Spending large amounts of money on Micky van de Ven, Tottenham made it clear he was a player they were banking their future on, which is shown by Ange Postecoglou’s trust in the player, starting him in all four games to date this season.
The same cannot be said over at Chelsea with Ian Maatsen, who returned from a great year at Burnley only to be a substitute option for Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge, amid an ongoing contract dispute.
The reason why we are pairing these two players together is that they have been called up by Ronald Koeman for the current Netherlands squad, but won’t be used in the upcoming game against Greece, according to Algemeen Dagblad.
They explain that despite 25 players being called up by the national team manager, only 23 can be part of the squad, and the Chelsea and Tottenham players are the ones expected to miss out.
This comes off the back of Koeman praising the two players, newcomers in his squad, which is a confusing message to send.
He said: “These are boys who play for big clubs. It is good to have them there, because you can clearly see whether they can handle the level, despite few training sessions. These guys are making great strides.
“Ultimately, you want as much competition as possible in all positions. We are now a bit wider at the back and in midfield than in the vanguard.”
Either way, Tottenham’s van de Ven and Chelsea’s Maatsen will have to watch the game against Greece from the stands on Thursday night in hope they can convince their national team manager to include them in Sunday’s fixture against Ireland.
