Van Nistelrooy Holland Career Over
May 4th 2010 09:17
It wasn't entirely unexpected given that the player has pretty much been in decline after leaving Manchester United but Holland coach Bert van Marwijk finally ended Ruud van Nistelrooy's hopes of making a comeback on the international stage at the World Cup 2010 finals. The training squad that will gather for Holland's training camp next week did not have the striker's name included.
In all seriousness, there is really no chance of Van Nistelrooy still plying his trade for the Dutch on the world stage. There is very little substitute for class - which the player has - but his pace has long gone and despite his move to Hamburg in January to engineer a return to the national team, there are many other better, and younger, options available for Van Marwijk.
Who can honestly pick the former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker ahead of faster, fresher and just as talented players like Robin Van Persie, Dirk Kuyt (he does the business for Holland) and Arjen Robben? The total football system that the Dutch prefer to employ would also mean that Nistelrooy is less capable of contributing with age and qualities that do not really go beyond scoring goals.
He could be useful as an impact substitute but again, his age counts against him. Van Nistelrooy also got into trouble again with Hamburg management as there has been speculation that he was one of a handful of players who did not see eye to eye with the coach. That usually spells trouble for national managers who need to preserve a unity and strict code of conduct that is always necessary for a team to do well at that level.
So now the Holland team moves on while Van Nistelrooy will be left pondering his next career move. Having scored four goals since his January transfer and that is despite spending quite a bit of time on the substitute's bench, he could still be a prolific striker with smaller clubs if he is acceptable to lower wages.
In all seriousness, there is really no chance of Van Nistelrooy still plying his trade for the Dutch on the world stage. There is very little substitute for class - which the player has - but his pace has long gone and despite his move to Hamburg in January to engineer a return to the national team, there are many other better, and younger, options available for Van Marwijk.
Who can honestly pick the former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker ahead of faster, fresher and just as talented players like Robin Van Persie, Dirk Kuyt (he does the business for Holland) and Arjen Robben? The total football system that the Dutch prefer to employ would also mean that Nistelrooy is less capable of contributing with age and qualities that do not really go beyond scoring goals.
He could be useful as an impact substitute but again, his age counts against him. Van Nistelrooy also got into trouble again with Hamburg management as there has been speculation that he was one of a handful of players who did not see eye to eye with the coach. That usually spells trouble for national managers who need to preserve a unity and strict code of conduct that is always necessary for a team to do well at that level.
So now the Holland team moves on while Van Nistelrooy will be left pondering his next career move. Having scored four goals since his January transfer and that is despite spending quite a bit of time on the substitute's bench, he could still be a prolific striker with smaller clubs if he is acceptable to lower wages.
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