Space to attack into? Why Dutch plan might suit England

The Netherlands have really impressed me with their adaptability at Euro 2024, but the way they attack could give England some new opportunities in Wednesday’s semi-final.

I've co-commentated on two of their games so far - the 3-2 defeat by Austria in the group stage, and the 2-1 win over Turkey in the quarter-finals.

The Dutch had good and bad spells in both games, and are far from flawless, but they were able to react each time when things went wrong and that has kind of been the story of their tournament, whoever they have faced.

In terms of how they set up, the first thing I'd say about Ronald Koeman's side is they are not as high-energy or the kind of high-pressing, front-foot type of team you might expect.

So they will not come after England and try to press them high up the pitch - but when they have got the ball, they will throw numbers forward.

That is not something we have seen very often from the five teams that Gareth Southgate's side have faced so far in Germany, and it is definitely something England can take advantage of.

Dumfries flies forward down the right

Most of the time, the Dutch are set up a little bit lopsided because their right-back, Denzel Dumfries, pushes so high up the pitch as often as he can.

Steven Bergwijn, who has started on that side in the past couple of games, has been drifting in to get close to Memphis Depay and Xavi Simons, who has really impressed me in the number 10 role.

They will obviously pose a threat with the way they link up but, on the flip side, when Dumfries flies forward it is going to leave some space for England to break into once there is a turnover in possession.

That could leave Stefan de Vrij a little bit isolated and, although he is a very experienced defender, he is not as quick as Virgil van Dijk or Micky van de Ven. There should be some chances to expose him.

Are Dutch duo defensive-minded?

The other area where I think England can get some joy in Dortmund is in central midfield.

England have got a lot of players who like to pop up in the pockets in front of the opposition defence - Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, for example - no matter which system we use.

The Dutch are without Frenkie de Jong, Teun Koopmeiners and Marten de Roon at these Euros because of injury, so are missing some top quality in those positions.

Jerdy Schouten and Tijjani Reijnders, who play in the middle for the Dutch, are both really elegant technical footballers, but they like to have the ball and I would not describe them as defensive-minded.

They fill in holes and do the job when their team is out of possession but they are not the same type of player as Declan Rice, and it is not their strong point.

In front of them, Simons tends to get forward, so there should be plenty of opportunities to get in and around Schouten and Reijnders, and get at the Dutch defence.

Two unbalanced teams?

There has been a bit of talk that Koeman might change his formation against England and match up to Southgate’s side by playing three at the back.

The way the Dutch have been playing, however, they kind of end up as a three anyway, with Dumfries going so high so early in such an unusual way.

When that happens, Nathan Ake tucks in and then they have got him, Van Dijk and De Vrij as a three, and their system actually ends up looking a lot like the one England used against Switzerland anyway.

Cody Gakpo is a left-winger rather than a left wing-back but he gives them width on that side, like Bukayo Saka did on the right for England against the Swiss because we did not have the same threat on the other side of the pitch.

Both formations are a little unbalanced in that way, with players on each flank asked to do different jobs, and what tends to happen in that scenario is the team which has the better possession highlights the other’s weaknesses more quickly.

I am expecting a similar pattern to unfold this time. One team will take control - probably England if they maintain the same possession levels as in previous matches - and the other will have to adapt to that.

The Dutch will give England different problems

As I said at the start, what I really like about the Netherlands is that when things are not working, Koeman is not afraid to change it.

For example, in the Austria game, he brought Simons on for Joey Veermans after 35 minutes and ended up pushing Lutsharel Geertruida, who was playing at right-back instead of Dumfries, into an inverted midfield role that transformed the momentum of the game, even though they ended losing it late on.

At half-time against Turkey, when the Dutch were trailing 1-0, he basically went from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 formation and put Wout Weghorst up front with Depay. This time, they were the winners.

So, however the Dutch are set up at the start of the game, you can be sure they will give England some different problems depending on what happens during it.

Hopefully England won't go behind and won't have to be reactive like that, but there is still likely to be a time in the game when they need to make changes too.

That was definitely the case against Switzerland when, even before the Swiss took the lead, it felt like Southgate needed to freshen things up.

This time, Koeman won’t wait... and neither should he.

Danny Murphy was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan in Berlin.