Dutch football: So, where has it all gone badly wrong for the Netherlands?

The team that finished third at the last World Cup have failed to qualify for Euro 2016. This is why...

Robin van Persie is one of the Netherlands' fading stars (Getty Images)

The Netherlands’ progress to next summer’s European Championship finals in France was supposed to be an easy ride. But a stream of errors and poor decisions has seen Danny Blind’s side fail to qualify for the Euros for the first time since 1984… even after Uefa expanded the competition to 24 teams and made it possible for sides finishing third to qualify via play-offs.

So what has gone wrong for the team that only last summer finished third at the World Cup in Brazil?

The managing director of the Netherlands’ Football Federation (KNVB), Bert van Oostveen, was quick to distance himself from blame following the 3-2 defeat by the Czech Republic on Tuesday. Yet he is the man who appointed Guus Hiddink as head coach over Ronald Koeman after Louis van Gaal left following the World Cup, a decision that left many baffled.

The out-of-touch Hiddink was eventually sacked in the summer, but only after losses to the Czech Republic and Iceland and a draw at home to Turkey had done irreparable damage. The KNVB then thrust Blind into the position after already stating he would take over.

It was not an easy time – and injuries at key moments to key players didn’t help – but Blind was also at fault for making some mind-boggling decisions, playing with no striker, for example, in going 1-0 down against Iceland.

Blind insisted he is still the man to lead Netherlands forward. But can they take that chance with World Cup qualifiers less than a year away?

The curse of third: Dutch follow tradition

The Netherlands are the latest side to have failed to reach the Euros after coming third at the previous World Cup:

Poland (1982), France (1986), Italy (1990), Sweden (1994), Croatia (1998), Turkey (2002), Netherlands (2014)