RONALD KOEMAN’S Netherlands finished second to France in qualifying, losing to Didier Deschamps’ men 4-0 and 2-1 during their campaign.
They will have to improve before meeting the French again in Leipzig on June 21.
But they got off to a good start in their group with a 2-1 win over Poland thanks to Wout Weghorst’s late goal.
The former Barcelona boss, who won this tournament as a player in 1988, has overhauled the playing style since returning for his second stint in charge of the national team.
RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons is definitely one to watch out for after a fine season in the Bundesliga, while Virgil van Dijk finding his form once again is a huge boost.
Their record against bigger nations, losing to Germany and Italy in the last year on top of those defeats to France, is a concern.
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Manager: Ronald Koeman
Koeman was the scourge of England and Graham Taylor in 1994 when he escaped a red card in a qualifier, then went on to score.
Now Holland boss, he led them to second in their qualifying group behind France.
Koeman inherited a talented squad from Louis van Gaal after their impressive run to the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals and will be aiming to go further in Germany this summer.
Key man: Virgil van Dijk
Frenkie de Jong may well have been the man the Dutch were pinning their hopes on until he lost his race to be fit for the tournament.
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With the Barcelona man gone, it will be more important than ever to stay tight at the back and Liverpool stalwart Van Dijk will be key to that.
Likely line-up
Koeman is likely to go with three at the back, with his talisman Van Dijk in the heart of the defence.
Stefan de Vrij will probably get in ahead of Micky Van de Ven and Matthijs de Ligt based on experience.
De Jong pulls the strings in midfield and is vital to their play but could be replaced by PSV’s Joey Veerman after losing his batte to be fit.
Up front, Wout Weghorst often keeps big hitter Memphis Depay out the team and can provide to focal point of attack and gives the Netherlands the option to play the odd long ball.
How they attack
Of all of the teams in this summer’s upcoming tournament the Netherlands are the most difficult to judge in terms of their chances of winning it all.
While they have real quality in their squad they still have questions surrounding their depth in key positions and the way in which they are set up by coach Ronald Koeman.
Expect to see the Netherlands look to begin their attack from the goalkeeper with a patient and possession-based build-up.
By carefully staggering their positioning, they are then able to play through the lines.
The Dutch will typically build in the first third of the pitch through patterns of play and one or two touch passes to break through the lines.
Then when they move into the middle and final thirds, their structure can start to fall apart.
In these cases, they start to rely on individual qualities of their players.
As they attack into the final third in particular we start to see more dynamic movement.
They squeeze the opposition into the final third but there are gaps in the structure for the Dutch as players freely moving into one each other’s zones
The likes of Memphis Depay, if he plays, Cody Gakpo and Simons in particular will be key for the Dutch in effectively breaking down opposition defences.
How they defend
From a defensive perspective, we would expect to see the Dutch defend across the midfield in a medium block.
They will not typically look to press overly high.
Instead they will allow the opposition to come out from the first line before then blocking the pitch as they try to enter into the middle third.
The key for the Netherlands against the ball in this tournament will be to try to protect the centre of the pitch.
When the opposition do try to play down the wide spaces and into the final third we then see the Dutch quickly slide their defensive block across to block off any opportunities.
There can at times be issues for the Dutch with their defensive structure when they allow spaces centrally and between lines that can be exploited.
They are missing a true defensively-minded player in the engine room and these areas can be taken advantage of by the opposition.
It can leave gaps between midfield and defence that canny opposition can exploit.
Prediction
If the Dutch can win Group D, they’ll face the runner-up in Group F, which could be Turkey or Portugal.
Then, they might meet Belgium in the quarter-finals, and could line up against England in the semis.
If they finish second, which is likely given France’s formidable record in groups, they would be up against another runner-up – potentially Ukraine or Romania.
Portugal could provide a huge stumbling block in the quarter-finals on that side of the draw where Spain, Italy and Croatia are all possible semi-final opponents.
Latest odds
The Netherlands are not among the group of favourites and a semi-final run would be a good finish.
William Hill have them priced at 16-1.
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Wags and glam fans
Mikky Kiemeney, 24, is the long-term girlfriend of De Jong.
She was a hockey player of some repute when she met the former Ajax star.
De Ligt has been dating stunning model AnneKee Molenaar since 2018 and they tied the knot this year.
Blind is married to Candy Rae-Fleur – a professional dancer who specialises in Jazz, street and modern dance.
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Nathan Ake finally put a ring on it by marrying his long-term partner, Kaylee in a stunning ceremony in Majorca in 2022.
And Van Dijk has two daughters with his wife Rike Nooitgedagt.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
