After weeks of speculation, endless discussions on television, social media debates, and fans creating their own dream squads, the moment has finally arrived: the Dutch national team selection is here. For Oranje supporters across the Netherlands and around the world, the wait is finally over.
Every international break brings excitement, but this one feels different. Expectations around the Dutch squad have been building for months. Fans wanted answers. Would Ronald Koeman trust experience or give young talents a chance? Which injured stars would make it back in time? And perhaps most importantly: who would be left at home?
Now we know
As always, the selection immediately sparked debate. Some fans are thrilled to see familiar leaders like Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay included once again. Others are celebrating the arrival of fresh energy and young players ready to prove themselves on the international stage.
That is exactly what makes Oranje special. In the Netherlands, everyone is a national team coach. At the office, in cafés, at amateur football clubs, and online, everybody has an opinion about the perfect lineup.
One fan thinks Dumfries is a failure, the moderator wants attacking football including our big guy. Another demands more balance in midfield. Some believe experience wins tournaments, while others want fearless young players to lead a new generation (sorry Kees Smit is not ready, just my 5cts).
Still, once the matches begin, everybody (hopefully) unites behind the orange shirt.
There is also something emotional about every squad announcement. For some players, it is the reward for years of hard work. For others like Virgil and Memphis, it may be their final chance to shine at the highest level. Young talents receive the call they have dreamed about since childhood, while veterans know the pressure that comes with wearing the Oranje jersey since Brasil in 2014.
And as we see at every major tournament, some key players end up not fit enough to join in. Jerdy Schouten and Xavi Simons would have been shoe-ins for the squad but the versatile PSV Captain and the bright Spurs forward will have to root for Oranje from the bench sofa. Koeman mentioned he considered taking young talents like Smit or Valente but he decided differently. Partly due to the absence of experienced Schouten, he decided to take De Roon, who has had a top season again at Atalanta and offers grit, personality, leadership and experience. Wieffer offers smarts and passing skills, while the inclusion of Guus Til is also logical considering his output, his versatility to play striker if need be and Koeman’s preference for a midfielder on the right wing.
The absence of Jeremy Frimpong is a surprise, as the Liverpool player was part of the squad in the qualifications, but the question marks around his consistent fitness combined with Summerville’s strong season forced Koeman to make a tough decision.
All in all, a logical squad, Koeman picking players with character, experience and fight. Smit and Valente’s time will surely come.
The road ahead will not be easy. International football has become more competitive than ever, and supporters know that reputation alone means nothing anymore. But this Dutch squad has something fans always want to see: talent, personality, technical quality, and belief.
The countdown can truly begin now.
The long wait is over. Oranje is back. The selection has been announced, the shirts are ready, and millions of fans from all over the world – positive and negative ones- are once again dreaming of a successful campaign for the Netherlands.
Now it´s our time to shine and get that long awaited Cup, and the following lads will do it for team Oranje:
Nathan Aké (Manchester City), Brian Brobbey (Sunderland), Memphis Depay (Corinthians), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Denzel Dumfries (Internazionale), Mark Flekken (Bayer Leverkusen), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Jorrel Hato (Chelsea), Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton & Hove Albion), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth), Teun Koopmeiners (Juventus), Noa Lang (Galatasaray), Donyell Malen (AS Roma), Tijjani Reijnders (Manchester City), Robin Roefs (Sunderland), Marten de Roon (Atalanta), Crysencio Summerville (West Ham United), Guus Til (PSV), Jurriën Timber (Arsenal), Quinten Timber (Olympique Marseille), Micky van de Ven (Tottenham Hotspur), Bart Verbruggen (Brighton & Hove Albion), Wout Weghorst (Ajax) and Mats Wieffer (Brighton & Hove Albion).
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below:
WOW! Martin de Roon! What a waste.
You are so wrong (again). Should he have taken Kees Smit? Or Valente? Boys? Or De Roon? A warrior, leader and one of the few with razorblades in his boots.
I like the squad. Too bad for De Vrij and a surprise omission of Frimpong, but the inclusion of Summerville is exciting.
Guus Til deserves the call up too! I’m starting to get jiggy for this tournament!
As DM.wouter burger would have been better,young ,strong ,vision,good tackles ,strong on duels..Geetruida had played DM for sunderland for many games..both would have been upgrade over De roon,who has no techniqal ability..its a myth that he can protect defense at high level,..koeman will be hiding him ,perhaps will regret too.
Oh I misread. I thought you meant waste. Yes, Marten is still ripped. Gymwork I guess….
Yes! I meant waste. De Roon is at least 33.
He’s done. Where was he against Argentina? Are you kidding me? Koeman brought De Roon back and you are happy about that. 😇😇😇
This is a very weak squad! The same players for the past 4 years.
Koeman is complaining about Frimpong fitness then again you called on Depay
Come on now! Lol
This is the squad that couldn’t beat Lithuania. What are you talking about Jan?
By the way, we all What the starting 11 is going to be.
Jean, you never learned from history, have you? Examples. PSV lost Gullit. Oh no. What now. They won the European Cup without him the next year. JC and Van Hanegem didn’t go to the WC1978. Oh no. What now. We reached the finals.
2014. Why do we go to the Brazil WC? We will be butchered. Oh no. What now? We reached the semi finals, with 5 Eredivisie defenders.
Leicester won the EPL. Greece won the Euros.
If all the trophies would go to the teams with the best players, we wouldn’t need to play football. We can make it a board game.
“I have Haaland, Mbappe, Vitinho, Van Dijk and Neuer so I win the World Cup”
Frimpong has been struggling with his fitness and has not always impressed in Oranje. It’s a tough decision I would not have made, but Koeman is surrounded by tactical nous (Jonk, Van Nistelrooy, Erwin) and I think he has his reasons.
De Roon had a smashing season at Atalanta and we do not have any other destroyers in midfield now Schouten is out.
There is logic to it all.
My starting eleven:
Verbruggen
Timber v Dijk Ake
Dumfries De Jong Gravenberch vd Ven
Reijnders
Malen Gakpo
Against the 5-at-the-back teams (Sweden, Japan) and
Verbruggen
Dumfries Timber v Dijk vd Ven
De Jong Reijnders Gravenberch
Kluivert Malen Gakpo
Obviously, there will be easy changes possible, with Kluivert for Reijnders, or Summerville for Kluivert, or Malen from the right, Gakpo or Brobbey as 9 and Lang or Summerville as 11.
Lots of options, depending on form and fitness.
Go with the flow and wait for another 4 years and hope the Dutch football can get it right finding the missing pieces of the puzzle
My guess is this is what Koeman has in mind
Gakpo/Lang Depay/Brobbey/Weghorst Malen/Summerville
Reijnder/Kluivert/Koopmeiners
De Jong/Timber Graverberch/De Roon
Van de Ven/Hato VDV/Ake Van Hecke/Timber Dumfries/Wieffer
Bart/Roefs/Mark
Two main issues I see here:
1/ He picked 3 injured players. On top of that, he stacked with several old players (Weghorst/De Roon/Ake). And then we have the weather in US Summer. This seem non science to me.
2/ There are only few players that had better than average season: Malen, Summerville, De Jong and Van Hecke. Out of those, he decided to put Malen out of his preferred position to accommodate Depay. And then he put Summerville as a sub for Malen so this effectively removed two top form players.
So that left us with the thesis that the team together is stronger than the collection of players. Given the track record since Koeman came back, I haven’t seen we beat any strong team yet. I do not see how playing in form players out of their preferred position is a good trade off tactically here. On top of that, when a journalist asked why he picked Weghorst instead of a EPL who scored 11 goals, his answer is “Who?” He does not know. This shows incompetence. He left the second most in form striker home because he does not even know his name.
Well, maybe Dumfries and Gakpo will regain their national form and help carrying the team, who knows.
Interesting analysis. I think De Roon and Weghorst will not play much. It’s called Plan C in the Netherlands.
I think we had more players with better than average: Van Dijk, Dumfries, Brobbey, De Roon, Verbruggen, Roefs, Wieffer, Timber, Timber 2, Frenkie,
When asked about Flemming, he said he didn’t feel Flemming brought more than the others and is a bit the same, whereas Weghorst (who would have to make way for Flemming) brings something no one else does: fight, energy, length.
Flemming was a great poacher for Burnley and he has a good shot and is a decent header but untested in the NT.
I can live with his choices, to be honest.
I mean, if he would have picked Frimpong, who would he have left out??
Simple….. Hato, van Hecke, Ake, are all a variation of the same theme. Yes, Ake has more experience. There are six defenders there who can all cover CB. Timber can cover RB as well.
Frimpong can give you general better attacking coverage down the whole right flank in case you loose either Dumfries / Malen. And has better defensive capabilities than Malen.
You have a squad of 26.
This is not like the days of 22/23 man squads.
You can afford to take a wild card player. Even if it is just to futureproof them for the experience of being in a tournament environment. Brazil managed to do this in WC94 with a 17-year-old Ronaldo. It did them no harm in the tournament.
I still don’t now what de Roon offers. I understand what sort of player he is supposed to be. But I’ve never seen him produce anything, ever, that justifies 42 international appearances to date. I have watched him both on TV and live in the stadium for both Netherlands and Atalanta.
I’d rather have pushed Jurrien Timber or Wieffer into midfield to cover that defensive role, then take de Roon.
Anyhow, I can’t say I am surprised by the ultimate squad selection. This is Koeman after all. My ultimate dream is the after WC is over, Koeman is gone, and a manager with my more dynamism is installed. But I won’t hold my breath. Afterall, the current Dutch FA isn’t very dynamic itself!
I like what you are saying, but I do believe Summerville is that joker for us. It probably was a toss up between him and Frimpong. The latter has a history of little niggles.
Also, Koeman expects that space will be hard to come by as the heat will force teams to play a low block more than they might want to. So we need an inverted “traditional” rightback as well.
Dumfries is useless against a low block. I think Koeman doesn’t 100% trust Timber to the RB replacement, hence Wieffer.
I don’t agree that Ake and Hato and Van Hecke offer the same. Van Hecke is RB, Ake is LB. Hato will outrun Ake all day long. Ake lacks speed, Hato offers enough of that.
Koeman clearly wants a squad to be able to play with wingbacks. If you forwards are wanting but you do have Vd Ven and Dumfries, you’d be mad not to want to be able to do this.
And, of course, Japan and Sweden play this system too.
I think the general issue Jan is that this selection is a reflection of the lack of experimentation and forward thinking and general progression from Koeman during the length of his second stint as Dutch coach. Which is a pity as under his first reign, he did much better on this front. From Frenkie to Boadu, new players and growth came.
If you look at the squad selection in isolation of these events, then yes… it’s OK. Maybe lacking some attacking depth. When you consider the squad selection against Koeman’s last 2/3 years as coach, I look at and think….. ‘what have been you been doing?!’
I feel he was too slow to look at an alternative to Depay. Held onto the likes of Wijnaldum, de Roon etc. for too long. Forced by a succession of injuries and circumstances to introduce Reijnders, Zirkzee.
Too slow to look at Smit, any of the U19 EC winning squad, Emegha and even Summerville.
Let’s be honest… Summerville doesn’t have one cap to his name (not that I’m against him in the squad) because of Koeman’s lack of experimentation. He is the only team as he plays Premiership football and Koeman has been forced into a corner. He could have been playing more effective and consistent football in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and he never have got a look in under Koeman.
You only hit Koeman’s radar if you play in the Premier League, or for a big-name club and Koeman has deficiency in that area of the pitch. That is not a dynamic forward-thinking coach.
I am not a Koeman fan at all and can see what you are saying.
But, I don’t think a WC is for experiment. Let’s face it, Kees Smit is still very young and physically vulnerable.
Valente could have worked but his form dropped and you wouldn’t push Koopmeiners or Reijnders or Q timber out for Valente now, would you?
I don’t believe he held on to De Roon too long. There is no one like De Roon. It really makes sense to have a strong controlling mid, if needs must.
Summerville would have been called up earlier but his injury stopped him from a debut earlier this campaign.
Don’t forget, we do have quite a number of left wingers (Gakpo, Lang, Memphis, Malen, Kluivert) who all prefer to start from the left. If Summerville was an out and out right winger, he probably would have been called up earlier.
Again, not trying to defend Koeman but his squad selection is not bad. It’s more the way he lets them play and his line ups that baffle me at times.
I agree with you, Jan, on the selection, including de Roon. I’d also been hoping that Summerville would get the call up as an in-form “joker” for Oranje, and I think he could be a big factor for us. But the Frimpong thing is a bummer to me, if for no other reason than the long list of left wingers that you mentioned as reasons that Summerville wasn’t called up sooner. Maybe you can’t afford two jokers in the same 11, but I was already imagining seeing Summerville on the left and Frimpong on the right, terrifying defenses. Or even if there was only room for one joker, depending on the opponent, it seems like you’d want an option for each side (if their left back is vulnerable, for example). But Frimpong hasn’t had a great year, he’s definitely been prone to injury, etc, so I do get it.
For me, I think the selection is good and logical. Frimpong and Kees Smit are surprise exclusions to me initially when the team was announced. But putting aside my bias on their past performances (Frimpong especially) and preference for an undoubtedly future star (Smit), I can see the reasons for their exclusions. Frimpong struggled with form and injuries at Liverpool, he look out of place in the rumble, tumble, hustle of the EPL which will likely be at the same at the World Cup. Even Arne Slot dropped him after he returned from injury. Kees Smit is still too lightweight for a Men’s tournament, despite his very good technique and passes. He might just ended up overpowered if thrown into the deep end of the World Cup.
Rest of selections, I feel they all deserved their spots in the team.
Overall, the team has BALANCE; the guile and defensive characteristics, continuity of playing together, experience and youth to do well in the World Cup. Think of Arsenal, a team with no a lot of individual stars, but playing structured, organized football, build on defensive solidarity and they are on the cusp of CL glory,
I agree with this. Good points.
My starting eleven for the group-stage
Gakpo-Malen-Summerville
Frenkie, Reijnders, Gravenbergh
Van de Ven, Virgil, Timber, Dumfries
Advancing I would go with a 5-3-2/3-5-2 with Malen and Gakpo upfront, exchange Summerville for de Roon midfield as an extra defensive cover for the back line…
Gakpo and Malen have the speed for counter-attack, where players like Reijnders and Gravenbergh can launch them.
I’m neither optimistic nor pessimistic about this WC. We are in a tough group. Japan/Sweden/Tunisia can each trip us up if we don’t bring our A game. None of these are easy outings. And due to the extended nature of the tournament to 48 teams, there will be an additional round or extra game to be played. If I’m not mistaken, finishing 1st would get us the Runner Up from Group C, which probably is Morocco, or even Brazil since this is not the old Brazilian outfit we know from the past.
As far as team selection, I was a bit disappointed Frimpong was not included. Yes, he is a streaky player, he did well in some games for Liverpool this season, but then kinda disappeared and was also less impactful when he played. But still, his speed and dribbling would bother any opposing left back on his day. I haven’t seen De Roon play in a long time. If he’s really in form even due to his age, I don’t mind having him. We all know he isn’t that great of a playmaker or passer, but he does a tough solid defensive job especially against top opposition.
Wegorst is basically added for his last minute antics or Plan B if all things fail. I haven’t seen him play in a while, I’m not expecting much based on how he did a horrible job when he was at Man United. Despite having two great goalkeeping options and a top backline, a very good midfield contingent, seems we are cursed with our front line. Gakpo has been a major disappointment. He is not playing great as a winger, he’s not a striker, or an attacking midfielder. Seems like all he want to do is cut in to his right and fire a shot on goal which every defender expects him to do. The frustrating part is that he isn’t that very accurate or been scoring much from that. And with his huge 6’3″ / 190 frame, he isn’t really the ideal left winger. Anyways, we shall see what he does.
And I don’t know how well Memphis is gonna do, and I don’t see Malen as the main target man. He supposedly has been doing well at Roma, so hopefully he’s in form.
If only we had a reliable striker like the old legends, this would have been a very formidable team. So unfortunately, I’m tempering my expectations. Of course, I would love to finally see this team win its first WC trophy, I have to be realistic. I would grudgingly be ok if they at least got to the Quarter Finals. Anything less would be another disappointment.
In two consecutive tournaments, Gakpo finished as the Netherlands’ top scorer. At the 2022 World Cup, he found the net in every group-stage match. At Euro 2024, Gakpo scored three goals once again. He was also highly influential during this qualification campaign, contributing four goals and four assists. Just saying….
@Johan, yes, agree Gakpo did reasonably well for Oranje. Just to clarify, I was referring to a couple of observations:
First, it was mostly on his Liverpool form, contribution, and production. Not on his national team record. So yeah, if his current club form doesn’t matter, and he is a different character for Oranje this summer, then I would be very happy. I’m just saying that it may not be that easy to flip a switch. It may carry over into the tournament. We shall see.
Secondly, it is time he selects a proper position and specialize and excel at that. For me wingers one of the things wingers should be able and responsible for, is to pass to the main strikers/forwards. So a left winger naturally was a left footed player, and vice versa on the right. But these days, there are a lot of wingers whose sole focus is their own goal scoring. Basically cut in to the left or right, and try to score on their dominant foot. It works well when it works, but cuts off service to the target men. Makes defenders worry less about the target men, and focus on the winger.
And finally, my observation of Gakpo is that he is built physically to play center forward. Especially, how much of step down or lacking that position has been since Van Persie retired. As he gets older, his speed will start to slow. Henry made that transition, Van Persie made that transition, so it is time that he makes it. Arne Slot was fired yesterday, so his position in Liverpool will not be so favored especially with 2 top strikers in Isak and Eketike. So my suggestion would be he goes to reasonably contending team and then transition to play that center forward spot. Haaland is the perfect example. Tall, strong, muscular, fast, and technically gifted player that’s the model to emulate for Gakpo if he can do it. Gakpo to me so far wants to be a winger, a playmaker, an attacking midfielder, a striker, basically a jack of all trades, master of none. This is not a personal attack on him. I like the guy, I just want to see him take that step now as he is entering his prime, and be successful and world class.
Even Memphis made that transition, as a youngster at PSV he played as a left winger for a long time. Slot tried with Gakpo at Liverpool as well, not a big success.
I saw Gakpo also going from the outside as well in some games, so maybe he is adapting his game a little.
At the NT he is very important also with assists on Dumfries at the far post, also an extremely efficient weapon ! Very hard to defend…
Koeman almost got 22 players right selection with merit, I really dont understand what weghorst did with ajax to get in team.He is just last 10/20 minute player, he might deliver like he did with Argentina when it matters. I just hope that. So I can live with it.Zian Flemming would be thinking in some other way, he has 11 goals in Epl and playing regular for weak Burnley team still manageed to get 11 goals.
Martin de roon insane playing time for Atlanta is a myth, he cannot deliver a single forward pass, he is card prone.Italian league is stooped in to new level,PSV battered atlanta in CL.World cup is all about yellow cards,de roon cannot play lie what he did in italy..i dont understand such TECHNIQELY POOR,NON PRESS RESISTANT PLAYER AS DM WILL perform for us when stakes are high..i would still get geetrudia as DM ,who has played several games for sunderland as DM,who is baller,press resistant and ,can carry the ball,can tackle like De roon,or would take wouter burger for De roon,Burger is an excellent DM in making..koeman will have to hide De roon under his coat when it matters.
Frimpong might be injury prone,but he has that extra pace like roben,just play him VS france,spaon,arjetina,they will struggle to stop him and that will make chaos in their goal post area..thats what we will miss him whe we drop Frimpong..
Dumfries should be sitting at bench when we face teams from quarter fional,if you really want to win.Givairo Read would have been sensational in place of Dumfries the non baller.
VS
@ Jan
You kept on saying Koeman picked a good team, we got a good team. Which team are you talking about? 😇😇😇
Sumerville is the only added player.
We got that same mediocre team for almost 4 years now and the same starting 11 by the way 90% of the time. The same team that cant even beat Luthania. I’m confused. You also kept talking about De Roon! This guy is done. 35 years old. He didn’t deliver 4 years ago. We don’t need someone in our midfield that can break a leg and get a red card. Gravenberch is solid enough. We need creativity in our midfield. We need smart and skilled players in our midfield not De Roon.
Busquest, one of the best midfielders of all time, never broke a leg. He was skilled and smart. Bringing the DE Roon back with the idea that he’s a destroyer, is ridiculous. Also, Wout Werghorst is total nonsense.
This WC is going to be Holland’s biggest embarrassment is WC history. I hope I’m wrong. Oh by the way, you are comparing this team to 1978, are you kidding me? Lol
Amen,i was looking at Vittihna and Rice and we have got De roon for failed experience,what a clown,
You are a true fan, aren’t you? Calling our lads clowns? How dare you man! What did you do?
Don’t compare De Roon with Vitinha. Compare Frenkie with him. And Reijders with Rice. And De Roon with Gattuso.
koeman for calling De roon..De roon is not clown
Sorry, good squad. And don’t frame my responses in a different way. I did not compare this team with the ’78 team. I am merely saying that you don’t need world class players to win something. Messi and CRonaldo won trophies very late in their career.
But, hey… you probably don’t want to understand my point but are keen to troll.
No one is comparing De Roon with Busquets (You are).
You like to judge people on their age? Lewandowksi, Modric, Vardy, Van Dijk and Acerbi would like a word with you.
You are always framing stuff negatively. No player of the Dutch broke a leg of an opponent. Ever.
I truly dislike your contributions here. Sorry.
No one will compare Busqets with De roon,yeah both p-lay as long as DM,we must compare..its always Position Vs position comparison ,We wont compare De roon with edwin van der sar or Roben or Virgil.beacsue they all play in different position…But we will compare Philip lahm with duimfries,thats how it works..Yes we do compare gattusso with De ronn,Gattuso was 1000 times better than De roon
But not every six is a destroyer. There is Pirlo and than there is De Roon. Both played 6. Totally different players. Has to do with who is around them and what partnerships there are.
Dumfries and Geertruida: same position, different manner of playing the position.
Common Jan,We will compare right backs vs right back ,left back vs left back..What De roon brings in to the table vs what Frenkie,Rodri,vittihna brings in to table..Fifa is waiting to yellow card even for touching opponent..so that Destroyer is past tense thing..De roon is technically poor,he will slow,and koeman will have to hide him,i hoape that De roon play vs Japan and he gets exposed,,So we dont have to fear in next games..We compare Geetruida vs dumfries vs Timber..and Timber is the best.
I’m in agreement with Johan’s lineup, above. First, Summerville can penetrate with his dribbling, and that is not a strength of Gakpo, Depay, or Malen. Second, Koeman has said that he wants the team to be able to shift from 4-3-3 to a three at the back set up at any time. With that lineup, the team can do that mid-game with a simple shift of Summerville to the left, and Dumfries moving up as a wingback on the right.
It was good to see Timber play (and play well) in the CL Final yesterday; with Dumfries, playing up the field in any formation, there is extra space to cover, and Timber is the best fit for that. Hopefully, he”ll come out of the match with no recurrence of injury.
Regarding Frimpong. I have always thought he was a key to the team going forward, so it pains me to say this. But, since coming back from his third bout with an injury this year, he was a shadow of the player he was against Spain in those CL matches. Maybe he was still getting over the injury and playing guarded, who knows? Would I have preferred to see him selected? Yes. Maybe he could have found his game in the training camp. and if so, he gives the team something they don’t have. But did his performance in the last month—when he started for Salah—give Koeman a reason to select him? No.
@ Jan
My comment regarding De Ronn has very little to do with age. Look at Roger Milla in 1990, now Modric, Lewandowski, Messi.
De Roon is an average player even in his 20’s no one was talking about him outside of the Dutch circle. We all watched him play. For example, in the 1998 squad, who do you think De Roon could bench? In the 2010 squad, who do you think De Roon could bench? No one.
So justifying De Ronn in this squad with this idea that he’s a destroyer and we need him is BS. We already have Gravenberch. Our midfield needs creativity. Stop making excuses for Koeman’s nonsense. So he left that kid who scored 11 goals in the EPL to bring Wout Werghors. Total nonsense. I said it.
Why did you mention his age then?? It has to do with tactics and available qualities. In 1998 we had two powerhouses in midfield with Cocu and Davids. Both were able to do it all. In other set ups, we had a specific controlling mid (De Jong in 2010).
De Roon is there as an extra tool for the coach to use and we all hope – incl Koeman – that we won’t need him.
Gravenberch is not a destroyer.
Flemming and Weghorst is also not a comparison. Totally different players. For different purposes.
Are you currently coaching a team? Have you ever? Why not? You seem to see things literally no one else sees so you should do really well. Man City still needs a new coach.
Oh by the way, the fact that we are seating here talking about this squad is ridiculous. We should be talking about post Koeman.
We are talking about a squad with Depay
Depay is done, even in Brazil, he’s not performing. He hasn’t been playing, plus he’s injured. Ake is a bench warmer at City, Van Dick passed his prime, Gakpo, was a bench warmer a good part of the season, Wout a 30 plus year old even at Ajax he’s a bench warmer,
Forget about Dumfries. De Jong was out for a while. Justin Timber just now getting back. Which squad are we talking about?
I understand, you don’t need a bunch of super stars to win trophies but we’ve been watching these guys for almost 4 years now and have own nothing.
They can’t even believe Lithuania.
I want them to surprise me but my expectations are very low.
Nah we have a world class De roon who won 3 champions league with real madrid..Also Denzel dumfries from inter milan where messi will submit to the skills on ball of dumfries…We are winning this WC with these 2 exceptional players..Forget Memphis etc.
What is your deal? Are you an Oranje fan or a troll coming here to initiate debates?
I only hear you moaning and criticising and being offensive.
Give me your squad. And then your preferred starting 11. And then your tactics, please.
@
If Koeman isn’t going to use De Roo, why bringing him? I’m surprised he’s not bringing Gini. Hahaha
With these new talents we have, we had 4 years to build a competitive team but unfortunately Koeman kept on going back to these oldies.
By the way, why are you asking for a starting 11? This team hasn’t changed one bit except for Summerville
Dude, are you playing dumb just to bait me? Koeman hopes he won’t need De Roon. If you don’t get this statement, I am not sure I will ever respond to anything you say anymore. Waste of energy.
Koeman needs certain qualities in his squad. Schouten is a different type of player than any of the other midfielders.
Name me a candidate which is better, has more experience than De Roon in the same position and role??
I’m waiting.
Koeman also selects on character, which is allegedly why Veerman is not longer considered. De Roon is a vice captain and was known to be one of the leaders.
Played a qualification game or being together for 5 weeks in a tournament are two very different thing.
I am not asking for “A” starting 11. I am asking YOU for YOUR starting eleven and YOUR squad.
You spout a lot of criticism and negative stuff but where is your creativity ? What would you do?
Intresting coments. But all has being discussed in great length over the last couple of years given how conservative koeman has been.
Few things to be to very clear about.
Koeman has never tactically beaten a a good team with a good coach. And it ain’t gonna happen again. This is what’s gonna happen and what to expect. The moment he trousers starts getting loss he will throw in two players koopmeiners and weghorst to stop the toilet paper from from coming out. Mind you this tatic is only a feature of Dutch football because more component teams will be doing quiet opposite and bringing on players who are more component enough to be impactful and better changing the dynamism and momentum of the game. To think about it they pulled it off in 2022 vs Argentina and think it will go under the radar again with teams and other coaches when koeman will be subbing on them again is like giving a lollipop to a kid to stop crying. One more time
For Summerville I’m on the same boat as others who have mentioned that his lack of experience will be factor and while Simons and lang were all subject to the same outcome when they made their debut, it ain’t gonna be any difference for Summerville. Probably Vs tunisa and Sweden. Yes. But eventually inexperience will catch up to him in those crunch matches. It has had no different in epl as well when west ham has faced competent teams.
The Dutch if you look at them are always a formidable team in tournaments no doubt knock out stage reachers. But that’s it. They simply come prepared for that meaning to reach this far and it’s no different again this time. They don’t have that extra edge X factor in the team that gonna propel them past the heavy weights ( penalty exception ) and neither strike fear in opponents.
Koeman has build the team around defense more and the balance is offset in in forwards in terms of scoring . It’s uneven and another reason why more balanced team will win.
It a shame that Koeman has ignited that winning lineup that featured vs Spain otherwise that was the team that he shud have built on and Frimpong atleast in the squad given the question mark surrounding him.
Lasty from creative point of view Again again in big game and with no Frimpong you don’t know what to except.. lateral and back passing with one offensive flank
With dumfries overlapping and the other more neutral being again the feature.
Wilson, when you say that Koeman has never tactically beaten a good team with a good coach, I assume you mean this go around. During his first tenure, the NT beat France, Germany, England and Portugal.
I agree that it “feels” like he wants to play defense first, keep mistakes to a minimum ( but I sure hope that doesn’t mean that he ends up playing Koopmeiners at rw). We won’t really see what his ideas are until the games start. I can see a good backline (Timber, van Dyke and Van De Ven are all top defenders), with Gravenberch and De Jong playing in front of them, making the team difficult to score against. Van Dyke makes them dangerous on free kicks and corners. Suppose Summerville other teams, and a goal scorer gets hot?
I’m not being naive. I’ve watched them play for many years, seen them eliminated every way imaginable, and sometimes almost unimaginable. Currently they don’t have the top end offensive and creative talent that they had pre-2015. So, they come in as the darkest of dark horses, but I’d still rather go in thinking of ways they can be successful rather than writing them off, and there is a path.
disagree. they have and I have long said this the dutch coaches fail to utilize them effectively through rotation . you look at lang for example regardless of his wild attitude. he is the type of player that shud be starting but look at his status in the team subject to playing minutes and on the bench behind gakpo. after the euros. this shud have changed but koeman has stuck to his conservate ideas. the argument often pops up that gakpo has been one of the top scores in tournaments for the dutch but then this often comes vs average teams and vs big guns he is predictably tamed. this hasnt changed since he has started from the the NT whether its nation league, euros, or WC. koeman still thinking it will work just is
the same goes with brobbey and then clinging on to depay saga. selecting brobbey now is just as useless as him being not selected. he has no grip what so ever in the team and god knows if depay will be fit enough to play all games and if in the event if he can not what happens. brobbey will thrown in just like raging bull when the gates open. weghorst????
this is the very downfall of the dutch coaches because when it comes to preparation like qualifers, they dont wanna broaden their ideas. I have said this thousand times that while the other teams are using extended players in the qualifers to build a good squad, depth the dutch are more prioritizing qualifying with a particular starting 11 build the team around them while the rest is used as required. never ever the dutch will win anything with this approach.
as mentioned earlier also, koeman best show came in that spain game and the line up but he has strayed away from it. leaving out borth maatsen and frimpong and I agree with what Lucas on top has said about the selection of ake, van der ven and hato, all make shift defenders/fullbacks. koeman had time and talents but he chose to go with his tried tested and failed approach trying to prove defy critics and his failures. its gonna be the same outcome.
depay shud have being the spare tyre this time around and brobbey probably used more extensively given his move to epl and given he was going to be selected behind depay anyway. I mean tofast track him with playing time and opportunity to firm his grip more and again given depays status in brazil. instead, they were more focused on depay becoming the dutch top scorer . well no surprises there its dutch football.
point here being and like i alway say they always hit the shovel in their own foot and again this time around leaving out Frimpong and maatsen, the very players who can shud atleast have been on the bench to come on make impact
@Wilson, Not sure what we are disagreeing about; I’m looking at how the current selection, as it is, might have a road to success, and you’re talking about what you see as mistakes in the 4 year build up, so we are talking different things. I agree (and said so above), that Frimpong should have been taken for the same reasons you say…the only caveat being that he might not be healthy, this last month, after returning from his third injury of the season, he didn’t show any of his strengths.