Southampton boss Ronald Koeman has praised AZ striker Vincent Janssen and thinks he should be Netherlands first choice striker.
- By Michael Bell
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With Robin van Persie, and Klaas Jan Huntelaar coming to an end of their Netherlands careers the search for the Oranje’s new number nine is heating up.
Bas Dost and Luuk de Jong are two of the candidates to lead the line for Netherlands going into the World Cup qualifiers, but 21-year-old Vincent Janssen has stated his case after an excellent season for AZ.
Now, Southampton boss Ronald Koeman has backed Janssen to become Netherlands number nine after being impressed by what he saw from the forward in the 2-1 win over England earlier this year. Janssen scored and assisted on his first start for his country at Wembley.
Koeman told VI, “I’m too far off to make a very good picture, but from what I’ve seen at Wembley, I think it is not surprising that Janssen would be preferred.
“He played there against strong defenders in the Premier League. What pleased me most was the fact that he immediately grabbed the ball when the Dutch team got a penalty. You should still do it, but at that moment and that action spoke the necessary self-confidence. ”
However, Koeman is still unsure on just how good Janssen can become. “If you are scoring 27 (goals) in the Eredivisie, that’s very good. Only you do not know what those goals are worth at the highest level. That’s something we have to wait and see. Now Van Persie and Huntelaar are not there, it seems to me that Janssen will get the chance to see over time whether he would indeed be the striker for the Dutch national team. “