It seems like PSG is a club in particular that doesn't give much of anything away. Fans don't really know anything about Ilestedt's or Katoto's progress. When Groenen and Cascarino missed the second Chelsea group stage match, it was journalists and not the club or its social media that directly told fans they were out because of illness. Jonker said the Dutch team were still trying to figure out the exact extent of Groenen's injury.
Chelsea is an English club and I guess the journalist you mention is too. They're since Brexit not ruled by EU laws (dunno how strict privacy laws in the UK are, but going by the shit their gutterpress puts in print not that much), so more leeway to mention that kind of thing.
No, I remember having to Google Translate the info on Groenen and Cascarino. (Later on, some English media did report on it.) I'm assuming the club did inform some media, but they didn't directly tell fans.
Yeah for example last week, the Arsenal press officer gave the press people an informal information on Steph Catley's injury status prior to the game, but there was no official comment.
Nice to see Wilms, Janssen and Roord all on the field for Wolfsburg today in CL match against PSG. Didn't see the first half but on the whole Wilms seemed to play fairly well in the 2nd, made some nice passes late; made a mistake to let that long ball bounce late. Janssen was good; got beat late, but anchored the back. Roord was active and had the chance in on goal--but Bouhaddi made a good play to come out and make the save. Hoped to see Martens in the 2nd half--but she was pulled after 10 minutes and hardly touched the ball. I don't think her replacement touched it much in the 35/40 minutes after she came in, either. Wolfsburg should have put the match away early in the 2nd, but didnt....
Generous assessment of Roord's match in my opinion. Li Mengwen technically came on for Martens, but her actual replacement was some combination of Fazer and Karchaoui, both of whom I recall getting plenty of touches.
I guess you all were right about player consent. Official communication about Diani having a fractured right collarbone; additional examinations to come. Maybe makes her red card kind of meaningless. I'm assuming Groenen has sort of hamstring injury; I was just hoping for some sort of recovery timeline.
use google translate if interested https://www.ad.nl/wk-vrouwenvoetbal...testmoment-om-te-zien-waar-we-staan~af09f59f/ Duel with Germany for the Orange Lionesses the last serious test before the WC:"Ultimate test moment to see where we stand" Duel met Duitsland voor Oranjevrouwen laatste serieuze test voor WK: 'Ultiem testmoment om te zien waar we staan’
Just saw brief highlights of today's friendly against Germany. By all accounts the Dutch played well in their new 3-5-2 formation--but they had problems finishing their chances, which ended up costing them the match in a 0-1 loss. In particular, Beerensteyn, playing the center forward position, had a horrible game. She was dire. She missed a good chance to score in the first half when she was in on the Germany keeper but unable to put her shot past the keeper. Later in the same half, Beerensteyn had a chance to center the ball to an open Van De Donk in front of the German net but she instead opted to shoot from a bad angle, missed, and the chance was lost. In the second half she had an absolute howler of a miss. She intercepted a terrible back-pass intended for the German keeper, drove in with the ball and saw the keeper come way out of her net to challenge. Beerensteyn had an easy chip over the keeper for a goal--but she waited too long and then missed again. I'm not sure if she was trying to shoot around the keeper or chip it--but she hit the low-lying keeper with the ball and completely squandered what should have been a goal. After the miss, DVD charged in and chipped the ball properly but the keeper, still 15+ yards out from her goal made a miraculous save, managing to jump and tip the ball just enough so that it hit the inside of the post and come out. No goal. DVD couldn't believe it. German scored the only goal of the game on a header off a corner. The German scorer should have been marked by Beerensteyn, but the Dutch player did not mark her and the game winner was in the net. Beerensteyn has talent but she is simply not productive for the Dutch in big games--and hasn't been in a long time--and IMO she should be benched for somebody else. Why not make Martens the striker? She can play a bit with her back to goal, if necessary, and she can run and shoot the ball. Was Marten the other forward in the front two today? I'm not sure---but you want her with the ball going in on keepers rather than Beerensteyn. Roord and Snoeijs--who has scoring talent--are other possibilities. I hope I can find a replay of this match.
https://nos.nl/video/2470698-reserves-oranje-oefenen-tegen-feyenoord-wens-van-de-speelsters Orange Lionesses reserves played against Feyenoord.
The only great chance that seemed to come from good buildup play was Beerensteyn's first chance. The Dutch should have scored at least twice though; I think Damaris' miss might have actually been the worst one, but considering the multiple great chances Beerensteyn had, she was the most culpable. Have you seen Martens lately with PSG though? She hasn't been good in my opinion. Good pass for Beerensteyn's first chance vs Germany, but I don't know how she played overall. That being said, the alternatives for the Dutch at ST probably aren't any better.
Have watched the first 55' minutes of the match. Strange to see the Dutch in a 3-back system, with Spitze on the back line on the right. She leaves a bit to be desired as a back-line defender but she was aggressive in her thinking when she had the ball--meaning looking up the field and being progressive, which was good to see. IMO Damaris was quite good in this match--as far as I've seen: good movement, some progressive passing, just a good job of marshaling the team. Roord was fine, but she's an attacking player and in the new system was in predominantly a possession midfield role. She's a good possession player but you'd like her to get some shots. Pelova was good, fun to watch, so talented with the ball. One wishes she had a bit more pace. I felt like she, like Roord was wasted a bit as a midfield wing; she can create and one would like her creating closer to the opposition goal than in the middle of the field, mostly. Casparij was OK: I like her athleticism and confidence but looked like she was still adjusting to the new formation. Ha: when I wrote the above about Beerensteyn's misses, the highlights I watched didn't include yet another good chance she had right after the opportunity that she botched when she intercepted the back pass and was too slow getting her shot off. In the next one, she makes a nice run to the left of the box and is found by Janssen; Beer is again in on the keeper, from the left, and she waits for what she perceives to be the perfect moment to shoot. Problem is, by the time she does, a defender comes rushing in and blocks her shot. Sometimes it's hard to say whether a missed chance is the result of a good save by the keeper or a good recovery play by a defender OR whether the attacking player didn't get it right. It's a little of both, often, but certainly on one of Beer's chances and probably two, she was a second late in getting her shot off. Really good goal-scorers seem to be instinctive about when and where to shoot, and not sure Beer has that instinct. You have to convert at least one of them. As for Martens, she simply doesn't seem quite the same player she's been in the past. She was active, had 3 shots in the first half--one of which, her best chance, she skied over the goal; another was a weak left-foot attempt, and a third was an on-target strike off a free-kick deflection; the ball was well-placed by didn't have enough oomph to trouble the keeper. She wasn't playing in her accustomed wide spot on the left but rather more in the middle of the field in the new set-up, so a bit hard to evaluate her play, but she seems a bit worn down physically. Not a lot of burst, not physical enough--I mean, she's never been a physical player, but now she's seems a bit fragile. She's had a lot of injuries. Her pass setting up Beer in the first half was sweet. It will be interesting to see if Jonker sticks with the same 3-back formation tonight. I think he said that Brugts would be available tonight. We'll see if and where she plays. And he'll have additional personnel and formation decisions to make when Groenen returns.
Spelled Spitse's name wrong above! Dutch did a lot of good things in this match against a good Germany team--there are reasons to be encouraged. Just didn't put the ball in the net and lacking a bit of cutting edge up front. Janssen and Van der Gragt were excellent, Damaris impressed me---and IMO Berger just made a nice save on her shot off the bounce. Berger made two goal-saving stops in the second half. What can you do? DVD looked extremely fit and was playing hard still at 90. Jonker had Roord and Pelova playing higher last 15 minutes and that made the The Netherlands more dangerous. Of course by then the Dutch were pushing forward and leaving themselves more vulnerable to the counter--and Germany almost scored late on a counter when Wilms was ball-watching in the box instead of picking up a trailing runner who shot the ball off the post. I think Roord would have had a good chance to score after DVD received a nice pass and made a run to the right side of the box. Roord trailed down the middle--but she trailed behind Beer and directly behind a German defender when she should have veered into the open space a few steps to her right. Had she done that, she would have had a good one-time chance off a good centering/cut back pass from DVD. As it was, when she collected the pass the defender was in front of her and she couldn't get a shot off. The team is solid, IMO, but needs more threat besides Beer up front. Playing Poland tonight....
https://www.soccernews.nl/news/oranje-leeuwinnen-komen-na-achterstand-terug-en-winnen-van-polen/ Oranje Leeuwinnen komen na achterstand terug en winnen van Polen Jordi Smit 22:21 11 apr 2023 Orange Lionesses come back after falling behind and win against Poland Orange Lionesses at a disadvantage Early in the first half, the Netherlands fell behind. Daniëlle van de Donk changed direction on a shot, so that the ball suddenly found itself in front of Weronika Zawistowska. For her, it was only a breeze to get Poland to 0-1. However, the Orange did not get upset and continued to play its own game, which resulted in the equalizer. Lieke Martens gave a cross to the outstanding Lineth Beerensteyn who seemed to bring the 1-1 on the scoreboard. She didn't get the goal in the end, because it was Ewa Pajor who scored an own goal. Excellent second half Shortly after half-time, Beerensteyn was allowed to score a goal and the Netherlands were 2-1 up. She was also important at the 3-1, delivering a cross to the scoring Lieke Martens. At the end of the match, it was Jill Roord who scored her team's fourth goal to make it 4-1.
Interview with Beerensteyn: https://www.trouw.nl/sport/persoonl...eyn-weet-dat-ze-vooruit-moet-kijken~b592fa8d/ Lineth Beerensteyn in de wedstrijd tegen Duitsland, vrijdagavond in Sittard.Beeld Pro Shots / Remko Kool InterviewVoetbal Persoonlijk verdriet? Gemiste kansen? Spits Lineth Beerensteyn weet dat ze vooruit moet kijken InterviewFootball Personal grief? Missed opportunities? Striker Lineth Beerensteyn knows she has to look ahead
That is sad news, but not surprising. She's been absolutely stalwart for the Dutch NT, a force in the back who plays hard from start to finish, but she's 30 now and a fairly big woman, so she's probably feeling the years. I suspect this WC will be the last international tourney for Spitse as well; she's 32 and surely close to retirement, and Martens may not be long for the game, either. She's also 30 now and had a lot of injuries the last 3 years--not the player she was in her prime.
So the group from Euro 2017 is losing a lot of its pieces. How do you see Dutch NT in the years ahead? The replacements can reach the same level of the team who won the Euro and was finalist at the WWC?
When one compares the "pond" these 2017 players were harvested from with the current "pond", the current one has increased dramatically because of the growth of girls going into football after the succes of the Orange Lionesses. So in theory there's more chance to see likewise quality players pop up.
Yes, if we look at the young players now making their mark on the Dutch NT, fans have to be encouraged: Goalkeeper Van Domselaar (23), Brugts (19), Egurolla (23), Pelova (23), Casparij (22) all are on their way to becoming very good players. Some are there already. The big challenge is finding a couple of talented scorers to match the talents of Martens and Miedema. Miedema is still only 26, and so has a few years of her prime left, though she has played a ton of football over the last few years and her goal scoring is down--mostly because she's been playing as a 10 for Arsenal the last couple of years. I believe she's only on a one-year contract with the Gunners that expires at the end of this season. It will be interesting to see if she extends again with Arsenal. Frida Maanum, age 23, has been very good in the 10 spot for Arsenal this year. It will be hard to bench her, but then where does Miedema play? Will Blackstenius remain the starting striker? It's possible Maanum could move into Little's 8 spot at some point. Little just resigned with the Gunners, and she's great--but she's 32 now and had a lot of injuries the last 2/3 years. She's now out for the season with a bad hamstring. Worth watching.
The Dutch have already had to cope without the scoring ability of Martens in the last three major international tournaments. Miedema also didn't score that well in 2019, and she didn't score at the last Euros. (She was ridiculously good at the Olympics though.) We'll see if Kalma and Leuchter can ultimately reach an elite scoring level. The short-term hope for the Dutch is that Beerensteyn will become a clinical scoring threat this summer.