As the excitement builds with EURO2024 mere days away, spare a thought for poor Ronald Koeman. In the last twelve hours, the Netherlands manager has had not one but two midfielders ruled out of his first major tournament campaign ahead of a gruelling group including tournament favourites France. The Dutch ranks are awash with talent – the problem for Koeman is that they just seem to keep getting injured. In spite of that, could he still bring EUROs glory to his country for the second time in his life?
Here is everything you need to know about the Netherlands.
Embed from Getty ImagesRonald Koeman returned to the helm of the Dutch national team at the beginning of 2023 following Van Gaal’s retirement. He previously managed them from 2018-2020, seeing them to their first major tournament since the 2014 World Cup, then left to take the top job at Barcelona. Koeman likes his teams to be disciplined, well organised, and attacking, and particularly with the Netherlands he wants to dominate the ball – meaning the midfield are a pretty crucial (more on the midfield later…).
As a manager at major tournaments he is relatively unproven so far, bar a runner-up finish in the Nations League in 2019, but his club record includes three Eredivisie titles. There’s a definite sentimental element to his stewardship too – he was a key member of the nation’s only major trophy-winning team that brought home Euro 88’. Though he’s facing a number of challenges on the pitch in terms of injury woes, and off it in his personal life with his wife battling breast cancer, supporters will hope he can rekindle the winning mentality that helped him win the EUROs all those years ago.
The Netherlands’ recent major tournament history has been difficult to label. After a third-place finish at the 2014 World Cup, they then failed to qualify for two successive major tournaments and only returned to the big stage in 2020. Under Frank de Boer they topped their group at EURO2020, but promptly exited in the round of 16 to Czechia, who were far below them in the world rankings. The 2022 World Cup saw them again top their group and beat the USA in the round of 16 – but were knocked out by eventual champions Argentina in unquestionably one of the best games of the tournament.
There is an emerging theme here: the Netherlands are a competent outfit boasting some of the world’s top players, but don’t seem able to get past the very best teams. That will be a real concern as they go into this tournament.
It’s a pattern which continued in their qualification for this year’s tournament and their warm up games. The Oranje conceded only one goal in six matches against Gibraltar, Ireland, and Greece in their qualifying group, scoring sixteen – but still finished behind France, against whom they lost 2-1 and 4-0. In their warm up games they have recorded comprehensive 4-0 wins over Canada, Scotland, and Iceland, but were defeated by Germany. Goalscoring is not necessarily a problem – promisingly, each of those wins featured four different names on the scoresheets. They proved themselves to be physically competitive in the box and from set pieces, quick going forward, and unafraid to try ambitious shots.
The potential problem for Koeman’s side is coping with the world’s best teams and their attackers – Mbappé scored more goals against them in the qualifying group than literally every other player they played against combined. Against Germany, though they struck early they were caught out multiple times and allowed their opponents a comeback win.
This will be a particular problem considering their rapidly multiplying injury problems in midfield. Koeman was dealt a cruel injury one-two blow with Frenkie De Jong and Teun Koopmeiners both ruled out through injury in the last 24 hours. De Jong was battling his third ankle problem of the season which has kept him largely out of action since March, and the EUROs will come too soon for him. It will come as a real blow to Koeman, who hoped to keep the Barcelona star in the squad even if he wouldn’t be fit for the opening game. De Jong returned to Netherlands non-contact training over the weekend, boosting hopes that he would feature, but it wasn’t to be. Speaking after the Oranje’s victory in their final warm-up game against Iceland, Koeman criticised Barcelona’s handling of their injury-stricken midfielder, saying: “The club over there decided to take risks and this is the price we have to pay for it.”
On the same night, Koeman said he had a “bad feeling” about Koopmeiners after the Atalanta man was forced off during the warmup – his instinct was proven right. Five day before their opening game, it was confirmed Koopmeiners is out of action for the tournament.
These are serious blows for the Dutch, who like to control the ball where possible, as their midfield depth has taken a real battering in a matter of hours. The good news is that, because De Jong has been so injury-stricken this year, they have some idea of how to cope in his absence. PSV Eindhoven duo Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman will likely start in the midfield behind Tijjani Reijnders. However, the lack of experience is now glaring: De Jong has 54 international caps for the Netherlands while Schouten, Reijnders, and Veerman have a combined 24. He made his senior debut in 2018 and played at EURO2020 and the 2022 World Cup, where they progressed to the quarter finals. In contrast, Schouten debuted in 2022 and Reijnders and Veerman just last year; none of them have been to a major tournament with the Netherlands.
The problem is also that none of them are the complete package that De Jong brings in terms of progressive carries, passing, and success in duels; he has the ability to control a game and that is something that the Netherlands will sorely miss. With all that said, though, the Dutch midfield is still not to be sniffed at in his absence. Veerman and Schouten were both stalwarts of the PSV team that won the Eredivisie title this season, and Reijnders was for AC Milan – his strike against Scotland was a highlight of their recent games.
Embed from Getty ImagesThey also have excellent defensive depth to back them up should things go awry in the middle of the pitch. Van Dijk and Daley Blind (though the former was forced to miss their last Euros campaign) provide the experience, but they also have the up-and-coming Lutsharel Geertruida making his major tournament debut. The 23-year-old is versatile in terms of positioning and, if recent transfer rumours are anything to go by, he’s one to watch. Having impressed with Feyenoord, it will be interesting to see if the young talent is able to stamp his mark on this Netherlands side. Other than that they have Matthijs de Ligt, Micky van de Ven, Nathan Aké… this is the one area of the pitch where they should be secure. Bart Verbruggen will be Koeman’s first choice between the sticks; Brighton’s keeper pulled off a few fine saves in their qualifying games, helping him get him the number-one position over Mark Flekken.
Koeman has plenty of strong attacking options to play with too; Cody Gakpo will look to continue a strong international record. The 25-year-old scored in three consecutive group matches in the 2022 World Cup, his first real chance at a major tournament. Since then he has impressed in qualifying, and is likely to join an attack that includes the likes of Memphis Depay and Xavi Simons. Though Premier League fans know him best for an underwhelming spell at Manchester United, Wout Weghorst is also well in the frame for the Oranje – but could lose out to Depay, who missed much of qualifying due to injury but has nevertheless started the last three games over Weghorst.
It’s clear that the Dutch are capable of putting out a formidable starting XI – but the number of players struggling with injuries, will be a headache for Koeman. If the tournament proves too much for, say, Memphis Depay, who has had his fair share of injury woes, they could struggle for equally world-class replacements (uncapped Ian Maatsen has been called up to replace De Jong). There’s also the consideration of a lack of consistent national minutes for some – Ryan Gravenberch hasn’t appeared in orange for over a year after rejecting a call-up and Depay has missed out on a lot of qualifying.
Predicted XI: Verbruggen; Blind, van Dijk, de Ligt, Dumfries; Veerman, Reijnders, Schouten; Gakpo, Depay, Simons
Embed from Getty ImagesWhatever lineup Koeman conjures out of a rapidly depleting squad, they’ve got to be ready for a challenge. In Group D they will meet Poland, Austria, and France – none of whom are a particularly appealing opponent. They will be heartened by the news that opponents Poland are without injured striker Robert Lewandowski for their opening game on 16th June in Hamburg. However, there is no time for complacency as they will then face Dider Deschamps’ France, who sit among the tournament favourites.
This will be the toughest test for the Flying Dutchmen in the group stage. As we know, they often struggle against the biggest of teams and France are the best example of this, being the only team to beat them in qualifying. The defence will need to shake the memory of Mbappé’s consecutive braces against them, and their attack will also need to be on top form to break down a world-class back line. That fixture, one of the showpiece clashes of the group stage, will be played in Leipzig on 21st June. The BBC will be showing all three of the Netherlands’ group matches, finishing up with their contest with Austria in Berlin on 25th June.
FromTheSpot will be covering every Netherlands match – and the entire tournament – in detail, and you can read our full preview of their Group D opponents here.
