Marten de Roon Photo: © Orange Pictures
The Dutch team won 1-2 against Ireland on Sunday evening, but played far from convincingly. According to Maarten Wijffels, the national team has not been able to find a suitable player next to Frenkie de Jong for years.
Marten de Roon got the chance again against Greece and Mats Wieffer started on Sunday evening. The build-up did not go smoothly against the Irish. “At the same time, it also exposed something else. That in the Dutch team everything still has to go through Frenkie de Jong,” Wijffels writes in the Algemeen Dagblad.
De Roon, who has often been written off, was suddenly back in the starting line-up against Greece. Typical, according to Wijffels. “Ultimately, sooner or later, every coach ends up with Marten de Roon again. That is a compliment for Atalanta’s breakwater, but to really take a step further, a De Roon type with 15 percent extra quality is needed.”
Wieffer, in turn, disappointed against Ireland and was forced to make an early substitution. “Until his justified substitution during the break, Wieffer did not bring balance to the team without the ball and he had no added value with it,” said the journalist. According to him, substitute Tijjani Reijnders did better.
Finally, Wijffels comes up with a striking name. “In retrospect, it remains a shame that Davy Pröpper’s international career only lasted so short. In Koeman’s first period as national coach, he complemented De Jong well on a number of occasions,” he says. “He was a midfielder with technique and overview in small spaces and the running ability to go box-to-box.”
