How did van Gaal orchestrate this win?
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47 Comments
Explanation is pretty simple. WE DID NOT MARK THE FREAKING RUNNING STRIKERS!
Berhalter deserves a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 10. We need a better coach. But we may have still lost…. They played us, perfectly.
why don't we have a coach like this?
Amazing huh how America since joined World Cup long years haven't been win through Quarter Final, Who's going home?
Very naive from team USA to play with a 433 system and high intensity against a Dutch side,with Mister Van Gaal as coach.
Why did he always starts with blind despite of he is slow and nearly a defender?
Imagine England against these lot💀
This was perfect!!! When you mentioned about how the forwards positioned themselves I pointed that out to my friends while we were watching. I stated that they are giving us the space and then closing it down. I’m American but tactically speaking it was amazing watching the Netherlands play.
Wouldn't have expected this in advance, but i actually think the Netherlands are the favorites against Argentina. Argentina self-admittedly relies on Messi for 90 percent of their game, which makes them potentially vulnerable against a strong tactical side that can close off passing lanes towards him. The Netherlands' execution vs the US suggests they might be capable of doing exactly that
The ExG say's a lot. Most people here look at the score bord. But if you look how good a team is the score bord is probabbly one of the worst things to look at. I hope the Netherlands will continue and win the WC but if continue like this they wont make it. This is just not good enough. Tactical idea is nice but this wont cut it against better oponents.
Yes, LVG picked player for the alignment he chose to play. But Holland slipped in and out of the wing-defending mode depending on the moment, and definitely took different, more deep-lying tacks when Dupay went off… And it's not enough for us to yell, "Reyna on for McKennie!" GGG didn't merely refuse to play Reyna, who is not a box-to-box player. GGG refused to realign to ACCOMMODATE Reyna. More to the point: He sent on #Acosta on for Wes as like for like sub, but they're NOT. Our midfield engine ground to a halt each time Wes went off because Acosta isn't good enough. His teammates did not dare play thru Acosta, who hasn't the technical ability and does not go forward like Wes. Up and down the lineup, GGG plugged and played in this manner, always deferring to the starting alignment. It was simplistic, even by national team standards. And it hurt us… Corrollary: The US did not have the midfield depth behind the starting troika to allow for continued efficient play — in that alighment. That's not GGG's fault. But a decent coach can realign to hide or mitigate Acosta, if he's the best we've got. And GGG never even attempted that… amzn.to/3RDMwaQ
I think in the macro analysis one has to realize that the Dutch were relatively fresh versus a spent US team exhausted by their win over Iran. That left them lacking in the mental endurance required for consistent marking – which they did not do.
I expected Berhalter to get outcoached by Van Gaal – and he did. VG knew that Tyler Adams was key to the US attack so they neutralized him and set traps in the midfield. Then, as you said, they were quick to overload when the oppty presented itself. As a US fan, I wish the Dutch were still coached by Koeman or DeBoer. Berhalter could have outcoached either – or both. Well done to the Dutch and especially VG. But kudos to the American team for getting to the knockout. They were fun to watch. Looking forward to WC 2026.
Van Gaal's tactical genius is why I'm picking Oranje to beat Argentina in the quarter final. I think he'll find a way to keep Messi quiet by cutting off a steady supply of ball to him. Messi's relatively lack of mobility will provide van Gaal with different options to exploit. For me van Gaal is the best coach active in Qatar.
It as a masterclass from van gal considering the Dutch were wearing wooden clogs and stoned.
He's an amazing coach, he should manage Man Utd.
https://youtu.be/miti0Jo1WzA
Berkhalter’s decision to start Zimmerman did us in before the first whistle. US should have played a 4-5-1. Clog the middle and play for a 0-0. There was no way our inept forwards were going to score more than the Dutch.
I love channels like this. People think soccer is just running and kicking, but…
Great content. Thank you very much
Please pass this along to USSF. Geez, I am not sure Berhalter could ever have grasped this technical breakdown as well as you did. Thank you so much for the analysis
Will be more difficult against Argentina
If you think the Dutch had to put on some kind of masterclass to beat the USMNT you're deluding yourself about the quality of the U.S. team.
Oddly enough over here in The Netherlands the fans are extremely negative about the Dutch performance so far. A lot of complaints about a lack of creativity and lackluster pase. Online forums are filled with Dutch destroying the team, most of the players and even the coach and his tactics.
Dutch TV called the US goal a Harry Potter goal, we are still not sure how it went in
I hope scaloni would understand the tactics and switch to 3 man against Netherlands, Lisandro at left CB was immense every time he played and this shape could benefit for countering the dutch tactics
#GGGout!!!
Van Gaal an 8 and the USA also.
Good game USA misses a little bit of technique,power they have.
Berhalter watching this somewhere confused.
What is XG?
Dumfries will herald in a new era of goalscoring wingbacks. The last decade showed wingers scoring tons of goals, the next tactical innovation will star dumfries and his wingbacks doing the same pretty soon.
His name is Van Gaal not van Haal show some respect for the man.
You have a good trainer but no good players it's not just about running, not one of the USA players would be good enough for the Netherlands
Thing is, U.S did not really have a #9 who could put the ball in the back of the net. And because of that they suffered
Let's see how this Dutch system holds up against the Argentinians, who also is an attacking team. Most of the time The Netherlands is always struggling (but I think every country would) with highly defensive playing team that solely rely on countering. The Netherlands can actually play better against attacking teams. Ball possession does not say much if you can't create chances and of course finish them. This Friday we will see if The Netherlands will beat Argentina, I think it's a 50/50 chance, and we have seen some surprise matched this World Cup so far. Nobody would have thought about Morocco kicking Spain out of this cup. 🙂
The coach has good control over his team, there is trust from both in each other. So if van Gaal tells them not to go forward and attack, they listen. He knew the US were fast and energetic, and waited the storm to pass. The few counters were very effective, out of three chances, two resulted in goals. By the time the US got tired, the game was already played.
Thanks for a fair match and we'll meet again… ⚽
You made 1 small mistake. Not only Timber would help Dumfries; but also de Roon would cover Pulisic
From this US National team fan, and FMS fan as well, another great analysis from our FMS Guru, totally spot on. I, and other commentators loathe Berhalter and hate the way we play. We are SOOO predictable. with 4 back, single pivot, and two 8s and a front three. The entire approach is predicated on fullbacks–and BOTH at the same time, getting forward deep and then its cross cross, cross.. Meanwhile, Berhalter insists on playing with a 9 up front, and all our options there are weak to one degree or another. As you point out, this approach leaves the centerbacks as a single pair behind, and any turnover in midfield can find us under huge pressure if the ball goes wide to runners in open space…and that's EXACTLY what happened in both 1st half goals which looked like training ground exercises. Zip, zip, goal. Appalling. Our approach does create scoring opportunities, as the XG number showed, but we have no great scorer, while the Dutch have two in Depay and Gakpo. Pulisic is a great player, but not a great scorer, though he does score. We have good players, very talented and lots of speed. We should be a counter attacking team, sit back, force turnovers in midfield and play direct to our very fast players like Musah, Weah, and Pulisic. But Berhalter persists in his rigid approach, to the groans of fans like me. Anyway, thanks for this outstanding, and sadly correct, analysis.
While I agree with this analysis. I am still not willing to give the Netherlands and Van Gaal the credit that everyone is giving them here. They certainly planned to cede a little possession to enact this strategy, but by no means did they mean to give up a near 60-40 possession with the ball in their 3rd more than 30% of the time. This strategy or at least the execution of it put the Netherlands in a position to rely more on US mistakes rather than creating as many chances as possible. To their credit, they finished on nearly every mistake the US made.
However, if I'm the Dutch, and I am the superior team at all positions with the weapons to control the game and put the US on their heels, my strategy should reflect that. I feel like the Dutch were lucky in this game and the score didn't represent the actual quality of the game. This is backed up by the xG stat you showed of 1.8 to 1.6. I've seen others that have it the US 1.86 to 1.8 Dutch, but the stat shows the same thing in either case. What it shows is that the Dutch basically won a 50-50 game. That means that with superior firepower at all positions and greater depth on the bench, Van Gaal's strategy had them squeaking by. The score didn't show that, but the score can often mask poor strategies and poor play.
Ultimately, I think the US outplayed the Dutch, who were fortunate to capitalize on something that the xG stat said should have been a poor chance, but Tyler Adams didn't get back, when he surely could have. And they were fortunate on the 2nd goal that Dest didn't get to a ball he easily should have. The finishes were world class, but the chances were mediocre and really mistakes that the US hadn't made all tournament to this point. Had they made those mistakes in the England game they would have lost 4-0 or 5-0. So, if I'm Dutch, I am unhappy with my teams performance and my managers strategy, but I am happy for the win.
if van gaal play's this way against arg, holland is in for a long night. Arg will patiently move the ball left to right and until gaps to appear. This is Argentina, not naive USA.
Rating the coaches must be moderated by an assessment of how they made use of their assets. What you learn from this analysis here is that the Netherlands had more options to switch tactics during the game, depending on the possession they had at any one time. You cannot fault the US coaching team for not having the same flexibility. That was simply a fact of life for them.
There is no shortcut to greatness in this game. The Netherlands have decades of presence at the highest levels of football behind them. Their players are educated from the ages of 6 – 7 years old on how to use space – which is a hallmark of Dutch football – and how to close it down for an opponent. From the age of 8 – 9 they learn to anticipate on their teammates’ and their opponents’ actions. And thereafter they learn to execute their coaches’ tactics. As long as they continue to execute the latter competently, it will always be very, very difficult to beat them. There is no shortcut to this level.
Chess vs. Checkers. Beerhalter got schooled. USA need an experienced European coach.
Where the game between morocco ans spain hahah
It is rare to see a coach who is really adding value to a squad. To make a group of players play in a way that is above their own individual qualities. Usually a coach uses the qualities that the players have and use those in the best way possible, but not above that level. Van Gaal is one of those coaches that has that ability (it doesn't always show). Mourinho has the same (Inter). And IIRC I saw the same with Ricardo La Volpe with the Mexican squad (but my memory may be wrong).
What you have done is a masterclass. I'm excited to see that there are channels putting this effort into analisis.
The only comment that I would add is that a key finishing move from Van Gaal (one on the things he hasn't changed opposite to many other he did) is what Google translated for me as "overlapping run and back post". In case the translation is not accurate what I mean is the winger getting the ball close to the end of the field and passing the ball to the penalty spot which was evident in the first two goals.
I want to see if these tactics can work well enough against Scaloni which has played for and studied Bielsa which is consider one of Van Gaal's "disciples".
Tite assistindo o vídeo 😏
Nice analysis: Also note that Ream and Zimmerman lack building-up skills and decisive longer passes making it easier to stay low. Indeed staying low creates space for the wings-backs when re-possessing the ball. Dest played way too high on the pitch
Everyone in the US knows it was a Berhalter disasterclass: MLS Coaches make this mistake by making the fullbacks being too aggressive and exposing the center backs. Examples: with Bruce Arena vs Costa RIca (in a 3-5-2 as well) in 2017 and the Canada games in WC qualifiers.