The World Cup is already being projected for Friday evening in the Johan Cruijff Arena. ‘Be ready, be Orange‘, is the accompanying text. National coach Ronald Koeman’s goal is to win the World Cup next summer, he said recently. A good performance in the practice match against Norway, more than two months before the tournament, can help confidence, he said this week.
The Dutch team shows different faces in an open but also quite messy match. At times the attack build-up is quick and direct, especially on the flanks, through Cody Gakpo and Denzel Dumfries. But the Dutch team is also careless in possession of the ball and often too vulnerable defensively. It does win, 2-1.
It is difficult to appreciate this victory. This is due to the absence of star players Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard in Norway – where the Dutch team has to do without the injured Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay. Yet Koeman is satisfied. “This is a competition that you like to watch, to learn from and get better.”
He experiments a lot in the first international match this World Cup year. The choice of Teun Koopmeiners, who last played in the Dutch team a year ago, was surprising, as a substitute in the Nations League diptych against Spain. Now he starts as a right attacker, a position where he has hardly been in recent years. It is a position where Koeman has few options and must therefore come up with inventive solutions.
The idea is that the left-footed Koopmeiners move in a lot from that right zone, so that the offensive-minded back Denzel Dumfries can emerge on the flank. That works reasonably well, Dumfries regularly finds space and thus creates danger. However, Koopmeiners, a midfielder by nature, sometimes lacks explosiveness and dexterity in small spaces. In addition, he sometimes misses the connection to be back in his position at the right time.
Choices by Koeman
Partly because of this, the occupancy in front of the goal is sometimes a problem for the Dutch team – especially in the first half. Promising situations are regularly created through the sides. Like in the twentieth minute, when Gakpo gives a nice high cross after a rush from left back Micky van de Ven, but there is hardly anyone to finish. Striker Donyell Malen is watching from a distance and attacking midfielder Tijjani Reijnders also does not appear in front of the goal.
This touches on a second important choice by Koeman – Malen as a replacement for first striker Depay, who withdrew injured on Monday. Malen has a lot of speed and depth, making him dangerous when there is a lot of space and the Netherlands plays from the reaction. Grinding is at its best when it’s launched. He is not an attacker who gets into the ball, controls and combines, so that the rest can connect. That is not what Koeman asks of him, who wants Malen to look for depth.
But a striker who ‘directs’ the attack as a point of contact is something the Dutch team can use as soon as they have dominance on the field. Now the team sometimes lacks the patience and creativity to break up the defense with quick passing. Gakpo, out of form at Liverpool FC but almost always good at the Dutch team, provides the most threat from the left flank.
Malen does get some good chances, but is unhappy in the finishing. He gets a “satisfactory” from Koeman – he doesn’t sound very convinced. “He was dangerous, but unfortunately he didn’t score a goal.”
Striker position
The striker position remains a point of discussion in the run-up to the World Cup. Next Tuesday in the practice match against Ecuador, striker Brian Brobbey is expected to start in the starting line-up – he already came in on Friday. The physically strong Brobbey has a different profile than Malen, he usually functions as a central point of contact.
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In midfield, Kees Smit, a 20-year-old talent from AZ, is having a difficult debut. He doesn’t hide, immediately asserts himself in the build-up, dares to give risky passes. But the reality is that Smit is too often defeated too easily in personal duels.
It’s part of his development – playing against more experienced and physical opponents. “It still feels quite strange that I am in a dressing room with Virgil van Dijk,” Smit said on Tuesday on his first full day with the Dutch team, which says something about his journey of discovery. An “excellent debut”, Koeman calls his performance, “no more than that”. “He was sloppy for a number of moments. That can and must be improved.”
Indolence
The Dutch team sometimes looks lazy, including captain Virgil van Dijk. This may be explained by the fact that international players are in the decisive phase of the season at their clubs, which is a priority. After 24 minutes, Dumfries is cut out in the corner of the penalty area by Andreas Schjelderup, Koopmeiners then gives away too much space and the Norwegian attacker shoots flawlessly into the far corner: 0-1.
The Dutch team sometimes allows Norway to advance far, but still takes control of the game. An advantage of Koopmeiners is that he has a good kicking technique and can therefore be important in standard situations, from which the Dutch team wants to get more return. Koopmeiners takes the corner kicks from the right, turning sharply with the left. That’s exactly how the ball falls on Van Dijk’s head in the 35th minute: 1-1. Characteristic of the lack of concentration: almost immediately afterwards Schjelderup gets another great chance.
Relief is visible from Koeman, shortly after the break. Alexander Sorloth loses the ball in a risky spot, right in the axis in the middle of the Norwegian build-up. Gakpo intercepts, serves Dumfries, who passes to the free Reijnders: 2-1. Koeman: “We have been fairly tested by them.” The next Tuesday, against Ecuador in Eindhoven.
