World Cup: Day Ten
This is a little later just because I was struggling with how little sleep I’ve had during the tournament and had to catch these games later on. I don’t think it had a huge impact on the newsletter quality. Let’s get into it.
The first half of this newsletter will be free, and then the second half will be for paid subscribers only. These newsletters are going to run every single matchday. If you want to come along for the ride, I have a special offer running right now, giving you 20% off for a year. That’s £4.80/$6.40/€5.60 a month, or you can save in the long run by getting a whole year for £48/$64/€56.
Netherlands 5-1 Sweden
Ronald Koeman did not like me calling him boring last time.
You don’t have to be amazing for 90 minutes if you can do this much damage in a couple of bursts.
The Dutch went direct and physical from the go, getting their opening goal from a long ball up to Brian Brobbey and using runners around him against Sweden’s high line. The second goal was all about stretching the Swedish defence, with a ball moved wide at pace for Mr. Brobbey to attack. That first 20 minutes was as dominant as it gets. Netherlands exploited Sweden’s high line over and over while simultaneously penning them in their own third. Sweden started getting back in the game as the first half went on, but the Netherlands were much harder to break down than Sweden had been.
The start of the second half went down the same way. Sweden were really terrible defending a pretty basic cross Cody Gakpo got on the end of to get to 3-0. Then after drifting a bit, they put together a brilliant counter-attack Gakpo starred in to make it 4-0 after 53 minutes. I’m sorry, were you expecting a contest here?
In the middle third of the pitch, this game was pretty even. But in the areas closer to goal — the parts that actually matter — the Dutch blew them away. “Graham Potter team soft at basic defending” probably isn’t a shocking headline. But it was still the basic pattern of the game. When Sweden were attacking, the Netherlands were compact and dropped deep in good numbers. Alexander Isak really struggled here, and Viktor Gyokëres was limited to tame efforts. It was hard. But any time the Netherlands went forward, Sweden made it easy for them. It was a basic failure to defend their own box.
The Netherlands are in a very strong position considering their final game is against a poor-looking Tunisia. According to Michael Caley’s projection model as of writing this, they’re likely to face Morocco or Brazil, which is not the easiest path in the world. I guess we’ll see how many words about Ronald Koeman I’ll have to eat.
Germany 2-1 Ivory Coast
It took them time, but they figured out how to get there.
Germany were pretty in control of the game, but seemed to switch off a little after the first hydration break. Yan Diomande dribbles down the left flank for Ivory Coast and puts in a low cross that no one cuts out until it reaches Franck Kessié at the far post. This is so much of I’ve been saying international football needs: width and runners stretching the play in two areas. Germany should’ve got tighter to Diomande here, but they’re worried not to because that opens up space in the middle. It’s one of the oldest ideas in football: give defenders a choice.