van Hanegem

I agree, let's hope Clinton will be stopped before she and the powers behind her continue to stir up the Middle East and North Africa as they have done for many years. But don't you believe it's necessary to send 'boots on the ground' to really make an end of the dominance of ISIS in certain area's and to make sure people are able to live in relative safety?

I don't trust Trump either but to me he comes across as far less dangerous to the world than the Clintons, Bushes, Kissingers and the real powers behind them. Though you may ask how Trump became that filthy rich, it's clear that he gets no financial support from the usual suspects while Clintons campaign funds are overflowing and we all know that nothing comes for free right? Trump is independent and I would like to see him deal with the 'rigged system' he was talking about in his speech, the system that controls this world far too much. I would have liked to see him do that alongside another independent mind like Bernie Saunders, too bad such a collaboration is many bridges too far...

It reminded me more of Fidel Castro but it was a good speech. Though he didn't explain much of how he's going to realise those promises... Speaking of a ghastly 'trophy wife'...

Trump acts like a total nutter but when I would be forced to choose I would rather have him for president than Clinton who is far more dangerous to world order. As Trump is mainly focussing on the US, Clinton might start the next mistake by harassing Iran. She was already part of the idiot policy to mess up Libya etc., as a senator a while ago she said she would bomb the hell out of Iran when they would attack Israel, I guess that's the kind of talk her sponsors were waiting for but I for sure wouldn't want a POTUS who is likely to act on these kind of thoughts. Furthermore she believes Europe is too soft on Putin, the economic sanctions against Russia should be a lot more severe. Right, let's get back to the days of cold war on the Eastern front... Favouring Clinton over Trump, you might rethink this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn6yktWU5qA

It's obvious that the US and the EU f*cked up the Middle East and North Africa. Alas it's not clear why they aren't doing anything to clear up the mess they created. I guess it would take one month to finish off the main part of ISIS which merely exists of 30.000 or 40.000 untrained idiots. Saying we're at war with those lunatics but refusing to put the real 'boots on the ground' to help the victims, it's a bloody shame. Destabilising Europe with muslim refugees is a shame too, one can almost sense there's a bigger scheme behind this and I'm not even one of those conspiracy loonies... Well, at least some people will profit from it all...

I reckon it's not just the quality they want to buy these days but also how much money they can make from a player like Ibrahimovic. With all the merchandise all over the world I guess they will cash on him despite the 200 million they invest. Just like Real Madrid did with Ronaldo. As long as there fans who buy all the sh*t the marketeers can think of, things will go on...

There are differences between all European countries, that's why a European superstate will never work. The ban on burqa's in the Netherlands isn't the same as in France or Spain where they are totally prohibited. As usual the Dutch try to be pragmatic: not in public spaces or public transport, government buidlings, schools and care. Anyway, it's not a problem at all as there are nearly no women who would like to wear this terrible fashion statement. 'Much ado about nothing' or something like that? However, I find it peculiar that British people would make a point of it. Do you believe they would also think it is ok for every male to wear a balaclava all the time?

You consider wearing a burqa a backward muslim idea? I was rather thinking about things like honor killings (shelters for women in Holland are mainly occupied by (ex-)muslima's), the way they treat apostates (many times their lives are in danger), the fact that there are many marriages between cousins and the inbreeding leads to, well let's be careful here, could lead to children with a variety of problems (cystic fibrosis) as we can see in our psychiatric care in the big cities which, again, is mainly occupied by people with a muslim background. I could go on about the way gay people are bullied or beaten up and the fact there are a lot of idiots who want the sharia laws in Holland. There's even a political muslim party called "Think!" in Holland who has a couple of seats in our House of Commons who put muslim politicians from other parties under pressure by filming them to show they do not stand for the faith... So there are much bigger issues than wearing a burqa but if you want my opinion: it's a good thing a burqa is also prohibited in Holland as it is not possible to take part in our society when people can't even see your face. You're excluding yourself from job opportunities while the taxpayer is paying for your unemployment benefit, the authorities can't see who they're dealing with and yes, there's also a safety issue. The French have gone even further by prohibiting scarves at schools for example. Mind you, this also applies for other religions. They do like their Montesquieu as do I, it's a good thing to keep religions as far as possible from any political power as possible. Surely someone intelligent like you can only agree with that...

Quote Erdogan : "Democracy is merely a train that we ride until we reach our goal, the mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers." This guy is a problem but I reckon that as long he's in charge, Turkey won't be part of the EU. So I guess it's a good thing that he stays on...

That will be very interesting indeed, if the Swedish authorities allow it... I've got mixed feelings though. I believe it's necessary to confront the muslim communities in Europe with their backward ideas which do not belong in our societies (same goes for some old christian communities of course...) in order to get some progress in their integration process. On the other hand it's worrying to see so many right extremists in Europe who believe it's time to "stand up against those who don't belong in their country" and like a French security official said earlier this year: "a couple of muslim attacks will set things on fire" and who knows what will happen then... Sweden is just like France becoming a boiling pot, muslims attacking a gay parade might unleash a backlash everyone is going to regret. There should be a better way to deal with the problems with muslims...

Talking about a moral hazard: in the middle of the financial crisis when Greece was on it's back and needed financial help Merkel and Hollande forced them to spend billions on German U-boats and French weaponsystems in order to get the "loans" from the EU coming in. The EU is a very sick place... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/19/greece-military-spending-debt-crisis

Yep, and this deceit is the reason so many Europeans are fed up with the current EU. The Dutch Minister of Finance during the time the euro was introduced has said he was never in favour of Greece joining as it was clear they were lying about their economy. Yet, the pressure from Brussels was too big to say no and see what happened. These kind of confessions show what kind of mess the EU really is.

So we do agree that the level of defending in the Eredivisie is poor with the difference that you believe it's not any better elsewhere. Well, you're entitled to your own opinion...

You can't compare Janssen with Depay as the latter played for PSV in the Eredivisie for several years and proved himself as a big talent who also made it to the Dutch national team at the WC in Brazil. Janssen has never shown any quality before the last half year of the season at AZ Alkmaar. Even Jozy Altidore got more games at AZ Alkmaar before he left for Sunderland though I have to admit Janssen made more of an impression than Altidore. So who knows, maybe he's worth every penny...

18 million is ridiculous considering Janssen only played half a season in the Eredivisie. I watched him play in the matches against Feyenoord, he impressed me in the home game with his endurance and active style when AZ could easily have scored 9 goals or so because the defence of Feyenoord was terrible. Those defenders learned their lesson and in the Cup game Janssen was totally disarmed as he lacks creativity. But who knows, maybe the Spurs found their Jamie Vardy... And yes, Dutch defenders are weak. Why do you think van Gaal played with 5 defenders and two defensive midfielders at the WC? Why do you think we didn't qualify for the EC this year? Mind you, these were the best defenders we had, when you look at the average defender in the Eredivisie it's far worse. It does make the Eredivisie an attractive competition to watch, I'll grant you that.

Yup, it's the same here and indeed, it's no consolation to me... I guess I should have moved to France to become a civil servant, 35 hours a week, better paycheck than anywhere else in Europe and quitting at 62. No wonder 25% (!) of the workforce in France is civil servant... Good for them but I don't want to contribute when their economy goes bust.

I know, just like the Greeks the Italians like to spend money they don't have and paying taxes is not an issue over there, they just avoid it. A couple of years ago economists were talking about splitting the euro in a "Neuro" for the countries in Northern Europe and a "Zeuro" for the countries in Southern Europe in order to prevent the downfall of the euro. Still seems a good idea to me...

Like I said above, it's a ridiculous amount of money for a Dutch player who only had a great half season. He played in the youth of Feyenoord two years ago but they let him go as they didn't think there was a future for him. He then went to a minor club in the Dutch second division where he had difficulties to make it to the first team. One way or another the scouts of AZ Alkmaar did believe in him and credits to them. Janssen does work hard and he made a lot of goals in half a season but you know, Dutch defenders... I don't know if he's gonna make it in the PL, he could be another van Wolfswinkel but maybe his work ethic will also pay off with the Spurs.

Done deal, Tottenham pays 18 million pounds for Vincent Janssen. A ridiculous amount of money for a player who had a great half season in the Dutch Eredivisie but has never shown any quality before that. Well done AZ Alkmaar but it's getting more and more bizarre with the PL clubs these days...

I'm not blaming the EU for the financial crisis in Italy as the Italians caused this by themselves, I'm just afraid taxpayers from Northern Europe will have to bleed again in order to help the banks to survive. It's not just the Italian banks that are in trouble Charlie, before you know the French banks are also in need. Again... We've put billions and billions of euro's already in those banks after the crisis in 2008, meanwhile the Dutch government is cutting down on healthcare, education, care for the elderly and so on. We were used to retire at 65, now we have to go on until we are 67 and I expect that soon I'll have to go on till I'm 70... Well, as long as the EU is able to keep up the financial system I guess I better not complain?

Sounds fine with me, this should help to make the game less dull for the non biased spectator. You could also choose for penalties before the match instead of seeding, the team who wins the penalties gets a 1-0 lead or something like that. I'm not sure but I believe this was used in the MLS back in the '80s to make the game more attractive.

What a great result for the Portuguese, the nicest citizens of Europe! But what a poor EC it was, only the Germans played some attractive football. The others played too often with the intention not to lose so it was mostly boring to watch. Hopefully this won't be the future of football...

Hopefully the UK won't leave too soon as there is a far bigger problem than Brexit around the corner for the EU: Italian banks and therefore PM Renzi is in trouble. Renzi asked the EU to be flexible so he can help the banks with a debt of 360 billion euro's. When he doesn't help them they will go broke and amongst the shareholders are many citizens who trusted these banks with their pension plans, ergo, they lose their pension and Renzi will be forced to step down. Knowing that also in Italy the anti EU parties are becoming bigger and bigger so the EU will fear another exit of one of the key members. But being flexible with the new rules is not an option for the Dutch and Germans, breaking these rules after the crisis we had when taxpayers had to save a lot of banks will certainly lead to commotion in Northern Europe. On the other hand, not helping the Italian banks could cause also a problem for French banks and then the sh*t really hits the fan... As we've learned from history, the EU is very good in breaking it's own rules so one way or another they're going to fix this problem and it isn't difficult to figure out who is going to pay. Again... There are already documents leaking out from German and French officials from the EU in which is stated that the EU should be allowed to tax the European citizens in order to help the countries who are in need (see page 9 of this document http://static.presspublica.pl/red/rp/pdf/DokumentUE.pdf to read about the 'fiscal capacity' before 2018 they long for). So, as a Dutchman I hope you will stay in the EU a little longer than expected in order to share the burden. After all, there are millions of you who like to stay in the EU right? http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21701756-italys-teetering-banks-will-be-europes-next-crisis-italian-job

Mixed feelings, would like to see him another year in Southampton but when some idiot wants to pay 15m or more... that's a lot of cash for him and Feyenoord gets 10% and they can really use the money. Hmm, it is said Pelle wants to leave and looking at his age maybe it's better to let him go.

Dutch companies are taking a hit because of Brexit as the orders from Britain are decreasing. In a crisis meeting with the Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade they pleaded for flexibility from the government in order to get their business going on. They understand there's a political aspect but they do hope this won't mean that it's going to affect their business for a long time. The Dutch export to Britain is 38 billion euro's, the import from Britain is 21 billion euro's so I guess the Dutch government will back these companies. The question of course is if the frustrated officials in Brussels care about this plead. Maybe they will when especially the German companies are also in trouble...