Nathan Aké would have preferred to be at home with his family in the past international period, Valentijn Driessen reveals in Veronica Inside. Aké was selected by Louis van Gaal for the the Dutch squad for the World Cup qualifiers with Latvia (0-1 win) and Gibraltar (6-0 win), but then sat in the stands twice.
Driessen explains that Aké lost his father at the beginning of this month. “He scored with Manchester City against RB Leipzig and just after that his father died,” said the journalist. “But Van Gaal has now had him there for ten days, while that boy has been alone in the stands. So he was really there for Jan Lul. He said to Van Gaal: “If you know that in advance , then let me go home. Then let me go to my mother and brother, because we’ve been through quite a bit lately.'”
According to Driessen, Van Gaal could have thought a little better about his call. “Then I think: you are of the total human principle, but that suddenly no longer exists.” The journalist does not know exactly what Van Gaal’s reaction was to Aké’s comment. “But I thought it was quite a thing that someone dares to go to Van Gaal to say that.”
In addition to Aké, Joël Drommel was also put in the stands twice by Van Gaal. The PSV goalkeeper is said to have overslept and have been punished for this, which leads to great incomprehension from Johan Derksen. “If you oversleep in normal life, then you can’t just send someone away or punish someone,” says Derksen. “You do that with toddlers. A keeper oversleeps, then I think: it’s what, it’s what. Then he is put in the stands like a Jan Lul, because Mr. Fleks has to sit on the bench. If that keeper has character, he says: ‘John, you watch it for the next few years. When another national coach comes, I will be available again.”
René van der Gijp is also critical of Van Gaal. “Louis is of course also an inventor,” says Van der Gijp. “That Mark Fleks, what can you do with that? That boy has been third keeper everywhere until he was 27. That’s just to show that you have influence as a coach and that you see things that don’t occur to someone else. You are so far above that. It is also what Louis wants to show: look at me being tough.” Derksen adds: “Memphis Depay and Virgil van Dijk could have overslept, but with the third keeper you can do that quietly.”