Ronald Koeman raves at press conference: ‘He is simply complete’
Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 7:34 PM
National coach Ronald Koeman is extremely complimentary of Tijjani Reijnders. The midfielder played ninety minutes against France last Friday (1-2 loss) in the European Championship qualifying. Koeman was impressed by his performance and the national coach was also very positive on Sunday.
At the press conference in Athens, Koeman is asked what it takes to develop more modern footballers like Reijnders. “A good education. I was not born fast, so I would never have been a Reijnders in midfield,” says the national coach with a laugh.
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“You have certain qualities. That could be insight, speed… But he is just complete. He runs easily, his condition is very good. On the ball, he has insight. In midfield in contemporary football you have to be very complete. If you are not, you have to be so good in possession of the ball that a trainer always chooses you.”
Koeman believes that Reijnders has already reached his current level at AZ, the club he left for AC Milan last summer. “We saw him in midfield with Clasie and you could already see that he has a number of qualities as a midfielder.”
“He can distribute the game, he defends, but also has the ability to go deep at the right time. Against France he was the best and most dangerous attacker in the first half hour. So he can play in several positions.”
The chance that Reijnders will also kick off in Athens seems very high. The 25-year-old Zwolle native has played three times for the Dutch team so far. Reijnders made his debut for the Dutch national team against Greece.
Against the Greeks, who were sent home 3-0 in July, and against Ireland, Reijnders started as a reserve. He was allowed to show it from the start against France. Partly due to the absence of Frenkie de Jong, Reijnders formed a central couple with Joey Veerman.
2023-10-15 21:52:00
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