The 126th Derby of the Low Countries ... the final one before the Nations League kicks off ... according to telegraaf.nl the last time that Holland were able to win against us, brave little Belgians, was almost 20 years ago ... back then you had an awfully good squad We've seen some crazy, open, eye-catching games ... yet it has been well over 4 years already since the previous Derby of the Low Countries which ended in a big 4-2 win for Belgium ... expecting another hugely entertaining derby with plenty of goals.
Highlights from the 126th Derby of the Low Countries ... getting in the mood for another highly attractive game.
Dit is hem dan, de voorselectie voor de wedstrijden tegen België en Luxemburg! #NEDBEL #LUXNED pic.twitter.com/7bKcHB8vI6— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) October 27, 2016 On Friday Martinez will make his selection public ... a few players will most likely have to give this one a miss, Vermaelen et al., and Alderweireld is a big ? ... even if he's fully fit, he'll probably see very little or no action at all ... hoping Martinez will start a decent XI and doesn't turn it into a crapshoot too soon with lots of subs.
When we were kings. Look at the positioning of the players, the confidence that comes from them. This team had the potential to win the World Cup.
Love the mention of Belgium's World Cup win over Holland at USA1994 in the vid ... our H2H record at the World Cup still is in favor of Belgium ... although you guys are ahead over the span of all 125 derbies. I grew up watching a Dutch side that played very attractive football ... plenty of love for those late 1990s/early noughties squads ... 2002 might even have been more promising ... if LVG hadn't failed to qualify, a Dutch side filled to the rafters with top quality players would have been a serious contender without a shadow of doubt ... S.Korea and Turkey even made the SFs in that World Cup ... while Brazil were very beatable and Germany ran out of steam at the end. Since 1990 Belgian football was in decline ... IIRC the 1997 loss to Holland in the Qs, i.e. the last time Belgium lost a Low Countries Derby, prompted Leekens to switch to a 5-3-2 and to play more defensively and opportunistically once Ireland was beaten in the play-offs ... can't really remember playing with the venom displayed in the vid but I can see why Staelens trash-talked Kluivert at France1998 (calling him sexmachine ... probably a quote from From Dusk Till Dawn ... trolling Kluivert with the gangbang rape charges that almost prevented him from going to France1998 ... ) Change in Belgian football only came about in the noughties ... a strong performance at Beijing2008 gave us hope ... but yea, can't shake the feeling that we would have bounced back earlier without too much focus on defensive solidity (sweat > technique), outdated methods plus little to no trust in our own youth, an amateur FA that lost control over the players, etc. ... joining forces in a BeNe League after working together as co-hosts during EURO2000 could have been a huge boost as well and IMHO would still have the single biggest impact of any measure you can take when looking to improve Dutch and Belgian football (sooner would have been better, but hey-ho better late than never). PS my apologies ... didn't expect to write an essay post ... once I get started, things can go awfully wrong before I get a grip.
Roberto Martinez presser around 12 CET today ... maybe a few moments of Dutch/French/German but usually most of the presser is in English. A few players will most likely have to give this one a miss, Vermaelen, Chadli et al. ... Dembele, Alderweireld and T.Hazard are ??? ... despite the injury woes Hazard, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Meunier, Carrasco et al. are in top form.
http://nos.nl/artikel/2141325-blind-selecteert-zeegelaar-lens-en-schaars-voor-oranje.html Probable line-up ... any idea? Edit: No Strootman and no Robben ... also no Promes
He's thinking about selecting Kuwas Get scared! I remember seeing him play when he was an amateur at KFC a couple of years ago.
@bunbohue ... 125 derbies, that's plenty to choose from ... from the ones in the 70s, the decisive World Cup 1974 qualifier with the referee error in the final minute comes to mind ... without that bad call, 1974 doesn't happen for Holland ... especially as it's the only World Cup that featured Cruijff, we don't mind that bad call too much ... as I said before (to DRB300)
You say that like its a bad thing. Stroot made a serious error against Sweden that cost us the game, and then made another one against France that led to 1-0. I'm starting to think Stroot is an overrated player who underperforms whenever he puts on the Oranje shirt
Thought Strootman was nailed on as a starter (when fully fit) ... also it's a shame Robben will be rested as I'm not a fan of useless friendlies and instead prefer to see both sides go at it (if possible at full strength) ... luckily it sounds like Blind will not rest his starters (except for Robben) ... 4 subs in the first 60' or so and in case calamity strikes he still has 2 more subs ... nothing unusual ... Blind doesn't have to give starters extra rest ... especially as you face lululand next. Probable line-ups? Stekelenburg Karsdorp-Van Dijk-Bruma-Blind Wijnaldum-Schaars-Sneijder Lens-Janssen-??? Lukaku Hazard-KDB-Mertens Fellaini-Witsel Cavanda-Vertonghen-Kompany-Meunier Courtois Hard to tell what Martinez is thinking ... I doubt he's sticking to the 3-4-3 that he used in the 3 previous qualifiers ... worked great though (scored a combined 13 goals and conceded 0) ... he might rest a few starters as well (experiment a bit) ... oddly he didn't select Nainggolan and Lombaerts ... IMHO both of them plus Carrasco should have started in an attacking 3-4-3 to ingrain routine (leaving out Cavanda, Fellaini and Mertens) PS used @BaritoPutra @Laurent75 @wilson00 @curbo @Sybe Pals posts for Holland's line-up ... who'll replace Promes?
Strange, better Robben gets injured now and is back for the important games in the championsleague than the other way around you would think.
Guys, stop posting old videos of our teams.. it's depressing! That is what countries like Hungary do.
Reportedly not only Robben, Strootman, Promes and Kongolo won't play ... Pröpper and Karsdorp have also dropped out ... Brenet has been called up.
I can certainly understand that. Clubs invest a lot money in player like Robben, whats the point in him playing a silly friendly just so he can get injured (again!). Its not like Robben is a young player that needs NT playing time, we already know what he can do so its pointless to play him IMO