Football luminaries Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry have attacked Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman, holding him responsible for the Netherlands’ game against Morocco, accusing him of abandoning his Dutch identity and playing the game in an attempt not to lose.
The duo, speaking on Fox Soccer in the US, hailed the African team as they won on penalties after Issa Diop’s stoppage-time equalizer canceled out Cody Gakpo’s earlier emotional goal.
Ibrahimovic, who played for Ajax in the Eredivise and played under Koeman, said he was “angry” by his tactics. Although it was a nail-biting contest that was ultimately decided by penalties, the Dutch, who scored an equal tournament record of 10 goals in the group stage, gave up 70% of possession to Morocco, reducing their 356 passes to 780.
“They taught me to attack, attack, and that’s not their personality,” he fumed.
“Today they don’t play with their identity. And Koeman today looks like an Italian coach who doesn’t play to lose. When the Dutch team plays, they play to win.”
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“If you’re going to lose, at least you’re going to lose with your identity. You don’t change it. And this is not the Netherlands that I’m used to seeing, and you can see how they play. They’re not even comfortable. They don’t feel good. And there’s no possession. There’s no offensive part there. And it looks so bad, and it’s all on Koeman.”
“So I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.”
Henry, sitting next to him, was shocked at how Koeman had adapted his formation to a 5-4-1.
“You take a midfielder to bring in a defender. So, you told us that technically you’re afraid of Morocco, and by the way, that’s normal the way you do it. If you win, you’re right. And if you don’t, you’re wrong.”
“That’s how it is. But I was very surprised by it because that’s not how the Dutch team usually plays.”
“But he clearly thought about it differently.”
Henry also paid tribute to Morocco.
“I didn’t put them on dark horses. Because they are a team that can actually go all the way. We’ll see what happens. But they tried to play, they tried to attack, they dealt with counter-attacks… they reacted well, they were patient,” he said.
Ibrahimovic added that the best team won and that the African country can at least repeat its performance in the 2022 semi-finals.
“They showed no fear towards the Netherlands,” he assessed.
“They controlled the game, although the Netherlands allowed them to control the situation and they didn’t play with their identity. It’s always sad to see someone lose.”
“But I think this loss lies with Koeman because I didn’t recognize this Dutch team and he lost with an identity that is not a Dutch identity.
“And that makes me angry. Play with your personality and always try with it. That’s who you are. That’s who you represent. You came to the United States to represent who you are.”