Ronald Koeman and the Netherlands have decided to give it another go in the last 12 months, and like all rekindled relationships, they have had their ups and downs.
Stephen Kenny did his best to show the Dutch that Koeman really was the one for them, with the Oranje beating Ireland in Dublin and Amsterdam, and they enjoyed two wins over Gus Poyet’s Greece too.
However, when a little tension has been applied, the cracks have started to show, with Kylian Mbappe pushing all the wrong buttons as he inspired France to two victories over Holland (or is it the Netherlands? Who really knows).
Mbappe reminded the Dutch fans why they were never too keen on Koeman anyway whilst Wout Weghorst’s goals have kept the flame burning… for now.
MANAGER: Ronald Koeman
CAPTAIN: Virgil van Dijk will be asking Koeman to wear the Jurgen Klopp mask he brought from home.
STAR PLAYER: Van Dijk will be looking to keep the back door closed with Koeman’s side now without midfield duo Frenkie de Jong and Marten de Roon, while Teun Koopmeiners, who was smashing in goals for Atalanta this season, has also been ruled out through injury. Jeremie Frimpong could be one to keep an eye on, if Koeman throws a little more caution to the wind.
HOW THEY GOT THERE: In his second spell following a brief stint at Barcelona, Koeman navigated his country past Ireland and Greece to take second behind France, but they lost twice to Les Bleus, and finished four points behind them.
HOW WILL THEY DO: News of a group stage pairing with their qualification rivals will have been cause for a headache and they are no closer to getting a handle on Mbappe and co. Poland and Austria are steady operators, but second place in Group D will meet second from Group E (likely to be Slovakia, Romania or Ukraine), and that could be a blessing in disguise.
BEST BET: The structure of the knockout stage bracket means the Netherlands could be given a helping hand. However, there could be value in backing Koeman’s side not to reach the knockout stages.
NETHERLANDS EURO 2024 FIXTURES
Group D
Sunday, Jun 16: Poland v Netherlands, 2pm (Volksparkstadion, Hamburg)
Friday, Jun 21: Netherlands v France 8pm (Leipzig Arena, Leipzig)
Tuesday, Jun 25: Netherlands v Austria 5pm (Olympiastadion, Berlin)
NETHERLANDS EURO 2024 SQUAD
- GOALKEEPERS: Bart Verbruggen, Mark Flekken, Nick Olij, Justin Bijlow.
- DEFENDERS: Virgil van Dijk, Stefan de Vrij, Mickey van de Ven, Daley Blind, Matthijs de Ligt, Nathan Ake, Denzel Dumfries, Lutsharel Geertruida, Jeremie Frimpong.
- MIDFIELDERS: Ryan Gravenberch, Tijjani Reijnders, Xavi Simons, Joey Veerman, Jerdy Schouten, Gini Wijnaldum, Ian Maatsen.
- FORWARDS: Steven Bergwijn, Memphis Depay, Joshua Zirkzee, Wout Weghorst, Donyell Malen, Cody Gakpo.
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