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From Total Football to a total mess, the Dutch demonstrate why England are not so bad after all

Sam Elliott
Total Football to total failures: The Dutch side, led by Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, are at their lowest ebb
Total Football to total failures: The Dutch side, led by Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, are at their lowest ebb

When, as it almost certainly will do, things go all ‘international friendly’ tonight and you are left wondering why you sacrificed your Friday night, pause to gather some perspective.

While you are questioning if it can all get more soul-sapping than an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain-Jordan Henderson midfield axis, take a little look at the faces in the Johan Cruyff Arena when the cameras pan around the crowd.

The clue is very much in the name for those still donning the unmistakable orange of a once proud football nation.

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From Total Football to a total and absolute mess. The Dutch footballing philosophy has crumbled, such is the state of disrepair that there’s suggestions it could take a decade or more to remedy.

So far are Holland now behind the European heavyweights that their proud history is now the only thing they have to cling to.

There is no hope, not with arguably the worst team in many of their colourful supporters’ living memories. Not with a young crop coming through offering little excitement or much in the way of motivation that, as their kit suggests, the future’s bright.

The Dutch master: Iconic Johan Cruyff is widely considered the best ever player to play for the Netherlands
The Dutch master: Iconic Johan Cruyff is widely considered the best ever player to play for the Netherlands

No, nostalgia is all that’s left. Back-to-back World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978, led of course by the master craftsman Cruyff, and ably assisted by with the likes of Wim Jansen, Johnny Rep, Arie Hanna, Willem van Hanegem and Ruud Krol, are now a hazy memory.

Gone is the iconic high-press game, the undoubted artistry of Marco van Basten or of a Dennis Bergkamp. The genius of Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit, and the industry of Ronald Koeman are symbols of a time few in Amsterdam tonight believe they will see again.

Back-to-back failure to qualify for major tournaments is purely the tip of the Netherlands’ iceberg.

Not were the Dutch unlucky in both campaigns, so far from looking remotely like making the World Cup that summer holidays could be planned well before the group’s conclusion.

A day to remember: The scoreboard says it all as England crush the Dutch at Wembley in 1996
A day to remember: The scoreboard says it all as England crush the Dutch at Wembley in 1996

Their team now has no sprinkling of the stardust their supporters have become accustomed to. Save for Virgil van Dijk, the £75m Liverpool central defender, there is no genuine quality to call upon. No drive, not hang-your-hat-on captain, and no sign of things getting any better any time soon.

The very fact their midfield on Friday will be anchored by Brighton & Hove Albion’s Davy Propper, a tidy yet limited lower-end Premier League player in truth, typifies the current situation. Not only has the well run dry, the canal has been completely clogged.

Of course, a small nation with grand ambitions probably above their station all seems a little close to home, doesn’t it?


But while England are far from being anywhere near competing for the World Cup in Russia, at least they are there. They always are, every other summer. Except when Steve McClaren gets his hands on the team.

So remember as you begin your 10pm self assessment as to why you set aside your Friday evening, things could be worse. Much worse.