The stars of the Dutch national team seem enthusiastic about the return of Ronald Koeman as national coach at the Dutch. On the broadcast of High trees, in which Koeman is interviewed by presenter Jeroen van der Boom, Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay leave a lyrical message for Koeman. They have all enjoyed working together with Koeman, who is emphatically named as Louis van Gaal’s successor after the World Cup.
“You have meant a lot to me in my career. I am very grateful for that,” said the Dutch captain Van Dijk, who refers, among other things, to Koeman’s decision to bring the defender to Southampton in 2015. “You are a great person and a great trainer. Hopefully we’ll see you on the fields soon.” De Jong played at Barcelona under Koeman and speculates about a new joint future. “You made me make my debut with the Dutch national team, which was a dream come true for me. In addition, we also have a good personal relationship, at least from my point of view,” laughs De Jong.
“Who knows, we may be able to work together as a trainer and player in the future. In any case, that seems fantastic to me,” said De Jong. Depay is also very pleased with his collaboration with Koeman. “In this message I just want to let you know that I am very grateful to know you. I am grateful for the beautiful moments I experienced. I have enjoyed working with you as a coach, but above all as a person.” Koeman calls the images ‘beautiful’ to look at. “They are also the guys with whom you still have a lot of contact. I’m not going to say ‘no’ to them”, he laughs. So is a return to the Dutch imminent? “That could be. That is a possibility, yes.”
Van Dijk was confronted on Tuesday after the Champions League match between Liverpool and Internazionale (0-1) with the news that the currently clubless coach is open to a comeback at the the Dutch squad. In the run-up to the World Cup, however, he prefers not to openly interfere in the discussion about Van Gaal’s successor. “If they are already planning what will happen after the national coach (Van Gaal, ed.), then I certainly think that Koeman is a very good candidate and is high on the list,” said Van Dijk. RTL7† “I’ve worked really well with him and if it were like that again in the future, that would be great.”