Rafael van der Vaart has the feeling that Jasper Cillessen is being made bigger than he actually is due to his absence from the Dutch national team. The former midfielder puts in the program Studio Football of the NOS that Cillessen is not a goalkeeper ‘who can win matches for you’. Van der Vaart, on the other hand, calls Justin Bijlow a ‘potential top keeper’.
“I’ve always said that I like Cillesen in goalkeeping, but he won’t win games for you. He never makes very big mistakes, but always has moments when you think: shouldn’t he have them? I think we now (with Bijlow, ed.) have a potential top keeper, so why not leave it behind?”, Van der Vaart wonders. Ibrahim Afellay joins his fellow analyst.
“That boy has everything: charisma, a good kick. That last minute save (against Latvia, ed.) says it all, that distinguishes the top keepers from the normal keepers. You get nothing to do the whole game and drag your team through it at such a moment. I also don’t think the goalkeeper position is a position in which you change every week,” Afellay says. “The only thing that speaks to him is his injury susceptibility. That can put a spanner in the works. If this boy stays fit, you will have a goalkeeper for the Dutch national team for the next fifteen years.”
“It is also typically Dutch,” says Van der Vaart about the suggestion that Cillessen should return to the the Dutch squad. “I have stopped playing football and am getting better and better. It’s the same with Cillessen: when he kept goal, there was a lot of criticism. All the time. Now he is no longer a goalkeeper and I have the feeling that Van der Sar cannot participate when I hear people talking. Isn’t that the case?”
Despite the fact that Bijlow with a save in injury time helped ensure that the the Dutch squad won 0-1 in Latvia, national coach Louis van Gaal spoke after an ‘open battle under the bar’. “Cillessen is fit again, is playing and has always performed well under my leadership. Don’t rule him out. And Mark Fleks has presented himself well in recent days.” In addition to Bijlow, Fleks, Tim Krul and Joël Drommel are currently part of the the Dutch squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Latvia (0-1) and Gibraltar (Monday evening).