Who dares to play with wingers?

Right winger John van ‘t Schip can still be enjoyed when he plays for Lucky Ajax (old Ajax)

Can you remember one good left or right winger at the recent EC? A player with chalk on his boots, specialized in taking on the defender and crossing a ball into the box? I can only think of one: Arjen Robben. Maybe Dario Srna of Croatia on the right? Other than that, no player impressed me on the flanks. Most teams internationally play with fortified midfields.

Rinus Michels spoke about “operational space” in 1988 and the teams that know how to make use of those open spaces are the teams that dominate in Europe. Manchester United and Spain, pretty successful recently, used this tactics, with players coming into the space from midfield. Unpredictability is the key weapon these days.

What does this mean for the Dutch style of play? Not too long ago we wanted predictable football. In Dutch teams, everyone needs to understand what the other player will and can do. A midfielder wants to be able to open up blind on the left wing, knowing that there will be winger present. If the pace of the ball is high enough, one of the strikers will be able to get sufficient space to take on their opponent and create a man-more situation.

This has been the foundation of our football for decades. Trainers, coaches and managers have worked like that for years and want to make us believe that we can still dominate with attractive and creative game-play. In reality, most don’t have time for wingers anymore. Some say there simply aren’t any wingers left and chose strikers and midfielders who change position often, with midfielders and defenders moving into the abandoned space upfront.

The last real Dutch right winger at a top club was Julian Jenner of AZ Alkmaar. But Van Gaal allowed him to move to Vitesse on a loan basis. Feyenoord tries to get their wingers, Slory and Vincken, to play on a loan base somewhere else. PSV uses Dzsudzsak and Amrabat – not a real winger – for the flanks and they recently sent Roy Beerens – a real winger – away to Heerenveen. At Ajax, where once names like Sjaak Swart, Piet Keizer, John Rep, Bryan Roy and Andy van der Meyde were developed, Leonardo and Luque sat in the stands while Emanuelson played a false left winger. On the right, it had super-sprinter Dennis Rommedahl. It’s 2008 and there is no room for wingers at the top in Holland.