Euro 2012: Van Persie & Jan Huntelaar Must Start For Holland vs Germany

By Joseph Dempsey / June 13, 2012

Just as I predicted Holland would win Group B, it appears as though Bert van Marwijk€™s men could leave me with egg on my face. How could things go this wrong? They reached the final of the 2010 World Cup, eliminating Brazil in the process, and with the likes of Sneijder, Robben, van Persie, Huntelaar and van der Vaart in their ranks, have one of the most envied attacking line ups in Europe. Yet they will go out tonight if they lose to Germany, who were as efficient as ever as they saw off Portugal. Boss Bert van Marwijk has come under intense criticism apparently for alleged blind loyalty to, and refusal to drop son-in-law Mark van Bommel. There is rumoured disharmony in the Netherland's dressing room that Marwijk is biased and is putting family loyalty ahead of the team. So accustomed are we to seeing Holland play the beautiful game, or "Total Football" as it was famously known as in 1974, that the likes of van Bommel and Nigel de Jong seem unattractive and out of place in the starting eleven. They are destroyers rather than creators, and are reprimanded by the referee more than they score or create assists. In last weeks defeat to Denmark, van Bommel, who was invariably booked, was preferred to the more creative van der Vaart. This was a perplexing decision - he hasn't scored since 2010, and has only 10 international goals. van der Vaart meanwhile has 18 international goals and last netted in May this year - Marwijk has to pick on form, not family ties if they are to beat Germany. Holland€™s most-capped player, 29, told The Sun:

€œI have the right to speak out with 97 caps behind my name. If Holland want to win, the coach has to play me in the starting line-up. €œI am no longer prepared to deny I am finding this role really tough. Do you know how frustrated I feel? I am in the best form of my life and I train so hard but I get the impression the team selection is not going to change in my favour."

There is also the apparent inability to play van Persie and Klaas Jan Huntelaar in the same starting 11. Last week van Persie was preferred with Huntelaar having to settle for a cameo appearance from the bench. This has reportedly caused unrest in the dressing room also as civil war looks set to derail Holland's whole campaign. Huntelaar is said to be jealous that van Persie is getting the nod over him, and has reputably refused to talk to him. Holland need all their players singing from the same hymn sheet if they are to see off Germany tonight, and they also need to play their two best strikers - which means van Persie AND Huntelaar starting. van Persie was the top goal scorer in the Premier League last season with 37 strikes, and has found the net 28 times for Holland. Huntelaar finished his season with Shalke 04 with 29 goals from 34 league games, making him the first Dutch player to earn top scorer in the Bundesliga. He has also scored 31 times for Holland. With 59 goals between them, they have scored more goals than Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Jermain Defoe and Andy Carroll combined. (52) Simply put, both MUST start against Germany tonight if Holland are to avoid the indignity of elimination. This is Marwijk's last chance to get things right.