The Rumour Mill, Season 2011-12

Heitinga facing Dutch axe

26/06/2012 |

Comments (23)

Voetbal International are apparently reporting that should Bert van Marwijk keep his job as national coach of the Netherlands [27/6/12 Update: he didn't] through to the 2016 European Championships, John Heitinga will be one of three players who will not be considered for international duty.

The report suggests that the Everton defender, Tottenham's Rafael van der Vaart, and striker Klass-Jan Hunterlaar will be axed by Van Marwijk as part of a post-Euro2012 shake-up.

Heitinga was dropped for the Oranjie's final Group B match against Portugal but Van der Vaart was reinstated for that game and scored the opening goal upon which the Dutch were not able to build and they lost the game 2-1.

The Netherlands lost all three of their group games, their worst performance at a major tournament thus far.

Original Source: Voetbal International via Goal.com

Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Mark Stone
994 Posted 26/06/2012 at 00:34:21

Does this bloke watch football?

Gavin Ramejkis
995 Posted 26/06/2012 at 01:09:08

Agreed Mark, they actually only improved with Van der Vaart and Hunterlaar on the pitch

Si Cooper
997 Posted 26/06/2012 at 01:35:57

Mark, Gavin. Surely this must be a disciplinary measure rather than a decision based on footballing ability. You don't announce players won't be considered for selection unless you are effectively saying that the manager is refusing to work with them.

Doesn't bother me if Johnny plays for the Oranje or not, as long as he plays well for us.

James Stewart
998 Posted 26/06/2012 at 02:04:35

The guy is a complete tactical clown. I would be amazed if he keeps his job.

Gavin Ramejkis
999 Posted 26/06/2012 at 02:03:32

Si, Hunterlaar looked quite rightly pissed off spending the majority of the tournament catching splinters in his arse as did Van der Vaart and equally both proved far more useful to the Ducth being on the pitch instead of as spectators. If its a disciplinary it smacks of another manager cutting his nose off to spite his own face. He saw his arse playing the wrong players in their games.

Si Cooper
001 Posted 26/06/2012 at 02:16:08

Gavin, not disagreeing with your assessment of the Dutch performances but the article says that if van Marwijk keeps his job then these three players won't be considered for international duty in the future (whether that is limited to his tenure or not is not made clear). Unless the inference is that he doesn't rate them as good enough, then it has to be a disciplinary stance based on the widely reported dissent that affected the Dutch cup campaign (nothing new there then). Van Marwijk must have the backing of the Dutch footballing authorities if this is to be applied and so it must be an official disciplinary sanction (otherwise it is tantamount to restriction of trade or slander / libel at the least).

Si Cooper
002 Posted 26/06/2012 at 02:28:06

Could always be a case of mis-translation of a Dutch media source I guess?!

Si Cooper
003 Posted 26/06/2012 at 02:35:00

Feel like I haven't made myself clear. To me the words "will not be considered for international duty" are not the same as saying someone has been dropped indefinitely due to an unsatisfactory level of performance and, if that was the original meaning of the report, then I think that the wording used is a little misleading. To be able to announce the voluntary exclusion of these players for the duration of his stewardship, the manager must be pretty sure he has the backing of his superiors in what is in effect, if not in actuality, a punitive measure.

Jay Harris
004 Posted 26/06/2012 at 04:25:35

I heard the root of the problem was Van Marwick's insistence on playing Van Bommel who is apparently related.

The Dutch are never shrinking violets and let their feelings be known especially Johnny's wife (allegedly) who blabbed to the dutch press.

I also thought he was very negative tactically only playing Van Persie on his own up front with no MF player in the support role.

Ean Palese
006 Posted 26/06/2012 at 04:57:45

The problem with the Dutch is that they always seem to beat themselves from within. They appear to have far too many ego maniacs in the camp and their in-house fighting carries over to match day. They constantly bicker, badger and berate each other and or the current serving manager - this has been going on for ages. The talent has always been there and on paper they are usually a scary opponent for anyone. However, you can usually bet that somewhere down the road in any tournament, they will falter and succumb to no one but themselves.

Gavin Ramejkis
007 Posted 26/06/2012 at 07:01:15

Si if there is any justice it should be limited blinkered managers that get the heave ho rather than players with the cojones to stand up to them

Andrew Ellams
008 Posted 26/06/2012 at 08:03:21

Van Bommel is married to the manager's daughter.

Rob Murphy
011 Posted 26/06/2012 at 09:02:03

Huntelaar was shite against Portugal.

John Daley
019 Posted 26/06/2012 at 10:48:41

Has Moyes got a daughter? She's not knocking off Anichebe is she?

Keith Glazzard
041 Posted 26/06/2012 at 13:23:10

"should Bert .... keeps his job" -
pld 3 won 0 lost 3 for 1 agst 5 null points.

I don't know how they do things in that country but I suspect their FA will conclude our discussion for us.

Drew O'Neall
044 Posted 26/06/2012 at 13:59:30

You have to wonder what Johnny boy has been up to this time to envoke that kind of reaction.

Huntelaar was crap when I saw him, and RVP did nothing against Portugal - there needed to be tactical changes and they weren't made but also the players deserve pelters.

Si Cooper
046 Posted 26/06/2012 at 13:47:47

In a better world the person who has the guts to stand-up for what is needed would always get the support, but in the real world the establishment tend to protect their own interests and will reaffirm their authority by getting rid of the 'troublemakers'.

Don't know if that applies in this case as I am not sure of the details of the strife in the Dutch camp at the Euros. The flipside is that there are genuine troublemakers; people who will gladly ruin it for everyone if they are not pandered to. Need a Dutch expert to unravel this one I think.

As for the article, if van Marwijk is kept on then they are clearly blaming these players for the failure of the team and, by announcing that these players will not be considered for selection, they are letting everyone know that this trio is being punished.

Brian Waring
049 Posted 26/06/2012 at 15:59:18

I agree with you Si (#997).

Keith Glazzard
050 Posted 26/06/2012 at 15:57:17

"there are genuine troublemakers; people who will gladly ruin it for everyone if they are not pandered to" -

No doubt. But how long has Johnny been with us? How often has he been played out of position? How long would he have lasted had he pissed Moyes off? How often has he stated that he enjoys his football with us as well as he ever has?

I've witnessed management failures blaming the troops close up, and this has all the hallmarks to me. In any case, Johnny come home.

James Stewart
054 Posted 26/06/2012 at 16:39:49

The Dutch are a bigger joke than England! They have twice the talent yet cannot kill the infighting. That has to come from the top down. Van Bommel was shite as he usually is. One of the most dirty and cynical players I have ever seen. Zero ability. Yet guaranteed to start which is bound to piss others off.

James Flynn
187 Posted 27/06/2012 at 14:54:49

Agree with Keith. All Johnny's done for us is improve his play year by year. Watched all the Holland games and wondered how many times Johnny thought, "Christ, let me get back to my Club, a real Team".

James Flynn
188 Posted 27/06/2012 at 14:57:19

Come to think of it, Moyes is exactly the manager the Dutch could use for their National side.

Keith Glazzard
310 Posted 28/06/2012 at 11:49:36

"should Bert .... keeps his job" - part 2:

Bert did the decent thing and walked. Still 4 years on his contract - 'mutual agreement' apparently.

Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and MailBag submissions across the site.