Van Nistelrooij not going to South-Africa

inforfun

Well, not to play in any case.


Full 30 men Dutch squad:

GK Sander Boschker (FC Twente), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Michel Vorm (FC Utrecht).

Defence Vurnon Anita (Ajax), Khalid Boulahrouz (VfB Stuttgart, Dui), Edson Braafheid (Celtic, Sch), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), John Heitinga (Everton, Eng), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburger SV, Dui), André Ooijer (PSV), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax).

Midfield Ibrahim Afellay (PSV), Otman Bakkal (PSV), Mark van Bommel (Bayern München, Dui), Wout Brama (FC Twente), Orlando Engelaar (PSV), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City, Eng), David Mendes da Silva (AZ), Stijn Schaars (AZ), Wesley Sneijder (Internazionale, Ita), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid, Spa), Demy de Zeeuw (Ajax).

Forwards Ryan Babel (Liverpool, Eng), Eljero Elia (Hamburger SV, Dui, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (AC Milan, Ita), Jeremain Lens (AZ), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool, Eng), Robin van Persie (Arsenal, Eng), Arjen Robben (Bayern München, Dui).

7 have to go of course.

Can not understand Babel and Huntelaar being picked after this season while van Nistelrooij can stay at home.

The_Kew_Tour

Who?

TonyD79

Sure he has hardly played. How has he done at Hamburg?

Helix

dont think hes set the world alight in germany, but im open to correction

Gillington

As far as I can see,7 league starts 4 sub appearances and 5 goals domestically.Not sure of his Europa stats

Edit: 6 Europa starts,1 sub appearance and 2 goals.

Not exactly world beating alright,and looking at the other forwards in the Dutch team it was probably the right decision albeit a tough one to make

Mr.Nice Guy

He's not as good as he was but he was surely a good option to have on the bench with his experience. Babel ahead of him is a bad call imo. Feel sorry for him not to be involved..

Kess73

Babel is generally a very different looking player when playing for Holland, and gets played to his strengths.

DazMarz

Not what he once was, but the van Nistelrooy I remember... man... inside the box, there was no better man to give the ball to.

Say Holland are 1-0 down in a crucial game (be it to secure qualification from the group, or in knockout stages) and there's 80 mins gone... Van Nistelrooy is on the bench. Throw him on! Jeez, he'd be perfect in that push for a goal in the last 10 mins.

Als76

Its a big call leaving a proven scorer at home and RVN moved clubs to play his way into the team. I would take him he would always get you a goal.

The dutch look strong if they get there attitude right.

8-10

inforfun wrote: »

Can not understand Babel and Huntelaar being picked after this season while van Nistelrooij can stay at home.

Babel and Huntelaar might still stay at home, the squad has to be reduced to 23 don't forget.

Babel is in there as a winger. Elia is ahead of him in squad terms. Both good impact subs for Holland but Elia better.

Huntelaar has 7 goals this season and has 21 appearances. And is quality.

van Nis is not taken because of his knee injury. Plain and simple. Only made a handful of appearances because of it and even though he's fit he's not considered back to his best in terms of sharpness or fitness. Huntelaar suffered from selection issues but hasn't had a serious injury.

MickShamrock

Not surprised.

CSF

Wouldn't have too much faith in that squad to be honest. Theres a few gems in there, but too many nobodies in international terms for my liking.

adamski8

MickShamrock wrote: »

Not surprised.

but he was great for united like 5 seasons ago!!!! dont you remember Mick

inforfun

adrian280582 wrote: »

Who?

This guy

Look at the first line... that is how is name is really spelled. But to make it easier to understand/pronounce while he was at man Utd he changd the ij to y.

inforfun

CSF wrote: »

Wouldn't have too much faith in that squad to be honest. Theres a few gems in there, but too many nobodies in international terms for my liking.

Defence and goalkeeper are a concern. Midfield and forwards are 2nd to ... well not many. Only Spains midfield i rate higher.

Stekelenburg is a good goalkeeper but certainly no Van Der Sar.

Can see the same thing happening as what happened in Euro2008. Play a few good teams completely off the pitch and then a bad day where they can lose to anyone.

CSF

inforfun wrote: »

Defence and goalkeeper are a concern. Midfield and forwards are 2nd to ... well not many. Only Spains midfield i rate higher.

Stekelenburg is a good goalkeeper but certainly no Van Der Sar.

Can see the same thing happening as what happened in Euro2008. Play a few good teams completely off the pitch and then a bad day where they can lose to anyone.

Outside of Robben, Van Der Vaart, Schneider and Van Persie to an extent (even he isn't in the top 10 strikers playing at the World Cup) who really screams out to you?

Blazer

Babel? Ryan Babel? Ahead of Nistelrooij? What a joke

adamski8

Berkut wrote: »

Babel? Ryan Babel? Ahead of Nistelrooij? What a joke

eh they don't play in the same positions to start with!

CoalBucket

Van Nistelrooij !!

I look forward to the World Cup with George Hamilton pronouncing all the players names in their native tounge. You know he's right but it sounds completely wrong

inforfun

CSF wrote: »

Outside of Robben, Van Der Vaart, Schneider and Van Persie to an extent (even he isn't in the top 10 strikers playing at the World Cup) who really screams out to you?

I am hoping for 1 or 2 players who not many people expect much from, especially in defense, that will play a great tournament. Hoping for Vlaar and/or Bouhlarouz.

But with the 4 you named, it is really possible the usual Dutch crap will happen again. If either van Persie or Sneijder gets too cocky it is all over for the Dutch where i expect it more from Sneijder than Van Persie.

I just would not have left out a guy who has been top goalscorer in 3 different leagues and pick a guy who couldnt get a game for Liverpool this season. Even if RvN is not top fit, i still see him score more goals than Babel ever will.

Btw, i dont see the Dutch as a favourites. But i could see them upset a big favourite in order to go out in the 1/4 or 1/2 to a team they should beat.

Oat23

When I think about some of the chances Ruud has had this season, he should really have 12+ goals.

At least there's no reason to worry about injuries now, hope he gets a good pre season behind him and is 100% for the new season. He's been suffering from a hip injury the last few weeks on top of the injury he had at Real Madrid.

mike65

How many major tournaments has Giovanni van Bronckhorst played at? Seems like millions.

murpho999

CoalBucket wrote: »

Van Nistelrooij !!

I look forward to the World Cup with George Hamilton pronouncing all the players names in their native tounge. You know he's right but it sounds completely wrong

Just to clarify for those who are interested. 'ij' in Dutch is similar to our 'y' but has a different sound. It is often written as a 'y' as it is the combination of 'i' and 'j' .Dutch 'y' is not used as much as in English.. it is still pronounced as 'van Nistelrooy' as we know it. Confused?

As for his omission, no surprise, he's on his way out and often caused problems in the Dutch camp.

DazMarz

mike65 wrote: »

How many major tournaments has Giovanni van Bronckhorst played at? Seems like millions.

1998 World Cup
2000 Euros
2004 Euros
2006 World Cup
2008 Euros

aidan24326

It's a bizarre omission, clearly a personal rather than football decision. To pick Ryan Babel ahead of him is just nonsense. Van Nistelrooy might not be quite the player he was but he'd still be a great option coming off the bench if you needed a goal. How England could do with him!

Pinturicchio

I don't get all the people comparing RVN and Ryan Babel. They don't play the same position.

eagle eye

aidan24326 wrote: »

It's a bizarre omission, clearly a personal rather than football decision. To pick Ryan Babel ahead of him is just nonsense. Van Nistelrooy might not be quite the player he was but he'd still be a great option coming off the bench if you needed a goal. How England could do with him!

Van Nistelrooy is over the hill and injury prone, its a good decision to leave him out.

Exclamation Marc

I certainly would have had Van Nistelrooy over Elia in the 30 man squad.
I think they lack that sort of poacher in the team, and after Huntelaar's awful run for Milan including his dire misses against Man Utd, which Van Nistelrooy would never have missed, Ruud would have been a great player off the bench.

I think this is a mistake by Van Marwijk.

aidan24326

eagle eye wrote: »

Van Nistelrooy is over the hill and injury prone, its a good decision to leave him out.

That may be true to an extent, but he's a proven goalscorer at the highest level for club and country, and in a world cup context you want experienced players who have been there and done it and know what it takes to win games at that level. That's why Capello has recalled Carragher and why he tried to coax Paul Scholes back aswell, it's a case of the old dog for the hard road. Van Nist would surely be worth a place on the bench. And I wasn't meaning to compare with Babel, of course they're different players. But Babel has been picked ahead of him, and I know who I'd rather have in my squad.

Soby

Only seen him play against fulham in teh semis there..did sweet feck all

Oat23

FireballPitcher wrote: »

I certainly would have had Van Nistelrooy over Elia in the 30 man squad.

I don't think Elia has ever played up front for Holland. I've only seen him play striker a few times at club level this season and that was only when there was an injury. He's a winger and a good one at that so Elia isn't the one I would drop for Van Nistelrooy.

FearDark

Long name.

eagle eye

FireballPitcher wrote: »

I certainly would have had Van Nistelrooy over Elia in the 30 man squad.
I think they lack that sort of poacher in the team, and after Huntelaar's awful run for Milan including his dire misses against Man Utd, which Van Nistelrooy would never have missed, Ruud would have been a great player off the bench.

I think this is a mistake by Van Marwijk.

Van Nistelrooy hasn't appeared for the Netherlands since Euro 2008. He is over the hill, injury prone and it would be some kick in the teeth to the players that assisted the Netherlands to win all 8 qualifying games with 17 goals scored and only 2 conceded.

Jazzy

robben kuyt and van persie... thats looking very tasty

inforfun

Pinturicchio wrote: »

I don't get all the people comparing RVN and Ryan Babel. They don't play the same position.

True enough but the thing is that any position Babel can play, there are at least 3 others in that 30 men squad who will do a better job than him.
Still i am pretty sure he will make the final 23.

I just think that players that can not get a match at their clubs should not be selected for the national team.
There are of course exceptions, a big factor is who is keeping a player out of the team. Van der Vaart is not in the first 11 at Madrid either but there he is facing competition of Kaka.
Babels competition at Liverpool??

inforfun

FearDark wrote: »

Long name.

Here is another one: Jan Johannes Vennegoor of Hesselink

Exclamation Marc

Oatesy23 wrote: »

I don't think Elia has ever played up front for Holland. I've only seen him play striker a few times at club level this season and that was only when there was an injury. He's a winger and a good one at that so Elia isn't the one I would drop for Van Nistelrooy.

Yes, but how far down the order is Elia? He's behind Babel, Kuyt, RVP and Robben who play on the wings, and yet Holland only have one striker in the classic sense who is Huntelaar who has been a bit muck this season, so you're only left with wingers, one or two who can deputise up front, so why not have RVN as a replacement poacher.

eagle eye wrote: »

Van Nistelrooy hasn't appeared for the Netherlands since Euro 2008. He is over the hill, injury prone and it would be some kick in the teeth to the players that assisted the Netherlands to win all 8 qualifying games with 17 goals scored and only 2 conceded.

They scored 17 and conceded 2 yeah, but they faced Norway, Macedonia, Iceland and Scotland so whilst its impressive, its not as if they had another top seed in the group, and the second placed team came last in the 2nd placed table.

He hasn't appeared because he fell out with Van Basten, and then he was injured. In 2008, he scored 3 in 5 internationally, and since then in club football he's scored 18 in 34, so how that's "over the hill" is beyond me. Sure, he's not going to be playing 90 mins every game, but as a poacher, his record is still very impressive for someone so "over the hill"

Oat23

FireballPitcher wrote: »

Yes, but how far down the order is Elia? He's behind Babel, Kuyt, RVP and Robben who play on the wings, and yet Holland only have one striker in the classic sense who is Huntelaar who has been a bit muck this season, so you're only left with wingers, one or two who can deputise up front, so why not have RVN as a replacement poacher.

I would also have brought RVN to the finals, but not in place of Elia. Elia is better than Babel imo(Benitez was supposedly ready to offer Babel + Cash in January before Elia was injured). I haven't been keeping up with the Dutch national side the last few months, but hasn't elia been playing very well when given the chance?. I wouldn't put him behind Babel.

Exclamation Marc

Oatesy23 wrote: »

I would also have brought RVN to the finals, but not in place of Elia. Elia is better than Babel imo(Benitez was supposedly ready to offer Babel + Cash in January before Elia was injured). I haven't been keeping up with the Dutch national side the last few months, but hasn't elia been playing very well when given the chance?. I wouldn't put him behind Babel.

I actually agree with you on this, I don't think Babel is better than Elia, but as far as I know he's ahead in the pecking order. What I should have said is that although Elia is better, if he's not going to get a game behind these players, why not take an alternate option.

inforfun

mike65 wrote: »

How many major tournaments has Giovanni van Bronckhorst played at? Seems like millions.

Well.. it will definitely be his last as a player since today he announced he will retire from football after the World Cup.
He will stay at Feyenoord in a so far undecided role.