A (almost) decisive match. This Friday evening (8:45 p.m.), the France team travels to the Netherlands, to the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, for the Euro 2024 qualifiers. If successful, Didier Deschamps’ men – who are six points ahead of the Dutch but with one more match – would almost validate their ticket to Germany next summer. But what are the “Oranje” actually worth?
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On paper, the selection (again) led by Ronald Koeman – who succeeded Louis van Gaal after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – appears to be one of the best European nations. With Matthijs de Ligt (FC Bayern Munich) and Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool FC) in defense, Frenkie de Jong (FC Barcelona) in midfield and Memphis Depay (Atlético Madrid) in attack, it has very high level players at its disposal. each line. And it can also rely on several elements as talented as they are promising such as defenders Micky van de Ven (Tottenham Hotspur) and Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen), midfielder Teun Koopmeiners (Atalanta BC) and attackers Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool FC) and Donyell Malen (Borussia Dortmund).
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Suffice to say that there is no shortage of arguments, in all areas of the game. “They have a great generation. It’s been around ten years since the talent machine started up again in the Netherlands. There are a lot of talents who are exported relatively young to top clubs and big leagues. This generation is beginning to mature its talents. Now, it is not only Virgil van Dijk and Memphis Depay who carry the selection,” explains to Le Figaro Matthieu, one of the members of the X (ex-Twitter) Dutch Football account, specializing in the world of football in the The Netherlands.
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But strangely, the results and performances of the Dutch selection do not live up to its qualities (and expectations). It seems that she is still looking for herself. Its recent change of system testifies to this. While he had opted for a 4-2-3-1 in the first part of 2023, Ronald Koeman chose to switch, after the offseason, to 3-4-2-1, a playing pattern which is close to that in which it played during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar (3-4-1-2)…and which allowed it to regain a little confidence thanks to its two successes against Greece (3- 0) and Ireland (1-2).
“The Netherlands came out of the September international break full of confidence, the doubts around Ronald Koeman were swept away a little. They are on an ascending phase,” says Matthieu from Dutch Football. Before specifying: “But we must not forget that against competing or equivalent nations, they had very little game production while they did not have many injuries. I think the criticism could quickly come back.” From this Friday evening, in the event of a big setback against the Blues?
Faced with teams considered weaker, the “Oranje” hold their place. As proof, they largely won at home against Gibraltar (3-0) and Greece (3-0) and won a valuable victory in Ireland (1-2) during the European Championship qualifiers. Successes which allow them to occupy second place in group B, tied with the Greek “Pirate Ship”. On the other hand, when the level increases, it is much more difficult. Still as part of the qualifications for Euro 2024, Virgil van Dijk and his teammates were crushed last March against the French team (4-0), at the Stade de France, including a great Kylian Mbappé, author of a double and an assist. In June, in the Nations League, they were in turn beaten by Croatia (2-4, ap.) and Italy (2-3), respectively in the semi-finals and during the match for the third place.
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We have to go back to September of last year and a victory against Belgium (1-0), in the Nations League, to find their last success against one of the best nations in the FIFA rankings. Which shows that they are still missing something to get back to the top. “What they are missing is having a player like Antoine Griezmann. A player who can pull the selection upwards, on all levels, whether in terms of defensive replacement against big nations or offensive animation and in particular on set pieces in contested matches,” believes Matthieu de Dutch football.
If the Blues are faced with a cascade of defensive packages – William Saliba, Jules Koundé, Dayot Upamecano and even Axel Disasi – the Netherlands also have to deal with many absentees. Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, Cody Gakpo and Memphis Depay, affected, were not included in the list revealed by Ronald Koeman last week. And since then, Mark Flekken, Teun Koopmeiners and Steven Berghuis have (also) been injured. Which does not bode well against the Blues who remain on five consecutive successes in the Euro 2024 qualifiers with eleven goals scored…and none conceded.
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Despite everything, the former FC Barcelona coach remains optimistic. “We hope to have a plan on Friday to make the task very difficult for France and obtain a result,” he announced this week at a press conference. Of course, we are aware that we don’t have the strongest team. But that means nothing in football. I see matches and results every week where you wonder how this could have happened.” Will the “Oranje” create a surprise against the world vice-champions?