Dutch Football - UEFA Cup - NEC lose against Tottenham by smallest margin

"The intellectualisation
of football has
always foundered
on a simple problem-
-the players. Doing
all your most
rewarding thinking
with your feet seems
to dull the philo-
sophical impulse.
Unless, of course,
you are Dutch.
According to legend,
Europeans played
a moronic, muscular
version of the world's
game, until Holland
proclaimed its vision
of total football in the
1974 World Cup,
and enlightenment
dawned."

From:
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football

NEC lose against Tottenham by smallest margin

Thursday 27 November 2008

"Apart from the first 10 minutes, when we were a bit too impressed with our opponents, but after that I thought it went reasonably well, we were well organised and gave away very little."

"Offensively we were unable to create much due to a lack of physical strength. I think we created one-and-a-half chance and that is too little. I tried to play more offensive. We went from two, to three, to four and even five forwards, but even then we didn't have a lot of effect."

"It's no disgrace, they have fantastic players, but I had hoped for a bit more."

"We didn't look good at the goal we conceded. They were able to cross too easily and the defenders forgot to mark."

"Apart from that we gave away little, but that was perhaps also because they didn't feel the need to create much more."

"We can still gain six points and we will go and try that, but it will not be easy. Yet we've always said that the league is most important for us. We know we will not win the UEFA Cup. But this is a young team and they learn a lot from experiences like these."