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Euro 2012 Comment: Netherlands Continue To Win Without Impressing
Netherlands once again picked up the full three points without managing to impress.
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Sep 8, 2010 12:00:00 PM
By Stefan Coerts
Netherlands have had the reputation of being a team that likes to play attacking and attractive football ever since they wowed the world with their 'total football' at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany. This attacking style of play led to them reaching the World Cup final both in 1974 and 1978 and they even won Euro 88 by beating Soviet Union 2-0 in the final. However, in recent years, Holland have been unable to meet the expectations when it comes to playing attractive football.
Oranje impressed ahead of the 2010 World Cup with a number of superb performances against Mexico, Ghana and Hungary in their friendly campaign. Nevertheless, when last summer's tournament kicked off, not much was left from Holland's beautiful attacking football.
They recorded solid but unspectacular wins against Denmark, Japan, Cameroon and Slovakia to book their ticket for the quarter-finals. A good second half performance against Brazil and an interesting match against Uruguay were then enough to propel the Dutch into the final, where Spain proved to be too strong in a disappointing match.
Many were hopeful that Netherlands would return to their familiar attacking style of play after the World Cup, but after only two matches in the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, it can already be concluded that the current Oranje is not capable of dominating opponents with attacking football. San Marino were too weak to trouble Holland last Friday, but Finland proved on Tuesday that the Dutch apparently lack the class to play attacking football for the full 90 minutes.
Holland started the match with attacking intentions and looked impressive in the opening 15 minutes of the game. This good start resulted in an early two-goal lead courtesy of a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar brace. However, the Dutch completely lost the plot when Mikael Forssell pegged one back for Finland in the 18th minute. Mika Vayrynen had two huge chances to level the score, while Forssell came close to equalising once. If it weren't for glovesman Maarten Stekelenburg, Holland would almost certainly have spilled points on Tuesday.
The game against Finland made a couple of things very clear. The first one is that Oranje lack the defensive class to dominate an opponent for the full 90 minutes. You can't afford to defend like Holland did on Tuesday if you have the ambition to play attacking football, but the fact is that Oranje don't really have any better options at the back. Joris Mathijsen and John Heitinga's positional play against Finland was far from impressive and the two centre-backs looked extremely vulnerable. At left back, the starting berth for Vurnon Anita is a huge riddle. He lacks the physique and tactical knowledge to play as a defender and his inclusion in Oranje's starting line-up perfectly illustrates the weakness of the Dutch back-line.
Additionally, to make up for their defensive weakness, Netherlands deploy a holding midfield pairing of Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel. The duo were in superb form at the World Cup, but have nevertheless received their fair share of criticism. Many fans want head coach Bert van Marwijk to drop De Jong in favour of a more attack minded player. Tuesday's game showed that this is a bad idea though. De Jong was not at his best against Finland, thus leaving the majority of the defensive work in midfield to Van Bommel. The Bayern Munich star put in a good performance, but was unable to deal with the runs forward of the Finnish midfielders all by himself. It's not a coincidence that most of the chances Finland got were the result of midfielders charging forward and Holland's back-line needs the cover of two midfield bullies.
Finally, it's about time Van Marwijk starts to realise that Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart can't play together. Both Sneijder and Van der Vaart are extremely gifted playmakers and they're both at their best in the centre of the pitch. However, they're only getting in each other's way when they're on the pitch at the same time. Van Marwijk's solution to give Van der Vaart the nod on the left wing again didn't work out for the best. The new Tottenham Hotspur signing lacks the pace and trickery to properly fill in the winger position and cuts inside way too much, leaving the wing unoccupied. Van Marwijk would act wise to make a choice between the two midfielders and there appears little doubt about it that Sneijder is sitting in pole position to win the battle for the playmaker position.
There were also plenty of positives to take from Tuesday's game though. Shot stopper Stekelenburg once again confirmed that he's one of Europe's finest glovesmen. Ajax will be delighted that a club like Arsenal, rather trust keepers such as Manuel Almunia and/or Lukasz Fabianski, might make a move for Stekelenburg. Furthermore, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar again showed that he's a lethal goalscorer if given the chance. Five goals in two Euro 2012 qualifiers say it all.
Finally, the game against Finland also showed that Netherlands possess a quality that is absolutely crucial if you want to be successful at the top level. Not for the first time in 2010, Oranje managed to record a win without putting in an impressive performance. Should they be able to continue doing so, Holland will again be a team to be reckoned with at Euro 2012.
Oranje impressed ahead of the 2010 World Cup with a number of superb performances against Mexico, Ghana and Hungary in their friendly campaign. Nevertheless, when last summer's tournament kicked off, not much was left from Holland's beautiful attacking football.
They recorded solid but unspectacular wins against Denmark, Japan, Cameroon and Slovakia to book their ticket for the quarter-finals. A good second half performance against Brazil and an interesting match against Uruguay were then enough to propel the Dutch into the final, where Spain proved to be too strong in a disappointing match.
Many were hopeful that Netherlands would return to their familiar attacking style of play after the World Cup, but after only two matches in the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, it can already be concluded that the current Oranje is not capable of dominating opponents with attacking football. San Marino were too weak to trouble Holland last Friday, but Finland proved on Tuesday that the Dutch apparently lack the class to play attacking football for the full 90 minutes.
Holland started the match with attacking intentions and looked impressive in the opening 15 minutes of the game. This good start resulted in an early two-goal lead courtesy of a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar brace. However, the Dutch completely lost the plot when Mikael Forssell pegged one back for Finland in the 18th minute. Mika Vayrynen had two huge chances to level the score, while Forssell came close to equalising once. If it weren't for glovesman Maarten Stekelenburg, Holland would almost certainly have spilled points on Tuesday.
The game against Finland made a couple of things very clear. The first one is that Oranje lack the defensive class to dominate an opponent for the full 90 minutes. You can't afford to defend like Holland did on Tuesday if you have the ambition to play attacking football, but the fact is that Oranje don't really have any better options at the back. Joris Mathijsen and John Heitinga's positional play against Finland was far from impressive and the two centre-backs looked extremely vulnerable. At left back, the starting berth for Vurnon Anita is a huge riddle. He lacks the physique and tactical knowledge to play as a defender and his inclusion in Oranje's starting line-up perfectly illustrates the weakness of the Dutch back-line.
Additionally, to make up for their defensive weakness, Netherlands deploy a holding midfield pairing of Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel. The duo were in superb form at the World Cup, but have nevertheless received their fair share of criticism. Many fans want head coach Bert van Marwijk to drop De Jong in favour of a more attack minded player. Tuesday's game showed that this is a bad idea though. De Jong was not at his best against Finland, thus leaving the majority of the defensive work in midfield to Van Bommel. The Bayern Munich star put in a good performance, but was unable to deal with the runs forward of the Finnish midfielders all by himself. It's not a coincidence that most of the chances Finland got were the result of midfielders charging forward and Holland's back-line needs the cover of two midfield bullies.
Finally, it's about time Van Marwijk starts to realise that Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart can't play together. Both Sneijder and Van der Vaart are extremely gifted playmakers and they're both at their best in the centre of the pitch. However, they're only getting in each other's way when they're on the pitch at the same time. Van Marwijk's solution to give Van der Vaart the nod on the left wing again didn't work out for the best. The new Tottenham Hotspur signing lacks the pace and trickery to properly fill in the winger position and cuts inside way too much, leaving the wing unoccupied. Van Marwijk would act wise to make a choice between the two midfielders and there appears little doubt about it that Sneijder is sitting in pole position to win the battle for the playmaker position.
There were also plenty of positives to take from Tuesday's game though. Shot stopper Stekelenburg once again confirmed that he's one of Europe's finest glovesmen. Ajax will be delighted that a club like Arsenal, rather trust keepers such as Manuel Almunia and/or Lukasz Fabianski, might make a move for Stekelenburg. Furthermore, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar again showed that he's a lethal goalscorer if given the chance. Five goals in two Euro 2012 qualifiers say it all.
Finally, the game against Finland also showed that Netherlands possess a quality that is absolutely crucial if you want to be successful at the top level. Not for the first time in 2010, Oranje managed to record a win without putting in an impressive performance. Should they be able to continue doing so, Holland will again be a team to be reckoned with at Euro 2012.
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