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Schalke legend Youri Mulder has admitted he would have preferred Marcelo Bielsa, who was recently sacked by Leeds United, to become the next Netherlands coach instead of Ronald Koeman.

A serious of poor results in the league this season convinced the Elland Road side to let go of the Argentine earlier in February. Koeman, meanwhile, has been without a job since Barcelona showed him the exit door in the first half of this campaign.

Louis van Gaal is currently in charge of the Netherlands and will continue to hold on to the same position until the end of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

On Thursday, the KNVB confirmed Koeman will replace Van Gaal to become the national team manager from January 2023.

Het Laatste Nieuws interviewed Mulder and a few others to get their thoughts on Koeman being appointed as the next Oranje coach.

This is when he suggested that the departed Leeds manager would have been a better fit for the big job than the former Everton boss.

“Koeman was free and knows the team. I think it’s a logical, but not very stimulating decision,” Mulder said.

“The Netherlands stands for innovation, daring, something daring. This is not at all. I would have liked Marcelo Bielsa, or Peter Bosz. There are enough trainers. Maybe the association could have waited a little longer to look at other options.”

Bielsa’s next move after Leeds remains a mystery to date, but he is unlikely to be short on offers.