The final analysis, part two: different ways of dealing with wingers
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s lack of pace was cited as a potential weakness before every Holland game, and the Dutch captain seemed to acknowledge his weakness in that respect. Therefore, he made sure to stick tight to whichever winger he came up against. Here, Pedro comes very deep to get the ball, and van Bronckhorst tracks him all the way.
The same thing happened when Pedro drifted across the field into central positions. Here, Pedro (red) has moved across from the right-wing, so van Bronckhorst (yellow) follows him across, even though it means getting level with the right-sided centre-back. Dirk Kuyt (green) is forced to cover the left-back zone.
Sometimes, this resulted in Kuyt (green) being handed too much defensive responsibility. Here, he is forced extremely deep, and has to try and tackle Sergio Ramos inside the penalty area – his challenge was very weak.
Partly as a result of this, Kuyt (green) was much deeper than Arjen Robben (pink), the winger on the opposite side. Kuyt generally played on a ‘line’ close to the holding midfielders, whereas Robben was often the highest Dutch player up the pitch, pegging back Joan Capdevilla.
Spain knew how to deal with Robben when he got the ball in wide positions – get bodies around the ball, as he loves to cut in. They didn’t just double up, they often trebled up on him. Here, Robben is in possession on the flank. In the 15 yard x 15 yard area marked by the green dots, Spain have six players (marked in red), despite the fact that there are only three Dutch players in that zone. Robben generally ran into traffic in the first half.
The Spanish generally dealt very well with Robben, when he was on the wing. Always ran into Capdevila/Xavi/Busquets, or some other combination thereof. He actually only looked threatening when he got through balls down the middle, and even so, at least one of those through balls was pretty random (as Piqué would have caught it 9 out of 10 times).
Success for the Spaniards.
I specifically remember that encounter between Ramos and Kuyt and was thinking, what is this? Kuyt is looking like a Full back here. At that moment there are only 3 more Spanish player on or near the p.box. Now looking at your image, its like 5 against 5.
Very interesting again! I guess we can also imagine that the tracking of Pedro by Giovanni van Bronckhorst was linked to the performance of Pedro against Germany. Pedro created so many chances running between lines and switching sides that Holland decided to block him completely. Did Holland really have a choice?
Have to admire your dedication in re-watching the game.
It’s amazing that Holland didn’t have players spare and in space, given the last picture above and the general amount of time that Robben did have the ball in the first half (although having only watched it once a repeated viewing may not bear this assumption out, I’m happy to concede).
Presumably the only thing that stopped this from happening was a lack of willingness to commit men forward. That kind of situation is crying out for one of de Jong or van Bommel to take a risk and go forward into the space, but it’s obviously not in the nature of either player to do so. Or even for van Bronckhorst to venture further forward, but given the lack of pace you mention he was probably reluctant to do so. Understandable at 35 years of age and the game poised at 0-0.
It looks from the last picture that van Persie has gone wide to try and help Robben, which also might be telling – in support he might also have dragged Spanish players wide so that on the off chance Robben did beat his man it might open up in the middle. Perhaps against lesser sides van der Wiel would have tried supporting more or even overlapping.
Cheers. Great coverage of the past month on here.
What about crosses instead of shots on goal? In the last picture, with no room to create something on the flank and all the Spanish players drawn away from the center (isn’t it Ramos in the lower left of the picture?) there should be plenty of space in the box and Kuyt looks like he is ready to make a move. Also, with Pique standing that deep, he has some space to accelerate and still be onside. If van Bommel also would have moved forward, there should have been more and more threatening situations like that.
Or is it just the perspective of the picture?
Admittedly in this picture that’s what they’re crying out for as Ramos is isolated, but I guess they could never rely much on Robben crossing from the right when he has no right foot and is unlikely to go outside his man or to the touchline as a result. Crosses with his left foot would have to be made when cutting back inside and are probably easier to defend against. I seem to recall a couple of the Dutch crosses in these types of situation being poor (overhit). Then again perhpas they were wise not to play that game – high balls into van Persie would have been be dealt with easily by Pique or Puyol.
Guess they had to move Robben inside and in doing so they almost won the match.
I don’t know if that happend, but why not switch Robben and Kuijt? at least for 30 minutes. Robben is not the best “defender” but this would have been a new idea (not very new).
I think the Netherlands never wanted to take very much risk. Robben had two opportunities through the centre, van der Vaart and Elia were substitutions. Was that everything? I think after the game van Marwijk was talking about trying to reach the penalties. That’s always a bad idea (if you’re not Uruguay in the 120th minute).
I agree, Robben really is a 1-trick pony. And, yes, when I hear a coach talk about reaching the penalty shoot-out, it’s disheartening. Nothing wrong with tactics (why else am I here?), but when it gets to that point (along with wanton violence), one has to wonder if one is missing the forest for the trees.
Reaching penalties after going down to 10 men with only 10 minutes to go…..not very shocking is it?
@SSZX
i don’t know if he was talking about the last 10 minutes or the last 30.
The Spanish players seem to focus on Robben and van Persie. So they try to get a couple of players between Robben and their goal, as can be seen in the picture above. Now van Persie managed to pull Poyul and Pique out of the box, but Pique sits deep enough to put Kuyt (and probably every other dutch Player) onside. So why not cross with the left?
The Spanish managed to neutralize Robben as a goal threat by putting a number of players around him, so the dutch should have found a way to use the space they leave behind.
Try this a couple of times, and Spain has to react, giving Robben more space. Or they risk a goal by Kuyt/whoever manages to get in the box.
Edit: This might even turn the delay into something psotive, with Kuyt or van Bommel making a late run into the box…
For Holland to take advantage of the players occupied by Robben Robben would have to pass the ball to someone… Not something he likes to do..
I wouldn’t blame Robben for this. It’s rather a matter of team attitude.
Take that last picture. Now suppose Lahm just right behind Robben and Bastian somewhere near the Ref. This would open two alternatives: either a risky pass to Bastian or the safe route via Lahm, who then actually could directly pass the ball to Bastian. Both cases could result in an approx. 2-2 near the box.
That said, a spain player will mark Bastian though. This in turn could open the space for Robben to cut inside (if e.g. the player near the Ref is marking Bastian).
Thus it’s not just Robben don’t like passing. He simply had no opportunities.
agree
Exactly. He needed a fullback right there behind him, and suddenly chances would open up: Sneijder and Robben to the inside, Van Persie down the line, a cross to Kuyt and van Bommel making a late charge. Without fullbacks it will always be 4 v. 7.
As always great analysis, thank you.
The interesting part about it is that Germany and The Netherlands both had their weeks spots in the game against Spain on the left outside defender spot. As a result, Podolski and Kuyt had to help out in defense quite a lot, bringing them deeper and thus erasing on option in offense. Given that both teams (NL, D) played with two holding midfielders in a 4-2-3-1 setup, they were down to three players in offense which could be easily stopped by the Spanish. Therefore they were both not able to make a lot happening in offense.
Tactically I thought both Spain’s semi final and final were quite comparable games with the exception of The Netherlands playing harder than Germany to make the Spanish lose confidence – what they didn’t.
Another major issue for both the Dutch and Germans was that in a 4-2-3-1 setup, your game plan is based on winning balls in midfield. Due to the pass accuracy and technical capabilities of the Spanish midfield players this just didn’t happen often enough for both opponents to really establish their game.
The pivot in that respect were crucial in stopping ARjen Robben. On a number of occassion you saw as Robben sought to cut in, either or both Busquets and Robben were in close proximity. Busquets played deeper, so in a sense he was more free and although he tracked Sniejder fantastically as well, if the Duth playmaker dropped deeper, Alonso could track him, allowing Busquets to clear up.
Yeah, it underscores Robben’s limited arsenal that Spain would form a 3-man “L” as soon as the Dutchman got the ball on the wing. I think he completed one run out of nine? His repositioning down the middle was much more dangerous, but he’s not very good 1v1 with the keeper.
Robben was a drain on the Dutch. There’s a stat that he did not complete one single pass to RvP in the final. That was an amazing state of affairs.
Your graphic shows another dimension to the matter. If Robben manages to suck in 6 Spanish players, with Kuyt screaming for the ball on the edge of the box, and other players being afforded space, an intelligent player would have been trying to pick out teammates outside the zone of pressure (such as Kuyt in this picture), instead of always trying, like Robben to cut into the stronger foot and shoot.
He’s a very effective player a lot of the time but he’s the ultimate in 1-trick ponies.
ZM,
Hoping you will share your thoughts at some point on just what kind of tactics / players it will take to take Spain down. Aside from the Switzerland game, in which they beat themselves due to a lack of width, Spain’s dominant midfield has to have some counter to it, doesn’t it?
I still can’t believe Spain won the world cup with that obnoxious style of play. I can’t think of a more boring way to play football. I know some people call it “beautiful football” or “attacking football” but for me there is nothing more boring than that slow tempo-short passing style that Spain and Barcelona employ.
Er, thank you for that tactical assessment?
It seems like you base that mainly on Spain this World Cup, and Barca against “park the bus”-teams. Most of the time, it’s not slow at all; only when they run out of ideas (e.g. against Inter or Chelsea) does it seem slow, as they just pass it sideways and probe, without getting through.
PS: How is a style of play ‘obnoxious’? Wouldn’t it be just as obnoxious to win by having a 10 man defence, and a lone striker, who scores every once in a while on a long ball?
Well, that’s kind of what Spain did at this World Cup though, isn’t it. The only differences to your generic parking-the-bus team are the positioning of the 9 outfield defenders and the way they defend.
You will obviously need an immensely talented crop of players to pull off what del Bosque and his players did, the game plan was the good old
1. Avoid conceding
2. to 2341. see 1.
2342. Score by an individual stroke of brilliance or a set play
though.
It’s quite fascinating how the Spaniards managed to merge the basic Catenaccio idea and their own ( or rather the Dutch ? ) brand of football into something unique, but the core of their 2010 winning strategy was an ultra defensive approach. As people begin to realize that more critics are surfacing, as with every tactics of that nature.
Actually Spain has reminded me a lot of the Dutch , the way they played in the 90’s. Lots of low risk passing (and drawing fouls). Boring and ineffectual. Guess Holland just wasn’t as lucky as Spain has been this tournament.
I did concede that Spain haven’t been as exciting as usual this World Cup, though. Usually they’re not boring at all, and still; by the way Pencho calls it ‘obnoxious’, he seems to belong to the growing chorus of people blaming Spain for “keeping the ball too much”. As if they’re supposed to let the opposition have the ball every once in a while, just for good sport…
I’m not saying that they should give the ball to the other team just to make it more interesting. But they keep the ball so much mostly because they play at such a slow tempo. Generally they don’t counter attack either, most of the time when one of their midfielders gets the ball they wait for the entire team to get behind them and start another drawn out and boring attack with countless passes.
Quiet agree.
I love to see those lighting yap of olympic boxer but I would die for to watch a 100tons right hook of M.Tyson hit his oppenent jaw.
A spain one-two one-two until reach the box is the most boring beautiful football ^_^
I love to see
1. a super long cross and a diving header which both the player and the ball find the net.
2. a long through pass and a super hard follow through shot which could kill the keeper.
3. a super dribble which cut through the defender like hot knife through the butter.
Beleive me Spain can do it! but they will not do that!
why? why?
because that tiki-taka is good enough to win the game
they can wait until the last 10 mins when their oppenent run out of fuel
um, david villa’s first goal against honduras? he did beat three players on the dribble and then placed it upper 90…
Kuyt does not get enough credit for his defensive work. He covers his fullback perfectly and is always tracking back. If you are playing against such an attacking wingback as Ramos then you need a Dirk Kuyt in there to neutralize him.
I have to agree. Kuyt is a beast. What a selfless player. He did very well in his role. And he never got a yellow card either. Total footballer.
Really agree with you.
Dirk Kuyt is a real star for those kid who love football should pick up as an idol.
He win the fans’s mind not by scoring but by doing his job at his best.
That is beyond football. That is a spirit of a sportman.
Robben takes either of the 1 on 1 chances he had then he would have been made motm and the hero… The Dutch tactics almost worked…
Agree
But am not sure that those karate stuff is part of the Dutch tactics?
Exactly. 3 Inches higher and he would have scored the winner against Casillas. They wouldn’t have deserved it.
Nope, but that’s football… Normally Robben would have taken one of those chances and to be honest I’m not sure Spain would have been able to come back, but we will never know.
Spain were the superior side and Holland played them the only way they thought would get them a win and it almost worked… If they had the luxury of playing them again I don’t think they would do anything different. Just as well the final isn’t played over 2 games or the Dutch really would have gone in crazy!
Although this is not related to this particular topic, but I noticed that once Robben started playing more centrally, Busquets came really deep. Often, it was 3 for Spain at the back with Pique as the right sided centre back, Busquets in the middle and Puyol on the left of centre. This might also have been because the Dutch had Van Bommel and De Jong playing really deep which allowed Xabi Alonso to push further up, leaving Busquets to do the ‘dirty’ work alone.
It appeared to me that whenever Spain pulled people over to support Capdevila vs Robben, the entire defence switched sideways. This ended up with Ramos in the middle in front of the goal dealing with Van Persie/Sneijder leaving the Dutch player positioned most left (often Kuyt) completely blank. Somehow though, the Dutch never managed to get the ball rugby-style all the way across to him.
Haha, just realized you can even see Kuyt calling for the ball in the final picture…
A few crosses towards Kuyt from where Robben is standing and one of them would end up on Kuyt’s head.
Robben is really the ultimate one trick pony, but it is a magnificent trick. It seems that he has regressed as a player since Euro 2004 (I first saw him play). He may have gotten more dangerous and a bigger goal threat, but, as a complete player, he has regressed, in my opinion. He was absolutely brilliant in the Czech Republic vs. Netherlands game in Euro 2004 (the best international game I have ever seen). He played on the left and was devastating. He assisted both Dutch goals and created numerous other chances for RVN. He whipped in all kinds of crosses, made runs behind the defence, and took guys on. Granted, the Czechs were a poor defensive team (see the second Dutch goal) compared to the Spanish. He actually looked to pass the ball. Now, all he does is cut in on his left and shoot. Have you ever seen him even try a one-two with a teammate like Messi or look to play a diagonal ball? Its partially due to his coaches who don’t play him on the left and tell him to cross.
Why the Dutch didn’t tell Robben to go on the left and whip in crosses is beyond me? One, the Spanish wouldn’t double him like they did on the right, because then you would be open to the pull back. It would have given them some diversity on offense and unpredictability. Robben could have fizzed crosses on the ground, could have looped them in the air, he could pull it back, or shoot himself. On right, it was always going to be a shot from the corner of the box, that would have to be spectacular to beat Casillas.
Why didn’t Elia play more in this tournament? When he actually did play he was really dangerous. I understand whta Kuyt brings to a team, but he is limited offensively and when you have fullbacks who don’t bring anything forward and two destroyers in midfield you can’t have a winger who is limited offensively.
Elia provides more real threat than Kuyt, but I think his passing and ball control are average at best. He is to me a Dutch version of Theo Walcott. Lots of speed, not much end products.
Hmmm, the potential is there. But he’s not on a world class level yet, no doubt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPhbWSnG12k&feature=related
Watch from 2:33 on, his run + assist for the 3-1.
He might face problems in Hamburg as his spot on the left wing is likely to be occupied by Marcell Jansen. Last season, all instances when he played on the right wing were disappointing – I think the main reason was that he (as right-footed player) did not have any goal scoring opportunities and became too passive. He did a good job as some sort of a roaming “false 9″ in a couple of games – although this only happened because of injuries to other forwards.
i read several times now Robben a one trick pony. Take this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHr8mFOaX80
I think that’s the same one trick we are talking about. An exceptional one, indeed.
if you say perfect handling of the ball, perfect handling of the own body, perfect kick-technics, a coldharted scorer” all while as fast as lightening with the ball at foot – makes a one-trick-pony, well than he is a one-trick pony
Sorry to be skeptical, but these images show only a few moments of the entire match. For example, in the first picture we see Gio tracking Pedro away from touch. But how can we be certain this did not happen only once? This might have been the only instance when this occurred.
ZM might have formed his(?) theories a priori and went looking for moments in the match when they were borne out by positions on the field.
The point of showing that picture is not to insist that Gio was constantly running to the other side of the pitch than he is supposed to occupy. Even if this happend once, it proves the point that Gio was pretty much concerned about sticking to Spain’s winger, even if that meant following him so deep.
Don’t get me wrong, it is good that people do not take everything ZM says like a Bible. I just think you got this one wrong
.
On a sidenote, there is nothing wrong in doing what you described in your last sentence. It’s generally this way that one spots something, formulates an idea, and then checks the evidence to see if he was right. This is called hypothesis, I believe. The problem only occurs when one starts to bend the facts to match his hypothesis.
I think it is wrong to assume that we can see deeper significance in what might have been an isolated incident.
At least it should be mentioned that such an event occurred regularly.
Unlike in art, we should not grasp the universal from the particular when we are doing rational analysis.
Wow, hold on, you are trying to bury about a half of human’s scientific achievement. Obviously, induction is a valid way of reasoning.
This is not induction. Induction requires more than one or two examples. I often have the same question of ZM, that is whether or not the post-game is confirmation bias. One or two examples in a 90 minute game is not enough. Usually I give them the benefit of the doubt though.
While you have a point, your example isn’t great, because Gio tracked Pedro around several times leaving a gap at their left hand side of the defence a lot.
Skepticism is good. Now, it is assumed that ZM’s images are there because they are representative of a trend or situation that repeatedly took place during the match. If we have reasons to believe that was not the case, it is up to us to present the evidence showing it. I honestly was not paying attention to whom was running after Pedro, if anybody, neither I have the game recorded to check it. But this can easily be done. Actually it doesn’t matter whether a theory is formulated a priori or posteriori. What is important is that it is verifiable. The data, that is the match, is available to anybody wanting to corroborate that it conforms, or not, to the theory or hypothesis.
By the way, reading again the tactical preview of the match all what I found about Gio and Pedro, to take the example of the first picture, was that Gio might find it difficult to track Iniesta when the spaniard was going to move to the center and that Pedro was likely to swap positions with Iniesta. Different would have been if something like “Gio lacks pace so he will stick like post stamp to his winger” was written.
Actually, ZM wrote that van Bronckhorst often dealt with wingers by sticking to them. He only noted that it would be hard for him to do that with Iniesta, not Pedro.
Isn’t the story of the first four pics that Pedro moves a lot, 30 meters back (1), 30 meters to the left (2), so Kuyt has to defend (3) and can’t be far up front (4).
Robben doesn’t move a lot, so the Spanish can team up (5).
More ‘different wingers’ then different ways of dealing with them.
I very much like the analysis here on the site, the way it is presented and commented. Adds to the thinking about the game. Perhaps it might even help enjoying it.
This only affirms what i’ve thought, that Kuyt is entirely useless as a winger. His main purpose is to track back and neutralize attacking wingers, which means you might as well put a pure leftsided midfielder there and play 442 or something alike.
Having a player primarily function as a defender, means that in these top-level games, way too much responsibility is put on Robben’s shoulders who would be forced to play his way through what are sometimes three or four players. When he doesn’t succeed, some would criticize him for that which is utter madness. It is entirely the manager’s fault that opponents can safely sacrifice multiple players in neutralizing Robben since they don’t have anything to worry about with Kuyt and as a result not with Van Persie either, since as a result of the tactics Van Persie is isolated as a result as well.
Bert Van Marwijk is *way* too cautious; his wing play is dysfuntional, his strikers will be isolated and Robben is forced to dribble even if he didn’t want to.
Holland was lucky to get as far as it has.
Kuyt needs to go or switch with Van Persie and we (Dutch) need a manager with courage.
“His main purpose is to track back and neutralize attacking wingers”
I meant to say: “…neutralize attacking wingbacks.”