Ronald Koeman’s Dutch departure is a betrayal to his national team

Last week, when it was announced that Ronald Koeman had decided to leave the role of the manager of the Dutch national team to take charge of FC Barcelona, I was livid. Here was a coach who had taken a team that had reached the bottom of the rubbish pile and restored it to the very top. As soon as his ‘dream’ job came up, off he went. Koeman didn’t even take the Netherlands to a major tournament.

I could say that my anger has worn off slightly, that maybe I have taken a step back and now have a more considered view of the situation. Unfortunately, that’s not true. I am still livid.

I still fail to see how a club job could in any way trump managing your country. In the past Rinus Michels and Vicente Del Bosque, amongst others, have waited until the end of their careers, when they have reached their zenith, to take over their national team. In the present day, the same will I’m sure happen with Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola—it’s the fulfilment of a life’s work, but apparently below the ‘great’ Koeman.

Unfortunately, part of the reason that I was so disgruntled by this turn of events was due to the fact that Koeman, when in charge of my beloved national team, was indeed great. Over the past two and a half years, he has truly transformed a team that was in the doldrums of international football. He has helped us qualify for a major tournament, something that was beyond any manager since Louis Van Gaal in 2014 and took us to the final of the Nations League, beating France and Germany along the way.

Koeman’s reign coincided with the arrival of the players of that great Ajax team

In some ways, you could say he has been lucky, as his reign coincided with the arrival of the players of that great Ajax team of 2018-19 onto the world stage, with Matthijs De Ligt and Frenkie De Jong particularly having a massive impact. Virgil Van Dijk, during his tenure, has also moved from Southampton to Liverpool and duly become the best centre back in the world and the national team’s captain. Koeman has undoubtedly been helped along the way.

However, as is the case with most sides, you cannot just have great players to have a great team. Koeman has fostered a Dutch team that, for once, has an incredible team spirit, an extreme rarity when you consider the many scuffles of Dutch teams in the past. Every photo that came out of the Dutch camp seemed to be full of smiles, every video showed the togetherness of the group, a great example being the hugs and claps that met Wijnaldum and Van Dijk’s arrival after a victorious Champions League campaign.

Another trait of a great national team manager is how they construct their team, how they use the tools that are available to them in the short time they are allowed with the players. Koeman has utilised this time to the maximum. Very soon into his tenure as national coach, one of the keys to Koeman’s success was how well he set out what would very firmly be his first team.

A solid centre back pairing of two of the best in the world, De Ligt and Van Dijk, was set up very quickly and has beautifully matured as a partnership, with Stefan De Vrij patiently and perhaps slightly unfairly waiting in the wings, considering his form for Inter Milan. Frenkie De Jong has been consistently played in his best position, bringing the ball out of defence and building attacks, making him perhaps the most important player in the team. Koeman’s decision to pair De Jong with the more conservative Marten De Roon has also paid dividends, as he has shunned the more attacking Donny Van de Beek in favour of defensive solidity.

Koeman has been such that he was one of Depay’s most regular confidents

The most dramatic change, however, has been seen in the case of Memphis Depay, whose relationship with Koeman has been such that he was one of Depay’s most regular confidents during his recent ACL injury. Previously a tricky winger, Depay now carries the Dutch attacking force on his shoulders as a central striker, helping to link play but also finishing off the majority of chances. A player previously on the periphery had more goal contributions than he had games under Koeman, highlighting his improvement.

So, what now? Although Koeman was perhaps a contributing factor to the team spirit, it cannot be said that this will be completely lost now that he has gone. The players, unlike myself, seem to recognise that this was Koeman’s dream, and have all offered him a warm farewell. This spirit, however, along with the team’s perfect tactical balance, could all be gone very rapidly should the wrong choice of manager be made.

Who will take over from Koeman appears to be something of unknown amongst the footballing world. It is surely a very attractive position, but there are not many managers around at the moment available to fill it. Rather surprisingly, the current favourite is Arsene Wenger, someone I believe could in fact be a masterstroke. He is a coach who would continue the style of play instilled by Koeman, whilst also improving the team’s attacking output, something that has been one of their weaknesses over the past few years. Erik Ten Hag, the Ajax manager and the perfect tactician for the job, has already ruled himself out.

De Boer’s appointment would be a death knell for any hope of success

Unfortunately, the most likely option at the moment appears to be Frank De Boer, something that would be a death knell for any hope of success in the near future, in my opinion. Not only has De Boer failed dramatically at Crystal Palace, Inter Milan and Atlanta United, one of the key factors in his demise has been an inability to foster good team spirit. It is therefore pretty clear that he is the opposite of what the Netherlands need at the moment.

One option could realistically be, considering the Messi situation at Barcelona, a return of Ronald Koeman. Should the president Josep Bartomeu be forced out, it has been made pretty clear that Koeman will follow him. If he chooses to go back to the Netherlands, I would certainly welcome him back with open arms.

For the moment, however, the situation is a complete unknown. We can but hope that the days of embarrassing and dominating the two previous world champions will come back again, and this great team can realise its potential and bring a trophy back to Dutch soil.