The Netherlands are out of the World Cup after a penalty shootout loss to Argentina. Michael Bell provides his player ratings for the Netherlands players.
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Andries Noppert 6.5/10: Had another fine game in goal and was not at fault for the opener. He could not prevent Messi netting from the spot but made a good save in extra-time. Sadly he was not a penalty stopper, while his opposite number was.
Denzel Dumfries 5/10: Not a good performance from the right-back, who struggled to get forward and gave away a sloppy penalty in the second half.
Daley Blind 4/10: His 99th cap in Oranje was not smooth. Looked sloppy for the opening goal and did not get involved in the game before being substituted.
Virgil van Dijk 6/10: The leader at the back, Van Dijk defended well at times but could not help Oranje build from the back. Got a yellow for defending his team when a melee broke out. His penalty was well saved.
Nathan Ake 7.5/10: The Oranje star of the tournament put in another fine performance at the back. Closed down Messi a number of times and made some timely interceptions.
Jurrien Timber 6/10: Went forward with some nice dribbles and defended well. Was maybe a little lucky to escape a second yellow with the mood the referee was in.
Marten de Roon 4.5/10: Couldn’t get near Messi and was substituted at the break. Offered nothing.
Frenkie de Jong 7/10: A tireless performance from the midfielder, who tracked Messi at times. Defended well but didn’t drive forward with the ball as much as usual.
Cody Gakpo 6.5/10: Struggled at times in the first half and looked more comfortable after being moved further forward. Won the free-kick which led to the dramatic equaliser. Tired in extra time before going off.
Memphis Depay 5/10: Dropped deep looking for the ball a lot and struggled to make an impact going forward against the Argentina defence. Looked like a player short of match fitness and was rightly substituted.
Steven Bergwijn 4.5/10: Was brought in to trouble the Argentina defence with his pace but he could not do that and was brought off at the break.
Substitutes
Steven Berghuis 7/10: Brought some needed energy to the Netherlands midfield and nearly scored with a fierce strike. His penalty in the shootout was well saved.
Teun Koopmeiners 6.5/10: Brought on for De Roon and got on the ball a bit more but the play was sloppy. However, he provided a moment of magic with his free-kick pass to Weghorst.
Wout Weghorst 9/10: What a cameo from Weghorst who allowed us to dream with two goals to take the game to extra time. Also netted his penalty. Always gives his all in Oranje.
Luuk de Jong 6/10: Did his job which was to win some headers. Looked frustrated at times with free kicks going against him for little.
Noa Lang N/A: Not on long enough for a review
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Frenkie is overrated, not just this match but this whole tournament. He performed way way below his quality. He should be the one that brings tempo to the team, yet he played safe and appeared clueless most of times. If FDJ can’t play, this Dutch team can’t play.
Think your taking Frenkie’s game out of context. Frenkie was brilliant at sweeping around the base of play throughout. There were many games within games, unfortunately Fenkie’s role relies on others to to get the best form him.
Problem was, Frenkie was constrained by the insipidness of Van Gaals tactics.
I agree that FDJ had a quite tournament as did many other Dutch players. But I would say the performances were more down to van Gaal’s squad selection and tactics.
As much as I’ve been an admirer of van Gaal’s I think he made a real mess of this one and let his arrogance get the better of him.
Blind and Klaassen had no business being in the squad, Gravenberch, Danjuma and Brobbey should have been. They at least would have provided some athleticism and energy despite their inexperience.
At least think outside the box with the squad he had, maybe bring on Frimpong at right wing and shift to a 4-3-3, Frimpong has been playing higher up the pitch with Leverkusen lately anyway. At least try and be expansive in their play.
I feel like we bowed out without every actually playing the kind of game we are capable of.
@Madvv
You absolutely right about every single observation. But a man like Lvg is too arrogant not be very wrong
@madvv
You are right in every account. And of course Lvg is too arrogant not to be too wrong