Ronald Koeman must recompose a disappointing attack during the 2022 World Cup, amputated by a few new retirees. If the new Dutch coach has already shown that the Oranje can offer much more proactive football between 2018 and 2020 under his aegis. He will have to quickly find the right formula around a player who appears to be essential today: Cody Gakpo. New offensive star who will miss the match against the France team this Friday in qualifying for Euro 2024.
How many Dutch fans have thought about the matches against Germany (4-2 victory in Hamburg in Euro 2020 qualification) or against France and England (2-0 and 3-1 respectively in the 2018 Nations League -2019) on the occasion of the World Cup in Qatar, when Louis van Gaal’s men, around a very restrictive approach to the game, only shot twice on goal against Ecuador (14 shots suffered) or had to wait for the error of Edouard Mendy in the 84th against Senegal to be dangerous offensively? They were undoubtedly numerous. After a successful World Cup (the quarter-final was the objective announced by the federation) in terms of results but unsatisfactory from the point of view of the game, the Netherlands are embarking on qualifying for Euro 2024 with several novelties.
Ronald Koeman has therefore replaced Louis van Gaal at the head of the selection. The former Barça coach is in charge of qualifying for the next European Championship. To do this, he will have to find the right formula allowing his creative players to be less restrained and more able to express their full potential in a country where the aesthetic question of football is impossible to override. The minimalist game of the World Cup was quite annoyed and formed a red thread that the press and supporters unrolled throughout the competition. The hope of a return to the historic DNA exists with the change of coach.
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An impressive tank in defense
Abundance of goods does no harm, the saying goes. Ronald Koeman can count on a large panoply of choices at the level of his central hinge. If France is often exposed for its unlimited supply of talented central defenders, the Netherlands are not left out: Van Dijk (Liverpool), De Ligt (Bayern), Aké (Manchester City), Botman (Newcastle), Timber (Ajax), De Vrij (Inter), Van de Ven (Wolfsburg), without forgetting Daley Blind, who can play in this position in certain configurations. On the sides, if they still have to confirm for the most part at the highest level, Koeman has interesting solutions: Dumfries, Geertruida, Frimpong, Rensch and Karsdorp on the right; Blind, Malacia, Wijndal, Hartman on the left.
If the beautiful and competitive Dutch teams have always had major defenders (Krol, Koeman, Rijkaard, De Boer, Stam, Van Dijk), the multiplicity of talents of the current team allows the coach to think of a pronounced tactical flexibility.
Able to win in Germany in September 2019 with a three-man defense or to lose against England in March 2018 with the same pattern, Ronald Koeman and his men had used a four-man defense much more often between 2018 and 2020, as in the clear victory (2-0) against France in Rotterdam in November 2018.
Surround Gakpo well
One of the key points of Koeman’s offensive animation will undoubtedly lie in his ability to surround Cody Gakpo, one of the rare satisfactions of the last World Cup. The coach had succeeded between 2018 and 2020 in maximizing the capacities of his attacking players. The relationship between Memphis Depay, false number 9, and ‘Gini’ Wijnaldum, number 10 all-terrain, had given birth to high quality services.
If the former OL striker still seems central in the attacking animation today, Cody Gakpo seems on the way to becoming the attacker around whom the animation must revolve. Aligned in second number 9 or 10 by Van Gaal in his 5-3-2 World Cup, Gakpo has especially shone as a left winger since the start of his career. In a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, the Oranje could offer the current Liverpool player on the left, with Depay at the forefront. It would then remain to find the player who will evolve on the right.
Between 2018 and 2020, this position on the right was already one of Koeman’s puzzles. Bergwijn, Berghuis, Promes, Babel and Malen had been tried successively. If Babel and Promes can be left out of the coach’s mind today, Bergwijn seems to have a head start in mind even if, injured, he has had to give up the two games for the next few days.
Berghuis is probably the most natural alternative, accustomed to this side, when Bergwijn and Malen are more attracted to the opposite, to the left. Remains one of the greatest talents of the Eredivisie, who has become indispensable in a few weeks at PSV: Xavi Simons. He too seems naturally attracted to the left side but he has already moved to the right this season for the needs of the moment.
Depay and the others at post 9
Now seven lengths from the most prolific scorer in the history of the Netherlands (Van Persie, 50 goals), Memphis Depay, despite an unasserted status at Atlético de Madrid, seems to be the priority option. The striker has only been established three times in two months in the Spanish capital, but this has been the case in the last three meetings, an eminently positive element in the eyes of the coach.
Ronald Koeman is aware of the lack of alternatives and illustrated it with the call-up of Brian Brobbey, the young Ajax striker who is still struggling to find a place in his club, who nevertheless recovered him for almost 20 million euros last summer, after letting him go free a year before.
“The selection of Brobbey indicates that we do not have many options, explained the technician at the start of the gathering. You select a boy who is not a basic player at Ajax, but who has a future. Good Of course, we also followed Thijs Dallinga, but I chose Brobbey because I want to see him for ten days. I still think he will eventually improve.”
There remains the unknown Wout Weghorst. The Manchester United striker, very regularly fielded by Erik ten Hag, started in the selection jersey with Koeman in 2018. His experience with the Oranje remains limited (19 caps, 5 goals) and his profile requires development and to a precise construction of the offensive animation. With the post-World Cup 2022 international retirements of Luuk de Jong and Vincent Janssen, Weghorst remains, along with Brobbey, one of the few real number 9 profiles in the selectable players.
Under Van Gaal, finally, the selection did not advance on the composition of its line of attack. With the last-minute withdrawal of Cody Gakpo, who left the rally this Thursday morning, and that of Bergwijn at the start of the week, Ronald Koeman will have to wait a few more weeks before being able to line up those who we imagine taking the lead in the sector. offensive. The Netherlands will display a probably unprecedented offensive animation against the France team this Friday. The site has not yet started that it has already suffered a delay.