++ [ originally posted by Rickenbacker2 ] ++
I'm gonna go ahead and disagree here. The Dutch aren't too arrogant, they're too tactical. They think of nothing but tactics. They fail to take into account other factors. But I still love 'em.
I forgot that one! I actually read an article about that before the WC you might find interesting:
THE DUTCH EXAGGERATE TACTICS, SAYS VAN BASTEN
As the World Cup is about to kick off in Asia, the new KNVB coaching course recruit, Marco van Basten gives us his opinion on Holland’s failure to get there. “In Holland we generally have the tendency to think that tactically we are up there with the best. But if that was the case, we would have qualified for the finals,” the former AC Milan star says.
Tactics, correct field positioning, defenders getting into attacking positions; coach to be Van Basten doesn’t seem to be that interested in an exaggerated tactical approach to the game. “In Holland it’s terribly fashionable to talk tactics. I for one think in our country we tend to exaggerate a little.” Obviously, being a Cruyff protégé, he points the finger at Louis van Gaal: “He wanted his influence to count all the time, when maybe at times he should have let go.”
In Van Gaal’s tight disciplinary concept Van Basten had seen the Dutch internationals lose their confidence to the extent that all flair and spontaneity had disappeared. He has no doubts about the players’ will to win. “No, I feel that the players tried 100% to get to Japan and Korea.”
Utrecht-born Van Basten says Van Gaal approached the job of managing the national team as if it were a club side. “Van Gaal himself has never made a national squad. That might explain why he worked in the manner he did. With the national side, you’re together for maybe two or three days. It’s impossible to impose a tactical concept in such a short space of time.”
Van Basten at one point almost sounds like his great master Johan Cruyff, known for his down to earth analysis of the game. “Keep it simple. If Van Gaal had told his four defenders to keep out their opposing numbers and told the forwards to score a couple of goals, we would have beat the Irish. Holland’s elimination has been such a huge blow for Dutch football.”
Van Basten’s hope now is focused on Van Hanegem and Advocaat. “They too are extremely practical in their approach to the game.”
Source: http://www.knvb.nl/