Burt Van Marwijk vents his anger at Howard Webb
There's none so blind as those who will not see.
In the wake of the Netherlands defeat to Spain in the World Cup Final, Bert van Marwikj, the Dutch coach pointed the blame towards his side’s defeat in the direction of referee Howard Webb.
In a game that proved that maybe nice guys don’t always finish last, Van Marwikj’s tactics ensured that the Dutch performance will go down in history as one of the dirtiest in World Cup history.
Their approach was clear from the start, they were prepared to sacrifice everything, including Spanish bodies, and it was a marvel that John Heitinga, the Everton defender, was the only man dismissed.
It is fair to say that Van Marwijk should be thanking Webb, not being critical of him.
The two defensive midfielders, Mark van Bommell and Nigel de Jong, were the chief culprits. Van Bommell, the Bayern Munich midfielder, a nuisance as ever, pushed his limits of unfair play to new levels. As expected, he was snapping around the heels of the match winner Andreas Inesitia and Xavi, but took it to new extremes, as four times during the match he smashed or clattered into the Spain playmakers, with the obvious intention of ending their World Cup.
De Jong went for the more robust approach, collecting Xavi Alonso with a Bruce Lee-style karate kick in the chest which left him pole-axed. Webb was extremely lenient, obviously worried about ruining the game as a spectacle, a feat which was achieved anyway courtesy of the Dutch tactics and no red card, or police escort, was given to the Manchester City man.
Van Marwijk acknowledged his team's robust approach, but also attacked the performance of the first Englishman to referee a final since Jack Taylor in 1974.
"I don't think the referee controlled the match well," Van Marwijk said.
"But let me be clear about this: the best team won the match. I'm trying to analyze the match as best as possible. But I read a few things about how angry Spain were at the refereeing in the first match against Switzerland. If you view the performance [of the referee] today, you'd almost think now that that first match had an influence on this game now.
"I thought that, even with 10 players, we'd get to the penalty shoot-out. When I look back at the match, the first half it was as if we were under a great deal of tension. We tried to play our own game, but it wasn't good enough in the first half. We were overcome by everything. We conceded some early opportunities, but then recovered. It was better in the second half when we didn't hold back any more, and it was a genuine match then. We had two big opportunities for Arjen [Robben], but they had some too.
"It's just sad, really, to lose a final in this way. First we get this red card for Heitinga. The best team wins the match. It's very bitter in defeat, and very sad, but the best team won.
“But I'm not someone to look back at the referee.”
Of course you’re not Bert.
A visit to Specsavers may be in order.
Tags: