The Set: Holland 4-1 France

1. How much must a team be leading by to get Domenech to remove Makalele? Toulalan, for that matter, is also a defensive midfielder and played the entire game. Not once did Domenech think to sacrifice his two negative players for positive ones. Rather he traded in two wingers for two strikers. He took away his width and provided no more in attack in his two substitutions. You just think about what Jose Mourinho or Juande Ramos would have done in that position, and they would sacrifice the goalie, if they had to, for a forward if the game was on the line. To the brave go the spoils.
   
2. And that was Marco Van Basten. Criticized for his tactical approach by the annoying legend Johann Cruyff, Van Basten’s system has been phenomenal. It’s the perfect fit for his attackers, who conisist of two #10’s, a left-wing, two drop back forwards and a classic #9. Prop Van Nistelrooy up top and let the other 3 do what they want, with two defensive-mids to protect them. However, unlike the Italy game, Engelaar’s passing was off tonight. And rather than sticking with him, Van Basten rolled the dice, brought on Robben and changed to a 4-1-4-1. And it was a masterstroke as Domenech started stripping away his midfield attackers, meaning that Nigel de Jong was more than enough at the pivot.
   
3. How many times has it been said that the first two minutes after a goal are the most dangerous time in a game, and France took their foot off the gas in 45 seconds. Granted it was an impossible angle that Robben scored from, but how did France allow him that close to the goal within seconds of restart?
   
4. When did Nigel de Jong turn into a world-class defensive mid? After an early career that saw him as versatile player in the midfield and at the back, this tournament has seen him blossom into one of the best defensive-mids around, easily outshining the likes of Gatusso and Frings. He had settled into the role at Hamburg late in the season, but even midway through the season he was sharing duties with Demol, Kompany or Benjamin. He had yet to really turn out performances like this. Martin Jol finally gets back his holder that Damien Comolli let slip away two summers ago. Although only David Villa has increased his value more during this tournament, so Jol’s not out of the woods yet.
   
5. Thierry Henry v. Lukas Podolski. Unlike the German forward, Henry has never been that prolific for les Blues. Sure he is the country’s leading scorer, but he’s done most of that work in friendlies and weak qualifiers. Today he blew multiple chances and only scored on a redirect. Had he been on the form that made him a superstar at Arsenal, this would have been a 4-4 thriller.
   
6. 4-2-3-1 and the return of total football.
   

   Long considered a defensive style of football, the re-emergence of total football is being seen in the 4-2-3-1. The funny thing about its evolution as a tactic, the 4-2-3-1 is considered a Spanish formation. It utilized 2 defensive midfielders, although one will border on box-to-box. As the system has migrated north, yes this is difficult logic to grasp, it has turned into the closes thing to the beloved total football, that the world has seen since the 1982 Brazilians.
   

   Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich utilized it this year in the first half of their season and were both brilliant to watch. The key to turning what is essentially six men behing the ball into a flair system, is the four attackers. It requires a target man with holding abilities, see Luca Toni. It also requires a fluid three man attack in midfield. At Bayern, Altintop, Ribery and Schweinsteiger could play anywhere in front of the holders and were all almost equally gifted (granted Ribery has surpassed the other two).
   

   For the Dutch, Sneijder and van der Vaart could create from the tunnel while Kuyt attacks from the right side. Shifting in Robben only means most of his attacking is from the left and Sneijder and van der Vaart roam a little more left.
   

   Finally it requires attacking fullbacks to ensure width. It would be hard to miss van Bronckhorst’s contribution from the back for the Dutch. Boulahrouz has been less attacking but is there to keep the other team options.
   

   While we have seen Capello’s Real Madrid and Chelsea to use the system in a negative way as it is traditionally seen, more and more teams are moving towards a fluid us of it, such as Roma, Manchester United, the Danes and *gasp* the Argentines.
   

   Total football is back and the 4-2-3-1 will be the formation du jour for the next decade.
   

7. MOM: Kahlid Boulahrouz was outstanding in defense. He was the addition to squad after Ryan Babel was injured but his composure in defense is so vastly different from the player we saw at Chelsea. He’s back to the form that got him noticed at Hamburg, but without the nastiness that plagued him and earned him the nickname Cannibal. He was rock solid on the right for the Netherlands tonight and forced Ribery’s free role to be more centralized or left-handed. He also forced Malouda out early.