England vs Netherlands result: Six things we learned as Holland advance to Nations League final
England 1-3 Netherlands aet: Ronald Koeman's side advance to the final of the Nations League
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Your support makes all the difference.The Netherlands silenced the cheers of England‘s riotous fans as a valiant comeback clinched a 3-1 victory after extra-time in Guimaraes and a place in the Nations League final.
Marcus Rashford gave England the lead from the penalty spot after Matthijs de Ligt lost control of the ball in his own box and attempted a rash recovering slide tackle.
Memphis Depay consistently came close to pegging England back but lacked a concise finish, while Jadon Sancho missed a point-blank header early in the second half. Finally, though, the Dutch had their breakthrough as De Ligt redeemed his early error, leaping high above John Stones at the near-post and drumming a header past Jordan Pickford.
Neither side could break the deadlock, despite a spate of late chances at either end, but John Stones’ cataclysmic error in extra-time gifted the ball to Depay on the edge of England’s box and it was bundled in by Quincy Promese via the heel of Kyle Walker seconds later in a grim ending to Gareth Southgate’s Nations League campaign.
Here are five things we learned:
An erratic, error-strewn start
It was a tantalisingly open but unmistakably sloppy start from two sides with individual talent in abundance but often an incoherence to bind those powers together. Jadon Sancho immediately toyed with Denzel Dumfries and dinked a cross just a fraction over Raheem Sterling, who had found a sea of space to bask in by the penalty spot.
And at the other end, the hole between Harry Maguire and John Stones was quickly exploited as Gigi Wijnaldum broke free on goal with a two-on-one but scuffed a pass that should have put Memphis Depay clean through on goal.
The individual mistakes were apparent. Kyle Walker and Ben Chilwell were both caught out, Rice rarely seemed assured in possession at the base of midfield, Depay meanwhile launched a quarterback Hail Mary of a cross into the crowd from within his own centre-circle that left Ronald Koeman with a hangdog expression. And while those would go mercifully unpunished, the next met the sword.
De Ligt briefly turns misery
Like the greatest of circuses, the climax was still to come. De Ligt, the most coveted defender in world football, the 19-year-old diamond who arrived on the world stage pre-polished, took his turn to masquerade as rusty metal.
First, Sancho stroked the ball through the defender’s legs as innocuously as a cheeky child mocking his father.
Moments later, Marten de Roon rolled a casual pass to the centre-back but De Ligt allowed his eyes to wander, the ball rolled under his studs and Marcus Rashford stole in on goal. A hapless slide tackle scythed Rashford by the ankles for a clear-cut penalty that the United forward would rise to swiftly convert.
Many say the Netherlands boast the greatest centre-back pairing in football. But amongst the litany of early errors, it was the man drooled over by Barcelona and Manchester United whose mistake proved perilous and, perhaps, the questions over his future did, albeit briefly, prove a greater distraction than his icy exterior lets on.
Barkley flourishes under freedom
In a midfield trio where Declan Rice and Fabian Delph feel more relaxed sitting back, vying for a role of deep-seated cover, Ross Barkley flourished under the freedom.
After an initially nervy start, the oft-maligned Chelsea midfielder found pockets of space, pirouetted out of tight corners and appeared for a long while to be the only player capable of freeing up Sancho and Rashford in the channels.
Perhaps it’s simply the ease of being unshackled from Maurizio Sarri’s system, but Barkley consistently appears to find a better rhythm under Gareth Southgate, away from staccato substitution and free to break forward on his own gallivanting runs that had De Ligt and Van Dijk backpedalling in unison.
Unfortunately, a calamitous late touch in extra-time would leave a lot of his hard work forgotten.
England’s lack of possession tolls
There was a 15-minute period at the start of the second half where England developed a type of allergy towards the ball. Marcus Rashford came off due to injury, Jadon Sancho was replaced soon after and all the pace and zeal seemed to be sucked from Southgate’s side by the substitutions.
Frenkie de Jong controlled the pace of play from the centre of midfield like a slow-motion conductor, intercepting every attempt at an England counter until all that was left in England’s arsenal was a long, lumping ball to Harry Kane who spent the second-half hopelessly attempting to outrun Virgil van Dijk’s colossal shadow.
Finally, the pressure tolled and it was De Ligt towering over John Stones to convert from a corner at the near post. England lost their footing, paddled without idea and eventually couldn’t help but be submerged by the pressure.
VAR drama sets up nerve-addled finish
Jesse Lingard wheeled away in celebration, convinced he’d snatched the winner against a run of play. Another brilliant charge from Chilwell opened up the space, Sterling’s causal backheel flick fell at Barley’s feet and his pass was perfect. But as the celebrations ensured, the referee’s watch made the dreaded ping and soon it was notched off by a mere boot.
Moments later, it was the Dutch who were appealing maniacally, convinced the ball had flicked off Chilwell’s arm in the box, but after a lengthy VAR check their hopes too were also condemned. Two knife-edge moments that left a haywire game with a tense, nerve-addled finish and gave this Nations League semi-final a true tournament feel.
Lingard skipped past three defenders but couldn’t quite wrap his foot around the ball to curl it into the far corner. Bergwijn crept around Maguire’s hefty footsteps to nip in at the near post but Depay thrashed the tap-in over the bar. Sterling came close almost immediately at the other end, grazing the top of the bar, leaving extra-time looming.
A comedy of errors to finish
Begin as you mean to go on said the Prince of Preachers. John Stones in all lanky glory paid homage to one of English’s old expressions. The centre-back dawdled on the edge of his own box, attempted a type of Anglophile tainted Cruyff-turn to shimmy away from Depay but instead proceeded to desperately proffer the ball, his wallet and keys to go along with it and watched on meekly as Promes’ shot ricocheted off Kyle Walker and into the net.
With England chasing a goal, then it was Barkley who mimicked Stones’ mistake, his miserable touch-come-backpass to Pickford again snuck in on Depay with Promese on hand to add the confirmatory third.
After a valiant comeback, many will look to blame the ideology of passing out from back, but they were simply individual blunders, as harsh as that can seem, for all their great efforts, it’s what cost England tonight.
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