Can Netherlands win the world cup with bad defense but great fans
As usual, the Netherlands come in the World Cup with a group of players full of talent and with a strong favorite/outsider status. The Dutch team is a well oiled machine led by Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder but will need to repair what has been broken for a long time: a solid defensive discipline.
The Netherlands have been waiting for the World Cup for a while now. When many teams were still fighting for a spot, the Oranje was already qualified with an excellent record in their group and was planning its plan to success in the 2010 World Cup. Will Bert van Marwijk succeed where Rinus Michels, Guus Hiddink and Marco Van Basten failed? At every World Cup, the Dutch are tagged with an outsider tag instead of a favorite tag. They are never quite there to be a favorite but they are never taken lightly. This team is a sure value with a strong game identity but needs to win something soon. Their last title was Euro 88 with Holland's last real golden generation with Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard and Koeman. Can Sneijder, Robben and Van Persie take the all the pressure and lead the team to an elusive World Cup title?
''We have 3 World Class players in our team'' says Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart. ''and most of the players play in great clubs. It's crazy. Sometimes, I look around me when I eat breakfast...... Ajax, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, it is really impressive''. Coming off an exceptional season, Robben and Sneijder will be the pillars of this team, a team that can permit itself to not select Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Netherlands play the same way all the time which is a force of their game. The 4-2-3-1 offers the Dutch the best structure to be able to express their game and maximize their strengths.
But the Netherlands have not won any international trophy since Euro 88. After a ''blitzkrieg'' of a group stage in Euro 2008, the Netherlands are stomped by Russia which raises the question: why do they falter so early with so much talent? With a great offensive capability, the Dutch has holes in its defensive area, usually a deal breaker to win a title.
This team has usually missed a strong defensive base to hope to win great competitions but it seems that it has worked on that.Since a 2-2 draw against England in August 2009, the Netherlands had only conceded 5 goals in their last 7 games. Their adversaries were not necessarily giants, outside Italy, but this consciousness around their defensive game is an encouraging sign for a team without Edwin van der Sar, who retired from international play.
Against Denmark, Japan and Cameroon, the Dutch should be able to go trough with no problems but will face a strong enough challenge to test their might. The eternal problem with the Netherlands comes after the group stages and Dutch fans will hope that their team can beyond a potential and make things happen. With a new and young generation of Dutch stars in hand, coach Bert van Marwijk will have the tools in hand to get to the quarter finals but from there, it is about who wants it more. The Dutch stubbornness to only produce offensive stars and not focus on producing defensively reliable defenders.To be honest, I have not heard a great super star Dutch defender for the longest time and that will come and haunt the Netherlands for ever.
World Cup winning teams always win with a good defense and the Netherlands are just not there yet.
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