Netherlands swept aside France 2-0 in De Kuip on Friday evening to move to within a point of winning the UEFA Nations League group. Here are our player ratings for the victory.
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Jasper Cillessen 7/10: Barely had anything to do but kept out a Griezmann header in the first half and commanded his box well.
Denzel Dumfries 8.5/10: An excellent performance from the PSV right-back who played with so much energy. Dealt with France at the back and proved to be an outlay going forward. Nearly scored in the second half which would have capped off a great display.
Daley Blind 7/10: Didn’t have much to do defensively and was not as effective going forward as Dumfries. Overall a solid night from Blind though.
Matthijs de Ligt 8/10: Won an early foot race with Mbappe and afterwards kept the French attack in his pocket. Alongside Van Dijk, De Ligt was solid and unmoving.
Virgil van Dijk 8/10: The captain of the Dutch national team had a faultless evening. Didn’t have much to do but ensured Giroud, Griezmann and Mbappe were kept quiet.
Marten de Roon 7/10: Sat in front of the defence and recycled play well. Was a tidy and solid player in the midfield. Doing his job perfectly and proving to be a reliable addition to the team.
Frenkie de Jong 8.5/10: An excellent performance from the midfielder who has made such a difference to the team. Played deep in the first half but was involved in everything. After the break, France couldn’t stop him dominating and he won the penalty late on.
Georginio Wijnaldum 8/10: Nearly scored in the first few minutes but was denied by Lloris. He eventually beat the goalkeeper before the break. Worked tirelessly and linked the attack excellently. Looks free alongside De Jong and De Roon and Oranje are finally seeing the best of him.
Steven Bergwijn 7/10: Worked tirelessly throughout the game and caused the French defence issues with his pace. A promising performance from the young PSV forward.
Ryan Babel 7/10: Played a crucial role in the opening goal and once again worked hard at both ends of the field. His performances making him undroppable at the moment. Adds so much effort on the left hand side.
Memphis Depay 8.5/10: Memphis was once again the man driving Netherlands forward at every opportunity. Held the ball up well, linked up play and caused the French defence countless issues. Came close to a goal on a few occasions before his cheeky Panenka sealed the victory.
Substitutes
Quincy Promes 5/10: Not on the pitch long enough for a review
Tonny Vilhena 5/10: Not on the pitch long enough for a review
Nathan Ake 5/10: Not on the pitch long enough for a review
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De Jong and Memphis rightly deserve their high plaudits, but Marten de Roon has quietly become a key addition to this team. Such a hardworking player who reads the game well, disrupts play effectively in the middle of the park, and sprays a few decent passes too. Barely put a foot wrong today.
He’s exactly what everyone in Holland thought / hoped Strootman would have been when he got back from injury a few years back.
Couldn’t agree more about Dumfries. Out of nowhere, RB suddenly doesn’t look like as big of a problem. Has the pace Janmaat lacks and the strength Tete lacks, and puts in decent balls, too.
Fully agree on de Roon! I thinks he deserves a higher rating. The great outcome is that the midfield line starts becoming more solid and Gini starts (finally) making some good performances with the Oranje
We all are very happy of the uphill performance since koeman took over. I believe he has done a wonderful man management job. One obvious factor of this is the younger players that has matured successfully i.e De jong, Deligt and Dumfries. If they are our first eleven now as we speak then we should be very careful on their next big club adventure…as definitely they will go abroad. History has proven that once our nextgen move abroad and just sit on the bench ……oranje is back to square one. We are lucky that Cillessen is on form despite not the no.1 at barca. I believe too Koeman should allready have now a back up plan.