Oranje: are we there yet?

Marco van Basten could become the second Dutch team manager behind Guus Hiddink who qualifies for two consecutive tournaments.

Between the WC and EC cycle there are big differences. This article goes into the two phases with 5 themes. Written by Van Nijnatten and Wijffels for www.ad.nl.

1. CRITICISM FOR VAN BASTEN

The EC 08 qualification is almost there. And the results, again, are pretty good.
But the quality of play was seldom spectacular. But, that applies to most international games in Europe. Still, Van Basten lost a lot of the credit points he started out with. And that is a huge contrast to the WC qualification cycle.

When appointed, there were mixed feelings. Analysts and insiders thought it was too early for him. Most criticasters thought of Van Basten as a pawn of Johan Cruyff, who wanted to avoid being in the trenches himself. Co Adriaanse may have even lost his job at Ajax over his criticism of one of Ajax’ most famous soldiers. But, most media and fans applauded his appointment. He made fresh decisions, used a broad spectrum of new players and acted independent from others. He gained credit for that, even with his criticasters.

During the WC, the vibe changed. He came into conflict with Van Nistelrooy and Van Bommel. Oranje didn’t impress with the low point the Portugal match which resulted in a lot of negativity.

Since that match at the WC, the public is critical. In the match against Slovenia recently the fans boo-ed him and demanded his resignation.

Now, insiders fear a negative atmosphere for the EC, comparable to the vibe surrounding Dick Advocaat in 2004.

2 VAN NISTELROOY: FROM FIRST SERGEANT TO SNIPER

In his first two years, Van Basten promoted Van Nistelrooy as his biggest supporter and first sergeant. The striker scored and supported Van Basten in any way he could. Van Nistelrooy was sincere, Marco was his long time hero and example.
Van Basten saw himself in the ambitious striker and Van Gol got a lot of trust and loyalty back from the team manager. Any player revels in that.

When Ruud got into conflict with Sir Alex at ManU, Van Basten supported him, saying that Ruud would remain his number one striker.

This summer, Van Nistelrooy returned to Oranje and even scored. But, the relationship between the world class striker and the former world class striker has changed. It’s more business-like. Impersonal. But still, Ruud keeps scoring his goals.

In that relationship one can read the changes in development between Van Basten and Oranje. When appointed, Van Basten wanted attractive and dominant football. At the moment, Oranje is a tight collective, firstly and foremostly focussed on results. And the results are there, but the magic is gone. The warmth is no longer visible. Everyone does their job and we will qualify, but that’s that.

3 DUTCH COMPETITION IS NO LONGER THE MAIN SUPPLIER.

In October 2005, Oranje qualified for the WC2006 against the Czech. In that match in Prague, there were six players from the Dutch Eredivisie active. On the WC, Van Basten used four Eredivisie players (Ooijer, Cocu, Sneijder, Heijtinga) in the starting line up, while there were 13 ( out of 23) Eredivisie players in the selection.

That has changed. Demy de Zeeuw and Gio van Bronckhorst are currently the only two regulars playing in Holland.

This situation can be very beneficial. The growth players go through in stronger competitions can make players better, with Robin van Persie as prime example.

In the first two years, Van Persie wasn’t involved. He hardly ever started. Right before the WC, Van Persie played himself in the team. He showed how strong he had become fighting for a position in the Arsenal line up. Feyenoord player Dirk Kuyt, who had to learn and develop playing defenders of Sparta and RKC Waalwijk, lost the rivalry with the younger and lesser experienced Van Persie.

Van der Vaart: “In Germany, I learned what it takes to be just one of the players. There are no certainties. Sometimes you play and sometimes you don’t. And no one cares what you think of that. I learned from (Argentine) Sorin: if he isn’t selected for the Argentina team, he watches the match with facial make-up in the Argentina colors and he cheers the team forward like any other fan. I learned from that…”

4 SNEIJDER COMES OF AGE.

In August 2006 Edwin van der Sar said: “If Van Basten thinks he can do without Van Bommel and Van Nistelrooy it’s time for Van der Vaart and Sneijder to step up to the plate. They were both at a EC and WC already, so I’d say: show us!”

Sneijder is, with Van Persie, the player who made the biggest steps under this team manager. In the WC 06 qualification series he only played 5 times as a starter. During the WC he was the holding midfielder. Now, he revels in the position of attacking midfielder/playmaker. And, Sneijder hasn’t reached his top yet, and neither have Van Persie, De Zeeuw and Van der Vaart. The only worry is that in that list of names there is no top defender (yet).

5 MORE FLEXIBLE GAME PLAN

Until a few months back it was uncertain if we’d ever find out how Van Nistelrooy and Van Persie would do in the strikers’ roles. That had to do with Van Basten’s choice for 4-3-3. But, the team manager has finally made some changes in his beliefs. Against Switzerland and Slovenia Van Basten played in a 4-4-2 system and we can expect to see more of that.

Being flexible is important, it allows the coach to get the maximum results from the available player-material.

Still, Van Basten wasn’t really as hardheaded as his criticasters claim he is. In the Voetbaltrainer of 2006 - before the WC- he said: “We want to see a solid build up from the back. When we can do that, we can play one-to-one upfront. We then want the strikers to sort it our individually. We don’t want to fix things before hand with all sorts of systems. John (van ‘t Schip) and myself know how stifling it can be to give too many tasks to strikers and creative players. They need to use their intuition. As a coach, you need to paint in broad strokes and we shouldn’t talk too much. Football is not something to discuss ad finitum. You just structure and organize the basics and allow the players to sort it out. Football is a contact-sport with 22 players and a disobedient ball and there are so many new situations every match… Players need to take decisions in split seconds. I don’t believe in filling their heads with running-lines, tasks and commands.”