Ronald Koeman has explained the line-up of the Dutch national team for the European Championship qualifying match with France. The national coach of the Dutch national team cannot have the initially called Frenkie de Jong, Steven Bergwijn, Bart Verbruggen, Sven Botman, Joey Veerman, Matthijs de Ligt and Cody Gakpo in Paris and therefore had to improvise quite a bit. Feyenoord player Lutsharel Geertruida and Ajax player Kenneth Taylor, among others, start in the base.
“Have I stayed calm? It is clear that the preparation was not ideal,” Koeman begins in front of the camera of the NOS. I started with the team I had in mind, but that changed during the week. I can’t say if I changed more than half, but we had to accept it and moved on. In any case, we tried to remain calm, because if the coach is already confused, the players will notice that too.”
“Furthermore, we deliberately did not change positions, but only the figures that would play first. This boy is not there, so someone else will play in his position. The hardest place to fill in? That was pretty clear”, Koeman refers to the absence of Frenkie de Jong. “Mats Wieffer was an option, but he is not armpit fresh. That’s the reason it won’t start. He was a serious option, but he was dropped because he is not underarm fresh,” said the national coach. Instead of Wieffer, Koeman opts for Taylor in midfield.