Valentijn Driessen expects that Stefan de Vrij will be preferred to Matthijs de Ligt at the 2024 European Championship. The journalist from The Telegraph believes that De Ligt made a weak impression in the practice match against Canada (4-0 win). “This is not the Matthijs de Ligt as we know him,” Driessen said in the podcast Kickoff.

De Ligt played at center back next to Daley Blind on Thursday. “At one point there came a ball that De Ligt could defend quite normally, and he just shot it over the sideline, so you think: huh? What's happening here?”

“You see that with the amateurs, but you don't see that with the Dutch national team,” is Driessen's ironclad analysis. “I don't think he is the Matthijs de Ligt as we know him from Ajax in particular. Actually, things went wrong from the moment he went to Juventus.”

De Vrij is expected in the starting lineup on Monday for the practice match against Iceland. “De Vrij does not always play (at Inter, ed.), but he has done well with the Dutch national team. You do not feel the security with De Ligt that you do with De Vrij.”

At the end of 2023, Koeman called on De Vrij. “De Vrij also did very well against Ireland (1-0 win, ed.). He also has a lot of experience and also plays at the top.”

Mike Verweij disagrees with his colleague Driessen. “I didn't think De Ligt was that bad against Canada,” said Verweij. “He was also next to Daley Blind, which is something different than next to Virgil van Dijk.”

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