Dutch will be defensively solid and have a great MF. The path to victory will be a lot of 1-0 wins. Big issue will be the heat in North America during the matches.
77446 The 3 rather weak hosts will take spots from top countries in the number 1 pot. So, given FIFA's/Infantino's urge to trvmp kiss ass, and most likely manipulate the draw to give him an easy group, we could end up having a powerhouse/normal top 10 country in our group. Given that pushing down of 3 teams to a lower pot than their actual strength also affects normal pot 2 and pot 3 teams, in a worst case scenario we might be confronted with AND a normal pot 1 team AND a two normal pot 2 teams (one normal pot 2 teamAND a normal pot 2 team, but pushed into pot 3), etc.
77892 Frimpong (hamstring) and Gravenberch (ankle) injured and not clear if they're available against Poland on November the 14th.
77942 Nope, zero chance. Would mean another puzzle piece for the midfield. A tiny weenie litle chance if for some reason Frenkie would be absent.
Slot gave an update on both… Frimpong (hamstring) looks pretty serious, he won’t be available in the next couple of weeks. I think he will likely miss Oranje matches. Gravenberch is a better news. He hasn’t been completely ruled out for this weekend’s match (he may be able to play!) - he has 3 weeks or so to recover fully for Poland match.
Koeman can try Kluivert Reijnders De Jong or Kluivert De Jong Schouten. Noa Lang, although not getting much playing time, can be a decent call up to replace Frimpong. He should be hungry to prove. If he does not step up, then his chance for the World cup will be affected.
78191 How a (once) respected footy magazine descends to the level of Scoreboard journalism: 'Zian Flemming is ten games away from the World Cup with Orange' Zyan Flemming scored two goals ...against Wolverhampton Wanderers..... So...let's see what he's been up to in the preceding years: Wow, we really had a blind spot, not to see how he outshines the likes of Reijnders/Gravenberch/Timber etc.
Koeman recalled Geertruida, De Ligt and Lang. Missing out are De Vrij, Koopmeiners and Frimpong. Both future ST newcomers (Meerdink and Emegha) are still injured, so I guess Weghorst sticks around Lang.... gulp What an odd choice. He is struggling to get minutes at Napoli, he had only 1 start, the rest of his appearances were from the bench. In fact, he hasn't played a full match at all this season. I think Ernerst Poku is more deserving. He has 3 goals and 1 assist in 8 matches. And he can play RW, which Koeman badly needs depth and options (Malen is unconvincing, Simons is not a natural winger).
I think Koeman prefer familiar players rather than young players. Just look at his records of who he called up/selected. He plays safe.
Poku another goal and assist today. He’s probably the most inform winger we currently have, he deserves to get selected over Lang for example.
Emegha returned to action today… captained his side and scored two goals. MoTM Give him the Oranje shirt!! No more Weghorst who has little impact in a struggling club
Lewandonski warmed up for the match against Oranje by scoring a hattrick today… hopefully his luck has run out by now Or maybe Koeman tries to counter by bringing his own hattrick hero Guus Til He’s been on fire, 6 goals and 2 assists in his last 6 matches
Not to mention he would make the rest of the team work better. Just think of him doing that same alternating penetrating of the box with Saibari at PSV, but then in the Orange Squad with Reinders or Simons (playing from a position he's ment to play, midfield instead of wing) or maybe even with Depay. Weghorst doesnot enhance the team, he's a stopgap for when we need to hammer a defense in the final 10-15 minutes to get a goal. Putting him in as a starter is a major failure of the technical staff.
It will be hard for Poku and Emegha to break into this team. Both deserve a call up to show what they can offer.
I am pretty psyched about this Emegha addition… the last Oranje debutant that I felt genuinely excited about was Reijnders (2023). I think van de Ven could be another. There have been a handful of newcomers who didn’t quite materialized just yet (most notably Zirkzee, Maatsen, Brobbey, Hato)