During the recent international match, the Netherlands faced preparation matches against Scotland and Germany in the run-up to the European Championship. Strikingly, for the first time in no less than 12 years, there was no representation of Ajax players in the national team, while the club is usually an important source of talent. The disappointing performance of the current season is the reason for this. Ajax has disappointingly worked its way up to fifth place and was even at the bottom for a while.
Despite previous caps for the Dutch national team from players such as Brian Brobbey, Kenneth Taylor, Devyne Rensch, Jorrell Hato, Steven Bergwijn and Steven Berghuis, it remains doubtful whether they will play a role in the European Championship. The most promising candidates seem to be Brian Brobbey and Steven Bergwijn, especially given the limited options in the forward line, with often injured players such as Memphis Depay (Atlético Madrid), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Donyell Malen (Borussia Dortmund), Wout Weghorst ( Hoffenheim) and Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig).
Instead of Ajax, Feyenoord and National champion PSV will be suppliers for players with Feyenoord bringing in Geertruida, Wieffer and Quinten Timber and PSV bringing in Schouten and Veerman.
The defense with players like Virgil van Dijk and Nathan Aké and the midfield with Frenkie de Jong seem to be reserved for players with more experience and who are mostly active in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A. Although, Wieffer, Veerman and Geertruida already have made quite some appearances in the past couple of months.
With the tournament only being 5 weeks away from now, we will know soon enough what Ronald Koeman will come up with and if some Ajax players will be part of his plan to win the Euros 2024.
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