Why Gakpo-Dumfries combo has become the vital Netherlands flank-to-flank move

But the sheer fear of this possibility could weigh psychologically on defenders. More so, as England is unsure who their best left-back. Kieron Trippier has been lacklustre; Luke Shaw has been lively but just back from injury. Even though England’s defence has been mean (letting a lone goal), unconventional movements could unlock the fortress.

The move was not in head coach Ronald Koeman’s designs. He prefers his teams to carry the ball through central channels, in the traditional Dutch-Barcelona fashion. But the last minute ruling out of central midfielder Frenkie de Jong forced a revision of his plans. It threw his blueprint off-kilter, and at his disposal was a disheveled side. He cannot channel his play through the wings because there was no proficient right-winger. If he overloads his left-wing, their offensive sequences would become too predictable; the central route was risk-prone because he was left with an inexperienced midfield (he lost Teun Koopmeiners too).

It was a textbook situation where coaches don’t always do what they want, but they do what they can. Koeman had come up with on-the-go solutions to make his team click. They have stuttered and stammered, not always played the football that endears romantics and purists, but have chiselled out results.

Netherlands players celebrate at the end of a quarterfinal match between the Netherlands and Turkey at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

The style of play has not pleased critics back home or those that are still seduced by the style and elegance of wave after wave of golden generations of unfulfilled renown. Early in his managerial career, Koeman too was typecast as an ideologue. He traced the same Ajax-Barcelona route that Johan Cruyff set for technical, talented young Dutch players. Koeman had a controversial transit in PSV Eindhoven, but was considered a Cruyff disciple. He was moulded in Cruyffian ethos, a ball-playing centre half with a microscopic-eye for goal and a barrel-feet for imparting Herculean power on his shots. He totalled 239 goals, most of them thunderous freekicks or 40-yard screamers, scored more goals than Romario when both played together in Cruyff’s Barcelona Dream Team, and won the golden boot in Barcelona’s . In his last days at the Catalan club, he would groom Pep Guardiola, who says he imbibed his first coaching ideals form Koeman.

Yet, Koeman is not a Cruyffista. He is composed of practical wisdom and adaptability, he knows he can’t build a team, but make one, even if the parts repel. He likes to press high, build from the back and dominate possession, but only when he has the right players for the grand schemes. “I always admired Cruyff for his thought, for his desire to play attractive football, but I’m a defender: I had to fix things and that has influenced my ideas. We want to show beautiful football, but that doesn’t always work” he had said.

To fix things has kept him preoccupied since rejoining the national team after the Barcelona ouster. The other big headache was replacing de Jong, on whose faculties he had corner-stoned the team. A one-man midfield, he both holds and conducts play, has an immaculate passing range as well as an incredible positional sense, a ball-winner, a ball-carrier and a ball-provider. Koeman tried different combinations in the opening games, like installing Xavi Simons as a deep-lying playmaker as well giving the keys of midfield to PSV pair Joey Veerman and Jerdy Schouten. None worked, and after a horrible outing against Austria, he dropped Veerman and paired Tijjani Reijnders with Schouten. Neither are half as skilful as de Jong is, but they combined to breathe stability and enterprise into the Dutch midfield. Rejnders is an excellent ball-carrier and has produced the fourth most line-breaking passes according to Opta. Schouten has grown into a reliable ball distributor as the tournament has progressed. Remarkably, he has yet to be dispossessed in this tournament.

As significantly, Koeman has ensured that his tactics are flexible, that he has several plans, plans within plans. When he wants a more direct route to goal, he could summon Wout Weghorst, a cult hero rather than a superhero. He could deploy a back three or four. Once victories piled up—the semifinal qualification was their first in 20 years—criticism has abated. And there is genuine hope that the pragmatists of Koeman could achieve what generations of romantics could not.