Worldcup - Holland

[goldfinger]

I know we are famous for attractive and offensive football

[Jimbo]

I know we are famous for attractive and offensive football

Sorry perhaps my English isn't all that good as its my third language but no need to take the piss. Perhaps I should have said attractive and attacking style of football.

So how is your team doing?

[stevenl]

I think Holland have been fairly dull to be honest.

Agree with you. Normally the Dutch play with a lot of flair, and attacking football. This WC they are playing much more controlled, and result wise it pays of.

[Jimbo]

I don't know if we are allowed to post youtube videos on here so incase not, sorry Admin

Big party in Amsterdam last night after the game. I wish I could have been there.

[LaoPo]

I think Holland have been fairly dull to be honest.

Agree with you. Normally the Dutch play with a lot of flair, and attacking football. This WC they are playing much more controlled, and result wise it pays of.

The other teams Holland played against knew this also and prevented Holland to play they wanted to play, the TOTALfootball system, invented by Dutch coach Rinus Michels in the 1970's and which style of football Germany is playing now also next to Spain with 8 players from Barcelona in the national team.

Barcelona (and Spain) with strong guiding and coaching "hands" of former players and coaches like Dutch Johan Cruyff, Van Gaal (Now Bayern Munchen; German Champions).

It was certainly not easy to reach the FINAL and NO they didn't play their best of football abilities, but hey, guess who won ALL games so far in the WC ???; not a single other country, not even Germany nor Spain won all of their games during this WC...but HOLLAND did !

Germany and Spain, both lost a game already and let's see who's going to lose another game tonight ..shall we?

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

Van Bronckhorst in Dreamland

http://www.fifa.com/...horst+dreamland

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

Just a quick comment.

In my opinion Sneijder's goal should have been disallowed as Van Persie was clearly in off-side and has distracted the GK even though he did not touch the ball.

Not correct; the goal was not offside and last touched by a Uruguay player before entering the goal.

The moment was showed over and over again from different angles and was decided to be not offside.

Not that it matters anymore though.

LaoPo

[salty]

I would contend the Dutch 1st goal should have been disallowed due to a foul on the Uruguan defender by Van Bommel as the ball went cross field to Van Brockhurst. He should also have been booked at least in the incident. I do not know if any of you guys saw a replay. He kicked the Uruguan.

The Dutch are not playing very attractive football but they do not have the calibre of players they had in 1974 from the Ajax golden generation. But they have made the final and have a chance to do what the 1974 and 1978 teams failed to do.

[LaoPo]

I would contend the Dutch 1st goal should have been disallowed due to a foul on the Uruguan defender by Van Bommel as the ball went cross field to Van Brockhurst. He should also have been booked at least in the incident. I do not know if any of you guys saw a replay. He kicked the Uruguan.

I don't understand why people always discuss: why this why that...and this should have not been allowed.....he should have been booked.....the goal was not a goal...the goal was a goal...

It's all history.

Holland is in the FINAL and we will know by tonight, in 6 or 7 hours from now, who will be the opponent of Holland: Germany or Spain.

* the amazing goal by van Bronckhorst in the FIFA link:

http://www.fifa.com/...9571/index.html

LaoPo

[macanello]

Van Bommel is a lucky lucky man to be playing the final. I watched him for Bayern Munich and he still puts in too many crunching tackles and gets away with it,

I feel that there is no consistency in the refereeing.

[salty]

Agreed. I could see a scenario where if the Final is not going well for the Dutch he couls lose it and get a red card.

[hansum]

I feel that there is no consistency in the refereeing.

There is consistency there has just been some ludicrous decisions in ths WC as there were in 2006 ... im sure the big decisions are getting worse

[LaoPo]

I feel that there is no consistency in the refereeing.

There is consistency there has just been some ludicrous decisions in ths WC as there were in 2006 ... im sure the big decisions are getting worse

It's no wonder if certain decisions have been gone wrong.

If you consider that there are Referees, leading VERY important matches between VERY important football countries, coming from very small unknown countries it's no wonder one can expect silly decisions and faults.

Last night I watched a television talks how whereby some high-so specialist from the football world have seen and winessed with their own eyes and ears how and by whom decisions were made to appoint certain Referees for certain matches.

There's a he's-my-friend-kind-of-politics going on in the high circles of the FIFA....time for Blatter and his buddies to step aside but who's going to accomplish that?

He's still sitting, high on his throne high above normal souls like us....

LaoPo

[Jingthing]

Orange people, you've got your work cut out for you trying to beat that amazing Spanish team (so glad they beat Germany). But best of luck, a great final coming up!

[LaoPo]

Orange people, you've got your work cut out for you trying to beat that amazing Spanish team (so glad they beat Germany). But best of luck, a great final coming up!

No doubt!

LaoPo

[stevenl]

Van Bommel is the type of player that the Dutch have lacked in the past. Not only hard if necessary and able to interrupt the game of opponents, there have been plenty of others doing that, but he is very irritating to play against as well, in good Dutch: 'een zuigerd'. He'll do anything necessary to win the game, including all kind of 'unsportsmanlike conduct', and nearly always is successful. Because of that he is not very popular in the Netherlands, but IMO extremely useful for the team. One of the most important players, if not the most important player.

[sokal]

Guess who ?

Go Holland

Thats a pic of Joran vanDersloot, wasn't sure if anyone noticed.

Oh well, I thought it was funny that they look the same.

[Jingthing]

They really do, that is kind of funny.

Anyway, I think Dutch supporters will find this article of interest though it may make you a bit angry --

http://www.slate.com/id/2259911

[stevenl]

They really do, that is kind of funny.

Anyway, I think Dutch supporters will find this article of interest though it may make you a bit angry --

http://www.slate.com/id/2259911

In spite that the author does not realise the game is called football, and he misspells the name of the greatest total footballer of all time (Cruyff in stead of the correct Cruijff) he is correct. Finally Van Bommel gets recognition.

He is also correct about Cruijff being at least partly responsible for the style of play of present Barcelona and Spain.

[Jingthing]

It's from a US based website. We still call it soccer, like it or not, I don't either, but that is the convention for most US based media. Give us time to make the change to the modern word. Maybe another 100 years, that should do it.

[LaoPo]

They really do, that is kind of funny.

Anyway, I think Dutch supporters will find this article of interest though it may make you a bit angry --

http://www.slate.com/id/2259911

Nice article; Thanks!

I was writing a long comment but lost it all, due to the new software I presume....

Anyway, I have no feeling to write again about the journalist, Dutch totaalvoetbal or total football system since there are a few reasons why we shouldn't take Mr. Brian Phillips too seriously apart from the facts that he writes with the non-knowledge of a non-watcher; he wasn't even there yet at the time.

He's one of those journalists who knows it all and best and if such an American journalist starts writing about European football we have to be careful....

It would be the same if a Dutch or European journalist starts writing about the American NFL Football League or the Super Bowl Sunday match.

A business friend and myself were invited once, in 1989, with a hi-so family in San Francisco to watch the Super Bowl on their estate outside SF.....

I didn't understand:

A. the fuzz and enthusiasm of the American people about the most exciting game of the year in the US and

B. the game rules

That leaves one completely in the mist so to speak because there is no feeling with and for the game since we, in Europe, have no history with this game.

But, if a journalist like Mr. Phillips starts writing* about the connection of the majority of World Cup winners, coming from countries with a dictator (in the past), he's losing his credibility totally and completely.

If he doesn't know or see that football comes from the streets and gutters and open sewers playgrounds in South- and Middle America, Africa and even Europe and Asia he doesn't know <deleted> about football. A country doesn't necessarily have to be "governed" by a (former) dictator to win a world cup.

ALL the great players from Brazil and Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay and many more countries come from dead poor neighborhoods where people didn't have any money nor exciting other things to do other than playing football; the next other thing a kid can grow up with and be successful and rich is crime.....but the chances he will be killed or end up in jail are 99:1 in comparison with football.

To write that there might be a connection with the World Cup and Dictators is looking for sensationalism.

* http://www.runofplay...-the-world-cup/

And, now that I'm writing, something about (I can't let it go...do I ) Dutch totaalvoetbal or total football.

Invented in the 70's indeed by Rinus Michels and Johan Cruijff it's nice to talk about but extremely difficult to play.

First of all, the players have to know each other very well and have to play together, guided by the coach and his staff, for a long long period, getting used to all the ins-and-outs of the system.

Nowadays the players are not only a lot faster in their play but also physically stronger and their endurance abilities next to their training facilities on the "football schools" in their various clubs.

This total football system comes close to the system Spain is playing now: beautiful, nice to watch but ......oh so complicated and extremely difficult.

It can only be played by teams who work together for a long time, like Spain, for 3 years now. Next to that there are some 7 or 8 players from FC Barcelona in the Spanish team and they know each other as if it were their own WAG's .

Yet, they still make mistakes like the 100% chance, Pedro had when he was in front of the goal of Germany and failed to pass the ball to Torres and thus failing to make the 2:0 and finish Germany at that moment.

Holland is together for 2 years and have had less days together than Spain and are -IMO- not ready yet to play the total football system, IF Van Marwijk wants to play total football at all.

But who cares.....after all, Holland has not lost a single International match out of 25 iNTERNATIONAL games and has won ALL 6 matches during the WC.

Not one single country has accomplished that.

They made 12 goals (5 by Sneijder) and 5 against; Spain made 7 goals (5 by Villa) and 2 against; meaning: Holland has more scoring abilities over Spain.

BUT: only the Dutch will understand when I say that I would be more happy to lose from Spain rather than from Germany....

!! HUP HOLLAND HUP !!

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

This Brian Phillips doesn't know what he's talking about:

"It's not like Johan Cruyff lives in a magical world where everything is beautiful and nothing is ever hard. Even an enigmatic icon of stylish football probably has to go to the dentist sometimes, or look at a dump truck, or discover the existence of Uwe Boll movies.

But still, Dirk Kuyt? I realize they're both Dutch, but even imagining them in the same room is painful. It's as if oil lumbered up to water, knocking over various pieces of priceless furniture along the way, and they just gave each other a monumental high five.

Well, that's what's happening. Cruyff loves Kuyt. Here's what he had to say about the ill-favored Liverpudlian sludge-god, via LiverpoolFC.TV:

"Look at what he did. He started on the right, then at forward and against Brazil on the left.

"Not only did he keep Maicon out of the game, he also set up the winner.

"Someone like that is worth his weight in gold."

Keep in mind: This is Johan Cruyff, the guy who said "there is no better medal than being acclaimed for your style," the guy who said "when you see a player sprinting, he left too late." And this is Dirk Kuyt, who works just super-unbelievably hard at every sweaty moment and gives his team every chance to win and generally plays like a relentless tortoise with something awful to prove.

Cruyff may be feeling especially pro-Dutch because the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jul/02/johan-cruyff-barcelona-president">Spanish have been mean to him lately, but still. If he says anything nice about Mark van Bommel, I would run in the opposite direction from any dark cloud you see"

He quotes Johan Cruijff but he doesn't understand the meanings behind the world famous quotes by Cruijff.

Of course he doesn't, not being Dutch or even European but to write about Cruijff's quotes when he speaks about Dirk Kuyt is stating he doesn't understand the deeper meaning of Johan Cruijf's famous quotes.

Johan Cruijff's simple quotes are so simple that one has to think twice before "getting the picture". Brian Phillips has to think few more times, being non-Dutch

It's such nonsense that "the Spanish have been mean to him lately.

A certain new Club President was kind of mean to him when he said that Cruijff's awarded Honour-Chairman Title (for life!) of FC Barcelona had to be reconsidered since the title was not in the books and rules of FC Barcelona.

It all had to do with a notorious fight between the present and former President of FC Barcelona.

Johan Cruijff, being a very proud and honest man, returned his Title immediately, the same day and I applaud him for that.

You can't give such a great man, who once was applauded when he came to FC Barcelona as EL SALVADOR - THE SAVIOR (as a player and later coach) such an honourable title and suggest to take it away from him 6 months later.

It's a BIG shame, also amongst Barcelona supporters. Every single bar-owner, hairdresser, taxi driver and other supporters can remember all famous actions from Cruijff and even copy them on the streets for you, if you wish.

He's still EL SALVADOR in Barcelona; he's a great and well respected man.

What does this Brian Phillips know about Cruijff....?

He showed he knows nothing.

LaoPo

[MiG16]

BUT: only the Dutch will understand when I say that I would be more happy to lose from Spain rather than from Germany....

!! HUP HOLLAND HUP !!

actually, at least one non Dutch also understands that

and indeed Hup Holland Hup!

[Jingthing]

I understand too. Don't assume people are so ignorant about Dutch people. Duh.

[LaoPo]

I understand too. Don't assume people are so ignorant about Dutch people. Duh.

My error and wrong assuming; I should have known better..... Mea Culpa.

LaoPo

[MiG16]

I dont think LaoPo meant non Dutch are ignorant, just that its automatic to assume that fellow countrymen/women would appreciate teh circumstances more than others

but Im just the odd fan I now get all these Dutch people asking me how did I come to support Holland, and why. I cant explain it.

[noel2499rk]

Thank god Holland lost.

[mommysboy]

Thank god Holland lost.

Absolutely disgusting of Holland to blame the referee.

Since when were Kung &lt;deleted&gt; kicks acceptable?

You didn't here the English accuse the referee of bias under much more tenuous circumstances.

Orange coloured gits!

[salty]

With a title like mommysboy no wonder you were so horrified.