DUTCH FOOTBALL LOSE AUTOMATIC SPOT IN EUROPE

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Dutch football has entered a new low as the league champions would no longer get automatic slots in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. The Dutch league is now 12th in the continental rankings so they would no longer get sure slots in the elite club competition.

Eredivisie champs Feyenoord and then Vitesse Arnhem placed last in their respective Champions League groups this term. For Dutch football it is another thing to ponder over, following the national team failure to qualify for Euro 2016 and the forthcoming World cup in Russia.
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DOWNFALL OF NETHERLANDS

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In the time-lapse of 8 years, Netherlands went from finishing in 2nd place during the 2010 edition of the FIFA World Cup to not being able to even qualify which is very surprising to say the least.

The downfall of Netherlands is a pretty noticeable one as they went from taking out the Brazilian nation in 2010 in order to reach the finals and more recently, failed to even qualify for the upcoming 2018 FIFA World.
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SOUTHAMPTON SIGH NETHERLANDS DEFENDER HOEDT

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Premier League side Southampton havesigned Netherlands defender Wesley Hoedt from Serie A side Lazio for £15 million on a five-year deal, according to reports.


The 23-year old moved to Lazio from AZ Alkmaar back in 2015. Southampton vice chair Les Reed claims the new addition is “one of the most promising young defenders” on the continent, hence offering him the deal.

Southampton hope to keep his Netherlands compatriot Virgil van Dijk despite handing in a transfer request to move to Liverpool. The club insists he is not for sale. Hoedt should partner him in centre back even though rumours say he would eventually replace him.

Hoedt had his full international debut earlier this year. He had earned four caps so far and is rated highly amongst his peers in Holland.

“Wesley has proven his talent through his performances for Lazio, as well as the Netherlands, and we believe he can develop even further here at Southampton, alongside his international teammate Van Dijk, as well as the Jack Stephens, Maya Yoshida, Jan Bednarek and Florin Gardos,” Reed added. (more…)

Netherlands might not qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup

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The last time that Netherlands failed to qualify for any FIFA World Cup was back on 2002 when Japan along with South Korea dual hosted the international football competition.


Netherlands are currently competing in Group A of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification stages. They have collected 10 points from their 6 opening qualifying matches and are located at the 3rd spot behind the likes of: Sweden and France with each of them having 13 points from that same amount of games played.

Only the top 2 national sides are able to qualify for the upcoming edition of the FIFA World Cup and Netherlands is not one of those teams, they will have to start collecting points at a consistent basis which is a completely achievable task for a national side that is ranked at the 31st spot according to the latest edition of the FIFA Rankings.

There are 4 qualifying matches that Netherlands has left to play, their nearest one is against France which is scheduled to be played on August 31 at the Saint-Denis stadium and a victory over the French outfit can be huge for Dick Advocaat and his squad. (more…)

Dick Advocaat makes his 3rd spell at the helm of Netherlands

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For the 3rd time, Dick Advocaat was selected as the man to take charge of the Netherlands national side as he was confirmed for the head coaching position on May of 2017.


However, this time around, it might be Advocaat’s shortest managerial spell ever at the helm of Netherlands.

When Dick Advocaat was announced was announced as yet again the head coach of Netherlands, it was also stated that his initial contract will run up until the end of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification campaign which is going to be on October 10 of 2017 when Netherlands plays their last qualification match against Sweden.

However, if Netherlands are able to snatch a top 2 spot of Group A and manage to earn their qualification ticket into the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup then Dick Advocaat’s contract with the national side is going to be extended throughout the entirety of the approaching tournament.

The Netherlands national side has dropped points in their qualification campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup after losing to: (more…)

Danny Blind Sacked from Dutch National Team

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Danny Blind has paid the price for a poor World Cup qualification campaign at the helm of Netherlands.


The team had been coming on the back of yet another disappointment of failing to reach the Euro 2016. They have been hoping to make an impact at least at the World Cup 2018. However, being placed in a tough group containing Euro 2016 finalist France did not help matters. Netherlands have made an extremely poor start to the World Cup qualification campaign after managing only two wins the five matches. As a result, France have been able to open up a six-point advantage at the top of the table.

It 2-0 loss against Bulgaria was the last straw for the national team, who decided to take action by getting rid of Danny Blind. After having been an assistant coach prior to taking over as the full-time manager, Blind was appointed in August 2015. (more…)

Louis Van Gaal may not do Coaching anymore

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Louis Van Gaal has surprisingly suggested that he may not be able to get himself back to soccer coaching again.


In the summer when he was making his way out of United, Van Gaal had not shut the door on his potential future employers.

He had stated back then that his coaching career still had some way to go and he would entertain new offers.

Thereafter in August, there were reports that he was interviewed by the Belgian federation, but, was unable to convince them with his project and was beaten by Roberto Martinez for the head coach job there.

Though he himself did not confirm whether he was indeed interviewed or not.

But recently he has revealed that he refused to pen a bumper deal with a club from Asia which was willing to pay him as much as 15 million Pounds per season. (more…)

Ronald Koeman wants to have another chance to coach Netherlands

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The Netherlands national football team has recently been experiencing managerial changes with Louis van Gaal deciding to step down from coaching the national side on July of 2014 and he was replaced by GuusHiddink.


Unfortunately for the Netherlands national side, their selection of GuusHiddink was a disastrous one as he only spent 1 year and around 4 months in charge of the national team but due to disappointing results, Hiddink was eventually fired.

Netherlands lost to Iceland and Czech Republic and also had to settle with draws against Turkey and Kazakhstan. These are just a few of the more infamous defeats of Netherlands under the guidance of Hiddink and why he was removed from his position.

The national side is currently being guided by Danny Blind but one of the candidates that was emerging to replace Hiddink was Ronald Koeman.

Ronald Koemanis now coaching the Premier League club Everton as it was Danny Blind who was selected as the new coach of Netherland but Koeman is hoping that he is taken into consideration for coaching the national team as this is one of his ambitions as a top manager.

“Coaching Netherlands remains one of my ambitions but I think every coach would like that. If I get the chance to coach Netherlands, I would like to take that chance.

“I was keen to take the job in 2014 after my time with Feyenoord and I felt the time was right. They went for Hiddink instead and will have had their reasons for it. Time has shown that was not the best choice but I do not hold a grudge against anyone over it. I would not turn down the job because of what happened in 2014. This is all in the past now. Becoming Netherlands coach could be a nice end to my career.” Everton’s Ronald Koeman said as he expressed his desire to be in charge of Netherlands.

SCOTLAND NAME SQUAD FOR NETHERLANDS CLASH

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Scotland has named the squad that will prosecute the game against the Netherlands next week.


Scotland women are poised to face the Netherlands at Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena on Thursday. Coach Anna Signeul has named the female stars that will face the hosts in the Vauxhall International Challenge.

Erin Cuthbert was been called up, and it wasn’t any surprise following her recent form. She captained the Under 19 side in their qualification match, netting five goals in the 11-0 mauling of Albania. Ifeoma Dieke was also invited despite just regaining match fitness. Dieke suffered an injury before the game against Iceland, but she is expected to completely shake off the injury.

“We’re still on a high from qualification for the Euros and everyone is looking forward to preparing as best as possible for the next summer. We knwo the Netherlands well and they are physical, very tactical and have some brilliant players such as Vivianne Miedema who plays for Bayern Munich with Lisa [Evans],” Coach Signeul said.
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Blind will not resign

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Netherlands coach Danny Blind has stated that he will not resign and that he wants to remain as the national coach until the end of his contract.


Blind has been under intense pressure ever since he replaced GuusHiddink at the head of the Netherlands team last year. Indeed the team failed to qualify for the Euro in France and is in danger of failing again in the World Cup qualifiers.

Netherlands have been performing poorly for some time now, and the team did not manage to qualify for the Euro 2015 despite the fact that the competition was expanded to accommodate more teams. Many pundits believed that this was a natural cycle as the country was building a younger team for the new international tournaments but things do not seem to be improving.

Netherlands were beaten at home in a recent friendly match by Greece, and this has brought even more pressure on Danny Blind. The team seems to lack cohesion and a playing style, and there are no real signs of improvement.

The coach has stated that he has no plan to resign from his post as he believes he can still turn things around. He admitted that he is not the only one that can decide the future of the team, but he said that he has no intention to give up. He said that he has started working on a plan to improve the team, and he wants to continue.
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