5 major factors that have caused Netherlands' decline

As long as Louis van Gaal was at the helm of Dutch football, Netherlands were amongst the high-fliers in European football. Assisted by now manager Danny Blind and Patrick Kluivert (both were also part of the coaching staff in Ajax’s 1995 Champions League winning season), they coasted through their World Cup qualifying record with an unbeaten record (9 wins and 1 draw), conceding just 5 goals in the process.They carried their sublime form through to the 2014 World Cup, where they secured third-place. Like the qualifiers, they were unbeaten throughout this campaign as well, losing to Argentina from the penalty-spot in the semi-finals.Post the van Gaal era, Dutch Football has suffered an unthinkable landslide. Their situation has reached such a nadir that they may even face the prospect of not qualifying for the 2016 Euros in France after an embarrassing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Turkey. With just 2 games left in this campaign and hopes of automatic qualification all but ended, the Netherlands can only progress to the Euro finals through a two-legged playoff.With a mediocre 10 points from 8 games played, they currently sit in 4th position in their group(behind Iceland, Czech Republic and Turkey) and can only compete for 3rd place with Turkey(12 points) to qualify for a playoff spot.We analyse 5 primary reasons that may have led to the steep decline of the Oranje:

#1 Managerial Instability

After van Gaal’s two-year stint as Netherland’s head-coach ended, he took up the Manchester United managerial role left void by the sacking of David Moyes. Guus Hiddink was now handed the task of guiding Netherlands towards qualification for Euro 2016 with a group, which, apart from Netherlands alone, had no other team that made it to the 2014 World Cup. It seemed a cake-walk when the draw came out.

However, his results have been pretty abysmal, to say the least. A last minute loss to Czech Republic was followed by an unconvincng home victory against minnows Kazakhstan, where they had to from behind to collect all three points.

Another shocking performance followed with a 2-0 defeat to group-leaders Iceland, who, led by Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson, were sending warning signals across Europe with their impressive attacking flair. They even needed an injury-time equaliser to save themselves the blushes at home to Turkey.

Although they managed to bag a double against Latvia, that was hardly any compensation for their mediocre performances against the bigger teams. After a home friendly defeat to USA in June amid calls for Hiddink to get the axe from the KNVB, the 68-year old resigned from his post 3 weeks later to be replaced by Danny Blind, who has had a similarly uninspiring start, suffering another defeat to Iceland(0-1) and now to the Turks.

Hiddink’s inability to identify his best XI has most probably cost the Oranje a Euro 2016 place, and only 6 points from their remaining two games will suffice. Even that may not be enough, depending on results coming in from Turkey.

#2 An ageing attack

Arjen Robben (31), Robin van Persie(32), Wesley Sneijder (31) and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (32) have been serving Dutch football for many years, but their performances this campaign give solid evidence that age is catching up with the quartet. They are no longer capable of penetrating through opposition defences and creating key goal-scoring chances with the same ease as they did in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

It’s high time they gave way to the youth attacking talent emerging from top clubs like PSV and Ajax. Luciano Narsingh’s repeated presence on the bench is definitely hampering the 24 year old’s development as a potential threat on the right-wing, a position currently occupied by Arjen Robben. 25-year old Luuk de Jong needs to be given more opportunities upfront, rather than persisting with a declining Robin van Persie.

Netherlands’ reluctance to give their youth first-team football has proved to be their Achilles Heel this quaifying campaign. Danny Blind must realise this quickly and turn things around if he wants more creativity in the attacking third. Their failure to score against Iceland and Turkey will hopefully convince Blind to do away with under-performing seniors and provide the youngsters an opportunity to show their worth on the big stage.

#3 Defensive organisation absent

Netherlands’ fans will be bewildered at the massive loss of concentration of their defence, which was so organised and virtually impenetrable at the World Cup. In the absence of Ron Vlaar to a long-term injury, they are clearly missing an authoratitive leader at the back. Stefan de Vrij and Bruno Martins Indi have looked at sixes and sevens at times, allowing themselves to get opened up on many occasions.

Daley Blind at left-back has failed to meet the standards he sets at Man United while wearing the Oranje jersey. Netherland’s experiment in yesterday’s game with inexperienced 18-year old left-back Jairo Reidewald, as he failed to create a single chance going upfront, and found the threat of Hakan Calhanoglu too big a challenge for him.

A sound back-four is what a manager primarily looks for in a team, and Danny Blind, himself a defender during his playing days, must sort out a method to restore order into a chaotic defence which has so far managed to keep clean sheets only against the bottom of the table Latvians.

#4 Major Injury issues

Netherland’s poor display has not been helped by the fact that they have had to suffer from the absence of key players to injury. Ron Vlaar, a defensive rock in Brazil last year, has been battling his hamstring injury throughout last season, and that battle is carrying on through this season too, with a recurrence of the hamstring problem ruling him out for the rest of the calendar year. He currently is without a club.

Robin van Persie, more in the side these days as a captain than an impact striker has also been on the sidelines regularly due to knee and groin injuries.

Arjen Robben, so influential for the Dutch with his pace and understanding of the game, has played just 4 of his side’s 8 qualifying games. His groin injury forced him to come off at the half-hour mark in the 0-1 defeat to Iceland. The 31-year old has been suffering with his thigh and ankle injuries last season, and as a result finds himself a notable absentee both from Bayern Munich and from Netherlands.

With age also not on his side, the KNVB may be forced to take a tough decision on Robben’s future as far as international football is concerned. Giving Narsingh and Depay more playing time could well be a boon to the Dutch team’s chances of success in future tournaments.

#5 Lack of unity as a team

As a team, Netherlands have failed to work with the ball with the same incisiveness as they did while van Gaal was in charge. With just 4 assists in 8 qualifying games, it is evident that there is a lack of creativity in midfield, with defensive midfielders Nigel de Jong and Jordy Clasie failing to set up attacks with their sharp passing. Their attacking midfielders, especially Wesley Sneijder and Georginio Wijnaldum have not worked the opposition defence enough for them to be opened up with through balls to the striker upfront.

Wingers Depay, Robben and Narsingh inability so far to deliver accurate crosses into the penalty area has also impeded their chances of finding the back of the net. This lack of innovation upfront was evident in the Iceland game, where they dominated possession (62%), but managed to get just half of their shots(18) on target(9).

From an external point of view, it appears as if the Dutch attack seem to have run out of ideas on how to penetrate their opposition’s back-line. The Netherlands coaching staff must instill a flow into their passing technique and persuade their players to be patient while in possession of the ball (something van Gaal did brilliantly) and search for any sort of openings available in the opposition defence rather than just delivering arbitrary crosses and long balls in the hope of it meeting a team-mate.