Ajacieden in Oranje

[DanK]

I watched the first half and I thought Holland were really good, to be honest. More than 70% possession, they totally had 'em by the throat, whereas the conditions were a bit rough to say the least (storm, rain).

I left home during the half-time break, so I don't know what happened in the second half, but it's been a while since I saw Holland play so well as in the first half.

So, no worries. They'll hammer Slovenia and we're gonna go to Euro 2008.

K.

They better...and it would be fantastic if they played in Innsbruck as well. Quite handy actually

[K.J. Huntelaar]

I hope u won't hammer us.

Trully i think u will win, i just hope our players don't go home with 5 in the net. I put my hopes on our great young goalkeeper.

[ZoefdeHaas]

I watched the first half and I thought Holland were really good, to be honest. More than 70% possession, they totally had 'em by the throat, whereas the conditions were a bit rough to say the least (storm, rain).

I left home during the half-time break, so I don't know what happened in the second half, but it's been a while since I saw Holland play so well as in the first half.

So, no worries. They'll hammer Slovenia and we're gonna go to Euro 2008.

K.

I personally disagree, neither side really was able to do much as this game was a rather "phoney" affair. But Romania pushed hard in the second half. Even with players like VdV, Seedorf and Robben, Holland failed to make many chances. The second half was worse, even the most experienced of players like Gio, made stupid mistakes. I know we'll be in Euro2008 but if this keeps up then we'll probably be beaten by the likes of Scotland (whom is on form)

[JohnyAjax]

I hope u won't hammer us.

Trully i think u will win, i just hope our players don't go home with 5 in the net. I put my hopes on our great young goalkeeper.

And I hope you can beat them or just steal some priceless points and make
way for us to go through although we do not deserve it, definetely.

[Van basten]

Now, when Ruud and Gio are suspended, there's good chances to see Urby and KJH on the pitch today

[Van basten]

KJH scored in 87min :hupajax.gif: netherlands-slovenia 2-0

[Manneken Pis]

KJH scored in 87min :hupajax.gif: netherlands-slovenia 2-0

Tap in (assist Babel).
Schneijder latched onto a poor back pass to score the first.

Again (and I say this in the context that MvB could well be the next Ajax coach) a very poor overall performance by Holland given the quality of the squad. If he can't make players of this calibre play with tempo and gusto, what's he going to do with whatever is left of the Ajax squad when he shows up in July?

I recognise national and club coaching is very different, but I don't see ANY progress in 3 years with Holland.

Last night should have been a happy event, instead there were white hankerchiefs for MvB and chants of "Foppe de Haan"....

[ZoefdeHaas]

Van der vaart and van persie and robben got injured....how sad.

the game was poor, but whatever.

at least we'll be in 2008, unlike e-n-g-l-a-n-d

[Van basten]

Stekelenburg, Emanuelson, Heitinga, Maduro and Huntelaar are selected to Oranje against Luxemburg and Belarus in EC qualifications

[SPL]

KJH and Maduro are dropped for Sats match and the other 3 are likely to
be subs.

In an U21 match Siem de Jong has been called up for the first time and is
likely to start.

[Kowalczyk]

Holland's qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa...

The Netherlands
Scotland
Norway
Macedonia
Iceland

No reason to complain. This one's do-able.

K.

[jamcocteau]

Holland's qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa...

The Netherlands
Scotland
Norway
Macedonia
Iceland

No reason to complain. This one's do-able.

K.

Want a bet lol

fancy a wee trip to Glasgow matey

[DanK]

If I had to pick, i would think it may finish in that order, with possibly Scotland above Holland...maybe

[Manneken Pis]

There was, of course, a rather interesting scoreline the last time Holland played Scotland.....

There was a joke doing the rounds back then that went something like;

"What have Scotland and Michael Jackson's young friends got in common?"

















"They both got f@cked in Neverlands"


I'll get me coat......

[Kowalczyk]

I really like the current Scotland team. The current generation is more talented than previous generations of Scotland players, they can play more styles of football than just simple kick & rush and they are entertaining. All of this makes it very easy to love them.

But... I still believe that Holland have more quality than the Scots. Holland are most definitely not entertaining these days, but they are harder to beat than some of the previous, more entertaining Oranje crops. A quick peek at the statistics of the past two years makes it quite clear that it has become unusually difficult to score a goal against Holland.

Normally Holland will win this group, I'd say. I don't think any Scotsman will fundamentally disagree. He'll say a few things like "you haven't beaten us yet" and "you never know what will happen" - and he'll be quite right. But that's a different story.

K.

[Blind3]

I definitely fancy a trip to see Netherlands v. Scotland or Scotland v. Netherlands. Great sets of supporters on both sides.

[SPL]

I made a comment last week as to who will be our next debut in the full Dutch team. Steks , Heits and KJH are in this weeks squad but all 3 will likely leave in the summer along with Urby, not in this weeks squad.

There are various Dutch youth ints this week and with all the talk of 7 Ajax
16 year olds in the Dutch u17 ( they are playing 3 games in Spain this week ) I notice we are not very well represented at other levels.

U18 have Padt(goalie) and Van Der Meulen(central defender)
U19 Blind(central defender) and Supusepa( left back)
Olympic Team Siem De Jong , bought in as a replacement.

In the U21 team back in Nov , Van Der Weil played but that is it.

Guys like Sarpong Goossens Donald were U19's last season but have not broken into the u21 team and Anita has been mainly injured but is still a part of the U19. Van Der Heijden is not involved either, and I think he looks good!!

I only mention this bit of trivia as it shows we do not have that many coming through ,except at U17 level . And of course our senior youth teams plus the contracted reseves are nearly all Dutch.

[SPL]

To get my full facts right I notice there is a friendly promising team this week playing young Denmark .They appear to be a sort of reserve U21 team and we actually have Sarpong Goossens Wormgoor Donald Yildirim and Poepon ( loan at Willem )all in the squad.

Here endeth my trivia rant.

[SE6Ajacied]

Johnny is on a scoring streak! Heitinga and Huntelaar both scored in tonights 3-0 win away to Croatia.

Did anyone see the game. The score sounds very good but how did Oranje play?

Ex Ajacieds Van der Sar, Melchiot, De Cler, Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Babel and De Jong also played with Urby also coming on as a substitute.

This was only a friendly but from a quick glance at the teamsheet it looks like Croatia fielded a fairly strong team.

[Frans]

Johnny is on a scoring streak! Heitinga and Huntelaar both scored in tonights 3-0 win away to Croatia.

Did anyone see the game. The score sounds very good but how did Oranje play?

Ex Ajacieds Van der Sar, Melchiot, De Cler, Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Babel and De Jong also played with Urby also coming on as a substitute.

This was only a friendly but from a quick glance at the teamsheet it looks like Croatia fielded a fairly strong team.

Missed the first 20 minutes, but other then that, Holland played well in the first half, dominated, almost 60% possession. Heitinga's goal was an impressive diving header off a Sneijder free kick. Huntelaar tapped in after a nice move down the left. Second half was a bit more equal. Croatia had chances but didn't convert. Holland scored on the break a couple of minutes from the end.

Also, Holland played 4-2-3-1, with Gio and De Zeeuw mopping up behind Babel, Sneijder and VdV. Seemed to work quite well. Urby wasn't great when he came on, but by then, Holland as a whole were basically defending their lead, (note he came on for Huntelaar, with VdV going to centre forward)

So, all in all, better than expected, I guess.

[SPL]

Having made comments about not having many of our A1 team in the Dutch youth team I see today that the Dutch U21 squad for a game in 2 weeks time has 1 current Ajax player in it Siem De Jong. The squad lists 34 names although 3 of our loan players Vermeer, Poepon and Schilder are included.

The senior squad has 4 Ajax players in it thankfully

[SPL]

I was too quick on the above post as this afternoon I note there is a promising young dutch team playing Young Tunisia. I think this is an U20 come reserve U21 team.I am not sure this is an official international???

Thankfully there are 8 of our reserve side in the squad.
V Duin, Donald,Yildirim,Goossens,Sarpong,Wormgoor,VdHeijden,Slinjgard.

[Van basten]

KJH scored twice and Heitinga once in a victory against Austria 4-3.
Btw, Austria had a lead 3-0!

[DanK]

KJH scored twice and Heitinga once in a victory against Austria 4-3.
Btw, Austria had a lead 3-0!

No thanks to two poor goalkeeping decisions by Henk Timmer. If you are going to come off your line on corners, you HAVE to get to the ball, not just flap your arms around in the air.

It was a good come back from Holland, although Austria after going up really sat back and let Holland come to them, especially in the 2nd half. And the win actually looked inevitable imo. I think Holland had 65% possession or close to.

Nice winner from KJH though. Fantastic finish. van Basten's substitutions worked wonders Mr Longestnameinfootball and Seedorf all playing the part, the former with a goal and assist.

The poor Austrians. Can't wait to rub it in to them today

BTW - Why can't van Persie play for Ajax. The guy has one of the greatest first (and 2nd and 3rd for the matter) touches in the game.

[Van basten]

BTW - Why can't van Persie play for Ajax. The guy has one of the greatest first (and 2nd and 3rd for the matter) touches in the game.

You talk like he would be a Groningen player or something. He was the best Arsenal striker this season before the injury. He's just not from our level..