Valentijn Driessen was stunned by the Netherlands' first half against Greece, he said on the Kick-off podcast of De Telegraaf. The football editor-in-chief blamed Xavi's decision to start Quinten Timber and Guus Til.
Both had a miserable first half in Greece. The Netherlands trailed 2-0 at the break and Xavi acted straight away, hauling the pair off at half-time.
“Yes, nice substitutes. But not for the starting XI, not even against Greece,” is Driessen's brutal verdict on Timber and Til, who he believes also pulled Joey Veerman down with them. “Veerman also went under because of that, because he was more or less on his own in midfield.”
“Xavi says: ‘Attack the spaces’. So wherever there is space, that’s where Til goes. So he’s gone. And Timber is running around that midfield a bit like a headless chicken. Yes, he just runs everywhere. Whether it’s right or wrong. Then you are letting the rest of your midfield down as well.”
“Those three in midfield are simply no good at all. In the end they are still being spared, because the whole team was guilty. I do understand that, but it is simply quality.”
He then points to the clear improvement in the second half, when Ryan Gravenberch and Tijjani Reijnders came into the side. “Gravenberch is simply one of the best midfielders we have and Reijnders has actually always done well too. If you then leave them out because of one or two lesser matches, then you see the consequences.”
“Now you can see how good Gravenberch and Reijnders are when you compare them to those who played in the first half,” Mike Verweij adds. “They came on really well. Just like Noa Lang, by the way.”