Over the last international break, Netherlands manager Danny Blind decided to change his goalkeeper again and go for Everton’s Maarten Stekelenburg. It was an irritation to some in Dutch football, because PSV’s Jeroen Zoet had been in place, following an injury to Barcelona’s Jasper Cillessen.
PSV manager Phillip Cocu made his feelings clear: “You make a choice for a goalkeeper and in my view you must not move away from that choice. With Jeroen there is no reason for this to happen.”
Rather than accept it was a good goal from Pogba, there was a keenness among some to insist the goalkeeper had a howler, and wasn’t very good.
Therefore, Stekelenburg’s performance against Manchester City was all the more welcomed by his backers, and no doubt Ronald Koeman.
On Sunday, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf celebrated the performance, and on Monday they’re doing the same thing… why not!
De Telegraaf say the Everton player at times seemed like Hulk at the Etihad, a giant who wasn’t going to be beaten.
Maybe it’s because the criticism had made Hulk, sorry, Stekelenburg, angry. It’s not just the penalties, but Stekelenburg seemed so imposing that it would intimidate attackers.
Manchester City did manage to score, with Nolito making it 1-1, but without the performance of the Everton goalkeeper it would likely have been very different.
The performance has silenced any Dutch annoyance at his earlier selection, and with Cillessen out injured and a back-up player at Barcelona, Stekelenburg may well get the nod from Blind in November. Cocu surely then couldn’t argue because, as he said, once a goalkeeper has been chosen, you don’t move away from that.
