Wim Kieft believes that the excellent figures of Memphis Depay in the Dutch national team are distorting. The former striker writes in his column The Telegraph that Depay cannot yet match a number of his illustrious predecessors in terms of level. In addition, Kieft sees that the current attack leader of the Dutch mainly makes his goals against smaller countries.
Depay added two more goals to his total against Gibraltar (6-0 win) and is now at 35 for the Dutch national team. The 27-year-old attacker from Barcelona therefore still has enough time to recover the record of Robin van Persie, who came to fifty goals, Kieft also sees. “In the current the Dutch, Depay often scores, gives assists and is a defining player, but historically he does not beat other Dutch greats,” said the former attacker.
According to Kieft, Johan Cruijff and Marco van Basten are ‘above all parties’, but Depay is not part of the list behind them either. “After Cruijff and Van Basten come goalscorers such as Van Persie, Patrick Kluivert, Dennis Bergkamp and Van Nistelrooij. The latter has been top scorer in the Premier League and Primera División. These players have achieved success at major tournaments at their clubs and with the the Dutch squad, excelled in big competitions and decided national and international top duels.”
According to Kieft, Depay mainly scores against small countries and, for example, failed to score goals in the Final Four of the Nations League. “Internationally you have to place Depay in the list of strikers with subtoppers,” says Kieft. Leaving aside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Depay does not reach the level of current top players such as Karim Benzema, Romelu Lukaku, Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski or Sadio Mane.
Given his age, Depay, who turns 28 in February, has the opportunity to grow, according to Kieft. “He has enough time. Perhaps he can return to the top with Barcelona in due course. There is also a World Cup on the program in a year’s time. That’s where it has to happen for Depay, he can really establish his name there. He knows what What he has to do to join the list of Dutch toppers because he does not belong there at the moment, despite his stormy advance on the eternal top scorers list of the Dutch.