š³š± Wout Weghorst reflects the Netherlandsā internal struggle with their own history
The 6ft 6" striker has defied expectations to become a key figure for the Oranje!
Wout Weghorst doesnāt exactly encapsulate Total Football.
In fact, the 6ft 6ā striker is, in many ways, the antithesis of the Netherlandsā trademark playing style. Gangly and unrefined, one wonders what Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels would have made of Weghorst playing for the Oranje.
And yet the Netherlands have needed Weghorst at Euro 2024. They needed him at the 2022 World Cup too, when he scored twice in the quarter-finals.
The Dutch wish they werenāt so reliant on Weghorst, but they are.
Weghorst embodies the internal struggle that has afflicted Dutch football recently. While the considerable history of Cruyff and co. once empowered the Netherlands, there is a growing sense it is now weighing them down.Ā
Has the legacy of Total Football become something Dutch football could do without in the modern age? Does Weghorst prove the need to move on?
