Nor did Ronald Koeman ever convince me that he was a modern manager equipped with the flexibility to turn tricky situations around.
The writing was on the wall when they drew Morocco in the last 32. Sure, it went to penalties, but Oranje were clinging on from the start.
But, like Morocco, they probably would have cruised past Canada at the next stage.
Senegal are the big regret.
They got a tough group that seemed to damage their confidence, and then they were much better than Belgium in that last-32 tie only to throw away a two-goal lead with five minutes remaining.
Belgium's growth in the tournament is a good story, but Senegal looked a much better team for most of that match.
Dark horse to win
Morocco have been seriously impressive under Mohamed Ouahbi, who has evolved the team that reached the semi-finals four years ago and were knocked out by France.
Don't bet against them gaining revenge when the two teams meet again.
It's hard to single out a dark horse in a field of eight, but I'll go with Switzerland.
Gregor Kobel has 16 saves and conceded just three goals (0.6 per match, behind only Spain and France among teams left).
If you split the eight teams into 'favorites' - Spain, France, England and Argentina - and 'surprises', the Swiss have the best xG difference (4.9) of the 'surprises'.
We know they can defend. The question is can they score.
Six of the top eight teams in the Fifa rankings are in the quarter-finals. The exceptions are Switzerland (14th) and Norway (19th).
