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He's doing a great job at Feyenoord. Looks like he has finally become a great manager.

Alba Adriano Xavi

It's interesting that you say that. In the Dutch team, he did a very bad job at that. He looked very insecure when he had to deal with crosses, we always looked like conceding from them. Turkey could've easily scored one. Krul did well on the line though.

Wasn't at his best today, but who can blame him? He can't perform miracles in every match.

Song Adriano Xavi

Perfect move for him, he just didn't cut it for us.

I discussed our young talents in the Belgium topic, so I won't repeat myself. You can look there if you want. http://www.barcaforum.com/showthread.php/543-Belgium/page4 It's the last post on that page.

Today, Van Gaal announced his selection for the World Cup qualification matches against Turkey and Hungary. Goalkeepers: Krul, Stekelenburg, Vorm. Defenders: Heitinga, Janmaat, Martins Indi, Mathijsen, Van Rhijn, Viergever, Vlaar, Willems. Midfielders: Clasie, Emanuelson, Fer, Sneijder (c)...

He's a defensive midfielder, with a decent mentality. That's about all I can say, unfortunately. Haven't seen that much of him. I'm not sure if he's ready for such a step: he looked decent in a really crappy team in an average league, but that's not much of an achievement. He's a Serbian U21...

Hard to say. Sana plays from the left now, and he looks good there. He could play on the right as well, I suppose, so that Fischer could be used. He'll probably be a sub in the weeks to come at least.

Piqué Iniesta Mascherano

He didn't really. He was used in a double pivot, but he had a free role basically: he usually dribbled from deeper positions, and didn't do that much defending. Also, he's too much of a dribbler instead of a passer, so he's the complete opposite of what you'd want a DM to do in our team.

We lost indeed. And I can see why one would say so, and they aren't wrong probably. But first, Belgium needs to qualify for a major tournament imo. They haven't managed to do so in years, whereas we usually do so. It would be foolish to say Belgium are better based on only one match. Also...

There's Clasie (CM/regista), Narsingh (Right Winger), Luuk de Jong (Striker), Strootman (CM/box-to-box/regista), Fer (CM/Box-to-box), Maher (all-round CM, can play regista, trequartista, pivot, etc.), Wijnaldum (trequartista), and Ola John (Winger). That's pretty much it from the top of my head...

If only the Netherlands and Belgium were still one country...footballwise, you'd have enormous potential, and far more reasonable options than both teams have got now. The Netherlands lack a reliable defense, and we could use some more discipline and physicality at times in midfield, so...

Meh, Afellay is no CM. I know, he played there in his PSV days, but he's not good in that position. He's too much of a dribbler. We don't use a AM anymore, you know.

It'll be hard for him to get into the starting 11 again if Van Gaal insists on playing a 4-3-3 with 'ordinary wingers' (a right-footed winger on the right; a left-footed winger on the left). Van Gaal said that would be his formation of choice for the time being. Afellay is better on the left...

Hard to say. Top 8 probably. But they would probably struggle against La Liga/PL teams in the top 8, because Ajax likes to play very offensively, but they don't have a defense capable of defending a result. They are prone to counters and set pieces. But Ajax was very unlucky not to progress in...

AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) play some decent football as well, because they usually field a regista, a no.10 and a box-to-box player in midfield, with no designated holder. They rely on their technique in midfield rather than strength. Their defenders are comfortable on the ball as well. It's a...

Well, the Eredivisie is obviously not one of the top 3 leagues in Europe. But the majority of teams plays very offensively, using the full width of the pitch and attacking with many players. This makes games crazily open at times, which makes for a spectacle. Last season, we witness a 6-4, a 4-2...