At that time, with talented players such as Van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard or Ronald Koeman, the Dutch team under coach Rinus Michels was considered the team with the best total playing style in the world. This was also the first major tournament in which the Dutch team had the appearance of black players, typically Gullit and Rijkaard.
However, after this talented generation and the departure of coach Michels, Dutch football gradually declined, although it still produced new talents and was led by many former players from the EURO 1988 championship team.
The Netherlands team left a big disappointment in the group stage.
On the night of June 25, fans of this team once again received sadness when they lost to Austria in the final match of Group D with a score of 2-3. Although they still advanced to the round of 16, the team led by coach Ronald Koeman only finished 3rd and entered the next round as a wild card. This result makes it highly likely that the Netherlands will face Spain, England or Belgium in the next round, significantly reducing their chances of going further.
Many reasons were pointed out after the match, but most former Dutch players such as Van Basten and Rafael van der Vaart criticized coach Koeman's players for lacking passion and desire to win. Captain Van Dijk was mentioned the most about his playing attitude. It was the lack of desire that caused the players to constantly slack off and make mistakes during the match. They started very badly, playing poorly on defense. The Dutch players were also not determined or able to create pressure, so they easily lost the ball. From there, they could no longer control the match, leading to a painful defeat against a weaker opponent.
It can be seen that the Dutch team has lacked stability since the peak of coach Michels. From playing like an "orange tornado", they are now as fragile as a breeze, with explosive matches but unexpected defeats in other matches. Remember at EURO 2020, the Dutch team under coach Frank De Boer topped the group stage, but was easily defeated by the Czech Republic with a score of 2-0 in the round of 16.
There is still no shortage of talent when coach Koeman brought to Germany a squad with many players playing for famous clubs in Europe such as the Liverpool trio, including center back Virgi van Dijk, striker Cody Gaspo and midfielder Ryan Gravenberch; defenders Micky van de Ven (Tottenham), Stefan de Vrij (Inter Milan) and Nathan Ake (Man.City), as well as goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen (Brighton); striker Malen is playing at Borussia Dortmund... But it is clear that the Dutch team in the following years did not have a real star leader, someone who could lead his teammates and help turn things around when the team fell into a difficult situation. That is also the reason why this team was absent from EURO 2016 and World Cup 2018. It was not until EURO 2020 and World Cup 2022 that they returned but could not go deep into the tournament.
If they continue to show a lackluster performance like in the group stage, coach Koeman's team will hardly hope to go deep into this tournament, especially when they fall into a very difficult bracket in the round of 16.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/con-loc-mau-da-cam-chi-con-la-qua-khu-1852406261927138.htm
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