An absence of Angel Di Maria was huge setback for Argentina
as there isn´t any similar player in the side. As expected, Enzo Perez was
brought in to play on the right with Lavezzi starting left. Alejandro Sabella
welcomed back Marcos Rojo, but Sergio Aguero was fit only for the bench. At the
back, Demichelis started rather than Fernandez, while Biglia was picked ahead
of Gago in the middle.
Louis van Gaal was happy to have full squad available with both Ron Vlaar and Nigel de Jong getting fit on time, although the later probably wasn´t 100% fit. Depay made way for Wijnaldum as the Dutch changed their shape a little and played with midfield three and two strikers.
Louis van Gaal was happy to have full squad available with both Ron Vlaar and Nigel de Jong getting fit on time, although the later probably wasn´t 100% fit. Depay made way for Wijnaldum as the Dutch changed their shape a little and played with midfield three and two strikers.
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| Stating XIs |
Argentina´s gameplan
The game was played at slow tempo and both teams were very
cautious in the early stages. However, Argentina were much more effective with
their gameplan. They were really solid defensively with two banks of for and
two in front, sometimes sitting deeper and sometimes pressing higher up and making
life difficult for the Dutch centerbacks. Mascerano and Biglia were impressive
in the middle, pressing Wijnaldum and Sneijder with great energy and both of
them had trouble finding the space and receive the ball. It took Sneijder 60
minutes to collect the ball between the lines for the first time and there
wasn´t many similar situations when he managed to do that. Argentina´s good
shape and pressing often forced the Dutch to go all the way back to Sillessen
as they simply couldn´t find the space to play passes into attacking players
and most of their possession came from passing between centerbacks, wingbacks
and de Jong.
When having the ball, Argentina had a clear attacking plan. Dutch centerbacks were marking tightly throughout the tournament and it wasn´t any different here. They played high line and it wasn´t surprising to see any of them following the player they were marking into deep positions and this of course, created gaps in defence. Argentina´s forward were trying to drag them out of position, creating space for other players to run into and simply knocked the ball over the defenders for runner to chase. Perez played few through balls towards Higuain, but most of the time the ball was played over defenders head, targeting the right channel. Many of them came from Mascerano, who was dropping between centerbacks and had the most freedom from midfield players. The most promising balls came when Lavezzi and Perez swapped sides and the former made good runs into that zone.
When having the ball, Argentina had a clear attacking plan. Dutch centerbacks were marking tightly throughout the tournament and it wasn´t any different here. They played high line and it wasn´t surprising to see any of them following the player they were marking into deep positions and this of course, created gaps in defence. Argentina´s forward were trying to drag them out of position, creating space for other players to run into and simply knocked the ball over the defenders for runner to chase. Perez played few through balls towards Higuain, but most of the time the ball was played over defenders head, targeting the right channel. Many of them came from Mascerano, who was dropping between centerbacks and had the most freedom from midfield players. The most promising balls came when Lavezzi and Perez swapped sides and the former made good runs into that zone.
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| Argentina - Long Passes, 1st half |
When they were unable to get behind with long ball, they
were trying to work the ball towards the right flank, overloading Indi Martins
and Blind.
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| Argentina - Attacking third pases, 1st half |
The problem was that there wasn´t enough support once they
broke behind and got into crossing position. Higuain was often only player in
the box as Messi was making things happen on the right side, Lavezzi being the
player who got behind and attended the cross and Perez isn´t the kind of
midfielder who finds himself in the opposition box too often.
The Dutch approach
It
was difficult to see any clear idea behind the way the Dutch played in the
first half. It seemed like they were trying to let Argentina dictate the play
and looking for a chance to counter attack, but Argentina very rarely lost the
ball without leaving their defence exposed and they always managed to recover
the ball quickly, but as mention earlier, they were hitting long balls into the
right channel and even if they lost the ball, they had plenty of time to get
back into positions. Argentina´s defensive organization was superb and the Dutch
attacking players couldn´t get into the game. Sneijder was very quiet, van
Persie received the ball with his back to goal most of the time and their
inability to find their forwards was most obvious in the case of Robben.
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| Robben - passes received, 1st half |
Argentina´s good pressing and organization often forced them
to go long, but neither van Persie, nor Robben could get the better of
Argentina´s centerbacks and it´s hard to remember them winning a header or holding
the ball effectively.
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| Netherlands - long passes |
Defensively, they were much better. Argentina caused them
problems with their long balls and attacks down the right, but they always
managed to cover the box and clear the ball or block the cross. Ron Vlaar was
absolutely superb at the back, winning headers, making 4 tackles, 6
interceptions and 12 clearances.
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| Vlaar - Clearances |
De Jong did a good job on Messi, who had to go deeper than
usual to get on the ball and most of his passes were short ones. Look at the
difference between his influence in this game and the previous game against Switzerland.
He was pressed by Inler and Behrami, but the Swiss defence was much deeper so
he was still able to get on the ball, ultimately providing assist for Di
Maria´s goal. In this game, there was much less space in the middle and between
the lines and Argentina looked to play long balls over the top, skipping
Messi.
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| Messi - attempted passes |
To compare his positioning from previous game.
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| Messi - passes received |
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| Messi - passes received , Argentina vs Switzerland |
However, when he got a chance, he was always trying to make
things happen, dribbling past players, but he simply wasn´t as influential as
we have seen in the previous games.
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| Messi - take-ons |
Subs
Surprisingly, managers haven´t made little tactical changes during
the match with Huntelaar replacing van Persie in the extra time probably
changing the most as he is pure number 9 compared to van Persie who comes
towards the ball and combines with midfielders. Janmaat came on for Martins
Indi. He played down the right, Blind dropped into back three and Kuyt switched
sides. Clasie replaced de Jong after 60 minutes and played in his role,
although he contributed more offensively.
Sabella made his first two changes after 80 minute mark and
he gradually brought on Palacio for Perez, Aguero for Higuain and Maxi
Rodriguez for Lavezzi.
Second half and extra time
As the game went on and players tired, Argentina´s pressing
dropped and Dutch started to find some space in the middle. They had more of
the ball, but only put some serious pressure on Argentina´s defence in the last
10 minutes, with Robben getting behind the defence after he combines nicely
with Kuyt and Sneijder only to have his shot blocked by fantastic last ditch
tackle by Mascerano.
In the extra time, the game became really stretchy at times,
but both teams looked to defend well rather than to go for a goal. The Dutch
still had more of the ball, but it was Argentina who managed to create couple
of promising chances and Palacio got into 1 v 1 against Sillessen, but couldn´t
control the ball properly and his header was weak at the end. Messi came into
life in the second period of extra time after being really quiet for long time
and made a fantastic run towards the right, beating Vlaar twice, send in a good
cross, but Maxi Rodriguez didn´t hit the ball properly.
Conclusion
There haven´t been any clear cut chances in the game, with
Garay´s header from corner and Robben´s blocked shot in the stoppage time probably
the most promising moments. This was due to very good defensive organization of
both teams. All centerbacks were solid, but the one that really stood out was
Ron Vlaar, who was surely a man of the match despite of missing the penalty in
the shoot-out.
Argentina pressed well and caused the Dutch problems with those long balls towards the right channel, but they couldn´t find the finishing touch. Considering the way the Dutch defended and the absence of Di Maria, it was probably the right approach.
The Dutch on the other hand, didn´t have a clear strategy how to break down Argentina´s defence, but their high defensive line and tight marking forced Messi into very deep positions and he wasn´t able to influence the game as much as usual. Their defensive approach invited long balls over the top, but they were happy to defend those situations and always had the box covered when the crosses came in.
It wasn´t surprise to see the game go all the way to the penalties as there wasn´t much between the teams and the mangers changed very little during the game. Louis van Gaal might regret that he used all of his substitutions and couldn´t bring Tim Krul on again as he might have done better than Sillessen, but with Ron Vlaar taking the first penalty, you would feel that something wasn´t right and Argentineans took full charge once he missed and will now face Germany in the final. Van Gaal later revealed that two players refused to take the first penalty!
Argentina pressed well and caused the Dutch problems with those long balls towards the right channel, but they couldn´t find the finishing touch. Considering the way the Dutch defended and the absence of Di Maria, it was probably the right approach.
The Dutch on the other hand, didn´t have a clear strategy how to break down Argentina´s defence, but their high defensive line and tight marking forced Messi into very deep positions and he wasn´t able to influence the game as much as usual. Their defensive approach invited long balls over the top, but they were happy to defend those situations and always had the box covered when the crosses came in.
It wasn´t surprise to see the game go all the way to the penalties as there wasn´t much between the teams and the mangers changed very little during the game. Louis van Gaal might regret that he used all of his substitutions and couldn´t bring Tim Krul on again as he might have done better than Sillessen, but with Ron Vlaar taking the first penalty, you would feel that something wasn´t right and Argentineans took full charge once he missed and will now face Germany in the final. Van Gaal later revealed that two players refused to take the first penalty!
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