Over many years, the Oranje have been blessed up front with superb strikers. During the good times and bad times, the Oranje always had players who were a threat up front. However, as the team continues its revival under Ronald Koeman, the lack of quality strikers is a concern. With Euro 2020 on the horizon, can Koeman overcome this concern or will it impact his work in returning the Oranje to international competitions.
- By Ibrahim Ayyub
- Follow Ibrahim on Twitter
The Oranje have had a great success up front since their glory days of the late 1980’s. Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit spearheaded the attack during Euro 88. Dennis Bergkamp came on the scene during Euro 92 and later on with Patrick Kluivert becoming his partner in crime in the late 90s, they replaced the retired Van Basten and Gullit. The Dutch had such a dearth of talent in the 90s that saw them call up Pierre van Hooijdonk and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink along with Bergkamp and Kluivert for World Cup 1998.
The competition to play upfront was so intense that even the likes of Roy Makaay, 2003 European Golden Boot winner, wasn’t able to get sufficient playing minutes once Dennis Bergkamp retired after Euro 2000. Ruud van Nistelrooy had burst onto the scene following Bergkamp’s retirement, but he along with Kluivert, Hasselbaink and Van Hooijdonk couldn’t steer the team to World Cup 2002. Ultimately, the latter three’s playing time for the Oranje ended as Van Nistelrooy became the top gun for the Oranje. However, his reign would be short-lived after butting heads with the Oranje manager Van Basten during World Cup 2006 and he would not feature for the Oranje after Euro 2008. In the meantime, the likes of Robin van Persie, Dirk Kuyt and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar emerged on the scene for the Oranje as they, along with Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder, helped guide the Oranje to their third World Cup Final in 2010.
Unfortunately, the Oranje have struggled to replace Van Persie, Kuyt and Huntelaar prior to and subsequent to Koeman’s arrival as manager. Koeman has relied on Ryan Babel, who is in his early 30s, to lead the charge upfront. Even though he is in mid 30s, Huntelaar has been superb for Ajax during their own recent revival, so it was a surprise to see him left out of the Oranje side that features many of his current teammates.
It is disappointing that this Oranje revival comes at a time when there is a lack of excellent Dutch strikers. This decade alone has seen only four Dutch players lead the Eredivisie in scoring. Bas Dost, Memphis Depay, Vincent Janssen and Luuk de Jong. Only Memphis has been performing well for the Oranje but he is more of a 10 than a striker while the other three have failed to impress when called upon. Bas Dost is 30 now and seems to surplus to requirements, while Luuk de Jong is 29 and about to play in his fourth league in Spain with Sevilla, after playing in Holland, Germany and England. Vincent Janssen is 25 and his career stalled ever since moving to Tottenham in 2016 and is now starting a new chapter in Mexico with Monterrey which probably makes him an afterthought for now.
Time will tell if Koeman will continue to rely on Babel or will he entrust other players such as Wout Weghorst, Quincy Promes, Justin Kluivert to play up front. Who knows, maybe a new rising star, such as Donyell Malen, will appear and shine for the Oranje very much akin to Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong. In the meantime, perhaps Koeman should not ignore Klaas-Jan Huntelaar while he tries to solve this issue.
Follow
This is how I see the problem. What the author omitted is that while the Oranje had not produced a wealth of GOOD STRIKERS, they have served as a launching platform for some of the GREATEST STRIKERS in game: Romario, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, Suarez, Lozano. None of them are Dutch. The Eredivisie has become a training ground for untested or second rate foreign players. I will make an analogy with two other nations, Argentina and Brazil. They are the nations Rinus Michel had in mind when he revolutionized Oranje football. Why do you think these nations no longer produce many world class players as they used to, except for a few rare ones? Clubs like River, Boca, Independiente, Racing, Flamengo, Sao Paolo, Corinthians, Palmeiras, Atletico Mineiro, Cruzeiro, Internacional, Gremio and Santos have become FEEDER PROGRAMS for the RICH EUROPEAN CLUBS. Sounds like FOOTBALL COLONIALISM of a sort, doesn’t it? Being an immigrant myself in the United States and the grand-son of an Italian immigrant who ended up in Haiti, I could not be anti-immigrant. However, I believe a nation as long as “it is not preying on another” has the right to control vital sectors of its society. When it comes to Football, clubs like Ajax has to reconsider their BUSINESS PRACTICE and remember what made them great in the past. As a coach with both US and Dutch training when it comes to football I AM AN ORANJE AT HEART. Arjen Robben, my fellow lefty and look-a-like is one of my all time favorite player. Van Persie’s FLYING header against Spain from a coaching point of view, the Daley Blind’s pass, and Van Persie’s execution was PURE ART and is the GREATEST GOAL EVER SCORED IN FOOTBALL. One final note. If Babel, Strootman and Veltman(on current form) can be picked, then Koeman HAS NO EXCUSE for leaving Huntelaar and Weghorst out. Then again from a coaching point of view, Koeman has not proven that is above average compared to Petez Bosz, for example.
Wow, you sure use a lot of caps dude.
There is no frame of reference whatsoever for comparing Koeman to Bosz since Bosz has never been a national team manager.
I happen to have been a very good player and good player development coach and what you are saying is non sense. How do you explain Danny Blind. Unless you have been successful as a club coach you will never be a good national team one. You can however, be a GOOD TEAM MANAGER, a whole different beast.Van Gaal, Rinus Michel, Del Bosque, Aragones, Tele Santana come to mind. Do you know why Brazil did not win in 2014? After they fired Meneses which was a stupid move, Guardiola’s agent inquired about the position because Pep was on sabatical at the time, and that was his dream. 60% of Torcedores were in favor. The Brazilian federation in their Bolsonaro style stupidity and arrogance argued that they had GREAT coaches in Brazil. We all know how that played out. Since Tele Santana, such a person has not existed in Brazil. I still dream of a Guardiola coached Canarinha. I am still waiting for you to explain the consistent choice of Strootman and Babel and playing Daley Blind(a good player but slow) as A LEFT BACK. That is where the coaching part comes into play. Possession is part of Oranje DNA, it is a no brainer. The problem is what then? Koeman’s team besides the introduction of young faces plays like all Dutch teams before him and still has not convinced me offensively.
I guess the following formation may bring the 3 points against germany:
_________________cillessen_________________
Dumfries_____van dijk_____de ligt_____blind
___________________aké____________________
______de jong______________wijnaldum_____
Kluivert__________malen__________memphis
Not to sure I agree with playing Aké as a CDM, rather him playing the LB, although not sure what he would have to offer going forward. Midfield should be van de Beek, Wijnaldum and de Jong. Malen wouldn’t start, Memphis in the middle and Promes and Kluivert on the wings.
Marten de Roon in midfield, not ake. Also no Van de Beek, injury 🙁
No stickers at Oranje and van de beek is out. So it is better to play:
_________________cillessen_________________
__________van dijk__de ligt___ake__________
Dumfries______________________________blind
_______propper_____wijnaldum_____de jong___
___________________________________________
______________malen__________memphis_______
i totally agree with this formation but we can change blind with PVA because he is faster and better in offense than blind and nathan ake could also cover him well because he can play as lb also
433 in attack using PVA as left wing malen as right and memphis in the middle and 532 in deffence that will give the team more stability as we will play with 3 at the back
They are there but I think they are trying to go for the False 9 instead of a true striker. If that is the case Donny van de Beek could even be put into the position. That being said Dost and Weghorst are more traditional and don’t fit that mould where de Jong does play differently. Finishing wise he doesn’t provide the same ability as the aforementioned, but can play the more unconventional striker role that the Dutch national team seems to be aiming for. The new upcoming wave of Dutch strikers are slightly in that mould as well, but it is a transitional time in terms of what we once knew as a striker.
Aké may be the next davids with his defending skills, strength and work rate if he got reposioned in the midfield.
With van dijk, de ligt and de vrij first choice central defenders aké has no chance to play as a defender like he does at bournmouth.
It is a shame an amazing talent like him is wasted.
Netherlands have always had a great defensive midfielder such as davids and nigel de jong in rencent years, and I personally dont think martin de roon could fill that huge gap, so aké could be easily the first choice defensive midfielder as he played a lot in that position.
@Johnny Dutch
I m speaking about this particular game where van de beek is not available and when you face germany in hambourg you should think about protecting your defence.
But playing wijnaldum along side VDB and de jong in the future may be an option for sure.
Forgot about that injury! I would definitely give Pröpper the start. He has a lot more tho offer going forward, plays a clean game, good box-to-box and would free up Wijnaldum to attack more. I don’t see Koeman changing the formation. Although Aké has played CDM, he hasn’t been put there in awhile. Now is not the time to experiment too much. That’s why de Jong stays in the holding spot.