Jesse Pingman

De Boer has performed well with Ajax domestically. Especially in his earlier seasons he managed to turn matches around with some great substitutions. 4 titles in 6 years is also pretty good. Although what many do forget is that over time the football got more and more boring with lots of defensive possession (think ManU under van Gaal). He also seemed to lose the ability to change matches with a sub, even going as far as subbing out his prolific striker when 1-1 in a title deciding game. Then he put a normally benched CB striker 10 minutes later when they were still tied (it stayed 1-1 costing them the title this year). There's also his record in europe which in earlier seasons wasn't great, this past season it was just plain terrible. He insisted on playing according to his own philosophy, All in all, he probably should have left earlier, and both parties were happy to split this summer. Though, he certainly knows how to grind out wins and create a consistent squad, and the higher player quality, fresh perspective and less inane transfer comittee might benefit him greatly. Cocu is somewhat the opposite. He started out not that great, needing help and guidance from Hiddink halfway through his first, mediocre season. After that he's grown more into his own. He managed to get the highest point tally ever for the club last season along with the title, this year he managed to win the title again. In addition, this was also the first dutch club in 9 years to reach the CL knock-outs (in which they took Atleti to penalties). He's not bound by a philosophy, he tries to dominate and attack in the league, he adapts when in europe and plays more defensively/counterfootball. Some argue the reason the title race was close between Ajax and PSV this year was Ajax being knocked out of all competitions early, with PSV playing more games, on top of that with important games right after eachother (Ajax immediately following the game that went to penalties in Madrid). PSV does have a great technical manager and they manage to get experienced players, as opposed to Ajax, who have either young or **** players. So in summary FdeB: +Managed stability when the club was (and still is frankly) in turmoil +Managed to get domestic succes with relative mediocrity ~The teams seemed to get worse over time due to terrible transfers (partly on him but on Ajax' technical director moreso) ~Tactically great in first seasons, worsened over time (could go either way abroad) -Known for kinda boring playstyle, too stubborn to change this Cocu +Managed domestic and european succes with a good, well balanced squad +Good record in the so called 'big games' +Tactically improving, no 'philosophy' so not afraid to (succesfully) adapt to the opponent -Seems to have trouble motivating his squad for the smaller games, nearly costing a championship ~Mentioned it before, but his squads got better over time due to great transfers (PSV's technical director is pretty good), so he's had more to work with. ~A quiet, calm, introverted man. Some think he needs to be more of a leader at times. Boy this turned out a lot longer than I planned.

True, he's done well in national competitions. But his european tenure is pretty bad. He's only won 20 out of 75 european matches, and of his last 20 he won only 2. That's right, the Vitesse games are his only two wins in his last 20 european games. He got to a Champions League quarter with Ajax, Benfica and PSV in 2003, 2006 and 2007 respectively. But since then, european wise, he's been ****. Anyway, that van Dijk lad, I really hope he gets his transfer and Celtic aren't going to block him. Will be interesting to see how he'll do in the prem.

-------Romeu---Wanyama-------- -------------Clasie----------------- Tadic-------------------------Mane -------------Pelle------------------- I've seen people post a line-up like this on here before, which always struck me as weird. Clasie has always been the most defensive of the defensive midfielders at Feyenoord and the dutch national team. He's rarely gotten to the opposition box in his play so far. Don't get me wrong, it might turn out great, he has good distribution and a decent shot, but he's never played there or in a similar role before.

Sadly it wouldn't surprise me if even they were in better physical shape than the average Eredivisie player. But I was referring to training. I'm sure the difference is very noticable not just on the pitch but on the training field as well. Same happened with Marco van Ginkel, came to Chelsea as a skinny lad straight from the Eredivisie and immediately picked up an injury.

Shame really, bad way to start his PL tenure. I hardly recall him ever being injured before though, so this is new. Then again, a quick google of Clasie and Memphis shows a pic of both on a holiday, and the comparison is unreal . It really shows Clasie needs to beef up a lot if he wants to compete in the PL. So maybe this has all to do with him not being used to the physical aspect of English football.

Vitesse are about to get Dominic Solanke on a loan for this next season, trainer Peter Bosch said he'll be a necessary addition to the squad. Not to demean his talent, and I know he can't play thursday, but that's the level you're playing against. A 17-year old is regarded as a welcome first team addition.

Can anyone e-mail him with a link to this thread? Just to be sure. In all seriousness, if he wants to go he wants to go, not much Soton can do about it. If he wants a first team spot and thinks he can get it there with the addition of money out the wazoo then fair play to him if he wants to take that risk.

Dutch media (VI, petty reliable) also reporting Schneiderlin to Man U is a near done deal. Though they state it in their gossip section, they state it to propel other gossip (about Clasie and Koemans choice for new CM) instead of presenting the deal itself as a rumour.

What a badly translated article. Basically is says Clasie can be sold now that Feyenoord bought midfielder Marko Vejinovic for 3.5 million euros. Coach van Bronckhorst wants Clasie to stay but he understands Clasie's ambitions and if he wants to leave. Koeman remains charmed by Clasie but the midfielder isn't #1 as replacement. This means Clasie has to be patient as clubs sort out their options, but patience is something he has so no worries.

That's funny. The Almere city coach called Maarten Stekelenburg loses a goalkeeper called Ronald Koeman and the Southampton coach called Ronald Koeman gains a goalkeeper called Maarten Stekelenburg. I guess the universe decided there can only be one Maarten Stekelenburg - Ronald Koeman combo where one is the GK and the other the coach.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/injury-jinxed-manchester-uniteds-injury-prevention-5901758 Guess it's not just players who underperform after leaving saints. What impact did his departure have?

People on here say they want Clasie as a Morgan replacement. Dutch media are reporting there's a decent chance Van Ginkel will be sold by Chelsea this summer, as he wants playtime and he'll never get it in this Chelsea. Before his knee injury he was a bigger talent than Clasie, who was kept on the bench in the youth EC of 2013, and rightly so. Different type to Clasie. Van Ginkel was described as somewhat of a young Frank Lampard. A real box-to-box player, he does his defensive work but he can score goals as well. Clasie is someone who will most of the times stay behind and try a longball or longer pass. I think he's worth a punt, he can get to a level that's out of reach for Clasie, who can be good but never top.

Pellè had only something like a 50/50 penalty conversion rate at Feyenoord, so I doubt he'll be high on the list. It was pretty funny, they switched player almost every 2 penalties since none could take them well. At one point they missed 5 penalties in a row, with Pellè taking 2 of those. Tadic though, he had something like 7/8 penalties scored.

A buy right away might be too much, but maybe a loan deal can be made for one season, with a set price to buy at the end, like with Bertrand. That way the risk isn't too big. Yes I am, I followed Southampton after the Koeman bros and Pellè joined. I must say, the club has quite the appeal to a dutchman. It really has a dutch feel, with a youth academy that actually produces youth for its own first team regularly, and a manegement that doesn't let panick rule and buys. I like that the club actually has a direction instead of going with whatever the current manager wants, like most of the PL bg clubs seem to have. I think van Ginkel would be great for Southampton, he's a great talent but he's never gonna break into chelsea's first 11 now. He's not a ready made player yet. But a season or 2 at Southampton and he'll be a dutch NT starter for sure. With Clasie that's still the question. I don't think he'll ever reach the quality needed to break into the top 16 clubs of Europe. He has very little offensive game himself, he rarely gets into the oppositions box and he rarely scores. He does have a majestic pass from time to time and he's a real fighter, but he's only 169cm (5 feet 5) which is small for a defensive midfielder. Wanyama is 20 cm taller! That really makes a difference in a physical league. In short, Clasie might be a good player for a subtop club, and he might do great at Southampton, but I feel van Ginkel might become something better.

Clasie is a good player but I don't think he'll ever become great, and if he goes to Southampton it will be because of Koeman mainly. I think Southampton should take a look at Marco van Ginkel, he's a player much more like Morgan Schneiderlin. In the 2013 youth European Championship he kept Clasie out of the first 11 and rightly so. He's always been regarded as a bigger talent than Clasie and I think he has much more potential. In his last season in the Eredivisie he was defensively solid and second top scorer at Vitesse with 12 goals in all competitions, behind Bony. Those two were the driving force behind Vitesse's title run and the club still hasn't recovered from losing them. The biggest reason why he signed for Chelsea in 2013 is because Vitesse, the club where he's from is owned by one of Abramovich's buddies and it's basically used as a chelsea light, with heavy ties between the clubs. Everyone here in the Netherlands was sad to see van Ginkel go to London and there were reports he wanted to go to Ajax instead. However Mourinho vouched for getting him personally so Vitesse refused Ajax, who made a higher bid than Chelsea did, and they sent him to daddy-club Chelsea. Also I bet it's hard to say no to the kind of money the blues offer for 19 year old... Anyway, he got injured badly early in his first season there, and when he recovered he already was out of favour at the fast moving Chelsea. I think van Ginkel could be another player who could flourish at Southampton, under the reign of Koeman. He potentially could become a fantastic midfielder, unlike Clasie who will be great, but never anything more.