My pre-synopsis for the upcoming Netherlands versus Spain final.
Netherlands up until now has been playing scrappy ball. They have several exceptional strikers such as Robben, Sneijder, and one of the Van's who are all capable of making epic shots on goal from anywhere inside and out of the 18. What they lack in finesse in play making they make up for in finesse in shots. But let me put it this way, they lack major finesse in play making. As I said they are a scrappy team that does whatever it can to move the ball up field. Their ball control skills aren't the greatest and they aren't the fastest, but there tenacity for going after the ball is ferocious. Just when you think a ball is stripped from them, a NED player manages to stick out a leg for a lucky lunge to get the ball back and pop it further up the field. Most soccer coaches would frown on all the lunging the Netherlands players tend to do, but for some reason it has worked well enough to get them into the World Cup finals this year. As I said, lady luck seems to have been riding the backs of the Orange boys.
Their defensive line is their primary weakness. Just about every goal scored against them has been over stupid defensive mistakes that made the defensive line for the orange team look like middle schoolers. Not that the line isn't capable of being great, it just feels they lack something. Chalk it up to bad communication, mis-manning, day dreaming, or what ever, but the fact remains the defensive line for the orange boys in my opinion could use some work. Almost every single goal against them was a defender or two being completely flat footed and/or reacting incorrectly to the situation.
However badly a mistake the defense has made, their keeper has been top notch. He has saved the orange bacon many times when they should have already been knocked out of the game. Without him, they would not be where they are currently in my opinion.
While watching their strangely terrible lunging, scrappy, play-style that I cringe over the game is speckled absolutely enjoyable highlight moments which bring a smile to my face. Even if I know Robben is going to flop damn near every chance he can.
As for Spain, my previous analysis of their game play remains the same. Short and quick with control is what it is all about. Short and quick players making short and quick passes in the middle of the field. Though the players may be quick, they are patient to the point of being slow to attack. They lack offense and not many of them seem to strike the ball that well. They also have a bad habit of hanging on to the ball too long when attacking (ala Pedro as an example from the last game) to try for the perfect shot. As someone else mentioned, they sometimes suffer from "one pass too many" syndrome in wanting to make the perfect shot on goal.
Their defense though is second to none. Their keeper is good if not exactly as good as the Netherlands keeper in my opinion but he's not a slouch. They rely too much on David Villa for scoring and capitalizing on attacks they generate. They work well at tiring out their opponents. However, as shown by the game with Switzerland that they lost, they do not do well against another defensive team. Their lack of offense versus a good defense virtually shuts down all forward progress by them. This seems to make them antsy and break away from their mode of controlling the ball in the middle to try desperate attacks. This leaves them open for counter attacks that Switzerland was able to make happen. Luckily Switzerland was not an offensive team or they might have had more goals.
One last item of note about the Spaniards that is both a strength and a weakness is they clog the middle. Their short pass game in the middle requires them to have 4 to 6 players very close together. For most teams, this is a disastrous thing to do. That is because most teams do not have 4 to 6 guys that are very quick, capable of one-touch passes and flicks with very good ball control and traps. Without those elements, trying to play the middle all the time is asking to have the ball stripped and jammed back down your goal. However, for teams like Spain that can do this, it can draw in the other team so that when Spain does spread out for an attack they catch the opposition by surprise.
So what is my verdict for the final game? It is this. Unless the Dutch shore up their defensive game the Spaniards are going to eat them for breakfast. On the flip-side, if the Dutch can remain patient, don't fall for running around endlessly chasing after the ball and getting tired, and wait for the counter attack opportunities they may surprise the world and take home the cup. Lady luck may also continue to favor the Dutch, but she can be fickle at the best of times. Personally I say that Spain is the clear winners baring any major defensive changes by the Dutch or pure luck going to them. While my brain says Spain my heart says Dutch because of my Dutch heritage and the fact I lived there for about 6 years. This makes me root for the underdogs this time around. I can only hope the Orange boys pull it out somehow.
, but that's pretty much what I saw. Still kind of annoys me that the absence of one player can so dramatically affect a team...especially when the absence was illegitimate. ...but I'd also fault Germany for allowing such a weakness.
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