It could all be so relaxed. The Netherlands beat Scotland highly before the test against Germany – but the bond coach is still stressed.
This man has never been comfortable. If it were purely based on sympathy points, Ronald Koeman would probably be permanently unemployed. Most recently at FC Barcelona, it was like a relief for many in the club when the term of office of the Dutch curmudgeon, who was somehow always looking for arguments, ended after just over a year.
Failed badly in Barcelona
In his home country, however, Ronald Koeman enjoys a reputation as an excellent professional and so it somehow made sense that after his disastrous failure at Barca, he went back to doing what he did before: coaching the Dutch national team.
His comeback as a bond coach was initially cruel. He lost three of the first four games, there was a devastating 4-0 defeat against France, there were further defeats against Italy and Croatia, only interrupted by a miserable 3-0 against Gibraltar. But after that Koeman got the hang of things. Six wins followed and only one more defeat, again against France. Qualification for the 2024 European Championship was ultimately no problem with second place behind the “Équipe Tricolore”.
Philipp Weiskirch, Sportschau, March 24, 2024 10:43 p.m
Always stressful with Bundesliga players
But Koeman wouldn’t be Koeman if he didn’t keep causing stress. The fact that players from the Bundesliga always play the main roles is certainly pure coincidence. For a long time, for example, he ignored Wout Weghorst, who was from Wolfsburg and is now from Hoffenheim. There was an open confrontation with Leverkusen’s right-back Jeremy Frimpong. And now before the duel with Germany, Koeman has targeted Leipzig’s Xavi Simons.
Despite the ultimately confident 4-0 win against Scotland, in which the first half (0-0) was pretty bad and the Netherlands were really in a hurry, Koeman then criticized the super technician: “He was one of the players who simply had the ball has lost far too often.
No Xavi scorer point for “Elftal” yet
Criticism is of course Koeman’s right as a bond coach. But the message itself is not without a certain impudence: Countries other than Koeman’s Netherlands probably rarely benefit from ball losses, but perhaps he has also recognized Xavi Simon’s class and is just upset that he hasn’t shown it in the national team yet : Xavi Simons has played twelve times in the “Oranje” jersey. The horror result: no goal, no assist.
The exciting question is whether that will change on Tuesday (8:45 p.m., live ticker at sportschau.de) against Julian Nagelsmann’s team. In Leipzig, Xavi Simons recorded seven goals and eleven assists in 25 Bundesliga games, some of which were fantastic.
Chosen in Paris as Mbappé’s successor
But the top talent is only on loan from Paris Saint-Germain – RB Leipzig does not have a purchase option. In the French capital he is supposed to compensate for the departure of Kylian Mbappé in the summer. Considering this, it is almost understandable that Koeman is extremely annoyed by Xavi’s previous input at “Elftal”.
