When defending the lead, you need speed for counter attack which Weghorst does not have, but there is no one else in the bench. Malen also disappointed. That performance vs Spain was an anomaly.
Before the match: Ronald Koeman is going to do it differently: from square to triangle Ronald Koeman has abandoned his regular way of attacking against Lithuania. The national coach of the Dutch team opts against the weak opponent for a formation with only one controlling midfielder. Water is wet, grass is green and Ronald Koeman plays with a square in midfield. In both periods of Koeman as a lord of selection, he goes for the same attack plan almost every game. He tries to create an extra midfielder by bringing a winger to the centre. In most games under Koeman, that is the right forward, who makes room for a storming Denzel Dumfries. After the draw against Poland (1-1), Koeman is abandoning that stability.
I think we were very lucky not getting a penalty against us. In my opinion, Virgil kicked the nr 22 against his ankle just before the bal clutched it's way to his team mate, who forced Verbruggen to a save.
We're just at the kick off phase of leagues with a couple of matches played, but the energy level displayed by the players might make you think we were in the final stage for the leagues and the UEFA cup competitions. This was playing like Ajax and PSV did last weekend (against similar low rated teams) and we almost got those results too.
Memphis was clutch, Gakpo was threatening. The rest of the squad was mediocre. Reijnders was supposed to be the man in the engine room with Frenkie and Gravenberch out, but unfortunatley he had probably his worst game in Oranje shirt -- he was a ghost throughout. De Vrij should retire (he didn't even start for Inter anymore!) -- so slow and indecisive in possession. He was clumsy giving away the free kick for Lithuania's second goal. J. Timber coming on in the second half for De Vrij was a good move. Schouten also played way too conservatively, especially against a team that's parking a bus. Malen was an enigma. Not sure why he kept going inside and crowded the box, he should have used his speed to run to the byline and opened up the pitch. At any rate... win is a win! 3 points in the bag. Top the table, equal point with Poland with 1 game to spare. International matches in September seems to be always rough as players are not in their top gears yet. October round will be better!
What a frustrating match today, because of Koeman’s lineup and tactics once again just not good enough, but first Congratulations to Memphis who is the leading goal scorer in Oranje history scoring twice. Like him or not it’s a very impressive accomplishment considering some of the massively talented, legendary players that have played for us. Both goals were nice, and the first one, early in the match had a nice team celebration, that had me thinking it was going to be a heavy beating of the Lithuanians. I was wrong. I should note that Memphis was inside the box on both goals after his mindless play on Thursday vs Poland with him dropping into Midfield, or drifting wide which apparently was discussed by Koeman to stop doing I’m guessing or hoping is the case. So anyway Oranje go up 2 nil as Q. Timber got a scrappy goal, but before the half Lithuania got back into the game after some very poor defensive play from the Dutch allowed them to level the match at the half. More on those specific goals conceded later. Second half Oranje take the lead again with a fantastic Memphis header, but it was an ugly way to end this latest round of qualifiers. Some quick player notes. Verbruggen could do nothing about either goal Dumfries had the game winning assist, but not a great night for him which is unusual because of his often strong performances for Oranje De Vrij got the start which was shocking considering his lack of playing time with Inter, and to say he was poor would be an understatement. First goal saw him backpedaling rather than step to the ball, and he gave away the second with a useless foul that the hosts converted via a header off a free kick that Oranje decided not to defend. In short De Vrij can’t run and is very shaky. I get giving Van Hecke a rest but De Ligt or J. Timber need to play. Virgil looked shaky when Oranje faced the counter attacking Lithuanians. Oft injured Nathan Ake got the start for Van de Ven which is fine considering Ake’s generally solid play, and the fact that Micky is often injured himself. Schouten as the 6 had a rough match with shaky looking play on the ball, and just being too slow. Looked especially pathetic losing ball which led to the first goal, and somewhat lazy and sluggish attempting to recover. Q. Timber got the second goal, but he’s sloppy on the ball, and didn’t show much on the night, and I was quite surprised to see him play the full match. Reijnders a World Class Box to Box 8 was the # 10 tonight and didn’t get involved much. Malen got the start at the problematic right wing spot, but couldn’t establish himself which had a lot to do with a lacking cohesion with Dumfries tonight who just didn’t combine well with the attacker. He did score a goal in the second half that was wrongly disallowed for a very soft foul. Memphis Man of The Match with the record and the game winning goal tonight. Gakpo was once again the impetus for the Dutch attack had the first assist and later hit the bar showed that he’s looking very assertive with his attacking play. Subs J. Timber came on for the awful De Vrij and was very solid. He should have started after Van Hecke’s rough night on Thursday. Van de Ven for Ake was solid but unspectacular. Steijn for Reijnders didn’t show anything special during his first cap. De Ligt on late had some solid defensive contributions which was nice to see. Weghorst came on and managed to give the ball away his first 2 touches and 4 times in total should simply never be called up again. Koeman has managed to really make himself look completely clueless with his dumb lineups, shaky tactics, and a propensity to play slow players like De Vrij & Schouten who struggled mightily tonight, but also dismantle and destabilize the midfield, which was just very poor especially defensively against the counter attacking hosts who are ranked a lofty # 143 in the World. God help him and help us Oranje supporters.
74128 https://www.ad.nl/voetbal/uitblinke...-zich-mijn-naam-nog-lang-herinneren~aa31d6c6/ Standout of Lithuania sneers at Ronald Koeman: 'He will remember my name for a long time' Despite the narrow defeat against the Dutch (2-3), Gvidas Gineitis left the stadium on Sunday evening with a broad smile. The star player of Lithuania almost helped his country with a goal and an assist to a huge stunt. And that while national coach Ronald Koeman could not come up with his name beforehand. "They have a good player from Torino, but forgive me that I don't have his name ready," said the Dutch national coach beforehand at a press conference. Words that had also been noticed in the Lithuanian camp and provided extra motivation. "It's always nice to score a goal. A year ago in Serie A, I scored against both AC Milan and Lazio. It seems that I am good at playing against good teams," Gineitis said after the match against Lithuanian media. To then give a sneer to Koeman: "I think he will be able to remember my first name and last name for a long time now and that he also knows how to pronounce them."
The scorer of the 2-2, Edvinas Girdvainis, in his own words, got his wrath towards a Dutchman. "Virgil van Dijk, who had already went forwards a few times, said: 'I will score against you later', but at the next attack I scored a goal myself." Although the Dutch eventually came out on top due to a hit by Memphis Depay, Lithuania was proud of a good performance. "If there is a lot of fans, we can apparently do something extra," Girdvainis summarised. "It provides extra motivation. If you are tired and you hear the cheers of the fans, then you get up again and fight." Seems to me clear what went wrong, an attitude of superiority with some(?) players and a coach not ready to squash that in the locker room.
Nuno has been released from Nottingham Forest. He did very well with Forest last season. He would be a better candidate to glue the team together.
It clearly evident that Frimpong’s cutting edge effect was missing in the game and again this has been debated before and I’m saying this again you have to inject that cutting edge in this lethargic team which is going up and down , up and down. I really don’t understand why koeman doesn’t rotate lang and gakpo to point where it become evident who is more effective. The cutting edge that lang brings is more effective to that of gakpo. It’s well known which type of games gakpo will be effective in or will score. This hasn’t changed in last how many tournaments or qualifiers. Why drag with him mahn. I mean consider how long it took for Frimpong to eventually get that opportunity to take that Centre stage in the team and boy it was a big one. It’s the Dutch coaches who want to defied odds and by not changing their approach especially when it not working. It’s only during injuries that he is forced to make changes and that’s when he is proven wrong. Timber and Frimpong is way to go. But koeman sticks to dumfries because he gets goals but he doesn’t wasn’t to consider what happens to him in later stages when he get nullified vs bigger team. It’s so depressing and then he goes for that dirty luck fluke tatic leading to pks. What NT needs is what ancelloti is doing at Brazil and tuhel at England
We have a decent goalkeeper, 3 world class defenders (Dumfries, Van Dijk, Ake) 1 of the top midfields in the world (De Jong, Gravenberch, Reijnders) and one good wingers (Gakpo). With the right complement players, young and hungry to prove players and a fast tempo, and of course the right coach this team can be a contender for the World Cup. Instead we have Koeman who is very comfortable with the squad he has, with the opponents in his qualifying group. Maybe this team has no issue to qualify but lifting the World Cup seems to be a distance now. The last 2 performances are as bad as those under Blind/De Boer time. So difficult to watch, let alone enjoy.
74477 Problem with Koeman is, that he doesnot make own judgement of players. He goes the safe route just selecting those at clubs he's familiar with and thus goes by their choices, Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord. Or he selects them the moment they signed a contract with a foreign top club. So he's taking the lead presented by others, not making choices on his own. He ignored Emanuel Emegha at Strasbourg, but you can bet he will select him, now he has been given the Chelsea sign of approval.
Van dijk yes, the rest no where no way. World class vs average teams only. It is what it is. You can’t run away from the facts. Apart from Van dijk, very player is replaceable in the team.
I have No idea what you’re watching, but you truly have no clue when it comes to evaluation of talent. Consider the fact that you get almost zero replies to any of your broken views that you post. It’s just garbage man.
I think it is time to move on from De Vrij. There are so many options there, De Ligt, Van De Ven, Botman, Van Hecke... It is too bad that Timbers - Dumfries does not work well or else Dumfries can be tried as RW if other players are not available.
Do we really know for sure what truly works with whom? That’s the biggest question Koeman must figure out with each and every training session being critical to the particular tactics and his starting XI that he will use. There are plenty of options available, but it would appear that Verbruggen, Dumfries, Virgil, Frenkie, Reijnders, Memphis, and Gakpo would be pretty much locked in starters. Of which Dumfries at RB has become very important with his physical athleticism, but he’s limited technically and doesn’t necessarily link up with the “so called” Right Wing or Right sided Forward being either Xavi, Frimpong, or Malen as we’ve seen the lacking fluidity on that side being problematic because Dumfries is constantly bombing up the right side each and every match. It’s going to be very important to get this balanced out as Dumfries has been probably the most reliable & productive Oranje player for a few years now, but his getting forward so often causes the team to lose its shape defensively especially against counter attacks. Koeman has been stubborn in so many ways trying to retro fit Memphis playing as our Striker, or playing the often injured Nathan Ake or Micky Van de Ven at Left Back despite both of them playing normally as a Left CB, which of course Captain Virgil plays Always. Recently we see Frenkie and Gravenberch playing together in a deep midfield position, which has not been a smooth looking tactic despite them both being World Class players. There is also Reijnders playing as a #10 despite being one of the best players in the world as a box to box #8. Big decisions for Koeman to figure out.
Mexx Meerdink has been called up for the Dutch national team. The AZ striker, who has not received an invitation before, has been included by national coach Ronald Koeman in the selection for the next two World Cup qualifying matches. Quilindschy Hartman is also one of the 24-man selection. The defender of Burnley played his last international match almost two years ago. Compared to the previous international period, Steijn, De Ligt, Lang and Koopmeiners. Depay and Weghorst recently struggled with injuries, but have been called up. The Orange Squad will play on Thursday, October 9 in Ta'Qali against Malta and will meet on Sunday October 12 Finland in Amsterdam.