Xavi's press conferences are no great watch just yet, was the verdict on Monday on Voetbalpraat. Willem Vissers even longs for the days when Louis van Gaal was in charge of the Netherlands national team.
"If you're a bit older, you long again for press conferences with Van Gaal, who had a terrific answer to every question," Vissers says in his analysis of the Spanish coach's press conference on Monday.
Colleague Sjoerd Mossou agrees. "It will be hard work for the press as well," he adds. "This man simply answers very politely. In buzzwords. It basically comes down to Xavi liking Dutch directness, as long as he does not have to join in with it himself."
Mossou also has doubts about the squad Xavi has put together. "If you look purely at the squad... This could also have been the squad of Aad de Mos, Dick Advocaat or Kenneth Perez. It is a sort of middle way. From his squad policy and presentation, you can still infer very little."
Kenneth Perez believes Xavi could have made a statement straight away. "Leaving out Van Dijk would have been the biggest one. All the other choices were a bit neither here nor there and not really hugely important players for the Netherlands national team."
Xavi recently held lengthy talks with Van Dijk about his future with the Netherlands. The centre-back will continue as an international and keep the captain's armband.