Seven years ago, the Netherlands were runners-up in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Three years back they reached the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup. It all seemed like the Dutch side were getting back to a competitive best.
However, it’s seemingly gone horribly wrong for “the Oranje”, who are on the verge of missing out on their second successive major competition after their recent failure in the European Championships qualification group.
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With the national team without a manager, without hope in their World Cup qualification camping and without anybody seemingly capable of leading them to glory the flaming Orange are seemingly going through one of their darkest phase of their illustrious football history. What happened? And why are they here? In such a spot?
Here are five reasons why the Netherlands national team is seriously struggling at the moment.
#1 Failure to produce top stars
Johan Cruyff, Denis Bergkamp, Wesley Sneijder, Edwin Van der Sar and many others have all come through the world famous Ajax youth Academy, where they learn how to play football at the highest level. From the 1970s to the 1990s the Ajax academy churned out some incredible talents, but in recent years there has been a distinct lack of Dutch talent coming through.
Of course, players like Vincent Janssen, Memphis Depay and others play for some big clubs around Europe, but are any of them actually good enough to rely upon on the national stage? There is no Cruyff in this generation, not a Bergkamp or even a Robin Van Persie to inspire this current crop of players. Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben are still involved in the squad but if anything that’s indicative of the problem. Both of them are no longer the players they once were but the Dutch do not have anyone suitable to replace them.
A severe lack of new, good players coming through is dangerously harming the national side, and whilst players like Georginio Wijnaldum, Daley Blind and Kevin Strootman are good players, they aren’t the type of players to rely upon on such a big stage, especially the latter considering his constant injury problems. Once the KNVB realise they need to look at youth development, only then will we see some sort of improvement from the Dutch.
#2 Lack of identity
Everyone knows what Total Football is. It’s one of the most famous and most beautiful styles of football we have ever seen, led by the likes of Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff back in the 1970s. Recently, however, it’s like the Dutch have almost forgotten what Total Football is and what it means.
The late Cruyff spent the whole of the 2010 World Cup saying how bad this Dutch side was because they left their footballing principles at the door in favour of a tougher, more physical style of play. Watching their recent loss to Bulgaria, there wasn’t any sort of identity to this side.
Earlier, you could always bank on the fact that you would get a great footballing battle against the Dutch and maybe their mentality would get the better of their opposition, but now you get neither. Their playing style means they are almost helpless against the big sides, showcased in losses against Italy and France, and also capable of the odd slip up against weaker opposition like Iceland last year and Bulgaria recently.
Some players aren’t suited to Total Football whilst some are, but Total Football isn’t the be all and end all. At the moment, the Netherlands just needs some sort of identity because right now anything is better than nothing.
#3 Poor leadership in the dugout and at the KNVB
The Dutch teams over the years have had some of the most iconic footballing managers in recent memory. Rinus Michels, Johan Cruyff, Ernst Happel, Dick Advocaat, Guus Hiddink and Louis Van Gaal just to name a few. These people knew how to get the best out of their sides and, more importantly, they knew how to deliver success. Since Rinus Michels last left in 1992, Van Gaal has had the job twice, as has Hiddink, as Advocaat, with only Frank Rijkaard, Marco van Basten, Bert van Marwijk and Danny Blind taking over in between.
This is part of a major problem that the Dutch now have. Relying on certain managers is one thing, but replacing them with former players with little to no experience at any sort of level is incredibly dangerous. Now, the managers have failed to an extent in recent years by not even qualifying for tournaments and failing to establish some sort of identity, but the blame must also fall at the feet of the Dutch FA.
Failure to create a suitable youth development project for the new generation, coupled with their own inability to create new managers or even coaches has set the Dutch back years in comparison to nations such as France, Germany and Spain.
Chances are they will draft in Louis Van Gaal to get one of his mates in the hot seat, or one of the backup players from his 1995 Ajax side, and in about 18 months time the cycle will begin again. It’s just poor management from the KNVB to not bring in a suitable replacement or even draft up a suitable list of candidates.
#4 Too much too soon for young players
If Holland fails to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, it will be the first time they will be missing from successive major competitions since 1982-1984, but things were different at that point of time. They had a few youngsters coming through the ranks with the likes of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard all making the 1986 World Cup squad.
Back then they had a future to look forward to with the trio of Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard all developing very well at Ajax and PSV and on the verge of making historic moves to AC Milan.
That was then, this is now, and what happened back in 1986/87 seems to be worlds away from what’s going on at the moment. 17-year-old Matthijs de Ligt had made his national debut after only seven Eredivisie games for Ajax this season. He may become an immense talent in the future, however, he had been fast tracked to the first team of the national squad because they simply had no one else.
The Dutch are throwing in these young players with the hope that one of them will be the next big star and bail them out of trouble. Don’t be surprised if, in the not too distant future, Justin Kluivert gets a call up simply because he scored a goal and is the son of former Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert.
#5 They’ve stagnated and other nations have grown
As mentioned previously, other nations around Europe and around the world have grown in terms of their styles of play, the players they use and the coaches that are being introduced. Take France for example, they have a plethora of players to chose from in almost every position. They have some exciting players in the peak of their careers and players ready to make the next step into the first team.
Germany as well also have that exciting mix along with top quality coaches to ease the transition, even the likes of Italy and England can feel somewhat optimistic with their current crop of players. Holland, however, can’t feel that same optimism.
Take a look at the current Dutch squad. Out of the four goalkeepers, Jeroen Zoet is the only regular for his club with the other three being on the bench at Barcelona, Tottenham and Everton. The defence isn’t much stronger, with Daley Blind being the most experienced at the age of 27, and not to mention the midfield where arguably the two most important players are an ageing Wesley Sneijder and an injury prone Kevin Strootman.
What Holland are failing to do is mix youth with experience at vital times and have kept some of the old guards around for slightly too long. Other nations have managed to combine the two and it’s worked out well in the past, but something needs to change in Holland or else they will be making the wrong kind of history.
