Louis van Gaal defends Memphis Depay following criticism after Qatar win | OneFootball

Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal has defended star player Memphis Depay after coming under some criticism from fans and the Dutch press, Voetbalkrant reports.

The Barcelona forward has been recovering from a hamstring injury since September against Poland and has not played a single minute for his club since sustaining the injury. He made his first appearance coming off the bench against Senegal in Oranje’s opening Group A match at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Netherlands have been criticised for their underwhelming performances and Depay, despite still recovering to full fitness, was not exempted from the criticism either – especially after their 2-0 win against Qatar which he started in, Despite this, Van Gaal was happy with his side’s performance and defended his star player.

“I think we scored two goals that were nice to see. I thought we were more careful in ball possession,” Van Gaal said after their win.

“Because of Memphis we could make the difference in the game of system against system,” Van Gaal said before defending Depay’s contribution to the side so far in the competition.

he added.