Only two Eredivisie players have made it into Ronald Koeman’s 26-man squad for this summer’s World Cup finals.
Utility player Guus Til is the only member of PSV’s championship-winning squad to make the cut, along with veteran striker Wout Weghorst of Ajax, who is likely to be used as an impact substitute.
But there is no place for AZ’s highly-rated teenage midfielder Kees Smit or Luciano Valente, who was one of the standout players in Robin van Persie’s Feyenoord side that finished runners-up to PSV.
Oranje kick off their World Cup campaign on June 14 against Japan, who well almost certainly have more Dutch-based players on the pitch than their opponents. The five Eredivisie-based members of their squad include the league’s top scorer, Ayase Ueda of Feyenoord, and Koki Ogawa of NEC Nijmegen.
Their other group stage opponents are Sweden and Tunisia.
Koeman said he had picked Atalanta’s veteran midfielder Marten de Roon, one of the surprise choices in the squad, to balance the squad after PSV’s Jerdy Schouten suffered a cruciate ligament injury in April.
“Too many” injuries
“Ideally I would have taken both [Smit and Valente], but it’s a situation that we have to make choices,” Koeman said at a press conference at the KNVB’s headquarters in Zeist. “After Schouten dropped out we needed a real controlling midfielder and that’s what De Roon is.”
Koeman said “too many” international players were struggling with injuries, leaving him with difficult choices in key positions. Schouten and Xavi Simons have been out of the running since April, while 34-year-old defender Stefan de Vrij was injured in Internazionale’s final league match at the weekend.
Frenkie de Jong only returned to action with Barcelona just over a month ago after a four-week absence, but has yet to play a full 90 minutes.
All-time record goalscorer Memphis Depay is included despite being sidelined at his Brazilian club Corinthians for the last two months with a thigh injury. Depay will be aiming to play in his third World Cup, after scoring his first international goal in 2014 against Chile.
Half from Premier League
Former Ajax striker Brian Brobbey has recovered from a groin strain at Sunderland and will link up with his former team-mate Weghorst, while Arsenal defender Jurriën Timber has been out for the last two months with the same complaint but is hoping to play a part in the Champions League final at the weekend.
Timber’s twin brother, Quinten, who plays in midfield for Marseille, also makes the squad. They are the third set of Dutch twins to go to the World Cup, after Willy and René van de Kerkhof in 1978 and Frank and Ronald de Boer in the 1990s.
Three members of Arne Slot’s Liverpool team are in the squad: Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch, but not right-sided player Jeremie Frimpong. Koeman said he had preferred Brighton’s Mats Wieffer for the right-back slot: “I think he’s played in that position for Brighton all season and done it very well.”
Wieffer is joined by two other Brighton players, Jan Paul van Hecke and goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, in a squad with 14 English Premier League players altogether.
Summerville surprise
A surprise inclusion is West Ham’s uncapped winger Crysensio Summerville, who Koeman said had had an excellent season despite his team being relegated from the Premier League.
“I wanted to select him in March, but he wasn’t fit,” the coach said. “We have a lot of players who can play on the left flank, but he’s shown that he can also play on the right and his work ethic is very good.”
Koeman, who is stepping down after the tournament, said he was looking forward to the matches, but tempered expectations about the team’s chances of success. “I realise a lot of things will have to go our way if we’re to go far,” he said.
The squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Mark Flekken (Bayer Leverkusen), Robin Roefs (Sunderland), Bart Verbruggen (Brighton)
Defenders: Nathan Aké (Manchester City), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Denzel Dumfries (Internazionale), Jorrel Hato (Chelsea), Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton), Jurrien Timber (Arsenal), Micky van de Ven (Tottenham), Mats Wieffer (Brighton)
Midfielders: Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), Teun Koopmeiners (Juventus), Tijjani Reinders (Manchester City), Marten de Roon (Atalanta), Guus Til (PSV), Quinten Timber (Marseille)
Forwards: Brian Brobbey (Sunderland), Memphis Depay (Corinthians), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth), Noa Lang (Napoli/Galatasaray), Donyell Malen (Roma), Crysensio Summerville (West Ham), Wout Weghorst (Ajax)
