Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong has come in for criticism from Dutch legend Marco van Basten for his performance for the Netherlands in a 4-0 win last time out.
Van Basten described De Jong as playing
like a “postman” and said he should try and be more like Barcelona team-mate Pedri.
“We expected Frenkie to speed up the game, but he didn’t. I found that disappointing,” he told Ziggo’s ‘Rondo’ program
“De Jong ’s role is to move the ball quickly from back to front, but he barely did that. It’s a shame because he has the vision and qualities to do it. Pedri plays faster and takes more risks in attack; that’s what you expect from Frenkie.”
Ruud Gullit also joined in the debate and feels the national team see a different version of De Jong to his club side. He added: “At Barcelona, De Jong is more productive, but with the national team, everything seems slower.”
De Jong will now return to Barcelona from international duty and is expected to put pen to paper on a new contract with the club on Wednesday.
