Louis van Gaal believes Netherlands have to ditch their 4-3-3 formation going forward if they are to have success and he sees a starring role for Spartak Moscow winger Quincy Promes.
- By Michael Bell
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The 66-year-old led Netherlands to the 2014 World Cup semi-finals playing in a 5-3-2 formation, but since then the national team has reverted back to 4-3-3 under both Danny Blind and Dick Advocaat.
With Netherlands set to miss out on their second straight major tournament, Van Gaal has insisted that the 5-3-2 formation should be used going forward.
He told AD, “You see it: more and more trainers and teams are looking at it (5-3-2). In England, and Germany.
“In the Netherlands among others Erik ten Hag. The spaces on the field are all well-occupied if you play this way, and you are also extremely flexible. 3-4-1-2 can be 5-3-2. But also 3-4-3. How we played at the World Cup in 2014, which is depicted by many people as a defensive system, but it’s just how you do it. ”
Van Gaal also singled out Quincy Promes as a player who could flourish in a 5-3-2 formation, “Now at Orange, Quincy Promes could well play the role of a central attacker in that World Cup system. He is also such a multifunctional player in my eyes.
“The classic 4-3-3 problem is that you are required to have skilled wingers. And in current football, there is less and less space for specialists, whoever they are. “
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I’ve been saying it for years. They played the 5-3-2 the very first competitive match after the World Cup against Czech Republic (away). They lost because of a Janmaat error at the end, but didn’t play a bad match. Yet Hiddink abandoned the formation after that and its almost never been used since.
The only other game I can think of since then in which they used the 5-3-2 was a friendly against Wales a couple years ago. In that match, Promes played in the position LVG describes above, and was involved in 2 of the Dutch goals.
Yes it’s not a cure-all and yes the Dutch do not have as many quality players as they had a few years ago, but this system gives them a far better chance to be competitive at present. Playing the 4-3-3 against average teams hasn’t been effective, and playing it against France was downright moronic. Too bad LVG didn’t take the job after Blind was sacked, they will now probably have to wait until 2020 for tournament football.