Andries Jonker Photo: © BSR Agency
The quarterfinals eventually turned out to be the final station for the Orange Lionesses at the World Cup. Still, Jeroen van Barneveld sees positive things: the effect of national coach Andries Jonker is great.
“After the elimination at the European Championships, grumpiness, irritations and scheming prevailed. On Friday in New Zealand, mostly optimistic words sounded. Players, and especially the veterans, said that they flew back to the Netherlands with pride and their heads held high,” writes Van Barneveld on behalf of NU.nl.
Who managed that? National coach Jonker. “With his positive, direct and demanding approach, he turned the sentiment at the Orange. He turned out to be the right man in the right place after the departure of the woolly Mark Parsons. But it was all too little to be able to win the prizes at the World Cup. play,” said the journalist.
Orange was offensively impotent against Spain. “It is too easy to blame the offensive impotence on the absence of the injured Vivianne Miedema. The striker was of course missed at the World Cup,” points out Van Barneveld. “One of Lineth Beerensteyn’s chances in the duel with Spain would probably have been completed by the all-time top scorer of the Orange.”
However, the problem was not only with Beerensteyn, he says. “The intended attacking game with the emerging wing defenders did not come to fruition enough in the top games against the US and Spain.” Van Barneveld sees another problem for Jonker: “Only keeper Van Domselaar (23), Brugts (20) and Pelova (24) have succeeded in connecting with the European champions of 2017, while women’s football has developed stormy in recent years. has developed.”
“With England, France and Spain, the source of good players is inexhaustible. That can break the Orange even further in the coming years. Van der Gragt has stopped, Spitse (33), Van de Donk (32), Martens (30) are in the fall of their careers,” the journalist notes.
