NOS analyst raises doubts about the appointment of Xavi and points to Bosz: “Four years in the cupboard”

The appointment of Xavi Hernandez as head coach of the Netherlands national team does not sit well with NOS analyst Pierre van Hooijdonk. In addition, Van Hooijdonk is also not pleased with the fact that Xavi has signed up until the 2030 World Cup and therefore sees negative consequences for current PSV coach Peter Bosz.

This lets the analyst know in conversation with NOS. ''We currently have very good Dutch coaches, who were actually available as well. Six months ago they certainly were, and you can see that now,'' says the former footballer, who among others played for Feyenoord and NAC Breda.

After that, Van Hooijdonk goes into the fact that Xavi has signed a four-year contract. According to the analyst, it would have been better to stick with two years.

''Also yet another four-year contract. That means you have a Peter Bosz, an Erik ten Hag—who put them in the cupboard for four years. Why? A two-year contract would have been fine, and then you can also find out whether you can work with Ten Hag or Bosz, and then you have a well-regarded Dutch coach at the helm of the KNVB,'' continues the former pro.

For a long time, it seemed as though former PSV player Michael Reiziger, the current national team coach of Jong Oranje, was the obvious candidate to succeed Ronald Koeman. Van Hooijdonk also thinks that the KNVB would have preferred to appoint Reiziger and believes, for a special reason, that the football association nevertheless decided against it.

''I actually think that people would have preferred to go into business with Michael Reiziger and that it eventually ran up against too much resistance. Which is why you ended up with Xavi. In the entire preliminary phase, his name was mentioned nowhere, and that has nothing to do with keeping things secret. Xavi was part of the group of coaches who still had no job, and that isn’t out of luxury'', according to the analyst.