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Published By: Sports Desk
Last Updated: March 26, 2024, 12:30 AM IST
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The Netherlands need to be more composed on the ball in Tuesday’s friendly against Germany or face a long night in Frankfurt, coach Ronald Koeman warned his players ahead of a final audition to be in his Euro 2024 squad.
The Netherlands need to be more composed on the ball in Tuesday’s friendly against Germany or face a long night in Frankfurt, coach Ronald Koeman warned his players ahead of a final audition to be in his Euro 2024 squad.
The Netherlands hammered Scotland 4-0 in Amsterdam on Friday but Koeman was far from pleased with what he believed was a sloppy performance despite the decisive scoreline.
Unless they tighten things up, the Dutch will put themselves under unnecessary pressure against a Germany side buoyed by an impressive 2-0 win over France in Lyon in their previous outing.
“I want us to play better in possession and give less chances,” Koeman told reporters. “We suffered from losing the ball unnecessarily, from multiple players. I don’t know them to do that, it was disappointing.
“We would be very stupid to (leave) players like (German midfielder) Toni Kroos like France did, then every ball will come to the right place.”
The Netherlands have five players from the Bundesliga in their squad – Xavi Simons, Donyell Malen, Wout Weghorst, Jeremiah Frimpong and Matthijs de Ligt.
Koeman must decide whether to stick with what he called three “real midfielders” against Scotland or return to the more regular Dutch formation of two holding players and an attacking midfielder behind the strikers, which is likely to be Simons from RB Leipzig.
“I never pin myself to one system, not even at Barcelona or Ajax,” he said. “Sometimes that brought me success and sometimes less. You must have players who can play different systems. “
There could be another run out for midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, who returned to the team for the first time in nine months in the win over the Scots.
Koeman was pleased with his performance but would not reveal whether the 33-year-old had done enough to earn a place in his Euro 2024 squad.
“We’re not ready yet (to say) but I think Wijnaldum played more than an adequate game.”
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Reuters)
