STARTING XI
REMAINING SQUAD MEMBERS
3 best players not in the squad:
Netherlands' best achievement was winning the 1988 European Championship - 5 players make it from this team. They finished as World Cup runners-up twice in the 1970's (the decade where most players in this squad come from), and once in 2010. I had the option to start Rijkaard as a centre-back and bring in Seedorf or Van Hanegam, but I preferred to keep him in his strongest position. Stam still keeps his starting spot ahead of Van Dijk, but the margins are close. The back-up right back was difficult, I eventually chose Harry Denis over Roel Wiersma. Frank De Boer can act as the back-up left-back and 4th centre-back on the bench, so there was no need for Cor Van Der Hart or Adri Van Tiggelen. Davids, Seedorf, Van Hanegam and Sneijder cover the midfield diamond, while Van Nistlerooy is the back-up option upfront (Cruyff can also play there). Robben and Keizer were the two stand-out wide players to pick, and I nearly chose a 4-4-2 formation to include them, but I preferred to keep Neeskens and Bergkamp in the starting XI instead - this way Gullit also had more freedom. I could have dropped Sneijder for Robin Van Persie due to the spot upfront in the squad - it was very close between them. Players By Decade: 1970's (7), 1980's (5), 1990's (4), 2010's (3), 2000's (3), 1920's (1) World-Class Dutch Players (32)
Honourable Mentions (Close to Gold):
Israel / W.Van Der Kerkhof / Van Heel / Van Der Kuijlen / Geels
Top 20 Dutch Players of All-Time (& their all-time positional rank) |