Having been the only side along with Russia to have a perfect record (4 wins out of 4) in 2014 World Cup qualifying from Europe, Netherlands resumed their campaign with a home game against Estonia.
Jeremain Lens was impressive in his Oranje career but was initially left out due to his recent disciplinary troubles. After Huntelaar got injured in the recent Schalke game, Lens was recalled into the squad and made a starter. Arjen Robben started on the left wing while Robin van Persie played as center forward. Louis van Gaal made it clear that he will not be selecting players who are not regulars at their respective clubs. Never the one to avoid tough decisions, he dropped the captain Sneijder during his initial days when Inter Milan regularly benched him. Sneijder moved to Galatasaray in the recent transfer window and made his way back to the Oranje starting spot again. Impressive Swansea midfielder Jonathan de Guzman partnered Kevin Strootman in a 4-2-3-1 midfield.
Daley Blind has been getting plaudits for his performances at Ajax and was given a start in the familiar ground of Amsterdam ArenA. Bruno Martins-Indi partnered his Feyenoord teammate Stefan de Vrij in the center. I don't normally rate Daryl Janmaat highly at right back but his recent performances for Oranje and Feyenoord have been brilliant whenever I had a chance to watch. And if my memory serves me correctly, he was my man of the match in a recent Oranje game (1-1 draw with Italy?). Ajax's Kenneth Vermeer started in goal.
Oranje started the game strongly by keeping possession comfortably but Estonia were resolute in defence. Instead of trying to take the ball off Oranje, Estonia players waited patiently deep into their half and tried to base their attacking game solely on counters. Oranje kept searching for the opening goal, but it was difficult to come by. Robben was the best player of the half where he mostly stayed on his natural left wing and combined very well with an overlapping Blind several times. One of those moments led to a fine cross into the box by Blind which was knocked down by Van Persie to Sneijder 6 yards from the goal but Sneijder's shot missed the net. Within a few mins, Robben was at it again, dribbling around 3-4 players on Estonia's right side before advancing into the box without losing possession and his left footed shot narrowly missed the goal.
Around this time, Oranje passed 1000 mins of not conceding a goal at home in World Cup qualifiers. Last time it happened was 9 years ago in a 3-1 win over Finland in 2004 WC qualifiers. The return for Sneijder wasn't as successful as everyone has hoped with the captain forced to leave the field after 35 mins with a groin injury (it is now confirmed that he'd miss the next qualifier on 26th Mar). Van der Vaart came on for Sneijder but it was Strootman who got the captain's arm band. Estonia had a brilliant chance on counter attack before the half time but missed. Both teams went into the half time break with the match goalless.
It was evident that Oranje were struggling to create too many clear cut chances against a resolute Estonia side. Inclusion of De Guzman and Strootman along with a #10 like Sneijder (and later Van der Vaart) meant there was too much space between attack and defence. De Guzman was happy to stay deep while Strootman didn't know whether to commit himself completely in attack as a counter from Estonia would leave the team vulnerable. Considering Estonia's game play of sitting deep, the game was crying out for a creative midfielder like Adam Maher, who was not selected. With all the scoring chances coming from the left, it was a surprise when the goal came from the right. 2 mins into the 2nd half, Janmaat's pass found Van der Vaart at the edge of the box and his near scuffed shot found the left side of the net. Deadlock finally broken.
Robin van Persie is going through a relatively poor form in front of the goal for Man Utd but what never left him was his exquisite first touch. He displayed good technique once again in this match, he held the ball up for others and his vision allowed Netherlands to be more creative compared to having Huntelaar in the team. With De Guzman and Strootman in the side, the inclusion of Van Persie was necessary. Anyway, Janmaat got his 2nd assist of the game when his cross was volleyed into the goal by RvP. Shortly after the 2nd goal, Lens made way to Schaken who responded by scoring his 2nd Oranje goal in 3 matches with Van Persie getting the assist. There was still time for Clasie to come on for De Guzman with Netherlands comfortably winning the game 3-0 making it 5 wins out of 5.
Sneijder will miss out next home game vs Romania on 26th March but the good news is Maher was called up as replacement. After watching Van Gaal's Oranje a fair few times, the difference between his team and Van Marwijk's is clearly evident. Van Gaal's team is more creative, more assured in their passing and more youthful. In the match vs Estonia, only starters who can be considered seniors were Robben, Sneijder and Van Persie. Not for the first time in his managerial career, Van Gaal has put faith in young players and they are responding well to his methods. A notorious disciplinarian, Van Gaal has drilled it into the Oranje players. It also helped that the 2 World Cup qualifiers this time are both in Amsterdam ArenA which means the young players can expect to get a lot of support from the stands.
The rise of Janmaat and Blind is heartwarming to see as they faced severe criticism from their own section of fans earlier in their career. There is no more a place for players like Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel and it would help if De Guzman produces a wider range of passing like his Swansea performances. He is still fairly new to the Oranje team and I guess he would open up once he feels more comfortably on the pitch playing for national team. Hoping to see Strootman tried as lone DM with Maher starting ahead of him in the next qualifier against Romania.
Jeremain Lens was impressive in his Oranje career but was initially left out due to his recent disciplinary troubles. After Huntelaar got injured in the recent Schalke game, Lens was recalled into the squad and made a starter. Arjen Robben started on the left wing while Robin van Persie played as center forward. Louis van Gaal made it clear that he will not be selecting players who are not regulars at their respective clubs. Never the one to avoid tough decisions, he dropped the captain Sneijder during his initial days when Inter Milan regularly benched him. Sneijder moved to Galatasaray in the recent transfer window and made his way back to the Oranje starting spot again. Impressive Swansea midfielder Jonathan de Guzman partnered Kevin Strootman in a 4-2-3-1 midfield.
Daley Blind has been getting plaudits for his performances at Ajax and was given a start in the familiar ground of Amsterdam ArenA. Bruno Martins-Indi partnered his Feyenoord teammate Stefan de Vrij in the center. I don't normally rate Daryl Janmaat highly at right back but his recent performances for Oranje and Feyenoord have been brilliant whenever I had a chance to watch. And if my memory serves me correctly, he was my man of the match in a recent Oranje game (1-1 draw with Italy?). Ajax's Kenneth Vermeer started in goal.
Oranje started the game strongly by keeping possession comfortably but Estonia were resolute in defence. Instead of trying to take the ball off Oranje, Estonia players waited patiently deep into their half and tried to base their attacking game solely on counters. Oranje kept searching for the opening goal, but it was difficult to come by. Robben was the best player of the half where he mostly stayed on his natural left wing and combined very well with an overlapping Blind several times. One of those moments led to a fine cross into the box by Blind which was knocked down by Van Persie to Sneijder 6 yards from the goal but Sneijder's shot missed the net. Within a few mins, Robben was at it again, dribbling around 3-4 players on Estonia's right side before advancing into the box without losing possession and his left footed shot narrowly missed the goal.
Around this time, Oranje passed 1000 mins of not conceding a goal at home in World Cup qualifiers. Last time it happened was 9 years ago in a 3-1 win over Finland in 2004 WC qualifiers. The return for Sneijder wasn't as successful as everyone has hoped with the captain forced to leave the field after 35 mins with a groin injury (it is now confirmed that he'd miss the next qualifier on 26th Mar). Van der Vaart came on for Sneijder but it was Strootman who got the captain's arm band. Estonia had a brilliant chance on counter attack before the half time but missed. Both teams went into the half time break with the match goalless.
It was evident that Oranje were struggling to create too many clear cut chances against a resolute Estonia side. Inclusion of De Guzman and Strootman along with a #10 like Sneijder (and later Van der Vaart) meant there was too much space between attack and defence. De Guzman was happy to stay deep while Strootman didn't know whether to commit himself completely in attack as a counter from Estonia would leave the team vulnerable. Considering Estonia's game play of sitting deep, the game was crying out for a creative midfielder like Adam Maher, who was not selected. With all the scoring chances coming from the left, it was a surprise when the goal came from the right. 2 mins into the 2nd half, Janmaat's pass found Van der Vaart at the edge of the box and his near scuffed shot found the left side of the net. Deadlock finally broken.
Robin van Persie is going through a relatively poor form in front of the goal for Man Utd but what never left him was his exquisite first touch. He displayed good technique once again in this match, he held the ball up for others and his vision allowed Netherlands to be more creative compared to having Huntelaar in the team. With De Guzman and Strootman in the side, the inclusion of Van Persie was necessary. Anyway, Janmaat got his 2nd assist of the game when his cross was volleyed into the goal by RvP. Shortly after the 2nd goal, Lens made way to Schaken who responded by scoring his 2nd Oranje goal in 3 matches with Van Persie getting the assist. There was still time for Clasie to come on for De Guzman with Netherlands comfortably winning the game 3-0 making it 5 wins out of 5.
Sneijder will miss out next home game vs Romania on 26th March but the good news is Maher was called up as replacement. After watching Van Gaal's Oranje a fair few times, the difference between his team and Van Marwijk's is clearly evident. Van Gaal's team is more creative, more assured in their passing and more youthful. In the match vs Estonia, only starters who can be considered seniors were Robben, Sneijder and Van Persie. Not for the first time in his managerial career, Van Gaal has put faith in young players and they are responding well to his methods. A notorious disciplinarian, Van Gaal has drilled it into the Oranje players. It also helped that the 2 World Cup qualifiers this time are both in Amsterdam ArenA which means the young players can expect to get a lot of support from the stands.
The rise of Janmaat and Blind is heartwarming to see as they faced severe criticism from their own section of fans earlier in their career. There is no more a place for players like Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel and it would help if De Guzman produces a wider range of passing like his Swansea performances. He is still fairly new to the Oranje team and I guess he would open up once he feels more comfortably on the pitch playing for national team. Hoping to see Strootman tried as lone DM with Maher starting ahead of him in the next qualifier against Romania.
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