Netherlands will not feature at Euro 2016 after a 3-2 loss against the Czech Republic last week ended their embarrassing qualifying campaign. They needed to beat the Czechs in Amsterdam to keep their hopes alive for a play-off spot in Group A but Robin van Persie headed an own goal in the 38th minute as the Oranjes failed to qualify for a major tournament for the first time since they missed the 2002 World Cup.
After finishing runners-up in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Netherlands, under Louis van Gaal, did a tremendous job to finish third in the 2014 WC in Brazil. They shocked everyone with a 5-1 thrashing of Spain in their opening match and continued their steady form throughout the tournament and finished third by beating beating the hosts in their last match in the event. Van Gaal did a good job with a squad which had many players heading towards the end of their careers. He was quick to figure out the loopholes in his team, tweaked the gameplan and decided to go with a 5-3-2 formation. His strategy to keep the defence solid and attack on the counter worked brilliantly for them with Arjen Robben doing an outstanding job in his central role.
Their game might not have been as attractive as Spain or Brazil but the Dutch team was still able to win matches until they had series of bad results. Netherlands’ performance after the World Cup has been nothing less than humiliating for the Oranje fans and the team that discovered Total Football has looked completely out-of-sorts against the teams ranked much lower in FIFA rankings. They have lost eight of their 14 matches since the World Cup and their four wins in the Euro qualifiers came against Latvia and Kazakhstan.
The team's failure to book a place in the second most prestigious international football tournament is even more embarrassing considering that the event has now extended the number of teams from 16 to 24 and it means a third-place finish would have guaranteed Netherlands a spot in Euro playoffs.
After the World Cup, Van Gaal joined Manchester United and the Dutch team appointed Guus Hiddink as their new coach. Hiddink decided to adopt an attacking playing style and went back to the more fluid and traditional 3-4-3 formation. The team lacked discipline under him and this attacking approach in the Euro qualifiers backfired as his team didn't had the talent to pull it off. Van Gaal’s defensive formation was considered 'boring' by many but he knew the strengths and weaknesses of the team and his carefully orchestrated playing style was getting the results for Netherlands.
Hiddink was replaced by the inexperienced Danny Blind after the team's defeats against Czech Republic and Iceland, and the draw at home to Turkey. But the situation turned from bad to worse and Netherlands lost three out of next four matches under him. Blind also tried to go with an offensive approach against the teams in his group in the qualifiers and insisted on a dominant playing style. He should have known that his squad was not good enough for that kind of play and a few bad results would cost his team a spot for Euro. But he still went on with his tactics and now that the team won't be able to play in the tournament in 2016, Blind has been hugely criticised and is being blamed for the fiasco.
Johan Cruyff, one of the greatest football players of all time, who led the Dutch team to 1974 WC final and won three European Cups with his former club Ajax thinks that the slump in form of the Netherlands team is not sudden and that there were many issues with the squad that needed to be fixed. In his column for de Telgraaf, Cruyff wrote: "People did not wonder after the World Cup in Brazil how it had gone this far. Things were back to normal for most after that somewhat surprising third-place finish. And now they are facing the consequences."
One other reason for the Dutch debacle was the team’s inability to find proper replacements for their top players of last 10-15 years. Players like Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Robin van Persie, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Nigel de Jong have been the core of Netherlands squad for a long time but they are all in their 30s now. They had one of the oldest squad in the Euro qualifiers and their lethargic play in the midfield was a direct result of it.
Netherlands need to reinvent themselves if they want recover with the Euro ouster and players like Robben and Sneijder could be their star performers now but they can’t depend upon them if they want to make an impact in the 2018 World Cup. Van Persie, who is now 32 has said that he will continue playing for the national team and has no plans to retire soon but what Netherlands need now is for the young players in the squad to step up and perform in big matches. Memphis Depay, who is just 21 and is quickly emerging as a world-class player, will have to play a crucial role in his team’s revival.a
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