A Dutch disaster

For the first time since 1980, Netherlands have failed to progress out of a group stage at a major tournament.

It might have been the toughest of all groups but how on earth did the team, full of global stars from the likes of Arsenal, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich and Manchester City only score two goals and leave the Ukraine with no points?

The answers are complex and I’m sure as they leave Eastern Europe, there will be some serious head scratching and puzzles of why this nightmare has occurred.

There have been occasions where things have been worse for Dutch international football, having failed to qualify for the World Cups in 1986 and 2002 as an example.

However, this group of 23 should hang their heads in shame. They have flopped spectacularly; there is no getting away from it.

This is the story of the reasons why Euro 2012 was truly a Dutch disaster.

Missed chances and puzzling strikers

Holland were draw in the Group of Death back in December and paired in Group B alongside Denmark, Germany and Portugal, there was someone high-profile on the international agenda to be going home early.

The amount of chances they created and missed, especially in the first match in Kharkiv against Denmark was criminal. When you have 28 attempts on goal and 20 are fired off target, any side would deserve to lose.

To have two prolific strikers in the form of Robin Van Persie and Klaas Jan Huntelaar entering the tournament and come away with only two goals in total is puzzling to say the least.

It seemed like Van Persie and Huntelaar both left their club form at the Emirates Stadium and Gelsenkirchen respectively. At least Arsene Wenger can now open those important contract talks fractionally early than planned.

The strikers comprehensively misfired and there was a general lack of creativity in abundance too, especially against Portugal when a win was absolutely necessary.

Not playing Dirk Kuyt from the start of any game was a big mistake. The Fenerbache midfielder works so hard for any team he is part of and as a substitute, his impact was minimised.

Instead coach Bert Van Marwijk went with the lazy Ibrahim Afellay, whom lacked match fitness following a serious injury last September. This was a curious and strange selection and it wasn’t the only one either.

Defensive disorganisation

Any football manager would say that to win games, it all starts at the back.

Fundamentally then, Holland had some major issues and were hopelessly outplayed by the more gifted players in the group like Bastian Schweinsteiger and the deadly finishing from Mario Gomez and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The defence was exposed time and again, with some elementary errors and an offside trap that never ever looked like working. In fact, the defending was akin to a team you’d see fighting against relegation in a domestic league, not a contender for a major tournament.

Everton’s Johnny Heitinga really struggled with his form which was surprising considering his consistency for his club. He was dropped for the Portugal decider but that didn’t matter too much as his replacement Ron Vlaar couldn't cope with an inspired Ronaldo.

After showing up as a real talent in South Africa two years ago, right back Gregory Van der Wiel was a pale shadow of what he has shown in his career upto this point. His attacking qualities were non-existent and defensively, looked limp throughout.

Lastly, Van Marwijk’s decision to play Maarten Stekelenburg in goal was horrific. Despite his experience of making 50 appearances and some good saves, he generally is a liability.

At fault for two of the three goals the Dutch conceded in the opening two matches, he displayed the form that brought him two red cards for AS Roma this season. Since when does a goalkeeper get dismissed twice in the same season?

I wouldn’t trust Stekelenburg with a bar of soap, let alone a football. Michel Vorm and Tim Krul must have had the thoughts on the bench of ‘I could have done better,’ throughout the pain of Holland’s campaign.

A sad end for Van Bommel

Captain Mark Van Bommel’s international career looks to have ended with him being substituted at half-time against Germany. I’m afraid his legs seem to have gone against youthful opposition and it is a sad ending for one of the game’s most established and honest individuals.

His defensive midfield colleague Nigel de Jong hasn’t played regularly all season and looked very rusty. I was disappointed to see Kevin Strootman of PSV Eindhoven left on the bench throughout as he was another player who could have made a difference.

I wouldn’t put Arjen Robben in the honest category. When he was replaced by Kuyt whilst chasing the German match, his reaction was very poor.

Throwing his shirt off, jumping over an advertising hoarding, he acted like a spoilt child. In the three games, he was either wasteful, a peripheral figure or lacked general enthusiasm. This was one Bayern player who hasn’t recovered from the Champions League heartache.

There were encouraging signs shown by Jetro Willems. At 18 years and 71 days when he started against Denmark, he became the youngest ever player to start a European Championships finals match.

Willems looked sharp in the opener and enjoyed the experience but he was thrown into the lion’s den by his manager. He was naïve and very nervous against the Germans and lucky to stay on the pitch for a dreadful lunge on Joao Moutinho in the Portugal match.

He is one for the future but this left back area exposed the Dutch’s fallibility. The more experienced Wilfred Bouma would have been a better solution for Euro 2012.

Signs were there

Perhaps the signs were there in the build-up to the tournament.

Holland lost 3-0 to the Germans last November.  England with a caretaker boss nearly snuck a draw when outplayed at Wembley in February and Bulgaria beat them at home just a fortnight before the opening match.

As Greece and the Czech Republic have already shown at Euro 2012, you don’t need stars, just work as a team and the results will come.

I’m afraid the Dutch were a bunch of individuals and never gelled successfully into a team unit. They were very disappointing and this will be a rude awakening for the Dutch Football Federation.

Currently ranked fourth in the most recent FIFA/Coca-Cola world rankings, this proves that this system needs a total overhaul too.

As coach Bert Van Marwijk said after the Portugal game; "Doubt crept into the team after the defeat by Denmark and it remained there.

“I knew it would be difficult to repeat the 2010 success, but I hoped they would do it one more time. Simple mistakes were made, that annoyed me, but I have also failed."

The 60-year-old will probably pay for the Euro failure with his job, at a time where his players must shoulder the responsibility too.

For a nation that has produced greats such as Cruyff, Neeskens, Gullit, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Bergkamp and the de Boer brothers, Dutch football is now at a crossroads.

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88