The box midfield and how the Netherlands can use it
The box midfield is taking the world of football by storm. Ronald Koeman used it in the last international break and likely will again for the upcoming matches, so let's take a closer look at it…
First things first, what is the box midfield?
Well, as the name says, it's a midfield that forms a box shape in possession, with two deeper midfielders directly behind two more advanced ones. Man City, Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool and many other top sides use it.
Given the teams need two wingers and a striker too though, they can only have three defenders when they play such a shape and so, to ensure they’re not too defensively vulnerable, don't start with it but instead form it when they move forward and revert to their original system when defending.
Why do they use it?
With four players in the middle of the park when you have the ball, you can usually outnumber the opponent's midfield and therefore control the centre of the pitch.
Having one player on the left and one on the right in both lines also ensures that your wide players don't get too isolated - it also provides strong protection to counter-attacks through the middle and strong support for the forward players.
How do you form it?
In simple terms, there are three ways. You can have a central defender step up into midfield, a full-back invert into midfield or a winger move inside and the full-back move up to take their place out wide.
The first option is what Oranje did in their last matches, with Lutsharel Geertruida stepping up alongside Frenkie de Jong from centre-back and Mats Wieffer moving up alongside the number 10 from defensive midfield, with the four creating a box.
Is that the best option for the team?
In my opinion, no.
It requires the right-back to play as the right-sided centre-back of a back three when the team has the ball, and Denzel Dumfries, given his attacking nature and defensive vulnerabilities, is not at all suited to that role as was obvious in the matches.
What's more, it would mean only playing one of Virgil van Dijk, Matthijs de Ligt and Sven Botman as none of them are suited to stepping into midfield, which is a waste of the enormous amount of talent at our disposal in that position.
The other options would be Geertruida starting at right-back and inverting into midfield, or Dumfries starting at right-back and moving into the right-wing spot with the original right-winger moving inside.
Both would leave us with a very stable back three - probably Nathan Ake, Van Dijk, De Ligt - so are already improvements.
Which option is best?
While Xavi Simons could maybe do it, there's no player hugely suited to starting at right-wing and moving into midfield; Calvin Stengs would be an interesting option if he performs well at Feyenoord, but he’s not in the national team picture right now.
Having Geertruida invert from right-back instead would allow us to play anyone on the right-hand side of the attack - probably Donyell Malen - and the only sacrifice would be Dumfries. Everywhere else on the pitch, we’d simply be able to play our best players in their best roles.
I think this is the best option and also the one that Koeman will go for in the upcoming matches. He obviously likes Geertruida moving into midfield and will most likely bring De Ligt back into the team now that he's available again.
So, this is how I think the team will line up against Greece. Tijjani Reijnders and Joey Veerman could come in for Xavi and Wieffer, but I’m fairly confident about the rest of the side.
It’s a team and setup that is more than good enough to comfortably beat Greece and Ireland. Over to you, Ronald.
