Van Nistelrooy needs to settle in

While his team mates high fived right before the first whistle, Ruud van Gol was contemplating his return in Oranje, his eyes searching for his family on the stands in Geneva. It took some time for Ruud to settle in. His first ball contact was in the 7th minute. 14 months and 7 minutes it took the European top striker to touch another ball in the Oranje jersey since his last match against Argentina. Van Nistelrooy headed a ball away in his own box only for the Swiss to get a penalty kick out of the situation when Stekelenburg fouled Vonlanthen. His second touch would be the kick off after that goal.

In the first 20 minutes, there was hardly another tough for Van Gol. And it was a symptom of his new role. In his first period under Van Basten, Ruud was the main target in Oranje’s attacking tactics. Now, Van Nistelrooy’s task was to lurk and linger in the opponent’s box, playing deep on the verge of off side, waiting liking a vulture for that one opportunity.

A big contract with the lead up game to the WC 2006 against Cameroun. That night, Van Nistelrooy positioned himself as the bounce off player, the point man and the perfect team player. This week, San Marco declared he had new plans for the striker. Van Basten would only judge Van the Man on his goal scoring.

In this vision, the strength of the team determines the success of the striker. And how that striker actually plays football is less relevant.

“In international football only the strikers of the absolute top nations get more chances. In most matches, where opponents are more equal in strength, the space and time is too little.” That was proven against the Swiss, who seemed equal to Holland in strength. The berst phase in the match was the second half of the first 45 minutes, when Robin van Persie played close to the former Mancunian star. Twice, the duo combined straight through the Swiss defense and twice it resulted in half a chance.

After 30 minutes, Ruud had two real chances to score. The first time he was a toe short of scoring on a Van Bronckhorst pass and the second time he didn’t have enough ball controll to shake of two defenders. And when the perfect crosses came into the box, the Madrid top scorer had already showered and was sitting along the pitch in his KNVB suit.