What has become of Dutch football?

What has become of Dutch football? The pioneers of Total Football reduced to total desperation, hit-and-hope nonsense, the kind of football that has never been associated with Holland before.

There is nothing beautiful about those orange shirts any more. Holland were a horrible mess, bereft of ideas and their identity, and how startling that was to see from a country whose most influential football minds have never been shy of voicing their opinions.

Few people could have predicted the fall would be so dramatic when Holland beat Brazil to third place the 2014 World Cup. Many were swept up by the shock and splendour of their 5-1 win over Spain in their opening match. Louis van Gaal’s counterattacking tactics allowed the outstanding Arjen Robben to run riot in a central role and Spain never recovered from that humbling defeat. Holland had been expected to struggle in a tough group. Instead, buoyed by that incredible victory over the world and European champions, they went through in first place after beating Australia and Chile.

Yet Johan Cruyff has since argued finishing third masked Holland’s flaws. They were fortunate to beat Mexico in the second round, needed penalties to beat Costa Rica after a 0-0 draw in their quarter-final and although they held Lionel Messi’s Argentina to another goalless draw in their semi-final, their luck ran out in the shootout. Their football was never convincing during the knockout stages and, sure enough, the cracks have emerged. Holland have lost eight of their 14 matches since the World Cup and their four victories in qualifying came against Latvia and Kazakhstan. Beating Spain in a friendly in March meant nothing. Spain will be in France next summer after winning their group.

Cruyff, always a hard man to please, was unimpressed by the ultimately pointless 2-1 win in Kazakhstan on Saturday. “Against weaker teams we seem unable to build well, so we cannot attack,” Cruyff wrote in his column in De Telegraaf. “Jeroen Zoet did not have to react to one shot but had to clear about 20 balls with his feet. Netherlands completely lost control against Kazakhstan. It was painful that Robin van Persie, since coming on in the 87th minute, touched the ball once. The comments that Netherlands does not have good young players coming through don’t make sense.

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Apa yang telah menjadi sepak bola Belanda? Pelopor sepak bola Total dikurangi menjadi total keputusasaan, memukul-dan-hope omong kosong, jenis sepak bola yang pernah telah dikaitkan dengan Belanda sebelum.Tidak ada sesuatu yang indah tentang orang-shirt jeruk lagi. Holland adalah kekacauan yang mengerikan, kehilangan ide dan identitas mereka, dan bagaimana mengejutkan itu untuk melihat dari sebuah negara yang paling berpengaruh sepak bola pikiran tidak pernah menjadi malu menyuarakan pendapat mereka.Beberapa orang bisa meramalkan kejatuhan akan begitu dramatis ketika Holland mengalahkan Brasil ke tempat ketiga Piala Dunia 2014. Banyak adalah imbas oleh shock dan kemegahan mereka menang 5-1 atas Spanyol pertandingan pembuka mereka. Louis van Gaal counterattacking taktik diperbolehkan Arjen Robben luar biasa untuk menjalankan kerusuhan di peran sentral dan Spanyol pernah pulih dari yang merendahkan kekalahan. Holland telah diharapkan untuk berjuang dalam kelompok sulit. Sebaliknya, didukung oleh kemenangan yang luar biasa atas dunia dan juara Eropa, mereka pergi di tempat pertama setelah mengalahkan Chili dan Australia.Namun Johan Cruyff sejak berpendapat finishing kelemahan ketiga bertopeng Holland. Mereka beruntung untuk mengalahkan Meksiko di putaran kedua, diperlukan hukuman untuk mengalahkan Kosta Rika setelah 0-0 menarik mereka Triwulan-final dan meskipun mereka mengadakan Lionel Messi Argentina lain pemuncak menarik mereka semi final, keberuntungan mereka habis dalam adu penalti. Mereka sepak bola pernah meyakinkan selama Babak gugur dan, cukup yakin, celah-celah muncul. Holland telah kehilangan delapan pertandingan mereka 14 sejak Piala Dunia dan mereka empat kemenangan dalam kualifikasi datang melawan Latvia dan Kazakhstan. Mengalahkan Spanyol dalam pertandingan persahabatan di Februari berarti apa-apa. Spanyol akan di Perancis musim panas berikutnya setelah memenangkan kelompok mereka.Cruyff, selalu seorang yang keras untuk menyenangkan, tidak terkesan oleh sia-sia pada akhirnya menang 2-1 di Kazakhstan pada hari Sabtu. "Melawan tim lemah kita tampaknya mampu membangun baik, jadi kami tidak menyerang," Cruyff menulis dalam kolom-nya di Guardian. "Jeroen Zoet tidak harus bereaksi terhadap satu tembakan tetapi harus jelas sekitar 20 bola dengan kakinya. Belanda benar-benar kehilangan kendali melawan Kazakhstan. Itu menyakitkan bahwa Robin van Persie, sejak datang menit ke-87 menyentuh bola sekali. Komentar bahwa Belanda tidak memiliki baik pemain muda yang datang melalui tidak masuk akal.