Toumba did exactly what it promised. Thessaloniki was loud, Greece were sharp, and for 45 minutes Oranje looked like a side that had left its midfield in the dressing room. The 2–2 that followed is not a heroic night to file away. It is a useful one: a coach who owned the damage, three substitutes who changed the geometry, and a point that keeps the Netherlands unbeaten and second, on five points, behind a Greece side still top on seven.
What Xavi said
Afterwards Xavi Hernández did something rare. He apologised.
“The first half we were so, so bad. And I think that is my fault as the coach.” He said the same thing to the players at half-time: sorry, forget the first 45, we restructure now. He was calm rather than theatrical. The players already looked disappointed. They did not need a shouting match. They needed a different structure.
He was specific about the error. After the 2–1 win in Serbia he freshened the side and started Guus Til and Quinten Timber instead of Ryan Gravenberch and Tijjani Reijnders. The idea, he had said before kick-off, was profiles: Veerman to control the tempo, Timber aggressive in duels, Til to attack the spaces. On the night it produced neither control nor aggression. “Maybe I confused the players.”
Two holding mids in Veerman and Timber, or as Xavi calls it: “the base”.
Xavi had certain expectations of the game and the way Greece would play and he expected to need physical strength next to Veerman in Timber, and legs to attack the spaces in Til. On paper, his plan was fine. In practice, the plan was rubbish after 22 minutes. A long ball by the goalie, a communication error between Timber and Dumfries. The latter losing the header and Van Dijk was simply ball watching. He could have stepped up for an offside trap, or he could have dropped off to defend the space. He did neither. A series of errors in a row and the Greek attacker was face to face with Verbruggen: 1-0. Greece had already a goal disallowed for offside by then. We were warned. And rattled.
Greece’ high press stopped and there were no real spaces for Til and Meerdink to attack. The right wing players (Summerville, Timber, Dumfries) were blocking up each other’s space, while Van Bommel was hardly found on the left. And if they did switch sides, it happened too slow. Greece must have thought they were playing a friendly. Xavi’s tactical plan could be binned and the two holding mids with a central 10 simply didn’t work out. He decided to play a 3-2-4-1 with Til and Dumfries respectively on the left and right on the inside.
Timber and Dumfries losing the duel. Virgil ball watching.
Til and Dumfries are both runners with the ball. Not the creative dribblers or passers you need in the limited spaces.
On top of that Greece used their two strikers to drop deep and mark Timber and Veerman. Both holding mids/playmakers were not able to put their mark on the game as Xavi would have expected. Add to this a bit of impatience, in terms of playing the ball to the two midfielders resulting in loss of possession which in turn led to a more cautious approach. Which helped Greece and didn’t help us.
The second Greece goal, in first-half stoppage time, was worse. A poor pass from Ruben van Bommel, Ioannidis square, Masouras only having to push it in. Two gifts, 2–0, and a stadium that had every right to think the night was done. Quinten Timber stopped running back. Virgil was scolding Van Bommel but stopped playing. Oranje had barely arrived. Build-up was slow, the press was optional, and the trio of Veerman, Timber and Til never found the distances Xavi had described an hour earlier.
Van Bommel’s error leading to the 2-0
Xavi refused to name individual players and stressed that it was the structure that let them down, not the players. He did say the second half — a diamond in midfield, more bodies between the lines, more attacks — is the version he wants. We didn’t need 2 holding mids, we could do with Veerman on the 6 and Reijnders and Gravenberch in the 8 role with Summerville more freed up to drift inside, keeping Dumfries more wide. A draw does not satisfy him. “It is part of the process. I saw two faces. This is only the beginning.”
Xavi also brought Lang. The perfect timing for the former Feyenoord talent. He was told to create things, upset the opponent, be positive and unpredictable. I don’t think Noa needed more than that. After the game he lamented that he should have had more international caps and how his progress had stalled for a bit. He was delighted to be back and wanted to make more of an impact. He ended up impressing with his workmate and drive.
How they came back
The reset was blunt. At the break, off went Van Bommel, Til and Quinten Timber. On came Noa Lang, Gravenberch and Reijnders. The shape became the diamond Xavi wanted: Gravenberch and Reijnders giving the centre of the pitch back, Lang as the wide knife.
So now we had 1 holding mid and the two strikers were often confused who was going to press. And with Summerville added to Reijnders and Gravenberch, we created a man more situation in their engine room adding to their tendency to drop deep.
It worked almost immediately. On 59 minutes Virgil van Dijk headed in from a Veerman corner. One goal, and the crowd changed pitch. Greece dropped into a 4-5-1. Oranje camped. Denzel Dumfries had efforts ruled out. The second one was a clear offside. But his first was very contentious. The defender had taken control of the ball (he thought) which would have started a new phase. Dumfries nicked the ball off him and scored. The VAR decided that the defender did not have control and ruled in favour of Greece. As Van der Vaart would say in the studio: “In this way, a defender with a bad control is rewarded for it….” Xavi brought more fresh legs: Meerdink wrestled for 70 minutes without much to show for and Joshua Zirkzee came on and demonstrated his fine touches a couple of times and was close to a header goal from a Lang cross. With 15 mins to go, Xavi brought Feyenoord debutant Gjivai Zechiël and he nearly forced it. Tzolakis made the save that should have won it, then got booked for time-wasting. The youngster showed some flair, some good defending and he had a nice attempt that could have won it. Not a nice result for him, but he will be delighted with his hare.
On 89 minutes the rebound fell to Reijnders, who drove in the equaliser. Toumba went quiet. Greece, who had led until the last minute, were entitled to feel robbed of a statement win and still leave happy enough: they stay top, and they host Germany on Sunday. Oranje stay unbeaten, second, and host Serbia in Eindhoven. If Germany is able to have their revenge and Holland beating Serbia again, the top spot will be ours.
Big lessons for Xavi. Also some good lessons for the players. Back to Earth. Now up to Serbia, on Sunday in Eindhoven.
MY friends, I am on a plane this weekend so no pre-match post. I will post a Serbia match review later on Monday….
That is really good write up, jan.
A win would have been nice. But these 4 games were always going to be about Xavi learning what the individual players could do and how they could fit his ideas; and the players learning Xavi. The games have gone a long way towards both. He’s given looks to alot of guys who were not in the WC core—Veerman, Meerdinck, Van Bommel, Q. Timber, Lang, Til—as well as the veterans. Some of have shown well, some not so. If the halftime changes and reorganization are any indication (I liked his comments about all of that), he’s learning too and filing things away. I wasn’t sure what to make of his hiring at first, but I think the NT is in very good hands.
If they beat Serbia, they’ve come out of all of this holding their own fate in November.
I thought the starting midfield selection was strange. Guus Til and Quinten Timber aren’t known for controlling the midfield, so we effectively gave up two positions that could have helped control the game from the start. That disrupted the flow of the team.
J. Timber had just returned from a long injury layoff, and it showed. Van Bommel was shockingly poor, but I think inexperience played a big part. The wrong midfield setup only amplified that problem.
Thanks Jan for the great article, Dutch midfield sucked big time at first half, luckily the coach changed it completely after 45 minutes. It was nice to see the game with other 20 Dutchies in a Greek bar in Athens…
Despite the awful first half, I’m still positive. I was uncomfortable with the selection of Til, Timber and Veerman as a collective midfield. I get Xavi’s logic, I just don’t personally rate Q. Timber or Til. I hope Xavi sees this that we have better midfielders. What we miss is a destroyer who is also technically proficient on the ball. Quinten has legs, but he’s always chasing shadows and misplacing passes.
Anyhow, the reaction from Xavi at half-time has good, and the willingness to change the formation midway through the second half and introduce Zechiel also positive.
Ruben van Bommel, I do feel sorry for. Yes, it was a bad back pass that he didn’t need to make. However, in the first half it seemed that we completely forget we had a left side of attack which did not help is performance. Everything went do the right from our midfielders and defenders, and the left barely received any service.
Yes, I just don’t see what Quentin brings to the game. I haven’t seen much of him so I can’t say what he does well. Sometimes national team coaches bring in a player to showcase to the world and help the domestic club make money on transfers. I’m not saying Xavi is doing that but it works when it is merited. So far Quentin hasn’t really showed much. And Til was just lost.
What this team lacks is a true midfield enforcer. A tough tackler and physical player that retrieves balls, breaks opponents passing, clean up defensive errors, cover the CBs, and still have a decent passing to start quick counterattacks or break defenses with long accurate passes. None of the midfielders we have now fill that role. Even without the physical part, we need one defensive midfielder that can pass. We have conceded goals in almost every game we play regardless of the opponent. And sometime very soft ones. Gravenberch would be ideal for that role, but he doesn’t like tough physical duels. He does have the passing skill and does well defensively, but neither Koeman nor Xavi now want him in that role
Van Bommel had a bad game. Van Dijk and the rest of the defense were going 85% of the time to the right. Looking for Summerville and Dumfries. And when he did get the ball, he was looking to play a give and go, but no one was engaging in that vs Greek in the 1st half. Lang started with his long range passing and it worked. That’s what Van Bommel should have done just like he found Gakpo in that game vs Germany. If your main plan doesn’t work, adapt. Don’t just force the issue and lose balls. I do think it was a missed opportunity for him.
The draw keeps us within contention. If it wasn’t for dubious VAR reviews, we should have been topping this group. It is still a wide open group, I do hope we get all 3 points tomorrow.
That was a scrappy and tense match at the end. Zirkzee with an easy tap in to win the game but Serbia really sensed something and put pressure and could have scored the equalizer. A good team would have definitely made us pay.
Xavi again experimenting this time putting Koopmeiners as a CB. I rather VdeVen play there and give Hato a chance at LB. Koopmeiners scored with a free kick that got past everyone. Some players looked offside on that goal but for once we got the benefit of the doubt. He was responsible for the easy header on Serbia’s equalizer. He did well in other areas of the pitch when he wasn’t on defense.
Reijders did very well, very lively and active. Almost scored himself. Did the hard work for the assist on Zirkzee’s goal. Summerville also got a lot of the ball and was a thorn to the opposition. He was everywhere. He needs to work on his finishing and passing accuracies to be elite. Van Dijk and Verbruggen did a solid job.
Meerdink, Lang, Van Bommel, Quentin, and Zechiel didn’t do much. Dumfries was active and engaged throughout the match.VdeVen picked up a hand/finger injury in extra time that looked very painful. Left the team with a man down after he insisted on leaving. The last 4 mins or so after he left became a vulnerability with Xavi having used all 5 subs.
I’m glad we won the game. Greece and Germany drawing 0-0 puts us at the top of the table after 4 games. But this team still has a lot of work to do: Taking games seriously from the start and doing well in the 1st half. Trying to keep a clean sheet. Focus on defensive recovery, solidity and composure.
Xavi and others don’t agree with your Zechiel comment. Otherwise, you do make a lot of sense.
Here are my comments on some of the players.
Koopmeiners as CB: I have been critical of him a number of times but he did show his strength in the Serbia match. I think it might be a matter of a coach (Xavi in this case) recognising his strength and using him accordingly. He has played as CB at Juve (and AZ) and does have a brilliant passing range. Against many opponents, Oranje only need 3 real defenders and Xavi is known to prefer 3-4-3.
Q Timber deserves more credit. He’s an excellent player but he is in that situation where he knows the 3 preferred midfielders are Frenkie, Ryan and Tijani and now Joey is also strongly in the frame as a starter. So when the coach picks you for a match, you need to try and do your utmost to impress him and he then starts to do too much. Wants to be everything and do everything and loses himself.
Some players (Til, Koopmeiners, Schouten) seem comfortable with their roles as stand in. Others will want to force the issue and that usually doesn’t work. I see this with Frimpong as well.
Zechiel is. future starter. He has that Wijnaldum quality, and might actually be a better, more nimble version of him. Maybe more a Musiala or a Pedri than a Wijnaldum.
Ruben van Bommel will be a world class player if he keeps on developing.
Analyst Youri Mulder said after the game, that we lack real class, we lack real top players. I don’t agree with him. I think J Timber, Frenkie, Hato, Van Hecke and Summerville as world class. And I think Van Bommel, Zechiel, Meerdink can become world class.