EC2008: Russia plays more Dutch than the Dutch

Hiddink: “Doctor, look what I’ve got growing on my hand!!”

Let’s evaluate the EC a bit more from a distance from it all…

With the Olympics underway and all that fresh news from all the big competitions in Europe, maybe it’s good to have a fresh look back and forward regarding our beloved Oranje.

The VI magazine had some interesting articles on the Dutch downfall… Taco van der Velde with his views:

Arsjavin dribbled from the left and passed the ball at the right time to Sernak. The penetrating midfielder took advantage from the space on the wing and crossed the ball in, hard. In the box, striker Pavlioetsjenko anticipated earlier than Mathijsen with his inward running action. He scored at the first post. This goal told an important story in the matrch between the Dutch and the Russians. Arsjavin was the creative brain, Sernak – who had to control Van der Vaart – read the moment and Pavlioetsjenko knew what would happen next and took advantage of that knowledge, before Mathijsen knew what was going down. A combination of skill, vision and creativity. Elements the Russians wanted in their football and the reason why they pay a lot of money for a Dutch coach.

Russia was the team with the most crosses in the whole tournament. In four games, the Russians had 46 useful crosses from the flanks. This tells us a lot about their intentions and begs the question: how come that Oranje only had one decent cross in that dreadful match? Holland holds a very low spot in this UEFA ranking (most crosses), right before Switzerland and Sweden but even behind Austria!!

Our football is not longer based on the Dutch School. Forechecking, dominance on the opponent’s half, pressure play…it doesn’t apply to Oranje anymore. It applies to Russia, this time around. Four years long was Van Basten focused on dominant and attractive play but Holland was successful in the counter-attack.

The Netherlands defeated Italy and France and reaped kudos from all over the world, but the victories were based on the counter-attack and turnaround. Weak foundations. We trusted our speed, our setpieces and the exceptional class of a couple of players. The Italians and French were overwhelmed in the turn around. Five out of our seven goals came from the counter attack. Defensively, we were so weak, France and Italy had 17 real chances against Oranje (respectively nine and eight) and Russia added 14 (!) chances to that tally, totaling 31 real chances!! No wonder Van der Sar was our best man this tournament.

The smart Guus Hiddink took our weapon, the counter, away from us. His team pressured our defense early on in the game and Oranje couldn’t think of anything else than deep balls towards Ruud van Nistelrooy who couldn’t find any mates to support him. Marco van Basten’s subs were terrible. His success against France couldn’t be repeated. Dirk Kuyt, who had the lungs to support Van Nistelrooy was taken out and when he brought Afellay and Heitinga (for the injured Boulah) Marco was out of options after 60 minutes of play. Huntelaar and Vennegoor could go for the showers. Heitinga was the mark of choice for the rampaging Russians while Van Persie and Afellay couldn’t add anything to the game. After the 1-0, most Dutch midfielders started to play for their personal glory, trying to score from all possible angles. The Dutch clockwork orange was out of steam. The low point was Van Persie’s free-kick while a livid Sneijder looked on. And so, after three positive and impressive wins, the team was back where it started in the qualifications. Lacklustre, unbalanced and without a clue.

The balance of the Van Basten era is therefore meager. Two relatively easy qualifications but also two relatively quick exits from the big tournaments. The type of football Van Basten wanted was never demonstrated and it’s fitting and ironic that Oranje was ousted by a Russian team led by a Dutch coach who was capable of letting his team play dominant and attractive.

So, what’s Van Basten’s legacy? A generation of wonderful talents (Robben, Van Persie, Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Huntelaar, Afellay) with a lot of potential. But, we will also have to say goodbye to Edwin van der Sar, who had 19 saves in three EC games and to Ruud van Nistelrooy who is a guaranteed goal scorer (he scored the equalizer against Russia as well). Bert van Marwijk has his job cut out for him…