Koeman made a terse impression during the last presser before the game. He admitted that he had some serious talks with the midfielders: the ball needs to be played vertical more quickly. Take some more risks and offer more options.
In the same press conference, he also mentioned that Frenkie was a question mark. He was part of the clash that gave Timber his concussion and explained Frenkie’s injury “was somewhere below the midrif” which resulted in some snickers from the press.
Frenkie was apparently a question mark but he ended up playing, while “sure thing” Summerville was not in the starting line up. The in-demand winger had a slight calf issue and wouldn’t start. His replacement was Brian Brobbey who would go in the centre striker role and Malen moved to the right. Koeman mentioned before the game that he would have played the Sunderland striker anyway: “The spaces will be limited, and Brobbey deals with this way better as target man”.
it was clear from the outset that Koeman’s words had worked. The team started energetically, on the front foot and this resulted in an early wing move from the left, for a Brobbey tap in: 1-0.
Two braces
The tactics worked like a dream and Malen’s inside runs, resulted in a man more situation for the Dutch in midfield. Every time the orange men repossessed the ball, the Swedes would drift back into their five at the back positions offering Dumfries in this case the width of the pitch. His low cross was finished by Brobbey yet again: 2-0.
Graham Potter used the dehydration commercial break to change his game plan. He moved Isak to the left wing position stopping the threat from Dumfries on the right. This blocked Koeman’s plan to overload the right side of the pitch. Sweden moved to a 4-4-2 to stop Oranje’s dominance in midfield and Sweden got themselves back into the game, creating more and more chances.
The 2-0 being prepared
In the second quarter of the game, Oranje became sloppy and somewhat complacent, allowing Sweden the freedom between the lines. It was easy to see the discomfort on the Dutch faces as the likes of De Jong, Van Dijk and Verbruggen were screaming commands to their team mates. This was a poor phase in Oranje’s game and it was Verbruggen who kept us in the game with some tremendous saves.
Late in the first half, the Brighton goalie flapped to the ball when a free kick was curled into the area and Lagerbielke thought he had scored. Luckily for us, the defender had drifted off side so the goal didn’t stand.
After the half time break, Koeman brought Summerville for Malen. He needed a winger who would be more disciplined in tracking back and stopping the Sweden defenders the freedom to explore the space. Oranje went into a mirror 4-4-2 with Reijnders next to Brobbey and Gravenberch next to Frenkie.
Gravenberch would be more adventurous and just like against Japan, it was the Liverpool midfielder who would explore the space and link up the attacks. Early in the second half, Gravenberch drifted to the right to find Summerville, who kept two defenders busy and found Dumfries on the overlap, who was overlooked by Isak.
Lovely interplay on the right wing
Dumfries’ low cross only needed a tap in from Cody Gakpo: 3-0. Not much later, Gakpo had the freedom of the pitch to do what he enjoys best, threatening to go outside but then chopping inside to this right and then finishing at the near post: 4-0.
Potter again reacted, this time bringing winger Elanga and two playmaking midfielders who would sit in front of their defence. The five at the back was no more. A counter attack resulted in an Elanga goal, with Van Dijk misjudging the situation and fast Van der Ven beaten for speed: 4-1.
Koeman took the not-so-fresh Frenkie off the pitch and brought two fresh midfielders. Til was brought in for his running and hassling and Memphis would sub Brobbey off. Where the Dutch lost forward thrust with Memphis in the striker role, this time the depth was secured by the mercurial Summerville and the running of Til. Summerville again impressed with his fleet of foot actions, resulting in another goal for him with a dribble and combination right through the middle: 5-1.
Cody doing what Cody does best
Koeman radiated confidence after the game, and with reason. The plan worked and this time around he was able to regain control after a tough spell and twice he found the response to keep Sweden at bay.
The international media were on the same page, after the match: this Netherlands team is a contender for the final. Brobbey impressed yet again, after his first season in the EPL. His Swedish opponent sighed: “the guy has 300 kilos worth of muscle mass and that is only just his neck!”
The beast scored twice in 17 minutes. Only three players did this quicker: Podoski in 2006, after 12 minutes, Ronaldo after 13 minutes in 2002 and Gary Lineker after 14 minutes in 1986.
Brobbey had two touches in the box. Two goals. Gakpo also scored twice. In the past 19 hours of playing time, he only scored once from open play. But at the highest level, Gakpo always delivers. Gakpo has 8 goals at major tournaments, with only Van Persie and Bergkamp having more goals ( 9 and 10 respectively). It feels like Gakpo will take that record, maybe at this World Cup already.
Gakpo had threats from the left, Dumfries from the right. The new Real Madrid back assisted 20 goals in Oranje. There are only 5 other players with 20 or more assists. Depay with 36, Sneijder has 33, Robben 29, Van der Vaart 28 and Bergkamp 24. Not a bad list.
Oranje win as also due to Verbruggen’s keepers work. The Dutch had to deal with more shot on goal and shots on target than the Swedes. But Verbruggen was able to stop 7 of the 8 attempts. Only Van der Sar did the same in 1998 against Brazil and Jan Jongbloed saved eight attempts in 1978, but both these games were 30 minutes longer, due to extra time.
Despite the joy and cheer, there were still critical notes. Legendary playmaker Van Hanegem saw a mediocre Van Dijk: “He doesn’t seem to be in great form. The conceded goal could have been stopped if he did his job pressing into midfield.
Van de Ven also didn’t impress. His positioning is wrong at times and he seems to want to do everything at maximum speed. He needs to calm down. And Memphis… what to say… I don’t think he has the goods to be playing at this World Cup, sadly.”
There are many news in the aftermath of Holland victory Vs Sweden. Accolades coming from all over, for Gakpo, Brobbey, Dumfries etc etc. And all the sudden, pundits telling we can win it all.
While I shared similar euphoria after this massive victory, I feel all of us need to stay grounded and pragmatic. Sweden is NO France, Spain granted their strikers are top-notch. They actually struggled big time in the qualifiers and their win Vs Ukraine and Poland ain’t exactly outright. Their win against Tunisia also not a good indicator given that Japan gave Tunisia the same walloping.
In the match Vs Sweden, statistically it is even I would say. Holland took their chances and Sweden didn’t manage against a strong Verbruggen. We didn’t exactly limit the Swedes their chances as much as we did against Japan I feel. Remembered we thrashed the former world champions of Italy and France in previous Euro 2008 tournament (under Van Basten) and then, the similar euphoria there was, only for the team to be exposed by Russia. Back then, I remembered we converted our chances whereas Italy and France didn’t.
Given all these, I hope the team stayed grounded and continue to improve from the two matches so far. I believed there are still many room for improvements and happy that Japan and Sweden showed us what are those. And knowing that Van de Ven, Reijnders and Kluivert can still get better, that gives me hope. Van de Ven is just like Milos Kerkez at Liverpool, full of adrenaline and power. As Jan called out, he needs to calm down a little. The nutmeg from Elanga wasn’t pleasing to watch.