Jong Oranje is extremely loaded this time around.... Boadu and Stengs dropped from the Senior team. Schuurs, Botman, Gakpo and Veerman started to challenge an Oranje spot, and can probably argue their cases for a call-up. Gravenberch, Teze, and Bijlow are surging, and getting good minutes in their respective clubs. ********************************************* Ryan Gravenberch Ajax Noa Lang Ajax Kjell Scherpen Ajax Perr Schuurs Ajax Dani de Wit AZ Myron Boadu AZ Calvin Stengs AZ Ludovit Reis FC Barcelona Joshua Zirkzee FC Bayern Munich Justin Hoogma FC Utrecht Maarten Paes FC Utrecht Ferdi Kadioglu Fenerbahce Justin Bijlow Feyenoord Deyovaisio Zeefuik Hertha BSC Sven Botman LOSC Lille Mitchel Bakker Paris Saint-Germain Cody Gakpo PSV Jordan Teze PSV Joey Veerman sc Heerenveen Sherel Floranus sc Heerenveen Kaj Sierhuis Stade de Reims Abdou Harroui Sparta Rotterdam Danilho Doekhi Vitesse
Veerman should be an out an out starter. Hell, he should probably be starting for the senior team. Best player in the Eredivisie right now.
Uhm, no. Read my analysis of his first two matches. And he should take a good look at how Teixeira prepared the Feyenoord goal for Steven Berghuis. It has all the actions Veerman lacked in the box. Veerman in the same situations didnot scan the box and went for scoring himself. As I mentioned he has shown quality as a counter attacking midfielder, but for the top and the Orange team you need to be smart in and close to the box too. He repeatedly has proven otherwise. Still he's young and can add it to his toolbox, but because of that he can't be the best player in the Eredivisie.
Jong Oranje hammered Gibraltar U21 5-0. Not much to take away from this game. Pretty easy overall... it was more like a practice attacking match for JO. They were in control since throughout. The weather (rain) and pitch condition were not ideal. De With with a double. Kadioglu, Zeefuik and debutant Ekkelenkamp each with one. Bakker with three assists.... he was a willing crosser for sure! I liked Gakpo and Boadu - both are men among boys. Quick feet, several threatening plays, too hot to handle. Quietest (most disappointing) was probably Gravenberch... looked lazy and uninterested at times. Again, nothing exciting to see from this match.... except that JO maintains a perfect record, leads the group, and sports an enormous GD (+30).
This does not surprise me. I often see this in his play for Ajax. Raiola is his agent and I won't be surprised at all if he leaves Ajax after this season. IMO he is a top candidate for the Freddy Adu award in three years.
From what I see, admit not too much, he seems to think he's arrived already. He was at the start of the goal Groningen scored with an utmost stupid ball lost.
Late posting.... highlight from JO win last week v. Cyprus 7-0. That is the 8th win after 8 matches, and JO is heading to the final Euro u21 tourney. It is worth noting that all the the goals (and, in fact, all opportunities) shown in the highlight were coming from JO's left flank... space occupied by Bakker, Kadioglu, and Zirkzee/Boadu. I am sure the Cyprus' right back is still having a nightmare to date...
I wanted to point out, this U21 is something else. 45 goals scored in 9 games..... They are doing things right. Is it Kadioglu? Boadu has 6 goals in 6 games. Their football is ticking. I think it also has to do with the fact that Koop and Stengs were playing a lot in that team. What’s the opinion here on Sierhuis? I’m curious, for me nothing special since he lacks height and speed but you never know. Hopefully we can pick some of those players for our NT. Fingers crossed with Kadioglu who I have in my book as a great talent.
Players that I feel can make the jump apparently are Kadioglu, Zeefuik the RB who I also like and of course Boadu despite the fact that he still misses lots of chances.
Seems to me that everybody in this "batch" who had the best chance to graduate from U21 to Oranje Senior have already done so... the AZ quartet (Wijndal, Koomeiners, Boadu, Stengs), Schuurs, Gravenberch, Bijlow. There are some newcomers in current J.O, most notably Bakker and Gakpo - who will, I predict, eventually make the transition up to Senior NT. Too early to tell, though. The rest, I think, will slowly fade out from the Oranje pipeline discussion.... Van Drongelen, Hoogma, De Wit, Sierhuis, Kluivert, Dilrosun, Kadioglu. They are simply not good enough. Zeefuik is interesting. Today, he is like a poor man's Dumfries... wide body, strong and aggressive, sometimes reckless, but lacks of positional awareness. From what I've seen with PSV, Dumfries gets away with his defensive flaws because of his recovery speed - which is fine where he's today (at the higher level of competition, he may not be so lucky). I don't think Zeefuik is as pacey, so he really needs to improve his defending to have give him a solid chance. I liked what I saw from Ludovit Reis yesterday v. Belarus. He has the "floor general" vibe. Nice composure on and off the ball. Solid distribution. It's hard, though, to draw conclusion from one rather meaningless game, played in a harsh condition (weather-wise). I don't know what kind of competition Reis is facing week in and week out... probably not much, as he is the second tier of the German league. Hopefully we'll get to see him more often in J.O, and that he is not going into the obscurity.
Here's a flying-under-the-radar talent.... Abdou Harroui of Sparta Rotterdam. Currently a member of Jong Oranje. A central midfielder, tends to be more on the defensive side - yet quite prolific in scoring as well. 5 goals in 11 appearances this season already, including one yesterday. I watched a couple of his appearances in J.O.... was impressed with his ruggedness and grittiness. Wasn't particularly remembering anything special technique-wise (need to watch more!) Of Moroccan decent, though apparently trending towards Oranje.
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2020/12/0...rexit-langer-rijpen-in-de-eredivisie-a4022536 Brexit positive for Dutch talents. Use google translate if interested.
Here it is basically admitted that they bring those in to make their own English talent better (who then will be fast-tracked). https://play.acast.com/s/the-ornstein-and-chapman-podcast/06813e2a-334a-11eb-ae17-1f34e916b776 (5:00) Those Premier League clubs rarely give chances to their own youngsters, let alone foreigners from so called B-countries (rather than marketable Brazil or so).
Jong Oranje has been drawn with Germany, Hungary (one of the two host countries), and Romania in the group stage of the European Under-21 Championship. Top two finishers go to the next round. The group stage is from 24 to 31 March. The final round will be held from May 31 to June 6. This could be an interesting dilemma with regards to the up-and-coming talents, like Boadu, Stengs, Koopmeiners, Wijndal, Gravenberch, Schuurs, Botman, Gakpo... etc. Should they represent J.O, or join the Oranje Senior that also opens the WC 2022 qualifying campaign in March (also serve as a preparation/warm-up for the Euro 20/21)?
I just saw a report that ManCity are prepared to let Jayden Braaf leave. Another example of a kid who moved to England only to find out that he did not have what it takes.
They attract talent from around the globe to make their own prospects and academy better. Their own youth players have a 'streepje voor' ("dash for", leg up) when it comes to fast-tracking them into senior football (even ahead of a fancy Brazilians, marketable Asians or so). The number of foreign players coming through an English academy are very, very limited. Meanwhile, the likes of Gravenberch don't become really better by playing Eredivisie football, nor are the facilities and coaching as good (specialist individual coaches who with video and data can correct body positions etc.). Access to the Champions League does wonders. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Yep - too bad for Braaf. That said, he is only 18 y.o., so plenty of time for him to right the ship! Just need to make sure he makes a thoughtful choice for his next club. I'd suspect a familiar surrounding like the Eredivisie would give him the best chance to get playing times. There's a great example for this... Malen. He was in perpetual limbo at Arsenal. Moved back to Eredivisie when he was 19 or 20. And he has blossomed since! There are others who switched to other leagues, like Bundesliga, who likely offers more money (but requires the the kid to go through the whole adaptation process - which isn't exactly easy if you are still in your teenage days). The result has not been that stellar. Bruma, Rekik, Redan, Dilrosun, Chong, to name a few. I am sure there others out there I've forgotten.
Roma set their sights on Celtic's flying dutchmen Jeremie Frimpong. Im suprised why this guy has not beem called up by Van der looi. He broke into Celtic starting 11 last season and has been appearing consistently in europa plus in the scottish top flight as well. Well as usually this is not something that has not happened before from selection point of view and when you are playing in a lower league side but when this guy will explode on the big stsge, there will be no stopping him. Alphonso Davies esque.
Did some digging around. These are several young talents U21 who moved abroad at their early age.... thought it'd be fun (or, depressing ) to keep a list and monitor how they progress in the next couple years. Surprised that Chelsea seem to be the involved a lot lately! BTW - I am not including some of the "older" ones who have been around a while... Fosu-Mensah, Chong, Dilrosun, J. Kluivert, Kadioglu, etc. Born 2000: Sven Botman (Lille) - regular at club, called up to Oranje NT Mitchel Bakker (PSG) - regular in J.O, guessing that he will get a chance at Oranje Senior soon. Juan Familia Castillo (Chelsea) - was on an unsuccessful loan to AZ, back to Chelsea U23 now. Jeremie Frimpong (Celtics) - was with Man City, moved to Celtics and is now getting a pretty consistent playing time. Ludovit Reis (Barcelona) - on loan to Osnabruck in German second tier league. Xavier Mbuyamba (Chelsea) - was with Barcelona, purchased by Chelsea recently. 2001: Joshua Zirkzee (Bayern) - getting some cameo minutes every now and then. Daishawn Redan (Hertha) - bouncing clubs around after his Chelsea days, now back in Bundesliga. Sepp v.d. Berg (Liverpool) - still waiting for meaningful first-team minutes. Manuel Pherai (Dortmund) - on loan to PEC Zwolle, started getting into rotation. Omar Rekik (Hertha) - hasn't featured yet. 2002: Ian Maatsen (Chelsea) Jayden Braaf (Man City) - trying to escape City. Melayro Bogarde (Hoffenheim) - started getting some cameo appearances. Ki-Jana Hoever (Wolves) - was with Liverpool, hasn't been able to crack the rotation at Wolves. Dillon Hoogewerf (Man Utd) 2003: Xavi Simons (PSG) Noah Ohio (RB Leipzig) Solomon Bonnah (RB Leipzig) Mohamed Sankoh (Stuggart) - recently moved from Stoke City. I am sure I've missed some names. Add as you wish.
Zirkzee seems to be unused for a while and lost his place in the pecking order. Musiala is the new kid in town.
Saw a feed from Fox Sport NL ranking the top 10 Eredivisie talents from the first half of the season. Top of the list, deservedly, is Gravenberch. What a break-through season for him it’s been so far...!! No. 2 is Gakpo. Other Oranje players... Ihattaren (#4), Boadu (#6), Oosterwelde (#9), J.P van Hecke (#10).
Here's the provisional JO squad for the Euro u21. Poor Koopmeiners. He is a man among boys... he's going to babysit the rest of the squad Also, the CB positions are completely loaded. Botman is not needed here (belong to Senior NT). Schuurs, Teze, Pierie, Timber, Doekhi... that should cover it. Schedule for the group stage: 24 March vs. Romania 27 March vs. Germany 30 March vs. Hungary (one of the host countries) Top 2 finishers will go to the knock-out stage.
One more rant on these pre-selection squads, then I'll shut up... at least until the squads are confirmed Where is Joey Veerman? According to whoscored, he's the fourth highest-rated player in Eredivisie so far (Tadic is the runaway leader). Talk about consistency. Veerman has 6 goals and 7 assists to boast, including one this past weekend and a MoTM pick. I know he has his critics, but him not even in the JO is quite puzzling. He can't be worse than Ekkelenkamp (playing cameo minutes for Ajax) and Reis (in the lower German league). And more importantly, his inclusion could allow Koopmeiners to move up to Senior NT.