Bondscoach Andries Jonker saw the Orange Women play “never so badly” as against Germany last Friday (4-0). Yet, the national coach is not worried about the European Championship. “There are days when the food burns.”
The past few days were “different than usual” for Jonker. Against Germany, Orange lost for the first time since December. “We have never lost 4-0. We have also never played so badly,” said Jonker, who has been the national coach since August 2022.
“That gives a bad feeling. I know that feeling from club football, but not from my time with this Dutch national team. Usually, we won and played reasonably well. Then such a morning after the match against Germany is different.”
Orange was mainly outplayed by the Germans in the first half of the crucial Nations League match for group victory. Jonker said after the match that his team wanted to play too much tiki-taka, while playing deep would have worked better according to him.
“The solution was to play original peasant football. You just have to play the ball behind the defense. That’s not what we like. That’s not what we want, but that prevents a lot of problems. We have brought it upon ourselves that we got into trouble.”
Players came together: ‘Looked in the mirror’
Jonker also feels responsible for the loss, but would not have done “anything” differently. “Because I explained it as well as possible. It’s now about repeating, repeating, repeating.”
“If it were so easy that if you explain something to a team once, it will happen, then Barcelona would have a few million trainers. It’s not that easy. All those trainers have stories that look right on paper, but now those players still have to execute them. Well, that’s the same with us.”
With a view to Tuesday’s Nations League match against Scotland, it was important for Orange to reflect well. That was especially important with a view to the European Championship, when Orange will face powerhouses England and France in the group stage alongside Wales. The players therefore held a meeting with the players last weekend.
“If we think it is necessary, we sometimes do that,” said captain Sherida Spitse. “It is sometimes good to sit together. We have not said harsh words to each other like: you have to do this and you have to do that. That is not necessary in this phase, but we have told each other that everyone is responsible for her own role. And what you have to do and not do for it. We have looked in the mirror.”
‘There are days when the food burns’
Despite the debacle in Germany, there is no panic at Orange towards the European Championship. “I don’t have that many worries,” says Spitse. “That’s also because we just have a very good group. We shouldn’t be upset that this is happening now.”
Jonker also emphasizes that there is a lot of confidence within the group. “We are angry with ourselves that we didn’t do better against Germany, but I also tell those girls that there are days in life when it doesn’t go well. Then the food burns. While the person who cooks has cooked a thousand times.”
“There are days when you stood on the football field and thought: I can’t do anything at all. In team sport you can sometimes be lucky that the other ten are good and then you still win. But if you have seven or eight people having a day when the food is burning, it becomes difficult. Then there is no solution anymore.”
The international match against Germany should therefore mainly be a wise lesson. “You try to turn the disadvantage into an advantage. You get a bang on the head. Then you can cry, but you can also think about how you prevent getting the same blow next time. We have talked about that very well and I think that we will ultimately benefit from this. However bitter that may sound.”
Orange is nonetheless eager to wash away the hangover from Germany on Tuesday in the last Nations League match against Scotland. The match starts at 8:30 PM and will be played at the Koning Willem II Stadium in Tilburg.