Euro 2012 Team Guide: Netherlands

The Road to Euro 2012

After their World Cup final disappointment, you could have forgiven the Holland squad for indulging in that age old Dutch footballing pastime of sulking. Those days seem to have gone though, with the BBC panellist Clarence Seedorf the last reminder of the era during which a chip on the shoulder was as important as the ability to kick a ball. And so it came to pass that, after chucking away yet another chance to win a World Cup, the Netherlands remained unbeaten in every qualifying game that mattered, only losing to Sweden when they were already through. The Dutch scored a remarkable 37 goals in their qualifying games, averaging an easy to calculate 3.7 goals per game, although if you take away the 16 goals that they scored against San Marino those stats work out at an altogether less impressive 21 goals and 2.42 goals per game. The Netherlands are a good side, but it's always been dangerous to regard them as a free scoring goal machine. As we saw at the World Cup, they can very quickly go into their shell when they see that as the most likely way to win.

The Manager

Bert Van Maarwijk would have hoped to see some players progress during the two years since the World Cup final. The fact that he may begin this competition with the same line up which started in Johannesburg shows quite neatly that it will be another few years before the latest group of young Dutch players makes it through to the top level. That said, Van Maarwijk will be in charge to oversee the progress, having just signed a contract which will keep him with the national side until Euro 2016. He deserves that faith as he has done a job that confounded many who went before him. The Netherlands had been unbeaten for 25 consecutive matches before their defeat in the World Cup final, and in all, Van Maarwijk has lost just 5 of his 46 matches in charge. He is famously Mark Van Bommel's father in law, but it was of course a coincidence that Van Maarwijk recalled Van Bommel to the national side for his first game in charge.

The Star

How can this section not be dominated by Robin Van Persie? He'll be the predictable choice of many to finish as the Top Goalscorer at Euro 2012 and it's tough to argue too much with that. Van Persie is a sublime talent, and perhaps most impressively, he is one that was playing at a good level, before working hard enough to take his game to an entirely different one. I wasn't among those who felt that he should have been Footballer of The Year in England, preferring Vincent Kompany, but he is brilliant, and could be the star of the summer. What makes me swerve him as Top Goalscorer is that he will be watched very carefully and also may just be preoccupied with a potential move to Manchester City. I feel that his countryman Klaas Jan Huntelaar is a better bet as Top Goalscorer, and the two of them could take the Netherlands a long way.

The Rock

The Dutch rock has to be hybrid of Van Maarwijk's central midfielders, son in law Mark Van Bommel and Nigel de Jong. Both have suffered with injuries this season, but provided that they're both fit for the start of Euro 2012, that could play into the hands of the coach. Van Maarwijk knows that both could have been ineffective after long seasons, but also that he can ill afford to do without either.

The Youngster

I've seen a little bit of Heerenveen over the last couple of seasons, and been hugely impressed with their young winger Luciano Narsingh. He is uncapped, and may be along at Euro 2012 for experience, but don't be surprised if he comes on at some point and makes a big impact from the bench. Narsingh has electric pace, and reminds me a lot of Theo Walcott. There's one area in which he is improving fast, and getting better than Walcott, and that's in front of goal. He scored 12 times for Heerenveen last season, and I wouldn't be at all surprised at all to see a Premier League club near you take a punt on him soon.

The Bet

The Netherlands are one of those odd countries that it's hard to fancy and yet tough to write off. That's because it's so hard to judge which version of them will turn up at a major tournament. My suspicion is that they will do their usual thing of looking great in the group stage and then finding a team which is good enough to beat them in the knockout rounds. That makes me think that they're a tournament winner lay in running, particularly if one of the other fancied sides falls at the group stage. Obviously, this is a team which is light years away from some of the flaky Dutch sides of recent vintages, but in the same way that those sides used to implode, this one could well tire. I see them as probable semi finalists, and that kind of progress through the tournament will give one of their front men a great chance of walking away with the golden boot. Van Persie will be popular, and will take penalties, but I like the chances of Klaas Jan Huntelaar, brilliant in this season's Bundesliga, and very different from the lightweight who has struggled on other big occasions. He is a decent price at 20.019/1.