Holland’s semi plea over Ake
RONALD KOEMAN is hoping Nathan Ake reports for Nations League duty with a clean bill of health – after asking Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola to take speacial care of his Dutch defender.
Koeman and Guardiola are still close friends after rooming together as Barcelona team-mates over 30 years ago.
When Ake linked-up with Holland’s squad in March, the City manager called Koeman to remind him how important the 28-year-old had become.
Holland face Croatia on Wednesday in a Nations League semi-final – with a date against Spain or Italy up for grabs.
And Koeman joked: “Pep asked me in March if I could be careful with Nathan because he needed him to win the league.
“But now I am asking him the same question with our semi-final immediately after the Champions League Final.”
Koeman credits Guardiola with turning Ake into a world-class defender. The 28-year-old struggled in his first season at the Etihad following his £41million arrival from Bournemouth, and former club Chelsea were interested in taking him back to Stamford Bridge last summer.
But he has forced his way into the City team this season and it was a huge blow to Guardiola when Ake suffered a hamstring injury last month.
Koeman said: “During my first spell as national coach Nathan was hardly playing for his club at firstteam level. I did see his potential and I knew he could do a decent job as a stand in for Daley Blind or Virgil van Dijk.
“However, under Pep, he has developed into a player of European class.
“Nathan has gained tremendous respect from the entire Dutch squad and his status is much bigger.
“He has become really clever. His positional play is good, he has made a massive improvement on the ball and he is even scoring goals now.”