Ronald Koeman is surprised by the decision of Luuk de Jong and Vincent Janssen to no longer play for the Dutch national team, he said in conversation with the General Journal. The two strikers have kindly thanked the the Dutch, a decision that the national coach did not see coming. It will be announced on Friday who will call up Koeman for the European Championship qualifying matches with France and Gibraltar.
De Jong’s decision to stop at the the Dutch squad followed a few minutes before Koeman announced the pre-selection. Janssen followed a good week later. The Royal Antwerp striker gave ‘personal circumstances in combination with the increasingly full football calendar’ as the reason. Strikingly enough, Janssen was included in Koeman’s pre-selection. De Jong was not part of that.
“No, I had not counted on that. And the flush at the striker position was already quite thin,” says Koeman about the decisions in conversation with the General Journal. Due to the loss of Janssen, seven attackers remain. That number will be further reduced on Friday when Koeman announces the final selection for the European Championship qualifiers against France (March 24) and Gibraltar (March 27). Brian Brobbey, Wout Weghorst and Memphis Depay are the only remaining strikers from the pre-selection.
Koeman visited Feyenoord and Ajax in recent weeks to talk to trainers and players. He was supposed to do the same at PSV, but Ruud van Nistelrooij was missing there due to illness. That appointment will be made up at a later date. Koeman was particularly impressed at Feyenoord. “I thought it was nice to see the way in which there is cooperation between the players and the staff. The bar is high, together everything is done to achieve maximum performance. The way in which everyone goes along with it: great.”
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