Echoes of ’88
History echoes with the Dutch team traveling to Germany as outsiders, reminiscent of 1988. Forever fresh off the heartbreak of some lost international final, the Netherlands aim to put collective coherence above last-minute dropouts to chase the shadows of the past.
This tactical preview has been written by Sander IJtsma.
We decided to make all of our EURO 2024 articles free to read. If you want to support our work, consider taking a subscription.
Way before a ball has even been kicked at EURO 2024, the tournament already resonates in history. The Dutch team traveling to Germany for a major international tournament as firm outsiders, still recovering to some degree from a collective hurt of a lost World Cup final some fourteen years before. Yeah, this is 1988 all over again. As such, the hashtag picked by the KNVB for this tournament could well be rephrased from #CreateHistory to #RecreateHistory.
Previewing tournament football is full of challenges and pitfalls. As Nobel Physics Prize winner Nils Bohr aptly said: “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future!”. And the 1988 tournament illustrates this well. Few would have given much for the team’s chances after their 0-1 loss to the Soviet Union. And Marco van Basten, the standout player of the tournament, hadn’t even been a starter, as illustrated by his illustrious squad number twelve.
Marco Van Basten 1988 pic.twitter.com/iycswKgwWK
— Iconic Football Shirts (@Iconic_footbal1) June 29, 2023
The mix of unpredictability amidst the pressure cooker of international football is what makes these tournaments so fascinating. We already know there will be surprise eliminations, underdogs reaching late stages, and future international stars making their breakthroughs. At this stage, we just do not know who.
Overview of the Squad
The Dutch squad for EURO 2024 boasts a blend of experienced stalwarts and exciting young talents. Key players include Virgil van Dijk, the commanding center-back and team captain, and Memphis Depay, the versatile forward known for his creativity and goal-scoring prowess – and fit in time it seems. The key component of the presumed midfield setup would’ve been Frenkie de Jong, but in a late announcement it became clear that he would miss the entire tournament due to an ankle injury. To make things worse, Teun Koopmeiners was another late withdrawal leading up to the tournament.
Notable inclusions are Xavi Simons, coming off his best season so far at RB Leipzig, and Cody Gakpo, who develops well at Liverpool as a dynamic inside winger with goal scoring potential. Add to that one Jérémie Frimpong, and it all signals a bright future for the Dutch team, who seems to offer great squad depth. However, the absence of veteran defensive midfielder Marten de Roon and his understudy Mats Wieffer due to injuries raise some concerns about the balance in midfield, particularly for potential knockout matches where the team would play as underdogs.
𝐎𝐔𝐑 #EURO2024 𝐒𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐃! 🇳🇱🦁
— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) May 29, 2024
Together, we can #CreateHistory! 🧡#NothingLikeOranje pic.twitter.com/xJGnylTGoD
Young Talents and Veterans
The squad’s composition reflects a careful balance between youthful energy and veteran experience. Young talents such as the aforementioned Xavi Simons (21) and Jeremie Frimpong (23) bring fresh dynamism and fearless play. In contrast, seasoned players like Daley Blind (34) and surprise call-up Georginio Wijnaldum (33) offer stability and leadership, both on and off the pitch. This blend ensures that the team is both adaptable and resilient, capable of handling the pressures of high-stakes matches.
Injuries and Fitness
Injuries are an inevitable part of football, and the Dutch team is no exception. Key players like Matthijs de Ligt and Donyell Malen have faced fitness challenges, but seem to have recovered in time. However, most nationwide daily attention has been paid to Frenkie de Jong – who didn’t recover in time – and Memphis, who seems to have found full fitness from what has been his tenth injury in five years.
Frenkie de Jong won’t participate at EURO 2024. 😔
— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) June 10, 2024
We are with you, Frenkie. 🧡#NothingLikeOranje pic.twitter.com/JlR3V5ETyZ
The exclusion of Frenkie de Jong will be an obvious game changer, but ironically may not be all that impactful in terms of overall quality. Understudies like Jerdy Schouten, Tijjani Reinders and Joey Veerman present a clear and immediate step-down in unique ball progressing talent, but may enforce less of a possession heavy style and may even offer more options of rapid counterattacks, exploiting pace and creativity up front.
For the striker spot, Memphis’ value has never been in doubt – whenever he has been fit – but his real heights already date back to before the 2022 World Cup. One feels that Memphis playing well equals the whole team playing well. Understudies Wout Weghorst and Bryan Brobbey present interesting and unique qualities but lack the fluidity and individual chance creation that Memphis has offered so often before.
Formation and Style of Play
Under Ronald Koeman, the Netherlands have deployed alternating 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-1-2 variants, and even went so far to alternate between these two in the two pre-euro friendlies. Koeman emphasizes fluid attacking play and solid defensive organization, albeit relying a lot on man-marking. Deep in his orange heart, Koeman would probably always place a four-man defense with clear wingers above alternatives like the three-plus-wingbacks system that plays around the lack of proper wingers that plagues the squad momentarily.
Most likely, we’ll see the Dutch in a 4-2-3-1 setup, with the right winger tucked in and Dumfries offering a one-man right flank coverage, as he has done so often for Inter and the Dutch national team. This would mean an inside right forward role, which may fit Xavi Simons like a glove. Alternatively, the Geertruida / Frimpong combination showed itself very well in the Canada friendly, as more of a classic fullback / running winger combination with unique skill sets in ball progression and pace.
Offense is the best defense
In some form of tactical wokeness, it’s no longer appropriate to talk about offense and defense in isolation, or even see football in the traditional four phases of offensive possession, defensive transition, defensive out-of-possession and offensive transition. In 2024, distinctions between categories have faded out of our thinking in many aspects of life, and football is no exception. Leading up to a shot on goal, part of the team should already concern itself with defensive aspects of play, the principle of rest-defense. During out-of-possession phases, having clear tasks for your ‘offensive’ players is equally important as coaching their chance-creating plays.
Koeman has commented directly and indirectly on this over the past years, mostly when reflecting on the defensive attributes of his forward players. In fact, Weghorst, for all his technical shortcomings, presents the most obvious case of a striker maximizing his value for the team in non-traditional striker tasks like pressuring opponents and defending set-pieces. With no out-and-out number six on the field, it seems essential that effective defending begins from the front. While all of the presumed front three bring energy and dynamism off the ball, it’s still quite a bit up in the air whether Koeman manages to organize pressing schemes enough to mask the fact that his midfield consists primarily of on-the-ball players.
Midfield worries
Some fifteen years ago, it would have been dead easy to figure out the complementary midfield trio. In the days of the passer-destroyer-creator combinations, teams would simply fit in a physical presence tasked with anticipating losses of possession and presenting rest-defense at all times, preferably through sound positioning and if all else failed, through tackling and fouling. Pair him with a pure passer and off you go.
However, in the never-ending maelstrom of tactical evolution, teams have compressed these qualities into one player, with some concessions on the extreme demands in terms of physical presence and ball progression. For a while, it has looked like Frenkie de Jong was that player. The unicorn that allows two more offensive minded midfield partners, much like Rodri does for Manchester City. However, Frenkie is too extreme of a possession player for that to work, and over the years Marten de Roon has always been the answer for Dutch managers.
This time, with both of them out injured, and Mats Wieffer also unavailable, we will see a different choice, and it’s not exactly certain which one, particularly with Teun Koopmeiners withdrawn in the warming up for the Iceland friendly.
It is unlikely that we will see someone shoehorned in the unicorn-role as a lone six. Most likely, we will see a double pivot consisting of relatively similar players. In the mix for that role would be PSV’s Jerdy Schouten, a very astute and reliable passer with good defensive positioning, Milan’s Tijjani Reinders, who is naturally more of an eight, but with enough flexibility to operate both in a deeper and in a more advanced role, and Joey Veerman, who offers plus value on the ball but may suffer positionally out of possession.
In that sense, we might see the emergence of a double ball progression unit, with shared defensive resonsiblities, forming a three-plus-two buildup structure with Dumfries as an outlet on the right wing. That would call for a central defender capable of playing fullback, like Nathan Aké or Micky van der Ven.
Unpredictable offense
In the presumed 4-2-3-1 setup, the wingers would offer a classic pair of inside winger (on the right) and wide winger (on the left). On the right, Dumfries or Frimpong will present their usual right winger-esque presence from the wingback spot, which means the majority of possession play could tilt over to the left wing waiting for enough space for a flank pass to the right.
A combination of Memphis central and Gakpo as left winger seems to make a lot of sense, with either of that pair very comfortable operating in and around the left halfspace and doing well when offered positional freedom. To complement them from the right, different options are available. Xavi Simons presents probably the most optimistic and offensive flavor, with his unique offensive movement and positive unpredictability. However, he’s also very lightweight and it’s unsure how he would play out in matches where his team is the clear underdog. With Teun Koopmeiners now forced to withdraw, Reinders looks the most likely starting offensive midfielder, having developed very well since his move to Milan.
Should Memphis be unable to start, either Brobbey or Weghorst would come in, and a more static linkup striker would present an entirely different tactical package, turning the offense more into a two-wingers-behind-a-striker option, which may decrease the chances of playing time for Simons, and opening up room for Frimpong as a right winger.
😁👍#NothingLikeOranje #CreateHistory pic.twitter.com/cR4y0kDmdF
— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) June 11, 2024
The Chances at EURO 2024
The Netherlands have been drawn into a challenging group, facing tough opponents like France – second best favorite to win the tournament according to the bookies – Poland and Austria. Securing top position in the group stage seems unlikely upfront, but that might not be a bad thing. Qualification as second team in group D sets up a meeting with the second team in group E – Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine – and puts the team in the opposite bracket from France (obviously) and England (presuming they win their groups).
Bookies’ Odds
The Dutch come into EURO 2024 as the seventh-ranked team, according to bookie odds, behind England, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Italy.
Takeaways
“I think the Dutch School is a painting term, not a footballing term.” With this – clearly prepared – statement, Koeman emphasized pragmatism over principles, much like his predecessor Louis van Gaal, who enjoyed great success in different stints during the 2014 and 2022 World Cups.
While no one will object to pragmatism, often disguised as ‘making smart decisions and doing what’s best for the occasion’, a lot of the success will be defined by execution, also in terms of the tactical setup. Koeman will need a surprise result to reach beyond the quarterfinals, and it’s then always debatable how much of that is variation and how much is actually attributable to a manager’s choices. However, Koeman has already been at the center point of an extreme surprise on German soil before and would instantly turn into a national hero of Rinus Michels-esque proportions.
We decided to make all of our EURO 2024 articles free to read. If you want to support our work, consider taking a subscription.
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