Pre-match: 2022 World Cup Oranje qualifying matches

Bijlow is. He stopped a penalty by Haaland when Feyenoord played a friendly vs Borussia Dortmund and stopped two PSV penalties in the JC schaal match.

 

I'm getting all excited too.

 

Readers AD Sportwereld choice:

 

According to De Telegraaf.

Expected Netherlands XI: Bijlow; Dumfries, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Blind; Klaassen, Til, F. De Jong; Berghuis, Memphis, Gakpo

Blind over Malacia is ugh..

 

Indeed. With that being said though, I’d honestly expect this line-up too even if it’s not my favorite line-up. I’d switch Til with Berghuis, put Lang at RW and switch Blind with Malacia.

At the end of the day it’s Latvia and we ought to win regardless of who lines up against them though. Hopefully not famous last words. Lmao.

 

On the one hand, against teams like Latvia likely to bunker, Blind's passing could be very helpful. On the other hand, against those very same teams living only to counter attack, he's more likely to be exposed 1-on-1 in space. Blind remains a near-automatic choice for Ajax and for the NT; so his coaches are apparently willing to make this tradeoff.

If this is the actual starting lineup, then the fans get their way - excepting Til swapped in for Gravenberch.

 

Klaassen was very productive against Turkey. Not to mention the only goal vs. Norway. That tends to stick in the mind of the coach who benefitted. Even while Klaassen's club form has been nowhere near that.

 

I see it exactly the opposite way. Against a defensive-minded team, you need a high-flying, adventurous left back (Malacia) who can charge to the opponent’s byline and penalty box. Blind is anything but. He positions himself closer to the half-way line as he doesn’t have the speed to penetrate 1v1. The result is a net-negative, as the LW (Gakpo) would then be constantly double-teamed. We’ve seen this movie before…. Bad decision imho to have Blind as LB.

 

Agreed.. but now that you mentioned it, Klaassen will defy all odds, and bag a hattrick Which is fine by me, as long as three points are secured.

BTW - De Telegraaf line up confirmed. Til and Klaassen alongside the Maestro Frenkie.

 

All he does is get the first goal, like every time

 

Just 2 more Klassen goals...

 

Klaassen on a hattrick… just two more goals!!

 

Latvia had 2 good chances but failed to convert.

 

I guess we will see Lang in 2nd half as we need a breakthrough for 2nd goal as Latvia parked the bus.

 

Finally Blind was able to get to the byline and deliver a cross… but, ugh Gakpo, bad miss on the header

 

How many times does Memphis get the ball in the box and do absolutely nothing/ruin a huge chance?

This is maddening to watch.

 

The best defense is offense… keep the ball in Latvia half, that would do it. I hope…