Louis van Gaal proves Holland don't need a Rembrandt as Dutch look to slow USMNT - World Cup comment

They now paint by numbers instead. Evocative, no. Effective, yes.

No Bergkamp, Gullit, Van Basten or Robben. Certainly no Cruyff, once dubbed football’s Rembrandt.

Despite a lack of pure art in creative areas – notwithstanding the presence of a midfield technocrat in Frenkie de Jong and a player Leeds United covet in Cody Gakpo - there are clear reasons as to why Holland can go deep in this competition.

Form is one obvious reason and defence is another.

Perhaps the most significant is the presence of a coaching grandee in the shape of the inimitable Louis van Gaal, entrusted with leading Oranje into the quarter-finals at the expense of the US on Saturday.

In terms of the Dutch’s vital statistics, the raw data is head-turning.Going into this last-16 clash, Holland boast an 18-match unbeaten run, featuring 13 wins. They have scored 46 goals and conceded 14.

They are finding a way and have proved the counter-argument to suggestions that the Nations League is a waste of time with back-to-back ‘derby’ victories over a perceived big-hitter in Belgium - including a big win in Brussels in June. It provided a timely pre-Qatar confidence boost.

A concession of one goal in three group games suggests that their defence is in sound order in particular.

It is led by an incomparable figure in Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, whose slight loss of pace after a bad injury is mitigated by immaculate positioning and reading of a game.

He is perfectly placed in the middle of a central three, with Ajax’s fine young defender Jurrien Timber and Chelsea’s Nathan Ake on either side of him and Denzel Dumfries and Daley Blind covering the flanks in what is essentially a 5-3-2 without the ball and 3-4-1-2 with it.

It protects Van Dijk. Speaking of protection brings us to another key area with the rise of rookie keeper Andries Noppert one of the most astonishing World Cup tales thus far.

Testament to his greenhorn status arrives in the fact that his Oranje debut in the group opener with Senegal was only his 51st senior game. He only found out about his squad inclusion while watching TV.

Van Dijk and co have made life relatively easy for him so far. Greater tests will await if the Dutch are to carry on. Starting on Saturday.

So far Noppert's defenders have his back and so does van Gaal.

Explaining Noppert’s shock promotion to first-choice, he said it was because he knew he was “unimpressed” by the World Cup. He did not expect to start, so had nothing to worry about, seemingly.

In its own way, it offers a glimpse into the mindset of one of the game’s great thinkers in van Gaal.

Van Dijk, De Jong or perhaps Memphis Depay or the new kid on the block in Gakpo may be cited as the Dutch’s most influential figure.

Students of the game would unequivocally suggest that it’s van Gaal, whose ‘Iron Tulip’ nickname is a deceptive moniker these days.

Yes, he has always been his own man and has been implacable in his views at times and many a scribe has been on the receiving end of his withering tongue.

But his adaptability in moving away from his own favoured 4-3-3 system - and the Dutch’s historic formation of choice - to the current one shows he can be pragmatic and is not wholly dogmatic. The best coaches are problem-solvers.

A revered figure in Holland, his numbers also stack up. Now in his third spell in charge of the Oranje, Van Gaal’s last competitive defeat came in the penalty shoot-out loss to Argentina in the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup.

The last reverse under his watch in regulation time came versus Ireland in September 2001.

At 71, van Gaal is the third oldest coach at a World Cup finals. Age provides him with wisdom, while his recent treatment for prostrate cancer has afforded perspective.

He will not overly worry about things on a football field, for sure. And certainly not the press.

Only this week, van Gaal told one journalist to 'go home' when his side were accused of being boring - knowing full well that he would make the headlines and take any heat off his players in the process.

Classic van Gaal in his retirement gig. He’s having some fun.

The Netherlands have already had an agreeable World Cup, after bitter foes Germany and Low Countries rivals Belgium were turfed out.

Taking care of an in-your-face, hard-running US side so admirably led by Leeds' Tyler Adams, would take things to the next level and plant the Oranje flag firmly in the Qatari sand. We shall see.