Andy van der Meijde is critical of Luuk de Jong. The former attacker saw the PSV captain lose the ball several times around the center line when visiting Bodø/Glimt (1-2 win) last Thursday. Van der Meijde therefore labels De Jong in Veronica Offside like a ‘six-meter striker’. “He is very important with high balls, but for the rest… No”, he shakes his head. Wim Kieft and Dick Advocaat are more positive about the striker.
Rafael van der Vaart was also critical of the 38-time international at the end of last week. “When I think of Luuk, I immediately think: he can’t play football. I really think that,” said the former football player at Studio Voetbal while viewing images of De Jong who dropped assumptions. “You don’t see a good striker doing things like this. I think that’s too moderate. He also played some balls too softly. He really needs to get the ball in front of the goal. That is where his qualities lie.”
In a certain sense, the lawyer agrees with Van der Vaart. “Compared to Rafael himself, that’s correct,” says the former trainer. “Van der Vaart was of course an exceptional talent. Luke is just a different type of player. I would like to have such a footballer in my team, you know.” Van der Meijde is more critical of the PSV player. “I do not think so. I saw him the other day against Bodø/Glimt. I have said before that he is very important in rush hour. I believe PSV gets one corner, De Jong heads through and that immediately results in a goal.”
In the meantime, the former attacker of Ajax and Everton, among others, shows images of the PSV captain around the centerline. De Jong loses the ball several times. “At this height of the field, you don’t really need him much. He suffers a lot of ball loss.” Lawyer responds: “He’s been out for a while, hasn’t he.” Kieft also stands up for De Jong. “I think he’s a good player and he’s gotten better after his years in Spain. The very technical football players such as Van der Vaart judge many players on their technique and football ability. De Jong just has very different qualities. He’s just a really good striker.”
Van der Meijde, however, sticks to his position and believes that De Jong is only useful around the enemy goal. “He is a good striker in the box. It’s hard to play football when your striker loses the ball all the time. As a team, you will also get irritated by those kinds of things at some point. In the first half at Bodø/Glimt he lost the ball at least seven or eight times. That really struck me. I think he’s a sixteen-meter striker. With high balls he is very important, but for the rest… No.”
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