++ [ originally posted by Zambrotta ] ++
Actually he's injured at the moment but I'm pretty sure he will be back in good shape by the the 14th june. I'll keep my eyes open though.
I would very much like to hear Erik or someone else's thoughts about Sneijder and van Der Meijde.
Hard to say...I'll get back to you after doing some research ok?
EDIT: OK Back, I'm going to have to throw some philosphies in here too, Advocaat is predictibly unpredictible yet traceable so I'll come close but I'll never guess it 100%. Anyway, here goes:
The Dutch are mad with wingers, you'll know that. Problem is though that no real wingers are available right now (if you want them to meet certain criteria anyway). Van der Meijde, for example, hasn't played a decent match all season and Overmars is no longer capable of playing entire matches. There's really only one good winger available right now: Robben. But one wing can't make you fly.
That results into a 4-4-2 line-up then, as Advocaat has used for the last two friendlies. This requires a play-maker though, so Van der Vaart is a definite yes. The strike-force will probably consist of Kluivert and Van Nistelrooij, provided they succeed in the friendlies to come. To stabilise the midfield, Advocaat is a fan of using Davids in the centre.
This is where it gets tricky though. So far we have this:
----------------Davids-----------------
------------Van der Vaart------------
----Kluivert-------Van Nistelrooij---
Obviously you need players on the flanks, side-kicks to Davids, if you will
Personally I have my preferences and theories but that's of no use to you. Countering all that's likely, Advocaat generally likes to pair up Davids with Van der Meijde to his right and Overmars to his left.
Disregarding my own frustration on this point I'll move on to defense, which is fairly easy. The best line-up possible at the back is Van Bronckhorst - Heitinga - Stam - Bouma. Van Bronckhorst might be replaced by Cocu but this is what it would look like. Van der Sar is in goal at any time of course.
That gives the following:
------------------Van der Sar------------------
--Van Bronckhorst--Heitinga--Stam--Bouma--
----------------------Davids---------------------
--Van der Meijde--Van der Vaart--Overmars
--------------Kluivert------Van Nistelrooij---------
In certain matches (such as against tougher defensive teams) he might still choose to play with wingers. That could look like this:
------------------Van der Sar------------------
--Van Bronckhorst--Heitinga--Stam--Bouma--
--------Sneijder---Davids---Van der Vaart-------
-Van der Meijde---Kluivert---Robben---
You need a forward with this style, not a striker so Van Nistelrooij is out, Kluivert stays. Van der Meijde is the best bet on the right while Robben will do an excellent job on the left, paired up with Van der Vaart. Defensively though, this formation is rather weak and seeing as Advocaat likes to play low-risk games, this is an unlikely formation.
At either rate - I think I've proven sufficiently that Advocaat prefers Van der Meijde over Sneijder (god knows why). Hope that helped all you gamblers out there
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