Why this is the most Dutch side in 40 years

One of the more cerebral pleasures to be gained from international football is found in matching the characteristics of national sides with the historic qualities of the states they represent.

An abundantly defensive Greece squad can be likened to the phalanx formation of ancient Greek warfare. The technical precision of Die Mannschaft is almost too obvious a match for the stereotypes of efficiency often associated with Germany. The artistic flair of the always thoughtful, but often divided French sides compares well to France's history of valuing art and philosophy above cohesiveness.

We might even look at the United States, a team largely built around immigrants relying on the efforts of overachieving individuals to make it further than many of football's aristocracy. Sound familiar?

Of course, such comparisons are normally rooted in confirmation bias. We know what we know about a nation's history (or often the stereotypes associated with that state), and then force a fit into how that nation's team plays soccer. It's generally a harmless bit of fun.

Perhaps no side fits more easily into these comparisons than the Dutch. In the book Brilliant Orange, David Winner makes the case that elements of the style of football played in the Netherlands — skillful, adventurous, creative, self-destructive — not only reflects, but also embodies the country's culture and history.

The strongest parallel that Winner draws is between the spatial creativity of the nation's architecture and the way in which totaalvoetbal inventively found solutions in tight quarters on a soccer pitch. Just as in Dutch culture, creativity is championed in its football.

However, in the four decades since total football's coming out party, there remains a stubborn attachment to the dated style of play. Despite the relative success of Netherlands coaches Marco van Basten and Bert van Marwijk with formations utilizing two holding midfielders, the shift away from 4-3-3 was hard to accept.

Dutch legend Johan Cruyff was especially critical of the departure from past tactics even after reaching the final of the World Cup in 2010:

Having two holding midfielders means there is one less creative playmaker. It’s a double edged sword … we need one good controller in midfield and two creative players on the wide midfield spots, like Barcelona does … if our build up is slow, the effectiveness of our creative forwards will decrease significantly.

The Netherlands had long ago stopped relying on positional interchange as a means of creating space for offense, but the formation had never caught up with the approach. It seemed that it was okay to be creative on the pitch, but not acceptable for the same attribute to extend into the strategies employed by the team.

It's perhaps telling that only stubbornness and arrogance rival creativity in the stereotypical idiosyncrasies of the Dutch. Fortunately, this holy triumvirate of boilerplate sensibilities in the Netherlands is exemplified in current coach Louis van Gaal, who put several noses out of joint when he announced his intention to utilize a 5-3-2 formation at the World Cup.

It's been as successful as it's been flexible. That is to say, very.

When even or ahead, the formation allows them to sit, and attack on the counter. When the Dutch are behind, the left wing-back will shift into a left-wing role, or become a defensive midfielder freeing up an offensive-minded substitute to come on. In the match against Mexico, when the team found itself down by a goal with mere minutes remaining, van Gaal adapted his approach to use the available talent on the pitch to throw itself forward.

The new Manchester United manager — who will begin his guardianship of the Premier League squad after the World Cup — is able to do this by going even further outside the box with his starting eleven selections. He's utilized forward Dirk Kuyt as a left wing back, and could potentially use both Kuyt and forward Memphis Depay as wing-backs in the Netherlands' quarterfinal match against Costa Rica.

The sides look nothing like the Dutch squads of old. However, van Gaal is using the same principles that led to the certainty of 4-3-3 being best to transform the team into something it's never been. He's being creative not just on the pitch, but on the touch line, as well. 

The transformation is the perfect representation of a typical Dutch cycle. Creative thinking leads to innovation. Arrogance from the success of the innovation spawns a stubborn unwillingness to change. Someone comes along who is creative enough to be innovative, stubborn enough to enforce a change, and arrogant enough to believe their alteration is correct. And the cycle begins anew.

That's what we're witnessing with van Gaal's Netherlands squad: The most Dutch Dutch side in 40 years.