The tactic and logic was simple..
Let Holland keep more of the ball, but in their own defensive area.
Their center backs were unmarked and un-targeted. No player to care for that, actually!
Their full backs were occupied by our wide attacking players..
Our full backs targeted their wide players, our central midfielders went one on one with theirs..
Ruben Neves to take care of their attacking midfielder, and well, William Carvalho was deployed in the back 3 only to take care of Zivkovic..
I handed out the team instructions, and they were as simple as it could get.
Direct passing
Clear ball to flanks
Run into the defenders when attacking to draw fouls
Close down more
Play wider as a unit.. this basically so that our defence could look and play like a proper back 3, while our full backs were to occupy the wider areas and the attacking duo to sit narrower so that we could disrupt the Dutch team's shape!
Shoot on sight- absolutely! Ronaldo can create havoc with his fierce long shots, and he had total freedom to do as he pleased! Similarly, the midfield trio was also instructed to attempt the long shots! All of them have a good powerful long shot in them, and it was an idea to try our luck from distance, as working slowly towards a build up play we might not break the resilient Dutch defense!
High tempo with the ball as we have quick wide players when attacking!
Get stuck in! Just tackle and win the ball back. No need to worry about fouls or getting the cards!
The main thing was, our players have been fatigued in the last few days, and the same is the case with the Dutch as well. All these players need rest. Hence playing a possession based game would require more fitness than otherwise!
So we opted to stick to positions more or less, with the attacking wide players free to roam, while the two central midfielders would run all through the pitch.
I had a couple of substitute options who could change games and impact with their game style! Josue with his set pieces, Nani and Bruma with their pace in general..
Next update: The final game and result, other WC reviews and so on. After that we focus on club football, transfers, and the forth coming season.