Total Football 2.0? Why reborn Netherlands are Euro 2020 favourites | OneFootball

Having reached the World Cup final in 2010, hopes were high for the Netherlands heading into Euro 2012.

Instead of glory, however, they went out in the group (of death) stage without a single point.

Fears of a decline were abated two years on, when a trip to the World Cup semi-finals included the demolition of reigning champions, Spain, and only saw them lose to Argentina on penalties.

Only for the Oranje to fail to even qualify for Euro 2016 or the 2018 World Cup.

So what happened to one of the great footballing nations?

The downfall

A lack of talent, for a start.

The three true stars of the previous generation all declined rapidly. Wesley Sneijder shone brightly at the 2010 World Cup; Robin van Persie hit his peak around 2012; and Arjen Robben was the team’s brightest spark in 2014. None of them could continue to deliver for the nation as they entered their 30s.

They were not alone, either.

The trio started alongside Giovani van Bronckhorst, Dirk Kuyt, and Johhny Heitinga in the 2010 World Cup final. Rafael van der Vaart was involved off the bench. All seven feature in the nation’s ten most capped players ever.

Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong also started in the 1-0 extra-time defeat to Spain in South Africa, the midfield pair won 79 and 81 caps respectively, placing them as 16th and 18th most capped players in Dutch history.

By 2017, only Van Persie, Robben and Sneijder remained and their abilities had waned significantly.

Post-2014, an entire new team had to be built and the talent just wasn’t there to build it. But the 2014 tournament brought, or at least cemented, deeper issues.

“This ugly, vulgar, hard, hermetic, hardly eye-catching, hardly football style,” was how father of Total Football Johan Cruyff described the 2010 final.

“If with this they got satisfaction, fine, but they lost.

“It hurts me that Holland chose an ugly path to aim for the title.”

It didn’t have to be that way in 2014. But it was. And in every game.

The approach to the 2010 final – as dirty as it was – could at least be dismissed as a one-off. In 2014, though, playing rigidly was the foundation of Louis van Gaal’s side.

The Netherlands did go all the way to the last four but their style along the way cemented the death of their famed footballing identity. There was no joy to be found watching this team.

The result was failure to qualify in 2016 and 2018.

‘I see a bright future’

Between the 2014 World Cup third-place match and the appointment of Ronald Koeman in February 2018, the Netherlands lost 14 times in 37 matches.

Having missed out on consecutive tournaments, you wondered where a glimmer of hope would come from.

So it was a strange when Koeman, fresh from being sacked by Everton, radiated optimism in his first press conference.

“I think the Netherlands should and must be qualifying for major finals and I see a bright future in that regard,” said the Dutchman.

“That’s why I’ve taken the job.”

Under Koeman things started slowly but, eventually, an idea was in place again.

“We need a system to get the best out of our players and to get an advantage over our opponents,” he declared in that first press conference.

“The 4-3-3 system is the base in my head.”

That base led his side to 10 wins and just four defeats in 18 fixtures.

Those defeats came against England, in his first game in charge; France, just two months after they were crowned world champions; European champions Portugal in the Nations League final; and a German side that the Dutch have beaten twice and drawn with once over the last 12 months.

There have been no shocks, like the defeats to Iceland and the Czech Republic in 2015, or Greece in 2016, or Bulgaria in 2017.

A bright future isn’t just ahead of them now, it has arrived less than two years on from Koeman’s appointment.

Flexible approach

At the heart of their success is a flexible approach.

The narrative-laden dogma of winning at all costs and fighting were never going to lead to the revitalisation of the nation that gave us Total Football. Only tactical intelligence, talent, and self-belief could do that.

In so-called easier games, Koeman’s side line up in a 4-3-3 with two wingers and midfielders who can dictate play.

This shape has what you would expect from a Dutch side. Confidence, creativity and control in possession, thanks to the brilliant Virgil van Dijk and the Ajax-schooled trio of Daley Blind, Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong.

Then, there is verticality and directness from wing-back Denzel Dumfries and Quincy Promes ahead of him. Wijnaldum adds more of the same in midfield, bringing energetic bursts into the box. His involvement helps ensure bodies are committed forward, the box is attacked, and unimaginative periods of possession are never the go-to.

With Memphis Depay leading the line, the team can shift from defence to attack quickly and there’s more than enough individual talent to magic a goal out of nothing.

In the bigger games, the same 11 players can change shape and responsibilities entirely, as they did successfully against Germany.

The midfield three remains the same but Blind tucks into the centre of defence and Promes becomes a wing-back. The front two – Memphis and the born-again Ryan Babel – are a handful for any defence with their ability to dribble and selfless efforts to create space for others.

A sense of control can still exist in possession but the team – harder to press with three at the back and the incredible De Jong ahead of them – tend to attack more directly, exploiting their ability to counter at speed. And, most importantly, the back three provides a more solid base against meaner attacks.

A couple of years ago, we would be questioning how far the Netherlands have really come – qualifying games are, of course, almost always a mismatch, while international friendlies are meaningless.

But the introduction of the Nations League meant they faced the world champions in a meaningful environment and impressed, then overcame Germany and England on their way to the final.

Pure talent

But of course, a team doesn’t get anywhere, at least anywhere big, without talented players.

“I was not the quality defender of De Ligt or Virgil,” Koeman admitted earlier this year.

“They are top, top players. We have the best central defenders in Europe with De Ligt and Virgil. That’s great because you build the house, always, from downstairs. You don’t start with the roof.”

The spine of the team looks complete too. De Jong was the thrust in an Ajax side that went all the way to the Champions League semi-finals last season and is now expected to be the new key man in the Barcelona midfield for years to come.

Wijnaldum has already done that in a superb Liverpool side.

The career of Promes has sparked back into life with his national team form and a move to Ajax but the attacking star is undoubtedly Depay. Signed to much fanfare by Manchester United in 2015, the forward flopped as he tried to cope with the tactical straitjackets of Van Gaal and José Mourinho.

Since leaving for Lyon he has flourished, scoring 50 times in 130 appearances and an even more impressive 11 goals in 16 international appearances since Koeman decided to use him as a striker.

Squad depth

Beyond the stars, the rest of the team is solid. And beyond them, a vibrant supporting cast is full of talent too.

The line-ups above don’t include Nathan Aké in defence. Comfortable on the ball and strong off of it, the Bournemouth man can easily take the place of Daley Blind to play centre-back or left-back. Then there’s Ajax star Donny van de Beek, perfect for the role Wijnaldum tends to occupy.

Further forward, Steven Bergwijn and Donyell Malen, just 22 and 20 respectively, are the future stars of this side.

The PSV pair have a combined 12 goals and eight assists just nine games into the Eredivisie season. Perfect supplementary firepower for a tournament, when rotation and smart substitutes will be needed.

Of 20 outfield players in the squad selected in October, just one (Babel) was 30 or older. Euro 2020 will be the first roll of the dice for Koeman and this group but it will not be the last.

Success, you have to feel, is not far away.