Ruimte om in aan te vallen? Waarom het Nederlandse plan geschikt zou kunnen zijn voor Engeland
Nederland heeft echt indruk op mij gemaakt met hun aanpassingsvermogen op het EK van 2024, maar de manier waarop ze aanvallen zou Engeland nieuwe kansen kunnen geven in de halve finale van woensdag. Ik heb tot nu toe co-commentaar gegeven op twee van hun wedstrijden: de 3-2 nederlaag tegen Oostenrijk in de groepsfase en de 2-1 overwinning op Turkije in de kwartfinales. De Nederlanders hadden in beide wedstrijden goede en slechte periodes en zijn verre van foutloos, maar ze konden elke keer reageren als er iets misging en dat is min of meer het verhaal van hun toernooi geweest, met wie ze ook tegenover elkaar kwamen te staan. Wat de opstelling betreft, is het eerste dat ik over de ploeg van Ronald Koeman zou zeggen, dat ze niet zo energiek zijn of het type team met hoge druk dat je zou verwachten. Ze zullen dus niet achter Engeland aan komen en proberen ze hoog op het veld te duwen, maar als ze de bal hebben, gooien ze cijfers naar voren. Dat is niet iets dat we vaak hebben gezien bij de vijf teams waar de ploeg van Gareth Southgate tot nu toe in Duitsland mee te maken heeft gehad, en het is zeker iets waar Engeland van kan profiteren
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Dumfries flies forward down the right
Netherlands starting XI v Turkey: Verbruggen, Dumfries, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake, Schouten, Reijnders, Bergwijm, Simons, Gakpo, Depay
Most of the time, the Dutch are set up a little bit lopsided because their right-back, Denzel Dumfries, pushes so high up the pitch as often as he can.
Steven Bergwijn, who has started on that side in the past couple of games, has been drifting in to get close to Memphis Depay and Xavi Simons, who has really impressed me in the number 10 role.
They will obviously pose a threat with the way they link up but, on the flip side, when Dumfries flies forward it is going to leave some space for England to break into once there is a turnover in possession.
That could leave Stefan de Vrij a little bit isolated and, although he is a very experienced defender, he is not as quick as Virgil van Dijk or Micky van de Ven. There should be some chances to expose him.
Are Dutch duo defensive-minded?
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Highlights: Netherlands 2-1 Turkey
The other area where I think England can get some joy in Dortmund is in central midfield.
England have got a lot of players who like to pop up in the pockets in front of the opposition defence – Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, for example – no matter which system we use.
The Dutch are without Frenkie de Jong, Teun Koopmeiners and Marten de Roon at these Euros because of injury, so are missing some top quality in those positions.
Jerdy Schouten and Tijjani Reijnders, who play in the middle for the Dutch, are both really elegant technical footballers, but they like to have the ball and I would not describe them as defensive-minded.
They fill in holes and do the job when their team is out of possession but they are not the same type of player as Declan Rice, and it is not their strong point.
In front of them, Simons tends to get forward, so there should be plenty of opportunities to get in and around Schouten and Reijnders, and get at the Dutch defence.
Two unbalanced teams?
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Gakpo opened the scoring in the last-16 match against Romania
There has been a bit of talk that Koeman might change his formation against England and match up to Southgate’s side by playing three at the back.
The way the Dutch have been playing, however, they kind of end up as a three anyway, with Dumfries going so high so early in such an unusual way.
When that happens, Nathan Ake tucks in and then they have got him, Van Dijk and De Vrij as a three, and their system actually ends up looking a lot like the one England used against Switzerland anyway.
Cody Gakpo is a left-winger rather than a left wing-back but he gives them width on that side, like Bukayo Saka did on the right for England against the Swiss because we did not have the same threat on the other side of the pitch.
Both formations are a little unbalanced in that way, with players on each flank asked to do different jobs, and what tends to happen in that scenario is the team which has the better possession highlights the other’s weaknesses more quickly.
I am expecting a similar pattern to unfold this time. One team will take control – probably England if they maintain the same possession levels as in previous matches – and the other will have to adapt to that.
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