The Dutch had a complicated start in qualifying for Euro 2024. After the victory of the Netherlands against Gibraltar on Monday (3-0), Ronald Koeman arrived irritated at a press conference. ” We need to improve, I’m quite shocked by what I saw “, he let go. Already recovered after the heavy defeat of the Oranges on the lawn of the Stade de France last Friday (0-4), the former defender did not expect this start of his second term after succeeding Louis van Gaal.
« It was not good, I’m quite disappointed. It must really be better. We also need to get in shape. It was really too little. It’s difficult but, of course, we scored enough goals. I found that what we were doing was imprecise from the start, sometimes sloppy. With a little more sharpness, more goals would have been scored. It was much less than I had hoped for. “said the former Barça coach. As a reminder, the teammates of Nathan Aké, double scorer on Monday, shot 51 times on goal against Gibraltar.
The Nations League Final Four will be an important test
Deprived of five important players during these two meetings, the Batavian technician knows that the absence of his men has surely had an impact in the game. I never had such a week during my previous stint as coach and I hope it won’t happen again either. Cody Gakpo and Matthijs de Ligt couldn’t play a whole game, and Memphis Depay was injured. », a ruminé Koeman.
The Dutch will have to take a big step forward as they host the Nations League Final Four in June. They face Croatia in Rotterdam on June 14 and play in the final or third-place tie against Italy or Spain four days later. Koeman knows that this test is important for the Oranges and distilled some spades towards his group: “ They are major opponents and I think it will be important that we have a full team. Our level will have to rise. Too many players haven’t played well enough. »
