Netherlands defeated Georgia 3-0 in their final warm-up game before the European Championships begins next weekend. However, the performance did not do enough to justify the 5-3-2 formation.
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Frank de Boer lined up once again in a 5-3-2 formation despite the criticism of the performance in the 2-2 draw against Scotland in midweek. He made two changes with Maarten Stekelenburg starting in goal, while Daley Blind replaced the injured Matthijs de Ligt.
Netherlands had the lead in the 10th minute through a Memphis Depay penalty after Denzel Dumfries was brought down in the box.
That goal came after Georgia had a great chance to take the lead themselves and again the Oranje defence didn’t look secure as the ball was constantly lost due to sloppy play. There could have been further goals before the break for Netherlands, but the Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Loria denied Memphis, Wout Weghorst, and Frenkie de Jong.
At the break, Nathan Ake replaced Blind and in the 55th minute, Weghorst netted his first goal for his country after a pass from Memphis.
De Boer then made a number of changes and in the 76th minute, Ryan Gravenberch nodded in his first goal for the Netherlands after a Memphis effort was saved.
Netherlands finished the game in a 4-3-3 after Steven Berghuis entered the pitch but there were no further goals.
In a week’s time, Netherlands face Ukraine in the European Championships, but Oranje look far from ready at the moment. De Boer needs to decide whether the 5-3-2 formation is really worth the risk after two less than convincing performances.
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That’s amazing that after 6 months, a coach still could not know the composition and system of his team. It’s obvious that 5-3-2 is not good for team bacause in this system, you put all the defensive players on the field and all the attacking players on the bench. In fact, you disarm the team before the game starts. We need a system like 4-2-3-1 that works in both attack and defense.
4-3-3, 5-3-2,… The important thing to be a tough team: solid defense and effective attack like what did van Gaal in 2014.
A good win. Men in Orange are yet to realize their true potential. There is lot more scope for further growth. All the best to the Dutch squad.
532 would be understandable if it was FDJ, RG and Gini, but De Roon?
Understandable with two good wing backs, but Wijndal and Dumfries?
If he plays De Roon then at least the RB should be much more attacking; while out of form the likes of Stengs could have easily fit into that RB role…with a good coach…