Rotterdam | Veerman criticized despite strong comeback: 'Sometimes a teammate plays in as well'

Former PSV player Joey Veerman is back with Oranje after two years. Against Serbia, the midfielder was once again in the starting lineup.

Against Germany, Veerman still had to make do with a place on the bench, but after an hour, Xavi Hernandez brought on the former PSV player for Quinten Timber. There, the Volendam native managed to make a good impression, and that earned him a starting place last Sunday in Belgrade.

There stood Veerman at the foundation of the 1-2 by Mexx Meerdink. The current player of Borussia Dortmund had a great pass in his locker for PSV midfielder Guus Til, which therefore was good for the winning assist to Meerdink.

Despite the strong return of Veerman to the Dutch national team, Feyenoord icon Willem van Hanegem is a good deal more critical. Van Hanegem makes that clear in his column for Algemeen Dagblad.

De Kromme finds a stumbling block in the midfield of Oranje. ''Tijjani Reijnders doesn't have the form he had in the past. It seems as though he wants to show that everything is just as fine in Saudi Arabia as well. But in these internationals that hasn't worked out. Ryan Gravenberch is a remarkable player. An enormous talent at Ajax, then a few years out of sight, a great season at Liverpool and now again looking for his way,'' Van Hanegem is of the opinion.

After that, the former midfielder addresses Veerman. ''And Joey Veerman sometimes plays a pass to a teammate, yes. Is that allowed? Stop now and pretending right away that he is now going to make the difference. I can see Veerman simply giving away passes too, right? And what also strikes me: he often doesn't even seem to see where his opponents are coming from, when he has time and when he doesn't'', De Kromme said.