In his previous period as national coach of the Dutch national team, during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Louis van Gaal always said this to press secretary Kees Jansma: ‘If the system is good, you will automatically win.’
In an exhibition game in March, the Netherlands had lost 2-0 to France. No chance, in the traditional 4-3-3. “This was a very useful defeat. Thank you,” said Van Gaal afterwards. He was therefore not going to beat top countries with that playing style. He is dragging in a different tactic for the World Cup, a little more defensive; 5-3-2, with five defenders, three midfielders and two attackers, although he regularly switched back to 4-3-3. At the World Cup, the Orange only lost the penalty shootout against Argentina, in the semi-finals.
At the time, the defenders were relatively young and unknown, while the attackers were internationally renowned. Now, eight years after third place in the World Cup in Brazil, defenders and midfielders are better than they were then. Not necessarily the attackers, because the Orange squad lacks the type of Arjen Robben in top form, who turned entire defenses upside down with his speed and dribbling, especially in the group stage.
New fit
Since this week, Orange has been at the tailor, so to speak, for a new fit of the jacket, in which Van Gaal adjusts the panels. He wants to do things differently than during the qualifying series, when he stepped in halfway and let it play 4-3-3. This happened at the request of the internationals, because the system is ‘cast in the brains’.
Corona kept the Great Communicator Van Gaal away for a few days in this week of startup, from 11 to 11 in training to test the system. Precisely now there is no time to lose in the tight 2022 calendar. But behold, he followed the training sessions in the fresh forest air of Zeist at some distance, and technical means helped him on his way for Saturday’s duel with Denmark in Amsterdam, the first outing in the spring in which Van Gaal shows his new creation to the public.
He is 70 years old. 71 during the World Cup in Qatar. He wants to win, for the last time in his life as a trainer, and the system can help with that. No more. Quality, luck, form, draw, everything plays a role. Van Gaal described his appointment after Frank de Boer’s resignation as a gift. He wants to be careful with that. Nothing should be broken when unpacking, so that it can be used in all its glory.
The real, classic attackers on the flanks, passing men in smaller and smaller spaces and reaching the old-fashioned striker, are almost extinct. So don’t set them up. Stay away from static football. Football is movement and responding to the opponent’s loss of the ball. Even provoke loss of the ball. Possession of the ball is an afterthought.
Slightly less than real top
How often did Van Gaal mention and praise the percentage of possession at Ajax, regardless of the result, while he looked intently at his audience? “Seventy percent, folks.” He never does again. He looks for ‘solutions to become the strongest team’. The new system ‘will reduce the difference between top and less top’, he thinks. He considers Orange to be slightly less top than the real top. It’s the leveling system, in a sense.
He has world-class defenders and midfielders at his disposal. Set that up, he reasons. At his home in Portugal last summer, there was a discussion about Chelsea, who had won the Champions League a few days earlier. Much more than the photographer and reporter of de Volkskrant Van Gaal had enjoyed the team of German trainer Thomas Tuchel.
Chelsea played 3-4-3. With a lot of walking ability. Three strong central defenders. Four midfielders, of whom the outer two always attacked. Three attackers. An artist like Ziyech on the couch. Opponent Manchester City, Pep Guardiola’s team, continued to attack according to the same pattern. Pretty nice to watch, but predictable and fruitless. That’s probably what Van Gaal would have done in the past. Earlier.
Now he is different. more pragmatic. Stripped of some of its romantic slant. He just doesn’t call his nowadays favorite system 5-3-2, as ‘knocking to the media’, otherwise it sounds so defensive. After all, two of those five in the designation 5-3-2, the so-called wingbacks, are actually midfielders. One of those three midfielders moves to the vanguard in the count. This puts him at 3-4-3.
Excuse, 1-3-4-3, because with Van Gaal the goalkeeper is part of it. He is proud of his ‘discovery’ Mark Fleks, who will make his debut on Saturday. Apologies, again: 1-3-4-1-2 is the completely correct Van Gaal designation against the Danes, as that one attacking midfielder plays close behind two real attackers.
Van Gaal was always a man with Ajax DNA. Always wanting to be dominant, attacking over the wings, with a right and left winger. At the 2014 World Cup, he brushed off criticism for the defensive style of play, which had mainly been embraced to withstand first opponent, world champions Spain.
Missing adventure
“Football is always attractive when you win,” he recently said in conversation with de Volkskrant† Criticism of the somewhat dry game hurt him; the romantics missed the adventure in Orange, while the party squares filled up for the winning team.
A system is relative. It’s about execution. Frank de Boer wanted to play 5-3-2 during the European Championship, but his communication skills are poor and many missed the finesse. No one is as clear as Van Gaal.
“Whether you are loved or not as a trainer, being clear is the most important thing,” said top trainer Bert van Marwijk, national coach from 2008 to 2012 and World Cup finalist in 2010. “Players have to understand what you mean, and that is easier said than done.’
It’s a matter of detail. 5-3-2 and also 3-4-3 can be vulnerable, especially on the flanks, where there is less occupation on average. Van Marwijk’s game system, 4-2-3-1, was quite common at the time, as nowadays more and more teams play a variation of 3-4-3. Yet Van Marwijk puts all that talk about a system into perspective, partly because players do not understand everything. “I was always trying to keep my system going, against whatever style of play the opponent played. Some trainers say they can play four or five systems. Trainers may be able to, but players can’t, is my truth.’
For example, three central defenders is quite a lot, especially since some opponents play with one striker. Former national coach Guus Hiddink was afraid that those three of them were becoming too easygoing. Like: oh, there are three of us, my neighbor will solve it. It is crucial that those three cover, defend forward.
visual
Van Gaal explained that visually, after the draw against Scotland under Frank de Boer, just before the European Championship. Van Gaal was present as a spectator at that game in Faro. Cover up, otherwise everything is meaningless. To dare. It is a matter of communication, of keeping distances between them.
Van Marwijk, with an example: ‘If the wingback is out or is still in the front when the ball is lost, one of those central defenders can end up on the wing in one against one.’ That’s outside his comfort zone. Van Marwijk: ‘I sometimes asked players: what would you rather do, with three men in the center at the back, or just one against one against two strikers? One against one, they would say. That is clear, then they know exactly where they stand.’
You ask the players what they prefer, and they have one interest: to participate, no matter what. Daley Blind, last week at Ajax, about his position: ‘It doesn’t matter much to me. Central is nice, then you have more options from the axis. That’s where I feel most comfortable.’
At Ajax, Blind is left back this season, in 4-3-3. At the 2014 World Cup, he was the attacking defender on the left, in 5-3-2. He gave the phenomenal pass to Robin van Persie, before his gliding dive and finishing header, the equalizer against Spain. Midfielder Frenkie de Jong: ‘In this system there are three central defenders behind me. That offers a little more certainty.’
Captain Virgil van Dijk states that it takes a lot of practice to ‘implement’ such a new system, as they say at Orange. He plays 4-3-3 at Liverpool, because he and usually Joel Matip have enough of each other and also because coach Jürgen Klopp has great attackers on the wings, who are used to defending for two.
smother opponent
Van Gaal believes that 1-3-4-3 offers defensive security, plus infinite possibilities for attacking. Defending, attacking, smothering opponent’s counters. Everything. Three central defenders, probably Matthijs de Ligt, Van Dijk and Blind on Saturday against the Danes. At those four of the center line, the outer two are attacking backs. That could be Denzel Dumfries and Owen Wijndal (or Tyrell Malacia). At the 2014 World Cup, striker Dirk Kuijt was even a wingback. It can be a retrained attacker, with speed and more baggage than a born defender.
Then two real midfielders. Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners, for example. Finally, the so-called inverted triangle in the front. Memphis Depay and Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld, Gini Wijnaldum behind it, or Davy Klaassen, or Steven Berghuis. Van Gaal has countless options with this selection, in this system. It is no guarantee of success, although that statement from 2014, that with a good system you will automatically win, suggests otherwise.
Van Gaal is nevertheless optimistic: ‘After the upcoming matches against Denmark and Germany, it is not yet for the baker, but these players are taking quick steps.’