If You Lose At Least Lose With Your Own Identity Zlatan Blasts Koeman For Negative Tactics In Loss To Morocco

The Africans outplayed the Dutch for long stretches, dominating the midfield battles throughout the 120 minutes and forcing them into a defensive low block. Cody Gakpo gave his side the lead in the 72nd minute, but the Netherlands’ staggeringly low 35 per cent possession finally fell short when Issa Diop equalised with a commanding 91st-minute header. Dutch goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen made several critical saves, but the relentless Moroccan pressure ultimately exhausted the defence. In the eventual shootout, Ismael Saibari buried the decisive spot-kick to send Morocco into the quarterfinals.

Following the match, legendary striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic squarely laid the blame for the nation's shocking exit at Dutch manager Ronald Koeman and his negative, defensive tactics.

Working as a FOX Sports pundit, the former Sweden international, who played at Ajax for three years in his early career under Koeman, accused his former coach of stripping the Netherlands of their historic, attack-minded identity.

"This defeat is Koeman's fault, because I didn't recognise this Dutch team," Ibrahimovic declared. "He lost with an identity that is not the Dutch identity. That makes me angry. I was always taught: attack, attack, attack. Today, Koeman looked like an Italian coach playing not to lose, whereas the Netherlands always plays to win."

Ibrahimovic further blamed Koeman’s approach for actively harming his own players on the pitch and leaving them visibly disconnected.

"If you lose, at least lose with your own identity and don't change it," Ibrahimovic continued. "This was not the Netherlands I am used to seeing. You can also tell by the way they played that they didn't feel comfortable. The possession was gone, the attacking football was gone. It just looked very bad, and that was all Koeman's fault. I thought it was absolutely nothing, really nothing at all."

French legend and fellow pundit Thierry Henry backed Ibrahimovic's brutal assessment and criticised Koeman’s rigid 5-4-1 formation and defensive substitutions. When trying to protect the 1-0 lead, Koeman replaced Ryan Gravenberch with Quinten Timber. In extra time, he also hooked Frenkie de Jong for Martin de Roon.

"You take off a midfielder to bring on a defender. By doing so, you are basically saying that you are afraid of Morocco," Henry explained in the studio. "That is allowed, of course. If you win, you are right. If you lose, you are wrong. I was really surprised, because the Netherlands normally doesn't play like that. But Koeman clearly had a different view on that."

Koeman, though, was bullish in defending his approach.

“[Yes, we] were less offensive. You can think of the tactics whatever you like, but we gave away much less against a team much stronger than Sweden and Tunisia. And if I had to do it again, I would ⁠do it the same way again.”

He also reflected on the fine margins of the optics of the sport: “I also know that if Morocco hadn’t equalised with that late goal, there would be all sorts of compliments for me as the Dutch coach, but now, probably, I'm going to be scolded for the ‌fact that I chose five defenders, but once again, I believe it was necessary.”