Pierre van Hooijdonk would change the starting eleven of the Dutch national team in three places for the semi-final of the European Championship against England. He said this on Monday evening at Studio FootballSteven Bergwijn, Xavi Simons and Nathan Aké will be replaced by Jeremie Frimpong, Donyell Malen and Micky van de Ven, if it is up to the analyst.

Van Hooijdonk chooses to start with Van de Ven on the left back position. “I have to say that I am also a fan of Aké”, he begins his explanation. “But I think I will choose Van de Ven. That also really has to do with his duelling strength, because in his tackles he takes the opponent with him so often, that he is just in pain. You really suffer from it. Apart from the fact that he can correct a lot with his speed.”

Although Van Hooijdonk does not expect national coach Ronald Koeman to take Nathan Aké out, he thinks Van de Ven is a slightly more logical choice against the lightning-fast Bukayo Saka. “In my opinion, Saka is simply the most dangerous player for the English. You always hear coaches say that they look at it from match to match. Then you look very specifically at the qualities of the opponent. And then you could say: Saka is lightning-fast, so I put Van de Ven against him.”

The starting eleven of the Dutch national team that Pierre van Hooijdonk would choose against England.

Van Hooijdonk thinks that the chance that Simons, who started as an attacking midfielder against Turkey, will start on the bench against England is 'there'. “I also don't think he complements Memphis. The team needs a bit more depth. If you play with Memphis up front, you need a running ten. And that's not Xavi.”

Van Hooijdonk chooses to play with Memphis as number ten, with Donyell Malen as the striker with Joshua Zirkzee as an alternative. Although the call for Wout Weghorst is getting louder in the country, Van Hooijdonk does not choose that.

“They play a guy like Weghorst every Saturday in the Premier League. And that's actually a bit of grist to the mill for the English defenders. So then I'm more likely to think of a point of contact like Zirkzee, or a small, fast, agile striker who can get behind those defenders like Malen.”

“Koeman talks about it very often starters and finishersbut I would like to be ahead for once instead of behind. We have been behind five times with the starters. Maybe it is time to make some finishers starters,” concludes Van Hooijdonk.

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