Demy de Zeeuw currently sees Xavi Simons as the greatest talent in the Netherlands. He stated this in conversation with Voetbalzone reporter Kalum van Oudheusden, during the Life After Football Gentlemen’s Dinner. Van Oudheusden also spoke to several other former professional football players and prominent figures about who they think is a great talent in our country and what the future of Dutch football looks like.
“If you see how much criticism he gets, while he is a really good player…”, De Zeeuw starts about Simons. “Of course he has made a long detour in terms of clubs, but if you look purely at quality, for me he is simply the greatest talent in the Netherlands.” The former player of Ajax and AZ, among others, also indicates that, according to him, football in the Netherlands is going well. He sees this in particular in the performance of Ajax. “The question is always whether it is enough to reach Champions League level if you only have seven or eight top matches in the Netherlands, but you can still see that Ajax has been doing very well in recent years.”
Ronald de Boer is also positive about the future of football in our country. “Dutch football is on the rise. We were in a panic for a while, and I immediately said that it was a kind of coming and going. This also applies to talents and generations. We always have our affairs in order, and the youth academy is arguably the best in the world. I’m not just talking about Ajax, but just about the whole of the Netherlands. We can be proud of what we achieve as a small country,” said the former international.
According to Gregory van der Wiel, who came to 46 international matches, good scouting abroad is also important for Dutch football. He cites Antony as an example, from which Ajax received a record amount from Manchester United this summer. “Getting a player from Brazil for I don’t know how much money, seeing the talent in him, developing well, giving a good environment… So that he can do his thing on the field. And then selling it for almost a hundred million euros is just good business.”
Finally, Ruud Gullit sees a somewhat worrying development in recent years: talents who leave the Eredivisie too early. “Most of the boys who have now all made transfers are sitting on the bench,” says the 66-time international, who himself left the Eredivisie at the age of almost 25. “For example, Stengs, where has he gone? That’s a shame. They are all players who had a big dream that didn’t come true. And there are many more. Bergwijn too, he had some trouble in England, and he comes to the Netherlands and immediately scores three and two times. Those are the proportions.”
Kalum of Oudheusden is a full-time video journalist, presenter and program maker at Voetbalzone and makes exclusive interviews and various programs.