The Athletic published a ranking of the best and most attractive European Championship countries during the group stage on Thursday. The British media did not only look at the points achieved, but also at the general feeling of the fans and the entertainment during matches. The verdict is that the matches of Oranje are attractive, but that the team – partly due to choices made by Ronald Koeman – does not yet make a strong impression in terms of football.
The Dutch national team is placed at a paltry fourteenth place by The Athletic on the list of the best European Championship teams to date. Although Orange scores well on excitement rating (29.8 points), it does not hold up in terms of quality. According to the list, only the matches of Portugal (38.4) and Spain (34.4) are even more entertaining. The medium believes that Denmark’s entertainment value is the lowest: 7.6.
“We haven’t seen a real Dutch implosion for a while, but it feels like one is on the way here,” is The Athletic’s somewhat hopeful assessment of the Netherlands’ performance so far. However, the weak spots are clearly pointed out. “Virgil van Dijk seems to be cracking, while the team has a meaningless midfield.”
“Ronald Koeman also apparently has no idea how to use Jeremie Frimpong – one of Europe’s most entertaining players last season. They refuse to see the light and admit that Wout Weghorst is the man they need.”
“Maybe Koeman has decided that Big Wout will be better suited for them as a pinch-hitter, a kind of military artillery that can only be used in emergencies. But he is such an unprecedented great that it is certainly worth letting him play. We want Wout, Ronald. WOUT!”, is the message.
England is in thirteenth place and is rated slightly better than the Netherlands, but the entertainment value is much lower at 20.7 points. Spain is seen as the best country at this European Championship. “They made short work of Croatia, they could have won against Italy by a much bigger margin than 1-0, they then made ten changes and went on cruise control through their last game against Albania.”
Austria, winner of Group D, ends up in second place in The Athletic’s ranking. “Just deeply, deeply impressive,” is the verdict. France is just behind the Netherlands in fifteenth place. The worst country in the tournament is the Czech Republic, which is ranked just after Poland.
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2024-06-27 21:47:00
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