Hi Willem, the rumors have been buzzing lately, and in a series about Koeman he recently announced that he would like to become national coach again. Surely this announcement came as no surprise?
‘No not at all. Actually, it wasn’t even news, other than that it’s official now. The choice is also logical: he wants to, the federation wants to, and he did well in his previous period with Orange. In addition, he is now free and it is no problem for him to wait until next year. In the meantime, he can already go to matches of the Dutch national team and make contact with the players.
Because the World Cup in Qatar takes place in the winter, the timing of the coach change is now a bit strange. This normally happens after a final tournament in the summer, when more coaches change lanes. Now there must be someone who is free to change clubs in the winter.’
But Koeman has not had a good period at Barcelona, was he really the best candidate?
“He hasn’t done too badly there either. Things are better now under his successor Xavi, but that is partly thanks to four new players who came in during the winter break, and others who returned from injuries. Koeman was also constantly opposed by club president Laporta, who did not like him.
In his first season, Koeman did very well after the winter break: they made an impressive advance in the league, won the cup, and Messi played his best football in years. It only went wrong in the last games. This season it was indeed worse without Messi. But that was also due to the ongoing financial uncertainty that is now gone. The situation at the moment is therefore completely incomparable with when Koeman was there.’
Koeman left the Orange squad in August 2020 at an inconvenient moment, less than a year before the European Championship. Isn’t it strange that he can now return?
‘You do indeed hear a lot that Koeman is unreliable. But I understood his choice then, you don’t get that many opportunities in life. In retrospect you can say that he joined Barca at the wrong time, that gamble did not pay off.
‘Koeman confessed shortly before he left the Orange squad that national coaching suited him well. He liked not being on the field every day, but a moment later he was gone. The call from Barcelona was so strong for him that he couldn’t ignore it. At the same time, he really wants to be in a final tournament with the Orange.
‘I don’t think they have any at the KNVB hard feelings about his choice at the time, part of the public may have that. But should you care about that? What people think on social media? The most important thing is that there is trust between the federation, the players and the coach, and there is.’
Did the player group play a role in the choice for Koeman?
“The KNVB has undoubtedly talked to important players about their preferences, and I think they thought the appointment of Koeman was a good idea. Supporting players such as Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay have blossomed as internationals or have broken through under Koeman, so they do have faith in him.
‘He then took over during a difficult period: the Orange squad had missed two final tournaments and had three coaches in a short time. Koeman then gave the team a face again. In the Nations League in particular, they played a number of matches that I will never forget, for example against France. Orange became popular and successful again under Koeman.’
Louis van Gaal has just introduced a new playing system, 3-4-1-2, at the Orange squad. Is Koeman going to take over or does he want to make his own mark?
Koeman also briefly played with that system during his period, but went back to 4-3-3 fairly quickly. That’s also because you get less opponents in qualifying. Van Gaal has introduced it to also have a chance against the stronger opponents at the World Cup. Koeman will initially have to deal with smaller football countries again, so it is possible that he will play 4-3-3 again.
‘But it’s actually too early to speculate about that. It also depends on how the World Cup goes and whether you like the new system there. And it depends on the material: Van Gaal also does this because he doesn’t think he has top-level wingers. If they do rise in the coming year, the decision will change again.’