On Sunday, Frank de Boer named his provisional Netherlands squad for the start of the World Cup qualifiers later this month. The squad saw De Boer once again go with established names over younger in-form talents.
- By Michael Bell
- Follow Michael on Twitter
When Frank de Boer was appointed as Netherlands head coach he stated that in order to come into contention for the national team you had to be playing and in good form.
For his first few squads, you could understand him going with the established names as he looked not to cause unrest among the squad that Ronald Koeman managed to turn into a success. However, with some of the performances not exactly great since his appointment, you would think De Boer may decide it is time to start making some changes.
Not yet it appears.
Once again on Sunday, an eye-roll-causing Netherlands provisional squad was named with older more established names once again picked over young in-form talents.
The U21 European Championships has been named as an excuse by the KNVB, with De Boer allowing a number of players, except Ryan Gravenberch, to represent Jong Oranje instead of taking part in the World Cup qualifiers. Given that the first game is Turkey away and that these are the final games scheduled before the European Championships in the summer, it is a cause for concern.
De Boer must be one of the only Dutchman on the planet that thinks 34-year-old winger Ryan Babel, who has one goal in his last 11 league games for Galatasaray is a better option than Noa Lang, who is setting Belgium alight and has nine goals in his last nine games. Then there is Kevin Strootman, who has regained his spot in the squad after a handful of appearances for Genoa, who haven’t won in five games. He is there instead of AZ captain Teun Koopmeiners, one of the most gifted midfielders in the Eredivisie. Jeremiah St Juste has his first call-up despite Mainz 05 battling relegation in the Bundesliga, while Sven Botman, who is top of Ligue 1 with Lille is with the U21’s.
Quincy Promes and Tonny Vilhena are also lucky to be named in the squad, despite a lack of form all season. Whereas, Rick Karsdorp, Jerdy Schouten, Jairo Riedewald, and Anwar El Ghazi have all been left out despite some good form.
Now, this is just a provisional squad, with the final 23 set to be announced next week. De Boer has to drop eight names from his selection but does he have the will to say goodbye to Babel and Strootman? Will he finally choose Weghorst over Luuk De Jong? These are the questions that now need to be answered and could be crucial to Oranje’s success against Turkey and going forward into the Euro’s.
It is about time that a call up for the Dutch national team was a reward for players playing well and not their influence in the dressing room.
Your Opinions
We have asked you on Twitter for your opinions on the squad and here are some of the replies we got.
Hopefully this is different for the summer. Babel, Strootman, Luuk, Promes, Veltman, and Vilhena should going to the glue factory instead of the Euros. Many in the U21 are in better form and way more deserving.
— William Jamieson ⭐️ (@willjamieson75) March 8, 2021
Picking players who are out of form. Guess they must be good guys in the dressing room because after all that’s where a match is won 🙄
— alex jans (@jando_santos) March 8, 2021
Not good but unfortunately there is no other options. Few players have stable performance !
— Dany (@DannyRomanos79) March 8, 2021
Why does the under 21 squad look better than this one 🤕
— Kaey (@ThatGuyKaey) March 8, 2021
My opinion about the call ups
— Morgoth💤 (@NagyTamas6) March 8, 2021
Deserved:
Frenkie, Gravenberch,Tete, Malen, De Vrij, De Ligt, Weghorst, Memphis, Blind, Wijndal,Berghuis,Stengs
Ok to be here:
Bergwijn, Van de beek,Dumfries,Veltman, Wijnaldum,
Undeserved:
Babel, Luuk, Promes,Strootman,Van aanholt
The rest idk
You can clearly see that the U21 championship has a big preference here. But honestly, are Strootman and Babel there for morale purposes/show the others around?
— Brentekrentje. (@brentopi888) March 8, 2021
Koopmeiners doesn’t make it but Strootman does? Babel and Promes as well should be nowhere near that team.
— Millsy (@millsy3101) March 8, 2021
Frank de Boer clearly does not know how to evaluate talent as he continues to select players who are not good enough. Babel, Strootman, Veltman, Luuk De Jong, Promes, and bench warmers Van Aanholt, Donny, Bergwijn. Then of course slow unathletic Blind, Klaassen. What a disgrace.
— N (@RJNHuskies) March 8, 2021
Given the decision has been taken to give the U21s a lot of players for the Euros, which I don’t think there’s anything wrong with, it’s fine. If Babel, Promes, Strootman, Vilhena and Luuk de Jong are the ones cut from the final squad then I’d be very happy with it.
— Finley Crebolder (@FinCrebolder) March 8, 2021
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Botman should be in Team 1
Absolutely not. Botman is a very average defender, has a mediocre technique and most concerning no vision or passing ability. We all saw that during the Lille-Ajax game but some are still calling for him to be on the team. Timber is far better than Botman. Botman should play for one of the teams in the Championship where he belongs. I have watched him since he was an Ajax youth player and like Bakker -although much better than Bakker which is not so difficult-, he does not have what is needed to play out of the back for either Ajax or Oranje.
I think De Boer hasn’t the courage to make his own team. He pick-up the players of Koeman to be in the safe side. The first matchs he had no time to make changes, ok, but now he has no excuse.
Karsdorp is much better than Dumfries or Tete and Weghorst is much better than Luuk de Jong.
This is just sad. We are going nowhere with this manager.
I think Tete is the most balanced RB called up. Karsdorp is playing well, but now he plays a similar role to Hateboer for his squad, and as we know, Hateboer struggles with the NT. Weghorst is the better choice over Luuk. Strootman and Babel do provide leadership, as does Stekelenburg, but should provide that leadership no further than the provisional squad. Regardless, we will need to adapt without van Dijk, no one comes close. We aren’t up against power houses of the world and I do believe the squad is strong enough. Still, would have liked to see Schouten and El Ghazi, maybe give Reideweld a shot and let Karsdorp throw on the orange kit. With the kids going to U21 for the Euro’s (which I’m surprised by some of the ages) it would be a good time to give some of those other guys a chance.
Perhaps Tete is a good defender but he doesn’t play any role in attack. If Karsdorp plays now in midfield he can also plays as a real right-back. He plays continuously in one of the top teams in Italy and has a good experience.