The KNVB has to look for a replacement for Ronald Koeman, who will almost certainly leave the Orange for an adventure at FC Barcelona. These seem the most logical options for the vacancy of national coach.
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Peter Bosz: He is the only Dutch trainer who currently works at a top foreign club and therefore one of the most logical candidates. And although he has only trained clubs, Bosz has the ambition to one day work for Orange. “Becoming a national coach is the highest that can be achieved in the Netherlands. It would be great if it comes to that,” he said at the beginning of this month. The problem may be that 56-year-old Bosz has extended his contract with Bayer Leverkusen this year until mid-2022.
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Frank de Boer: The positive thing is that he is free and can start like this, but there is also a pain point there. A choice for 50-year-old De Boer could feel like a choice of poverty, after he has just been fired by Atlanta United and failed at Crystal Palace and Internazionale. The KNVB does have good memories of the North Hollander, who, as assistant coach of Bert van Marwijk, was an important link during the silver 2010 World Cup of Orange.
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Phillip Cocu: Part of the Orange selection has already worked reasonably successfully at PSV with the current trainer of Derby County and with Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum, these are not the least players. The question is whether they are committed to a renewed collaboration with 49-year-old Cocu, who quickly left Fenerbahçe after his departure from Eindhoven and was not convinced at Derby this season. Perhaps a combination between the quiet or somewhat boring Cocu and the more outspoken De Boer is an option. The two are friends.
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Giovanni van Bronckhorst: Steven Berghuis and Tonny Vilhena had good years at Feyenoord under the current trainer of the Guangzhou R&F, but they are not the most influential internationals. The question is also whether the relatively young (45) Van Bronckhorst is already ready – or already considers himself ready – for the national team coaching. The contract of the former captain of Orange continues for two more years in China.
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Henk ten Cate: Three years ago he was close to the national team of Orange, but then KNVB, to his surprise – Ten Cate would have already had a commitment – chose Dick Advocaat. The Amsterdammer is now clubless and therefore a quick option, but he has not worked at top level in Europe for more than ten years. Moreover, at 65, Ten Cate is more of an in-between pope than a man for the future.
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Dick Advocaat: He is almost 73 years old, but Dick Advocaat does not seem to feel too old for anything the older he gets. It will start to itch again when the KNVB calls him out for a fourth employment contract, although Feyenoord will not be happy about that. On the positive side, Advocaat’s image is now much better than in his previous years as national coach, but like Ten Cate, he is more of an in-between pope than a structural solution to help the relatively young Orange selection further.
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Louis van Gaal: He seems to have stopped, but he never said that without a word. The KNVB could therefore throw a line to the 69-year-old Van Gaal, who in terms of profile matches the young and inexperienced selection of Orange. The chance that Van Gaal (and his wife Truus) will say yes does not seem great. After all, with the bronze World Cup in 2014, he has already taken revenge for his failed first period as national coach. It will be difficult to surpass that performance.
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Bert van Marwijk: With his final place at the 2010 World Cup, he is the most successful Orange national coach of this century, but the lean years he had afterwards at Hamburger SV (quickly fired), Australia (with only one point eliminated at the 2018 World Cup) and in the ‘desert’ as head coach of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has not done his status any good. A ‘grab back’ to the 68-year-old Van Marwijk therefore seems not an option for the KNVB.
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A foreign coach: Before Koeman was appointed, the call and temptation for the KNVB to opt for a foreigner for the first time since Ernst Happel in 1978 was much greater than now. The Orange had not qualified for the European Championship and the World Cup and in Europe Ajax bit itself against Rosenborg and PSV against NK Osijek. The Netherlands was a football nation in decline that had to be saved by a German (Jürgen Klinsmann and current PSV coach Roger Schmidt) or Argentinian (Jorge Sampaoli). More than three years later, ‘Voetballand Nederland’ has revived, partly due to the final place of Orange in the Nations League and the semi-final place of Ajax in the Champions League. A foreign national coach is therefore no longer obvious.
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