Wim Kieft is not at all impressed by the performance in the friendly match between the Netherlands and Scotland. The attacking midfielder is one of the revelations in the Bundesliga this season and was once again given the opportunity to score his first goal in the Dutch team by Ronald Koeman last Friday, but was again unable to make much of a difference. Kieft thinks there is very little chance that Simons will kick off again against Germany on Tuesday evening.
The Dutch team was committed to putting on a good match against Scotland. It wanted to show what it is capable of three months before the start of the European Championship in Germany. Koeman’s formation achieved a 4-0 victory, but the selector could hardly be satisfied with the performance of his team afterwards. His players achieved a remarkably low level, especially in the first half. This mainly applies to Simons. The talent broke through at PSV last year, returned to Paris Saint-Germain and was immediately loaned to RB Leipzig. He has made a big impression there this season, but things are still not going well in the Dutch team.
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After eleven international matches, Simons still had zero goals and assists and that did not change in the match against Scotland. “It is hardly conceivable that Simons would then have a place in the starting line-up,” Kieft reflects in his column The Telegraph ahead of the practice cracker against Germany. “He was a loser of the ball and played as a junior against the Scots. Not for the first time in Orange. He doesn’t care. He is now no longer 16 years old, but 21 years old and you can expect more from someone who gets many opportunities from Koeman in the starting line-up and performs at the top of the Bundesliga every week. In such a case you cannot surrender eight out of ten balls. Also the simple one. In general, however, he wants to make it too difficult, but not every pass has to be decisive.”
Koeman was critical of Simons’ performance after the match against Scotland, but Kieft also sees a role for the experienced internationals. “What is disappointing from a distance is that you do not see any of the experienced players such as Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum or Memphis Depay calling someone like Simons to order and telling him that he is not on a school trip,” says the former Dutch international. “That he has to act normal for a while and that his patience runs out after two warnings and he realizes that he should not think of making such childish mistakes again a third time. Simons always wants to have the ball in his feet, he has hardly any depth.”
Kieft also thinks that Simons Koeman’s ‘lousy’ match is ‘not a bad time’. “He knows he is of little use to him, he can tackle him hard and put him on the bench against Germany with good decency. Sometimes it is a bonus for a trainer or national coach if someone falls through the ice. Then it can be connected at the back again. In Simons’ defense: he is of course not a right winger.”
