Most supporters of the German national team look back with resentment at the years after the glorious triumph of Rio 2014. Good games were rare and real successes remained the exception.
Compared to the stormy time that lies behind the Dutch Elftal, it was like a coffee trip around the team of national coach Löw.
The Dutch first missed the 2016 European Championship, then the 2018 World Cup. National coaches Guus Hiddink and Danny Blind were sacked, Dick Advocaat tried to save the failed qualification for the World Cup in Russia, but to no avail. The team stabilized under Ronald Koeman, but this coach said goodbye to FC Barcelona in 2020.
Various association officials had to leave, half a generation of Dutch professionals never had the chance to play a big tournament.
The crisis was deep and dark.
And now that the Dutch are back, they are tearing themselves apart again. "The mood is not exactly positive," said former national player Youri Mulder of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung before the start of this Sunday (9:00 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the football EM, on ARD and MagentaTV) against Ukraine.
De Boer confuses names
Once again there is a debate about the right system because bond coach Frank de Boer deviates from the traditional 4-3-3 with two wingers. Elsewhere systems are changed two or three times per game, in Holland many observers do not want to break away from the 4-3-3 dogma of the football sage Johan Cruyff. At a chaotic press conference, de Boer also confused player names.
And Aston Villa's Anwar El Ghazi, who was part of the provisional EM squad, received a text message from de Boer during a live interview saying that he had been kicked out of the final squad. The coach interpreted this as a lack of style, as did his decision not to take Jasper Cillessen, who fell ill with Covid in May, to the tournament, although the goalkeeper was not seriously ill and has long since recovered. "Sometimes it's nice not to be among the favorites," says defender Matthijs de Ligt, given the difficult history with which the Dutch start into the European Championship.
The unrest does not seem to create any discord in the team. The atmosphere is rave about at press conferences and experienced defender Daley Blind believes: “It will work well.” They even believe they can compensate for the loss of Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk. Because with de Ligt from Juventus Turin, with Stefan de Vrij, who became Italian champion with Inter Milan, with Blind and the talented Jurriën Timber, other good defenders are ready.
Frenkie de Jong became an important driver in midfield at FC Barcelona last season, Georginio Wijnaldum, who is moving from Liverpool to Paris St-Germain after the European Championships, has been playing at the highest level for years, and Memphis Depay and Wolfsburgs storm up front Wout Weghorst.
Both have had a season in top form and scored in preparation.
De Boer, who failed before his job with the national team at Crystal Palace, Inter Milan and Atlanta United, remains controversial.
He himself does not count his team among the four best teams at this European Championship, but he also says: "Of course we want to win the tournament."