Dutch hopes on de Boer and Depay’s shoulders

While the 1-year postponement of the Euros has been advantageous for certain teams, it has also been a detriment for others.

Italy, for instance, have benefitted from the delay as their side looks much more settled now as a lot of their younger players have grown in quality and they are one of the most in-form sides going into the tournament.

On the other hand, Germany are one of the teams who didn’t benefit from the postponement as they got thumped by Spain last year and they have certain issues with Timo Werner’s goal scoring form.

Netherlands have neither benefitted from the postponement, nor has it been a disadvantage. Some of their young players like Owen Wijndal, Teun Koopmeiners and Donyell Malen have improved over the last year. But their star player Virgil van Dijk will be missing the Euro because of an injury.

The Dutch squad still boasts of a strong spine in De Vrij-De Ligt, De Jong-Wijnaldum and Depay but compared to other big teams, they don’t have enough quality attackers.

A lot will rely on Memphis Depay’s form in front on goal. He has had 2 great seasons with Lyon and will be eager to make a mark this summer as he looks to move to Barcelona according to reports.

Frank de Boer is a coach who has suffered criticism for a majority of his career. He has had bad coaching stints at Inter, Crystal Palace and even with Atalanta United in the MLS.

It came as a bit of a shoch when he was given the national job in the first place as his coaching record in the last 5 years didn’t make for good reading.

His coaching ability is very similar to his predecessor Ronaldo Koeman, but if he manages to reach the semi-finals of this tournament, it will do his reputation a world of good.

Netherlands are one of those teams who people do not know what to expect. With the lack of external pressure, this is a great chance for Netherlands to prove their doubters wrong.