Luuk de Jong’s position in the Netherlands side for the World Cup in Qatar is a given according to Rafael van der Vaart. De Jong’s football skills are by no means convincing to the Studio Voetbal observer, but he believes his instinct for scoring goals is unmatched.
Luuk De Jong was effective as a substitute against Arsenal on Thursday, scoring a goal and providing an assist (3-0), and against NEC on Sunday, scoring from the spot. De Jong’s goal was also overturned. “The first thing I think of when I think of Luuk is that he can’t play football. I genuinely believe it, Van der Vaart remarked, displaying footage from the talk show showing De Jong receiving a high pass in the tenth minute in which the ball bounced metres away from his foot.
“A good striker would not act in this manner. That, in my opinion, is average. He must truly possess the ball in front of goal.” The previous midfielder continued. “De Jong really received the ball in front of the goal in the 37th minute. Following a cross from Cody Gakpo, he moved in. The goal was ultimately rejected. Naturally, this is the reason he needs to attend the World Cup. He excels at this to an incredible degree. His best quality is this.”
Luuk de Jong’s recent performances
Van van Vaart observed De Jong make a few excellent passes both against NEC and Arsenal. “He can do it, but he doesn’t demonstrate it very much,” he said.
Less harsh was Pierre van Hooijdonk’s criticism, who opined, “This striker stands out from the majority of strikers in a unique way. You shouldn’t evaluate them based on how well triple scissors work. That is not included. But he is the best head player around.”
Van der Vaart responded, “That’s what I said too. However, you could argue that Barcelona is where he must have improved. In regards to Arsenal, I thought he was absolutely mad. But today I notice this. This shouldn’t happen again if you’ve genuinely improved that much. However, nobody is better when the ball scores. He must therefore travel to the World Cup.”
