What a Euro 2012 it has been so far, we have witnessed the decimation of Holland’s latest golden generation, the breaking of two eternal looking records as England finally beat Sweden in an official football match which was followed by Spain finally defeating France in official international football as well. This tournament is also yet to witness any 0-0 score line and has been a major improvement on the international championships we have witnessed over the past decade.
If anything, Euro 2012 seems like a final cry from the current European Championships format to maintain the current structure instead of moving to the proposed 24 team format starting from 2016.
Over my next few blog posts I will be reviewing the main talking points that we have seen so far at Euro 2012.
Let’s begin.
Holland:
We were always going to start with the Netherlands now weren’t we!
I have read a lot of articles blaming the demise of the Dutch on the oversized egos of players such as Sneijder, Van Persie, Van Der Vaart, Van Bommel etc but make no mistake about it, the blame falls at the feet of non-other than Bert Van Marwijk whose squad selection looked very exciting to me at first as it included upcoming talents such as Kevin Strootman and the lively Luciano Narsingh. The squad was also balanced as it contained a good blend of older heads that featured for Holland during their successful run to the World Cup final in 2010.
But, even at first glance, you could notice a huge gap in quality when it comes to that Dutch defense and thus the need to maintain possession and control over football matches becomes crucial for Holland to succeed.
Fast forward to Holland’s first game against Denmark who, with all due respect, are the weakest team in a group of death which included the likes of Germany and Portugal.
Van Marwijk’s first team selection surprised many as he once again decided to start with 34 year old captain and son-in-law Mark Van Bommel but the main talking points was the inclusion of Van Persie ahead of the record breaking Klaas Jan Huntelaar who scored 12 games during the Netherlands’ successful Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. Now before you bring up Van Persie’s successful season at Arsenal, I believe they both should have started with Huntelaar in the central striker role while RVP would start out from the left before cutting inside to support Holland’s attack.
To raise more eye brows, Van Marwijk decided to start with Wesley Sneijder and Ibrahim Afellay who both had forgettable seasons at their respective clubs. Rafael Van Der Vaart was dropped.
And finally came the selection of the inexperienced Jetro Willems who regardless how highly rated he might be, must never be thrown into the deep end especially when we consider the lack of quality in the supporting defenders Joris Mathijsen, Ron Vlaar etc. Again, before you start highlighting the lack of Dutch talent at Left Back, I would like to mention the name of AC Milan’s Urby Emanuelson who had a very decent season for his club and has the versatility to play in more than position. Van Marwijk decided that Emanuelson was not even good enough for the squad all together.
So, where were we? Ah yes, Holland’s first game against Denmark.
The Dutch started the game brightly and dominated possession for long periods of the game although they failed to create enough goal scoring opportunities. Denmark, on the other hand, made full use of a fast counterattack compounded by very feeble defending from Holland’s back four to score the only goal of the game.
It could be fair to say that Netherlands did not deserve to lose against the Danes but they never came to close to winning either. One game down and Holland already face immediate elimination as they prepare to face top contenders Germany knowing that at least a draw is necessary.
In comes the second game, Van Marwijk sticks to his selection process with the exception of a single change as Mathijsen replaced the internationally poor Ron Vlaar. The Germans being Germans identified the weakness on Holland’s left side providing Jetro Willems a nightmare of a match as Muller, Ozil and Schweinsteiger took turns in tormenting the poor 18 year old. Germany also took the game out of Holland’s hands completely by dominating possession for long periods of the match with the Dutch reverting to counter attacking football for much of the first half. The German dominance paid off as the ruthless Mario Gomez netted 2 goals in quick succession. Facing elimination, Van Marwijk was forced to ring the changes bringing on Huntelaar for the invisible Ibrahim Afellay and Rafael Van der Vaart for the inept Van Bommel and if we’re being honest not much changed anyway. Germany continued to impose their will and eventually the 2-1 score line was very flattering to the Dutch who lacked the passion and the belief to turn things around.
Playing Van der Vaart in a deep center midfield role was never going to work against Khedira and Schweinsteiger as once again Van Marwijk brings forth another questionable decision. Why not use your full squad? Why not select adequate replacements? If you do not believe in Strootman why take him to begin with? Why start with a clearly unfit duo in Sneijder & Afellay? Why not give Narsingh a chance?
Ah yes, I can hear rumbles of ‘But he needed to win the game and naturally he needed an attacking presence in Midfield like Van der Vaart!’
Let me remind you of one famous Champions League final between AC Milan and Liverpool Football Club. Liverpool was 3-0 down at half time and in order to turn the game around, Benitez introduced a defensive midfielder in Didi Hamann as the foundation for an attacking team, he solidified the defense to build a stable attack. Van Marwijk did the exact opposite thus surrendering the midfield to the mighty Germans.
The third game against Portugal was no more than academic with Van Marwijk starting with the same eleven that finished the game against the Germans. The Dutch started brightly and scored early on with a long range drive from Rafael van der Vaart. The Dutch mood turned sour soon though as Ronaldo produced one of his better performances in a Portugal jersey and equalized before half-time. Once again, the morale of this Holland side slumped with a lack of mental strength and leadership evident. Portugal grew into the game with every passing minute and eventually got the three points they deserved.
The Netherlands was eliminated without gaining a single point, scoring only two goals from outside the box, zero goals from inside the penalty area. Holland’s golden generation which included Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder seem to be heading into their twilight zone fast while the upcoming talent were deprived of an opportunity to gain valuable experience throughout this tournament. The Dutch will always produce exciting attacking talent and make no mistake about it, younger blood will be introduced starting with the FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifiers in September with the likes of Strootman, Narsingh, Ola John and Leroy Fer playing a key role but what worries me is the lack of talent coming through on the defensive side.
Finally, I wanted to highlight Bert Van Marwijk’s criminal man management of the poor Jetro Willems throughout Euro 2012. Not only was the youngster thrown to the wolves from the first game, he received no defensive support what so ever from Afellay and was finally substituted as fallen figure against Portugal. This kind of man management can turn a rising star into a distant memory.
One thing is for certain, it is back to the drawing board for the KNVB and some very tough decisions must be made very soon.
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