Dutch journalists claim The Netherlands 'need resuscitation and a lot of luck'

Dutch journalists have admitted their dismay over The Netherlands' performances at Euro 2024 and are not hopeful of the team's chances of progressing past the round of 16, as they claim Ronald Koeman's side 'need a lot of luck'.

Depending on how Group E and Group F finish on Wednesday evening, Koeman's beleaguered men could face Gareth Southgate's England in their first knockout clash at the tournament.

It came after Koeman's side slumped to a third-place finish in Group D after they suffered a 3-2 defeat by Austria. Marcel Sabitzer's 80th-minute winner saw Ralf Rangnick's side leapfrog both France and The Netherlands to top the group after Didier Deschamps' side drew 1-1 with Poland.

But Dutch journalists have offered some scathing appraisals of how Koeman's side performed in the match with AD Sportwereld journalist Sjoerd Mossou delivering a brutal assessment of The Netherlands' performance.

'Misrepresentation. Shame. Exit. Démasqué [found out],' he wrote in his column on the Dutch news site.

'You can easily apply one dramatic term after another to what the Netherlands showed in the first half against Austria,' he added.

He also branded The Netherlands' first half performance as 'pathetic' with Donyell Malen conceding a bizarre own goal inside the opening six minutes of the match to give Austria an early lead.

The Dutch responded with little attacks, having no shots on target during the opening 45 minutes, and were largely outclassed by the gegenpressing tactics deployed by Ralf Rangnick.

Mossou, disheartened by the performance of the Dutch side, claimed that Koeman had his work cut out to galvanise the Netherlands before they play again in the round of 16.

'The 61-year-old national coach will have to perform a small miracle within a week: this Dutch team first needs resuscitation - and then a lot of luck,' the journalist wrote.

After the game, Koeman offered a critical take on his side's start to the match, claiming that he had a long list of errors his side had made.

'I can list quite a few mistakes,' the former Everton and Barcelona manager stated.

'We started very badly. We did not defend well. We were not aggressive, there was a lack of pressure and we lost the ball as well, particularly at the start so it was really very bad.

The Dutchman even went as far as calling the team's display as 'appalling'.

'The players ran a lot, but not in the positions so it was awful, very bad. 'We did not control the match,' he wrote. 'The match against France was reasonable as a team, but today it was appalling.'

He is not the only one who was left worrying over The Netherlands' chances of making it through to the quarter-finals, though, with Mike Verweij of De Telegraaf, also claiming that he was left 'astonished' by his side's first half performance.

'Orange fever will flare up again and the criticism will be silenced if the Dutch team wins the probably tough eighth final,' he wrote.

'The ball is in the Orange's court,' he added.

The Netherlands may find some comfort in the fact that their next likely opponents, England, have also underwhelmed in their opening two matches at Euro 2024.

Southgate's side have topped Group C, but laboured to a lacklustre 0-0 draw against Slovenia on Tuesday night - and equally looked unconvincing in their win over Serbia and draw with Denmark.

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford admitted that England haven't played their best and the criticism being levied at them was understandable.

'No game is easy and we are going to come under criticism - we have to deal with that. We have finished top of the group and we have not played our best,' he added.

'We have got to keep a positive mindset and bring the positives. We know we weren't perfect, but we didn't get beat in three games.'