Ronald Koeman won the 1988 EURO in Germany after a group stage defeat. However, that was 36 years ago, when he was a player and not a coach like he is now. Before the match against Austria, the captain of the "Orange Storm" said he did not want to finish third after the group stage. However, the Netherlands lost and finished in that position.

“We know that if we stay in this position we will have to face a strong team in the next round, maybe England or Spain,” Koeman lamented.

Fortunately, the Dutch team faced a much easier opponent in Romania. However, the defeat to Austria was a warning for Virgil van Dijk and his teammates' championship ambitions in the campaign in Germany.

Koeman is known for his outspoken personality and willingness to criticize his players harshly. The former Barca coach was blunt in his criticism of the Netherlands' performance against Austria as "terrible and terrible".

The Netherlands got off to a good start with a win over Poland and a draw with France. Depay and his teammates created a series of chances in the first match and only had to share points with France when Xavi Simons' goal was disallowed and left much controversy.

Then, the problem of the "Orange Storm" in the defeat against Austria came from all three lines of the squad. Before EURO 2024, the Netherlands were considered to have the most solid defense in the tournament with the spearhead Virgil van Dijk. Koeman only lacked a world-class goalkeeper but they were confident because in the last 7 matches before entering EURO 2024, they had 6 clean sheets.

However, Austria scored three goals, all from the same flank. Koeman opted for Lutsharel Geertruida over Denzel Dumfries at right-back and the Feyenoord star struggled. It was a poor decision when Dumfries and Frimpong were both in good form and available.

In the centre of defence, Van Dijk also failed to show his best command. Beside him was Stefan de Vrij instead of Matthijs de Ligt, Mickey van de Ven or Nathan Ake. Ake was instead deployed at left-back. Although the Man City star played well, Koeman could have chosen Ian Maatsen in this position.

Midfield has been the area that has suffered the most for the Netherlands this tournament. The situation would have been very different if Frenkie de Jong, Teun Koopmeiners and Marten de Roon had not picked up injuries at the same time. The replacements are Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman. At the moment, only Tijani Reijnders deserves to be in the starting lineup.

In the match against Austria, Veerman was substituted after just 35 minutes. The PSV star lost possession 16 times in 29 touches. Veerman made 19 passes, but only 9 of them found the right address.

Because he could not control the ball well, the 25-year-old midfielder often forced his team into counter-attacks. Commenting on the player's poor performance, former midfielder Van der Vaart said he felt "terrible" watching Veerman play.

Up front, the right wing has become a sore point for Ronald Koeman. In the three group stage matches, he used a different right winger in each match. Xavi Simons, Frimpong and Donyell Malen all looked stuck and did not leave much of an impression before being substituted.

The positive point of the Dutch team is that the changes in players help them play better. In particular, the trump card Wout Weghorst always makes the Oranje attack dangerous every time he enters the field.