Daley Blind made playing minutes for the first time since March 30 on Sunday evening. The defender of Ajax dropped out in the World Cup qualifier against Gibraltar (0-7 win) with an ankle injury and had to be carried off the field with a stretcher, but recovered in time for the European Championship and played in the friendly against Georgia ( 3-0 win) with a half. National coach Frank de Boer posted him as left central defender in a five-man defence, a place where Blind feels at ease. However, the system does not always appeal to him.
Blind was taken to the side by De Boer at halftime for Nathan Aké and saw how the the Dutch won the game quite easily through hits from Memphis Depay, Wout Weghorst and Ryan Gravenberch. “I think we did better than the game against Scotland (2-2, ed.)”, Blind tells the NOS. “Of course there are still areas for improvement. If I compare it with 2014, we had a long period to train on a system, we now have a little less time for that. I feel good in the system, I have already shown that I think I can handle that position well too. I feel comfortable in this place. Whether it’s at left back or in the center, it doesn’t matter to me.”
Yet Blind also sees disadvantages of the 5-3-2 system that De Boer used against Scotland and Georgia. “In this system you sometimes have less of the ball, that is difficult to accept,” said the left leg. “If you know that, you have to give it a place and fight an opponent in that way. A lot of guys have played at their club in this system, but not yet as a whole with this team. The moments when we play from the organization came Georgia not to opportunities. In addition, I think that in possession of the ball we should have kept the ball a little longer. Looking for opportunities more often, then you force the opponent further back.”
A fat and a rare insufficient in the the Dutch farewell match
Voetbalzone gave the players of the Dutch a score after the game against Georgia.
Blind was also there during the last final tournament of the Dutch in 2014, when the Dutch national team reached the semi-finals at the World Cup in Brazil. “It’s still not great and it needs to be better, we are aware of that, but we also know from 2014 that you don’t always have to play well for a good result. only about the result. That’s what counts. What this team can do remains to be seen. It is clear that there is a lot of quality in this group. The most important thing is grinding, grinding, grinding. We still have a week, so you can do enough. Get on the same page as much as possible and noses in the same direction.”
Above all, the defender is happy that he has recovered from his injury in time to be able to participate in the European Championship with the the Dutch. “This is good timing,” says Blind. “The muscle pain is going well, but my ankle is a bit stiff. That’s not surprising, it doesn’t scare me. This is something we have worked very hard on. This is what we have fought for. From the moment we hospital, we made a step-by-step plan. I already indicated that there was a glimmer of hope, we seized that with both hands. I am grateful to everyone for the support, without them I would not have made it. I’m ready.”
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