Netherlands head coach Arjan Veurink has picked Manchester United defender Dominique Janssen as preliminary captain.
However, Veurink says he hasn’t made his final decision on the appointment just yet.
Janssen has previously captained German giants Wolfsburg, so is no stranger to leading a team. The 30-year-old says, “It’s an honour, I am very proud. Arjan came up to me and told me. I am mostly looking forward to playing tomorrow. It’s temporary, he wants to see how things go now.”
She takes over the captain’s armband from Sherida Spitse, who is retiring from international football. Spitse will play her last match in an orange jersey against Canada next Tuesday. Janssen is quick to say she has got big shoes to fill: “I am not a Sherida 2.0! I am a player who feels how people are doing, I am a connector. I think it’s very important that the people around me feel good.”
Veurink wants to see more of the group and wants to take time before he makes his final decision on the captaincy group.
“We haven’t made a final decision yet on who will be our first captain or what the leadership group will look like. We believe it simply takes more time — during training sessions, matches, and within team dynamics — to make the best possible decision. It’s an important role for the team, and one that needs to be broadly supported. That’s why we want to take the time to make this choice carefully.”
‘Things will not be rigorously different right away’ admits Netherlands boss
It is Veurink’s first camp in charge of the Oranje Leeuwinnen, who failed to make their mark at the Euros under old head coach Jonker. The manager feels good about his first week with the players, so he says when he spoke to the press on Thursday.
“I feel really positive. There’s a good vibe in the team and we’ve had some good training sessions. The intensity has been high, and everyone has worked hard to embrace the first outlines of our playing style. We’ve tried to translate that onto the training pitch. I’m curious to see how that translates into the match. But we’ve only had four training sessions so far, so it still needs some time.”
Veurink says he wants to take his time to introduce his playing style. He says, “Things will not be rigorously different right away. I want to further develop our style of play step by step and continue to build on the foundations we’ve laid.”
The Netherlands will face Poland on Friday, October 24, in Gdańsk at 17:00 BST.
