Andy van der Meijde was perhaps the last classic right winger in the Dutch national team between 2002 and 2004. With Robin van Persie, the the Dutch had a left-footed right winger and then left-footed Arjen Robben was on the right. No fewer than thirteen players were allowed to try left or right on the wing in recent years, of which only three are left-footed: the injured Steven Berghuis, Calvin Stengs and Javairô Dilrosun.
“It is special that there are now almost no right wingers. Certainly not the type of right winger that I was,” says Van der Meijde in conversation with NUsport. In the absence of Berghuis, Saturday evening against Montenegro Donyell Malen or Steven Bergwijn will start on the right, even though they prefer to play on the left. “Berghuis is actually not a real right winger. At least not like I was. He wants to go in and then lash out with his left leg. Football has changed,” said the 42-year-old former footballer.
“Look at Denzel Dumfries at the Dutch. The backs have become the new wingers, they still reach the back line and give the front with their good leg.” Van der Meijde understands the preference of right legs for the left side. “You are difficult to defend for a back and you get more chances to shoot. So you’re more likely to score a goal. That counts for a player, that’s how you stand out. I remember that in one season at Ajax I gave about seventeen assists. That’s nice, but it’s not on the form.”
“With seventeen goals, the doors really open for you.” Van der Meijde does not see it happening that the old-fashioned right striker will return to the Dutch. “That time is over, I don’t think I’ll ever get a successor. Although, maybe someday a trainer will put the right back on the left and the left back on the right. Why not? Then you can better defend that modern winger. You block the shot and a cross with the weak leg does little harm.”
“And that the other trainer reacts by simply putting a right leg on the right again. Yes, suddenly I see it before me. Only when that happens will the old-fashioned winger come back.” Last month against Gibraltar, Noa Lang played right winger for a while when Berghuis was substituted, but that is no longer an option for Louis van Gaal. “I didn’t think Lang played well as a right winger,” the national coach said at a press conference in Zeist on Tuesday. “It is between Malen and Bergwijn.”
At Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspur, Malen and Bergwijn do not play from the right. That is not their preference, just like with Arnaut Danjuma and Lang. Still, Van Gaal had no trouble convincing Bergwijn and Malen to take a chance on the right. “No one has said ‘no’ to the right wing position. Malen came in and said, ‘I’m ready for the right wing position.’ These guys really want to play for the Dutch and I take advantage of that a bit. A player actually wants to play in his power. But hey, you can’t always play in the position you want,” said Van Gaal.