Wim Kieft and co. noticed a remarkable moment: “They actually never did that.”
1 min readFormer PSV player Wim Kieft is this World Cup analyst for NOS. So, on Thursday evening, Kieft was also an analyst for the France - Morocco match in the quarterfinal.
After ninety minutes, France ultimately proved too strong for the Atlas Lions, winning 2-0, as they had to do without the injured Ismael Saibari. According to the Amsterdam-born player, Saibari’s absence was a blow.
Still, Nordin Amrabat, also a former PSV player, thinks that Morocco with Saibari also wouldn't have had a chance. ''Honestly, I think France would have won even with Saibari. France, however, is two classes better. We just have to be realistic. Sometimes you just have to be honest. France was simply better'', Amrabat said.
Rafael van der Vaart was annoyed by Morocco's kickoff after the 2-0 by the French. After the kickoff, the Atlas Lions decided to play the ball straight over the half of France, and that also struck Wim Kieft.
''This is very sad for football, I think. Just send him a bit further out... Then I understand it even less,'' says Van der Vaart, after which Amrabat responds: ''If you clear the ball out at the corner flag, you can pin them down right away.''
Kieft was also surprised by this kickoff. ''With 1-0 down… They do it like this at the kickoff too. You do it to pin the opponent down, but they actually never do that. Then you might as well not take such a kickoff, because you immediately lose the ball. But anyway, you see more teams do it'', said the former striker.
Comments4
"needs more courage" is true lol. dominos change when we start running at the last man instead of recycling passes. do that and the crowd will lift the rest 🚀
The midfield balance is the worry for me. when the #8 drops too deep, our 10 has nobody to combine with and everything becomes sideways. push him up one line and it feels so much smoother 💯
I like what the article says about the tempo, but at some point we have to create clear chances, not just possession. tbh though, if the fullbacks stay higher, it can turn into a real weapon 🔥
if psv go with that same buildup again, i swear teams will just squeeze the midfield and force lang attacks wide. need more directness through the half-spaces or its gonna get predictable fast 👀