Atalanta midfielder Marten De Roon, spoke to Dutch media outlet Voetbalzone yesterday to comment on the recent debate in the Netherlands as to why coach Ronald Koeman doesn’t utilize Inter defender Stefan de Vrij more.
“I can say that in Italy, for example, people do not understand why someone like de Vrij is always on the bench and never plays for our national team. The overwhelming opinion in Italy is that a strong defender like Stefan should always play.”
Despite the fact that the 27-year-old Dutch defender is one of the strongest players in Antonio Conte’s Inter squad, he has struggled for playing time under Koeman’s tenure at the helm of the Dutch national team.
His last appearance for the team was almost a year ago, in a friendly against Belgium. Koeman left de Vrij on the bench in all of their Nations League games, including in the final against Portugal which they lost 1-0.
