World Cup 2014: Netherlands stopped Messi, but forgot how to score

Louis Van Gaal won the battle but lost the war. Pre-match, it was the master tactician against the maestro on the pitch — and while Van Gaal and his team devised the perfect plan to stop Lionel Messi, they never could figure out how to get a goal themselves. Here are three things from Netherlands vs Argentina: Yes they stopped Messi, but forgot how to attack: It’s not easy to stop Messi — you need to commit resources to do that. Van Gaal spent all the fuel he had to stop Messi, but it was his Oranje machine that stuttered and spluttered to a halt in the final third. They had just 2six touches in the Argentina box in 90 minutes (16 in 120) and spent just 18.74% of 120 minutes in all of the attacking third. It’s simple — commit your midfielders and wing-backs to stop Messi, and the fluidity of your game dies. [caption id=“attachment_1611643” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  It’s not easy to stop Messi — you need to commit resources to do that. Reuters[/caption] The flow from midfield to attack is blocked and you don’t want Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie running back for the ball — you want them to launch those counter-attacks that made the Dutch contenders in the first place.

Netherlands touches and time spent in areas of the pitch over Van Gaal’s plan to stop Messi was no doubt executed to perfection. He managed just one shot in the whole match, created two chances (one of them from a corner) and completed just one of five crosses. He didn’t touch the ball once in the box. All these numbers are testimony to Netherlands’ discipline in defence — but in a bid to stop him, Van Gaal over-committed the core of his team — this picture doing the rounds on Twitter shows how his team shaped in a 6-3-1 at one point.

Messi - chances created in 120 minutes Picking Van Persie was a terrible mistake: Since that flying header against Spain, Van Persie has been disappointing to say the least — his worst performance coming against Argentina. As a striker, if you touched the ball four times in the box, attempted 11 passes, failed in your only attempted take-on and didn’t have a single shot in 96 minutes — then you’re having a disastrous game. Van Gaal said pre-match that if there was a slightest chance of his captain playing, he would — but RVP wasn’t really making too much impact in other games either. In five games he took just 14 shots and attempted 95 passes which is probably fine for a counter-attacking team depending on wing-power, but hardly impressive.

RVP heat-map - 96 minutes of football A rejig could have seen Memphis Depay (six shots in just 177 minutes of total WC football with 100% accuracy, 1 assist to RVP’s none) play. He is direct, draws defenders and frees players Sneijder and Robben to wreak havoc. In fact, Netherlands scoring after impact substitutes was a trend in the World Cup. Picking an out-of-sorts RVP is one thing, but picking an out-of-sorts and stomach-bugged RVP and not substituting him for 96 minutes is inexcusable. He was just another man on the pitch who posed no threat whatsoever. Vlaar taking the first penalty: “Two players refused to take the first penalty,” was Van Gaal’s explanation (he didn’t name them) to why centre-back Ron Vlaar was given the responsibility. Make no mistake, he had a tremendous game: 100% tackles won, 100% aerial duels, 11 clearances, 6 interceptions and 92% pass accuracy — but he was probably the last man you would want taking the most important shot of the shootout. His defending was impeccable, his penalty shot miserable. Either Van Gaal left his big balls at home, not being able to order his players to take the first penalty — or there was an error in judgement. The penalty shootout is a lottery — but Vlaar’s ticket came with a guarantee of not winning. Graphics and stats courtesy Squawka