It’s hard to believe that for a team with history Netherlands – three-time World Cup champion, Euro ’88 champion – that their recent history doesn’t even include qualifying as an automatic. They missed the last World Cup and Euro 2016. Then the first European Championship expanded to 24 teams, so missing it requires some real action. This is a team that forgot to develop a generation of players after the 2010 final against Spain. And while they may have made a tough comeback to reach the semi-finals in Brazil, the lack of a next generation to take over means they have missed out on two major tournaments.
Whether they have a mix right now is still a question, and going back into the future with Louis van Gaal as manager probably means we’ll get a lot more chaotic stuff. we have after they were disappointed against Spain in the group stage in Brazil , but need is probably the most ridiculous thing Arjen Robben diving (which is saying something) to get past Mexico and a penalty shootout to get past damn Costa Rica. That penalty shootout included van Gaal knocking his keeper out at the end of extra time so Tim Krul could face penalties. That worked, and resulted in van Gaal lifting his own butt more than he did (which is saying something, too).
The Netherlands returned to greatness at last year’s Euro, where they played aggressively at home in the group stage, beating Ukraine, North Macedonia and Austria 8-2 on aggregate. But then it was the Czechs turn in Round 16, they completely collapsed and were eliminated.
And that in-game problem will still be an issue in future games. Memphis Depay looked well deserved when he signed for Barcelona in the summer of 2021 in the group stage in Amsterdam, scoring twice and adding two assists. And then he went missing along with the others when it really mattered, only managing to miss one shot at Czechia. And this Dutch squad hasn’t really transformed from him as one of the strikers in van Gaal’s 3-4-1-2.
Depay is still a pretty much nailed starting star, and they spin Vincent Janssen or Steven Bergwijn around him, neither of which can be trusted more than presence. As chips falter, the Dutch will still see Depay as a force to be reckoned with, something he has proven he can’t do against quality competitors.
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The Dutchman’s other source of goals from midfield will also be absent at this point, as Gini Wijnaldum has broken his leg for Roma and is out of the tournament. They hope that torch will be lit by PSV’s Cody Gakpo, who has scored nine goals and 12 assists in just 13 games so far in the Eredivisie and could very well be the next great thing. according to the Netherlands. But as Jozy Altidore proved once and Ricardo Pepi may be proving now, any jackal can pile up in the Dutch league. He will likely play right behind the two forwards, and the Dutch will need him to make up for the noise Depay won’t make in the knockout stages.
It’s a pity, as the rest of this Dutch team can be prepared for big things. Yeah, Virgil van Dijk was miserable frontier for Liverpool at this point in the season, but this is his first major tour with the Dutchman and, if anything can put him in his former serious form, it’s is this. He is often supported by Nathan Ake and Jurrien Timber. Frenkie De Jong fixed midfield, and there was an enviable selection of players to partner with him in the centre, be it Davy Klaassen, Steven Berghuis, or Teun Koopmeiners. Denzel Dumfries, although not a complete regular for Inter, can provide a threat on the right. Daley Blind has tennis balls in her shoes but won’t let anyone down on the other side.
But it still feels like it’s all going to be flat at the tip. They could easily see England in the round of 16, who have a lot of things they shouldn’t have, but they can be stingy and not the kind of defense that Depay has shown to be good at breaking through. Or they might see a heavily defended Wales or even Iran. Argentina and France will probably have to wait in the half if they get this far.
And there are no guarantees in the group, because group A also has Senegal, Africa’s Best Team. It was a historic year for The Lions, as they won AFCON to start and then knocked Egypt a second time on penalties to qualify for this tournament. It wasn’t a classic performance, though, as they didn’t look threatening in any of them and scored a goal from the open game in 270 minutes. Their last friendly round saw them once again draw with Carlos Quieroz-led side, this time Iran.
And this team has no shortage of attacking talent. Sadio Mane usually leads the line or plays on the left side of a forward trio, opposite Ismail Sarr, who has been on the verge of taking a big break from Watford for 10 years now. They are usually accompanied by Boulaye Dia, who is scoring on half of his shots for Salernitana in Serie A at the moment. But coach Aliou Cissé prefers to keep it close to the vest, and essentially relies on his three strikers to suggest something while the rest of the team focuses on turning the pitch into a trench.
Ecuador has become something of a production line for today’s young talent, a lot of which you’ll see in the MLS. Or over Brighton in the Premier League, when they are proud of their three players, though perhaps not for long, as Moise Caicedo looks set to move to a bigger club for a full £100 sale. Ecuador will take the youngest team out of South America for this, and in contrast to Senegal in that they love to party (meaning goals, it’s not). They placed four against Uruguay and six against Colombia during qualifying, and were held to only three draws in COMNEBOL’s marathon qualifying schedule – and two of those games were against Argentina and Brazil, both of which were held to a draw. on the home field. Their recent form has been a bit bad, as they drew 0-0 in friendlies against Japan and Saudi Arabia (better than USMNT), but it was clearly friendly. At least they would terrify either the Dutch or the Senegalese.
Qatar have two advantages that they hope will make up for the massive talent shortage. One, they are at home. Two, while the teams will be playing against each other a week before the tournament and just hoping for cohesion, this team has been playing together for a while. They have been guests in both the 2021 Gold Cup, where they sometimes look like a pretty good counter-attacking team, and the 2019 Copa America. They were also supposed to play in the 2021 Copa America, but before that there was a lot going on. silly with the arrangement and scheduling of matches. They will have more chemistry than most, and will probably take one of the remaining three.
Managers most likely to get a red card: van Gaal is too focused on making sure everyone can see him holding a sticky note, so we’ll go with Felix Sanchez of Qatar. Never trust a bald guy with a beard.
Schedule:
November 20 – Ecuador vs Qatar (11 a.m. EST)
November 21 – Netherlands vs Senegal (11am EST)
November 25 – Senegal v Qatar (8 a.m. EST), the Netherlands v Ecuador (11 a.m. EST)
November 29 – Ecuador vs Senegal, Netherlands vs Qatar (10am EST)
