What did you think of last night’s results? Didn’t get time to see them? Don’t worry we have you covered! Check out our match reports for Brazil-Chile here and Colombia-Uruguay here. Read on to see our thoughts on Holland’s clash with Mexico!
The Netherlands:
How they’ve done so far:
Holland 5 – 1 Spain, Holland 3 – 2 Australia, Holland 2 – 0 Chile.
What they’ve done well so far:
Well the story of the tournament for some teams in the knockout stages is that they’ve been lucky or they’ve not taken enough of their chances. Holland haven’t suffered from those particular dispositions. When they’ve had chances they’ve been ruthlessly efficient in taking them. Tactically they’ve been absolutely superb too; they’ve faced three very different prospects in their fixtures so far but have eventually come up with answers to beat all of them – they’ve been very, very impressive.
Where they’ve struggled so far:
Occasionally in some games they have found themselves put under quite substantial pressure; despite the final score, Spain had Holland relatively under control for about 20 minutes and Australia did too for brief spells. The most alarming situation the Dutch have been in so far though was against Chile were Alexis Sanchez and co. really gave the Dutch something to think about as the Dutch sat back and absorbed the pressure; whether or not sitting back was a tactical ploy to help the Dutch break in numbers quickly or not is another thing but the fact of the matter is that playing such a risky strategy nearly cost them a goal or two. Once they’re on the front foot though, the opposition is in for a rollercoaster ride.
Key Player:
Robben has looked like a man possessed so far in this tournament. Whilst on the team-sheets he’s listed as Robin Van Persie’s, that hasn’t exactly been the case. He’s been playing just behind RVP if anything, dropping deeper than the United forward to help kick-start Dutch attacks; he’s been very good at finishing them off too – three goals so far for the winger! Van Gaal will be hoping Robben can continue that form and take the Dutch all the way to the final.
Will they progress?:
They’ve been arguably the most impressive side at the tournament so far – going unbeaten in a group containing Spain, Chile and Australia is no mean feat! Tactically they’re yet to come unstuck either! The Dutch have a history of imploding one way or another at these tournaments though; that doesn’t seem to be an issue this time around as there seemed to be a great sense of unity about the squad but cracks could start to show at some point. I’m knit picking here in all honesty though, that’s how good the Dutch have been so far; I’m having to knit pick to find a reason for them to potentially not go through!
Mexico:
How they’ve done so far:
Mexico 1 – 0 Cameroon, Mexico 0 – 0 Brazil, Mexico 3 – 1 Croatia.
What they’ve done well so far:
Despite what two of the above scores suggest, they’ve been pretty free-flowing offensively. Against Brazil they were more or less restricted to efforts from outside of the box but against Cameroon they were brilliant offensively and the score would have reflected that had they not had two goals wrongly disallowed for offside. They could have had more against Croatia too; once they got the first one in that game, the floodgates opened – its just a shame that the first one came so late otherwise it could have been a rout!
Where they’ve struggled so far:
A weakness that is particularly going to affect them in this tie was shown in the Brazil game. Brazil took the game to the Mexicans (Ochoa in goal made sure that the score didn’t reflect that) and pegged the Mexicans back in their own half for much of the game. The Brazilians did a good job mostly in keeping the Mexicans out of the box too, except for once Chicharito came on but because the United forward was being used as a lone striker, he was isolated and snuffed out quickly so again, Mexico’s attack was stifled. Holland have shown they’re more than capable of taking a game to someone so expect that to hurt Mexico in this game.
Key Player:
Gio Dos Santos. He was largely anonymous in the Brazil game and it showed as the Mexicans didn’t get anywhere at all offensively. On the contrary to this he was a real handful in the Cameroon game and had two goals wrongly chalked off and was a nuisance to the Croatian defence in their final group game too. He’s going to need to continue that form against Holland if Mexico are to give a good account of themselves in this match.
Will they progress?:
I think this will just be a test too far for the Mexicans. They have real quality if they can get into an offensive rhythm and are capable of testing anyone but I think Holland will be more than up to the challenge. Expect Mexico to make a good game of it though!