Ronald Koeman has finalised his 25-man Netherlands squad for the upcoming friendlies with England and Portugal.
- By Michael Bell
- Follow Michael on Twitter
Netherlands face England in Amsterdam on the 23rd of March before travelling to Portugal three days later in two friendlies which will start Koeman’s reign as Oranje boss.
Koeman’s first Netherlands squad sees five players in line for their debut’s with Ajax winger Justin Kluivert, Atalanta right-back Hans Hateboer and AZ trio Marco Bizot, Guus Til and Wout Weghorst all making the final cut.
The unlucky players left out from the provisional squad include Ruud Vormer, Daley Blind, Steven Bergwijn, Luuk de Jong and Karim Rekik. Blind and Vormer were struggling with injuries.
The full squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Marco Bizot (AZ), Jasper Cillessen (Barcelona), Jeroen Zoet (PSV)
Defenders: Patrick van Aanholt (Crystal Palace), Nathan Aké (AFC Bournemouth), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Timothy Fosu-Mensah (Crystal Palace), Hans Hateboer (Atalanta Bergamo), Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax), Kenny Tete (Olympique Lyon), Stefan de Vrij (Lazio).
Midfielders: Donny van de Beek (Ajax), Davy Pröpper (Brighton & Hove Albion), Marten de Roon (Atalanta Bergamo), Kevin Strootman (AS Roma), Guus Til (AZ), Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord), Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool).
Attackers: Ryan Babel (Besiktas), Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord), Memphis Depay (Olympique Lyon), Bas Dost (Sporting Lisbon), Justin Kluivert (Ajax), Quincy Promes (Spartak Moscow), Wout Weghorst (AZ).
Follow
Follow @Footballoranje_ on Twitter
The point of these friendlies is to experiment so picking younger players for the most part is a good idea. Some of them may not measure up at the international level, but at this stage trying different things is wise with Euro 2020 qualifying still a year away.
Against strong opponents like England and Portugal i’d like to see Koeman try a 5-3-2 or even a 5-4-1 formation. That doesn’t sound very Dutch, but the team has to be realistic about ways to get results. Just take a look at the selection as to who plays where (and how regularly), and it’s clear the best players in the current team are defenders. So they need to adapt and play to the squad’s strengths.
The worst ever dutch team!!!!
Hmmm…I like the idea of 5-3-2 or 5-4-1 but maybe we should move the wing backs up a bit and give them more freedom up the wings, more like 3-4-2-1. Use Dost and Weghorst as target men or like poachers roaming around the box cleaning up the garbage and allowing Promes and Depay free to use their offensive creativity.
Cillessen
De Vrij-van Dijk-Aké
Tete-Wijnaldum-Strootman-PVA
Promes-Depay
Dost
I’m trying hard to be optimistic, but when I look at our squad and I see the bulk of clubs our players represent being Palace, Bournemouth, Atalanta, Brighton and 3 from AZ, it’s tough. I understand it’s a time to give young players an opportunity in a couple friendlies, but as we’ve all said many times before, we need our players developing well enough to get into the Starting 11 for clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Chelsea, Man City, etc. Until that happens, we will be punching above our weight be it a 4-3-3 or 5-3-2. I’m not saying we cannot get results, but we will no longer be expected to.
Very interesting point in time.
I would love to know what Koeman’s plan is.
I want to see Ronnie developing the long term partnerships.
Obviously van Dijk and de Ligt.
But he should also have the Ajax connection – Kulivert and van de Beek and the AZ connection of Weghorst and Idrissi.
This front four needs to be developed, nurtured and the four of them must be given the chance to play matches together.
For eg Weghorst would benefit from having Idrissi up there with him.
I dont mind Idrissi going back to u21s for the upcoming matches. Proving himself better than Bergwijn on the other wing is what he needs to focus on just at the moment but I hope he gets the call up soon.
My starting would be:
Zoet
Hateboer, de Ligt, van Dijk (c), Van Aaholt
Wijnaldum (Frankie de Jong to come in when fit), Vilhenna
Kluivert, de Beek, Depay (Idrissi to come in)
Weghorst
Now’s the time for change, for the excitement to begin…