How the Group of Death consumed the Netherlands

The might Oranje — the World Cup finalists — the pre-tournament favourites and now the team who has been sent crashing out of Euro 2012 without a single point in the bag – they didn’t even manage a draw. The Netherlands are back to their best and by that, we mean their underachieving best. For all the talent they have had at their disposal, the Dutch, even during their prime in the 1970s lacked the cutting edge when it matters most. Their record in World Cups and the Euros have yielded just one championship: Euro 1988. Apart from that, they have reached three World Cup finals, one World Cup semi-final and three European Championship semifinals. They also came third in Euro 1976. They have also failed to qualify for seven World Cup tournaments, the latest being as early as 2002. [caption id=“attachment_348008” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Robben and Sneijder were helpless. AFP”]  [/caption] Some worries about the Netherlands not making use of the vast talent in their team were dispelled after a close final against Spain in World Cup 2010 — a feat which made them instant tournament favourites at Poland and Ukraine. Even though they were drawn in the Group of Death which featured Denmark, Portugal and Germany apart from themselves, the favourites tag did not diminish. Maybe playing that up a bit too much in the media led to them becoming a careless team who took things for granted. You cannot afford to do that in any sport. The loss to Denmark was an indicator of things to come. Moreover, the performance of some of their players was a sign of a rash attitude. MISFIRING STARS Robin Van Persie, who has had his best goal-scoring season with Arsenal and Arjen Robben, who reached the Champions League finals with Bayern Munich were the main culprits. The Arsenal captain was uncharacteristically low on confidence in all three matches. Where were the bursting runs which ripped apart offside traps? Where were the clinical finishes from insanely acute angles? Of course there was that lightening strike against Germany… but you can call it one of those speculative shots that are meant to go in. Against Portugal last night, RVP probably got the ball a total of just 10 times. His position behind Klaas Jan Huntelaar was plain awkward for a man who loves playing off the shoulder of the last defender. Robben, who mesmerises with his left foot all year round did basically nothing in the whole tournament apart from teeing up Rafael Van der Vaart for a goal against Portugal. The only time he entertained was when he clambered over the advertisement boards and walked to the dug-out in his vest. TACTICAL ERRORS Their coach is also to blame. He played a negative game against the Germans, where they should have actually shown some intent. The introduction of Huntelaar and Van der Vaart completely transformed them, but it was too late. He picked Ibrahim Afellay twice in a row, leaving out Luciano Narsingh and Van der Vaart on the bench — the former who tops the assist charts in the Bundesliga. As for Afellay, he has played just five times all season for Barcelona. Maybe Bert Van Marwijk should step down. He made far too many tactical errors. RVP, Huntelaar and Robben could have played on top in a narrow 4-3-3, with Wesley Sneijder, Nigel de Jong and Van der Vaart in the middle. The fact that almost all their players play in different leagues and teams adds to the lack of co-ordination if you compare it with Spain and Germany (teams who have lots of first team players from the same team and league). But that in itself is no excuse. LEAKY DEFENCE The other way to look at it is to give the winners the credit. They finally know how to beat the Dutch. Their weakest link is a defence line made of Joris Mathijsen, John Heitinga, Ron Vlaar and Jetro Willems is just not good enough. Even if they would have made it past the group stage, it is hard to say this group of players would be able to contain the likes of Spain. They had a great World Cup, they did, but even those performances were based on solid midfield organisation rather than a hard to beat defence. All the goals they conceded were from close-range, which means that the midfield was doing their job of closing down. But the marking in the box was atrocious at times. That is where Denmark, Germany and Portugal all hurt them. Add to that their inability to score. Ironically, in all three matches, the Dutch have almost had more possession, passes, passing rate and shots than their opposition. Against Denmark: 29 shots, 53% possession compared to Denmark’s eight shots. Against Germany: 12 shots, 51% possession, 638 passes with a success rate of a staggering 91%. Germany had 11 shots, 555 passes at a success rate of 86%. Against Portugal: 14 shots, 56% possession, 529 passes with a success rate of 84%. This is obviously more than Portugal’s 349 passes out which 77% were on target. It is only here that Portugal took 10 more shots than Holland. The Dutch were not playing ‘Total Football’ like we know it… they were scared and were playing a shadow of the fast-paced football we saw them execute in South Africa. The players were not ready to take responsibility and finish, the midfielders’ passes had no invention and the offside trap was beaten far too easily. It’s sad to see one of the most liked and talented teams at Euro 2012 being eliminated so early but one must acknowledge the fact that they have got what they deserved.