Team Focus: Dutch Must Repeat Group Stage Gameplan to Defeat Argentina

First impressions last. That has certainly been the case for the Netherlands in this World Cup, and it is entirely understandable. The jaw-dropping 5-1 victory over Spain was less than four weeks ago, but already feels like it is part of the competition’s legend, given both its style and its context.

Like Irvine Welsh with Trainspotting, it threatens to be the debut opus which is impossible to top. In a sense, this doesn’t matter. The Netherlands have already overachieved in regards to expectations – many thought they might have difficulty getting out of a treacherous-looking group, especially given the relative inexperience in the squad – and they have left a far more positive impression than their 2010 counterparts, despite the previous group reaching the final.

Louis van Gaal’s decisive substitutions and tactical shifts have also retained the sense of freshness and invention on the way to the last four, but there are issues to be addressed as they prepare to face Argentina. Principally, a cutting edge must be rediscovered ahead of the clash in São Paulo.

This is an unusual subject to broach when the team has Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie, plus any combination of Klass-Jan Huntelaar, Memphis Depay and Jeremain Lens from the bench. Yet the knockout rounds have been hard going. Even before the blank against Costa Rica that led the Dutch to that dramatic penalty shoot-out, they diced with danger against Mexico. It is worth noting that the Netherlands conjured just four efforts on target against El Tri despite all their pressure (and 56% of possession), and created only 6 attempts altogether from open play.

Against Alejandro Sabella’s team, who have conceded only 3 times to date and not at all in the World Cup’s knockout stages, it is food for thought.

The drafting in of Martin Demichelis has made Argentina an even tougher nut to crack. Frequently criticised during his opening Premier League season with Manchester City, he made a positive impact after replacing Federico Fernández against Belgium. Marc Wilmots’ side had only 10 efforts on Argentina’s goal, compared to the supposedly negative Switzerland’s 15, despite Belgium enjoying 54% of the match’s possession (Switzerland had just 36%).

Interestingly, Demichelis registered 3 interceptions and 6 successful clearances, but was not forced to make any tackles, emphasising his level of control. Given his main weakness is a lack of pace, Arjen Robben in particular must seek to inconvenience the centre-back where Belgium’s speed merchants – Kevin Mirallas, Divock Origi and Eden Hazard in particular – failed to do so.

Robben would seem to be the obvious candidate to fire the Dutch. The Netherlands’ top-rated player with an average score of 8.8 (and behind just Lionel Messi, who has 8.87, in the tournament as a whole), his right-hand side tends to be responsible for the team’s attacking flow, even with Daryl Janmaat absent from the right wing-back position.  

The ideal would be if the Bayern Munich man could be permitted to drop inside and attack through central areas more. Janmaat’s return to the line-up would be key in permitting that. Dirk Kuyt was a good option to perform the role against the Costa Ricans, but the semi-final will have an entirely different emphasis to it. Against Los Ticos, every player apart from goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen and the back three assumed an average position in the opposition half. That will not be the case on Wednesday.

An even more useful return could be that of Nigel de Jong, whose tournament had been assumed to be over but has been suggested as a surprise returnee in recent days. He was substituted through injury after just 9 minutes of the match against Mexico, and the Netherlands haven’t been quite the same since (we should treat the final group match against Chile, when van Gaal’s team sought to soak and attack exclusively on the break, with just 32% possession, quite separately).

Though not an attacking influence in isolation, the Milan midfielder’s presence would return a balance to van Gaal’s side that has seen them at their most fluent. In short, they would revert from 3-4-3 to 3-4-1-2. This changes everything.

It means Wesley Sneijder is freed from a deeper role into a more advanced one, behind a front pair of Robben and van Persie. The effect is positive for all three players. The freedom it gives the front two is especially important, as this is where they can cause Argentina most problems. Notably, all the latter pair’s goals to date were scored in the first two games of the group stage, with the Netherlands in that original tactical shape. 

One plus from de Jong’s absence, however, was that it meant the return of Daley Blind to a more advanced position on the left-hand side. While very capable as one of a back three, it is pushing out wide that the Ajax man can influence matters at both ends of the pitch, and this is where he should be retained. Again, his 3 assists all came in the opening 2 games. The manner of the first one, when he created one of the goals of the tournament for van Persie against Spain, will be of particular interest. That sort of long, diagonal ball is just what could catch out an Argentina back line caught high and flat on more than one occasion against the Swiss.

The Netherlands have plenty in their favour for the semi-final; less pressure than their opponents, a good head-to-head World Cup finals record against them and plenty of options. They just need to unlock what made them so explosive in the competition’s early stages again.

Can the Dutch upset the odds and qualify for a second successive World Cup final? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below