Only when Ronald Koeman was forced to continue selecting did the Dutch team gain new energy

‘Football to love’ is written on the players bus that crosses the Woudenbergseweg in Zeist, from hotel Woudschoten to the training fields of the KNVB Campus. Children cheer in the drizzle when the Dutch selection walks onto the neatly mown grass at five o’clock sharp. It is Monday afternoon, March 20, 2023, the first training of returning national coach Ronald Koeman, who will turn sixty a day later.

The light poles burn under a dark cloud cover, a mascot in a lion suit walks around cheerfully and there is a field set up for young football players. “Are you still there?” Koeman’s brother and assistant Erwin jokes as he passes. Volkskrant-photographer Guus Dubbelman – both have been working in football for decades. When Ronald Koeman enters the field last, directly behind his players, he waves to the hundreds of spectators under umbrellas, after which the youth scream even louder.

Koeman observes a lot during training, from day one. The intensity, the quality, the team process – he wants to oversee everything. He is not alone in this, the recently appointed director of top football Nigel de Jong in a black jacket is watching from the dugout. The ‘field work’ – providing the training – is mainly done by assistants Sipke Hulshoff and Erwin Koeman.

“Go, a little faster, a little faster!”, Hulshoff calls to captain Virgil van Dijk during a passing exercise aimed at attacking patterns. “Play hard, Virgil!”

Temptation too great

After a successful period as national coach between 2018 and 2020, Koeman will return in 2023 mainly because he wants to lead the Dutch team in the final rounds – European Championship or World Cup. The intention was that he would do this at the European Championships in 2020, but due to the pandemic, that tournament was postponed by a year, after which Koeman could not resist the temptation of his dream club FC Barcelona. He was gone.

Now in March 2023 he is sitting under a large screen for a press conference on the KNVB Campus, with a photo that should radiate decisiveness: Koeman in the middle, arms folded, with three internationals on either side of him, including key players Van Dijk, Memphis Depay and Frenkie de Jong. ‘Nothing like Orange‘, it says in cow letters above – the campaign slogan for this team.

It is familiar territory for him: Zeist, the national coachship, the players, the selection processes, the media dynamics. Familiar names too. He thinks he can continue to build on the generation of Van Dijk (now 32), Depay (29), Georginio Wijnaldum (33). It is not without reason that he appoints the latter as his reserve captain for the international match in March. A clear signal when restoring the hierarchy. Wijnaldum, crucial in Koeman’s previous period, was no longer selected under the previous national coach Louis van Gaal because he had “not delivered”.

While Koeman marked a new era in 2018 by immediately making Van Dijk his captain, he now seems to be planning to do it the way he did it. After all, that went well, with the most tangible results being the Nations League final in 2019 and smooth qualification for the 2020 European Championship. While at the beginning of this year, upon his return, there were already doubts about Wijnaldum, Van Dijk and the injury-prone Depay. Aren’t they past their prime? Are they the leaders of the future Orange?

Back to old formation

The choice for the familiar is not only up to the players. Also on a tactical level. “We are going back to the system we played then, during those two years,” Koeman said in January 2023, during his presentation as national coach.

In other words: the traditional 4-3-3, with four defenders, three midfielders, three attackers. Better known as the ‘Dutch School’, attacking football with wingers. In doing so, he breaks with the line of his predecessor Van Gaal, who emphasized defensive control with three center backs and two emerging wing backs at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The fact that Van Gaal chose that more realistic approach in order to be able to offer serious resistance to the top countries is of secondary importance to Koeman. He thinks this is also possible in his favorite, more attacking style of play.

Within six months he turned around. Under pressure, due to poor results. In defeats against top countries France, Croatia and Italy – a total of eleven goals conceded – the defensive vulnerabilities are evident. After consulting with key players in the summer, he opts for three center backs and emerging backs for the important European Championship qualifier against Greece in Eindhoven in September.

An intervention with success; the Dutch team is convincing for the first time during ‘Koeman II’. In the matches that follow, the team is more flexible, switching formations smoothly within matches.

After the match against Greece, Koeman acknowledges that he “may have” initially been wrong about the qualities of the players. He was convinced that the classic 4-3-3 was possible with this material. “Only, I didn’t see that again.”

While it has been clear for some time that the Netherlands does not have top-level classic wingers – indispensable in 4-3-3. Where the playing style with three center backs and offensive wing backs better suits the arsenal of players.

Actionable insights

The tactical adjustment is not the only important change. Only when Koeman was forced to continue selecting did the Dutch team gain new energy. He often had to “look” for other players, he said last Tuesday, in a Dutch year characterized by injuries. He has to shift a lot, especially in the axis of the team – because playmaker De Jong and striker Depay are often unavailable.

It is precisely this setback that provides many useful insights. And a new foundation for the future. The talented Bart Verbruggen (21) is the first goalkeeper, the multifunctional midfielder Tijjani Reijnders (25) is, according to Koeman, almost indispensable in the starting line-up, which also applies to the dynamic left back Quilindschy Hartman (22). This is a small selection of the nine debutants this year.

For example, little is said about Koeman’s initial intended leaders Wijnaldum – out of the picture now that he plays for a club in Saudi Arabia – and the injured Depay, who only made two international appearances in 2023. While after a bad period, Van Dijk again shows himself to be the undisputed captain who directs the Dutch team from the back.

The relief

Koeman jumps up exuberantly on Saturday around 9 p.m. in the Johan Cruijff Arena: 1-0 after ten minutes against Ireland. Striker Wout Weghorst cleverly turns away from defender Nathan Collins on the halfway line and leaves. He walks towards the goal with long strides and hits the target high into the right corner. The Dutch team on their way to the 2024 European Championship – a win over Ireland is enough for qualification.

But it’s not that simple. The match against Ireland is exemplary of the difficult, unstable year of this Dutch team under construction. Combinations run smoothly, there is little dynamism and conviction in the build-up and the attacking game is unbalanced, with a lack of speed and creativity – the Oranje’s biggest Achilles heel.

A wave goes through the stadium, but does little to help the lackluster display. The Dutch team does get great opportunities after the break, through Xavi Simons and Weghorst. Reijnders shoots at the post from a distance. But the Netherlands escape when a goal by substitute Adam Idah – goalkeeper Verbruggen clumsily lets the ball roll through his legs – is disallowed for offside. Koeman’s frustration is visible in his hand gestures.

At 10:40 p.m. he claps subdued, the relief unmistakable. After a 1-0 win, he succeeded: qualification for the 2024 European Championship. Koeman’s first major final tournament as national coach, in Germany, where he has sweet memories: the summer of 1988.

“We are there,” shouts the stadium speaker, as the audience in the Johan Cruijff Arena celebrates a modest party.