The Netherlands beat Serbia 2-1 in Eindhoven. Nations League. I read it at the friterie (the chip shop), on Monday, as usual.
The coach, Xavi Hernández, told NOS that he had lost his voice after his first weeks. “But that’s normal,” he added. I’m not criticising. I’m comparing. A national coach, in my day, you never heard him. He had his voice, he didn’t use it. It was a form of economy.
He also explained that his team wanted to play on possession and didn’t manage it. That Serbia had defended well, man to man. “Serbia did well, man to man, and we found no solution,” he said. Man to man. An expression nobody needed to invent. It was there before us.
After the break, they changed system. More chances, according to him. Joshua Zirkzee scored the 2-1, a goal he found magnificent, with a lot of touches on the ball. In 1980, we counted goals. The touches, we left them to the ball.
Then he talked about family. “The most important thing is that we are forging a family.” A national team that wants to be a family. Note that I’m not against family. I’m against forging one in the Nations League.
Silly question, but if the family meets again in six weeks, what does it do in the meantime?
Four matches, two wins, two draws, against Germany and Greece. Top of the group with eight points. And he’s thinking of calling up more players. Well. It’s the times.
It’s true, we checked: NOS.
