With Koeman as coach and Brazil as likely opponent they won't go very far. Others are not sitting idle (and hire the best Dutch people as well!): https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cj0e7y754zpo
I didn’t watch the match, so couldn’t comment on Maatsen’s performance…. But you’re absolutely correct. Seems like Maatsen has earned consistent starts as of late, and pushed Digne to the bench. Let’s see if this continues! Maybe he’ll make his way back to Oranje NT squad. Aston Villa have certainly been an interesting team to keep tab this season… in addition to Malen and Maatsen, they also feature Lamare Bogarde, who has been a decent rotational player for Emery due to his versatility (Swiss Army knife). And Bizot (back up GK).
Maatsen has improved and is earning more starts and playing time. The Leftback position for Oranje has several potential options, and Maatsen is certainly a part of the mix. I’ve mentioned Bogarde before and he’s definitely another one to keep an eye on. Swiss Army Knife is an excellent description of his current status as he can play in the back but also the 6. Would Love to see him at Ajax who badly need a player like this in the engine room, but I might as well dream on.
Justin Kluivert is set for knee surgery… will miss significant time, could be as long as 5 months It doesn’t look good for his World Cup aspiration.
Huge loss indeed, though I think the lion share of the playmaking business should be conducted by the maestro Frenkie de Jong. Oranje needs him to be in top gear to have any chance of going deep in the tournament. The other two midfielders to complement Frenkie in the engine room, in my view, should be Reijnders and Gravenberch. That trio is strong on paper, but suffice to say, Koeman needs to get them to gel and find the balance. Reijnders had a slow start this year (rotated in different positions), but he’s been settling in an advanced midfield role, and ramping up his production (3 goals and 1 assists in last 4 matches when he started). His tally so far this season is “only” 5 goals, which is far below from his peak of 16 goals (!!) last season at Milan. But his assists (6 so far) is more than he had all last season (4). Gravenberch has been getting better as the season progresses. I heard an interesting comment in the last Liverpool match (or the one before, I can’t remember) — about how Slot has been tweaking his role slightly (in response to ‘Pool losing streak several weeks ago) so that Ryan can recover quicker when the team loses possessions. I think Gravenberch and Virgil playing together week in, week out is a very good thing for Oranje. I am, however, concerned on the amount of minutes both have been clocking this season. They will be exhausted when summer rolls around. As to the back-ups/next tier in the midfield… it’s quite murky. Xavi Simons is yet to impress this season. Both Koopmeiners and Schouten have shifted to defense. Q. Timber is distracted by his contract situation. Steijn and Valente are too inexperienced (and Feyenoord are not as hot as they were at the season start). Veerman making a comeback maybe?
Actually there's only one who plays/can play like a 10 atm eligible for the Orange Squad, Luciano Valente. Well, Veerman can too, tbh. The question is wether RoNoClueman can set up a team that benefits from playing a 10.
It was fun to watch the Oranje players involved in the heavyweight Arsenal v. Liverpool. Can't decide the most standout Oranje players... for me it's a close call between J. Timber and Gravenberch. J. Timber did really well both defensively and offensively. Elite defending in keeping Gakpo quiet throughout the match and excelled in build-up. Had several promising moments in the final third. Very impressed with his quick and neat passing in tight spaces. Possibly the best RB in EPL at the moment. Gravenberch was a smooth operator. His presence was well-felt in front of his own defense unit, and when he was on possession, he skied forward gracefully and with full control. Dominant performance. Virgil kept a clean sheet. Just another solid day in the office. Frimpong played as RW. Speed-demon... beat his defender multiple times. However, his delivery to the box was much to be desired. Quite wasteful at times. Defended well when it was called upon. As to Gakpo, unfortunately it wasn't his best day. Liverpool played without a true striker, and it clearly impacted Gakpo (who was stationed as LW). He was basically stranded in no-man's island. Very little impact. Couldn't get his game going (just one shot on goal throughout the match). And as mentioned, J. Timber had a very strong game.
Completely spot on analysis! Timber is just incredible. Gravenberch when he gets support plays at another level as well. Liverpool Midfield has dropped off this year Macallister in particular, but Jones plays more now, and he’s just not very good. Virgil has his critics, but he’s still very good on the ball and in the air. He’s had his hands full at times this year playing with error prone teammates, and certainly over the years he’s been a 1 Man backline playing with some rather ordinary defenders, and although he’s not Superman any longer, he’s still rock solid. Frimpong should start getting more time as he’s still building his fitness, but his energy and pace brings lots of potential problems for the opposition defenses. He needs some faster possession play to help unlock his qualities even more. Gakpo needs support, and faster play from others to create more chances, and he’s certainly stranded often with Kerkez really struggling to provide any link play on the left. Gakpo also provides good defensive work most of the time especially with Slot looking to help his Midfield & Defense the other night to try and slow the Arsenal attack & possession. The big problem for Liverpool has been the massively overpaid, and overrated Wirtz who as the playmaker # 10 has really struggled with the speed of play and physicality. He’s not helping Gakpo, Frimpong, or anyone else at the Club, and doesn’t seem interested in off the ball running and defensive work.
Ruud Van Goal is back to the NT coaching staff, assisting Koeman for the World Cup. I am expecting Oranje will find little difficulty hitting the back of the the opponent’s net
89733 I'm reading comments like "The Netherlands is lucky with an 'easy' Nations League draw". Looking at the FIFA ranking, the Dutch national team is lucky with the Nations League draw. The Dutch team was paired with Germany, Serbia and Greece on Thursday evening.
Looks doable... top two finishers in the group are qualified for the next round (QF). Then anything can happen in the knockout stage!
89826 The Dutch open the Nations League on September 24 against Germany, more than two months after the World Cup final. After that, away matches with Serbia (September 27) and Greece (October 1) await. On Sunday, October 4, Serbia will then come to the Netherlands as the closing of the four-part series in September and October. After that, the home game against Greece (13th) and the away game against Germany (16th) await in November. The numbers one and two advance to the quarterfinals, whose winners qualify for the Final Four. During the previous edition, the Netherlands stranded in the last eight. Later finalist Spain was too strong in March after penalties. The best performance of the Dutch was the final during the very first edition of the Nations League in 2019 in the first term of Ronald Koeman. Then Portugal was too strong in the final battle.
Best performance is runner up vs Portugal but best matches are the 2 matches vs Spain. If they play like that again (for all the World Cup matches), I don't see why they cannot win it all.
For heavens’s sake, just please practice penalty kicks!! I don’t think Koeman has five steady and experienced penalty takers (those who take them on regular basis at club level). I was watching old clips from WC 2014 v. Costa Rica… obviously the story line was when Van Gaal replaced Cillessen with Krul, but the four penalty takers (Van Persie, Robben, Sneijder and Kuyt) were practically guaranteed cash!
89938 Don't know if it's known in here, but Ronald Koeman has serious family problems to deal with. His wife Bartina is suffering from breastcancer, that turned into metastatic cancer to the liver. This has been the matter for a long time now, but if I understood it right the metastatic phase has been the case since end of last year's months. He talked about it on tv mid december. He mentioned the chemo therapy is having effect, but we all know how fragile that effect in reality is. Wishing recovery for Bartina and strength to the family in this rollercoaster health matter.
Gulp. Frenkie de Jong went down with hamstring injury during training… will be out for at least 6 weeks. He will miss the last rehearsal (friendlies in March) for sure. Hammie is tricky and tends to linger… will Frenkie be fully fit for the WC?
All the Dutch players made positive contributions in the Liverpool v West Ham match today… Virgil and Gakpo scored. Gravenberch had a beautiful assist. Frimpong’s cross deflected to an own goal. Summerville had a great shot after splitting the defense that was acrobatically saved by Alison… the ensuing corner turned to a goal. Summerville in the Oranje squad, please!
Watching the Liverpool West Ham match yesterday I thought when the tempo increased that Summerville Gakpo and Frimpong all looked very good. Summerville and Frimpong running at defenders is very enjoyable to watch.
No doubt Summerville should be the 1st starter on the front left now given his amazing form while Gakpo is dropping. Surprised but pleased to see him finally settled in West Ham
91080 The Dutch will practice in June in De Kuip against 'new' opponent In the long history of the Orange Squad, there has never been an international match against Algeria, but that will soon change. On June 3, eleven days before the first World Cup match for Koeman and his team, Algeria is the opponent. The match will be played in De Kuip, which makes it a special meeting for Anis Hadj Moussa, who normally plays his matches there. Ramiz Zerrouki is also a contract player of Feyenoord, but the midfielder is playing this season as is known at FC Twente. The kick-off in Rotterdam is at 8.45 pm. The KNVB reports that it will become clear how the further preparation for the World Cup will go in those last weeks before the tournament. So far, three friendly matches are clear: on March 27 against Norway in Amsterdam, four days later in Eindhoven against Ecuador and on June 3 against Algeria in Rotterdam. The Netherlands does not often play against African countries. At the 2022 World Cup, Senegal was the opponent, the previous friendly match was in 2017 against Ivory Coast. The Ivorians were smashed 5-0 at the time.