Kevin Strootman

Bad news.

Huge Huge loss.

Kevin is Oranje's 2nd best player after Robben. Massive loss and no player in sight who can replace him.

Van Ginkel is out injured and I doubt in 2 months he can reach Kevin's level.
Clasie plays DM.
Fer plays for Norwitch and does not have the intelligence and tactical ability.

Maybe Du Guzman? Or a rookie like Vilhena, etc?

Things are looking very bleak. Strootman was locked in the Box-to-Box position

De Guzman is a solid rotational player for the NT, but won't be good enough start. Same goes for Fer. (Although Guzman is better.)

van Ginkel is back from injury, no? He needs to come back to fitness AND form REALLY SOON for the Netherlands to have any sort of chance imo.

I think the best bet if van Ginkel doesn't make it would be to put Blind in a double pivot with Clasie, Nigel de Jong won't get a look in under van Gaal. Then hope a magic moment from Robben, RvP or Sneijder to save the day.

I don't know how Sneijder is doing in Turkey though and you never know with RvPs latest injuries.

EDIT: Talking about a wasted career. Afellay is 27 now. Injuries / wrong career move ruined his chances.

Too early for Klaassen, too.

RVP is a massively over-rated player. Good to great player in his prime but he is an NT Flop. Sneijder looked well past it as did VDV the last few times I saw them with the NT.

De Guzman is actually a good player with distribution.

That & LVG likes De Jong even though he is not a LVG No.6. He has started in a lot of matches under LVG.

Clasie can be moved to No.8, Van Ginkel, I dunno with him we are all expecting a miracle. It looks really bleak.

RVP has 1 in 2 for Holland. (41 goals in 82 games).

Even then, they have Hunterlaar too.

Daley Blind as a number 6 is exactly what LVG looks for. The only problem there is Clasie will have to play the "number 8" role, where he can probably match Strootman's energy/fitness from box to box, but he's still half the quality. (He's still much better than De Guzman). I think the best bet here would be to play half youth, half experience, and continue their rebuilding process. They have a lot of talent, but just lack experience right now.

They have Spain and Chile in their group too, so it'll be quite a mission to get out of that.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:I don't really watch NL, how important would you guys say he is for them?

He was the only guaranteed starter for the World Cup. lol

Red Alert wrote:RVP has 1 in 2 for Holland. (41 goals in 82 games).

Even then, they have Hunterlaar too.

Daley Blind as a number 6 is exactly what LVG looks for. The only problem there is Clasie will have to play the "number 8" role, where he can probably match Strootman's energy/fitness from box to box, but he's still half the quality. (He's still much better than De Guzman). I think the best bet here would be to play half youth, half experience, and continue their rebuilding process. They have a lot of talent, but just lack experience right now.

They have Spain and Chile in their group too, so it'll be quite a mission to get out of that.

1 in 2 is not good enough when Hunter is like 1.5 in 2 at the least considering Hunter gets a lot of sub appearances.

Blind will not play DM. Oranje have not good LB. That is a huge hole. BMI was tried at LB and did average. Willems is a defensive disaster & it's too early for PVA.

De Jong will start because the defense is horrible and needs a lot of protection.

Clasie is as good as Strootman in a lot of aspects. Balance, he is too footed unlike Strootman, brilliant distribution. But there are problems, he is a 45 minute player. He has never played 90 minutes of great football. He is too small and defensively also he is completely unable to offer protection.

I think he should be used in the CM role and not DM but tactically and sheer leadership wise Strootman has an aura. Can run, has 4 lungs, good defensivelty, good offensively. A complete player.

Clasie does not offer that. The only guy who is a bit similar to Strootman is Van Ginkel who has just resumed team training. Marco had an amazing silky touch and I once thought he would be a AM. However he is tactically still a rookie, not that aura and understanding of the game as Strootman.

Strootman was a beast with Roma this year. Best player with Benatia. I had no idea he would improve so much. He was better than DDR for quite a strech of matches which was amazing.

Hunter has hardly played against the top teams though so it can go either way. He might continue his "1.5 in 2" or flop hard.

RVP's 1 in 2 is good/solid enough, especially when you have the likes of Sneijder and Robben around you.

Blind is the only "number 6" that LVG would like in the team. BMI is going to have to step up in that LB role (where he's done okay this season at club level) I think.  

I think you underrate Clasie's fitness, but I agree with you. Strootman is a key out, the Netherlands are definitely going to feel the hole in the team with him out.

Still pissed off van Ginkel went to Chelsea.

Really, really gutted for him. He became one of my favourite midfielders after this season.

So sad.

He's going to be impossible to replace right now unless van Ginkel really steps up. Clasie can play well though as a box-to-box midfielder TBQH as well.

Red Alert wrote:Hunter has hardly played against the top teams though so it can go either way. He might continue his "1.5 in 2" or flop hard.

RVP's 1 in 2 is good/solid enough, especially when you have the likes of Sneijder and Robben around you.

Blind is the only "number 6" that LVG would like in the team. BMI is going to have to step up in that LB role (where he's done okay this season at club level) I think.  

I think you underrate Clasie's fitness, but I agree with you. Strootman is a key out, the Netherlands are definitely going to feel the hole in the team with him out.

Still pissed off van Ginkel went to Chelsea.

Hunter is the best ST in the world pure Goal-Scoring wise. Not Aguero not Suarez not RVP can touch him pure goal-scoring wise. If he will flop anybody will flop. There is no-one better than him in the box.

He's however poor in technical skils. Its sad to see Oranje having a technically limited ST.
RVP is the opposite. Consistent Life-time Flop with the NT yet good attitude and fantastic technical skills and makes the whole squad tick.

LVG does not like Blind too much in the DM role. Don't be delusional. If he liked him that much De Jong & Clasie would not have started in the DM role. He's hardly played 1.5 matches in the DM role. Besides LVG clearly said that Blind will play LB as there are no good LB's.

LVG also liked the defensive protection Nigel gives. Clasie's fitness is not-under-rated. He is called a 30 minute player because he has those zones. Besides he had a different upbringing football wise. Clasie has always played 50-60 minute games when his fellow team-mates where playing 90 minute games. He has specifically baby-treated by Feyenoord with a special programme for him.

BTW RVP & Sneijder are not all compatible as is the case with Sneijder & VDV. Sneijder never was able to work with those 2 guys - Strootman & RVP. 0 Understanding. There styles did not mesh. If it is to debated then we require another thread.

Robben does great with Sneijder & RVP because he is a great player and in addition his style of play meshes amazingly well with these guys. However people have got to let Sneijder go.

Breaking: Kevin Strootman's knee operation has failed. Club doctor quoted that his career is most likely over. More surgery may happen but chances of success are low.

that's just sad. feel very sorry for him, he is a great player

Source?

The Guardian.

Very sad news.

None of the sources I see are saying his career is over.

If it is that article I saw yesterday, then it's just a 'former' team doctor (i.e. not actually his doctor but some guy) speculating that an operation might have gone wrong because of some problems Strootman seems to be having or having had.

Sounds like BS, at any rate though I don't see him having much of a career from here on in. He'll most likely be a bit part playa for Roma until his contract runs down then he'll find himself at some obscure club like Feyenoord, Southampton, Cesena or AC Milan.

Hapless_Hans wrote:If it is that article I saw yesterday, then it's just a 'former' team doctor (i.e. not actually his doctor but some guy) speculating that an operation might have gone wrong because of some problems Strootman seems to be having or having had.

yes , in Italy there are news only about it

Roman sources I've read are skeptical about this. I personally think it's BS myself, but I think we need to hear from the club itself on this matter.

So much for he'll never play again

“Contrary to reports in the media I am back in training and working hard on my comeback,” he tweeted.

“Please don't believe people who have never seen me in their lives, but just follow the social pages of me and AS Roma where we will keep you updated on my progress.

“Just for the record, I'm right on schedule to be back when preseason starts.”

It was all Strootman's tactic to get more followers for Roma and himself on Twitter

Thats great news.

He's expected to be match fit by mid-October.

He's gotta beat this. Our midfield is significantly better with him in it, simply put. We manage without him, but there's a distinct feeling that we won't get near Juve without a midfielder of his calibre on the field. Nainggolan's a great player, but he's no Er Lavartrice unfortunately.

He's likely out again for the season. He's met with doctors with the Dutch NT, Roma, in Germany and the United States and it looks like no one can come to a definitive decision on how to help him with this injury. Roma have decided to leave the decision on how to proceed up to Kevin himself, a noble choice.

Either way, it looks like he's out for this season too. Poor guy. What he brings to this team is simply indescribable and there's an unmistakable feeling that with him go any lingering hopes of Roma truly challenging Juve.

Terrible news. I hope he recovers.