Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has admitted there is cause for panic after Holland's "shameful" first-half as they lost for the third time under Ronald Koeman.
Their latest defeat came at the hands of Italy in the UEFA Nations League bronze medal match with Roberto Mancini's side running out 3-2 winners. Their disappointment in the semi-final ended an unbeaten run at Feyenoord's De Kuip stadium as the miserable international duty that both Van Dijk and Cody Gakpo have endured was compounded on Sunday.
The Oranje found themselves behind after just six minutes when Federico Dimarco rifled home the opener and it got worse after 20 minutes when Davide Frattesti doubled the Euro 2020 winners' lead.
The Liverpool defender, in particular, has come under fire for his role in Italy's third - which saw the one-goal deficit shortlived after Steven Bergwijn halved the margin. Federico Chiesa restored the lead but the 31-year-old repeated a defensive mistake that has crept into his game during a recent dismal period under Jurgen Klopp.
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"Cause for panic? Yes, a little bit," he told NOS via Voetbal International. "We are building something, but how we allow ourselves to be trumped, that should not happen to us and is very disappointing.
"In the second half we took risks and things went better at times, but the first half is of course never allowed. It just wasn't good enough. We should definitely look at this, especially in view of the important matches that are coming up."
For the former Everton boss, pressure is mounting after losing three of his first four matches in charge of Holland in his second spell. Their two recent defeats come in their pursuit of Nations League success but they slumped to defeat against Croatia before tasting similar fate against the Italians on Sunday.
As a result, Koeman took full responsibility. "I blame myself entirely for not being able to communicate how important it was to take responsibility, to defend, and to follow your man, like we did in the second half," he told UEFA’s official website at full time.
"We let each other down. That was my biggest disappointment today.
"We shouldn’t be playing the way we did in the first half. And, in my view, it’s not about the system. It’s just about carrying out your duties and doing what is asked of you. We’ve done it often enough in the past. But I don’t recall ever playing 45 minutes in this way before."
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