Slovakia – Netherlands Prediction & Picks (31.05.2018)

At first sight, the friendly interland between Slovakia and the Netherlands in Trnava is nothing more than a game of summer evening football, but for Orange this is the beginning of a long road towards rehabilitation. National coach Ronald Koeman will demand sharpness and concentration.

Slovakia:

Slovakia has had its own national team since the split-up of Czechoslovakia since 1993, but has actually only started to speak in recent years. The Eastern Europeans managed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup and the 2016 European Championships, but grabbed a starting license for the World Cup this summer in Russia. Repre, in group F, did seize second place behind group winner England, but as ‘worst’ number two still could not participate in the playoffs. So there is nothing left for the men of national coach Jan Kozak to focus on qualifying for the European Championship of 2020.

With a 29th place on the FIFA world rankings, Slovakia is certainly not a high flyer, although the country does have some great players. Napoli playmaker Marek Hamsik is by far the best-known player, but Inter-defender Milan Skriniar and Celta de Vigo midfielder Stanislav Lobotka are also knocking on the Slovakian door. Fenerbahce defender Martin Skrtel is the main absentee. He would be ready to rest after a long and tough season. Furthermore, the Slovaks lack a real finishing touch. The only player who manages to make the net a little more regular is midfielder Hamsik, who with 21 interland goals only needs two goals to equal Robert Vittek as all time top scorer of Slovakia.

Netherlands:

After the Netherlands did not know how to qualify for the 2016 European Championship, the country also missed qualifying for the upcoming World Cup and so the orange garlands and balloons can remain in the attic for the time being. To the new national coach Ronald Koeman now the clean task to build a new Oranje. In March we were able to see against England (0-1 loss) and Portugal (3-0 victory) that the course had already started, but that we also had to go a long way – full of peaks and lows.

Koeman follows more or less the line of Louis van Gaal, who managed to surprise with a third place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. We do not have the top players of yesteryear at hand, but as a team you still have a good performance. The new 5-3-2 system is a clear example of the new realism that has descended in Zeist. If you do not have the ball you have to have the field small and slide back and forth to get the ball. Against England that went wrong wrongly. Kevin Strootman went on his own to put pressure on and then was not in place when Jesse Lingard put the 0-1 in the basket. Against Portugal it went a lot better and it was especially nice to see that the Dutch did not let themselves be impressed by Cristiano Ronaldo and associates. If you are not the best you will have to roll up your sleeves and fight. Memphis Depay saw you regularly trudge across the field against England, but against Portugal he went as the fire brigade. ‘Walking really can no longer be done in the current top football,’ says Koeman. Memphis now seems to have got the advice of the national coach in his ears, because he knew at his club Olympique Lyon a very strong season lock and is now mentioned again at the European top clubs.