Rafael van der Vaart and Pierre van Hooijdonk are not dissatisfied with Donyell Malen’s substitution. The attacker of Borussia Dortmund came within the lines for Steven Berghuis immediately after the break of the European Championship qualifying match between the the Dutch and Gibraltar (3-0) and ‘with his light feet’ caused more threat, the analysts conclude in front of the camera of the NOS. In conversation with presenter Jan Joost van Gangelen, Hans Kraay lets junior in at the same time ESPN know to be disappointed in the vanguard of the Dutch national team.
“I quite liked it. It was also refreshing on Friday, actually,” Van Hooijdonk notes when viewing images of Malen. “With his speed, he is a bit more goal-oriented than some of the other guys. Today he has shown things again that I think: the team will be different. He’s not into cutting three times to outplay an opponent. He gets the ball and then something is going to happen right away. Whether he passes by or not, it is immediately all or nothing. So very positive.”
Van der Vaart agrees with his colleague analyst and indicates that he is particularly charmed by Malen’s style. “It’s so lighthearted. It looks so nice when it’s in shape because then it flies past it like they’re not there. In the first assumption he already radiates so much pressure to go to the opponent. And then those very light feet! Yes, I like looking at it,” concludes the 109-time the Dutch international.
At the same time, Hans Kraay junior is up ESPN unable to find positive points with one of the the Dutch attackers. “I’m not an attacker, but if I were Weghorst and I didn’t score in this match, I would go home sick. If I were Simons and I didn’t score, I would go home sick. If Wijnaldum, I would too go home very sick. Like Berghuis, Gakpo and Malen, I would also go home sick. You have to want to score goals if you play the entire game around sixteen of a kindergarten, “said the critical analyst.