The Netherlands' coach Louis van Gaal has incurred the wrath of a furious Dutch press after 10-man Ireland outfought his charges in Dublin. Should Portugal beat minnows Cyprus tomorrow the Dutch will miss out on their first major championships since 1986.
The Dutch press say former Barcelona coach Van Gaal ought to be "ashamed" of himself. De Telegraaf describes the situation as "a massive farce".
The Algemeen Dagblad says: "The central question is whether we can blame Van Gaal for any of this? During the World Cup qualifiers there were some illogical tactical changes and none of them had a deciding influence on the game." The Amsterdam-based national added: "It's the first time in 16 years (Mexico '86) that our national pride is missing from a big tournament."
It continued: "The national team coach on that occasion, Leo Beenhakker, was criticised for bringing on John van Loen instead of Willy van de Kerkhof." Van Gaal took both Boudewijn Zenden and Marc Overmars off in the second half, removing the chief threat from midfield.
He brought on Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Pierre van Hooijdonk, two strikers, but effectively they were up there with Patrick Kluivert and Ruud van Nistelrooy fighting it out for long-balls out of defence. It was hardly the free-flowing football the Dutch are accustomed to.
"The strange substitutions of Van Gaal in Ireland were equally as weird as that one in 1985: Tactical blunders with the same result," added the editorial.
Van Gaal's players don't escape the criticism. "The Oranje have world class players, who are active in Europe's best and most prestigious clubs and they only gained two points from four games with Ireland and Portugal," added the newspaper.
"Away against Portugal it was Frank de Boer who caused a penalty that brought the score back to 2-2.
"On Saturday in Ireland, Patrick Kluivert and Boudewijn Zenden missed massive opportunities to seal a victory in the first 15 minutes." De Volkskrant said: "Too many of Van Gaal's stars failed at decisive moments.
"Van Gaal should also ask himself whether all the tasks he does for the Dutch Federation leave him with enough time to concentrate on the national team." Another national, De Limburger, questioned: "For how much longer can Van Gaal tell us fairytales?
"For the first time in 16 years, the Dutch national team is not participating in a major football tournament. He blames his players as he said that they have not got the right mentality, but he is the man responsible."
Brabants Dadblad said: "Van Gaal had the excuse after the game that the pitch was not too good and that he could not communicate with his players during the game because of the noise.
"This was rubbish. Planning how to play with 11 against 10 is done before the game; at some of those secret closed-door training sessions for example. Van Gaal should be ashamed of himself."
However, former Dutch coach Jan Zwartkruis said: "Whether Van Gaal should leave is not an issue, as the players have dishonoured their coach. They should be ashamed. "In the 1970s, we had star players such as Willem van Hanegem, Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens. They would have played it hard against the Republic of Ireland and Roy Keane, but this team has delivered a poor performance in the qualifiers and had some bad luck."
Van Gaal was also supported by Gerard van der Lem, his former assistant at Ajax and Barcelona. Van der Lem said: "Look at the mentality of the Irish players. That is what we were missing: the will to win. I would have died before I left the pitch in the way they did."
Former international Wim Rijsbergen added: "It is nonsense to say that Van Gaal has to quit. He is getting the blame but the so-called superstars could not do a thing. They should have had the game won in the first half. Keane played it rough from the start but our guys did not respond and just reacted irritated. The lack of mental strength was shown."
