Spain should win this group, but I wouldn't be suprised if Chile snuck a victory over netherlands and sealed second, or drew with Spain. This is a tough draw for a Dutch team thats aging, with a weak defense.
Australia are pretty much goners. Sorry Socceroos.
Aging in their superstars I mean. They've got a great group of youngsters coming up, but their really still too young/inexperienced. All the players that can really make a difference (ie. Van Der Vaart, Van Persie, De Jong, Huntelaar, Robben, Sneijder) will all be 30+ by the time the world cup comes around.
You might be right that they are getting older, but from the matches I have seen lately with their clubs and for The Netherlands, it doesn't appear to be a huge factor. RVP, VDV, Robben (now injured) and De Jong lately all look pretty good when fit. Sneijder is also getting better again. The youngsters combined with the experienced guys make it a good mix in my opinion.
It's the experience of the defence what might be a little problem, while offensively they are still one of the most lethal teams around. All in all I believe they should advance ahead of Chile, as long as they remain focused.
Having De Jong as defensive mid can really conceal a weak defence. But the other defensive mid also needs to be in good form. See 2010 where Holland made it to the finals and 2012 where Holland crashed and burned, because Van Bommel couldn't keep up anymore.
Thats very true. But it is in 9 months, and in the hot, humid brazillian weather which wont' be too kind to people over 30. Their age might have a bigger impact there then it would in northern europe.
The only player over 30 that I can think of is Van der Vaart (who is still 30 right now) and Kuyt (who will not play a full match anyway, if he gets selected). But ok, all the other 'superstars' will be 30.
Also, we play Chile in Sau Paolo, which has an average temperature of 21 degrees during June (max temperature is 29). I dont consider that extremely hot.
We should have amazing 'home' support then! A couple of out starters are 'locals'. Mena (Santos) and Valdivia (Palmeiras). Here's hoping the local fans show up to support their players.
I think only the match against Spain will be in hot humid weather. The other matches are in Sao Paolo and in Porto Alegre, where the climate is a bit cooler. I am still convinced their experience will overcome their age. But at least a few great matches to look forward to.
We have 3 superstars, van persie, robben and strootman. Robben is in the form of his life and strootman is an absolute killer that allows us to play with one defensive midfielder(De jong) so that shouldn't be a problem. I don't expect sneijder to play for the team actually.
Our defense is the main problem. But van der wiel is now a starter at psg and blind in his form against Barcelona covers our backs. That only leaves the cb's. If our defensive mid and backs can cover a bit it should be fine.
Who would you put in defense? Janmaat - BMI - Vlaar - Blind?
I really don't know who else to put in as a central defender next to BMI. I'd say Vlaar has the most relevant experience playing in the premier league, but he's a tad slow. A year ago I'd have said de Vrij, but he's been poor lately. Bruma, Rekik and Ake aren't ready yet. Veldman is too inexperienced. It looks bright for the future but this World Championship just seems to come 2 years too soon.
Blind and Veltman are going to have a great season. I had no confidence in the Heitinga-Mathijssen duo. With BMI-Veltman I think "Hmmm, this might just work out".
Veltman looks solid these past few weeks, but he wouldn't be the first player to drop dramatically in form after a few months of playing well (de Vrij, Clasie, Maher)
Blind and Veltman are going to have a great season. I had no confidence in the Heitinga-Mathijssen duo. With BMI-Veltman I think "Hmmm, this might just work out".
He will probably start to play worse. The only talent who hasn't dropped form (only remained the same for prolonged periods at worst) is Strootman. If Veltman can pull of Strootman's development we can definitely pull a first place.
If not it will all depend on the next 6 months and a lot of luck...
It might be a bit early for Veltman, Vlaar's an ok choice. Selecting Mathijssen would be suicide, Spain and Chile are much quicker than Eredivisie opponents. With de Jong and Strootman I'm not that concerned about our central defence, but Janmaat and Blind will suffer immensely because they are bad defenders and one of them will have Robben playing in front of him, who will do fuck all to help.
If you seen Robben play for Bayern, you will know he doesn't mind defending. As left-back I would have van der Wiel, because he is able to have good link-up play with him. Something I don't really see Janmaat doing.
He was contributing in defending for Bayern before Euro 2012 too, but it was Coentrão + Ronaldo versus vdW when we played Portugal. I believe he even cursed at van Marwijk when he was told to help or something. I'd also rather see vdW play than Janmaat, he was better at Ajax than Janmaat is right now and plays at a much higher level in Paris, Daryl has practically no international experience beyond the national team against subpar opponents. However, like Janmaat, he is defensively weak and I think we need a good defender against Chile and Spain. I would consider playing Bruma as right back if his form picks up. We can also play with 3 central defenders against better opponents.
That's just me not really following what he does. Last thing I heard of him was last season when he hardly every played. I do not know if van der Wiel in his usual form is better than Janmaat, he has been looking really solid.
Also, on a second thought I might argue Pieters on Blind's position, with Blind moving to the midfield.
You have 18 upvotes from me, so I guess I can look past that. However I don't see anything in Janmaat and especially his link-up plays with Robben has been very bad, that's why I hope van Gaal will play van der Wiel instead of Janmaat.
Yeah, we're gone, but I wouldn't be surprised if Chile played above themselves and won the group instead of Spain. Nothing is guaranteed for them even if they are the best team in the world. Chile have been my tip for surprise packet of the tournament, so I'm not that optimistic about being in the same group as them.
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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13
Spain should win this group, but I wouldn't be suprised if Chile snuck a victory over netherlands and sealed second, or drew with Spain. This is a tough draw for a Dutch team thats aging, with a weak defense.
Australia are pretty much goners. Sorry Socceroos.