WORLDS APART
England definitely have the talent and momentum to take a leap forward in Russia.. but Koeman faces a huge task just to get the Dutch back into major tournaments, never mind winning them
BRYAN ROY played at the highest level for Holland – but now sees the Orange Army moving in the opposite direction to England.
He believes the Three Lions are on the up with Gareth Southgate in charge, while Ronald Koeman faces a huge battle to get the Dutch back on track after they failed to qualify for the World Cup.
And the former Nottingham Forest winger reckons England can cause an upset in Russia.
Roy, who was capped 32 times and played at the 1994 World Cup, rates Marcus Rashford as the biggest talent at Southgate’s disposal but also praised Jack Wilshere for his style of play. “The boy from Arsenal, very good player, Jack Wilshere,” said Roy, now building his own football statistics company.
“He’s very good technically, you need that to be creative. He is a Dutch style of player with his technique.
“But those guys don’t have much chance to play at big clubs because most coaches have to play for results and not creativity. So it’s lucky you have Arsene Wenger.
“It’s always difficult for England at big tournaments but seeing big teams play football in a positive way now will help the national team as well because football is developing in England.
“It will be hard to watch the World Cup without Holland being there because the last 25 years we’ve always qualified and suddenly we’re not there twice, not at the Euros or the World Cup.
“We’re at the very bottom at the moment, due to money of course, but things should change academywise, how we develop our coaches, where we are coming from and how we can change it.
“It’s not for nothing that a small country like Holland had so much success. People loved us for our style of football.
“We brought up big players, that has a history, a reason and we need to look carefully at that so we can move forward.”
Roy believes the death of Holland icon Johan Cruyff affected football in his country, but feels former Everton boss Koeman has a big enough personality to change the direction of the nation which invented Total Football.
“I’m always positive,” said Roy. “Ronald is a good friend of mine, I’m
It is difficult for England in big tournaments but football is developing there
hopeful he will take the team forward to get into the 2020 European Championship.
“We’ve enough talent but England has a very good team as well, they are moving in the right direction so it will be a very interesting game.
When you don’t know where you are coming from, you don’t know where you’re heading and we all came from an era of Johan Cruyff, or now a Pep Guardiola, and if you don’t have that to guide you then it can be difficult.
“If you’re not big enough to stand on the shoulders of your masters then you will not be able to create something different. But Ronald can change that, he’s one of the biggest personalties in Europe and worldwide.
“He’s an old fashioned style of coach. That’s important for this Dutch team, they’re a young team and they need that to learn the basics again.
“Justin Kluivert excites me very much, he plays in the same position as I played in at Ajax, as a winger. He’s one of the most exciting players at this moment in Holland. I hope he develops in the right way and hope he can become as big as his father.”
That father is Patrick Kluivert, who scored 40 goals in 79 appearances for Holland and whose clubs included Newcastle, Barcelona and AC Milan.
Roy, 48, also keeps an eye on Forest – and believes Aitor Karanka can make a difference if the club backs him.
He said: “I’ve great memories of Nottingham Forest. The club has a beautiful history. To see them in the Championship is difficult because they should be competing for the Champions League.
“I hope the coach can make a difference but the reality is it’s more to do with the structure and I hope that can change so they can go forward again.”
As well as his own firm, Roy supports a company called Sportco which operates an online community for sport fans.
Users can earn tokens which may be exchanged for products including tickets, memorabilia and sports products.
Roy added: “Nowadays, fans get taken seriously.”