It came as no surprise to Louis van Gaal that the the Dutch squad had a hard time in Latvia (0-1 win) on Friday evening. The national coach of the Dutch national team is of course ‘very happy’ with the victory, but realizes that it could have ended differently. Van Gaal also said with a laugh afterwards that he had to correct Noa Lang in the field after he switched positions of his own accord.
“No, the win is certainly not the only thing that counts,” said Van Gaal to the NOS. “I think we created about fifteen chances, and they created four. I predicted all that too. I said we would have 70 percent possession, that has become 75 percent. That is nothing new under the sun. could have ended differently, but we do that ourselves I mean, when you see the images again: a pass from Frenkie de Jong to Denzel Dumfries… One passes too softly and the other comes to the ball too late. the cause of the opponent’s chances.”
It is very telling who the best player of the Dutch was against Latvia
Voetbalzone handed out report figures to the players of the Dutch.
Davy Klaassen scored the only goal from a great volley, but Van Gaal still had a point of criticism for the midfielder. “Klaassen could have scored in the second minute, there he is on the five meters”, he said when Klaassen took the ball badly after a good pass from Memphis Depay. “Every ball went wrong for us, but okay,” said Van Gaal. “You can say it’s not that great, but we won 0-1. And Turkey – Norway was 1-1, so we’re one step closer, that’s what it’s all about in the end. The Norwegians are our biggest opponents, it still is, so I would have preferred the Turks to have won.”
Lang was allowed to make his debut for the Dutch in the second half as a substitute. “With Noa Lang you could see that he wanted to show something, I like that,” said Van Gaal, who looked up in surprise when Lang quickly switched positions with Cody Gakpo. “That’s also unbelievable, that he just says to another player: I’m going to play on the left”, Van Gaal laughed. “I corrected that, because I wanted to see him on the right.” According to Van Gaal, basic debutant Guus Til did well. “Guus Til did what he could, it’s also difficult to play in a small space, where he had to play.”
Van Gaal couldn’t possibly be completely satisfied. “I was sometimes annoyed that a pass that could have been played deep still goes wide. Depth always comes first in my eyes, especially against these kinds of opponents. Then you have to take a risk, I sometimes get annoyed by that. personal mistakes, that could have ended differently, but in the end I am very happy, the commitment and experience of the boys was great, only the execution could be better.”