Quote:
Originally Posted by Igottago
How much did they accomplish? They won the world cup. Not really understanding how you think possession doesn't mean anything. It means everything. It means you control the flow of the play, you create chances, you limit opposition chances.
Holland knew they didn't have the skill to play a possession game with Spain, so they tried to bully their way through it. And the possession game still won.
Holland were a disgrace yesterday. A team that was scared of playing football against Spain.
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No it doesn't. Argentina had the same possession advantage against the Germans as the Spaniards did against the Dutch and they lost 4-0. England held the possession advantage against the Germans and lost by 3.
Spain killed the Swiss in possession with a 63-37% advantage, and they lost.
It doesn't mean everything, far from it. A tactically astute manager such as Low can murder possession style teams with a sly counter attack.
The Dutch had the winning formula yesterday. Spain wasn't going to be dominated in the possession column, and we already saw the Swiss beat the Spaniards in a similar fashion. I'd argue that if Robben barried either of the breakaways he had(or was rightfully awarded a dangerous FK, with Puyol being sent off) then we would be christening Van Marwijk's brilliance.
Spain is always going to win the possession battle, the Oranje were skilled enough to play a possession game with them, but rightfully tried to play a counter attacking style. Imagine the Dutch playing possession game with the speed of Villa, Navas/Pedro,Iniesta and Ramos charging up the right with the passing range of Alonso and Xavi behind them. The second they make a poor pass they're dead. Matijsen, Heitinga and Van Bronckhorst are all slow. Van Der Wiel would be the only with the pace to keep up but Ramos and Navas/Pedro played on the right flank as opposed to Van Der Wiel's left. I can assure you this game would have looked a lot more like Portugal-North Korea than the close game it was had they played the way you suggested.