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How Roma’s Kevin Strootman Can Develop into an All-Round Superstar
Published: August 14, 2014
But in early March, disaster struck. During Roma’s Serie A match against Napoli, Strootman suffered a serious injury. It quickly became apparent that the midfielder would definitely miss the World Cup.
Strootman had been part of the much-talked-about "Big Three," Van Gaal’s affectionate nickname for his three best players: Strootman, Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie. After that fateful night in the Serie A, the "Big Three" was now a "Big Two."
It was back to the drawing board for Van Gaal. The execution of his favoured 4-3-3 formation depended on the presence of Strootman. Without the Roma man, who seemed impossible to replace, all balance had disappeared from the Dutch midfield.
To understand why Van Gaal thought his key midfielder was quite so important, it’s fruitful to look at the midfield make-up of a typical Van Gaal team.
First, there’s the destroyer. In the case of the Netherlands, Nigel de Jong played that role beautifully, making tackles and stopping the opposition from executing attacking moves. Then, there’s the attacking, central midfielder—the playmaker. At the Dutch national team, that was often Rafael van der Vaart or Wesley Sneijder.
The third man was the all-rounder, in some ways reminiscent of the old-school “box-to-box” player. Not a defensive midfielder, nor an attacking one, the third man in Van Gaal’s midfield trio had to assist the destroyer in defensive mode, but once the ball is conquered, he had to join the attack.
Constantly running from one end of the pitch to the other, Van Gaal’s third man has a double duty. This takes great stamina, but also intelligence and posi...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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