Van Gaal about selecting Janssen: ‘He has already completed it well at Orange’ | NOW

National coach Louis van Gaal is curious whether Vincent Janssen can bring back to the Dutch national team what he did years ago under then national coach Danny Blind. The striker of the Mexican CF Monterrey is the biggest surprise in the 26-man Orange selection. Partly due to injuries, he gets a chance this international period.

“Under Blind, Janssen has scored many goals and he has now started following him again. He was already on a shadow list,” said Van Gaal on Monday at the Orange press conference in Zeist. “I want to see such a striker like Janssen in Orange. Janssen filled it in well last time.”

The seventeenth and so far last international match of 27-year-old Janssen was in October 2017, after which he did not convince at Fenebahçe and Tottenham Hotspur. For example, he lost sight of the Orange squad, especially after his transfer to Mexico in 2019. Because Luuk de Jong and Donyell Malen are currently unavailable, he is now back in the selection.

Van Gaal: “I had a place available for a new striker. After Danny had watched him, I also went to see Janssen. And then he happened to score two or three games in a row. But I know whether he will also deliver in Orange. not. We’ll see.”

‘He has hard feet’

The selection of Janssen also came as a surprise in Mexico. The Eredivisie top scorer of the 2015/2016 season, scored only once in his fifteen league matches for Monterrey this calendar year.

“The Mexican media probably emphasizes what Janssen cannot do. He has hard feet, that sticks to him.” Van Gaal was referring to Janssen’s technique. “I would also have preferred that he had soft feet. But I mainly look at what he does well.”

What is special is that Janssen is not yet available for the first Nations League match of the Orange against Belgium on Friday. He is getting married next Sunday in the United States. He only joins one day before the meeting with Wales on 8 June.

“When we included him in the pre-selection, we didn’t know that,” said Van Gaal. “But I think he can get married. And I also think that he can then spend the wedding night with his lovely wife. He can rest from that and then he comes to Orange on June 7.”