DUTCH DESPAIR

Ex-Spurs boss Martin Jol on how Holland have gone from Total Football to a total joke

They have been in the mire before. That is Martin Jol’s first point as he ponders the plight of his native holland and the likelihood of another Oranje-free World Cup finals.

The golden era of Johan Cruyff and Total Football and the near misses of the 1970s were followed by a failure to qualify for three successive major tournaments.

even so, confidence — some say arrogance — never faltered and Dutch football refused to harbour doubts. But this time the fears are reinforced by fading form.

holland must win in Belarus today and beat Sweden in Amsterdam on Tuesday while clawing back a significant goal-difference deficit on the Swedes, who play Luxembourg today and retain hope of beating France to the top of Group A.

‘We were third in the last World Cup but we could all see the quality was not as good as before,’ said Jol.

‘ Louis van Gaal started to change the Dutch way, with five at the back. It was more like we played for results. We lost identity. Our identity was always good organisation and offensive style. Now, if we do that, we concede too many goals. ‘So we went away from that under Van Gaal. And under Danny Blind, the same, because he was his pupil — and we couldn’t qualify for the euros. ‘In holland our philosophy was to be different. Now we want to be like everybody else — and they are bigger than us.’ Change perhaps pre-dates Van Gaal. In 2010 under Bert van Marwijk, holland reached their third World Cup final and lost for the third time. Any Total Football in South Africa came from Spain and the abiding image from the final is of Nigel de Jong’s kung- fu tackle on Xabi Alonso. The classic Cruyff blueprint, with its 4-3-3 shape and front-foot commitment, was embraced by Spain and developed by Germany.

Guus hiddink replaced Van Gaal and Blind replaced hiddink and not a lot changed. Then Dick Advocaat was summoned in March for his third spell at the helm.

here perhaps was evidence to support the suspicion that the KNVB were running low on ideas while also running low on talent.

‘We don’t have the players who can make a difference,’ said Jol, the former Tottenham manager. ‘Arjen Robben (left) is older, 33, and probably the only star we have left. Georginio Wijnaldum is unbelievable for Liverpool but in the Dutch team he is anonymous.

‘Kevin Strootman, our skipper, is good but not special. you need players who make a difference — like harry Kane. Left foot, right foot, header . . . Kane is like a machine. That’s what you need.’

In desperation, for the last two qualifiers, Advocaat recalled Robin van Persie only to see the 34-yearold former Arsenal and Manchester United striker injured in a 4-0 defeat by France.

This month, Wesley Sneijder, 33 and with a record 132 caps, was left out because he cannot get into the Nice team and former Liverpool striker Ryan Babel, now at Besiktas, was selected for the first time in six years. Babel, 30, was tipped

for great things when Holland won the Under 21 Euros in 2007, along with Royston Drenthe, who quickly slid from Real Madrid into Abu Dhabi club football, via Everton and the Championship, and retired at 29.

Drenthe symbolises the debate about youth development. When Cruyff left Ajax for Barcelona in 1973 he was 26. Marco van Basten went to AC Milan in 1987 aged 22.

Van Persie and Robben were both 20 when they moved to London in 2004 but since then the Premier League has proved an increasingly difficult arena for young players of any nationality.

Even so, wealthy clubs demand talent at ever younger ages and take freely from the Dutch. Nathan Ake and Tim Fosu-Mensah were 16 when they left for Chelsea and Manchester United respectively. Both are in this squad, as is Memphis Depay, 23, now trying to revive his career at Lyon after a sobering experience at Old Trafford.

Those who leave Holland don’t play and those who stay behind develop in a weakened Eredivisie.

‘Great players are born,’ said Jol. ‘Messi was not educated by Barcelona, they were lucky. Ronaldo, the same. Without Cruyff, Total Football would never have been invented by Rinus Michels. When England won the World Cup they had Bobby Charlton — so good you didn’t need Jimmy Greaves.

‘That’s what we don’t have and it’s a pity because we always had players with this extra talent.’

Jol anticipates no miracles against Sweden. ‘For this tournament, it is finished,’ he said. ‘We talk of players who make the difference but do you think Sweden have better players than us? No, but they play in their own style — and they are second in the group while Holland are third. They will qualify and we won’t.

‘But we will come back. We have over one million registered footballers in a country of only 17m. We will come back but now we need our identity back.’