Netherlands survive late scare to overcome Ukraine as pressure eases on Frank de Boer

Despite a disastrous buildup to Euro 2020, the Netherlands secured a 3-2 win over Ukraine which highlighted their attacking strength and glaring defensive issues.

The Oranje’s catastrophic preparation for the tournament has been well documented, ranging from the injury to captain Virgil van Dijk to Frank de Boer’s controversial decision to ditch the 4-3-3 formation for a five-man defence.

The Netherlands’ group, Group C, was widely tipped as the weakest in the competition, featuring minnows North Macedonia alongside Austria and Ukraine. With the added bonus of playing all their games at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, De Boer’s side were tipped as firm favourites to progress to the knockout stages.

Of course, that wasn’t echoed by many of the country’s supporters, some of whom organised a banner to be flown over their training ground, urging the manager to drop the widely disliked 5-3-2 formation. He refused.

A plane has flown over the Netherlands training ground with a banner urging Frank de Boer to ditch the 5-3-2 and play in a 4-3-3. pic.twitter.com/SElRGq8xS4

— Dutch Football ?? (@FootballOranje_) June 12, 2021

His side, of course, did line up with a five-man defence in the opening game against Ukraine. As expected, Mathijs de Ligt missed out on injury, with 19-year-old Jurriën Timber replacing him. Patrick van Aanholt came in for AZ’s Owen Wijndal at left-wing back, while De Boer opted to play the same midfield trio and strike partnership that featured in friendly games against Scotland and Georgia.

The Netherlands boss faced heavy criticism for persevering with Martin de Roon in the centre of the park, as well as target man striker Wout Weghorst. On paper (and based on previous matches), this system would be overly defensive and lack any attacking intent to hurt an impressive Ukraine side that topped their Euro 2020 qualifying group.

That wasn’t the case at all.

They went straight at their opponents from the off, and really could’ve been two or three goals up when the half-time whistle was blown. Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum forced impressive saves from Ukrainian goalkeeper Heorhiy Bushchan, before Denzel Dumfries missed a close-range header with five minutes of the half remaining.

The Netherlands attempted seven shots in the first 10 minutes against Ukraine – the first team to do this in a European Championship finals match since recorded data in 1980. #Euro2020 #NED #NEDUKR pic.twitter.com/yehTJhtn1v

— The Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) June 13, 2021

Eventually, the pressure paid off and Ukraine’s defence caved. It was Bushchan who was at fault, having been the hero of the first half. The 27-year-old parried a shot straight into the path of captain Wijnaldum, who smacked the ball into an empty net just minutes into the second half.

Weghorst, who was completely anonymous in the first half, fired a powerful shot at the keeper which ricocheted into the back of the net to double the Netherlands lead six minutes later. A brief VAR check followed, but the goal was given and the nerves in Amsterdam slowly started to diminish.

Unsurprisingly, that didn’t last too long. As is the way with the Netherlands, and even more so with De Boer, they never do things the easy way.

After all, Ukraine had looked incredibly sharp on the counterattack and were regularly threatening the Martin Stekelenburg’s goal. While the Oranje were clearly the better side, their opponents kept themselves in the game and shockingly dragged themselves level with ten minutes to play.

First, an absolute stunner from West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko, who capitalised on a gap in the Netherlands’ defence to curl a beautiful shot into the back of the net from 20 yards out. This was followed by the inevitable equaliser five minutes later, where Roman Yaremchuk latched onto Ruslan Malinovskyi’s pinpoint free-kick to power his header past the Dutch keeper.

De Boer’s men have struggled defensively for a considerable period of time, and changing to a system with three centre-backs didn’t help. Andriy Shevchenko’s team didn’t panic, and eventually found their chance to exploit the Netherlands’ lackadaisical marking.

With five minutes to spare, it was Dumfries who latched on to Nathan Aké’s cross to head home the winner. Bushchan, once again, was at fault for failing to save the effort, but it was enough to secure the win for the Netherlands and ease the immense pressure on De Boer.

Ultimately, the former Ajax and Crystal Palace manager deserves credit for his side’s performance. He reacted to the criticism by instructing the wing-backs to get into attacking areas, which was ultimately what won them the game.

Dumfries was awarded the Man of the Match award, which was thoroughly deserved after some underwhelming performances against Scotland and Georgia. When given the freedom down the right flank, he gave the Ukrainian defenders nightmares with his pace and movement.

His defensive positioning still leaves a lot to be desired, as can be said for the entire back five who played on Sunday evening. Yarmolenko wasn’t properly closed down for the first goal they conceded, and nobody managed to properly mark Yaremchuk for the second (despite the 25-year-old being the obvious threat from set-pieces).

Against better sides, which the Netherlands will face if they progress from Group C, they will have to drastically improve their defensive set up. The return of Mathijs de Ligt will provide a huge boost, but the absence of Van Dijk has severely damaged the Oranje’s hopes of a successful Euro 2020 campaign.

The Netherlands’ talisman, Depay, had his somewhat disappointing performance covered up by a monumental attacking effort from the rest of his teammates. While De Boer failed to play to Weghorst’s strengths for much of the game, the six foot six striker put in a dominant performance that makes him likely to keep his place in the lineup against Austria and North Macedonia.

Their next game against Franco Foda’s side will provide a sterner test, and facing the likes of Marko Arnautović will be an incredibly tough task. However, for the first time in months, there’s a sense of cautious optimism in the Netherlands’ camp ahead of a crucial week.

Criticism of the Oranje’s formation, tactics and player selection will remain. But De Boer has a chance to ease the pressure on him and prove his doubters wrong.

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