UEFA Nations League 2018-19, Netherlands 2-0 France: 5 takeaways from the match

#1 Possession football played the right way

The Oranje playing possession football to its best

The Dutch haven't experienced much success in recent years. They had failed to reach Euro 2016 and FIFA World Cup 2018, but now the team has younger players who are hungry for success. Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, etc all have been replaced by a younger pool of players.

With the appointment of Ronald Koeman as the coach, Netherlands look good for a bright future. And not only are they yielding results, but they are also doing it the way the godfather told them to.

Johan Cruyff wanted beautiful football, The Netherlands are playing beautiful football. Koeman has played under Cruyff, and is looking to instill possession-based football in the team.

Against France, it was played to perfection. The attack, the defense, the midfield, everyone was on the same wavelength to play the possession game.

While The Netherlands passed around, very patiently looking for opportunities, the French grew impatient with time, and mistakes began to come. The ability of the youngsters to be this patient is credited to the coach, and possession is nothing without patience.

Although The Netherlands didn't create many chances in the first half, they mentally conquered their opponents, and didn't get frustrated for not getting goals. In the second half, France grew more desperate and hurled everything at the Dutch. However, the Dutch easily controlled the game with the ball, and this time they had the shots to show for it.

The type of game the Dutch played conquered the world champions with ease. They played possession football, not for its sake, but to win with quality.