Ronald Koeman spoke with Memphis Depay after his delayed arrival with the Dutch national team due to his stolen passport. The coach reiterated on Wednesday that the 31-year-old striker will not start against Malta on Thursday, even if he had arrived on time.
“Memphis played twenty minutes for Corinthians last weekend after being injured for a while. He’s just back. So he wouldn’t have started against Malta anyway,” Koeman said Wednesday at a press conference in the National Stadium in Ta’ Qali.
Thanks to an emergency document, Memphis was able to travel to the Netherlands on Tuesday, but he missed two training sessions with the Dutch team. On Wednesday, he was on the training field in Zeist for the first time, after which he flew to Malta with the squad.
“Of course, I spoke with Memphis for a bit,” Koeman said. “But I don’t think any jokes were made about passports.”
Frenkie de Jong, who sat next to Koeman at the press conference, confirmed this. “I did talk to Memphis about it. But ultimately, there’s little he can do about it.”
Weghorst or Malen starts as striker
The big question is who will start as striker against Malta on Thursday. Mexx Meerdink dropped out of the Dutch team on Tuesday with a major injury. The two remaining options are Wout Weghorst and Donyell Malen, who both perform better as substitutes in the Dutch team.
The contrast is certainly great with Malen. He has scored eleven times for the Dutch team, but only once as a starter. “But I also see Memphis as a starter,” Koeman said when confronted with those figures. “You can see that Donyell has been very good at Aston Villa in recent weeks when he plays more centrally and gets space.” Yet Koeman did not want to say whether Malen would actually start.
In June, the Dutch team also played against Malta and won 8-0 in Groningen – partly due to two goals from substitute Malen. Yet Koeman does not automatically expect another big result. “We have to take three points. That’s the most important thing. And play well, with a lot of intensity. And if possible, score a lot of goals.”