Henk Spaan cannot understand why Ronald Koeman was sent off in the friendly match against Germany on Tuesday evening with the order to eliminate. The veteran of Real Madrid made a strong return to the national team a few days earlier against France, but according to Spaan the big standout is with the Germans. The columnist even expects that Bayer Leverkusen’s trendsetter will make the host country European champion.
Koeman made a number of changes for the meeting with Germany compared to the showdown with Scotland a few days earlier. Although Reijnders retained his starting position, he was positioned in a slightly more attacking position than in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Quite striking, because the AC Milan midfielder was the big star for the Dutch team against the Scots. With a goal and an assist, he played a major role in the flattering 4-0 victory. In and against Germany, Reijnders featured less and that cannot be seen separately from his assignment to try to keep Kroos out of the match.
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At least that’s what Spaan thinks. “We have to eliminate Kroos’, had been the mantra in Koeman’s headquarters. ‘You know what? We put Reijnders on Kroos’, said Columbus’s egg”Spaan writes in his column Spaan gives points in Het Parool. “Koeman tapped an egg at the bottom and placed it upright. It stood still. “This is how you eliminate Kroos,” he said to Tijjani. Devastated with nerves, the star against Scotland entered the dead grass of Frankfurt. What did the coach mean? During the competition, Reijnders asked everyone where Columbus’ egg was located. He even bothered Germans with it. They laughed at him.”
According to Spaan, the Dutch team was so busy with Kroos that the real star for Germany could happily go about his business. “Then he (Reijnders, ed.) turned again to his mentor and teacher Virgil van Dijk. He shrugged his shoulders. You should go to Koeman. The Dutch were so busy with Kroos that no one had an eye for Wirtz, the monster created by Xavi Alonso who will make Germany European champion. Not Kroos”, says Spaan. Wirtz was known as a great talent for years, but this season he has become one of the best players in the Bundesliga and the national team. After 36 games in all competitions for Bayer this season, the tally stands at eleven goals and no fewer than seventeen assists.
Promising duo with Jamal Musiala
Spaan already wrote praising words about Wirtz a few days earlier, after his performance in the practice cracker against France. “Of course Reijnders played an excellent international match, but the king of the weekend was the German midfielder Wirtz. Because I don’t follow the Bundesliga as closely as other leagues, I hadn’t noticed Wirtz’s ultra class yet. Deschamps’ introduction of Camavinga to curb him was far too late”wrote Spaan, who saw Wirtz brilliantly open the scoring after just a few seconds. “The Wirtz-Musiala duo, supported by Kroos behind them, can make any team win any tournament. It is not only Germans who suddenly label Germany as a favorite for the European Championship. Playing with the two numbers ten Musiala and Wirtz required tactical answers that Deschamps could not provide.”
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