Van der Vaart criticizes Koeman’s tactical gamble against Morocco
Rafael van der Vaart did not bother with diplomacy. Live on Dutch broadcaster NOS, the former Real Madrid midfielder tore into the Netherlands’ collapse, baffled by the tactical gamble that, in his eyes, handed the initiative to Morocco and stripped the Dutch of everything they had built.
They had survived a tricky group. They had begun to find rhythm. Then, on the biggest night of their tournament, Ronald Koeman changed the system.
And the middle of the pitch fell apart.
Van der Vaart targets Koeman’s reshuffle
Van der Vaart’s anger was aimed squarely at the structural shift that left the Dutch midfield outnumbered and outplayed.
“You get through a difficult group stage reasonably well. Then things start clicking a bit. What goes on in your head that makes you change everything against Morocco? I don't understand it one bit,” he said, summing up the sense of disbelief that will be shared by many fans on the flight home.
The Netherlands went light in central areas against a side whose biggest strength lies exactly there. The result was brutal. Morocco seized control of possession, dictated the tempo and suffocated the Dutch build-up at source.
The pressure told not just on the collective, but on the team’s supposed conductor.
Frenkie de Jong singled out – and then defended by context
Van der Vaart did not spare Frenkie de Jong. The Barcelona midfielder, long seen as the heartbeat of this Oranje generation, delivered a performance that stunned one of his most vocal admirers.
“Frenkie played the absolute worst game I’ve ever seen from him today. Truly disappointing. But is that because of the system?” Van der Vaart asked, turning the criticism back towards the dugout.
The analysis in the studio circled around that point. With only two men tasked to patrol the centre against Morocco’s strongest line, the Dutch engine room looked depleted from the first whistle. De Jong, starved of the ball and pressed relentlessly, drifted to the margins of the contest.
He never truly influenced the game and eventually made way for Marten de Roon after 110 minutes, a substitution that felt more like an admission of structural failure than an individual indictment.
Van der Vaart’s verdict was cutting: “I think Morocco's midfield is their strongest asset. And then you decide to play against them with just two men? I didn't study to be a manager, but that seems a bit clumsy to me. Frenkie is only effective when you have the ball, but we didn't have the ball at all today, so Frenkie was completely invisible. And he is supposed to be our main man... Plus, Cody Gakpo scored the goal, but of course, he was barely involved either.”
Gakpo’s strike briefly offered hope, but his isolation mirrored De Jong’s. The system that was meant to unlock the attack instead cut off the supply lines.
Tactical gamble backfires as Morocco march on
Koeman’s reshuffle was designed as a bold move. Against Morocco, it looked reckless. With the Dutch midfield stripped back, Morocco’s core strength flourished. They owned the ball, won second balls, and repeatedly forced the Netherlands into chasing shadows.
The pattern never truly changed. The Dutch tried to adjust within the game, but the original choice to go so light centrally had already set the tone. By the time De Roon entered, it felt too late and too reactive.
While Morocco now turn their attention to a last-16 tie against Canada in Houston, the Netherlands head in the opposite direction: home, and into a storm.
A bruised Oranje face hard questions
The fallout will be immediate and fierce. Koeman’s tactical direction is under heavy scrutiny, and Van der Vaart’s words will only amplify the noise around the national team’s identity and approach.
This was not just a defeat. It exposed ageing profiles in key positions, highlighted a lack of balance in the squad, and raised doubts over whether the current core can carry the team into the next cycle.
Significant personnel changes now feel less like an option and more like a necessity. Koeman has time to rethink, but not forever.
The group stage had offered a glimpse of something coherent. One tactical roll of the dice against Morocco has thrown all of that back into question.
