van Hanegem

Too bad for van Ginkel. He's a great talent but I don't believe that Stoke is the right choice for him considering the way they usually play. He should have stayed in Holland for a couple of years to become a key player for Ajax, Feyenoord or PSV and then make a move abroad. It wouldn't surprise me if this goes wrong, just like van Wolfswinkel at Norwich.

I agree, seeing all those names and qualities Koeman must be pleased with all his options. Though I have the idea that he should train more on different attack forms to use these options, he usually holds on too long to the same players while the game or the opponents tactics asks for a change. Well, maybe he's working on this right now as Jay Rodriguez is back and there's also a lot more preparation time compared with last summer.

The latter: Clasie is a good player but he will be needing 3 or 4 months playing time to adapt to the team and the PL, I can hear the comments already: "he's sh*ite" etc. So it will be a step back from Schneiderlin in the beginning and the question is if the fans will grant him the time needed. I know Koeman will but you know how it works sometimes. Tadic could fall back on his technical skills in the beginning but got problems because he wasn't used to the pace and many games at a high level in the PL. He had an easy life playing in the Eredivisie... Djuricic wasn't fit enough for the PL from the beginning and therefore needed more time to cope with the pace and the power, just like Clasie will.

McLaren the new head coach, I've never heard a coach talking so much crap like he did when he was head coach of Twente in Holland ("the most important part of a team is: the team..." and more of that rubbish). Millions and millions for a 20-year old who had one good season in Belgium and even more millions for Wijnaldum who will need a lot of time to adapt to the PL. That doesn't look not promising for them. Oh wait, they have another 30 million to spend... Well, they better aim higher.

Adapting to the PL instead of "adjusting": I'm learning every day... Wijnaldum is a different type of player off course but I can say that he's not at the same level as Tadic or Pelle was when they moved to Southampton. Djurucic was a great player at Heerenveen when he played in Holland but I don't know what went wrong in recent years. Elia was a big talent years ago when he was also a great winger in Oranje. Sadly he totally f*cked up when he got famous and went crazy with all the money he got. His idiot manager took him to Juventus for the money but it was completely the wrong club for him. I guess that he will never be the star player he could have been...

I'm not sure about Wijnaldum and that's not because I'm feeling sour about him leaving Feyenoord for PSV... Wijnaldum was a key player for PSV this year but he lacks something which I find hard to put the finger on. Scoring in the Eredivisie isn't that difficult when you play in a good team but Wijnaldum missed many opportunities to score. He played more for "Oranje" than Clasie but he added nothing to the team. That could have been due to the instructions of the coach but it looked many times like he didn't know where to go on the pitch. He's definitely a talent but it wouldn't surprise me if he gets problems adjusting to the PL like he had problems when he started for PSV. He left Feyenoord because he saw more possibilities at PSV but although PSV had the better players, Feyenoord was the better team and went ahead of them two years in a row. This year they finally made it to champions but Feyenoord was the better team in both confrontations and Wijnaldum was nowhere to be seen. Wijnaldum was important in the matches against minor clubs but that will be different in the PL where you have to be good each week. Don't know if he's up to that. I guess Leroy Fer would be a better alternative to play with Clasie, how do you rate him?

Koeman told Clasie that he is not the only option when Schneiderlin leaves so if another club comes in and Clasie believes it's the right club (like Porto last year) he feels free to move elsewhere. Considering your remark about good players slotting in almost immediately: in that case Clasie will not live up to your expectations and it would be better for him to move elsewhere as he will need some time to adjust to the PL. Just like Tadic or Djuricic need...

Ok, Vlaar next to Fonte would be ok then. Since there is no transfer fee for Vlaar it might even be possible to get another central defender so there is back up when things go wrong.

Feyenoord will get another 3% for having educated Wijnaldum, is that what you mean with "solidarity payment"? Off course Feyenoord is hoping that Wijnaldum is sold to the highest bidder! However, Wijnaldum is not the type of guy who is only interested in money, he's smart enough to also look for his chances to play and the way his next club wants to play. For that reason I don't get it why he might be interested in Newcastle...

Correct, Wijnaldum made his debut when Erwin Koeman was the headcoach of Feyenoord. The 15% commission you mentioned will be shared between Feyenoord and Wijnaldum.

Like so many others Vlaar suffered this year from his appearance at the WC where he played great for Holland, far better than I ever saw Alderweireld play... The question is if Vlaar is able to get back to his WC form and knowing his injuries from his time at Feyenoord (he was out for almost 18 months or so), there might be a problem... Maybe Southampton could better scout in South America for an unknown real killer or is this not possible because of the rules concerning non-EU players?

Feyenoord against my favourite English side in De Kuip, wondering if van Beek/Kongolo are good enough already to play against the likes of Pelle and Rodriguez, hoping that Clasie/Vejinovic/El Ahmadi can match Schneiderlin/Wanyama/Djuricic (if they're all available...) and looking forward to see if Kuyt is still able at 35 to do some damage. Ok, it's only a friendly game so not every player will give 100% but who cares, this is a friendly game I do want to see! Huh? Sorry honey, you did what? F*ck, I won't attend this one game I want to see, I'm on holiday... Wish you all a pleasant stay and a nice game in a great atmosphere!

Right now it sure is for players from the Eredivisie who are ready for the next step and want to play in the PL Especially with Ronald and Erwin Koeman to coach them... But a lot of Dutch youngsters (Rekik, Bruma, Ebecilio etc.) went to clubs like Chelsea and Mancity and failed to break through so there's a tendency going on among new talents to stay in Holland and first prove themselves in the Eredivisie (Depay, Wijnaldum, de Vrij). There still are youngsters going to England like Terence Kongolo's little brother Rodney who decided to leave Feyenoord for Mancity U18 but van Beek is not one of them. He had to struggle through the Feyenoord academy, he wasn't the exceptional talent then but he's getting better and better and he has got a great mentality. He's better than de Vrij was at his current age and because Lazio Roma is very pleased with de Vrij, it's expected that van Beek will be sold to a club like Lazio or even bigger. However, if the Saints are willing to splash a lot of cash in about two years time, who knows...

Cheers Tommy! The real van Hanegem would be sent off a lot these days for all his dirty tricks on the pitch but I know what you mean. Van Hanegem was a key player for Feyenoord like Le Tissier was for the Saints...

Maybe van Dijk although he failed when he was tested for the Dutch national team. It will be a gamble which can go wrong but that was also the case with Alderweireld who wasn't that great at Ajax and usually had to sit on the bench when he was at Atletico. Van Beek is the rising star among the Dutch defenders but he won't leave Feyenoord for another year or two because he knows he has to learn more. After that I expect him to be sold to a big club, especially when he's a regular in "Oranje". Kongolo had a very bad year and is clearly not ready to go abroad.

I know Leroy Fer didn't show much of his potential in the PL up to now but when it has to be a Dutchman (I know, I know, let's not go Dutch all the way... ) with a lot more more body then Clasie then he might be the right guy. He is strong, fast, has a fairly good technical skill and is a good header. A box-to-box player for a reasonable price I believe. With Clasie and Fer you'll have the Orange midfield of the future..

Twente needs to sell as they are in financial trouble. They do have some great players who are up for grabs but they're not yet as good as Tadic. Ziyech is an attacking midfielder with high potential and if he doesn't make a move abroad this year, it will certainly be the next. Also Gutierrez, Corona and Tapia are expected to play on a higher level eventually. Ebecilio came over from Arsenal where he didn't make it to the first team, nice player but not good enough yet for Southampton. But if he's cheap and Koeman c.s. can make him better, who knows...

Personally I was never a fan of Vurnon Anita and I wondered why Newcastle took an interest in him, in my opinion he's nothing more than a squadfiller. But hey, I didn't like Daley Blind either ("tikkie breed" we call him in Holland because he usually plays the ball sideways or back to his goalkeeper) and look where he is now thanks to the friendship between his father and van Gaal! It probably has to do with the aura that shines around Ajax and it's players which attracts foreign clubs so much they're blinded. If Clasie played for Ajax he would have cost 6 or 7 million pounds more... I have more hope for Leroy Fer to succeed in the CL although we're also joking in Holland about him that he's aiming for the record in relegation in the PL. But he has the power, the strength and the technical skills to make it as an midfielder in the PL. He was injured regularly which wasn't helping him off course to get ahead but I guess his biggest problem is that he chose the wrong clubs. I mean, there's a big difference in playing for a club like Southampton who try to play real football or West Ham which looks like a bunch of lumberjacks. I reckon that it would have been easier for Fer when he played for Southampton and there's a lesson for Clasie to be learned.

That's sad to hear but you should know that Twente fans are almost Germans so don't be bothered by them...

Clasie has some fighting spirit along with his technical skills and his ability to "see the game" (meaning that he sees the possibilities when his team is attacking and is able to deliver the right pass) but he lacks the stamina to go on for 90 minutes. The last six games or so with Feyenoord he was tired after 60 or 70 minutes and couldn't make any difference in the game. I don't have to tell you that the pace in the Eredivisie is for most of the time much lower in comparison with the PL and therefore I assume that Clasie will be wasted in the PL after 40 minutes or so. This is really something he should improve and I don't understand why he didn't work on this earlier, knowing that he's up for a move abroad. I saw a picture of him with Depay and he looked like some chubby fan beside his idol... Like I said somewhere else: you have to put him in the gym for a couple of months to get some muscles and "ausdauer" as zhe Germanz call it. His size doesn't have to be a problem, I agree, but then he has to improve the speed of his handling in order to outsmart his direct opponent. Maybe you remember him playing in the Dutch national team against Brazil at the WC where he played great as he got the time to do his thing. Recently he played with "Oranje" against the USA and he had problems because the Americans were constantly pressing. So there is some work to be done when Clasie makes a move to the PL and it will take him some time to adjust. Koeman knows this off course and therefore Southampton is the best choice for Clasie when he wants to go to the PL. If Southampton is not an option he better moves to Spain or Italy.

Ok, thanks for the update. Hopefully Martina will deliver when called upon...

Sounds good S-Clarke, there aren't many players left who accept the decision of their club when it means they don't get what they want personally, even when it's a fair decision...

Ok, if Schneiderlin is a player who won't whine when his transfer is delayed for another year it might be a good thing for the club to hold on to the asking price and not give in. I believe that Feyenoord will sell Clasie this summer because they already bought his replacement (Vejinovic) so maybe van Gaal will be p*ssed off badly with Koeman and buy Clasie. I can hear van Gaal already boasting that he made Clasie a better player than Schneiderlin, even when it's not true...

You really believe in Clasie then Convict? Well, I do too but I still have some doubts about playing with his physical condition in the PL but who knows... What would you prefer: holding on to Schneiderlin in his best form for another season or selling him for the fee Louis van Gaal is willing to pay (less than what Southampton is asking...) and getting in Clasie as his replacement?

You'll soon find out. I reckon that Koeman will give him some playtime in the friendly against Feyenoord later this month, de Kuip is in his hometown after all and he knows his direct opponents Boëtius and Manu. These leftwingers from Feyenoord are not in their best form these last months so it will be a fair test for Martina...