In the early hours of July 7th, Netherlands beat Turkey 2-1 in the Euro quarter-finals to advance to the semi-finals. Spain’s AS newspaper believes that Dutch head coach Koeman is quite stubborn in terms of his personnel selection, but it is precisely this stubbornness that has brought him success.
The expanded roster in this European Championship allows each team to carry 26 players, but several coaches haven’t filled the quota, Koeman being one of them. He only called up Ziyech after Brobbey got injured during training.
AS reports that Koeman doesn’t want that many players. He has unwavering trust in his core squad. One could say he only trusts his own people and not others.
Among the 23 outfield players on the Dutch roster, Matthisson, Brobbey, De Ligt and Gravenberch didn’t get any playing time. Blind and Ziyech only came on in the dying minutes of the game. Blind’s role was to waste time while Ziyech was brought in to boost aerial ability.
Koeman is very stubborn, but his stubbornness has proven beneficial in certain situations. For instance, in the match against Turkey, his own people saved the team. For example, his trusted Weghorst continuously posed a threat in the game, while Van den Berg played a key role in blocking a scoring opportunity for the opponent.
Weghorst was selected ahead of Mallen and Ziyech, the latter two being more suitable for playing across the lines. Van den Berg was chosen over Matthisson, who is better suited to finding the equaliser. But these are just theoretical thoughts.
Despite questions regarding De Vrij’s starting lineup, he won the Man of the Match award in the crucial showdown against Turkey, proving Koeman’s sharp eye for talent.
Koeman boasts nearly 25 years of top-league coaching experience. While his tactical ideas may not be readily understood by the outside world, he sticks to his principles. This conviction has now led the Netherlands to the semi-finals, where they will face England.
This article is from a user submission and does not represent the views of Soccer News Pick. If you repost it, please indicate the source: https://www.soccernewspick.com/uefa-european-championship/7957.html
