UEFA Nations League: A win built on pragmatism and Bernardo Silva

The Nations League final was a victory for pragmatism built around the multi-faceted brilliance of Bernardo Silva.

Ruben Dias was awarded man of the match, which says much for the ebb and the flow of the game. However, it was a moment of brilliance from Bernardo, named Player of the Tournament, that drove the hosts to the inaugural Nations League title. It was his sleight of foot that brought the opening for Goncalo Guedes' goal but it was his work elsewhere that set the tone that for the win.

The Manchester City maestro has been bestowed with a liberal smattering of high-end talent, but it is his work ethic that sets him apart from many of his contemporaries; that work ethic stifled the Netherlands and, in particular, Frenkie de Jong at Estádio do Dragão.

De Jong was the difference maker against England; where he had the run of the midfield. While that was in part due to his generational talent, it was also due to England’s shortcomings. Portugal coach Fernando Santos devised a plan to stymie the Barcelona-bound schemer, and central to that plan was Bernardo.

“We knew of De Jong’s huge ability, his passing ability. In the last match, De Jong made 25% of the Dutch team’s passes. Ensuring De Jong didn’t get possession of the ball and wasn’t able to play freely would give us more chances," said Santos post match.

Santos' decision to replace Ruben Neves and Joao Felix with particularly Danilo Pereira but also Guedes may have spoken to his natural conservatism. However, in a first-half where the Dutch dominated the ball – sometimes having upwards of 65% of it – it was the Portuguese who created the chances, fully vindicating Santos’ pivot back to pragmatism.

Central to that vindication was the application of Bernardo; the 24-year-old was left with the dual responsibility of creator and disruptor-in-chief in Santos’ reworked system. For large swathes of the first half, he helped harry De Jong out of rhythm, forcing the 22-year-old down blind allies stacked with Portuguese players ready to pounce.

Resultantly, Ronald Koeman’s men were held at arm’s length; discombobulated to the point that on multiple occasions the Dutch, in the midst of a Total Football renaissance, went long to, well, Jose Fonte, who sent it back from whence it came. Ruben Dias, Fonte’s centre-half partner, produced a magnificent interception to deny Steven Bergwijn on the only first-half occasion the Portuguese press was evaded.

If the Dutch were meant to bring the innovation, the Portuguese brought the guile - Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo prising saves from Jasper Cillessen, whose dexterity sent the match to the interval at parity. However, Santos’ men were in the ascendancy due in part to their coach’s pragmatism.

It was fitting that one of Santos’ tactical tweaks, Gueues, would break a period of Dutch pressure with a firmly struck effort after some chicanery from Bernardo, with 60 minutes gone. Vindication again.

That the Dutch’s best period came after that concession is testament to their belief in what Koeman has crafted. However, bar a gilt-edged Memphis Depay header just five minutes later, the Netherlands failed to threaten the goal of Rui Patricio.

If the semi-final win against Switzerland owed much to the individual brilliance of Ronaldo, this victory had its foundations in collective savvy. Fonte, in for the injured Pepe, complimented the sought-after Ruben Dias with distinction, as the Benfica man offered up another commanding performance to add to the catalogue. However, that collectivism was best epitomised by Bernardo, whose willingness for honest graft for his team matches his cunning with the ball.

The Netherlands finished with just the one shot on target, and just five in total. For a side venerated for its ability to manipulate the ball and thus space to conjure openings, that takes some doing, and Santos is due praise for devising a system to restrict such an expansive side.

However, central to it all, completing his dual responsibility, was Bernardo Silva - both creator and disruptor in chief.