The European Championship in Switzerland has turned into a disappointment for the Dutch team due to their elimination in the group stage. This outcome was already predictable due to the timing of Andries Jonker’s announced departure and the rifts between the national coach and players.
Jonker kept his lips tightly sealed on Sunday evening after the elimination at the European Championship when asked about the influence of the KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association) approach on the team. “I have resolved that it is wise not to say anything about the KNVB today,” he said at the press conference.
It was the umpteenth time that the strained relationship between Jonker and the KNVB became clearly visible. Since it was announced in January that he would have to leave as national coach after the European Championship, things had been rumbling between the two parties, with the players as the third party. It was therefore not a question of whether the European Championship would fail, but in what way.
Jonker must have sensed this in January when the KNVB informed him that his expiring contract would not be extended. The Dutch team had just played perhaps their best match ever, against the world number one, the United States. It was a boost for Jonker towards the European Championship, but that boost was nipped in the bud.
Jonker became easy target
Jonker hoped to clear the air with a media moment shortly after the news about his departure, but the KNVB put a stop to that at the last moment. Because KNVB director of top football Nigel de Jong came up with a confusing and superficial explanation, Jonker became an easy target.
There was a lot of speculation, while the national coach was bound hand and foot. In the interviews, it became crystal clear that Jonker was not allowed to talk about the reason for his departure by the football association.
With a view to the European Championship, the KNVB could have provided more clarity. Now the football association saddled Jonker with an impossible mission: to have a good European Championship knowing that his upcoming departure would influence the relationship between a coach and his players.
When Louis van Gaal emphasized this on Friday and stated that Jonker had been abandoned by the KNVB, Jonker responded meaningfully: “Van Gaal is someone who sees things extremely well.” It was not the only time that venom and incomprehension could be observed in Jonker’s answers.
Jonker dropped a bombshell before European Championship
That venom may also have been due to the fact that his players never collectively supported him. They denied that Jonker’s departure was applauded from the players’ group. But the fact is that to this day, no one has stood firmly behind Jonker.
Moreover, in recent months there have been clear signals that the chemistry between the group and Jonker had worn off. The Dutch team did not act as a team in the Nations League, won with difficulty against weak countries such as Austria and Scotland, and were crushed in Germany (4-0).
That match in Germany made Jonker think again about whether he was still the right man in the right place. He said this two days before the first European Championship match in the NOS Voetbalpodcast. With that statement, he laid a bombshell under this European Championship, which meant that in the 48 hours before the first group match, it was only about peripheral matters and not about football.
Dutch team was not a collective
Jonker should have known better. But the KNVB can also be blamed for allowing the national coach to express doubts about his continuation two days before the start of the European Championship.
Jonker stated that his statement was intended as a trick to affect the players, but it backfired. Certainly when he was provoked by a remark about “a puppet show” and lashed out at a journalist from De Telegraaf. It caused increasing amazement far beyond the national borders.
Moreover, the trick did not lead to success on the field. The first match was won against European Championship debutant Wales (3-0), but the Dutch team had no chance against England (0-4) and France (2-5). The Netherlands even had to concede nine goals against the top countries.
It was partly the result of a lack of quality, with older players who were insufficiently fit and young players who could not yet carry the Dutch team. But in recent months, Jonker did not succeed in getting his team to play as a close-knit collective, in order to camouflage the (mainly defensive) weaknesses.
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More and more rifts between coach and players
The question is to what extent that plan was even there. Lynn Wilms noted a lack of fixed patterns in the Dutch team after the match with France. Jonker experimented with all kinds of formations towards the European Championship, but played 4-3-3 as usual at the European Championship. This wasted valuable practice time.
It became increasingly clear how far apart the players and Jonker were. For example, Spitse – while sitting next to Jonker at a press conference – questioned the national coach’s podcast appearance. And after the humiliation against England, Daniëlle van de Donk caused unrest by saying that she was fit enough to start, a reading that was at odds with Jonker’s. There were more painful remarks about Jonker.
Just before the European Championship, he made another attempt to mend the bond with his team by having the players jointly sign an Orange shirt as a sign of unity. It turned out to be a straw that Jonker clung to in vain.
Focus was on peripheral matters due to KNVB
Players pushed the boundaries, as was evident when Wieke Kaptein complained about her reserve role after the match with France. She could say it now because she already knew that Jonker would be replaced by Arjan Veurink after the European Championship.
The KNVB should also have acted differently around his appointment. By announcing it in April, players had to answer questions about their new national coach, against whom they would even play at the European Championship.
Of course, Jonker played an important role in the Dutch team’s demasqué at the European Championship. At the same time, the KNVB did not create the ideal conditions for performing. This European Championship was therefore doomed to fail.