Ronald Koeman receives advice for Jerdy Schouten's replacement: 'He'd be much better off taking him'

Pulse Sports Team 22:02 - 06 April 2026

Although the relationship between Ronald Koeman and Joey Veerman appears to have cooled considerably, Valentijn Driessen hopes the national coach will still select the PSV player as a replacement for the injured Jerdy Schouten. "He's a much better footballer than Marten de Roon," believes the football reporter, who strongly urges Koeman to include Veerman.

With Schouten definitively ruled out of the World Cup due to the ACL injury sustained during PSV's championship match, the question now is who Koeman should call up as his replacement. Various names are circulating in the media, with Marten de Roon frequently mentioned. However, sports journalist Driessen is not enthusiastic about this prospect, primarily due to De Roon's age (35).

"I believe we already have five players well into their thirties, and now another one is being considered. It's scorching hot there, and Koeman himself played in '94 – he was practically on life support," Driessen remarked, referencing several former Dutch internationals who, in his opinion, struggled with the heat during the 1994 World Cup. "And now we're going with a squad full of thirty-somethings," he sighed. "He'd be much better off taking Joey Veerman."

'He's a much better footballer'

"Just take Joey Veerman," Driessen reiterated when Johan Derksen asked if he knew which players were in the U21 national team. "He's a much better footballer than Marten de Roon," the football reporter stated clearly when Derksen claimed to be 'a Veerman fan.'

Veerman too weak defensively?

Derksen, in turn, was less enthusiastic about Veerman's qualities. "You won't win the war with him because he doesn't track back defensively. If he doesn't have the ball, they'll just run right through." Driessen disagreed, stating that, according to the De Telegraaf reporter, 'that's not entirely true.' "No, it is true," Derksen insisted.