Italy U21 1-0 Netherlands U21: Tactical Player Report

Daley Blind

Son of former Ajax captain, Danny, Daley Blind has come through the ranks at Ajax, and cemented the left-back spot in the side, winning their player of the year award this season. In the game against Italy, Blind was supposed to play more of an attacking role, to support John on the left -hand side while they tried to break down the Italian defence.

The first thing one notices about Blind, and all Ajax players, is that they pass the ball very well, and very crisply. Apart from this, their skills in terms of their touch are also very sublime, and Blind is no exception. Due to this ability, he can play a role in attacking play, and build up play. He tends to do the latter, playing passes out from the back, mostly in the direction of the central midfield.

His forward runs are not down the line, like most full backs, but in the channel. This is to complement the play of John, who usually takes up positions on the touch line. Running into such channels means that you often have to shoot, and play through balls or passes to team-mates, and Blind does all of the above well.

In terms of how deep his runs usually are, he doesn’t venture all that far forward, and tends to stay around the half-line, allowing players with greater skill, like Kevin Strootman and Marco van Ginkel to move into dangerous areas of the pitch.

Defensively, he has a solid technique, and can tackle well. He generally works well as a defender, and as part of a unit, and knows which spaces to close down and which areas to monitor. This makes him an efficient and effective defender, despite the fact that personally, he isn’t exceptional like a Martins Indi for example. Like most full backs, he has good stamina, and covers a lot of ground over the course of a game.

Georginio Wijnaldum of Holland U21 during the UEFA EURO U21 championship semi-final match between Italy and Netherlands on June 15, 2013 at the HaMoshava stadium at Petach Tikva, Israel.(Getty Images)

Georginio Wijnaldum

The PSV starlet has been very good throughout the tournament, and his play from the right wing has won him a lot of plaudits. The player looks like he may have another big move or two in him, as he has shown the potential to create and score goals with his skilful play.

Any attacker who has the kind of pace that Wijnaldum has will cause opposition defenders problems. His running definitely had Bianchetti on the back foot for large parts of the game, and the Oranje are probably regretting the fact that he didn’t see more of the ball during the game last night. He complements this pace with excellent dribbling ability, and the combination of the aforementioned attributes enables him to get the better of many defenders.

The most troublesome aspect for defenders as far as Wijnaldum is concerned, is his ability to cause trouble while going from the outside, and while cutting inside. In this tournament alone, he has scored after cutting in, and beaten defenders to cross the ball while going down the line. With such diverse skills, it becomes tough for a defender to know which foot to show him onto, or where to focus. It often means he needs to be double marked, leaving space for a right-back.

Defensively, he isn’t as impressive, with his tracking back especially lacking at times. Physically too, he’d do very well to bulk up a little bit. An addition of such strength would make him a complete package, and a winger to really watch out for.