1. Germany must be rubbing their hands with glee. They clocked off at half-time last night, had an extra day’s rest than their opponents, then sat back and watched these two – pretty poor looking sides – run around for 120 minutes.
2. We were sold Lionel Messi vs Arjen Robben. We got Martin Demichelis vs Ron Vlaar. Messi in particular was MIA. Vlaar was unbelievable (until he missed his penalty).
3. Louis Van Gaal’s decision to bring on Tim Krul ahead of the penalties in the last round is now looking glaringly obvious rather than tactical genius. Jasper Cillessen had a couple of spot-kicks that he could have saved, but he continued his record of never having saved one.
4. The football universe neatly levelled itself out after last night’s 1-7 semi-final between Brazil and Germany. This was a tough watch. It looked like both sides were happy to
5. Manchester United fans will be hoping Louis Van Gaal serves up something a bit more attack-minded system. This image, which captured the Netherlands in a 6-3-1 formation, typified the lack of attacking thrust in this game.
