The Anti-Netherlands
How total football died
Eight years since their last, and brilliant, appearance on a World Cup, the Dutch are disillusioning. The colour of orange is still bright, the fans are still an asset to the tournament, but the team is nothing to sit down for despite having potential. What happened?
Where the whole nation thought the defence was going to be the reason Holland would lose at some point in the tournament prior to the final, it's actually the midfield that's causing all the problems.
Without Edgar Davids, the midfield consisted of Wesley Sneyder, Philip Cocu and Mark van Bommel these past two matches, with Wesley Sneyder in a central role as a vital connection point between the defence and the forwards. But Sneyder isn't Davids and with Cocu too old to cover half the pitch, Holland lack a chaser in midfield who steals balls and triggers attacks.
As was painfully demonstrated by the powerful Ivory Coast who crossed the midfield without problems, creating a situation in which the Dutch defence faced two forwards per defender. An impossible situation that would surely have lead to defeat if it hadn't been for the insane amount of luck riding on the Dutch coach.
Another problem is that Van Basten doesn't like his right and left back to steam up the midfield like they used to. It's better to have a central defender move up the midfield with the backs having a more central role, since no other team besides the Dutch themselves play with classic wingers that need to be marked anymore anyway. Fair enough, but this tactic has some negative side-effects in that it creates defensive weaknesses and makes it harder to stretch play over the flanks and go forward faster and with more flair. Indirectly, Van Basten's system has very little to do with Total Football, with wingers, with attacking flair... With Dutch football as a whole.
But the winning coach is always right. The real flaws of Van Basten's tactics, which seem insufficient to win the tournament at this point, won't be addressed until the Dutch have been eliminated and the people realise that this time around, their nation won't be remembered for brilliant displays of football. The Dutch are used to missing out on trophies, but missing out on international admiration is unheard of.
Written by Erik
How total football died
Eight years since their last, and brilliant, appearance on a World Cup, the Dutch are disillusioning. The colour of orange is still bright, the fans are still an asset to the tournament, but the team is nothing to sit down for despite having potential. What happened?
Where the whole nation thought the defence was going to be the reason Holland would lose at some point in the tournament prior to the final, it's actually the midfield that's causing all the problems.
Without Edgar Davids, the midfield consisted of Wesley Sneyder, Philip Cocu and Mark van Bommel these past two matches, with Wesley Sneyder in a central role as a vital connection point between the defence and the forwards. But Sneyder isn't Davids and with Cocu too old to cover half the pitch, Holland lack a chaser in midfield who steals balls and triggers attacks.
As was painfully demonstrated by the powerful Ivory Coast who crossed the midfield without problems, creating a situation in which the Dutch defence faced two forwards per defender. An impossible situation that would surely have lead to defeat if it hadn't been for the insane amount of luck riding on the Dutch coach.
Another problem is that Van Basten doesn't like his right and left back to steam up the midfield like they used to. It's better to have a central defender move up the midfield with the backs having a more central role, since no other team besides the Dutch themselves play with classic wingers that need to be marked anymore anyway. Fair enough, but this tactic has some negative side-effects in that it creates defensive weaknesses and makes it harder to stretch play over the flanks and go forward faster and with more flair. Indirectly, Van Basten's system has very little to do with Total Football, with wingers, with attacking flair... With Dutch football as a whole.
But the winning coach is always right. The real flaws of Van Basten's tactics, which seem insufficient to win the tournament at this point, won't be addressed until the Dutch have been eliminated and the people realise that this time around, their nation won't be remembered for brilliant displays of football. The Dutch are used to missing out on trophies, but missing out on international admiration is unheard of.
Written by Erik
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