International Breaks

[YNWA14]

Thought I'd make a different topic for the friendlies/non-world cup games (feel free to merge if not necessary). Games going on today are pretty good.

Notables:

Netherlands vs. Greece
Belgium vs. Spain
Italy vs. France

Also Portugal is playing Gibraltar.

This is pretty much the optimal line-up right now. Could even fit in Klaassen in midfield and move Wijnaldum out wide right instead. The only weird spot is Veltman over Tete on the right which should be interesting (personally I'd prefer Karsdorp).

Click to read more...

 

[YNWA14]

Wijnaldum!! 1 - 0 from Janssen. What a duo...still wish Janssen had come to Liverpool. Klopp needs to be watching this to see the kind of impact Wijnaldum can have when given a more free licence to attack as a midfielder with a more creative type beside him and a true holder behind.

 

[Evilo]

France leading 2-1 in Italy. Kurzawa with an assist already. Giroud and Martial with a goal each.

 

[Savi]

Belgium looking terrible so far against Spain

down 1-0 at halftime and could have been worse

 

[Ajacied]

This is pretty much the optimal line-up right now. Could even fit in Klaassen in midfield and move Wijnaldum out wide right instead. The only weird spot is Veltman over Tete on the right which should be interesting (personally I'd prefer Karsdorp).

Berghuis in the starting eleven makes if far from optimal. Amd stop with the Klaassen praise. I want him gone at Ajax and he shouldn't be anything more than a deep sub on the depthchart for Oranje, if at all. He wouldn't have gotten a sniff in the Oranje squads of previous years.

Veltman also gets the nod above Tete with Ajax. I believe Tete is the best back we have had in ages, definitely among the better defensive backs in the world already, but he isn't much of a threat with the ball on his feet. Veltman is. Ajax and Oranje are both two ball possession sides, so it makes somewhat sense. Most of the Ajax fanatics want Bosz gone already for not playing Tete and Bazoer as much as De Boer did.

Oranje has a poor squad right now, but better ages are coming. I like Blind though. Dude is criminally underrated.

 

[ProPAIN]

Belgium looking terrible so far against Spain

down 1-0 at halftime and could have been worse

Did absolutely nothing that half. Like no cohesion, not creating something. Dare I say worse than under the old coach.

Somehow Hazard has been the last man back a few times down the left side. What the hell is Lukaku doing? Playing FIFA with his brother on the bench?

 

[Theon]

Oranje has a poor squad right now, but better ages are coming. I like Blind though. Dude is criminally underrated.

He really is. His partner, Bailly has been getting all the plaudits (for good reason) but Blind's play has been just as immense so far at United. Very intelligent player and Jose's been talking him up after every game. I was worried he'd leave after LvG left but it looks like he's proved his worth to Jose.

Also the first French goal was Pogba to Martial. I like.

 

[YNWA14]

Berghuis in the starting eleven makes if far from optimal. Amd stop with the Klaassen praise. I want him gone at Ajax and he shouldn't be anything more than a deep sub on the depthchart for Oranje, if at all. He wouldn't have gotten a sniff in the Oranje squads of previous years.

Veltman also gets the nod above Tete with Ajax. I believe Tete is the best back we have had in ages, definitely among the better defensive backs in the world already, but he isn't much of a threat with the ball on his feet. Veltman is. Ajax and Oranje are both two ball possession sides, so it makes somewhat sense. Most of the Ajax fanatics want Bosz gone already for not playing Tete and Bazoer as much as De Boer did.

Oranje has a poor squad right now, but better ages are coming. I like Blind though. Dude is criminally underrated.

Blind was partially at fault for the goal against really. If we're looking for a fullback on the right that's going to help in possession and attack it's Karsdorp over Veltman 100% of the time. Tete and Karsdorp should be the two; Veltman is a pretty poor fullback in truth.

Klaassen I am OK with only because of his ability to get in and score goals from midfield. He's not a spectacular player and hasn't really evolved much from that, but he does play with an intensity and passion that a lot of players in Oranje lack now. Wijnaldum is better and has better other attributes like close control, speed, etc. but that's why if he were to shift out wide while Robben is out (over Beghuis) having Klaassen replace him is not so bad. For me:

Karsdorp - van Dijk - Blind - Willems
Strootman
Sneijder - Klaassen
Wijnaldum - Janssen - Promes​

That would be what I would field with Robben out, and then replace Klaassen with Wijnaldum when/if Robben gets healthy. I love Janssen though.

 

[Ajacied]

Blind was partially at fault for the goal against really. If we're looking for a fullback on the right that's going to help in possession and attack it's Karsdorp over Veltman 100% of the time. Tete and Karsdorp should be the two; Veltman is a pretty poor fullback in truth.

Veltman still has the edge on Karsdorp and I think he is slowly winning me over on the right side as well. The only knock against Veltman is that he isn't consistent enough (and perhaps his size, though Karsdorp isn't a giant either). I think his timing and tackling are top notch. His long balls suck, though. Karsdorp is definitely knocking, but with Tete, both Veltman and Karsdorp are fighting to be the backup.

Klaassen I am OK with only because of his ability to get in and score goals from midfield. He's not a spectacular player and hasn't really evolved much from that, but he does play with an intensity and passion that a lot of players in Oranje lack now. Wijnaldum is better and has better other attributes like close control, speed, etc. but that's why if he were to shift out wide while Robben is out (over Beghuis) having Klaassen replace him is not so bad. For me:

Karsdorp - van Dijk - Blind - Willems
Strootman
Sneijder - Klaassen
Wijnaldum - Janssen - Promes​

That would be what I would field with Robben out, and then replace Klaassen with Wijnaldum when/if Robben gets healthy. I love Janssen though.

That's all Klaassen is though. Great attitude, fighting spirit and has a knock for being there at the right place, at the right time. Other than that, he has little skills and shouldn't be donning #10 for Ajax. Ajax should have higher standards, which I had hoped they learned from Siem de Jong, who is even more mediocre.

That line up is the best we can come up with too I am afraid. It's a quarter final side if everything clicks, a non participant if not.

Can't even beat Greece in our own house.

 

[Power Man]

Lol Belgian fans are not happy

 

[YNWA14]

I agree with you. I can't wait for Nouri and Maradonny to step up and win a spot in the side. They should already be starting at Ajax but will be buried and underused...so stupid, and if the KNVB (or maybe it was just Blind) hadn't been so stupid Ziyech would have been a player for us and he would have been invaluable.

Strootman
Ziyech - Wijnaldum​

would be a very nice and balanced midfield, but Nouri/Donny will fit in well to the Ziyech spot, though Nouri often enough looks more like a left winger (not a traditional winger, like a left sided 10 if that makes sense) than he does a midfielder a lot of the time. Maybe by the time we hit the world cup it could look like this:

Strootman
Donny/Nouri - Wijnaldum
Robben/Promes - Janssen - Nouri/Promes​

 

[Luigi Habs]

Don't understand what happened with Netherlands. Their talent pool is very very thin right now.

 

[Plato]

That being said, I really hate international breaks. Especially on 3 days weekends in the US.
Give me club football please.

 

[Live in the Now]

Don't understand what happened with Netherlands. Their talent pool is very very thin right now.

Feyenoord financial problems stagnated youth development. CL happened.

 

[YNWA14]

There's a lot more to it than that, but basically negative philosophy, money causing bright talents to leave too early and stagnate, results over style, etc.

Still plenty of talent in the Dutch pool, so to speak, but most of them are not making the right decisions at pivotal points in their careers or are not being groomed properly. Losing Ziyech to Morocco was awful as he was a much needed creative player.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

There's a lot more to it than that, but basically negative philosophy, money causing bright talents to leave too early and stagnate, results over style, etc.

Still plenty of talent in the Dutch pool, so to speak, but most of them are not making the right decisions at pivotal points in their careers or are not being groomed properly. Losing Ziyech to Morocco was awful as he was a much needed creative player.

Welcome to South America's world.

 

[Savi]

Lol Belgian fans are not happy

And with good reason

We look worse than we did with Wilmots in charge

 

[Ajacied]

Don't understand what happened with Netherlands. Their talent pool is very very thin right now.

Between two generations. The generation of van Persie, van der Vaart, Sneijder, Robben and Huntelaar ended rather abruptly and too soon, while the likes of Afellay, Aisatti, Babel, Drenthe, Maher, Castaignos, Rodney Sneijder, Kishna, Rekik, Barazite, Cabral, Depay, El Ghazi, van Haaren, Boëtius, Zivkovic, van Rhijn, I can list a whole bunch, all have flopped big time or are all about to become busts. I think it has something to do with the downfall of the Eredivisie too. It just can't compete with the money elsewhere, but the amount of flops we've had recently is astonishing.

 

[YNWA14]

You can see a large part of the problem at Ajax alone though. You have Nouri, de Jong, van de Beek, etc. waiting in the wings and yet they're constantly buying players that are marginally better, if at all, instead of giving the guys from the academy experience. They buy a very bright young talent in Sinkgraven, who is a starter at Heerenveen and growing in confidence, and then misuse or barely use him at all. Now, as Nouri is nearing the first team (he should be a starter already) they buy Ziyech?

PSV just bought Ramselaar who was a sure starter with Utrecht and making big steps forward and where is the room for him in midfield there? He's not a defensive midfielder and he won't start over Propper and Guardado. Dutch clubs are hurting their own developmental opportunities and the van Gaal school is overtaking the Cruyff school. Just bad things in general going on there.

 

[Bures Elbow]

Portugal is going to be so good the next decade.

Bernardo Silva is something else, a lot of young players making the jump to big teams surrounded by top coaches and players to help them become more cultured (Joao Mario, Andre Gomes, Sanches, Gurreiro, Cancelo etc)

Andre Silva is finally the striker they needed.


The only problem is if Santos will actually let them play footy? We'll find out in Switzerland on September 6th.

Wouldn't be surprised to see another defensive oriented lineup and crap soccer when the players are capable of so much more, especially now that Moutinho is fully fit again.

 

[Bures Elbow]

Between two generations. The generation of van Persie, van der Vaart, Sneijder, Robben and Huntelaar ended rather abruptly and too soon, while the likes of Afellay, Aisatti, Babel, Drenthe, Maher, Castaignos, Rodney Sneijder, Kishna, Rekik, Barazite, Cabral, Depay, El Ghazi, van Haaren, Boëtius, Zivkovic, van Rhijn, I can list a whole bunch, all have flopped big time or are all about to become busts. I think it has something to do with the downfall of the Eredivisie too. It just can't compete with the money elsewhere, but the amount of flops we've had recently is astonishing.

I wouldn't be too concerned, every country goes through a boom and bust cycle...Italy is going through a slow generation as well but you can see the young players coming through slowly such as rugani, romagnoli, Berardi etc

Holland will bounce back, too much of a hotbed of talent not to.

Portugal had their own between 07-14..we just kept making international tournaments and doing well in Euro 2012 due to an aging core of Ronaldo/Nani/Pepe/Coentrao/Moutinho and then a bunch of average players

 

[Evilo]

So France won 3-1 in Italy.
With Evra not selected, Kurzawa went from not selected even in the reserves to starter.
While he wasn't perfect defensively, he ended up with one goal and one assist.

He's making a good run at best offensive LB in the world really.

 

[Luigi Habs]

So France won 3-1 in Italy.
With Evra not selected, Kurzawa went from not selected even in the reserves to starter.
While he wasn't perfect defensively, he ended up with one goal and one assist.

He's making a good run at best offensive LB in the world really.

Here we go

 

[Evilo]

Here we go

Offensively?
Who's better?
Defensively and all around, he's not there (yet?), but offensively? He's magic.

 

[Evilo]

Here is Kurzawa stat sheet this season :
Trophée des champions : 1 goal, 2 assists (4-1 win).
Bastia-PSG : 1 goal (1-0 win).
PSG-Metz : 1 goal (3-0 win)
Monaco-PSG : nothing (3-1 loss)
Italy-France : 1 goal, 1 assist (3-1 win)

5 games, his teams scored 12 goals, he has 4 goals, 3 assists, so he has a say in 7/12 goals of his teams.
His team's record is 4W 1L 1. If you substract his goals and assists, his team's record is 1W, 1L, 3 ties.

As a LB.
If he isn't making a run at best offensive LB in the game, I'm not sure who is.