Former world-class striker Ronald Koeman dissects: “This is not Dutch identity.”
1 min readIt will not have escaped anyone in the Netherlands that the Netherlands national team has been eliminated at the 2026 World Cup due to Morocco. In the end, Ronald Koeman's side had to bow after penalties to the Atlas Lions.
Moreover, Koeman was torn apart in both Dutch and foreign media following the fact that the national coach decided to play against the Moroccans with five defenders. Even former world striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with Sweden active at the 2002 World Cup, 2004 European Championship, 2006 World Cup, 2008 European Championship, 2012 European Championship and 2016 European Championship, is not pleased with the way Oranje handed the match over against Morocco.
In particular, the Swede points to former PSV coach and, at the same time, national team coach of the Netherlands Ronald Koeman. ''This defeat is Koeman's fault, because I didn't recognize this Dutch national team. He lost with an identity that is not the Dutch identity. That makes me angry. I was always taught: attack, attack, attack. This is not the Dutch identity,'' says Ibrahimovic on the American broadcaster FOX Sports.
According to the former striker, during the match Koeman had more of an Italian coach about him. ''Koeman looked today like an Italian coach, playing not to lose, whereas the Netherlands always plays to win. If you lose, at least lose with your own identity and don’t change it'', the Swede believes.
According to Ibrahimovic, this also was not the Netherlands that the football world knows. ''This was not the Netherlands that I'm used to seeing. You can also tell from the way they played that they didn't feel comfortable. The ball possession was gone, the attacking football was gone... It just looked really bad, and it was all down to Koeman. I thought it was absolutely nothing, really nothing'', concludes the former world footballer.
Comments4
"Koeman leek vandaag wel een Italiaanse coach" ja lekker, maar dan wel met een team dat niet weet wat het moet doen als de druk komt. Je zag het aan de lichaamstaal, ze waren niet comfortabel. Daar kan Koeman dus wel degelijk voor verantwoordelijk zijn, sorry.
The funniest part is Zlatan saying Koeman looked like an Italian coach. tbh het probleem is niet alleen de formatie, maar dat ze structureel geen gevaar konden maken en achterin gingen schuilen. Als het balbezit weg is, ben je al te laat.
Ibrahimovic heeft een punt. "Dit is niet de Nederlandse identiteit" klinkt overdreven, maar je zag gewoon dat Oranje niet durfde. Dat is frustrerend als je altijd leert dat je moet aanvallen, aanvallen, aanvallen.
Koeman met vijf verdedigers tegen Marokko was echt anti-PSV mindset. Als je possession kwijt bent en je aanvallende spel verdwijnt, dan klopt je plan gewoon niet.