Totaalvoetbal is back and so are the Netherlands after epic Germany thrashing

Coveted Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong bettered revered opponent Toni Kroos in every department. Teenage colleague Matthijs de Ligt was a rock at the back, while Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng appeared well past their sell-by dates.

On the right-hand side, PSV Eindhoven debutants Denzel Dumfries and Steven Bergwijn – who boast a combined age of 43 – presented constant sources of danger and dynamism.

Rejuvenated Lyon forward Memphis Depay proved unplayable, struck on the break after staid opponents did precious little with dominant – and increasingly outmoded – possession and rattled the crossbar.

The challenge now for head coach Ronald Koeman is to carry this renaissance into Euro 2020. Sustainability is essential after such fallow years.

Vitally for Netherlands supporters, a marriage of the traditional values of ‘totaalvoetbal’ – Total Football – and the relentless demands of the 21^st-century game was on show at Johan Cruyff Arena.

They have the talents, once again, to play the Dutch way. Tuesday’s friendly against brilliant Belgium will be a test of Koeman’s resolve.

When European football’s great aesthetes continuously embrace pragmatism and stutter while trying to return to their laudable principles, everyone loses.

Joy was found this weekend beyond the sight of bedraggled, desperate and despised opponents being picked apart on the counter-attack at will in the stretched second half.

This was everything, and more, Koeman could have hoped for.

That it was achieved via the 4-3-3 formation of old provided an extra shot in the arm.

The continent’s great dreamers have choked while the dogmas of old have either been rejected, or rendered worthless.

Louis van Gaal’s 3-5-2 system was difficult to stomach, even when it took them to World Cup 2014’s semi-finals.

Successors Guus Hiddink, Danny Blind and Dick Advocaat then cataclysmically failed to twin a return to the bold tactics of old and success. Genuine successors to the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie were nowhere to be seen.

Unforgivably quiet summers followed.

Bitterness defines the decade-long animosity shared by Koeman and Van Gaal. Uncomfortable similarities were made apparent, however, when the former decided the only way to avert a modern crisis was to build from defence.

Centre-backs Stefan de Vrij of Inter Milan, Ajax’s De Ligt and Liverpool virtuoso Van Dijk would underpin any progress.

Distant, indeed, from the Cruyffian method that inspired Koeman’s success – largely as a buccaneering centre-back or sweeper – in Barcelona’s ‘Dream Team’ of the early 1990s.

Koeman’s first six matches with a five-man defence had witnessed two wins, two draws and two losses. A mixed bag, from which few cherished memories were formed.

It would take until the seventh game of Koeman’s reign for the 4-3-3 to return. The outcome was startling.

Timeliness, is of course, a major cause of this latest result.

Blind handed a 17-year-old De Ligt his international debut in Bulgaria in March 2017. A pair of callow errors under the high ball followed and he was hooked at half-time in a 2-0 defeat that seriously impinged hopes of making World Cup 2018.

Now, he’s world football’s brightest defensive star at 19-years old.

De Jong was regularly turning out for Jong Ajax until 2017/18. As for Depay, his talent was going to waste at Manchester United prior to January 2017’s rescue act by Lyon.

Since he got back up to speed by that October, he’s scored seven goals in his last 11 internationals.

Koeman’ great insight has been to work out a structure to consistently get the best out of these future talismans.

Both of Atalanta defensive midfielder Marten de Roon’s Oranje starts have come under him – including the Germany triumph. His understated game had previously gone underappreciated.

Besiktas forward Ryan Babel at 31 years old is producing the most consistent football of his career.

These constituent parts helped the Netherlands successfully go back to the future versus Germany. Containing buoyant Belgium is a different matter, all together.

If this return to the principles of old also proves effective against Eden Hazard and Co., they will not be standing on the outside looking in when Euro 2020 kicks off.