Frank De Boer's High-risk Tactics Are Safe For The Moment, Netherlands Thrash Ukraine 3-2

Netherlands National Team (Twitter @euro2020)

JAKARTA - Netherlands coach Frank de Boer insisted on a 3-5-2 formation and this could be questioned had his team not recorded a last-minute win when they won 3-2 in their European Cup Group C match against Ukraine at the Johan Cruyff Arena on Monday morning. just now.

The Netherlands looked likely to be on their way after going 2-0 up thanks to goals from Georginio Wijnaldum and Wout Weghorst, but De Boer's insistence on his risky approach almost cost the Netherlands all three points.

First, Andriy Yarmolenko found too much space to find the net before a free-kick sent the home defense into chaos until Roman Yaremchuk's header equalized.

But that strategy paid off when right-back Denzel Dumfries headed the winner from near the penalty spot into the Ukraine box.

When the Dutch had the ball, Dumfries and left-back Patrick van Aanholt pushed forward so that the Dutch seemed to form a line of five attacking players.

But it also gives Ukraine the opportunity to attack forward quickly and take advantage of the space left by the full-backs. Twice Ukraine almost punished the Netherlands in the first half. But it was ignored by de Boer.

There's a lot of risk involved in this formation, but instead this tactic has paid off too, although the better teams from Ukraine may have been more clinical in taking advantage of the openness of the Dutch wings.

Even after Ukraine scored the first goal, De Boer stuck to the formation he thinks his team will use during Euro 2020.

"We always try to play dominant football, and that's what we want from this system," he told reporters ahead of the game against Ukraine.

RESULT Five-goal thriller in Amsterdam! Wijnaldum, Weghorst & Dumfries score as hosts Netherlands win in style Ukraine open Group C with dramatic defeatEnjoy that? #EURO2020

— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 13, 2021

Some supporters worried that De Boer was trying to ditch the traditional Dutch formation, waving a banner carried by a plane during team practice that Saturday, and the banner read, "Frank, enough 4-3-3".

Against Ukraine, the coach's approach was quite powerful. But the deeper the Netherlands goes into the competition, and the better their opponents are, the more their confidence in the competitive system will continue to be tested.