Sjoerd Mossou mentions a major setback at the Dutch team: ‘Irritating to watch’
Sunday, November 19, 2023 at 9:37 AM
Xavi Simons’ game in the Dutch team has not yet appealed to Sjoerd Mossou, the journalist from Algemeen Dagblad said in the AD Voetbal Podcast. The twenty-year-old from Amsterdam played his tenth international match for the Netherlands against Ireland on Saturday evening (1-0 win), but again showed little. Mossou is particularly dissatisfied with Simons’ attitude.
Simons was replaced by Donyell Malen after eighty minutes in the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Saturday, after he was again unable to make his mark in the Dutch national team. Voetbalzone rated the midfielder with a 4, making him the worst player in the Dutch team against Ireland.
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Mossou also did not enjoy Simons. “It is forced and looks very restless, almost wild. You can hardly separate that from the nine games that preceded it. It was already a bit like that then.”
The journalist thinks he knows where Simons’ disappointing performance in Orange comes from. “He is very much looking for confirmation for himself, which is understandable for such a young player, because he succeeds in the Bundesliga. He also succeeds in the Champions League,” said Mossou.
“Not yet in the Dutch team,” the Breda native continues. “He really wants to and that is a good thing for him. But it does not improve the peace in his game. It is all a bit chaotic and therefore unclean. That does not look great.” Mossou saw that Simons also had bad luck against Ireland. “Then he sets it up well and shoots into Gakpo’s heel.”
Mossou saw some mannerisms in Simons again. “The way he reacts, full of drama, you can see that it runs deep.” That is unpleasant for the viewer, the journalist says. “I sometimes found it a bit irritating to watch before halftime, to be honest. You sometimes have that with youth football players, when a player starts playing for himself very forcefully. That was not good.”
Yet Mossou retains confidence in Simons. “No one should doubt that his moment will come one day, because he is of course a very good player and a great professional.” Simons is still waiting for his first goal and assist on behalf of the Dutch team. The Dutch national team will be back in action on Tuesday, when Gibraltar is the last opponent in the already successful European Championship qualifying cycle in Faro.
