Van Marwijk blames ‘very poor’ defense for Germany defeat

Goal :    Bert van Marwijk has blamed the Netherlands’ 2-1 loss to Germany on a lack of defensive cohesion between the back four and midfield.

A first-half Mario Gomez double left the Dutch reeling, with Robin van Persie’s strike 17 minutes from time in vain as die Mannschaft held firm to leave them requiring just a point against Denmark on Sunday to win Group B.

And Van Marwijk was blunt with his assessment of the game, telling NOS: “We simply defended very poorly. And the cooperation between the defense and the two holding midfielders was disappointing.

“We put in a good performance in the opening 20 minutes and got some decent chances. But you have to be at your very best if you want to beat Germany. Some of the players are struggling with their form.

“The German goal came out of nothing, [it] was a fault from us, we were too open in the center. We gave them too much space.”