As the weather broke and the rain poured down on the Dutch training camp in the village of Hoenderloo near Arnhem yesterday, relations between players and the local press continued to deteriorate. Frank Rijkaard and many of his squad wondered aloud just what it is they have to do to please their critics here in Holland.
Having beaten Denmark 3-0 and the world champions 3-2 since a lucky win over the Czechs, no one within the Dutch camp was making much of an attempt yesterday to hide their frustration with the persistently negative media reaction.
Asked initially about the spirit within the squad, given the well-documented internal problems that have dogged the Dutch through previous tournament finals, goalkeeper Sander Westerveld said: "It's a good group, and while I'm not saying that everybody is friends, we are all professional so there are no problems between us.
"The only problem there is now," he went on, "is the Dutch press; they are too negative and everybody in the team feels that. They give us the feeling that every single journalist from here wants the Dutch team to get out of the tournament."
Rangers full back Artur Numan, who, like Westerveld, came in for the France game, has also been taken aback by the extent of the negative coverage, which has largely centred on the tactics employed by Rijkaard. He is said to be confusing players and playing them out of their best positions.
"We have no complaints," Numan said. "This is a good coach who has won things as a player with the national team. We know exactly what he expects of us, we are prepared well and we are given all of the information that we want about our opponents. "The problem is that the press are trying to bring out problems within the camp that aren't there."
Rijkaard, meanwhile, who singles out the ubiquitous Johan Cruyff as a particular offender, says that he has tried to use the attacks on the team to foster team spirit. "You have to do it," he said, "to look to turn a negative into a positive. And criticism can be positive for everybody.
"But what has been going on here is not always rational, and so you find yourself trying to make sure that the players are not dragged down by all that is directed at them."
It's a view echoed by Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp, who said: "It's strange, most of the criticism comes after yesterday's game when we beat the world champions and finished our three matches with maximum points. Maybe we should play better and start dropping points to make them happy.
"If you look at last night," he said, "it might not have been the strongest French team, but there were many very good players out there and we came from 1-0 and 2-1 behind to win the game. They may shrug the defeat off in public, but that will give them something to go away and think about."
