Netherlands’ rocky road to an England semi-final: ‘Harsh words’ and the Koeman debate

The Dutch have landed with their noses in the butter.

Ronald Koeman first uttered the phrase — meaning ‘to get fortunate’ — about midfielder Ryan Gravenberch last month, stating he was lucky to be in his squad after injuries. Even in a country known for speaking its mind, this man-management method raised eyebrows.

It feels apt to reuse the phrase. The Netherlands finished third in their group. They faced Romania and Turkey en route to the last four. Standing in their way of a first European Championship final since 1988 is an England side who have been similarly muddled.

There was apathy when Koeman was initially reappointed coach in April 2022, and the 61-year-old has faced intense criticism throughout the tournament — particularly after an ugly 3-2 defeat to Austria in their final Group C game. Just like their coach, the Dutch media have a reputation for speaking their mind.

“No adventure, too predictable and no ambition,” one former Netherlands international texts during the group stages. “It has to change drastically if we want to reach the semi-finals.”

Koeman stuck to his principles. There were no drastic changes. And after Saturday’s quarter-final win over Turkey, this is the furthest that the Netherlands have gone in a Euros in 20 years, and their first major tournament semi-final in a decade.

Here is another Dutch idiom that Koeman might feel obliged to use — ‘De beste stuurlui staan aan wal’. The best captains are those standing on land.

Only Germany’s Berti Vogts has won the Euros as a coach and a player — and after his triumph in 1988, Koeman is just two matches away from doing the same.

But just like England, their opponent in Wednesday’s semi-final, the Netherlands have a coach who has been criticised throughout the tournament. The question remains: is the Netherlands’ success because of him or despite him?

There were low expectations in the Netherlands before the Euros. Though their squad was defensively strong — they have likely the best group of centre-backs at the tournament — it is a transitional group in terms of age profile and lacks an attacking star.

Some of this was down to Koeman. Though he had done well in his first spell in charge between 2018 and 2020 — taking the Netherlands to the final of the 2019 Nations League as well as helping them qualify for their first major tournament since 2014 — there was some mistrust after the way he had suddenly left for Barcelona.

“Sometimes you have to be a bit selfish in football,” the coach said in Forca Koeman, a documentary that followed his return to the Camp Nou.

But some of the Dutch public’s reticence was also down to his playing style — a perceived tactical conservatism, heightened by his inability to produce a system at Barcelona that made the most of a highly talented group of players. Since Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels’ totaalvoetbal, the Netherlands coach does not just face the pressure of winning, but the pressure of winning well.

“My whole football life is pressure,” Koeman said while managing Everton in 2017. “If I don’t get pressure from outside I put pressure on myself.”

Some of that self-induced pressure has not always been positive. He can be blunt, developing a habit of criticising players publicly. Players know where they stand — but others have their confidence destabilised.

As well as Gravenberch, Koeman harshly criticised Brian Brobbey for his poor finishing when the Ajax forward was already in bad form, saying that “his approach and the way he finished (in Netherlands training) was not good,” and also attacked the goalscoring record of 23-year-old Bologna striker and Manchester United target Joshua Zirkzee.

Koeman has made clear his views on Zirkzee, Depay and Brobbey (Photo: Peter Lous/BSR Agency/Getty Images)

Having not picked Zirkzee in his initial squad, Koeman was forced to row back when he called him up as an injury replacement less than a week before the tournament.

These injuries, in Koeman’s defence, have been significant. Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong was ruled out just before the start after failing to overcome an ankle injury. It was probably the most significant pre-tournament injury from any of the 24 sides — De Jong was the Dutch midfield, with his elite press resistance making him one of the best No 6s in the world.

Teun Koopmeiners, his possible replacement, was then ruled out with a muscle injury suffered in the warm-up before the Netherlands’ final friendly game before the tournament.

Elsewhere, likely first-choice left-back Quilindschy Hartman suffered a torn ACL in March, with Nathan Ake moving over from centre-back to cover, while another centre-back, Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber, was deemed to have not sufficiently recovered from his own torn knee ligament.

Still, this was a squad that had the raw bones to potentially make a deep run at the tournament — as they have. Defensive solidity has historically been the most important factor at the Euros, with Virgil van Dijk leading a first-choice back four featuring the experience of Ake and Stefan de Vrij, and the attacking ambition of Denzel Dumfries. In Jeremie Frimpong, Matthijs de Ligt and Micky van de Ven, the Netherlands also have a wealth of talent on the bench.

The attack was more of a work in progress — with Memphis Depay and Cody Gakpo struggling for club minutes, and Xavi Simons never having worn the mantle of creator-in-chief at international level — but there was enough stardust to score.

In the first two games, Koeman’s side did enough — recovering well from an early deficit to beat Poland 2-1, and possibly having the better of the chances against tournament favourites France. Back home, however, there were murmurings of concern over a negative style which sought to shut the game down rather than explode it open.

The main debate was over Depay’s place in the side — and whether he would be better replaced by 6ft 5in cult hero Wout Weghorst, who scored the winner against Poland within minutes of coming on. Told pre-tournament that his role would be as a bench option, Weghorst said during the warm-up games that it was “disappointing”, “annoying”, and “sucks”.

Weghorst says his bench role “sucks” (Photo: Ibrahim Ezzat/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Then came the Netherlands’ final group game — and the mood totally changed. The Dutch may have only lost to Austria 3-2, but context is everything. They were swarmed by their opponents, who could and should have won by more. Before their first goal, Austria had completed 54 passes to the Netherlands’ two.

Tactical conservatism is one thing — but at least that usually comes with the trade-off of increased defensive solidity. Here, however, the Netherlands defence fell to pieces, with their tracking of midfield runners non-existent and Van Dijk enduring a desperately poor game.

“We have spoken a lot in the last 48 hours and some harsh words have been spoken,” Van Dijk said. “That is of course necessary, because some things have certainly happened.”

The most visible issues came in Koeman’s cobbled-together midfield. The manager had opted to replace De Jong with PSV Eindhoven’s pairing of Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman, who had helped the club stroll to the 2023-24 Eredivisie title. Both are highly technical players but struggle in large spaces and when rushed into decisions.

Austria’s midfield of Florian Grillitsch and Nico Seiwald pressed them relentlessly, while the Netherlands’ nervous back four sat deep, increasing the space they had to cover. After De Jong was ruled out, one tongue-in-cheek observation in the Netherlands was: ‘What can Toni Kroos do which Joey Veerman can’t?’

Quite a lot, it turns out — Veerman was substituted after 34 minutes, leaving the pitch in tears, after losing possession with 55 per cent of his touches, and finishing with a passing accuracy of just 47 per cent.

When it was pointed out that Veerman was supposed to be good on the ball, Koeman replied in a manner that bordered on the cruel.

“Yes, why are you telling me this?” he shot back. “You have to ask him about this. I saw him tripping over the ball, giving the ball away. I can’t explain it.”

During his playing career under Cruyff, Koeman, a former centre-back, received far worse both in private and in public but the timing of the outburst, after Veerman was clearly devastated by events, flew counter to comments given by Cruyff in his final public interview.

“Don’t pull somebody out when they’re bad,” Cruyff said at a youth development convention in December 2015. “Help him, which means that if somebody’s down, get them up. If somebody’s too up, get them down.”

The Netherlands are only ever one game away from a full-blown inquest — something Ake and Van de Ven wryly referenced in a press conference before the England game — but this loss condemned them to third in the group. Before the reconfiguration of the group stages, this would have been an embarrassing exit.

Koeman was criticised for his style of play and was asked whether Cruyff, his mentor, would have been proud of the performance against Austria.

“I know he liked attacking football very much, but I was a part of his team (for) a long time and we had worse matches than we did against Austria,” he replied calmly.

Cruyff and Koeman in 2013 (Photo: VI Images via Getty Images)

Two days later, at a terse press conference with Ake and Van Dijk, one journalist asked: “I got one (question) for the press officer: why is Koeman not sitting here? So he is going to be hiding for six days? A lot has happened. He is the leader.”

At times, it can feel like this is only about Koeman, and not about the players themselves, some of whom have underperformed at times. But ultimately, many of the Netherlands’ issues come down to the style of play that Koeman has fostered, or decisions he has resolutely stuck with.

Here is another Dutch idiom — ‘Wie zijn billen brandt, moet op de blaren zitten’. He who burns his bottom must sit on the blisters.

Koeman unashamedly has favourites. Before selecting his squad, he said that he would not wait for players who were struggling with their fitness, dropping Timber and Mats Wieffer for this reason, but that he had two exceptions — De Jong and Depay.

From the outset, it has been clear that Depay is a non-negotiable starter, despite having had a poor season for Atletico Madrid, scoring just five times in 23 La Liga appearances. His struggles have continued here, and possibly cost the Netherlands a win over France.

A little like Southgate, Koeman tends to favour experience over form. He was criticised during the group stages for his persisted selection of Georginio Wijnaldum off the bench, who looked off the pace whenever he came on. Wijnaldum has not appeared in the knockouts.

Koeman’s decisions at centre-back have also been interesting — opting for De Vrij over De Ligt for tactical reasons. Though the Inter defender has had a solid tournament, scoring the equaliser against Turkey, De Ligt is a higher-ceiling defender, whose front-foot style more suits the Netherlands’ play.

De Vrij’s passivity, however, is seen by Koeman as a better stylistic fit with Van Dijk — but against Austria, where the depth of the Netherlands’ defensive line was a major issue, the potential implications of this decision became evident.

Yet Koeman deserves credit for applying balm to those blisters. The Koeman who appeared after the Austria defeat resembled the irascible figure during his final days at Barcelona — yet unlike at the Camp Nou, the coach has managed to find solutions.

Against Romania, the introduction of Steven Bergwijn, who had not appeared for a single minute all tournament, was inspired. Bergwijn’s drift infield, forming either a two-pronged striker partnership with Depay, or a pair of dual No 10s with Xavi Simons, left the Romania defence scrambling — with the Netherlands always manufacturing an extra man in midfield.

Cody Gakpo’s form on the left (he is the tournament’s joint-top scorer) is largely down to him profiting from spaces created by interplay on the right — but Koeman still has him playing with the confidence to exploit the one-vs-ones the Dutch system has created. At some moments, Koeman’s characteristic bluntness has even had its benefits.

“After Austria, the atmosphere didn’t go too sour,” Gakpo said. “It was good because we told each other the truth.”

In that sense, though Koeman treated Veerman harshly, the decision to drop him has left the Netherlands far more balanced in midfield. Tijjani Reijnders has been pulled back from No 10 to partner Schouten in the double pivot — which also allows Simons to play his preferred central role — which has helped their press-resistance.

And unlike Southgate, one area where Koeman has excelled is mid-game adaptation. Against Poland, they rebounded from 1-0 down to win 2-1. They had the best of the late chances to beat France. They may have lost to Austria, but Koeman’s changes still allowed them to equalise twice. Two late goals secured the win over Romania. Another late comeback over Turkey, the key being playing Weghorst and Depay together, saw them into the semi-finals.

Southgate and Koeman have been criticised for their approach (Photo: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images)

This tournament, England have not shown that trait — yet ultimately there are more similarities between these coaches than differences.

Both are former defenders, who would rather hold on to what they have than plummet while over-reaching.

England are cautious but prepared; they are generally in control of what they can control. The Netherlands are blunt, willing to counterpunch, and dance to their own drum.

And undeniably, both have been hugely fortunate with their draws — England facing Slovakia and Switzerland, the Netherlands facing Romania and Turkey.

In another world, the Netherlands were dumped out in the group stages, after failing to beat Poland. But in another still, the Netherlands drew with Austria, managed to top their group, and were knocked out by Belgium in the round of 16.

Koeman has navigated his own pathway and made errors as he went. This side is made in his image — and they are further along that road than any Dutch side has been for a decade.

Sometimes, they have fallen on their faces rather than their feet — but a little butter has just helped grease the way.

(Photo: ANP via Getty Images)