Monday, December 5, 2022 at 07:43• Tom Rofekamp • Last update: 08:12

Now that Sunday is over and the newspapers are back on the mats, more and more reviews of the Dutch national team are trickling in. Also from former international Arnold Mühren, who represents the game of the the Dutch against the United States The Telegraph could assess. Although Denzel Dumfries gets the highest score (8), there is also special attention for fellow defender Nathan Aké. In the lee, he is developing into one of the strongholds of the Dutch, says Mühren.

“This boy really does little wrong in the whole tournament,” he opens about the 27-year-old defender from Manchester City, who gets a 7.5. “Just like Virgil van Dijk, he is in the air, and it is a huge advantage for the team and the way of playing that he plays behind Daley Blind. He was further forward against the Americans and Nathan has to play the spaces behind him. He did that excellent again.”

According to Mühren, Aké’s tour de force in this tournament can partly be attributed to his experience in a club context. The native of The Hague already has quite a few matches in a 5-3-2 system to his name. “In his case, it is an advantage that at Manchester City he is used to playing with three men in the back and operating with the same offensive backs. So the game of the the Dutch is just right for him,” Mühren believes. This season, City is ‘just’ playing with four defenders.

Since Louis van Gaal switched to a 5-3-2 formation after the World Cup qualification, Aké has been assured of a basic place in the the Dutch squad. Usually he forms a three-man center with Virgil van Dijk and Jurriën Timber, flanked by Daley Blind on the left and Dumfries on the right. The most obvious alternative to Aké is Blind, who in such a case would move to the middle and be replaced by Tyrell Malacia on the left. That is not an unthinkable scenario, since Aké is on edge and would miss the semi-finals with a yellow card against Argentina. Frenkie de Jong must also fear this.