting posts. You both have been warned. Next time points infraction will be awarded.
Weghorst should have been called by koeman during his time as head coach. remember what he said about De Jong's preference over weghorst under his tenure. this is what I dont like about Dutch coaches, they are too rigid to the idea of exploring other avenues. “If you really have to force something, I think that Luuk is better at it than Weghorst.” “He must continue to score like this. He must also show that he improves throughout his game and not only focus on goals. He can do even better in that. But there is no doubt that he is enormously important for his club and he has a high return. That is of course what it is all about, that is clear.” Weghorst has proven evey body wrong in just what, 3 appearence and even his inclusion has given the team more brightness and flavour (not sure of the word) to the team compared to when luuk he starts. thanks to COVID 19 as well, if not FDB would have never selected him either.also imagine if koeman would have called him back then. By now he would have been in top flight. I think its time for coaches who are flexible going word. I mean you look at Peter Bosz and how he visioned Sinkgraven to succed better at LB than in the midfield. this is the type of coaches I would like to see in future. open minded. the U21 euros also gave us a sneak peek of what’s to come in the future. it looks good but alot will also depend on transfers, transitions, individual development and off course the coach himself. the draw back for NT has not been the production of young talents but in their development and transition. you can take the Ajax dutch players for example except for frenkie and De ligt who were top notch. their development coming up the youth ranks, to Jong Ajax and in to the main squad if they make it is quiet exceptional but with time and when they move abroad , their transition spirals downwards or end up falling out of contention. (VDBeek). the forcast for the future looks the same and has to be attributed to the competitive level of eredivisie compared to other big leagues. exception here are those who are playing abroad and moving forward they should be looked at. Danjuma – Bournemouth/????? Brobbery -RB Leipziq Lang – Club Brugge Karsdorp -Roma Kluivert – Roma/Rb Leiziq Sinkgraven – Leverkusen Frimpong – Leverkusen Bograde – Hoffenhiem El Ghazi – Aston Villa Jairo Riedewald - Crystal Palace Bakker – PSG Botman – lille sandler – city Schouten - Bologna Kadigolu – Fenerbahce Van Drongelen - Union Berlin you look at this list and imagine how on earth a formidable team cannot for forged from this contingent going forward, throw in there those in the current NT and upcoming eredivisie players. frenkie, De ligt,depay,van dijk, Ake,malen,Gakpo,Boadu, stengs, off course some will be lost but talent wise if you give this players to a tactical coach like Bielsa or conte, they will be able to forge a formidable team . not a short term project but with rotation, competition and when they get to know most of the players over a roll out period. I have very high expectation for 24-26 and can see NT winning but the build up needs to start after the euros and through a good continuity of players as mentioned and above all with a good open minded coach
DeLigt supposedly is fit and rumor is he'll start against Austria. Here's my favourite lineup: -------------------------Stek---------------------- Dumfries-----deLigt-----deVrij------Aké-----Blind ---------deRoon--------Wijnaldum------Frenkie ------------Weghorst---------Depay
Sorry the 2021 version of Blind just can't make the runs needed to be a WB. PVA is your guy, though Blind could be an option in midfield for a tired deRoon.