A place all about Oranje. Relive the past, keep up with the present and look forward to the future of the Dutch national team | by @FinCrebolder
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De Lift starting for Man Utd, Gakpo starting for Liverpool, De Jong back on the Barcelona bench - it's been a good week for Oranje in terms of fitness!
Xavi should have a stronger squad available to him for the next break.
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One player I really think could become key for Xavi's Oranje once he's fit is Jerdy Schouten.
Xavi clearly wants to use Veerman against weaker sides, but it's obvious we need a more safe and stable number 6 for matches against top sides, and Schouten is perfect for that role.
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Koopmeiners added something with his set-pieces last night, but he really shouldn't be starting. Like Veerman, he lacks mobility & defensive awareness, but he's much less creative on the ball.
Could've done better for the goal, & gave the ball away in a dangerous area late on.
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Who do you think was the best Oranje player this international break?
23%
Veerman
56%
Summerville
18%
Van Dijk
3%
Other (who?)
258 votes • Final results
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I'd say Xavi's first matches were about 50% good & 50% bad. Bad Plan As, but good repairs. Some good attacking, but bad defending.
We had so many injuries & still sit top of the group undefeated, so it's a positive start to the era really, if Xavi can learn from it.
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We end the break with a win, but a disappointing one if we're being totally honest.
Even before we went down to 10 men, we dropped back to protect our lead and let Serbia dominate the ball. Exactly the kind of football I really didn't want to see and didn't expect under Xavi.
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Serbia totally dominating and only a great Verbruggen save keeps us level.
Honestly, we don't really deserve a win tonight.
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We're looking so, so much better with three proper defenders and Dumfries getting forward from RB. Perhaps a case of overthinking from Xavi tonight, but a good lesson to learn.
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Zirzkee!! A really nice move ends with Dumfries sending the ball to the back post, Van Bommel getting it back across and the Man Utd man tapping in!
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Veerman plays a beautiful ball for Reijnders, who then fires wide.
The Dortmund man is then taken off for Zechiel, with Van Bommel and Hato replacing Lang and Gravenberch.
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Zirzkee on for Meerdink, who seemed to have a minor hamstring issue or something of that sort.
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That was a really poor half. Lots of possession, but we didn't create many chances, and gave away quite a few.
I understand we have a new coach and are trying a completely new system tonight, but things should still be much better than this.
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In all four of the matches under Xavi so far, the first half simply hasn't been good enough. His tweaks and changes have been great, but he hasn't delivered a single good Plan A yet.
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The problem is our setup tonight is that we have two defenders who simply aren't good at defending, and that was very much evident for that goal.
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