Marco Van Basten has stepped down as Ajax manager after failing to qualify for next season's Champions League. It's the first time since 2005-06 that the Amsterdam club has finished outside the Eredivisie's Top Two.
For more on a queer year in Dutch footy-- No Ajax, Feyenoord, or PSV qualifying for the CL... Steve McClaren carried off the field by supporters (as opposed to a lynch mob)-- please read the great Joep Smeets' Season in Review.
Showing posts with label Holland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holland. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Quick Throw: Van Basten Out at Ajax
Friday, August 29, 2008
Euro '08 Pick 'Em Winner finally cashes in: Eredivisie Season Preview
Anyone remember this? Well, our winner was obvious a couple of months ago, and UF reader Joep Smeets managed to hang on top and win the whole thing. As our "prize", we offered him a post on anything he wanted, and when offered to him, he told me he wanted to wait until late August to claim his reward.
Why? Because the Dutch Eredivisie kicks off this weekend, and he's just the man to handicap it and break it down for us ignoramuseseses.
This makes me happy, because I had no idea where to begin. I know Ajax, they're good, PSV, and that's about it. Feyenoord? Is that one?
Anyway, Joep has all the answers for us, so educate yourselves after the jump.
One of the leagues kicking off this weekend is the Dutch league. The first though this may conjure in some of you is probably “do the Dutch still have a league?” and the answer to that question is “more or less”. The Eredivisie, as it is called, has spent the last decade slipping gradually but steadily into irrelevancy, to the point where Arsenal can comfortably field their Carling Cup starting eleven and still brush off the second best team our country had to offer with ridiculous ease.
But yes, even mediocre leagues have to start at some point, and Friday night is the Eredivisie’s turn. And because the nice gentlemen at Unprofessional Foul know all of you are dying for an in-depth analysis of Europe’s seventh best league - or because they owe me a guest post because I crushed all of you in the European Cup Pick’em - here is a preview.
The Contenders
The Dutch league has been dominated for years by a traditional top three, consisting of Ajax (remember them?), PSV and Feyenoord, however, in the past decade, Feyenoord has been managed more poorly than Enron and as a result, hardly makes any more pretensions on the Dutch title than you or me.
That leaves us with Ajax and PSV, the latter of which have been champions four years straight. During this period, PSV has been hollowed out each and every year, losing quality players to quality teams and to Spurs. Despite of their knack for bringing in proper replacements, losing Gomes and Farfan means they have now lost the last two players who played for the team that made CL semi’s a few years ago. 
PSV’s player to watch: Ibrahim Affelay. This will be the year he finally outgrows the Dutch league. Honorable mention to Dirk Marcellis, who played his heart out at Anfield last year and got a standing ovation for his effort when he was sent off. A young central defender who played very well at the Olympics and is getting considered for the senior national side.
Even with PSV losing a little bit of quality every year, Ajax has not been able to catch up. The past four seasons have seen more turmoil in Amsterdam than in your average war zone, and about as many heads have rolled. Each season starts with the same high expectations (PSV has got to be the only team that has won four championships in a row while not being considered favorites for any of those seasons), merited by an influx of new players that are considered a lock to get the job done. So far, none of them have, but there’s no question Ajax can field more attacking firepower than any other team in the league.
Ajax’s player to watch: Klaas Jan Huntelaar, obviously. He’s the centerpiece of an attack that features three quick and goal-oriented players around him in Luis Suarez, Miralem Suljemani and Civantich. Ajax’s defense might not be very stable but this lot could outscore any team in the league.
The Hopefuls
Behind PSV and Ajax there is a sizeable group of pretenders to the Dutch crown, led by SC Heerenveen and FC Twente, who will both feature in the UEFA Cup this season. The only two teams in Holland with a foreign coach are slowly but steadily attempting to structurally fill the hole in the top three that Feyenoord left behind.
Heerenveen, especially, has a very capable scouting team. You only have to look at the strikers they have fielded over the past year, which include Huntelaar, Afonso Alves, Samaras and van Nistelrooy. Twente has taken a big gamble by hiring Second Choice Steve, who is about as familiar with the Dutch league as any of you are.
Others in this group include Feyenoord and AZ, the latter of which made a very strong attempt at the title two years ago, only to fail miserably in the last season.
Players to watch 
Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen) Bradley is no unknown to most of you, probably, and was one of the better midfielders of the league last season. From what I gather, he gets forward more for Heerenveen than he does for the US, which is his strong point. [Ed. Note: there are rumours brewing of him moving to Middlesbrough]
Douglas (FC Twente) a strong Brazilian defender that messed up against Arsenal. Young, though, and he has the top teams in Holland taking looks at him, which means the Premier League will most likely not be far behind. He shut down Huntelaar in the playoffs for the Champions League qualification ticket, which is no small feat. 
Jonathan de Guzman (Feyenoord) Canadian by birth, Dutch by footballing passport, he has been one of the few bright spots for Feyenoord. He is a very complete young midfielder that has been attracting interest from England.
Stijn Schaars (AZ) is a very solid young midfielder who captained the European Cup winning u-21 sides. He has been out injured for a long time and AZ hurt without him. If he regains his pre-injury form, he will be considered for the national team and difficult for AZ to keep in Alkmaar for much longer.
European Competitions
After Arsenal’s drubbing of Twente, PSV will be the only Dutch team in the Champions League. They’re grouped with Liverpool, Marseille and Atletico Madrid, which means it will take a small miracle for them to go through.
In the UEFA Cup, there is a sizeable Dutch contingent, spearheaded by an improved Ajax-side, Heerenveen, Twente, Feyenoord and NEC, a small team who played an out of this world second season half and subsequently lost its three best players and hasn’t found any decent replacements so far. Ajax, with Huntelaar up front and Stekelenburg in goal could make a deep run, while the rest would be lucky to survive the group stage except for maybe Heerenveen.
We’ll, there you have it. Another season full of poor defending and bright young talents is upon us. The football might be poor, but the Dutch league guarantees at least a few players each year who will make the step to the big times at the end of the season, so I suggest you all keep an eye on it!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Good, The Bad, The WTF
Whoa. It looks like wall-to-wall Euro coverage this week (I'm guessing, I wrote this on Monday). By the time you read this, the Dutch will have already beaten the tar out of the listless, captainless Italians. So, in honor of this week's opening win, and because they wore the worst shirt a team ever wore to win the European Championship, I bring to you the Netherlands 1988 shirt.
Oh God, forgive me. I am so sorry.
Joep Smeets, what say you?
Hey, I learned something new today. Back in 1988, the Euros only had 8 teams. Huh.
That year, Netherlands were grouped with USSR, Ireland and England. Netherlands actually lost their first game of the tournament, 1-0 to the Soviets. There were no more slip-ups after that. Ireland was beaten 3-1 and the woeful English, who finished bottom of the group without a point, were dispatched 1-0.
Since there were only 8 teams, the first knockout round was the semifinals. In those semis, the Dutch went behind in the 55th minute to the West Germans. However, Koeman scored in the 74th minute for the Dutch, and Golden Boot winner Marco van Basten sealed the win in the 88th for the Dutch. The final was against the Soviets again. This time, the Dutch were up to the challenge. Netherlands scored in both halves, and the title was theirs.
I have a theory. I think that in the first game the Soviets, who were always theorized to be experimenting on their sports stars, concocted a pre-tournament mixture that made their players color-blind. Unable to see just how horrible the Dutch shirt was, the Soviets were able to win easily. The color-blindness wore off by the finals, and the Dutch vanquished their (dirty, commie) opponents. Hey, it could have happened.
Really, look at that thing up there. Go ahead and stare at it. I bet you one of two things happen. Either you hypnotize yourself (I hope it gives you a Peter Gibbons-like transformation), or you start to see a hidden message, a la Magic Eye posters (It's a schooner!). Me, I'm not taking my chances.
So, congratulations to the Netherlands. You win the ü75 designation of worst Euro-winning shirt ever, barely beating out the über-striped Danish 1992 kit. Good on you all.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Euro 2008 Team Profiles: The Netherlands
Holland's known for many things: bicycles, liberalism, marijuana and perhaps one of the most dreadful domestic football leagues. It's a great place to visit when you're a young, itinerant backpacker with a thirst for boobs, booze and brazen displays of idiocy, but I digress. There's more to the place than that.
Despite the dismal showing that is the Eredivisie, the country has been steadily pumping the rest of the footballing world full of talented players for a good two decades now, and while hardly any of them succeed in England [here's looking at you, Dirk Kuyt and Afonso Alves], they become quality players if given the right climate and care in which to grow. A bit like their weed, really.
Watching the three of them play together was like watching a masterclass in what football should be. Gullit had the pace and the skills, Rijkaard was the prototypical brutish enforcer in central midfield, and van Basten just couldn't stop bloody scoring. The trio tore up all comers on the world stage and then ran riot through Serie A when they all played for AC Milan from 1987-1993 [how on earth did Berlusconi pull off that package deal?]. A joy to watch and a joy to listen to, the Netherlands enjoyed their best ever team. It speaks volumes of their place on the world stage that this regional dominance amounted to little in the big tournaments; at the peak of their dominance, from 1983 [when many of their best players burst onto the scene: Ronald Koeman, Jan Wouters, Marco van B, Gullit, Jan van Tiggelen, Danny Blind] to the mid-90s, they won one European Championship in '88 and precious fuck-all outside of that. Disappointment followed in the World Cup -- they didn't even qualify in 1986! -- and a 2-1 defeat in their Italia '90 second round match against Germany [I still remember it vividly for Rijkaard's sending-off for spitting as he and West German perm-wearer Rudi Voller went at it all day long]... and they've been struggling to regain credibility ever since. Add to that the frustrating injury-plagued winger Robin van Persie [or, as he's known, Robin van Porcelain], and there's no reason why they shouldn't perform well. They come into Euro '08 with a strong, young squad full of attacking flair, and another horrible Eredivisie-bred defense. If that league could teach the offside trap successfully, we should all cower in fear and bow to your South Africa '10 Champions, The Netherlands. On to the squad, and then on to the questions!
Dennis Bergkamp is top of the list. I've lost track of the number of circus-like goals he knocked in for the Gooners. Marc Overmars had some decent pace, and let's not forget the irritating goalscoring rate of Ruud van Nistelrooij. However, you have to look a little further back than that to see their true class: the holy trinity of Marco Van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, and Ruud Gullit [excuse the atrocious Euro-techno accompanying a couple of those vids].
It's tough when all your stars vanish at the same time, although they had an embarrassment of riches to replace them all with, thanks to the magic of the Ajax youth program: Overmars, Bergkamp, Edgar Davids, Patrick Kluivert, Roy Makaay, Clarence Seedorf, and Aron Winter.
And still nothing! All that mercurial talent wasted!
Moving to the present day, they've aroused yet another bumper crop of talent that is currently peddling itself all over the continent, including Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and the hilariously regal-sounding Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
A familiar pose for RvP
The Netherlands are the ultimate disappointers on the world stage. Some would choose England right away, and personal heritage aside, I'd put that tag firmly on van der Sar and co. Why? They've created some of the world's most memorable players, and at one point, had a team with no perceivable flaws from top to bottom. And they still couldn't win.
GK
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Edwin van der Sar [Manchester United], Maarten Stekelenburg [Ajax], Henk Timmer [Feyenoord]
DF
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Khalid Boulahrouz [Sevilla], Wilfred Bouma [Aston Villa], Tim de Cler [Feyenoord], John Heitinga [Atlético Madrid], Joris Mathijsen [Hamburger SV], Mario Melchiot [Wigan Athletic], André Ooijer [Blackburn Rovers], Giovanni van Bronckhorst [Feyenoord]
MF
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Demy de Zeeuw [AZ Alkmaar], Orlando Engelaar [FC Twente], Nigel de Jong [Hamburger SV], Ibrahim Afellay [PSV], Wesley Sneijder [Real Madrid], Arjen Robben [Real Madrid], Rafael van der Vaart [Hamburger SV]
FW
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Robin van Persie [Arsenal], Dirk Kuyt [Liverpool], Ruud van Nistelrooy [Real Madrid], Klaas-Jan Huntelaar [Ajax], Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink [Celtic]
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Could England beat this team?
Yes. We could. I am confident in that. As evidence, I point to our so-so team in Euro '96 who managed to put 4 past van der Sar and co. I reckon we could do the same again, thanks to that leaky backline.
Breakout Player?
It has to be Huntelaar. He's been incredible for Ajax since joining them in 2005 [70 goals in 82 appearances], and already managed 7 in 12 for the National Team. Still relatively unknown at this point, this will be the tournament where enough people see him and his goalscoring, and he parlays it into a move to Italy or Spain, like most do from that neck of the woods.
Biggest Question Mark?
Whether their defending can hold up. Traditionally slow and clumsy at the back, they'll inevitably struggle against the Mediterranean twinkletoe players in the tournament, and might concede more goals through penalties than anything else. They also lost the speed demon Ryan Babel to injury, so you wonder whether their other brittle wing options can hold up against the rigors of playing more than one game per week.
Worst Player?
Khalid Boulahrouz. Average in Germany, signed for big bucks to Chelsea, failed to win any hearts with a string of shaky performances and a straight red card at home to Arsenal at the end of the 2006/07 season that ultimately cost them a chance for the EPL title. He's absolute toss.
Can this team win Euro 2008?
Nope. No chance, sorry. They'll lose players to injury and they'll cough it up again in the quarter-finals or so. Huntelaar's goal-scoring will not be helped by the slew of goals teeming in at the other end.
What is the squad's pre-made excuse for not winning Euro 2008?
Um.... at the risk of overkill: their defending is terrible?
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