Ronald Koeman spoke upon his selection, and specifically spared some thoughts for Joey Veerman. Veerman, a player who struggled at times at this summer’s Euros, recently withdrew from the Nations League squad due to injury complaints following PSV’s match with Go Ahead Eagles.
Speaking more broadly on the midfielder, whose place has been taken by the twice-capped Justin Kluivert, Koeman widened the conversation to that of Veerman’s club career. The national team coach believes Veerman should’ve moved away from the Eredivisie in order to improve:
“Joey is a player who needs to be challenged. I agree with him that it is too easy for him,” Koeman said at his press conference. “Players in the Premier League become stronger because they have to play at full speed every three days. That is not the case in the Netherlands.”
These comments followed after Veerman himself noted that due to the lack of resistance and competition in many Eredivisie matches, he can sometimes become a bit lazy. Koeman continued, “These are players who are so good on the ball that they get more time. For him it would be a much-needed step that he has to take. Otherwise I think we will continue to see this.”
