After the 3-0 inflicted on Greece, the Oranje are trying to confirm themselves in order to stay behind France, gain qualification and sweep away all the discontent
The Dutch school is not dead, but it still doesn’t feel so good. At least, if by Dutch school we mean the 4-3-3 that made the history of orange football, but which has no longer worked for a good decade now. At the World Cup in Qatar Van Gaal showed up with a three-man defence, as already happened – successfully – in 2014 in Brazil, when the Netherlands achieved third place in the final. In between, series disasters from those who replaced him (Hiddink, Blind), with a European Championship and a World Cup missed, before the reconstruction started by Ronald Koeman. Who, however, returned to the saddle after Qatar, had once again presented himself as the custodian of a tradition that the field continued to reject, as demonstrated by the 0-4 suffered by France in the first match of the qualifying group for the 2024 European Championships. A malaise that did not he hadn’t even gone away in the obvious, but not at all exciting, victory against Gibraltar, indeed he had been exacerbated by the home debacle in the Nations League, where there were two defeats against Croatia and Italy respectively.
Good premises
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The 3-0 against Greece on Friday calmed the atmosphere, thanks to a 3-5-2 which saw the Dutch dominate the pitch for the entire match, helping to calm a somewhat tense environment. Because if it is true that the Hellenic team was anything but an irresistible opponent, the Oranje environment needed a convincing victory like bread, both for the ranking (thanks to the victory the Netherlands jumped to second place in the group, reaching Greece, who however played one more match) as much as for morale. Especially in view of a difficult trip like the one in Ireland, because it is the medium forces who can cause the most damage to national teams in the transition phase. Form aside, Koeman received positive responses from several players, primarily those of the two Milanese teams. Dumfries was devastating on the right flank, providing the assists for Gakpo and Weghorst’s goals and confirming his preference for a full-back role rather than full-back in a back four. Reijnders’ impact was also very good, coming on in the second half in place of De Roon, and coming close to scoring on a couple of occasions. The AC Milan player, in excellent form, was the 18th debutant for the Netherlands under Koeman as coach. The prices of big and emerging players are also on the rise: among the first Frenkie de Jong (who, however, rarely scored in orange) and Gakpo, among the second Xavi Simons and Geertruida.
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