UEFA Nations League 2020/21 | Oranje journey to glory

It sucks.
If you want to react for instance to three separate parts of a post you could highlight each part on it's own and react to that. Now you have to quote the whole post and copy it another two times and then delete three times the parts you don't need. It's cumbersome.

 

That looks good. You need to have a good coach with that team. W/O a good coach, it will be a waste.

 

I dont see it on my supporters club schedule:

https://supportersclub-oranje.nl/27-2/

According to wiki it starts in March of 2021. But the draw still hasnt been done yet:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(UEFA)

 

Gravenberch having a good run of games. Some goal he scored today to break the dead-lock.

Like I’ve said before, if Vilhena can get selected so can Ryan. Hope he keeps this up and has a break-out season.

He’d be such an asset for our midfield. Strong, direct, technical, and a great long-shot on him.

 

Man, honestly Gravenberch has so much potential it's insane. He's kind of Frenkie like but more offensive. We're really gonna have so many options for the midfield positions. Depending on the team were playing against simply switching one player can completely change our tactics. Assuming De Jong and Wijnaldum are locked in, it leaves Gravenberch, Klaassen, De Room, Van de Beek, Koopmeijers, Veerman and potentially Ihattaren/Stengs as options. Wow.

Honestly I wonder if Wijnaldum, Frenkie and Gravenberch would be possible. That midfield would be so insanely dynamic and athletic, wow! It could be possible because Frenkie also does a lot of defensive work, but Gravenberch would have to improve in that sense. With De Ligt and Van Dijk as CBs you might not need as much of a stereotypical DM. Imagine the movement, power and added offensive strength though! Honestly in terms of physical power and athleticism that's just an unreal midfield, and these days it seems like that's what football is all about.

 

You forgot this match?

 

Oh yes. Let’s use the one game where de Roon brought “stability” and make draw conclusions from that. Not to mention it was vs the mighty Belarus.

 

Doesn't really matter, you can't base everything on one game. IMO De Roon has no place as a starter for Oranje, he is just too limited.

You can't compare games because at that time the Netherlands was also so toothless in attack and Van de Beek cannot be compared to Gravenberch. I agree Van de Beek, Wijnaldum and De Jong doesn't work either. But its not crazy to assume that De Jong, Gravenberch and Wijnaldum with their athleticism will pin back the other team which in itself functions defensively. Don't forget Barcelona used to dominate the world with a midfield of Busqueta, Iniesta and Xavi. Compared to that De Jong, Gravenberch and Wijnaldum are way more physical and defensively strong.

IMO both VdB and De Roon should not be starting if the other two players are Frenkie and Wijnaldum. It should be someone like Klaassen, Gravenberch or Koopmeijers. We know Klaassen is a decent option so now I would like to see the other two tried.

 

Idk, I think Klaassen shines in keeping things simple, which is good, but he doesn’t offer much else imo. Add to that that he’s painfully slow. Koopmeiners is more dynamic and a risk-taker, he also has better long-shooting ability.

As for Donny, he’s like a more technical and faster version of Klaassen. Which isn’t a bad thing, but isn’t a great thing either. He also hasn’t shown much at United and has yet to break into the first team. Can’t be a starter for the Dutch NT if you’re not a starter for your club.

If Gravenberch continues this form and has a break-out season then there won’t be a way around him. He has the biggest potential out of all the aforementioned. I love me a power midfielder with good technique and a great long-shot to boot.

He reminds me a bit of Leroy Fer when he was still a massive talent at Feyenoord, with those long and powerful strides in midfield going forward. You love to see it.

 

You're leaving out the best one next to Frenkie where it comes to creativity, Ihattaren.

In my opinion a 3-4-3 set up with Ihattaren has the preference.

 

To what degree do you think Ihattaren could play on the right forward role like Ziyech? I'm not sure if he has the fitness for that, but what do you think? That would be ideal since we have enough wonderful options for the center, but less so in the forward positions. What a team we could have had if we had just not ********ed up with Ziyech! But let's hope Ihattaren or Stengs can take that role soon.

 

Actually Ihattaren's next spot is the right wing, so he fits the Ziyech role perfectly. In my opinion.

 

Yeah I know that's his other position the only thing is Ziyech puts in a crazy amount of running and defensive contribution. I wonder if Ihattaren would be able to match that.

 

After Gravenberch’s noteworthy performance yesterday it was Gakpo’s turn tonight. He was so good and seems to have found that form again from before he got tested positive.
He’s just such a goal-threat, and coming from the wings this is something we are missing in the Dutch NT.

I think he has really earned the call-up to the senior NT, also taking into account his great form before he got sick.

Malen was also good tonight. It’s great to see these youngsters doing so good. We really need them to step it up for the upcoming tournaments.

 

So despite the result, Gravenberch has been receiving international praise left right and centre after his CL performance vs Liverpool last night.

He’s developing at an astounding rate. Really hope he can keep this up and have a true break-out season. I would love to have a power-midfielder like him at Oranje.

I hope he keeps silencing the doubters and proving what I have been saying for a while now: He deserves to be in Oranje at least over the likes of Vilhena, Strootman, de Roon. If he continues developing at this rate, I’d take him over Klaassen and DvB too.

To be fair to Klaassen, he was pretty good last night too.

 

Gio left his Chinese team coaching. After FDB's many failures with different clubs, Cocu and Gio experienced the same after leaving Eredivisie. This seems to be the trend with many former national team player turning coach (not counting Seedorf, MVBommel and others). Maybe they can line up to replace FDB after Euro ?

 

[Attack]

In my opinion Bergwijn shouldn’t be in there undisputedly. He’s not exactly lighting it up for the Spurs. He’s been decent at most, with an outlier here and there. His end-product leaves a lot to be desired.

I think Gakpo has been more impressive, and El Ghazi has also had a resurgence in recent games that could temporarily put him ahead of Bergwijn.

I also hope Boadu can make the necessary strides in order to give Berghuis the boot.
As far as Stengs goes, I’d rather have him as a back-up AM to Ihattaren than as a winger. Babel and Promes should just stay far, far away from this squad.

[Midfield]

For some reason I have been developing a dislike for Donny as far as his impact on a game goes. He just looks average in that Manchester side and seems to be regressing more than anything. Not good enough for Oranje atm imo. Joey Veerman looks a lot more appealing atm.

I also hope Gravenberch keeps making strides and gets into the final squad. God knows I don’t want to see de Roon in there. He just stifles our attack everytime I see him play. Frustrating player imo.

Jury’s still out on Klaassen. Seems to do great in his role at Ajax, not as good for Oranje imo.

[Defense]

I really hope that Wijndal can cement himself as out starting LB. I also hope that Bakker can make it as the back-up. He was doing great at PSG until Tuchel started tweaking the formation before he got laid-off.

I also do not like Ake. I don’t think he’s an elite CB neither is he a good enough LB imo.
Jack of all trades, master of none. If Botman carries on in this form than it would be a darn shame if Ake were to make it instead of him.

I also cringe at the sight of Hateboer in there. For crying out loud, how many more crappy performances does he have to put in in order to be booted out for good? I hope Karsdorp can take that back-up RB spot.

[GK]

I really don’t see why Cillessen should be the undisputed starter while not even starting for his own club. His credit is up. Time to give consistent starters a chance. Really hope Bijlow and Drommel make the cut.

 

Attack
A fit Groeneveld Danjuma needs to be on that plane. Out of all the wingers he has got that X factor to make a difference especially in the knock out stages. He is currently injured with a hamstring problem and like I said, if he is injury free and continues from where he left off, he should be in. He is a gifted winger and hopefully the club card will not be used as an excuse to squash him aside.

So my front three would be :

Danjuma - Depay - Ihattaren

Midfield

The midfield needs to be explored with and without frenkie. The idea that MF should be centred around frenkie and with that LCM being his preferably position needs to change because the day he is not around or gets injured there can be a proven plan B and not experimenting on the last hour.

Koopmeiners together with frenkie also remains to be seen as to how effective they can be working together. Gravenberch would fall in the same boat as well if im not wrong. LCM.

I think alot will be concluded after the euros as to how the midfield should look.

 

We now have a lot of options to form the midfield, from a defensive pov to a very attacking one. Depending on the opponent the formation should be chosen.
Considering Depay, I have a problem with his tendency to do trickeries, when direct play is better. In that regard Boadu is far more direct heading towards the box and in pulling the trigger whithout fancy moves. Boadu is slowly but gradually getting back to his last season's form. At the moment Depay has the edge, but unlike with Koeman, Depay hasnot got the lock in spot with de Boer.