sport news Why Total Football is BACK: Led by Virgil van Dijk, Holland are resurgent

After the blessing of four golden generations, there was always going to be a lull sooner or later.

Dutch football first gave the world the 'Total Football' pioneers of the 1970s; the genius of Johan Cruyff, Johan Neeskens and Willem van Hanegem, the pupils of Rinus Michels.

Then came the European Championship winners of 1988, the class of Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Ronald Koeman.

The nineties cohort weren't as successful but they still entertained us, an Ajax-schooled group that included Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars, Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and the De Boer twins.

And finally we had the World Cup finalists of 2010 and the side that finished third in 2014, the age of Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie.

Yet in between all of these spikes of success, the Dutch often failed - and failed miserably.

The World Cups of 1982 and 1986? Not even there. Italia 90? Barely scored a goal. 2002? Didn't make it. 2006? Hardly inspiring.

Few nations demonstrate the cyclical nature of boom and bust in football better than Holland and the past few years have been no exception.

Major tournaments have of late become little more than a television show for them. 

They inexplicably failed to qualify for Euro 2016 in France despite UEFA expanding the competition from 16 to 24 teams.

And they also didn't make last year's World Cup in Russia, finding themselves behind France and Sweden in their qualifying group.

Adding to the sense of shambles, Holland got through several managers during that time. Guus Hiddink replaced Louis van Gaal after the 2014 World Cup but didn't see out the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

He was succeeded by his assistant, Danny Blind, who couldn't get them over the line and then jeopardised their World Cup hopes as well.

Dick Advocaat then returned for his third spell in May 2017 but lasted only until the November. 

As always with Holland, a country where legends remain very much immersed in the affairs of the national side well after retirement, nobody was short of an opinion or a theory.

Luckily for all concerned, as well as everyone around the world with a nostalgic soft spot for the Oranje, the latest bout of introspection appears to be over and Holland are on the upswing once again.

The team led by Ronald Koeman that will take on England in the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League on Thursday night is undoubtedly one that has travelled a long way in the past year or so. Dutch football is in bloom once more.

Backtrack to March last year and Koeman's first match in charge against an experimental England side in Amsterdam.

Gareth Southgate's men had complete control of the whole game, stroking passes around pretty much at will against a Dutch side that looked callow and devoid of ideas. A 1-0 win was the least England deserved.

It will be very different on Thursday night. Winning the Nations League isn't anywhere near as prestigious as a World Cup or European Championship, but it will be as useful a yardstick for Holland as it will be for England.

In the interim, Holland topped a difficult Nations League qualifying group containing France and Germany. They beat the Germans 3-0 at home and France 2-0, before two late goals in Gelsenkirchen to earn a 2-2 draw took them through.

Their squad heading to Portugal for the finals is brimming with young and exciting players. Only one outfield player - Ryan Babel - is over the age of 30 and there are six under the age of 25.

Koeman has successfully gutted a lot of the deadwood from the squad and refreshed it with young talent, aided by a spurt in emerging players from that almighty production line at Ajax.

The awkward transitional

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