What Went Right? Benefited from an organized and quick midfield that attacked with vision and exuberance. Denmark actually did a surprising job of opening things up by switching play from side-to-side, making diagonal runs and finding open space, succeeding in getting the ball into the box to their front men and taking lots of quality shots. Even though this was a very midfield-intensive squad the front men got into the act also, getting on the end of a lot of service. Denmark was going to make it plain to everybody they played that they were going to spend a lot of time in their penalty area. Quick-twitch attack pounded the ball downfield and kept teams on their heels. Forward players showed good ball skills with their ability to break down defenders and get behind opposition backlines on their own. Great movement off the ball also opened up space for their forward players to make those effective runs with the ball.
What Went Wrong? Their defense was surprisingly disorganized. The Danes failed to mark well at all, and they allowed the opposition attack to practically set up shop in their penalty area. A reactive more than a proactive defense that failed miserably at anticipation, reading of the game and cutting off opposition passing. Once they got down their backline just simply fell apart. Despite all of their ball skills they gave up way too much possession, and were probably the worst team in the tournament at defending set pieces and free kicks, most of which found their way into the box an inordinate number of times.
Who Stepped Up To The Plate? Credit needs to go to Christian Poulson for an extremely well-organized Danish midfield in attack. Dennis Rommedahl and Martin Jorgensen were just a revelation creating space down the wings and switching play effectively. Nicklas Bendtner and Thomas Kahlenberg finished well up front and were ever-present getting behind the opposition backline with regularity. Thomas Sorensen did the best he could under the circumstances; he clearly wasn’t to blame for all the play inside his box.
Who Didn’t Show Up? It didn’t matter if it was Jesper Gronkjaer, Jakob Poulson or Thomas Enevoldsen at defensive/holding midfielder; all three couldn’t stop anybody from getting through to their backline. It was just hard to believe that a backline consisting of Simon Poulsen, Lars Jacobsen and Simon Kjaer and anchored by a center defender as good as Daniel Agger could be as bad as it was.
How Was The Coaching? Morten Olsen should have lost his job years ago. Why did it take so long? This guy’s acceptance of mediocrity from a side that should be making waves on the international stage is just infuriating.
Did They Finish Where They Were Expected? Depends on who you talk to. Some folks had them getting out of a group this relatively easy, while other had Cameroon taking advantage of home continent (Everybody had the Netherlands finishing first). We all totally discounted Japan.
Now What? Denmark is ordinarily a pretty exciting team to watch. Getting rid of Olsen should cure a lot of ills.