After the blessing of four golden generations, there was always going to be a lull sooner or later.

Dutch football first gave the world the 'Total Football' pioneers of the 1970s; the genius of Johan Cruyff, Johan Neeskens and Willem van Hanegem, the pupils of Rinus Michels.

Then came the European Championship winners of 1988, the class of Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Ronald Koeman.

Holland have undergone a renaissance and will enter the Nations League in high spirits

Manager Ronald Koeman appears to have led the Dutch team out of their recent crisis

Koeman's Holland will play Gareth Southgate's England in the Nations League semi-finals

The nineties cohort weren't as successful but they still entertained us, an Ajax-schooled group that included Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars, Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and the De Boer twins.

And finally we had the World Cup finalists of 2010 and the side that finished third in 2014, the age of Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie.

Yet in between all of these spikes of success, the Dutch often failed - and failed miserably.

The World Cups of 1982 and 1986? Not even there. Italia 90? Barely scored a goal. 2002? Didn't make it. 2006? Hardly inspiring.

Few nations demonstrate the cyclical nature of boom and bust in football better than Holland and the past few years have been no exception.

Major tournaments have of late become little more than a television show for them.

Robin van Persie reacts in dismay as Holland fail to qualify for the expanded Euros in 2016

A dejected Arjen Robben during Holland's ill-fated qualification campaign for Russia 2018

UEFA Nations League SEMI-FINALS PORTUGAL 3-1 SWITZERLAND ENGLAND vs HOLLAND Thursday; 7.45pm; Guimaraes THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF Sunday; 2pm; Guimaraes FINAL Sunday; 7.45pm; Porto All matches live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event Highlights on ITV Advertisement

They inexplicably failed to qualify for Euro 2016 in France despite UEFA expanding the competition from 16 to 24 teams.

And they also didn't make last year's World Cup in Russia, finding themselves behind France and Sweden in their qualifying group.

Adding to the sense of shambles, Holland got through several managers during that time. Guus Hiddink replaced Louis van Gaal after the 2014 World Cup but didn't see out the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

He was succeeded by his assistant, Danny Blind, who couldn't get them over the line and then jeopardised their World Cup hopes as well.

Dick Advocaat then returned for his third spell in May 2017 but lasted only until the November.

As always with Holland, a country where legends remain very much immersed in the affairs of the national side well after retirement, nobody was short of an opinion or a theory.

Luckily for all concerned, as well as everyone around the world with a nostalgic soft spot for the Oranje, the latest bout of introspection appears to be over and Holland are on the upswing once again.

The team led by Ronald Koeman that will take on England in the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League on Thursday night is undoubtedly one that has travelled a long way in the past year or so. Dutch football is in bloom once more.

Backtrack to March last year and Koeman's first match in charge against an experimental England side in Amsterdam.

Gareth Southgate's men had complete control of the whole game, stroking passes around pretty much at will against a Dutch side that looked callow and devoid of ideas. A 1-0 win was the least England deserved.

Jesse Lingard scored the decisive goal when England beat Holland in Amsterdam last March

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has played a big part in Holland's resurgence since

It will be very different on Thursday night. Winning the Nations League isn't anywhere near as prestigious as a World Cup or European Championship, but it will be as useful a yardstick for Holland as it will be for England.

In the interim, Holland topped a difficult Nations League qualifying group containing France and Germany. They beat the Germans 3-0 at home and France 2-0, before two late goals in Gelsenkirchen to earn a 2-2 draw took them through.

Their squad heading to Portugal for the finals is brimming with young and exciting players. Only one outfield player - Ryan Babel - is over the age of 30 and there are six under the age of 25.

Koeman has successfully gutted a lot of the deadwood from the squad and refreshed it with young talent, aided by a spurt in emerging players from that almighty production line at Ajax.

The awkward transitional phase of the past few years, with 30-somethings like Robben lingering around while younger players struggled to assert themselves, seems to be over.

One of the great perennials of Dutch football is that the team is expected - by public and ex-players alike - to adhere to the principles of 'Total Football' at all times.

Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum celebrates scoring against France last November

Holland qualified for the Nations League finals with two late goals away to Germany

Holland squad Goalkeepers: Marco Bizot (AZ Alkmaar), Jasper Cillessen (Barcelona), Kenneth Vermeer (Feyenoord) Defenders: Patrick van Aanholt (Crystal Palace), Nathan Ake (Bournemouth), Daley Blind (Ajax), Virgil van Dijk (captain, Liverpool), Denzel Dumfries (PSV Eindhoven), Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax), Stefan de Vrij (Inter Milan), Hans Hateboer (Atalanta) Midfielders: Donny van de Beek (Ajax), Frenkie de Jong (Ajax), Davy Propper (Brighton), Marten de Roon (Atalanta), Kevin Strootman (Marseille), Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord), Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool) Forwards: Ryan Babel (Fulham), Steven Bergwijn (PSV Eindhoven), Memphis Depay (Lyon), Luuk de Jong (PSV Eindhoven), Quincy Promes (Sevilla) Advertisement

The Dutch may have invented the 4-3-3 system but other countries - and especially clubs - have refined it for the 21st century and surpassed those with the patent.

Koeman has managed to adopt a more pragmatic way of thinking.

As he said this week: 'We are people in Holland that are creative and the technique of players is the base of our football.

'It's about the quality, it's not about defending, it's not about Catenaccio - it's play to win and that style we need to keep.'

The results have certainly come but Koeman definitely hasn't exactly neglected the defensive aspect. Indeed, perversely for a Holland team, their defence looks the strongest thing about them.

It was in the away match against France last September that Koeman first partnered Liverpool's Vigil van Dijk - whom he has also appointed captain - with Ajax's teenage star Matthijs de Ligt.

'You always build the house from downstairs,' Koeman explained elegantly. 'You don't start with the roof.

'We have the best central defenders [in Europe] with De Ligt and Virgil. When you look at Virgil now, this is a big, big personality on the pitch. He is a leader and that's why I made him captain.

Matthijs de Ligt and Virgil van Dijk have forged a very strong defensive partnership

Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum celebrate a Dutch goal against Germany

'De Ligt is only 19! If you watch him play, you do not see a player who is only 19. You see a player who plays with so much more experience than he actually has.'

So Holland come into the Nations League with freshly-crowned Champions League winners. Van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum received a thunderous round of applause from their team-mates when they reported for duty on Monday.

You can only imagine the mood had Ajax - eliminated in dramatic fashion by Tottenham in the semi-finals - gone all the way.

As well as De Ligt, the squad features Ajax men Daley Blind, Donny van de Beek and Frenkie de Jong.

The last two will offer Holland's creative spark against England, while Wijnaldum's talents are well known by those Englishmen who play in the Premier League.

There are positive things happening behind the scenes as well. In a similar way to England's centralising of all their teams at St George's Park, Holland opened their state-of-the-art KNVB (Dutch FA) campus at Zeist, 35 miles south of Amsterdam, in 2016.

At any one time, around 60 players will be training there in each youth team age group in a ploy to ensure that nobody slips through the net.

Bronze statues of Dutch football legends outside their headquarters near Zeist

The Holland squad in training at Zeist before heading out to Portugal for the Nations League

One symptom of the recent malaise was that Ajax's immensely talented Hakim Ziyech and the winger Oussama Tannane opted to represent Morocco despite playing for Holland up to under-21 level.

It was acrimonious, too, with Van Basten saying in May 2016: 'How stupid can you be to choose Morocco if you are in contention for the Dutch national team?'

This comment seemed to reflect the ingrained Dutch superiority complex but clearly they don't intend to allow anyone to get away from now on.

And it's already paying dividends. The Dutch under-17 team last month successfully defended their European title and en route outplayed England in a 5-2 group stage victory.

Holland have just retained their European title at under-17 level in the Republic of Ireland

The young Ajax striker Brian Brobbey impressed during the tournament recently

They too had an Ajax core with muscular forward Brian Brobbey and talented duo Sontje Hansen and Naci Unuvar impressing. Ki-Jana Hoever of Liverpool and Ian Maatsen of Chelsea also look to have bright futures.

It's far too early to know whether we have another Dutch golden generation on our hands. Even if they win the Nations League on Sunday, they would still have much to prove.

But there's little doubt Dutch football is in a renaissance right now as their eternal cycle of boom and bust rolls on.