By Mark Gleeson
DOHA (Reuters) – For their obsession with tactics, the Netherlands went out of the World Cup tossing aside tradition and using route one football to fight back against Argentina in Friday’s quarter-final, only to be eliminated in a penalty shootout.
Veteran coach Louis van Gaal had pricked Dutch sensibilities about the way the national team plays by changing the system ahead of the tournament in Qatar, abandoning the traditional attacking 4-3-3 approach and looking to play a pressing a game and then catch the opponent on the counter.
The 71-year-old insisted it would be the only way to World Cup glory for the Dutch and it did see them win their group and advance through to the quarter-finals, albeit in an unconvincing run.
But it fell well short on Friday as they went behind 2-0 to Argentina in the second half at the Lusail Stadium. They had offered little in terms of possession and never pinned back their opponents.
Van Gaal had to abandon all niceties and throw on two imposing centre forwards, looking to find them in a ‘hit and hope’ fashion. It worked as Wout Weghorst scored twice to equalise in dramatic fashion and force the game into extra time.
The second goal was a freekick routine he brought from his time at Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, with the ball played along the ground instead of over the defensive wall and then swept home by the tall striker.
Winning at all costs, even if ugly, had been Van Gaal’s mantra through the tournament, but left many Dutch purists upset.
Never short on self-confidence, Van Gaal brushed aside the critics with an insistence he knew best.
But there will be an overriding feeling that he got it wrong and that the young Dutch side did not play to their strengths. They might have offered a more competitive challenge had they stuck to the ‘Holland way’.
They showed flashes of potential with their passing game but playmaker Frenkie de Jong rarely got them going and there was only one game — in the last 16 against the U.S – where the wingbacks proved effective.
Striker Cody Gakpo, who scored three goals in the group stage, impressed and can now look forward to transfer bids from some of the top clubs in Europe.
The Netherlands will be hosting the Nations League finals in mid-year where home advantage could offer them a chance of a title and a quick opportunity to get over the disappointment of Qatar.
(Editing by Christian Radnedge)
