In the third Pro League match in six days – Thursday night in the Wagener against Germany (1-1) – the game of the Orange men was also characterised by erraticness. Yet there is also a stable factor present with the penalty corner of Jip Janssen, who has yielded quite a few goals in the past international matches. ‘The main thing in this phase is to get back into rhythm with each other at the corner’, says Oranje’s top scorer.
Janssen opened the score against Germany in the 26th minute from the header, in a first half in which the Dutch showed much more dominant play than in the first two Pro League appearances of this month, against the same Germany (last Sunday) and Belgium (last Tuesday). However, national coach Jeroen Delmée’s team was unable to maintain this for sixty minutes. After the break, the Dutch team often found themselves with their backs against the wall.
“We wanted to open strong, play our own game and not start with the brakes on,” says Janssen immediately after the game in which the Germans took the shoot-outs better (3-1). ‘That worked well in the first half, but we finished the match below par. We were under constant pressure after the break and we couldn’t find the free man. The solutions that we normally see immediately have now been delayed for too long. That’s why we couldn’t escape that pressure.’
It was from the first turnover of the ball after halftime that Germany eagerly hunted for the equalizer and succeeded (Niklas Wellen made it 1-1 from the rebound of a penalty corner). The Dutch team could then thank the excellent goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak that no more goals were conceded in that phase.
‘Of course the Germans did that well,’ Janssen has to admit. ‘They had a lot more bluff in their press after the break. In fact, we should not allow ourselves to be bluffed. Of course it didn’t help that Thijs [van Dam] and Jorrit [Croon] were injured at one point, but something like that could also happen at the Games. That should not be an excuse to just let it happen.’
Twelve corner goals in twelve matches
As variable as the Dutch team’s play is in this Pro League final phase, Jip Janssen’s penalty corner is just as consistent at the moment. Sports enthusiasts who like to take a gamble can confidently bet on a good penalty corner from the defender. In ten of the twelve international matches that the Dutch played this calendar year, Janssen scored at least once from the header, with twelve goals in total. His opening goal against Germany was his 63rd in Orange, in 107 international matches.
‘It’s going well’, Janssen responds dryly when the penalty corner is discussed. ‘I don’t necessarily try to judge my corner on statistics. We analyse the opponents thoroughly. I think the most important thing at the moment is to see whether our chosen options are the right ones based on their corner defence. Of course it’s nice when a corner results in a goal, but at the moment I attach more value to the choices that precede it.’
It is striking that there are few penalty corner variants visible in the Pro League matches, just one month before the start of the Olympic Games. All teams hold the corner cards tightly against their chests so as not to inform each other. Janssen: ‘We mainly play variants when we really need a goal in a match. At the moment you don’t see them much with us. It is especially important in this phase to regain rhythm with each other at the penalty corner and to try out some things. But not everything indeed.’
Learning lessons and making progress
Due to the draw against Germany and missing out on the extra point through the shoot-outs, the Netherlands – with one match to go, Sunday against Belgium – can no longer catch up with Australia in the rankings of this Pro League season. And so, after two seasons with a title each, the Oranje’s hegemony in the prestigious country competition has come to an end. Afterwards, the Oranje players were visibly disappointed with the disappointing result, but did not need tissues to cope with the loss of a new title.
Janssen: ‘It’s a shame that we didn’t win this match that we had to win. But there’s more than just the result. Our goal is to perform at the Games. We use these Pro League matches to train hard, get fitter, to play better hockey together and to test things. We want to learn from these matches and make progress. That’s the main thing in this period.’
Never write Germans off
The two matches that the Dutch team played against Germany this week once again showed how evenly matched the two teams have been in recent years. Five of the last six matches between them ended in a draw. ‘It’s often very close’, says Janssen. ‘Germany is the reigning world champion, they’re still a very good team. You can never write them off. They have world-class players, just like us. That’s why they’re always great matches. It was nice to play them twice now, since we’ll be meeting them again in the group stage of the Games in Paris. It gave us a lot of useful information.’
In Paris, Janssen will once again have to deal with striker Niklas Wellen, with whom he fought a few fierce duels on Thursday. Sometimes that even involved physical contact. ‘Haha, that’s right. He gave me a push in the third quarter, suddenly grabbed me by the neck. I went to complain to the referee [Ayden Shrives], but he said he hadn’t seen anything. Niklas is always a tough opponent. He wasn’t the best player of the last World Cup for nothing. It’s fun to get my teeth into a player like that.’
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