What happened to the Orange team under the leadership of national coach Parsons?

“We are happy to be playing in the European Championship next year”

Freesia Cosinho Arias (30 years old) is a broadcaster for ESPN.

“We hate foreign coaches in Holland. In men and women. He must be Dutch. I had to get used to it myself, but it is actually strange, because the national team players often play abroad, under the supervision of foreign coaches.

“It’s been a bit chaotic under Parsons so far. He’s missing some big names and also calling in younger players. These changes do something to the feel of the group.

“I’m not optimistic. We are entering the reform phase. For a long time it has been logical and clear that ‘we’ will reach the European Championship final. We can no longer count on that. We are happy that we will participate in the European Championship next year. We are certainly not among the favourites.”

“There will be a tournament going wrong.”

Ex-football star Leon Stentler (35 years old) regularly joins Studio Sport as an analyst.

„A match like the one against the Czech Republic last Saturday is impossible. It’s a humble team, and you’ll be outdone against a big country. Parsons’ tactics don’t work – yet. The players are not doing what I think he wants them to do. His tactics only worked well against Cyprus. But yes, Cyprus …

“I think Parsons is a very good coach for the club, because he pays a lot of attention to people. But as a coach for a national team, you don’t train twice in a day and you don’t have daily contact with your players. I hope he plays his own role during next summer’s European Championship, when he works with players for a few weeks.

“Still, sooner or later you have to rejuvenate. And there is no perfect time for that. If you do it now, you will ruin the European Championship. If you keep putting in the older successful players, then there will be a problem later. There will be a tournament where things go terribly wrong. It happened. For Germany. That country was great and fell back a lot when a whole generation stopped.”

“I don’t trust that guy at all.”

Johan Dirksen (72 years old) is a sports journalist and football analyst.

Under her leadership, the Dutch women’s team was a well-stocked machine. Then an expensive British-American – a man who had been away from Europe for years and certainly did not know Dutch idiosyncrasies – and no longer worked. So isn’t he to blame? First he wasn’t There, he came too late, because he still has a club in America, and when he’s there, his vision turns out to be very different from Wigman’s. These girls don’t like it. It radiates from their faces.

“KNVB always pats the back: We have the best coach training in the world. Why not hire a Dutchman? Why not push assistant Jessica Tourney forward? What idiot in Zest would decide such a thing? Someone wanted to do ‘something special’?” Now you have a clash of cultures: the Dutch approach football more romantically than their American counterparts.

“How does it turn out? Parsons has a contract, so you can’t get rid of it right away. But I don’t trust that guy at all. All you can do is hope those girls do well so you get some points. If they don’t qualify for the World Cup, There will be panic in the tent.”

“Involve your key player more in your game concept, coach”

Seuss Van Cleef (35) is a football commentator in we along the line She did a talk show on TV during the 2019 World Cup.

“I haven’t seen any progress in the women’s team in recent months. It depends on several factors. The players have to get used to their new coach, Mark Parsons led another team until recently. [het Amerikaanse Portland Thorns FC] Many injuries occurred. But I also find it surprising that superstar Vivian Medema doesn’t come alone.

Last weekend after the World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic, Miedema was unhappy with the fact that she had not been appointed to the position. She had a little bit of that silliness about her that we know about her from the day before. “It is very easy to blame the national coach, but we have to look individually at why we are not delivering on quality,” she said.

Parsons should take care of that. If I were him, I would have involved Midema more in his conception of the game. If your main player isn’t comfortable with your game concept, I think that’s a problem. He may have already done so, but at least it doesn’t seem like it.

“I think it’s too early to write about Parsons after a few months. It happens easily in football. He also does good things here and there, like rejuvenating and trying to make the game less predictable.

“But I have my doubts about the way he does it. High pressing, catching the ball quickly, defending wide in front of goal – that sounds great. But if it means that your striker is not positioned and that your best defender, Stephanie van der Gragt, has to play With space in her back – not her strongest point – that’s just not right.”

“Under Weigman’s leadership, the team also played bad duels”

Helen Hendricks (41 years old) is a television host and sports reporter.

“When a new coach is hired, you always get a different dynamic, especially after a successful period like that in the Netherlands. Something like that takes time. In fact, I don’t think you can reasonably say much about Mark Parsons’ performance, except that everyone is a little further away. out of their comfort zone.

„Under the leadership of Sarina Wegmann, the team also played poor matches, outside of the final tournaments. I can remember a duel during the Algarve Cup. That was bad for me!

„The match against the Czech Republic was not good. But to say it’s all up to the coach? new. You can also expect top players to achieve a certain level. They are smart. You can also put that with them.”

Parsons wants things that don’t fit the team.

Phoebe de Haan (78) was assistant coach to national coach Sarina Weigmann in 2017.

“It’s less, doesn’t it. And it makes sense to some extent if you’ve worked with the same team throughout Sarina’s tenure. The players aren’t that old yet, but a little refreshment wouldn’t have gone out of style in her period. A little bit of competition couldn’t hurt.” .

“Parsons had an unfortunate start with all that flying back and forth, these two sponsors and missing his flight last month. But I also think he wants things that just don’t fit with the team. It lets the left and right wing defender play very deep. That way you get ahead of striker Miedema who needs space. Parsons relies a lot on his own ideas, not the quality of the players.

“A number of women are playing worse than they have played for a long time. A cap has been put on the team’s nose. Maybe they need it, who knows.”