Soccer

Netherlands’ Steven Bergwijn hits back after Koeman criticises move to Saudi Arabia

New Manchester United signing Matthijs de Ligt to be given new chance with Netherlands national team after being sidelined at Euro 2024

Netherland's forward Steven Bergwijn (left) fighting for the ball with France's defender Malo Gusto during a Euro 2024 qualifying match in Amsterdam on October 13th, 2023. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP
Fri Sept 06 2024 - 19:44

Netherlands international Steven Bergwijn has hit back at coach Ronald Koeman after being told his move to Saudi Arabia would result in him no longer being considered for the Dutch team.

Koeman said earlier this week that Bergwijn’s move from Ajax Amsterdam to Saudi club Al-Ittihad had cost him a place in the Dutch squad for the Nations League clashes against Bosnia & Herzegovina on Saturday and Germany next Tuesday.

“The book is basically closed to him. He knows what I think about this,” Koeman told a press conference on Tuesday. “When you are 26 (years old) your main ambition should be sporting, not financial. These are choices that players make.”

An unhappy Bergwijn, who had a stint at Tottenham Hotspur and has 35 caps for the Netherlands, said he wants nothing more to do with the coach.

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“I am done with someone who deliberately portrays me like that in the media,” he told Dutch daily De Telegraaf on Friday. “That’s not how you treat your own players. The national coach knows very well that the competition in Saudi Arabia is at a great level. Or are you only allowed to take such a step when you are 32?”

Bergwijn said he was surprised by Koeman’s critical statements during the press conference. “If he had been a committed national coach he would have called me first. Then he would have been able to hear my side of the story. Now I had to hear it on TV. How can you say such things without having spoken to me? We have also experienced great moments in the past, but now I am disappointed with him.”

Koeman had another press conference on Friday, ahead of the match against Bosnia, and said he had not read Bergwijn's reaction but conceded it was expected.

“I don’t want to talk about it. It doesn’t affect me at all. I talked about sporting ambition and I don’t think I said much more than that,” Koeman replied to reporters’ questions. “If I had said that I think it was a sporting step, that would have been unbelievable. Let’s not make it bigger than it is. I said something that I back up.”

Meanwhile, defender Matthijs de Ligt is to be given a new chance with the Netherlands national team after being sidelined at Euro 2024. The new Manchester United signing did not get any game time at the tournament in Germany in June-July but looks likely to start against Bosnia & Herzegovina alongside Virgil van Dijk in central defence on Saturday after Stefan de Vrij was left out of the squad.

“When Matthijs called me about the possible move he could make to Manchester United, we also talked about the European Championship,” Koeman said. “I didn’t give Matthijs the nicest message in the run-up to the European Championship, I chose Stefan de Vrij. Now it’s Matthijs’ turn to show it because there are others who can play in that position. It is clear that I would like to see Matthijs reach the level he had before.”

De Ligt, now 25, was only 17 when he made his Dutch debut in 2017 and has won 45 caps for the country, many of them under Koeman when he had his first spell in charge of the national team from early 2018 to late 2019. But since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar he has featured in only five internationals as his club career struggled at Bayern Munich.

Koeman might also consider a first cap for Brighton & Hove Albion centre back Jan Paul van Hecke, who came into the squad as a late injury replacement. “He has been with Brighton for more than a full season now and has made a very mature impression. He makes good choices in possession. That’s nice to see,” Koeman said.

The Nations League matches over the next three months mark the start of a new cycle, said Koeman, culminating in the 2026 World Cup finals in North America. “We have new players and that brings change to the squad. The way we worked this week, makes me very happy.”

Tactically, however, the Dutch would employ the same approach as they did in Germany, the coach added. “With the players who have joined and who will join in the next two years, I think we can continue in the same way. As a team we can put on better high pressure, but that does involve a number of changes. We have worked on that, but it has to be better.”

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024