Holland’s victory over the USA, which classified the European country for the quarterfinals of the Qatar Cup, was the most perfect result that could be expected from a formation with three defenders and two wings, used in the World Cup by coach Louis van Gaal .
In this formation, the defense is strengthened with three players in the area so that full-backs with offensive characteristics are free to attack without major concerns about marking. They thus become wards.
In the Netherlands, this scheme is more likely to work because Van Gaal uses two light midfielders who can fill the spaces on the sides of the field and avoid counterattacks when the wingers are in attack.
Naming the characters in the orange team: the defenders are Timber, captain Van Dijk and Aké; the defensive midfielders, De Roon and De Jong; the wingers, Dumfries (on the right) and Blind (on the left).
Everything went so well against the USA that the wings ended the match with two goals (one by Dumfries, one by Blind) and three assists (two by Dumfries, one by Blind) – this is not common in football.
They even served each other.
In the first half, Dumfries broke into the area and crossed from the right; Blind appeared near the penalty mark to shoot and overcome goalkeeper Turner – shortly before, in a similar move, the right winger had already served striker Memphis, who scored the first goal at Khalifa stadium.
In the second half, when the USA fell to 2-1 and looked like they had a chance to equalize, Blind returned the favor, crossing and finding Dumfries free in the area, to give final numbers to the scoreboard.
The big difference compared to the North Americans of this Dutch formation, used since the beginning of the World Cup, was the presence in the area, as a surprise element, of the wingers.
Dumfries and Blind did the different, they did what is not usual, surprising their rivals. They became genuine strikers and defined for the Netherlands, crowning their coach’s tactical scheme.
Holland returns to the field on Friday (9), to try to advance to the semifinals, at the Lusail stadium. The rival will be defined in the confrontation between Argentina and Australia.
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