Robin Van Persie insists that an attacking quartet of himself, Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben is a viable option for Holland coach Bert Van Marwijk as the group stages of the World Cup finally arrives.
“I heard their opinions and it pleases me that we appreciate each other’s qualities,” Van Persie said, “It is a party to play with them. They all are good players who are creative and think offensive.”
Whilst this is only his own preference for the attacking positions a few ears have been pricked by his omission of Dirk Kuyt, none more so than the Liverpool man’s himself, responding with words to the effect that ‘Van Persie does not pick the team’. This is, ominously, a first small example of the famous Dutch squad dystopia that has publicly derailed more than one major tournament endeavour in the past. Edgar Davids was sent home by Guus Hiddink in Euro 96’ for an outspoken interview but the former Juventus man does not believe the furore made around Van Persie’s claims are to be too detrimental for the national team:
“People say the Dutch are too expressive but that is a problem in every dressing room. Every professional team has that in common.”
Expressive is certainly a word I associate with the Netherlands and their sustained history of producing brilliant players, none more captivating than Johan Cruyff. As an exemplar to the issue of the individual versus the collective, in Cruyff we see this dichotomy at its worst and its best; he was probably the first Dutch player to realise his worth as an individual marketable commodity and this tension with the collective reached an impasse when his sponsors, Puma, opposed him wearing the Adidas sponsored national kit. The solution: create a kit with only two stripes instead of Adidas’ three just for Cruyff. Yet Holland were also at their best when tempering the necessary individual brilliance of Cruyff in relation to the rest of the team (though Van Hanegem, Neeskens and Krol were not exactly talentless).
It is a difficult line to marshal because, if on the one hand, a coach stymies the expressive capacity of the team’s finest individuals he risks losing exactly what makes them so good. But on the other, allowing individuals to dictate team dealings mirrors the same climate that has seen the Dutch limp out unfulfilled on so many occasions. Van Marwijk has, until now, done very well to manage his players and keep the collective goal their overarching motivation.
So, can such an attacking quartet be accommodated in one starting XI? I’m an idealist and I certainly think so. Holland have set up as 4-2-3-1 in their friendlies with Van Persie up front alone. Behind him it is not ridiculous to think Van der Vaart, Sneijder and Robben can all start. Sneijder has shown his positional awareness at Inter and, when required, is more than capable of dropping deep to aid the team on the defensive. For this to be successful the double pivot of Van Bommel and De Jong becomes even more important (not just to counter the attacking proclivities of the ‘famous four’ but also to restrict exposing an evidently weak back line). Holland’s success will rely more on the effectiveness of their holding pair and Sneijder. I really don’t think it is the tactical conundrum that it’s been made out to be. With the maturity and success of Sneijder over the past season deploying the quartet still gives the team balance in their formation.
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