Dutch football league thread
 

Some of you might recognize the name of this thread: it's one of the oldest and longest league threads on that other forum. Since most dutchies have retired from that forum but frequent this one (during uptime ;) ) I decided to give it another try here. Besides, people whine less here.

Three things I wanted to share thoughts on:

1. Feyenoord (obviously). After the disastrous performance yesterday (1-3 loss to hoerenveen) once again I wondered why they don't change something there fundamentally. PSV shows how far you can get with discipline and positioning. Those are two things that you can simply train on. The supporters appreciate hard work. Gullit was on studio voetbal yesterday, all he did was complaining about the lack of money. True, less money than PSV and ajax, but the other 15 clubs in the league seem to manage the lack of money a lot better than Feyenoord. PSV has a lot less money than Milan, but it doesn't show. Gullit needs to stop whining and start making his men better.

2. Any thoughts on PSV tomorrow? I say they go through.

3. Oranje. Apparently Seedorf is somewhat back in the picture now J.C. declared that his lackey Van Basten might be interested if Seedorf changes "certain aspects". I saw Seedorf performing a defensive action last week, so I think his working on those "certain aspects" already. With Sneijder and v.d. Vaart hopelessly out of shape for months, I think Seedorf could be the man for tough games against very defensive teams. He doesn't fit in the current team though.

Oh, a 4th: Landzaat to Real Madrid. With Van Bommel at Barca this will give us weekly comparisons next season [goodjob]

My 2 cents...

1. Feyenoord need to stop buying 10 mediocre players each season and just buy 2 good ones for the same amount of money. IMVHO Gullit handled himself quite well on TV last night. So, Feyenoord will end 4th. Big deal! Ajax and PSV simply have more money and AZ's season is simply an exeptional masterpiece by Koning Co and his men! The big problem at Feyenoord is that there still is no decent left back and the defensive midfield quality level dropped significantly after Bosvelt left (though IMHO he's a step to slow for a good impact at this stage in his career). The second problem is that there is no quality playmaker on the team (and don't come to me with Shinji Ono, 'cause he simply isn't it. He's been either injured or just not on his game the last two seasons). The third problem is on-the-field leadership. Especially for the defense. 1 good, experienced player to give the orders would change a lot!
Money wins. Period. See Chelsea/AC Milan/Bayern Munchen/Barcelona, etc....

2. Sorry PP/KR/Schip, etc., but PSV aren't going to make it! As much as I admire what they have done with limited (when compared to the big teams) resources, I think AC Milan is just a tad too good at the moment. Milan can play their favourite game. Let PSV attack and quick counterstrikes with Crespo and Shevsjenko will finish it.

3. Seedorf should not be in Oranje. It's been tried before and it just doesn't work. He's the weak link in AC Milan's midfield, because of his weak defensive skills. Let's not make the same mistake for the 100th time...

4. Good for him! :)

...on that other forum... [groucho]

...havent been there for a while!

1. Too bad that Feyenoord sucks once more (again). Yesterday Gullit said that a club like Feyenoord should always go for the championship. I agree but not with all those lousy players. I agree with Darkness that Feyenoord should start buying some decent players instead of the crap they use to. A better defense would be a start. If Feyenoord gets a bit better and AZ holds out maybe we can have some fun the next season (for the 2nd place that is!). ;) PSV simply is too string at the moment.

2. If PSV has a fast goal it could be fun. I still have some hope...

3. no way! [rant] btw: Van Basten doesnt wants him! [goodjob]

4. Landzaat will end up on the bench. He should not go...

Real lacks defensive midfielders. Landzaat could be the basis of a whole new team. A whole lot better, that is.

Buying one or two good players is indeed better then 10 bad players. Over the years Feyenoord made some good purchases, but on the wrong positions. Simply count the number of left wingers... IMO all of them are high quality. Even pardo, though he hasn't really got the chance to prove himself. And that's part of the problem. Gullit even plays with a absurd system just to let as many forwards play as possible. And the first purchase for next season is Boussaboun? Come on...Then there's the growing list of failing wingbacks. If they'd kept Snoyl, for instance, they could at least claim a player out of their own youth.

But at least they got everything right with Castelen.

Feyenoord: fire/transfer roughly half the squad. Begin with Lazovic and Leonardo. These two screw teamspirit and are basicly whining wankers. One cries after scoring a goal (that is once a season, though he may cry at trainings as well), the other thinks he's the new hotshot yet has nothing to show for that. Fire old average players as well, like de Graaf and Schreuder.
Stop buying average players. Boussabon simply is not the quality you need. Why even buy such a sucky forward when that is the only line actually performing...instead, look at benches in Italy, Spain and Engalnd, there are players there who'd love to play each week at Feyenoord and that do not cost too much....

PSV: I will hope but realism says they won't stand a chance against AC Milan. They will lose honorably trying to score.

Oranje: we won't even make the WK.

Feyenoord: I'm no expert on soccer and I know even less about Feyenoord but I have the impression not all their purchases are bad. Kuijt and Castelen are doning really well I think. Biggest danger for Feyenoord is Kalou and/or Kuijt leaving, between the 2 of em they're responsible for 43 of Feyenoord's total 82 goals. That's quite a large percentage.

PSV: No way they're gonna make it. Chevshenko or Crespo will score at least one for sure and PSV wont be able to score 4 times. Only a very early goal will give them a tiny chance.

Oranje: Seedorf, although he might be the most qualified for the job I still think he's quite a big risk where teamspirit is concerned.

I'm not much of a football fan. I just watch the results of FC Groningen. But of course I always watch the national team. Therefore my one remark will be:

I have never seen Seedorf perform well in the national team. [tongue]

Marco could try to hire some sportpsychologists, or just PIC more. [tongue]

At least he no longer picks nasty fellow Patrick Kluivert, that seems to have helped the TS as well. ;)

OT: I'm really hoping Feyenoord will at least get some half decent results in recent games... else I'm afraid Gullit may have to go already, and that would mean no more "Ik ben niet te benijden" tv interviews... [sad]

[psv]

[psv]

2-0

Two seasons in a row?

2-0 up against AC Milan. It ended 3-1, so unfortunately PSV are out anyway... :(

That was a bit of an anticlimax. Good performance anyway.

We got some points again!

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/up...45512_rank.jpg
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Best UEFA rankings site: http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/

I hope AZ puts up a good fight tonight. Stupid sporting, bah.

Cool site! Thanks!

Damn. This one was even worse.

Cant we get rid of the 'extra time'?

Anyway, I am proud of AZ!!!! :D


http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/up..._gras_logo.gif

[cry]

this was unpleasant. again. [mad]

Curious what will happen now with the UEFA cup final. Parma's goalkeeper was missiled by the CSKA crowd and was unbale to continue the game. The ref somehow said 'play on' and CSKA won 3-0.

Sporting will be home in their own stadium now for the final.

I had deja vu today. Well at least AZ also put up a great fight. Both AZ and PSV can be proud of their achievement and the way the played.

Still sucks big time of course.

Any chance that AZ and Feyenoord won't loose next week? [rolleyes]

With feyenoord playing psv I doubt it. Gullit hinted at a possible departure. I read that Nelisse wants to go to Groningen, but Utrecht wants him as well. Nelisse-Nevland, nice duo next season in the new stadium.

The only real news is that UEFA once again proves it's incompetence: a very mild penalty for CSKA moscow, where as Inter got a match loss.

Yeah, very strange act from UEFA. Seems they hate Italians! ;)

But anyway, that game was continued, the Milan game was ended. That is a big difference!

I was amazed by that one as well...let's just say fans launch a fireworkmissile at the Keeper. Keeper is caried off whilst match goes on. Team loses and "only" penalty is some cash loss (easily made up by playing the final!!!) and playing the first round next year somewhere else (for CSKA that means they play Andorra's runner up at home without the crowd that would have met 500...). One could argue Parma should have quit the match entirely but In Moscow that was probably not an option.

IMO it's the uefa who should take action if the referee doesn't. Different referees take different actions, no matter what the uefa prescribes. In this case, it is clear that the safety of the players was at stake. The same penalty as inter got seems very appropriate. Cowards.

Van der Vaart linked to Hamburger SV.

So, Heracles champion of the first division. I must say they've earned it, previous season was a good one for them as well. Obviously I'd rather have seen Sparta as champions, but they screwed up last week.

Van der Vaart signed for HSV!

Interesting choice for him I say...My bet is he will end up like most "talents" of Ajax that left the club too soon and he will play for a minor club in say 3 years.

On the contrary, I think he can become important at HSV. A wise decision (though only time can tell). His role at ajax was pretty much over, other talents can fill his role. I do agree with Koeman that playing with two defensive whimps like VDV and Sneijder is pretty stupid.

Wow, what I just read on the VI site:

Van Nistelrooy wants to return to PSV in 2008, when his contract with ManU ends. I doubt ManU is too happy with this though.

I guess it could have worked with a reliable Galasek between them.

Thats come up in the English media before. I guess there is the possibility that he might stay for a bit longer and then leave.

Well, he had said before that he wants to return, but I didn't know when.

he will be 31 when that happens, so it seems like a good choice to me.

Gullit leaves Feyenoord....

http://www.nu.nl/news/529992/41/Gull...bij_Feyenoord.

In Dutch, sorry. :(

I can't say I like this. IMHO the board (van den herik, etc.) are more to blame... No coach can win if the players just aren't good enough...

EDIT: after seeing the other thread I realize I am a bit late.... [blush2]

So true.

OTOH, it isn't v.d herik who bought those players in the first place. The technical director Wotte did, but I can't imagine he did this without the consent of Gullit. Apparently Gullit just wanted a lot of new players, not just good ones. The players Feyenoord has might be good enough for 4th place, but with Gullit that doesn't even mean that those players can beat all the teams below 4th place.

No matter how bad the defenders are, they still should be able to defeat Den Bosch. And they're not that bad, but still they lost. Gullit can't make them play together. The forwards got better, but apparently Gullit hasn't the skills to make a defender better. Or even to do his job properly. This is particularly painful regarding Gullits statement before the start of the new season that the basis of a good team should be a solid defence.

2-0, easy win. How did Van Persie manage to miss that?

They did not play well though nor did Romania. Finland away seems no Walkover, expecting a small win.