What is this Holland side missing?

When you look at the Holland side, on paper you could say that it is, in fact, a stronger team that made it to the final of the World Cup two years ago.

The Netherlands’ strike-force looks like it could be unstoppable, with Arsenal striker Robin van Persie being in destructive form this season with 30 Premier League goals and that matched with the likes of Huntelaar, Affellay and Champion League finalist Arjen Robben, it would give any defence nightmares, not to forget the midfield maestros of Sneijder, Van Bommel and De Jong with the ability to dictate games individually, there is no wonder why many people put their money on Holland for the outright win before the tournament.

But for as good as there team sheet is it has not been reflected on the pitch. An embarrassing loss to a strong and disciplined Denmark team and a destroying defeat by a very strong German side puts the Netherland rock bottom without gaining a single point. And now all they can do is cling on to the slightest hope that they can still crawl out of the ‘group of death.’

So what exactly is going wrong for the Dutch camp?

Well it just seems like a different team has turned up to this tournament, they have scored one goal so far and with the vast amount of quality strikers in the side, this is not reassuring. However you can’t put all the blame on the strikers, with the always reliable Nigel De Jong and Mark Van Bommel looking, well, not so reliable.

So now Holland are relying on Germany to do them a favour for their own destiny but they still have a hard task in store for themselves against a very determined Portugal side, who also have eyes on second and are playing above expectation, with a win against Denmark and a strong performance in a hard 1-0 defeat to Germany they will be no pushovers.

But you can’t put the full blame on the Dutch players with manager Bert Van Marwijk having to take a serious hit also. With the Dutch fans hoping for a change in tactics they will be feeling the need for Van Marwijk to buck his ideas up, the Dutch coach has been criticised for being bland before but frustrations have been made public after using the same tactics in the Germany game which obviously didn’t work against Denmark. And the Holland boss will have a lot of work to do with his players before the showdown against Portugal on Sunday (17^th).

The chase for second place is still a close contest with Germany all but sealing first place. And it is half in the Dutch hands if they are to progress to the quarter-finals or at least save as much pride as they can.

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