I don't disagree regarding the outside backs, but I do think you're being a bit harsh on van Dongen. Only Nouwen was arguably better than her on that backline over the course of the match in my opinion. With Miedema out, Martens had to be on her game offensively. Unfortunately, she wasn't. Great game off the ball; not so great on the ball considering her ability. Even with the minimal game time that the US backline has seen since March, they're simply better independent of fitness levels than the Dutch backline. Then, when you look at the starting front six (and even Morgan), four/five of them have been training/playing regularly over recent weeks with two of them combining for the first goal. The second goal was scored by someone in the form of her life. Ertz and Williams are the ones that haven't trained regularly recently, and despite a few quality defensive plays and a good assist, they were arguably the least impressive performers for the US today.
It's true: the Dutch back four are nowhere close to the U.S. back four. Van Dongen is not bad by any means but not really good either--certainly not of the quality needed to compete with the U.S. That's why I think she was pulled from the lineup in the WC final; I don't know that to be true--but Wieman played Janssen at left back in that game and reinserted Dekker at centerback. Van Dongen had opportunities in the first half to step forward and intercept passes destined for Williams but opted not to take the chance and instead dropped back to defend, which is certainly defensible but she can't really defend William 1v1--few can, admittedly--so the team just ends up defending deep, as it did for most of the match. I mean, when you've got a right back starting her first game for the NT, a left back who essentially OK, and a young CB, among your back four, no, you're not going to compete with the U.S.--which is not only strong and athletic but very experienced. I too thought there were at least a couple of occasions in the first half when Martens could have run more aggressively at O'Hara but instead opted to pull the ball back, but in the end the Dutch simply didn't have the ball enough to do a lot in attack. They've obviously got to do a better job of reducing giveaways in the middle of the pitch and getting the ball forward cleanly. IMO, I think Spain and France match up better with the U.S. than the Dutch; still The Netherlands will benefit from this game. They play a lot of games against weak competition and absolutely need more measuring stick matches, which should push them to get better.
Fair enough on van Dongen. There was one opening in the first half where I was hoping she would smartly just play in van de Donk alone around the top of the box, but she crossed it straight to Naeher again. That was frustrating. The thing is I thought Martens did get the ball enough to do more in attack; she just simply didn't. True about the giveaways, and Martens was a part of that. She gave the ball away for Lavelle's goal, and on at least one instance in the second half, after good passing from Roord and Groenen, Martens was the one to not complete her pass, ending one of the Dutch's most promising forays. Again, Martens was great defensively today, but she was not particularly impactful offensively when she had potential openings. I think Spain and France are hyped up too much at times, but yeah, that's fair enough.
Really disappointed in this game, they only got finally a shot off in what, the 86th minute!—I can’t see blaming it all on the players(it was pretty much the same lineup that got them the tie with France in France, earlier this year despite missing Miedema & van de Donk). The real blame got to go with Wiegman. I thought she was off the hook too(and her bumbling assistant in charge) but poster Desino mentioned Wiegman left for ‘pressing family matters’ just hours before game time, so it was really her ‘battle plan’ utilized our there. Why she turned into Phil freaking Neville is a mystery—-maybe she was told if accepting the job, she has to adhere to some English mentality handbook, but it was simply predictable game plan that was obviously going to go horribly wrong against the world’s best high pressure team—-if it wasn’t the playing-from-the-back, or the endless back passing(many of which got intercepted) or that Spitse was the go to playmaker for most of those passes(you don’t think the US was waiting & ready to pounce on her every move she made?) Who’s really at fault why the two FB’s were ordered way up & out of position, every time Heath & Williams got the counters working? I mean, I’ve seen way slower Asian squads stop the might of the US scoring machine but employing disciplined, straight back lines which effectively stoped the passing lane(didn’t Wiegman day pre WC finals she was worried about the US width passing? What the hell happened with concerns in this match?) Yeah, Holland lacks depth, but who’s fault really is that Wiegman’s don’t want to use the new emerging players coming out of the country? Agreed, Holland don’t hold up well vs the US, but who insists on using 3 pint size mids vs the very physical presence of Ertz & Mewis?(and then guessing nobody’s concerned about marking that light weight, Rose Lavealle? lol) sorry, haven’t gone back to re watch how Holland win the Euro 2017 so impressively, just can’t believe it was with the very same tactics employed by Wiegman this last match
If the Dutch are having problems with the likes of Ertz, Mewes, and Lavelle, it is only going to get worse when Catarina Macario is added to the mix. She will create a whole new set of problems for the them. Not only is she highly technical with her advanced ball handling skills, but her ability to score from anywhere on the field in some of the most difficult situations can demoralize a team. In her last college season she played, she became the first player to ever lead the the nation in both goals(32) and assists(23). The WNT has had their eye on her since she started playing in the US at age 12, breaking scoring records at the youth level for her club team every year.
I always remember the adage; “the world is catching up with us” but after this game, the disparity has even widened more, especially with Europe who haven’t won an woso World Cup since 2007. There’s a mixture of reasons for that. The top players get usually bought off by the few rich clubs willing to spend on woso, but then they have almost no competition at all since most of the league are amateurs. Same difference at the NT level where Holland’s previous opponents were the likes of Kosovo & Estonia, two countries with barely a million who don’t give an crap about woso anyways, but Holland forced to play them anyways thanks to UEFA. So how will top players will ever improve themselves if there not facing likewise top competition day in, day out?(this is about what happened to Lieke Martens & van de Sanden) their performances started to suffer once they joined these over stacked clubs) And then they treat woso still as 2nd class citizens, not understanding that due to a different set of skills the women’s game got its own identity. So basically that what you saw in this look last game where Holland’s over passing style got basically obliterated by the high press. The Dutch now in need of a new coach and their are a few coaches that can defeat the US style Echouafni(PSG) & Casey Stoney(Man U) come to mind. But I bet they wouldn’t get offered enough money to leave their rich clubs.
A football podcast/talkshow had Jill Ellis as guest before the match and cheekily enquired if she would be open for it and she said anything is possible/open for anything [emoji57]. The US match was not a must win match but a test to see how they would do with their current tactics and lineup. Vd Gragt playing tonight so no idea why not last friday. It was said she had an injury so why risk anything against Kosovo??
Yes, it is puzzling that Van der Gragt couldn't play against the U.S. but here she was today, what, 4 days later, playing against Kosovo? I mean, she would have helped a bit against the U.S. but of course the outcome would have been the same. It will be interesting to see who the KNVB picks to succeed Wiegman. I have to think that money was the big catalyst for Wiegman leaving the Dutch and making a lateral move to the England squad. I'm curious: Did anyone in The Netherlands see any articles suggesting if the KNVB tried to keep her--offered her a pay raise or somesuch? I mean, the England job is a good one, certainly, and maybe Wiegman was ready for a new challenge, but I'm still surprised that she's leaving a Netherlands squad still in its prime. She's going to be under a lot more pressure in the England job, and I'm sure she knows it--and I do admire her for wanting to deal with that pressure. She does seem a very good coach. As for who might succeed her, I can't see the Dutch hiring Ellis, who'd no doubt want a lot more money than Wiegman was making. Stoney would be great--she impresses me--but I'll be shocked if the KNVB doesn't hire from within its own coaching ranks. The Netherlands is well known for producing good players and good coaches--and I suspect they'll hire one of their own, espeically if they have a female coach whom the chiefs think has the right qualities. I'm not familiar with any of their youth NT coaches but know that one or two of them are women. My guess is they'd prefer to hire a woman, but one never knows.
Ellis does seem to be an outside choice at the moment https://nos.nl/l/2358946. Here a former NT player and now coach of the U19's is suggested as a possibility: https://nos.nl/l/2344145
The big excuse England made for not picking Ellis is that she demanded too much money. But maybe she’s come down a bit since she also wanted to be an MLS(men’s) coach, yet so far no takers
https://www.ad.nl/nederlands-voetba...ranje-ooit-wil-ik-bondscoach-worden~aa8875d2/ Is dit de opvolger van Sarina Wiegman bij Oranje? ‘Ooit wil ik bondscoach worden’ Arjan Veurink (34) staat vanavond voor de tweede keer op rij voor de groep bij de Oranjevrouwen, door vervelende privéomstandigheden van bondscoach Sarina Wiegman. Ooit hoopt hij ergens bondscoach te zijn. ,,Ik mag ook dromen en ambities hebben en ik vind het goed als je die uitspreekt.” google translate: Is this the successor of Sarina Wiegman at Orange? "I want to become a national coach someday" Arjan Veurink (34) will be in front of the group with the Orange Women for the second time in a row tonight, due to unpleasant private circumstances of national coach Sarina Wiegman. One day he hopes to be a national coach somewhere. "I can also have dreams and ambitions and I think it's good if you say them."
It will be interesting to see how much Wiegman plays Snoeijs in big games going forward. She's a talented player who's been scoring goals for the Dutch in Euro qualifiers--admittedly most of them against weak opponents--but she's been a scorer everywhere she's been, including her current team Bordeaux. She played attacking midfielder in Bordeaux's most recent game against Montpelier and was influential--quick, a threat--and scored a very impressive goal. She showed she can play in the midfield, though Wiegman has mostly played her at forward and I expect that's where she'll stay. I think she could end up splitting time with Van de Sanden, as Snoeijs is certainly more of a scoring threat. She's a good player who's been a bit under the radar until recently--but has emerged at a good time as forward Beerensteyn is likely to be at outside back at the Olympics, I believe.
2020 top 20 Future Watch: Toekomst van de Oranjevrouwen: de 20 grootste talenten van Nederland - https://nos.nl/l/2361351
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...cy-Bronze-named-best-womens-player-world.html Manchester City and England defender Lucy Bronze is first English star to be named the best women's player in the world at FIFA awards... as future Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman wins best women's coach award Lucy Bronze won the Treble in France with Lyon before joining City in summer The 29-year-old pipped Denmark's Pernille Harder and France's Wendie Renard Holland's Sarina Wiegman named best women's coach at FIFA Best Awards
let's see Sarina's record for this year......had 3 painful to watch ties in the Tournoi de France, where upon Netherland's FIFA ranking fell from #3 to #4. Won four games against the likes of #96 Estonia & #109 Kosovo in what got to be the easiest group in Euro qualifiers...and then was seen fleening the scene just hours before the US/friendly kick off....and for all that she won FIFA's coach of the year....what am I'm missing?
All these awards tend to lag behind current or recent performance and can't really be taken too seriously (even though a lot of people do). I think a lot of the voters want to reward people for achievements that may not have been sufficiently acknowledged by the sport's intelligentsia, even if in some or many cases the achievements predate the award timeline/criteria. It's the same as putting Rapinoe on the 2020 Best XI even though she did not play in 2020!
As an actual Dutch resident, @desinho, would you like to do the honours of starting the 2021 thread? (I think I've been making too many lately...)