Memphis has suffered a setback in his injury recovery & is in real danger of missing the World Cup, especially as Koeman said he'd only take him if he was fully fit.
Would it weaken us or would Koeman having to start Malen or Brobbey be a blessing in disguise? Thoughts?
Deciding who should be our striker is really tough.
- Malen is in amazing goalscoring form, but not good at linking up play, which is a big issue in a possession-based side
- Brobbey is great at that, but a terrible finisher
- Memphis can do both, but is unfit and out of form
Hat-trick for Malen tonight!
Playing in a 3-4-3 system that has two numbers 10s behind him and lets him focusing solely on getting in behind, he's absolutely unstoppable. Should Koeman try that system for Oranje?
*World Cup 😅
Real shame that Schouten will now miss the Euros through injury, he was great at Euro 2024 and would have been a handy squad player given he can also play CB.
Two of Timber, Valente and Smit are now likely to be in the squad.
The second podcast of Clockwork Oranje's World Cup coverage is up now!
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While Koeman has failed to beat a top nation since returning as manager, Japan - our first World Cup opponents - have now beaten both Brazil and England in the last six months.
They also play a back five, which Koeman really struggles against.
Going to be a tough first game...
When Van Gaal was manager, we went down to 10 men in the first half vs a top Colombia side, with a very weak XI ourselves. In the rest of the match, we didn't give away a chance & created a few.
Shows the massive gulf in quality between him and Koeman.
youtu.be/l9jtXOJ_WFY?...
Tonight was the 12th match that we played against a nation ranked inside the world's top 25 since Koeman returned as manager. The results:
0 wins
4 draws
8 defeats
Tonight was yet another example that Koeman just isn't tactically good enough to win a major tournament. To take off our one major counter-attacking threat after we go down to 10 men, and to bring a laughably slow striker on as spaces are starting to open up late on, is crazy.
Fair to say with that De Vrij error that led to the red card, we've very much paid the price tonight for Koeman sticking with someone he likes who really shouldn't still be in the national team...
1-1 after stupid goalkeeping from Flekken... What a great first 20 minutes 😂
So poor from De Vrij there, and so stupid from Dumfries. Better to just concede a goal than get a red card in a friendly. Pretty useless match now.
Flekken, Ake, De Vrij, Schouten, Timber, Xavi and Brobbey come in for tonight's game. Malen moves to RW.
Yeah he's been a bit unlucky to drop out of the picture a bit I think, was really good at the Euros and has had a good season at PSV again, albeit as a CB
Can see us lining up like this tomorrow:
Verbruggen; Dumfries, Van Hecke, Van Dijk, Ake; Schouten, Timber; Koopmeiners, Xavi, Lang; Brobbey
Koeman has said he'll make five or six changes to the starting XI for tomorrow's match.
It sounds likely that Brobbey will replace Malen, and that Dumfries and Koopmeiners will play together on the right again.
I'd guess that Xavi, Lang, Timber & Ake will come into the team.
I think some people are being a bit harsh on tonight's performance. We were the first team to beat Norway in 14 games, and did it pretty comfortably in the end.
This is a Norway side that thrashed Italy twice in qualifying & has real quality, even without Haaland & Odegaard.
Malen was the only real disappointment today. I just don't think he's suited at all to being a lone striker for a side that has a lot of possession, I never have.
Much more effective as someone to use in situations where we're mainly playing on the counter-attack.
Think Smit and Koopmeiners were the big successes tonight. Smit didn't look out of place at all, and Koopmeiners seemed much more comfortable on the right than Xavi and Malen + was a great weapon from set-pieces.
FT: 2-1
A pretty comfortable, if somewhat boring win, that gave Koeman some valuable insights into new ideas such as playing Smit, playing Koopmeiners at RW and playing Malen as a striker.
Weghorst, Schouten and De Vrij come on Gakpo, Gravenberch and Van Hecke. Those subs are... Interesting...
Brobbey heads a corner from Koopmeiners just wide. Koop's set-pieces tonight have been the best we've had in a while.
Brobbey, Xavi and Timber come on for Malen, Reijnders and Smit.
A really good debut from Smit. Was comfortable in possession and made some important actions off the ball.
On a less important note, I like the new shirt. Excited to see it with black shorts once we're not playing opponents that wear them.
Reijnders!!! The Man City fires in a ball across the box from Dumfries after Gakpo wins the ball!
Malen fires just wide after a great break from Gakpo.
Would love to see Xavi on for Reijnders and Brobbey on for Gakpo, with Malen moving to LW 🙏
HT: 1-1
Think we've been pretty good on the whole. Smit has settled in great and Koopmeiners definitely offers us something being a left-footer and a good set-piece taker.
I've never liked Malen as a striker and he hasn't changed my mind yet. Would like to see Brobbey.
