Two players from Manchester United have been excluded from the Netherlands’ preliminary squad in anticipation of their Nations League matches against Spain, prompting a critical evaluation from Ronald Koeman regarding one of the players.
The Netherlands is set to face Spain in the quarter-finals of the Nations League next week, with the matches scheduled for Thursday, March 20, and Sunday, March 23.
National team managers, including England’s Thomas Tuchel, will announce their squads for the upcoming international break at various times throughout this week.
Koeman has already finalized his preliminary squad, which notably lacks two key players.
The Manchester United duo, Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee, have both been omitted from Koeman’s 25-man roster.
And speaking to Studio Voetbal, Koeman was particularly scathing when explaining why Zirkzee was left out.
“He wasn’t in the preliminary selection because I don’t think he’s good enough at the moment,” said Koeman. “Especially scanning when turning or passing often goes wrong.
“Yes, in principle, form and fitness are always leading, but that is not always possible. We have a lot of central defenders and midfielders, but we are somewhat limited up front.
“But even then, I still think that you have to earn your selection, and I think he doesn’t deserve that now, but that could be the case again in another period.”
The six forwards chosen prior to Zirkzee are Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth), Brian Brobbey (Ajax), Memphis Depay (Corinthians), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Noa Lang (PSV Eindhoven), and Donyell Malen (Aston Villa).
Zirkzee made his senior debut for the Netherlands during Euro 2024 and has been included in every subsequent squad.
On the other hand, De Ligt has experienced his first significant exclusion since his debut for the Dutch national team in 2017. The only other instances of De Ligt’s absence were due to injuries or fitness issues.