Sunday, September 12, 2021 at 8:47 PM• Dominic Mostert

Marco van Basten believes that Virgil van Dijk should assert himself more in the rear of the the Dutch squad. The captain had a starting place this month against Norway (1-1) and Turkey (6-1). According to Van Basten, Van Dijk takes too little initiative in the construction. His role in Turkey’s only goal is also considered by the analyst of Rondo featured.

Due to a pass from Justin Bijlow to Virgil van Dijk that was too short, the the Dutch ran into problems. In a duel, Van Dijk was then trumped by Halil Dervisoglu, after which Cengiz Ünder was able to score the Turkish goal. “I didn’t think Van Dijk was strong there. He has to throw in his leg once, but immediately falls over. He is a good player, but he has to dominate and respond more from the back,” says Van Basten. “He gives every ball to Stefan de Vrij, but he is the big man, isn’t he? Come on, grab that ball, take the initiative, look for something.”

Turkey’s 6-1 can be viewed from minute 7:22.

At times, Van Dijk did indeed take the initiative in the build-up. For example, with a nice deep pass to Steven Berghuis, the defender was at the basis of the opening goal of the Dutch against Turkey. After eighteen minutes, Steven Bergwijn received a nice pass from Van Dijk in the vanguard. “He had a period when he did that more”, says San Marco However. “He’s too good a footballer to play every ball sideways. He can do better.”

Van Basten also sees room for improvement at Memphis Depay, if he oversees the entire international match. The attacker block out against Turkey and Montenegro, but was not good enough against Norway, according to the former top striker. “If he is not in his game, he must ensure that he does not constantly make the wrong choices and become an annoyance for the team. A good footballer should not play so badly in such a case. You have to ensure that you maintain a level and doesn’t go lower. You have to score a six or a five. It’s not that he has to do completely different things, but he has to play a little more business.”