“Because he[RvP] is one of the best no10’s in the world” – Van Marwijk.

The Dutch national manager Bert van Marwijk opted to play RvP behind the striker, in the no10 position, against Portugal last Sunday. He was desperate to turn things round and for once he gave in to the strong calls in Holland to play Huntelaar, the Bundeslega top scorer, and RvP, the PL top scorer, together up front.

It was a daring decision to put RvP in the no10 position. Holland has a few players who believe it is their god-given right to play there, and can become very disruptive if they are being played elsewhere, or even worse, being placed on the bench. During the last World Cup, the likes of Sneijder and van de Vaart have competed aggressively and publicly over who should play in the position that is simply the Holy Grail for any aspiring Dutch attacking footballer.

When Van Marwijk was challenged during a press conference over the debacle against Portugal – the third game they lost in succession, meaning they had to leave the tournament with nil points, after setting themselves the highest possible target – the journalists...