Netherlands 2-3 Austria (Gakpo 47′, Depay 75′ | Malen OG 6′, Schmid 59′, Sabitzer 80′)
BERLIN — With five minutes to go in Berlin’s Olympiastadion, and with Netherlands chasing a goal that would nudge them up a crucial place in Group D, Memphis Depay went to take a throw-in and saw no obvious option. His reaction was to bounce the down hard in frustration, to the cheers and jeers of Austrians.
Depay has always worn his heart on his sleeve, for better and for worse for his own reputation. This is proof that he cares very deeply about succeeding and about helping his teams succeed. But with it comes an outward display of emotion that can be hard to stomach in his teammates when Depay himself is inconsistent.
He was the answer once, or at least that is how it felt. Depay’s last European Championship year was his international annual mirabilis, 17 goals in 16 matches including the openers in two games at Euro 2020. An astonishing stream of prolific Dutch strikers had come to an end and they had simply… turned a mercurial winger into one overnight.
Since then, everything has fallen apart again. Since the 2022 World Cup, Depay has only scored two international goals. One was in a friendly over Canada, the other against Gibraltar in qualifying.
It goes without saying: that’s not enough to keep even universally popular forwards out of PR trouble. Depay has never been that.
After the 0-0 draw against France, during which Depay flitted in and out of proceedings like dappled sunlight, a national debate focused on whether he should be dropped for Wout Weghorst.
With the greatest of respect to Weghorst, that’s not a position any international striker wants to find themselves in.
Ronald Koeman, for his part, has always stuck with his man, treating the questions about Depay’s place with the same tonal response you might save when answering the query “Ronald, are you intending to pick a goalkeeper in the next game?”.
Depay was largely poor against Austria. His passes went astray or slowed down counter attacks. His set-piece delivery was downright amateur. Repeatedly hitting the first man when you’re aiming for Virgil van Dijk and, later, Weghorst, is a prosecutionable offence.
But then, the complicating factor: movement to find space in the box, touch off knee and chest (not arm, as VAR would confirm) and lashed finish into the top corner. Is there any other Dutch player who could do that in a high-pressure moment? Koeman thinks no; that’s the point.
How Depay looks during this wide spectrum of experience is just as fascinating as his actions themselves, like a man who appears at war with several beings at once.
It is best explained like this: before the tournament Depay released a single entitled “Thanks for your opinion”, a thinly-veiled jab at his detractors. In this tournament, he has worn a headband with “Who cares?” adorned on it. To which the obvious answer is: you do.
So how can you possibly drop him? Not because he occasionally produces magnificence in a wave of underwhelming surrounding evidence, but because he is the perfect fit for a Dutch team that is exactly the same.
They’re liable to do something stupid and then brilliant; he’s liable to do something brilliant and then stupid. All vibes, no certainty.
The Dutch are not out yet, but they have lost their momentum. Depay’s place is not safe yet, but he probably saved himself in communal defeat. Isn’t that just perfect for this football team and this forward, both proving their critics and their advocates right and wrong from one minute – and one game – to the next.
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