The Dutch national team won against Poland in the last group match of the Nations League on Wednesday evening. Thanks to a penalty kick from Memphis Depay and a header from Georginio Wijnaldum, a 1-0 deficit was turned into a 1-2 victory, although it was not enough to end as group winner. Football zone assesses the basic players of the Dutch national team with a report mark.

Figures the Dutch

Tim Krul: 6.5
Krul couldn’t do much about the only goal he conceded; the goalkeeper kept a strong and alert goal. In the twentieth minute he threw himself well for a cross from Przemyslaw Placheta and he clamped the ball. After half an hour he was unable to pinch a cross from Placheta; Then Krul blocked a cross by Arkadiusz Reca with a firm sliding.

Hans Hateboer: 4
It was Hateboer’s direct opponent, Kamil Jozwiak, who was suddenly allowed to cover the entire flank after five minutes. He put the right back on the sidelines of the ball and eventually sprinted towards the goal of the the Dutch, to make it 1-0 with his own hands. It wasn’t Hateboer’s only unfortunate moment. After seventeen minutes he received a nice ball from Blind in a promising position, which he was unable to control; in the last minute of the first half, Hateboer delivered a dramatic cross, despite having plenty of time. Ten minutes after the break Hateboer was replaced by Dumfries.

Stefan de Vrij: 5.5
From a defensive point of view, the biggest mistakes did not come from De Vrij, but he was too passive at times and gave too little support to his teammates. For example, he did not cover the 1-0 and did not intervene when Placheta came in after fifteen minutes and hit the post, despite the fact that he had the opportunity to do so. When De Vrij appeared in midfield, he was of greater value: he moved in well several times and contributed to the build-up of the Dutch.

Daley Blind: 5.5
When Jozwiak entered the sixteen-meter area of ​​the Dutch in the run-up to the 1-0, Blind tried to put the left winger off the ball. But instead of forcing Jozwiak outside, he cut inside and let himself be fooled. Blind had difficulty with the slippery turf, especially in the first half, and slipped several times. Blind did well in possession: he delivered a nice long ball to Depay on the stroke of half time, who failed to control the ball in the penalty area. Blind, who was replaced for Luuk de Jong in the final phase, played a strong second half and had the most ball contacts (93), passes (83), successful passes (76) and passes in half of the opponent (49) at the the Dutch .

Patrick van Aanholt: 4.5
Van Aanholt looked vulnerable defensively. The left back, who was in the starting line for the first time in this international period, was nowhere to be seen when his man Przemyslaw Placheta entered the penalty area after fifteen minutes and shot hard against the post. Shortly afterwards, a similar moment arose and Van Aanholt performed a tackle on Placheta, but he was not on the ball and he could not prevent a dangerous cross. From an offensive point of view, Van Aanholt did not always make good or logical choices. De Boer took him to the side for Owen Wijndal in the seventieth minute.

Davy Klaassen: 5
After Hateboer was put off the ball by Jozwiak before the 1-0, the hope was pinned on Klaassen to stop the attacker. However, he clearly lacked speed. Klaassen was served by a nice pass from Depay in the twelfth minute after a good run, but could not get his foot against the ball when he appeared in front of the Polish goal. Klaassen did not leave an indelible impression and made way for Donny van de Beek twenty minutes before time.

Georginio Wijnaldum: 6
After his two goals against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Wijnaldum scored again as number ten against Poland, after his header was touched from a corner by Steven Berghuis. Moreover, it was Wijnaldum who earned the penalty kick from which Depay tied the score. He was not happy in all his attacking actions – in the opening phase the captain was launched by a nice through ball Van Aanholt, but his shot was not powerful enough – but in the end Wijnaldum did make a major contribution to the resurrection of the Dutch. Just under twenty minutes before the end, he got the ball ready for Depay, before the attacker shot into the side net.

Frenkie de Jong: 6.5
While many players of the Dutch were dealing in sloppiness, De Jong was relatively confident in the ball and clear in passing. An exception to this was his inability to control the ball after a nice flick from Depay, ten minutes before half-time, which prevented a good chance. Shortly afterwards, De Jong fired from the short corner into the keeper, after he cleverly let a through ball from Stengs run for Malen. De Jong won many of his duels in midfield and seemed one of the few players of the Dutch who could keep up with the Poles in terms of speed, although he was little to be seen after the break.

Calvin Stengs: 6.5
Stengs’ match was one of two faces. He alternated wonderful passes with sloppy ball loss or risky fouls, but the highlights were there: in the thirteenth minute he delivered a razor-sharp cross to Malen that led to a dangerous header and Stengs sent a good wide pass to Malen six minutes before half-time. an opportunity from Frenkie de Jong. In the second half, Stengs was less visible and the AZ winger was replaced twenty minutes before time for Steven Berghuis.

Memphis Depay: 5.5
Full of conviction, Depay fired in his penalty kick, fourteen minutes before the end. When it had to, the attacker delivered. Depay has already prepared several opportunities for teammates for this. He released Klaassen after eleven minutes in front of the goal with a nice bow ball, he was at the base of a possibility for Wijndaldum in minute 25 with a sprint from behind and served De Jong, who could not control the ball over the defense. But just as often, if not more often, Depay let a ball slip under the foot or took actions too far; when he lashed out himself shortly before half time, the attacker produced no more than a roller. In the second half, the keeper took a bet from the corner. Only one of Depay’s eight crosses succeeded.

Donyell Malen: 5.5
Malen made his first minutes of this international match. The PSV attacker should have gotten much more out of a good header chance in the opening phase after a sharp cross from Stengs: he headed the ball from close range wide. After 32 minutes, the winger shot high over. A good pass from Malen resulted in a chance for Frenkie de Jong just before the break. Twelve minutes before the end, Malen made a good move by going outside and delivering a sharp cross, but for an the Dutch left winger, his added value was quite limited.