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Former PSV player lashes out at KNVB: “Conspicuously telling”
Max de KokAugust 6, 2026
Criticism

Former PSV player lashes out at KNVB: “Conspicuously telling”

1 min read

It is still unclear who will become the new national team coach of the Netherlands. Earlier, Peter Bosz, Erik ten Hag and Arne Slot already dropped out, and as a result the KNVB has been without a national team coach since 30 June, when Ronald Koeman announced that he would stop.

Former PSV goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus is anything but pleased with the way the KNVB conducts its policy. Waterreus writes this in his column for the daily newspaper De Limburger.

In this regard, the former goalkeeper points out that the new national team coach should receive support from Dutch football fans. ''As for the still-unknown new national team coach: they of course deserve our support and trust. Go ahead and take on this challenge, knowing that the undisputed first choice was Arne Slot. That certainly doesn't sound like a pleasant welcome for the successor to Ronald Koeman'', begins the former PSV player.

After that, Nigel de Jong gets a slap across the wrist. ''All in all, it comes down to how De Jong carries out policy in Zeist. Or, better: doesn’t carry out any policy. After all, how is it possible that the appointment of the new national team coach has so many strings attached? De Jong could surely have figured out that the last job for Koeman, come what may, would be the past World Cup? Why didn’t he anticipate that much earlier? Why didn’t he, at the beginning of this year, just contact one of the most suitable candidates?'', the seven-time international asks out loud.

Subsequently, Peter Bosz and Erik ten Hag are also mentioned by Waterreus. ''From close up, I know that Peter Bosz would have been creeping towards the Zeist forests, if in January he had received the commitment that he would be the national team coach of Oranje as of this month. Or what about Erik ten Hag, who is now under contract with FC Twente. It can only mean that he would rather have become national team coach than technical director of a club that, outside Overijssel, doesn’t really capture the imagination,'' the former goalkeeper says.

Now it seems that Louis van Gaal and Michael Reiziger are the main candidates to become the new national team coach. According to Waterreus, it is therefore also time that Nigel de Jong takes action.

''It is time for De Jong, who is presumably going to appoint his fifth-best candidate as head coach shortly, to finally show why the KNVB wanted him so badly as 'TD' in 2023. For now, that is a big riddle,'' concludes the native of Limburg.

Comments8

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marieke_v6 Aug, 12:36

"Hoe is het immers mogelijk dat de benoeming... zoveel voeten in aarde heeft?" Echt geen antwoord, alleen meer vertraging. Tbh, KNVB maakt het zichzelf onnodig moeilijk en Reiziger/Van Gaal voelen dan ineens als noodscenario's.

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BIGTOM6 Aug, 10:15

Brengt wel een punt hoor over de Bosz en Ten Hag-lijn, maar ik vind het vooral pijnlijk dat de KNVB steeds doet alsof het nog "onduidelijk" is na al die maanden. Het is nu wachten of Van Gaal of Reiziger het haalt, maar ik zie die keuze nog geen meting winnen. 🙄

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KARL6 Aug, 10:03

"Wat de nog onbekende nieuwe bondscoach betreft: hij of zij verdient natuurlijk onze steun" ja sure, maar dat vertrouwen komt niet gratis. Eerst zes maanden drama en dan willen ze dat iedereen enthousiast instapt? 🤬

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PSV_Sven6 Aug, 09:57

Als je naar Waterreus luistert, klinkt het alsof Slot gewoon het voorkeursplan was en de rest is achteraf geluld. Brengt me op punten, hoe vaak PSV niet het gevoel heeft dat we pas laat serieus genomen worden.

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marieke_v6 Aug, 09:45

"Alleszeggend" inderdaad, geen beleid noemen is nog zacht. Als er al zoveel kandidaten afvallen, dan is het ook gewoon logisch dat supporters afhaken, en dan krijg je dus weer discussie tot aan de benoeming. 🤡

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PSV_Sven6 Aug, 09:20

Waterreus zegt gewoon keihard waar het op staat: hoe verzin je dit selectie circus zo laat? Tbh Nigel de Jong had dit veel eerder moeten anticiperen, zeker als Slot toch de duidelijke eerste keus was.

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Sven V.6 Aug, 09:12

Idk, ik snap de kritiek maar het blijft vooral politiek bij de KNVB. Bosz en Ten Hag hadden allang vast kunnen staan als opties, dat is toch gewoon slecht plannen.

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pieter19856 Aug, 09:05

Waterreus spijkert het wel hoor, KNVB heeft echt te lang gewacht. Die "Alleszeggend" mag van mij ook van toepassing zijn op De Jong z'n communicatie...