Doubts about playing in the Orange? “I can taste it a little.”

Since his switch on a loan basis from Aston Villa to AS Roma, former PSV striker Donyell Malen has fully blossomed. Last weekend, Malen scored two goals for AS Roma in the match against Parma, which they won 2-3 away.

Thanks in part to these two strikes, AS Roma is still very much in the running for a spot in the Champions League, and it also fuels the debate about who should be starting in attack for the Netherlands at the upcoming World Cup. As a rule, national coach Ronald Koeman will choose Memphis Depay, provided he is completely fit.

According to René van der Gijp, it is clear who should be in the number 9 role up front for Oranje next summer. ''Now Malen'', says the former PSV footballer with certainty on Vandaag Inside.

Table companion Johan Derksen, however, thinks that Koeman has doubts about Malen. ''In some way, he doesn't have confidence in him. I can feel that a bit. I think Koeman always acts a bit confused about Malen. But he doesn't see it happening'', says the bearded analyst.

According to Van der Gijp, Koeman's job is to put the players who are in form in the starting lineup during the World Cup. ''As national team coach you have only one assignment, and that is to field the players who are in form in your team. If De Jong is in form, you put him in. If Gravenberch is in form, you put him in. If Reijnders is less in form and is sitting on the bench more often at City, you put someone else in,'' Gijp said.

After that, Derksen says he no longer has any confidence in Memphis Depay and Van der Gijp thinks that Memphis must be completely fit. ''His downside is that if he isn't one hundred percent fit, he's going to do the craziest and toughest things. Then he wants to turn away between three men. When he's in form, he lets the ball drop and keeps going. But you should definitely put Malen in the striker position, one hundred percent. He's in form. He hasn't been this good yet,'' concludes the Dordrecht analyst.