Frenkie de Jong thinks he should have scored or provided an assist against Benfica on Wednesday evening (3-0 loss). The Barcelona midfielder got into a dangerous position a number of times at the start of the game, but did not see his passes, especially Luuk de Jong, be promoted to a goal. “It is a very heavy blow”, Frenkie de Jong responds to RTL 7.
The midfielder analyzes the game as follows: “They scored quickly, of course that’s never good. I think we didn’t do badly after that, especially in the first half. We had chances, we just had to score. In the second half After that second goal we fell apart a bit, a lot of spaces, a big chaos.” De Jong was brought back from the midfield to the defense by Ronald Koeman after half an hour of play. “Gerard Pique was booked, and maybe they wanted to create an extra man in midfield through me, I don’t know.”
“What is Luuk de Jong doing now?” ?? The striker gets a big chance to put Barca next to Benfica again but misses ?? #ZiggoSport #UCL #BENBAR pic.twitter.com/1qg93s4T9F
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) September 29, 2021
Shortly afterwards, De Jong did not know what exactly Koeman’s idea was with the position change. “I also had the feeling that I could get into dangerous positions a few times at the beginning of the game, but that can also be done from behind, that’s not up to me.” Koeman himself explained his decision crystal clear to the camera. “Piqué already had a yellow card and almost got his second in the 25th minute,” said the Barcelona coach. “Frenkie was also part of missing opportunities in the front, that’s why he was brought back.”
Koeman is probably referring to the two moments that Frenkie de Jong served namesake Luuk de Jong. “I should have taken the second one, with that header on Luuk, and shot. I don’t think the first one,” said Frenkie de Jong, who last Sunday in Rondo was harshly criticized and, among other things, was called ‘postman’. “I don’t mind if people criticize. I don’t think I under-returned last year. Look, it’s not that I had Messi-like stats, but I think my returns were really good last year, certainly if you look at how many games I have played at the center back,” said the midfielder, who scored 7 times in 51 official matches last season and provided 8 assists. He played nine games as a centre-back.
“This season so far I can certainly do better”, acknowledges De Jong, who gave two assists in the first six games and did not score yet. “Today I should have scored or given an assist. Everyone is allowed to criticize, I have no problem with that, but it must be with a good substantiation. People should not just say something.” For De Jong and Barça there is nothing left than licking the wounds. “I don’t know if Barcelona ever started that bad in the Champions League, I don’t think so. It’s very difficult, but there are still four games. You always have to keep fighting as long as you can. I still have faith that we can continue. Whether there is confidence in Koeman? On my part, yes, I don’t know what the president thinks.”