COLUMN: Ex-Netherlands coach Frans Hoek on Oranje's 'top-level' battle with Japan

A strong start to a World Cup isn't decisive for the rest of the tournament, but it definitely makes things easier.

In 2014, we began with a 5-1 win against Spain. We really believed beforehand that we could beat them, knowing that it was not the Spain of 2010 anymore and identifying Chile as the bigger test in our group, and winning a big game like that immediately created a positive atmosphere in the camp.

I coached for Saudi Arabia in 2018, and we started with a 5-1 loss to Russia. We still had time to turn things around after that, but the team morale had been damaged, and even with a win over Egypt, we didn't advance to the next round. If we'd won or even drawn against Russia, we would have gone through.

The situation now is different, with the number of teams that go through to the knockout rounds making things easier, but it's always nice to win that first game. It's like the first game of the season: You do a lot of preparation, and a win is a nice reward for everything you've done.

Ahead of their opener against Japan, it was clear that the Netherlands could really do with that kind of boost. I don't think they played that badly in their warm-up friendlies, but they didn't take their chances and so lost 1-0 to Algeria before a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan that was not convincing. That causes criticism of the team, a negative way of thinking and a negative spiral.

For Japan, it was the opposite going into the tournament. The whole country had a very positive vibe. They had won their last six games, including meetings with England and Brazil, and so the atmosphere was very encouraging and very energetic.

But still, the fact is that the Dutch have a fantastic level of players. I worked with the majority of them at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and it was really a team. The game plans were clear, and the play was pretty convincing, and we only went out on penalties after a very close quarter-final with Argentina.

There are also some new guys, new blood, that make the team even better, so they can develop something very interesting if they start to play together the way they can, although we didn't see that in this game.

Japan's clear plan

I think because of the negative influence of the previous two games, it was clear that the Dutch played with some fear, that they wanted to make sure they didn't lose, but Japan also made things very difficult.

They let their opponents have the ball, and they defended very compact, as a team, with mid and low blocks. It's very difficult to play through it.

After the game, Ronald Koeman said Japan normally pushed high up and suggested they were afraid of the Netherlands' speed, but I don't think it was fear on the Japanese side.

I started to work with the Japanese federation in early 2019 to help them with their plan to become world champions by 2050. I also worked with Hajime Moriyasu, their current coach, during my five years with them, and he is a very talented, very great coach. He is exceptional in analysing and making game plans.

He decided to start with a low block and force the Dutch to break the game open, which is difficult for them, as has been clear in previous games. They had the ball a lot, but they were not able to play through the compact defence of Japan.

What you need to do is play the ball at a very high speed and skip what we call stations - if you always play to your neighbour, it's very easy for your opponent to reorganise - and they were not doing that.

Japan were also eliminating Frenkie de Jong. He couldn't play the way he wanted to play, he could not get the freedom he wanted to get, and that took away the Netherlands' options to break through the lines.

Japan were playing in a very confident way. Everybody knew what to do. I think the first half went the way they wanted it to.

Oranje come alive

The Netherlands started very strong in the second half. They were more convincing, more attacking, more energetic, and they started to create.

Virgil van Dijk's goal was created by a fantastic cross from Ryan Gravenberch, the kind that we didn't see a lot in the game at all. A lot of speed, the right moment and the right direction.

It became a different game after that. It was a little bit more open, a little bit more attractive for the public, and both teams started leaving spaces.

Just five minutes later, it was 1-1, and then Crysencio Summerville put his team back ahead with a very good dribble to the inside and a good shot. This is the way you have to deal with these compact defences; you have to cut through them with high ball speed, through balls, crosses and individual actions.

Summerville is the kind of player who can open up a game, and the Dutch also have Donyell Malen and Cody Gakpo - Malen is exceptional in space, as he has shown at Roma, and Gakpo has a good cross and can produce lots of dangerous individual actions.

So they do have the quality, but those players have to be at the highest level.

The Dutch go defensive

To their credit, the Japanese stuck to their plan. They never panicked. They stayed calm. The only thing they did was move up the line of defence. They started off with a mid-low block, and when they had to get a goal, they just moved it higher.

That was causing some problems for the Dutch defence, and then came an incredibly interesting moment, when Ronald Koeman made big changes and took off the whole front line.

At that moment, I think the Netherlands were looking good, and I think the front three had come into the game. They had a little bit more freedom, they felt more comfortable, and they were playing more on intuition.

They were then all taken off, and what you miss then is the depth that they provide. Japan were playing higher up, which left space behind their defence, and you need players that can explore that space in counter-attacks.

Ronald then changed the system, went to a 1-5-3-2, and the team looked very shaky from that moment. They were not able to create the effective low block that Japan had used in the first half, and conceded a goal from a corner that I think Bart Verbruggen could've done better with.

Goalies always go back to the line when corners are taken, and they always say it's so they have more time to react, but the goal that you have to defend is then also bigger, and the principle of defending is that you want to make spaces small, because they're easier to defend. I'm convinced that if he's one metre further forward, he saves it.

You cannot say these are mistakes, but his positioning could've been better; I did see the ball was touched by another player and changed direction, but not that much.

The reality is that we didn't improve in defending when we went to five at the back.

When I worked with Johan Cruyff, he always said that if he wanted to defend a lead, he could bring in an extra attacker to apply pressure better and stop the opponent from playing dangerous balls. You can put pressure on them and even go for that extra goal, and if that happens, it's over.

So there are different ways of thinking, and the coach has to make that decision, and in this case, it didn't work.

Summerville the stand-out player

If I could have added one of the players from this Dutch team to the one we had in at the 2022 World Cup, it would definitely be Summerville.

He's a very important player. Having a guy like Summerville is very useful, also when you play against defensive teams. He can produce individual actions, and he has a lot of speed.

This was only his third match for the Netherlands, but he actually showed some very good things.

It was also a beautiful gesture from him to celebrate with Ruud van Nistelrooy. I know that Ruud puts in a lot of time and effort to help players; he walks around the training ground with his computer, talking to the players all the time. They probably worked on cutting inside and finishing together, and it's very nice that players recognise that coaching and are thankful.

I also think Tijjani Reijnders still has a lot of potential, and hopefully, we'll see the real Reijnders again after his struggles at Manchester City.

But if I had to pick one player, it would be Summerville.

Final thoughts

When everything was pretty negative for the Dutch team beforehand, I think a draw is elevating, and it will help the team to come into a better mood in general.

Coming out of a difficult situation after the friendlies and playing a top-level game - and this game really was top-level - is a very good step. The next step is for the players to grow, both as a team and in their own individual way of playing within that team.

It will only get better. I think we will only see a better Dutch team in the coming games.

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