Netherlands came away from Oslo with a 1-1 draw against Norway in Louis van Gaal’s first game back as Oranje boss. Michael Bell provides his player ratings for the Netherlands players.
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Justin Bijlow 7/10: A good solid debut from the Feyenoord goalkeeper, who made a big save from Haaland in the first half. Looked nervy on the ball at times but still a strong debut.
Jurrien Timber 5.5/10: Played at right-back and was asked to provide to the attack. However, he was sloppy on the ball at times and struggled to make an impression going forward. Also had some poor moments at the back too.
Daley Blind 5.5/10: Blind did not have his best game at left-back and struggled to contribute to the attack. Also picked up a silly yellow card that means he is suspended for the game against Montenegro.
Stefan de Vrij 6/10: De Vrij is an excellent centre-back and the partnership with Van Dijk has the potential to be excellent. However, Haaland caused De Vrij plenty of problems tonight. It was not due to De Vrij errors but the quality of the Dortmund attacker.
Virgil van Dijk 6.5/10: It was great to see the Netherlands captain back on the pitch and he had an overall solid game. He was given a scare a few times by Haaland but overall he was commanding.
Frenkie de Jong 6.5/10: The one who had the ball most for the Netherlands as usual, De Jong was the architect of the Oranje play. We saw glimpses of his immense quality but he was not penetrating enough at times. May need to be played a bit further up the pitch to have more of an impact.
Davy Klaassen 6.5/10: On his 25th cap for his country, Klaassen turned up with a goal that earned Netherlands a point. Klaassen got in dangerous positions and had some nice touches. A good performance overall.
Georginio Wijnaldum 6.5/10: Was behind the equaliser with a clever pass to Klaassen and he made some good interceptions in the opponent’s half. Wijnaldum also caught the eye with some nice dribbles on the ball.
Steven Berghuis 4.5/10: Played a nice pass in the build-up to the equaliser but that was the only positive for the Ajax winger who had a poor half and was hooked off at half-time by Van Gaal. Needs to be much better.
Cody Gakpo 5.5/10: The PSV winger was dangerous on the left wing and created some chances in the first half. He became less prominent after the break. His lack of awareness at the back for the Norway goal was poor.
Memphis Depay 5.5/10: In excellent form for Barcelona this season but did struggle to get involved at times and got in the way of a couple of attacks. Not his finest game in Oranje.
Substitutes
Donyell Malen 5/10: Came on at the break for Berghuis but did not provide much to the attack. Had one shot off target and picked up a yellow card.
Denzel Dumfries N/A: Not on the pitch long enough for a review.
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What about a rating for LVG?
Awful coaching performance… How you don’t make a change between HT and 90mins is just insane, especially when you see how poor we were.
The initial selection itself was a head scratcher.
Really disappointed in LVG.
Not a good performance tonight. The squad lacked width and neither full-back provided any quality. Against Montenegro Dumfries has got to start, Timber is not viable as a RB unless you are playing very strong opponents.
With Berghuis under-performing and no other left footed true wingers, that leaves Gakpo and Bergwijn as the only viable options imo if they want to play 4-3-3 effectively. I know the Dutch always prefer to play that way but right now I don’t see enough talent in the wide positions to make it work consistently and be potent.
Different coach, same approach, same players, same performance. I told you years before – we will not win anything with KNVB mafia coaches and old mafia players like Klaassen, Blind and Berghuis who who were too poor to play in Premierleague but for our managers they are just great. Blind once again showed that he play only because of his dad and his contacts in KNVB mafia. Old Blind cost us 2018 World Cup and now is asiistant coach. Let that sink in. Only good news is that Blind is now suspended for one game. Van Gall saying that they lack creativity. And you put in Klaassen in the middle? Really? This is total bs.
Netherlands had a promising start to the game, i was pleased with the 1st half output
i found them really disappointing in the 2nd half though
blind for me has to be replaced ,he is no longer the old blind
and dumfries has to start ahead of Timber,
and LVG should have made more substitutions in the game, we r so lucky coz turkey did not win,,let us hope for the best for the next game
Gone are the days where our wingback will gallop gallantly up the pitch. Gone are the days our wingers will run at defense and do trickery moves and scores. Gone also where our midfield generals will win the ball and shoot from distance and scores. our CB are only in a better state and the bench plus the promising ones missed out the call this time. For now GK and CF looks average but could be better.
Disappointing result from a disappointing appointment as coach. There’s no use bemoaning what he doesn’t have. He needs to cop on and play to what he’s got – which is potentially a lot better than what he served up tonight.
The Men in Orange are capable of playing exciting football. All the best.