Ryan Gravenberch must be in the base of the Dutch national team at the approaching European Championship, Valentijn Driessen concludes after Sunday evening’s 3-0 practice win over Georgia. The young midfielder of Ajax came in for Frenkie de Jong after 66 minutes of play and ten minutes later he scored his first goal as an the Dutch international. Driessen states that the contribution of Marten de Roon is ‘overestimated’, even though he knows that national coach Frank de Boer believes that ‘types like De Roon’ are undervalued.
“What De Roon can do, Gravenberch can do much better. The Ajax player showed that and De Boer can no longer ignore him with good decency,” emphasizes the football chief of The Telegraph Monday in his column. “With Gravenberch, there will immediately be more football in the team. Normally he is the replacement for Frenkie de Jong. But you can put those two together in midfield with confidence in this European Championship group stage. Whether the the Dutch plays 5-3-2 or 4-3-3.”
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After the friendly matches against Scotland (2-2) and Georgia, Driessen concludes that many players are rattling at the gate and also earn more. In addition to Gravenberch, Jurriën Timber, Steven Berghuis and Nathan Aké, he mainly refers to Donyell Malen, especially if you park the chauvinism around Wout Weghorst. “His replacement Donyell Malen made a much more impression, made an excellent substitute and had a natural click with Depay. With him, the the Dutch had much more speed, dynamism and threat up front.”
Driessen points out that twice 90 minutes of international football have shown that the internationals do not feel comfortable with the 5-3-2 system chosen by De Boer. “Not offensively and not defensively. Few opportunities are created if the opponent collapses, while the same opponent is given seas of space to create opportunities. It is a defensive reaction system that De Boer opts for, instead of a dominant attack setup via the 4-3-3 system.”
He thinks ‘the Dutch School’ is the best option to overwhelm the little ones. “The national coach thinks the risks are too great and believes that it takes too much energy and strength. Arguments that have been dragged in with the hair, because never announced before.” Driessen wonders why the the Dutch squad should be set up according to the qualities of Stefan de Vrij and De Roon, the only players who play 5-3-2 in a club. “De Vrij is playing because Virgil van Dijk misses the European Championship and De Roon is a ball taker. Incidentally, he hardly succeeded against Georgia. Once he got to the ball, he lost the ball.”
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