Whats gone wrong with Holland!

Karma stretching back to that dodgy goal agin us in Euro 88 ?

When Van Bommell went off Holland looked a different team... nepotism screwed them...

Karma stretching back to that dodgy goal agin us in Euro 88 ?

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I assume you are Irish Mr U-number.

Why no username?

Well with them currently 33/1 to win the championship with Paddy Power Im very tempted by the an each way bet on them.

I fancy them to beat Portugal ( if the start the side who came out in the 2nd half yesterday) and I believe that will be enough to get them to the quarter finals on goal differences with Germany taking all 3 points of Denmark and then watch there price fall from 33/1 down to 10/1 to win it out

They where never going to beat Germany last night fielding the same team that lost to Denmark.

The two DM with one up front invites team like Germany to come onto you.

They dont work like a team on and off the pitch when it really counts.

I also dont get the whole huntelaar hype - he didnt make it at big clubs like Madrid and Milan for a reason. Much like he doesnt perform for a big international team.

In fairness Holland had a couple of very good chances to bury the game in the first half, if RVP had taken them, could have been very different.

With the exception of Ozil and great finishing from Gomez, Germany didn't really have to work very hard to win the game.

Gotta say though, I always had question marks about the Dutch defence before the tournament, very average set of players there, so they were always going to be vunerable.

Still I enjoyed Mark Van Bommel's 20 yard sprint Not bad pace there for a 35 year old, probably the only time Sami Khedira got caught out in the game.

They can still qualify on goal difference if results go their way in the last series of matches!

It stems from a lack of teamplay and organization - and it is the duty of a manager to instill it.

I believe the Danes have attacked with more purpose in both their games despite having worse players.

The Dutch defence was always going to be vulnerable. They managed to concede 3 to Hungary in qualifying.

The Dutch keep the ball well but cannot break teams down with collective interplay, there is no support from buth central midfield enforcers (and where were the 'enforcers' when Schweini put the 2 throughballs for Gomez to score, eh?).

They are always looking to give the ball to Robben - who does not see his teammates and whose shooting from distance has been poor in this tournament.
Or, they give the ball to Sneijder to put it on a plate for someone in the box.

Robben and Sneijder bailed them out in the WC2010, and they are not doing it now.

It was obvious after the Denmark game that Afellay and Robben cutting in on their stronger foot did not work, they were running into blind alleys, failed to pick any incisive pass or even attempt to play the occasional one-two.

Why the manager did not swap the wide forwards and order them to adopt simple wing play, work their fullbacks, get to the byline and pull the ball back in the area or across the goal (2nd Portuguese goal against Denmark came from a simple cross by Nani after a half-clearance) is stilll baffling me. They cannot cross if they are played as 'inverted wingers'.

I think Bert will be sacked regardless of the performance in the remaining games. This team is disjointed and clearly does not deserve going through the group stage.

The whole team is under-performing due to poor tactics and a lack of togetherness. Every time talented players such as Robben or Affellay got forward, instead of lifting their head to pick out a pass they decided to just shoot. Germany never even got out of second gear, because there wide players, Podolski and Muller, have also been very ineffective thus far in the tournament.

Van Marwijk persists with the two holding midfielders, De Jong and Van Bommel, but none of the wide players are tracking back to help, which means he is forced to play with two holding midfielders. If Van Marwijk gave the wider players the responsibility of tracking back then you would not need two holding midfielders and could perhaps play someone more creative such as Van der Vaart in the team.

They just look like eleven individuals and do not look like a team, we already know that their defence isn't great, but the most disappointing aspect about the Dutch in the tournament so far has been the way they have gone forward. They seem devoid of energy when going forward, you know that if they could just raise the tempo and build some concerted pressure then something would eventually give. They are not a team and Arjen Robben's pathetic tantrum towards the end of the game.

Can they still qualify? Absolutely. Germany are more than capable of beating Denmark, so much so that it is probably expected. Likewise, Holland can defeat Portugal by two goals. They have to play as a team and Van Marwijk has to tell the wide players to track back and therefore he has the freedom to play Van der Vaart in an attacking role. They have to raise the tempo of their game and have more energy going forward and Van Marwijk has to tell Robben and Affellay to consider the options they have going forward by raising their head, because their decision making is so poor that every time they get forward they decide to shoot.