Dutch players back under-fire Van Marwijk
Reuters - Tuesday 19 June 2012, 11:42
The Netherlands' worst
performance at a major tournament has undermined the standing of
coach Bert van Marwijk but his Euro 2012 players are backing him
despite calls from fans and the media for a fresh start.
The World Cup finalists went home after losing all three of
their Group B matches - a performance so far only matched by
unfancied Ireland - to Denmark, Germany and Portugal.
Their humiliated squad, who arrived in Amsterdam on Monday
afternoon, are now free to follow the national discussion about
what should happen to the team and Van Marwijk.
Playmaker Wesley Sneijder, set to become the captain with
35-year-old Mark van Bommel expected to retire from the national
team, was the first to stand up for his beleaguered coach.
"We can't blame the coach for this, he did a great job for
us in the last four years," said Sneijder.
"But there are some issues in the squad that have to be
solved first, like the player who is leaking to the press about
our tactical plans before matches."
RIGHT MAN
The 60-year-old Van Marwijk, honoured by Queen Beatrix after
the Dutch reached the 2010 World Cup final, still has four years
left on a contract that was extended last year.
The Dutch FA (KNVB) were convinced he was the right man to
rejuvenate the team for the Euros and the 2014 World Cup.
But after their dismal failure in Ukraine, Dutch media are
convinced there is no future for Van Marwijk as national coach.
While the press and the fans blame the conservative manager,
who has barely changed his team in two years, the KNVB and
several players have offered him their support.
Forwards Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben were less
forthcoming after a disappointing campaign for both.
In the case of Van Persie that was not surprising since
England's Player of the Year did not talk to the media during
the warm-up to the tournament or at the finals.
Robben, who never approached the performances he gave two
years ago at the World Cup, spoke vaguely about internal issues
in the squad without revealing what really happened.
BIG EGOS
The media perception is that big egos disturbed the team
process like in the past when the Dutch built a reputation for
internal squabbling that led to divisions in the squad.
"As players we now have to face ourselves in a mirror, to
see what went wrong," Robben said after the Portugal game sealed
their exit. "We all failed, players and technical staff, just
like everyone was responsible for our success two years ago."
He said nothing about any frustrations with Van Marwijk but
Dutch TV pictures showed the winger telling his coach to "shut
up" during the second half of the 2-1 defeat when he was
instructed to help close down the damaging runs of Ronaldo.
KNVB director Bert van Oostveen declared after the opening
defeat against Denmark that Van Marwijk's job was not at stake
and he repeated that after the Portugal game on Sunday.
"Van Marwijk guided his team without any problems through
two qualifying campaigns and reached the World Cup final, so he
deserves credits for that," said Van Oostveen.
"But we will evaluate this tournament in the coming weeks
and not only the results but also the technical and medical
staff in the organisation."
The KNVB have little time to plot a way forward with a
friendly against Belgium on August 15 before the Dutch start their
World Cup qualifying campaign at home to Turkey on September 7.