Ronald Koeman has confirmed his Netherlands squad for the upcoming Nations League quarter-final ties against Spain.
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Netherlands take on Spain over the next week for a place in the semi-finals of the Nations League. The ties also have an impact on which group Oranje will face for a place in the World Cup.
Koeman has recalled Memphis Depay after he has found his form with Corinthians in recent weeks. Matthijs de Ligt is also in due to injuries to Stefan de Virj and Nathan Ake.
Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven, Feyenoord’s Quinten Timber and Wout Weghorst of Ajax are all injured. Joshua Zirkzee has been left out because of his form with Manchester United.
The full squad can be seen below.
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I am kinda tired of Netherlands conceding goals all the wrong way. These 2 matches against a tough opponent (euro champion) pose an excellent opportunity to try out a new formation or lineup and see how they play. If Oranje lose, they get an easy group for wcqs. If they win, we just found a working formation against a top team. This is a win-win situation Koeman’s would be wasting if he goes with the same combos. Verbruggen is tall but conceded a lot of goals in the air, which is strange. He had great form prior to the euros but it wouldn’t hurt to try someone new. I’ve never seen Olij play for Netherlands. Let’s see how he does (remember that club performance doesn’t always correlate with the national team. Weghorst was an excellent example). Bring Jurrien Timber back in CB next to van Dijk like Van Gaal did. Left wing should be taken back by Hartman soon but idk why not call up Maatsen to use instead of Hato?
Let Brian Brobbey start the match and bring depay as a sub. Seems to work out for him in Atlético de Madrid and Corinthians. Kluivert is energetic and fast and has good shooting/passing and penalty taking abilities. Let him come on as an attacking midfielder in the second half. Simons also brings lotta energy and gravenberch is good building from deep but Orange need to balance midfield with defensive players and attacking ones. Don’t put 3 attacking mindset midfielders and leave midfield wide open like against Germany. De Jong can defend and drive forward while Schouten seems to keep things well in the back. He got injured so his place can be taken by Koopmeinersnorntaylor building from deep. Let Gakpo start on the left and bring Noa Lang as a pacier sub. Frimpong is very fast and dangerous down the right wing, while Malen seems to play better as a sub (like vs Romania) than as a starter (like vs Austria).
Starting lineup
Olij
Dumfries Timber Van Dijk Hato***
Taylor De Jong
Frimpong Reijnders Gakpo
Brobbey
Sub options
*** Koeman’s should call up Maatsen since Schouten is injured and Orange has an overload of midfielders. Maatsen —> Hato
Koopmeiners —> Taylor
Lang or Kluivert —> Gakpo
Simons —> Reijnders
Memphis —> Brobbey
Malen —> Frimpong (I notice Malden typically doesn’t play well as a starter but really well as a sub). He also combines well with depay and Lang.
Let’s see some interesting combos you think Koeman’s should try!
Will be interesting to see what Koeman will do in the 2 games, more about his press-conference in English here: https://dutchsoccersite.org/dutch-team-preparing-for-2-games-against-spain-in-the-nations-league/