National coach Ronald Koeman zoomed in on Joey Veerman at the press conference. The Volendammer is this week for the first time in the selection of the Dutch national team. According to the national coach, the 24-year-old midfielder suffers from mild nerves. “That applies to everyone who makes his debut and has only just joined the Dutch national team.”
“Joey Veerman trained once and then he had two moments of losing the ball,” Koeman begins when asked whether the Orange shirt weighs more heavily for players. “That is not his lesser quality. He is just a good footballer with the ball. Then he loses those balls and I think that has to do with a bit of tension. It is just true that the Dutch national team shirt is always different from your shirt of your club. That applies to everyone who makes his debut and has only just joined the Dutch national team. “
Veerman was one of five players who dropped out last week due to a virus infection. Today it was announced that Matthijs de Ligt, Cody Gakpo and Bart Verbruggen will join again for the duel with Gibraltar. “We will wait and decide tomorrow morning whether they can start or whether we keep them behind. They still have a whole day and a whole night.”
Big disappointment
Last Friday, the Dutch team lost no chance against France (4-0) in Paris. “I do notice something. In the conversations and the discussion with you that this group is self-critical. I also thought that was necessary after last Friday’s performance. We mainly talked about the build-up, the intensity of play, the downshifting. There was no pace in that first part. That was the big disappointment.”
The substitution of Kenneth Taylor was striking. The Ajax midfielder made his debut against France and had to leave the field after just 33 minutes. “It is always a hard learning experience for a player,” says Koeman. “The substitution was not because he was the worst in the field. Then you could have changed more. I think I am a trainer to change things when things are not going well. That was the reason to bring Wout and Xaxi Simons or Memnphis to put ‘ten’.”
As many goals as possible
The Dutch national team can wash away the hangover against Gibraltar. Although the dwarf state is above the Orange in the European Championship qualifying pool thanks to a better goal difference, Koeman believes that his team should score a monster score. “I think we should do everything from minute one to minute 97 to score as many goals as possible. And not settle for a few. When you get the chance, we must continue. That is an extra message I give.”
The match Netherlands – Gibraltar starts tomorrow at 8.45 pm in De Kuip.