Algemeen Dagblad journalists Mikos Gouka and Sjoerd Mossou believe that national coach Louis van Gaal should select Xavi Simons for the World Cup in Qatar. The midfielder annex attacker is part of the 39-man pre-selection of the Dutch national team and has been in top form at PSV in recent weeks.
“Van Gaal has said that when a player is in top form, he takes him,” Gouka said in the statement AD Football podcast. “Even if he didn’t train with us, that is actually a requirement from Van Gaal. Simons is in top form. A player who is really on his hips just before the World Cup. Why not make it one of 26?” Simons has already scored ten goals and four assists this season and is therefore seriously applying for an election for the World Cup, according to Gouka.
Mossou also sees opportunities for Simons who is in good shape. “For the front three positions you have Memphis Depay, Steven Bergwijn and a number 10. Memphis still hasn’t played. Bergwijn has always done well at the the Dutch squad, but was disappointing at Champions League level. He plays in the Dutch in a kind of couple with Memphis, that is going very well, let that be said. That will probably be the couple that will start at the World Cup. And whoever plays on ten is on the rest of the midfield.”
“He will probably be a 10 or a second wandering striker,” continues Mossou, who does not expect Simons to immediately have to count on a base place at the World Cup under Van Gaal. “It could very well be that he gets a kind of Memphis role as at the 2014 World Cup: a boy who occasionally comes in after an hour of play and who brings some extras and freshness there. I’d be surprised if he’s not there.”
Ruud van Nistelrooij praised Simons last week after the 2-0 win over Arsenal in the Europa League. The technician was a scourge for the Arsenal defense and, according to his trainer, has shown himself to national coach Van Gaal. “He has always said it well. It’s about performing every week. That also applies to Luuk de Jong and other players in the selection. You have to show the national coach that you can handle the resistance and that you can contribute to the game at the Dutch. I think Simons showed that today. He is on the right track. We’ll see what happens if he manages to hold on to this,” said Van Nistelrooij.