Oke so obviously Chile will need to win from us in order to grap top spot. That does not have to be a disadvantage. Netherlands U17 had to win from France in the Elite round in order to get to the Euro and so they did. Their mindset will be on winning, Netherlands could be on 2 thoughts. The only good thing is that since the 5-3-2 we have a bit of a waiting/luring way of playing anyway. Inviting Chile to come over is now actually something we encourage and really want, so that we can hit on the counter. Chile is a team with a lot of movement. We do not do well against such teams. I remember the game vs Japan second half where we lost the plot when confronted with unexpected penetrating runs from players all over the field. So this will be a problem. The game vs Australia was not a game in the line of "If you win the games where you play bad, you make a chance to win the title". Some players like Sneijder wanted to label it in such a way, but I see it differently. I think Netherlands got imbalanced from the win vs Spain. I have never seen passes so bad as in that game, especially from Sneijder. There is always a danger that such a thing happens after a big scoreline. Remember FC Twente some time ago winning with big numbers from PSV and after that crumbling? A few games after the 6-2 win by Vitesse on PSV they also started to draw and lose games left and right. Imo a tourney needs to start slow. Struggling. Underwhelming. Saving the firework for last. Especially players that are not used to win with big scorelines can get carried away by getting recognition early. Creates imbalance. In the Australia game every player did not reach his own level. Also Nigel made a vital error with his back pass in the first half that could have resulted in a goal vs a better opponent. The way we played vs Australia will kill us vs Chile. It will get ugly actually. So I hope everybody is off their cloud and back with their feet on the ground. This game everybody needs to reach his own level, if not over-perform. I saw some flashed from a game between Chile and Egypt. Egypt was able to score 2 goals against them. I think there are opportunity's against Chile on the counter. In that way missing RvP is not even the worst, though he is a big miss of course. Lens is faster. Obviously less clinical and maybe less of a target man, but Lens is pretty damn strong. We might get some opportunity's from our speed with Robben and Lens. The worst thing that could happen is for Nigel de Jong getting a yellow. He holds this team together. If we lose Nigel I fear the worst. I also think it is realistic he will get a yellow. Chile looked like a team leaving no option open to benefit from. They will play hard. They will milk challenges. The maximize their football quality's. They play as a team. Very easy for a Nigel to get a yellow against such a team.
Can our defense hold up? I can't help but think can compare this side to Red Bull Salzburg, against Ajax. There is no question in my mind that we must play Chile with 5-3-2. No way in heck can we handle them in a conventional approach, especially with the yellows/suspension. To date, we've played one match over expectation and one underwhelming. The first one was against an unmotivated Spanish side, and the second match was a consequence of the first "surprising" result. I'm still glad the AUS game went that way DRB - I'd be more concerned if they came out in flying form and overwhelmed Socceroos, and then our well definitely runs dry when we need the magic most. When I see our team set up with the skills that we have - absorb and hit with a long counter pass - that puts *all* the pressure on the front three to produce special moments to win games. They'll have to do this for 5 more matches, over the next 3 weeks, in elimination matches against dangerous teams who will tighten their marking on our front three, in the humidity of Brazil. That's tall order. Simplistic thoughts, yes, but until we have that special weapon (Memphis, maybe) or until Blind's long passes from the left are of more accuracy, or JDG providing that critical inside pass that he's expected to do, it's a pretty two-dimensional approach.
@DRB - Yes, Chile will go all out because they don't play any other way. They will press all over the field just as they've done in the first two matches. LvG has some tactical issues to solve here. First he really needs to commit to winning the match. There is nothing in the Dutch mindset or abilities of this current team that allow it to sit back and play for a draw as tempting as that might be. Two players clear won't start: van Persie and Martins Indi. I agree that Lens more than Huntelaar should start up front as he's a quicker and faster player though not as good a finisher. The bigger question is what the back line will look like depending on whether a 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 is employed. If it is a 3-5-2 probably Veltman slots in on the right with de Vrij moving to the left (but I'm not sure he's going to be comfortable there and he's also carrying a Yellow card but it's risky to put Kongolo in). If it's 4-3-3, it's probably the lineup that finished the game the other day. Blind and Janmaat play regardless. Midfield is really where this game is going to be decided. I agree that de Jong risks getting a Yellow card but if the team wins he misses a match against the second place team in Group A which might not be a big deal. Despite the risk he has to play since he's the one person who can really disrupt things; he just needs to be on good behavior. Sneijder with the exception of 3-4 decent passes has not played well at all. He's lost a step and doesn't defend well anyway. Do you take him out of a big match and risk that he loses interest in the whole tournament? Don't know the answer to this. de Guzman has not impressed and I would not start him. Wijnaldum gives an added attacking option but again has problems with other areas of his game. Clasie is an outstanding passer but hasn't played yet and I don't think he's ever seen the kind of pressure Chile will show. IMO the best option would be de Jong, Clasie and Sneijder and hope that Wesley shows up to play. As noted Lens and Robben play up front but if it's a 4-3-3 Depay moves in to play on the wing. This is going to be a very interesting match and a draw will be a very good outcome. Don't know what the weather will be like in Sao Paola except that it will be better than playing in one of the rain forest settings.
I'd think about siting Nigel - but not de Vrij. I want the defense to continue to improve on the synergy. They have been good so far, conceding only one goal in the flow of play, and that came from a once-in-a-lifetime shot for Tacking Thug Cahill. The other were two dubious penalty calls. Exactly how stable is our defense? I'd say that we're probably not much worse than the strongest teams' defenses here in Brazil. Apart from Germany's against Portugal, and Les Blues against Switzerland yesterday, we're actually not faring too shabbily. Yes there has been some scary moments, and who would've thought Vlaar playing with so much feist, but so has other defenses, who look shaky and leaky at times. This is proving to be the most unpredictable of World Cups, and as teams approach the knockout rounds, I think we'll see more topsy turvy performances from many teams. And that makes it a tactician's dream, to some regard. This might be exactly the kind of circumstances that vGaal thrives in, we'll see !
Well de Vrij does often just do something that messes things up. The penalty against him in the Spain game was a shame, but he can not dive into such a situation so blindly. He did that also against Italy when Verratti simply set up a 1-2 and scored. Should look at Vlaar. This Australia game he let's Cahill simply shoot, not being close enough to him. His passing in the Australia game was sub par as with all players. I am not big on Dutch defense. I think Kongolo is a good defender, but he is too young.
Last match against Spain, I was very surprised how loud the crowd was supporting for Chile. The "home" advantage will be huge in Chile's favor. That said, even without RvP, Oranje should have enough quality to get a point from this match and top the group. Another X factor would be how much Chile will risk Vidal who is just returning to fitness, and sitting on a yellow card. I think without Vidal, arguably their most dynamic player, Chile will be a lesser threat. I'd like to see Lens and Wijnaldum starting - players with energy who can run and harass opposing players.
We'll see. Spain has a certain impression among Brasilian supporters, but I also think that between us and Chile, I suspect the locals would rather face Chile. In World Cup play, Brasil has owned Chile. So maybe the neutral crowd will be rooting for us. And as far as quality, well, so far this tournament has demonstrated that guts and determination to win has triumphed over so-called "better skilled sides", save for England, who lost because of a lack of coaching.
Could this be a big win for us? Chile just came out of the last match feeling like they've just won the bloody damn World Cup ! No knock on them, of course, but I'm hoping that they, too, will get caught out by us because they are still on their cloud nine x nine to the power of two
Yeah Chile has great support. Saw a clip of the way the sing their anthem from the first match. Actually Chile has been on this WC from the very beginning. Funny clips where they scare random Dutch, Spanish, Australian people. That clip with their mine workers giving that speech. They way play leaving nothing on the pitch and no opportunity unused to benefit from. They are very much in this tourney.
I think, against a team like Chile, it might be more beneficial for Huntelaar to start up front with Robben. Chile in general, is a very small team. Their biggest defender last game was 5'10ish? Huntelaar's physicality might lead to a few extra opportunities.... Also leads to the fact we have Fer on the bench, if it comes to it, the team would be stupid not to take advantage of the height difference on set pieces/corners/ crosses
Only saw the Italian anthem singing in their first match and that was without Buffon. Buffon is the most passionate anthem singer ever, so I thought the trophy had gone to Chile. Good to hear Buffon and Italy is back at it. That being said, Ivory Coast had a midfielder crying to tears during the anthem. Was also a beautiful scene.
Match official assignments were made earlier today and we have Bakary Gassama of Gambia with an all-African crew for the match against Chile. This will be his first match of the competition.
Chile is the only team at this tournament that is playing a high pressure attacking game, and getting very positive results. Could it be that they're this good, and if so, how long will their so-called "naivety" carry them? Spain flopped, we've changed strategy, and Colombia, as well as the rest of the leading teams doesn't quite press like Chileans do. The last two years of world club football progression has made me change my footballing philosophy. Yet as we get ready to face Chile, I can't help but wonder how this team's high pressing approach holds up against the modern antidote of possession football that we will probably see more of, over the next few years, namely that of counter -attacking tactics
They played the exact same style with Bielsa as their manager four years ago. Lost to Spain in the group and were well handled by Brazil in the round of 16.
Netherlands have great team more than capable of winning World Cup 2014!! Brilliant Oranje!! GO HOLLAND GO!!
Maybe this one: Or this one: I would also love to see what Depay could do on Sneijder's spot somewhere in the second half, or maybe a Fer like in the Colombia game (that friendly) where he was excellent in a commuting role.
I would play this..... ---------------------------------------Cillessen-------------------------------------------------------- ----------------Veltman------------------de Vrij----------------------Vlaar------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --Janmaat--------------JDG--------------------------Clasie---------------------------------Blind-- ---------------------------------------Sneijder---------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------Robben----------------------Lens-------------------------------------------- I think it would be naive to risk de Jong at this point.....give him a rest for second round Depay and Wijnaldum off the bench depending on how the game is going
It is vital we win or draw this game. We do not want to take the road B2 has to take. B1 is an interesting road with some possibility's.