European Cup: Romania vs Netherlands
Start time: 07-03 00:00
After losing 3-2 to Austria in the final group game, Dutch coach Koeman was criticized at home after being asked about his team's weak defence, disorganized midfield organization and poor pressing.
For example, former Dutch international De Zeeu fired directly: The best defenders in the world are in the Dutch team, Koeman, how did you concede three goals in one game?
At the same time, in the Dutch television studio, former internationals were criticizing their coaches, some players and team tactics. Dutch legend Van Basten was disappointed with centre-back Virgil van Dijk, while former international Van der Vaart called the defeat a "disgrace".
Then there was poor Wellman, who was substituted for 33 minutes due to a dismal performance, which could be the end of his international career. You know, if it's not an injury, being substituted at 30 points is a huge humiliation for a player.
And coach Koeman's answer was also crisp: You just said that you didn't advance! You just say that you haven't avoided England!
Yes, the Netherlands was supposed to have a direct dialogue with England, but due to a moth, it was lucky to draw Romania.
So the question is, will you be able to pass the test if you draw Romania? Do you think which strong team in the round of 16 can do better?
Moreover, you Holland do have some problems at the moment: are you good at pressing? How to solve the problem of the front line? Has Koeman decided on the starting line-up?
Problems with the Dutch midfielder
Werman, who was substituted on 33 minutes, sat on the bench and looked frustrated, his eyes glazed over to the camera, and there was a reason for him to be substituted – his pass completion rate was just 47.4 per cent!
Werman's loss is an isolated phenomenon, but it is a reflection of the poor form of the whole team! After watching the whole game, the Dutch defense was like a "headless fly" and did not know what to do.
The lack of balance in midfield has always been a big problem for the Netherlands, who were suffering from injuries before the European Championships, losing Frenkie de Jong, Koopmeiners and De Roon, the former two of whom were long-term starting midfielders.
And from the three games, I found that Coman did not give the starting point of the midfield at all, and was still hesitating.
- In the opening game against Poland, Koeman fielded a duo of Werman and Scotten, with Harvey Simons up front on the right and Reynders in the middle.
- In the second round against France, he sent Scotten, Reinders and Simons into a midfield three.
- In the final round against Austria, he changed the midfield trio to Reynders, Scotten and Werman. The change was a disaster, the Netherlands were unable to control the ball and were pressed down the left flank, only to bring Werman off in the 33rd minute, and Koeman overturned his own set-up.
The data also shows the problems of the Netherlands:
(1) The player averaged only 3.3 balls per game in the attacking third, which ranked second to last among the 24 teams in the European Championship;
(2) PPDA with 14.1 plays ranked sixth from the bottom of all teams (Germany ranked first with 8.8 per game);
(3) conceded an average of 5 shots per game, with only Albania, Scotland, Georgia and Poland conceding more than them;
Problems with the Dutch striker
Lightheadedness has always been a big problem for the Netherlands on the international stage, and the ability of the strikers to hit the ball at crucial moments is still far from the other strong teams.
The Netherlands had a total of 40 shots on goal in the three games, but only 10 were on target. With 25 per cent of shots on target, they are third from bottom at this tournament, with only Serbia (23.1 per cent) and Scotland (17.6 per cent) worse than the Netherlands.
Depay's position has been the subject of discussion in the tournament, as he has conceded too much possession up front; Against France, he was isolated, did not make a single successful breakthrough, won only one of his four duels and had a low pass completion rate of 63%; Against Austria, he dropped deeper and was more of a courier than an outright striker.
Of course, Depay's individual ability is undoubted, but the second problem for the Netherlands is that there are no players to connect with him in the frontcourt, and without the support of his teammates, there is naturally no threat.
On the other hand, because the Dutch strikers will also help!
For example, in the last round against Austria, Dutch striker Malen ran to the back to help his teammates assist, and the result was an own goal.
The data gives the Netherlands a 5-gear advantage, which is very strong! Win one or fail.
Truth be told, Romania is arguably the weakest team in the team that has qualified so far! Except for Dragusin in the backline, most of the other players play in the local league!
From the point of view of playing style, Romania is accustomed to a set of 4141 formation with a strong sense of defensive hierarchy, and more often the team uses stepped defense to limit the opponent's offensive advancement speed!
In other words, Romania will start to defend from the midfield, and with the blessing of the front, middle and back three lines, the Dutch ground attack may be greatly weakened! After all, as mentioned above, due to De Jong's injury, the Dutch midfield is missing a key link hub.
It should be noted that UEFA officials also gave an interesting statistic: the Netherlands have the shortest lead time (12 minutes and 27 seconds) among the teams that have been promoted, and among all the teams, only the eliminated Czech Republic (7 minutes 20 seconds), Hungary (2 minutes 01 seconds) and Serbia (0 minutes 00 seconds) have a shorter lead than the Netherlands.
All things considered, Uncle Scumbag expects Romania to at least hold the threshold, and the Netherlands will be difficult to penetrate.
Okay, that's all for today's game, what do you think of this game?
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