Soccer-Passing master De Jong is heartbeat of Dutch team

AFC Ajax NV

04/06/2024 03:00

By Mark Gleeson
       June 4 (Reuters) - Frenkie de Jong is the heartbeat of
the Netherlands team, the passing master whose acumen in
midfield is key to their hopes of success at this month's
European Championship in Germany.
    A freak ankle injury playing for Barcelona against Real
Madrid in April means there is concern over what condition he
will be in when the Dutch open their Group D campaign against
Poland in Hamburg on June 16.
    However, coach Ronald Koeman has expressed confidence that
his playmaker will be ready on time.
    With his boyish charm, De Jong still looks like the
precocious 21-year-old who made a storming international debut
six years ago as a substitute against Peru, setting up a goal
and scoring the winner in a friendly in Amsterdam.
    He barely missed a Netherlands match after that until last
September when he made the most recent of his 54 appearances.
    Ankle and knee injuries have kept him out since, serving
only to illustrate Dutch dependence on his role in the midfield.
    There is very little that does not go through De Jong,
fetching and carrying the ball, probing with little runs at
opposing defenders, or passing with finely-tuned accuracy.
    He has always had unerring composure on the ball and the
ability to break opposition lines with his dribbling. 
    He often acts as a deep-lying midfielder, dictating the
tempo of the game, but his versatility is such that he can play
various midfield roles -- as a defensive one, a box-to-box
player, or even contributing higher up the pitch. Koeman once
even had him as a makeshift centre back in the Dutch side.
    But in Germany, if De Jong is fit, Koeman has made it clear
where he will use the 27-year-old. "For me, I think he performs
better playing deeper."
    At the same time, however, the coach is critical of his
conversion rate. "I know Frenkie has a lot of quality as a
player to help build from the back but he has also had to give
the team more offensively. We have talked about this and that he
had to score more goals."
    De Jong came to prominence at Ajax Amsterdam in the 2018-19
season, when they went all the way through from the preliminary
rounds to the Champions League semi-finals.
    Barcelona wasted no time in signing De Jong in an
86-million-euro ($93.50-million) deal and he has been at the
Catalan giants for the past five seasons. A possible move to the
Premier League from next season is the subject of growing
speculation.


($1 = 0.9198 euros)

 (Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Ken Ferris)
 ((mark.gleeson@thomsonreuters.com; +27828257807; Reuters
Messaging: mark.gleeson.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))