The Dutch enigma
There is something familiar about the current Dutch squad….rifts. The Netherlands for many years have had their huge potential disrupted by infighting. When he managed Chelsea, Ruud Gullit said he had deliberately triggered off some conflict in the squad claiming the creative tension was good for the team dynamic. It wasn’t particularly good for the Dutch team dynamic in 1994 when Gullit himself stormed out of the squad. As for the claim about ‘creative tension’ being good for the team,the facts suggest otherwise…the only time the squad has been devoid of this squabbling was 1988 and they fulfilled their potential by becoming European champions. The staggering thing is that in their current set up the tension is between Snejider and Van Persie and was partly triggered off by a disagreement over who should take a free kick. For heavens sake, are they twelve years old?? In a squad of 22 people there is bound to be friction but are the egos really so huge and fragile?
There can be an intoxicating danger in knowing you have an ablity superior to that of all others. In the final against West Germany, The Dutch were awarded a penalty in the first minute by English ref Jack Taylor which Neeskens hammered home. This led to complacency….instead of playing the game they started to think they had achieved the dream of beating the Germans on their own soil. Fiercely competitive, West Germany started to play their way into the game and Breitner equalised with a penalty. With the Germans roared on by the home crowd Holland became bedraggled. It was no surprise when Muller gave them the lead shortly before half time. Then came the focal point of the whole game. Walking off at half time Cruyff was gived a yellow card for incessant arguing with the ref. Everything in the team went through Cruyff. He provided inspiration and the intelligence to execute their total football. But at half time the devastated conductor of the orchestra sat in the dressing room head in hands. His teammates sank with him and never recovered. West Germany became world champions.
To dismiss this as a Dutch failure is a story but not the whole story. It’s easy to forget that the West German side was filled with players who were worthy of World Cup winners medals. As with the Hungarians twenty years before, German pramatism had overcome style and grace. But the lesson to be learned is that football teams,however skillful and stylish, don’t win trophies at that level without discipline and reslience. A sobering reality but a reality all the same.