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Occupying: Space, Bodies and Minds Part 2 – Understanding Donyell Malen

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Image Credits: Eric Verhoeven By: Kees van Hemmen On Sunday I wrote about Wout Weghorst , and why he shouldn’t be replaced by Donyell Malen in the Dutch national team's first XI. Yesterday the Dutch beat North Macedonia, and Malen played quite well in Weghorst’s place. For completeness, I’ve decided to do some quick-ish hits on how Malen played, and what, if anything, it changes. Disclaimer: I’m only looking at clips up until Oranje switched to a 4-3-3. Here's Malen’s first major involvement: At the beginning: And in the middle (which is actually the end) To start this move, Donyell is high and makes a run wide of the two centrebacks to get in behind. This is where he’s most comfortable – many of his best moments in Eredivisie play were in transition. Notice he’s outside of the two defenders, not between them. This is a departure from Weghorst's positional tendencies. Donyell doesn't like to occupy defenders, he prefers to elude them. On to the next example: Where th...
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Wout Weghorst and Occupying: Bodies, Space, and Minds

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By: Kees van Hemmen      The Dutch national team has not struggled to create chances from open play to start this year’s European Championship. This is not only a departure from form under Frank de Boer, but it’s also wholly uncharacteristic of the side since their renaissance in 2018 under Ronald Koeman. Even at their best, Oranje have been a side focused on controlled, patient, almost defensive possession paired with an immense set piece threat.  To some extent this was by design, but it was also an Achilles heel caused by personnel dynamics in the final third. Overwhelmingly, Memphis Depay has been deployed as a lone centre-forward for Oranje since 2018. In this role, he’s been incredibly effective – an elite creator and orchestrator, the newly minted Barça man would often drop deep to receive, then turn a man and drive at the last line or look to switch play. On either flank, Memphis was typically joined by two of Quincy Promes, Ryan Babel, and Steven Bergwi...
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Scheming Oranje's Approach to this Summer's Men's European Championship

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By: Kees van Hemmen                     The provisional squad for Oranje, the Dutch Men’s national team, was released this past week for the upcoming European championship. It had some interesting selections, and coupled with news of Virgil van Dijk opting out of the side to continue his rehab, made for some interesting choices for bondscoach Frank de Boer. While I am not Frank de Boer, I do like making interesting choices. And so, below you will find both the final squad I would take to the tournament, as well as a couple of potential lineups I might use with available personnel. Sprinkled in, you may even find some complaints about the provisional squad itself along the way. One piece of housekeeping we should take care of before I jump in: the way I look at international squads has some built in assumptions. Primarily, I'm of the mind that how a player plays for their club, on a consistent basis, matters far more than how we...
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