It has been a long time since Helmond ex-internationals Willy and René van de Kerkhof were able to enjoy the Dutch team so much. “The Netherlands played like a world champion,” Willy beams, once again underscoring his prediction from before the World Cup that the Dutch team can go very far. René laughs a bit at his brother’s optimism, but he is also enthusiastic about the Netherlands’ game against Sweden. “That’s how the Dutch team should play.”
In the Willy and René Podcast of Omroep Brabant, the brothers also crack critical notes, especially about the second quarter of the match, in which Sweden took complete control of the match because former Willem II striker Isak let himself down a bit, which kept him free. “The coach should not have to solve that, the players have to solve it themselves,” says René. Willy agrees with his brother and then points to Virgil van Dijk from Breda. “That is a task for the captain. I missed that with Virgil.”
The question is whether Van Dijk himself did not know what to do, or whether he did not keep his fellow players on task well enough. “Good question,” says Willy. “Maybe Virgil sees it, but they still treat each other too familiarly. As a captain you just have to say: you here and you there. And if players don’t listen to the captain, he has to go to them and pull their ears!”
“Let Memphis enjoy his holiday.”
According to the brothers, players are too nice to each other anyway. “You are actually on the field with eleven enemies,” says Willy. “You have to tell each other the truth in order to win.” René thinks so too. “In the past, when we were on the field with Cruijff and Van Hanegem, we would really listen. Or someone like Lerby. He had poison! He always wanted to win, even if it was against Abakawalda 4. We miss that at Oranje. We don’t have one who has that.”
What the Dutch team suddenly has no shortage of is good attackers, says Willy. “With Summerville and Brobbey, the issue of the right winger and striker position has been resolved,” says Willy. “With Malen you have three men for two places and Gakpo on the left. That’s all you need.” The brothers actually no longer see a role for Memphis Depay. “He had an assist, but that was his only achievement in twenty minutes,” says René. “I speak to more and more people who are done with him. Except Koeman.” Willy sees it that way too. “Let him enjoy his holiday there.”
“Better against Brazil than against Morocco.”
When asked which country makes the most impression, the brothers have the same answer: Morocco. “I think we can play even better against Brazil in the knockout phase,” says Willy, who especially enjoyed departing PSV player Ismael Saibari. “That will become a phenomenon together with Kane at Bayern. He already is, but he will only get better.”
But first there is a match against Tunisia. The brothers expect a big result: Willy predicts 5-0 and René even thinks it will be 6-0. They both believe that Ronald Koeman should not change too much in the line-up. “You shouldn’t give players a break,” says Willy. “Just play with the strongest team.”
