Bert van Marwijk seems to struggle when plan A fails. In the WC, plan A for the most part worked, the team scored goals which put the opponent in a difficult situation. This time around, the team didn't score goals despite the impressive offensive force, and there was a complete lack of plan B. In the last match, I am confident that I would have come up with a better plan than what van Marwijk did. Playing 3 defenders against 3 strikers is just plain suicidal, and they payed the price. Portugal should have won the game 5-1 if they had a competent striker.
Jetro Willems impressed me, despite some errors. He is young, and will most likely become a world class back. Sneijder impressed me with his determination, even though most of his attempts failed. He kept on fighting, and if more had followed his example, the Dutch would not be sent home with zero points. Rafael van der Vaart deserved a spot in the team, and he proved it against Portugal. Gregory van der Wiel was a shadow of himself, but in all honesty, he did not get any help defensively. But I admire the guy for keep trying.
The biggest disappointments in this team was the central defense along with Robben and van Persie. RvP can somewhat be excused, because he can't be expected to work wonders on his own, but he also missed a few definite sitters in this competition. Robben is fast, technical and has a decent shot, but he is probably one of the easiest players to read. He should learn to pass more frequently, and his game would improve immensely. All in all, all Robben ever does is to bring the tempo down, which is not in favor of the Dutch style when attacking. They want the ball to move fast and furious between world class players.
4-2-3-1 Should suit this side wonderfully, given that Robben passes the ball.
I've never really had a thing for the Netherlands, but I actually do now. This team should be one of the easiest to "fix" and I am sure they will come back with fury. Pretty ironic that a completely failed tournament got them a new fan... oh well the irony
