Valentijn Driessen believes that Donyell Malen deserves a basic place in the Dutch national team next Sunday in the eighth final at the European Championship in Budapest. National coach Frank de Boer chose Wout Weghorst next to Memphis Depay in the first two group matches, while Malen was allowed to show it next to the brand new acquisition of Barcelona against North Macedonia (0-3 win).
Despite the fact that the the Dutch was already certain of the group win, De Boer did not choose to save many players. He kept his base intact in nine places; only Marten de Roon and Weghorst were left out of the team. “De Boer used the last meeting to get a better picture of his internationals. He wanted to see whether the Depay-Malen tandem indeed marches much better than Depay-Weghorst,” Driessen writes in The Telegraph. “The opening goal confirmed this, judging by the combination: Malen, Depay, Malen, Depay. The chemistry between the two is okay, regardless of the level of the opponent.”
And there’s the next one for Wijnaldum!? With his 25th goal for the the Dutch, he is past Van Basten and Kuijt. 0-3??#nednma #euro2020 pic.twitter.com/wt0sp1DBBh
— NOS Sports (@NOSsport) June 21, 2021
According to Driessen, Malen seized his chance. The PSV striker did not score, but was involved in two goals and caused a lot of threat with his speed. “The national coach would be crazy if he went back to Weghorst for the knockout phase. Malen is fast, ball-resistant and strong in the combination”, says Driessen. “These are weapons that the Dutch can use if it wants to create danger against stronger teams from the switch. Because that is how De Boer thinks he will go the farthest in this tournament.”
Reasonable the Dutch takes one insufficient against void North Macedonia
View the report figures of Voetbalzone after the game between North Macedonia and the Netherlands.
De Boer did not want to say on Monday after the last group match whether Malen will again be preferred over Weghorst in the eighth final on Sunday. “Well, we’ll see, it also depends on the opponent. In the end, I just look at what the best team is, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be the best players,” the national coach told the national team. NOS. “We may need someone up front who supports Memphis the most, but we may also need a real focal point. In that case, Wout is the right person for this. Weghorst would have liked to have played today too, he said. But he also expected me to try something different. He has prepared himself very well and I think he also came in well,” said De Boer.
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