'This was the worst season of my life' - Robben

Jun 19, 2012 7:20:00 AM

The 28-year-old made no secret of his frustration with his lack of success during the 2011-12 campaign after Oranje exited the Euros in the group stage without a single point

EXCLUSIVE
By Francisco Delgado

Netherlands star Arjen Robben has described the 2011-12 season as the worst of his career.

The Dutch attacker and his Bayern Munich team-mates lost the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal titles to Borussia Dortmund before suffering a dramatic defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League final on home soil at the Allianz Arena.

The winger had hoped to make amends at Euro 2012, but Oranje sensationally crashed out in the group stage after losing all three matches in Group B.

"It was the worst season of my life," Robben told Goal.com. "Things did not go well with Bayern or with the national team.

"It is incredible and it hurts even more because I was so excited at the start of the season. If the Champions League final was a shock, this disappointment with the national team was even more unexpected.

"Not even the biggest pessimists thought we would get knocked out in the first phase with no points from our three games."

After finishing second at the 2010 World Cup and winning nine out of their 10 Euro 2012 qualifiers, Netherlands were viewed as favourites in Poland and Ukraine, and Robben admitted that the players may have been over-confident.

"All of us are to blame and it hurts to say it, but nothing went right for us," he added. "The atmosphere was different to the one we had at the World Cup in 2010.

"I do not know know if we believed everything was done and that we would be in the final. Maybe we relaxed. And losing the first game against Denmark was a killer.

"In the dressing room the players spoke very frankly, but it will stay there. Whatever we say it makes no difference – we are already out of the tournament."

Robben then disputed the notion that a revolution in the Netherlands squad is required as the team are about to kick off their campaign in the World Cup 2014 qualifiers.

"Not even the biggest pessimists thought we would get knocked out in the first phase with no points"

- Arjen Robben

"It is not the end of a cycle for this generation of players," the 28-year-old explained. "Here, there are some great players who will have a lot to offer at the World Cup in 2014.

"That, unfortunately, is the only thing we have been able to cling on to [since losing against Portugal on Sunday].

"With the potential we have in attack, it is incredible that we did not win a single match at the Euros. Now all I want to do is go on holiday and forget about football for a while. I have to disconnect and recharge for next season, when I hope everything will be better and different for me."

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