Jonathan Wilson: Midfield overload and Dumfries's forward raids central to semi-final tactical battle

The way the Netherlands have played throughout the Euro 2024 finals means they can be potent from an attacking standpoint but vulnerable at the same time.

Denzel Dumfries has been brilliant at getting forward from right-back and his link-up play with left-sided forward Cody Gakpo at the back post – both in terms of Dumfries crossing for Gakpo and Gakpo crossing for Dumfries – is something the Dutch do deliberately to create overloads. At times it can seem they are almost playing with a five-man frontline.

But it is an approach that also supports the idea of England opting to again field a back three as Luke Shaw or Kieran Trippier can then try and engage Dumfries higher up the pitch.

Dealing with Gakpo, though, is a trickier proposition.

The Liverpool man has scored three goals at the tournament and forced the Netherlands' winner, a Mert Muldur own goal, against Turkey in the quarter-finals.

The answer is probably to counteract Gakpo's threat with the pace of Kyle Walker on the right of a back three with Bukayo Saka beside him.

France took that approach in the group stage, when Jules Kounde pushed forwards, and that enables teams to expose Nathan Ake defensively. England could then create a two-versus-one situation with Saka playing higher and Phil Foden on the right.

The midfield battle in Dortmund will also be intriguing.

Like England, the Dutch have had real issues working out the composition of their midfield and Ronald Koeman began the tournament with PSV duo of Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman centrally.

But Veerman had a nightmare against Austria, coming off after just 34 minutes in tears. His pass completion was around 55 per cent and it was one of those times when a player looks totally lost.

He was simply not mobile enough to combat a dynamic Austrian midfield and Ralf Rangnick did well to expose that shortcoming.

Koeman had to try and find a solution and so he moved Tijjani Reijnders, who looked a bit heavy-footed as a number ten in the group stage, into a deeper role. As a result, he has seen more of the ball and his passing has looked more penetrative, but there are still issues in that area which the Dutch have not resolved.

Schouten is yet to be dispossessed at the tournament and his ball retention is incredible.

A lot of that is because he plays safe passes and keeps the ball moving rather than being a player who can hurt you.

That is exactly the kind of player who England have historically struggled to tame – think Andrea Pirlo for Italy or even Frenkie de Jong for the Dutch in the Nations League. England do not produce players of that style so they tend to freeze when they encounter someone in that mould.

However, that type of footballer is also not particularly mobile and Reijnders is essentially an attacking player in a defensive role in the double pivot, so that could present England with an opportunity to swamp the Dutch in midfield.

We have seen the Netherlands perform better in the second half of quite a lot of games at this summer's Euros.

And the way they finished against Turkey could give insight into how they might set up for Wednesday's semi-final with Xavi Simons deployed as a ten and Schouten and Reijnders deeper. Donyell Malen could also come into Koeman's starting line-up.

They will assume England's defence are quite happy dealing with a 6ft 6in lump such as Wout Weghorst, whereas Turkey's defenders were perhaps not, and the fact Steven Bergwijn has been taken off at half-time in the last two games suggests he is unlikely to start.

Shaw inclusion could aid England at both ends of the pitch

As long as Shaw is fully fit, it is obviously a massive bonus for England, who can attack across the entire the pitch rather than 70 per cent of it.

He played as a left-sided centre back when he came on against Switzerland, but within seconds of coming on he pinged a left-footed ball 70 yards across the field and suddenly there was a change of play. It was clear to see how that switch of direction made England more potent.

The inclusion of Shaw would also increase Dumfries' defensive duties. Up against Trippier, Dumfries could think it doesn;t matter if he gets beyond him as he will just stop and cut inside on to his right foot. Shaw, meanwhile, will keep going and put in crosses meaning Dumfries has to be more defensively minded.

The only downside of optiong for Shaw is that Trippier is a very good communicator, something England are short of without Harry Maguire or Jordan Henderson in the squad.

That could be why Gareth Southgate has been so reluctant to start the Manchester United man. From an organisational point of view, Trippier is really important.

If England do not win in Dortmund I suspect they will be extremely frustrated because this Dutch team is not as good as yesteryear.

The Three Lions have a real opportunity to at least get to the final – but how long can they keep on riding their luck?

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