++ [ originally posted by Matto ] ++
Well, seeing as Stam is suspended and Frank de Boer is crap, I'd have a defence with Ooijer, Hofland and Van Bronckhorst. The former two have played EXCELLENT for their club PSV and the latter put up a good performance against the Scots on Saturday.
On midfield, I'd put Van der Meyde, Seedorf, Davids and Zenden. Overmars played well but he's injured now. Van der Meyde played well so I'd leave him on the right, Seedorf and Davids are the ideal duo on the central midfield and Zenden is a great left winger who can also defend.
In attack, Van der Vaart, Van Hooijdonk and Van Nistelrooy. We need Van der Vaart for creativity, that much was obvious after Saturday. And if the Scots defend really closely, we can use Van Hooijdonk to pass high and long balls to, he could head them to Van Nistelrooy who fires them home. And with Van Hooijdonk you also have a great man for free-kicks, penalties and corners.
So to sum up:
Alright, I like where you've gone with the midfield, but don;t you think it's a bit risky to play a three-man defence? IMO, neither Davids nor Seedorf track back enough to qualify as a defensive midfielder, but then again you have Zenden in the line-up and he's playing more defensively these days, so it could work.
The one thing that surprised me the most was your selection of Van Hooijdonk. I know that he's a good free-kick taker and all that, but if you want that, then why not play Zenden in defence and put Van Persie on the wing? IMO, Van Hooijdonk lacks the pace and vision to be useful in regular play and would only hinder the attack.
I defintely agree that Hofland should play in the central defence, and Ooijer is the best alternative to Stam, but only while Stam is out. I think that the team needs to focus more on youth, and I wish that Advocaat woul dhave tried more sooner. Thanks to that mad-man Rijkaard, Cocu has been converted to a central defnder and he's playing pretty well there, but he's lost his midfield awareness. It's really unfortunate, Holland could use him in the middle of mid-field.
If you are going to play Van der Vaart as a dropped back forward, then why don't we play with a true defensive midfielder to help out the beleaguered defence? I guess because the only players that would fit that description are currently out of action one way or another. Cocu is playing defence and Van Bommel is injured. The only other good dutch option there is Nigel De Jong, but he has no experience...
Over-all, I like your line-up, but I don't think that Van Hooijdonk is good enough to start.
Buy on AliExpress.com
