Lars Capiau
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Ronald Koeman thought the Dutch team was particularly sloppy on the ball in the first half of the quarter-final match against Turkey. The national coach expressed his displeasure about this in the dressing room, as Joey Veerman says afterwards in the mixed zone.
Veerman came on for Tijjani Reijnders after more than seventy minutes of play. A few minutes before his substitution, Stefan de Vrij had nodded in the liberating 1-1 equalizer.
That goal did not, however, cause Veerman to enter the field with different instructions. “Because you just want to push through. You also feel on the field that it is going your way.”
The Netherlands were shaken by Turkey in the first half. They took the lead via a cross behind the far post. At half-time, Ronald Koeman brought Wout Weghorst into the team. It had the necessary effect.
“What Koeman said at half-time? That we shouldn't be so sloppy on the ball, and that we should play around it,” said Veerman. Compared to the match against Romania, the Netherlands had a much harder time against the Turks.
Veerman explains why. “They gave us a lot of space, a bit to the side, in that half spaces. But I think we were a bit too shallow today, which meant we were basically knitting with the ball at our feet for too long. That's why we didn't really get through.”
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