JC explains…. (again?)

Johan Cruyff decided to further elaborate on his 4-3-3 diatribe… And I must say…it makes some sense .

Being sharp and concentrated makes a lot of difference, sometimes it makes all the difference. I dare to say that that’s the reason why Barcelona lost the race for the championship in Spain and it was certainly one of the reasons why Young Oranje won the EC.

And the circumstances for Young Oranje were great. Before the tournament, four major players had to bail out due to injuries and every one suddenly said it would be hard for this team to win the cup. Foppe de Haan really had to improvise to get a good team together. In a situation like that a group can suddenly get really tight and close. And Foppe is a coach who can really create a team out of nothing. One of his strengths. So every player gave 10% more and sometimes it seemed Oranje played with 12 instead of 11. And that was the big difference with Portugal. A country with actually a better skilled selection, but relatively low output. Great talents. Poor results. It’s not about skills alone. A bit like Barcelona, if you will…

I need to get back to my response to Foppe’s comment on 4-3-3. My response sort of lived it’s own life, all of a sudden. The theme is taken apart and inside out in several programs and websites (that’s us guys!!!!), and changed into a different discussion.

Because, I did not react on 4-4-2 or on Oranje’s tactics. I reacted purely on the statement of Foppe, that 4-3-3 is old-fashioned and not suited for these times anymore. I thought and think that he exaggerates. And that’s not the same discussion whether Young Oranje should or shouldn’t play 4-4-2.
That’s his job and his responsibility and good luck with it. On top of that, I distinguish between a 4-3-3 tactics or a 4-3-3 way-of-playing. When I say 4-3-3 I mean the way of playing. And in this way, I mean playing with wingers. The application of 4-3-3 is a matter of positioning on the pitch. With 4-3-3 it gives you the opportunity to create more than three lines in the team. You can create triangles and players can really support each other all over the pitch. In this way it’s easy to dominate the game. I find it a bit exaggerated to suddenly call that “old-fashioned”.

By the way, in the match against England and against Serbia it was made pretty clear how important wingers are and that it is very handy if you have players who can keep the playing field wide. Against Serbia right winger Daniel de Ridder assisted three of the four goals!