FIFA World Cup 2010 - How will Holland line up for today’s round of 16?
With Arjen Robben, the impressive Dutch winger fit for Holland’s clash today against Slovakia, it is quite possible that the Dutch will line up with all of their “top four” players featuring in the starting lineup. Robben, Van Der Vaart, Sneijder and Van Persie will most probably start for Netherlands who have been above average so far in the tournament. This Dutch team has been blamed for playing in a more pragmatic style than their predecessors who played in a much more attacking manner but in spite of adopting a greater offensive approach in the past, Holland have never won the world cup. This fact in itself remains a mystery.
This Dutch side’s pragmatism stems from the lineup that they start with. Dutch basically went with a fluid 4-3-3 in the past, a formation which featured one defensive midfielder and two attacking midfielders, two wingers (playing as offensive forwards) and one striker up front.
However the Dutch manager for this World Cup side, Bert van Marwijk has reverted to a 4-2-1-3 where he has sustained the front three formation of three offensive players but has substituted one of the attacking midfielders in 4-3-3 with a defensive midfielder, which means that the Dutch now line up with two defensive midfielders rather than two attacking ones in central midfield.
With the given Dutch squad, they can very well line up with Van Bommel and De Jong in defensive midfield positions to provide cover to the defense, Sneijder as a sole attacking midfielder playing the traditional number 10 role and Van Der Vaart, Van Persie and Robben playing in offensive roles.
The system also changes during different stages of the game, Van Der Vaart who plays as an offensive winger on the left side of the Dutch attack is not a traditional winger by nature. He lacks pace in his game but has good passing ability and good off the ball movement as well. He frequently drops off the front three position to make it a 4-2-1-2-1 sometimes. This also compliments the runs which are made by the Dutch captain and their left back Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Other times Van Der Vaart holds his position wide on the left to give the Dutch a much more expansive outlook. Robben on the right side cuts in more frequently on his left foot to try his luck with a few shots on goals and on some occasions also takes on his defender and puts in a cross from the touch line.
The Dutch system in work is pretty fantastic with Van Persie upfront who frequently comes deep to collect the ball if he is being marked closely, which means that the defender marking him comes deep as well. In doing so, space is opened for the likes of Sneijder, Robben and Van Der Vaart to make runs in the space vacated by the defender.
Another possibility for the Dutch is to start the energetic Dirt Kuyt on the right side of attack and play Robben on the left, pushing Van Der Vaart to the bench and out of the starting lineup. This decision will signal a much more cautious Dutch strategy as Dirt Kuyt is not as much of a threat going forwards but he is good at tracking opposing players and their runs into the Dutch half of the field. It also means that Dutch can have the option of bringing Van Der Vaart on, later in the game if the need be.
The Dutch should be careful and attentive as far as this game is concerned. A cautious approach will do no harm as Slovakia most certainly will be looking to hit them on the counter attack. Holland are already very strong in attack with or without Van Der Vaart but their weakness lies in their defense, which will need to be given full protection by the likes of De Jong and Van Bommel.
These two defensive midfielders will need to perform to the best of their abilities to prevent any damage from a Slovakian counter attack. Up front one can expect Robben to start and perhaps score as well to announce his arrival on a World Cup, which has already seen stars like Rooney and Ribery fail.
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