Jubilation. Disappointment. Pride. Ecstasy. Resentment.
National competitions provide a fertile ground for many emotions, but there’s one that drives them all. Hope.
Hope has you broadcasting ‘It’s coming Home’ out on the office speakers three days before your country have even kicked a ball.
Hope has you frantically scribbling down predictions on your wall chart, conspicuously designing a route to glory that could maybe yeah I can see that happening I guess?
Hope has you proudly donning your national shirt and praying to yourself that this year, this summer and this team is the one to have you screaming the immortal words of Freddie Mercury… ‘We are the champions’.
For the European Championships in 2020, many nations will be entering the tournament with hope in hand. And to misquote Uncle Ben “With great hope, comes great speculation”. With the bounty of great footballing nations present, predicting finalists yet alone winners is incredibly difficult.
Italy and Belgium have both had perfect qualifying campaigns, racking up 30 points from a possible 30. Italy are under the stewardship of Roberto Mancini and led by one of the most inform strikers in Europe in Ciro Immobile -you’d have to fancy them to have a chance.
Moving on to Belgium, do I need to say more than; Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois, Youri Tielemans and Thomas Meunier?
France are the current World Cup holders and both them Spain, Germany and Portugal will enter the tournament with the added expectation that recent success inevitably brings.
Both England and Croatia were unexpected performers in Russia and will enter the tournament confident on the back of strong qualifying campaigns. England profited from the withdrawal of expectation in Russia 2018. Gareth Southgate won’t have that benefit this time, with England fans becoming more hopeful that the current squad have enough quality to mount a real case for European success.
One team that have had a quietly encouraging qualification campaign are Holland. Managed by Ronald Koeman, The Flying Dutchmen have won six of their qualifiers, drawing and losing only once. To add to this, they also have an impressive amount of talent at their disposal. UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Virgil Van Dijk partners Gini Wijnaldum as Dutch Champions League winners.
Memphis Depay has scored 62 goals for club and country since leaving Manchester United, and Frankie De Jong is one of the most exciting talents in La Liga right now.
In defensive areas, Holland are spoilt for options. They have a criminally underrated an extremely versatile Daley Blind. Denzel Dumfries is an exciting talent too at right back.
Regarding centre backs, Holland have enough to field two championship winning teams.
The aforementioned Virgil Van Dijk is an incredible asset. Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake and Inter’s Stefan De Vrij are both enjoying selection worthy seasons too. However, Ronald Koeman has his preferred partner to VVD. It’s the player who is the focus of this analysis and the man that cost Juventus €74m, Matthijs De Ligt.
Ronald Koemans current tactics
Seldom straying away from it at Everton and Southampton, Koeman looks settled on a defensive four with Holland. For all but one qualifier, he’s played either a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3. The one game he set up in a 3-5-2, his side shipped three to Germany.
Having only conceded the same amount as Germany (7), Ronald Koeman may not be under too much stress to tweak. However, conceding five goals to Germany is a cause for concern. Holland will concede goals against tougher opposition, and given that Germany scored less than England; Spain, Italy, Belgium and Russia in the qualifying rounds, this should be an area of focus for Koeman before the Championships.
By only playing with two central defenders, positional awareness is of paramount importance. Worryingly for Ronald Koeman, his team have conceded many goals through lack of positional awareness.
The above frame shows the erratic backline that led to Germany’s first goal. Both De Ligt and Blind have been dragged towards the play leaving too much space for Kimmich to find the right pass.
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