"Koeman must have some serious grudges" - Netherlands fans unhappy with star's exclusion from XI for Romania Euro 2024 clash
Netherlands fans were unhappy with head coach Ronald Koeman's decision to leave Jeremie Frimpong out of their starting lineup for the EURO 2024 Round-of-16 clash against Romania. The Oranje will need to get past the threat of Romania to secure a quarterfinal spot, but they will have to do so without Frimpong starting.
Although he was called up for the FIFA World Cup in 2022, the versatile wing-back made his debut with the Netherlands national team in October 2023. He has become a more regular appearance in the squad in recent times, as he played in three of their four friendlies ahead of the EUROs.
In the competition proper, Jeremie Frimpong played nine minutes in their group-stage win over Poland. He started the clash against France, before sitting on the bench throughout their loss to Austria.
Once more, he looks set to start on the bench, but fans are not pleased about this, and they have taken to social media to question Ronald Koeman's decision.
"Great😠...you Koeman for not starting Frimpong, I hope they lose lol," a fan was unhappy.
"Koeman must have some serious grudges with frimpong man," another complained.
"I don't know what my homie Frimpong did to you, Ronald Koeman, but I apologise on his behalf. Free me boy and sub in the goat Wout while you are at it," a fan begged.
"Why the hell is Frimpong not starting?" another fan asked.
"No Frimpong?? Strange.." another wondered.
"Koeman is actually so crazy man. Bergwijn who was terrible at Ajax. And we have Frimpong as well. I just don't understand this guy..." a fan was lost.
"Again no frimpong?" a fan asked.
Other fans added:
Netherlands will use criticism to do well in EURO 2024 Round of 16: Ronald Koeman
Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman has been criticised for their poor showing at EURO 2024 so far. They finished third in their group after picking up just four points in three games.
However, they managed to get into the knockout stages as one of the best third-placed teams. This has not affected the criticism that has come their way. For head coach Ronald Koeman, the focus is on using the criticism to their benefit. He said (via Yahoo):
“We are a proud nation. We like to win. We like to play nice football. But that doesn’t always happen. We take the criticism, no problem, and we’d like to turn it for tomorrow and make people happy about the final result."
The winner of the upcoming Netherlands-Romania game will face one of Austria and Turkiye in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals.