What about the Dutch?

Vandaag is het zover. Het Nederlands Elftal gaat beginnen aan het WK van 2010. Voordat we ons volledig focussen op dat duel, hier eerst nog een aflevering van ‘What about the Dutch’, de rubriek met berichten uit het buitenland over Oranje. David Moyes, de Schotse manager van Everton, denkt dat Nederland ver kan komen. “In an age where, generally, there are fewer differences between styles of play, Holland retain their identity.”

“As a Scot, when World Cups and Holland are mentioned, your thoughts jump to Archie Gemmill and 1978. Gemmill’s famous goal provided Scotland’s best World Cup moment. Not only was it a once-in-a-lifetime piece of individual skill that would have been memorable playing any opposition, but it was executed against an exceptional side which, though missing Johan Cruyff, contained fantastic Dutch players. I particularly remember Arie Haan and his long-range shooting.

Holland were many people’s tip to win that year and they have often arrived at finals as favourites, only to fail to deliver. They are not among the highly-fancied teams this time and perhaps that will help them. I know from speaking to Johnny Heitinga, my Everton defender, that there’s a lot of confidence in their camp.

They should have a good tournament. They won all eight qualifying games and have been impressive in their warm-ups, beating Hungary 6-1 last week. Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Mark van Bommel were key players for the two clubs that reached the Champions League final and Robin van Persie is fresh, having not played much last season through injury.

I almost signed Van Bommel for Everton a few years ago. He lacks pace but is a very effective central midfield player, an intelligent pro who has a clear idea of his job. Nigel de Jong will sit with Van Bommel in front of the back four and, over the course of last season, I felt he became more and more important to Manchester City. The pair provide the foundation for Bert van Marwijk’s gifted attackers to do their stuff.

A hamstring problem may keep Robben out of tomorrow’s Group E game against Denmark, but he is recovering more quickly than expected and will be an important force for the Dutch as the tournament progresses. Sneijder will feature against the Danes and he presents opponents with dilemmas: sometimes he is a central midfielder, sometimes a second striker. Van Persie is another flexible player, an extremely skilful operator who I remember scoring a great last-minute equaliser at Goodison in 2009. He can finish but he’s not really a classic No 9.

He seldom looks to run onto through balls and often prefers to drop off and do a bit of the work of a No 10. Because Van Persie and Sneijder are both so hard to pin down, when they combine you almost need three players to look after them. On the flanks, in Robben’s place, Van Marwijk can use the exciting young Hamburg winger Eljero Elia. He’s lightning fast and could be one of this tournament’s stars.
Dirk Kuyt provides a more solid alternative and Van Marwijk can bring the prolific Klaas-Jan Huntelaar off the bench if he needs a finisher. Then there’s Rafael van der Vaart, another hard-to-categorise forward-thinking player, generously blessed with talent.

Those attacking options are as good as any. Holland’s problem might be in defence. Giovanni van Bronckhorst, the left-back, is a fine footballer but is now 35 and has lost a little of his speed and energy. Joris Mathijsen, at centre-half, has his doubters in Holland and Gregory van der Wiel, a young right-back who plays for Ajax, is inexperienced. There is a general lack of height in the Dutch side, which could make them vulnerable at set-pieces, especially against the Danes, who have a number of tall men such as Per Kroldrup, my former centre-back. Per was unlucky with injuries at Everton but has done well at Fiorentina.

Holland’s vulnerability at the back places an onus on Heitinga, who has been a fantastic signing for me. I initially used him in central midfield but moved him back to play with Lucas Neill in the middle of our defence because of an injury crisis. It was from that point that our recovery last season began.

In an age where, generally, there are fewer differences between styles of play, Holland retain their identity. You know they’re always going to attack, use width and be good in the centre of the park. It comes from the strong tradition of Dutch coaching.”

Prachtige woorden van een geweldige trainer. Hopelijk maken we het waar!