for the whole tournament, i'll go first (my average is 6.5, not like those stingy VI guys) van der sar (8) - i simply LOVE how he collects a ball and immediately turns it in the other direction with intent and accuracy... can he stick around for two more big shows at this level? please? boulahrouz (5.5) - didn't play too poorly or anything, but really needed to realize at some point that this wasn't the bundesliga - especially last night; right backs can't play rough like center backs do mathijsen (5.5) - didn't look ready at all, maybe he isn't quite back from the knee injury yet... heitinga would have buried that corner volley last night heitinga (7) - i told you all he was back and better than ever, should have been out there for 90 minutes every game - he was the only defender with an attack clue last night in the second half, called for the ball... brought it forward... completed a pass like 6 out of 8 times - we also missed his set piece threat gio (6.5) - seemed to start matches great, then cool off as it went - i must say he did work very hard ooijer (6) - made to look slow on several occasions, did well in the air - after success inthe first game, he forgot that he can aid the attack for some reason cocu (5) - didn't play smart enough and wanked on the gimme against portugal - spent far too much time running past sneijder to leave the little guy with tackling work van bommel (6.5) - really directed traffic well and made a so-so effort in attack sneijder (5.5) - maybe he deserves a 6 for all the unusual tasks he performed and how he almost always smoothed out the last layer of attack with a good ball... but he never caused danger with his long shot or free kicks and that was essential to our hopes van der vaart (5.5) - probably deserved a 5, but i don't think he is really back from injury yet and i have to say he still worked hard off the ball (something i love as much as cornbread with honey butter) robben (5.5) - i can't fault him for bailing out on the dribble and he looked dangerous with quick little shots, but at some point he needed to put in a shootable pass for someone - his bad chelsea rep hurt ORANJE at this tournament a couple of times, he needs to be a little cooler when he gets back van persie (7) - might have been even more influential if anyone could catch him long enough to foul him (of course, they probably wouldn't have called it anyway) - verdomme! if only he hadn't got cute and deliberately tried to emulate bergkamp when a simple patented RVP lefty curler would have sufficed kuijt (6) - worked his ass off as usual, but jeez man, just round the keeper! i will say whenever we got him and sneijder ground touches, the attack looked menacing ruud (5.5) - i don't give a crap about how much #9 work he does, just score goals... he didn't - that being said, he did a bit of #9 work and didn't get much service others with limited time: jaliens - 6.5 de cler - 6 maduro - 6 kromkamp - 6 landzaat - 5.5 babel - 6 vennegoor - 5.5 van basten (6) - i believe he will learn from this and we will be better for it in the end: way too many 6's and 6.5's, not enough 7's and only van der sar above that level... don't lose the hope people, the boys will make you proud again and maybe soon
Major dissappointments---RVN---Sniejder--Robben for diving all the time Just o.k---midfield--all of them--Cocu missing the easy one hurts Good--the back line--except for Boul. kicking Renado in the thigh--which I believe started the downhill slide of the game into chaos Very good---Van Persie and Van der Saar
Dissappointments: Mathijsen, van Bommel, Sneijder, Cocu, van der Vaart OK: Boulahrouz, van Bronckhorst, Kuijt, Heitinga, Nistelrooy Good: van der Sar, (van Persie, Robben,) Ooijer
I was choking on my beer, spewing it out and rolling off of the couch at the same time so I can't really comment. Nevertheless he was the best defender during the tournament.
Cocu is retiring from Oranje - he's past it now but he will be missed. Class player in all senses of the word. VDS has not decided, hopefully he stays through Euro 2006, still one of the best keepers around. Sneijder blew chunks the whole tournament
Portugal should thank him for his role in their triumph. He didn't do ANYTHING productive in the first 3 matches (and neither did Ruud?) and yet he still got to start and played for the whole time against Portugal. Why? Why? So he could help Portugal get some more balls into the box? He certainly did that well.
Great! it looks like he's leaning on NOT retiring, b/c he doesn't want to leave after such a hideous match.
Don't mind seeing him stay. He's still one of the best. However, I think it's time we pick someone to stay in his shadow as a potential replacement. Stekelnburg and maybe Tim Krul look like most likely candidates for me.
am i the only one who liked mathijssen...he did keep all the strikers out of the matches...kezza drogba pauletta had nothing on him...
I thought Mathijsen did fine. My big concern with the back 4 was/is their inability to build attacks. How many times did we see them passing it back to VDS?