Maatsen slammed for what he did away from Aston Villa – ‘Should have known better’
Aston Villa have multiple stars competing in the Under 21s European Championships, with Ian Maatsen among them.
The competition began on Wednesday (11 June), with Slovakia hosting the tournament.
The Young Lions will be hoping to retain the trophy, with Villa starlet Samuel Iling Junior called up to be part of the England Under 21s squad.
Also at the tournament is Maatsen, who struggled in his first game of the competition.
Maatsen labelled ’awkward and disorganised’ in Under 21s Euros
Maatsen joined Aston Villa last summer after a highly successful loan at Borussia Dortmund.
The full-back has since played an important role under Unai Emery and had been rewarded for his performances with a call-up to the Netherlands U21s squad.
However, in the opening match for the Dutch, they drew 2-2 with Finland on Thursday (12 June) after being 2-0 down.
Despite Maatsen being a natural full-back, he was instead deployed as a midfielder, where he suffered little success across the 90 minutes.
| Ian Maatsen vs Finland Under 21s | |
| Minutes played | 90 |
| Touches | 62 |
| Pass accuracy | 81% |
| Key passes | 2 |
| Crossing accurarcy | 17% |
| Possession lost | 18 |
| Dribbled past | 2 |
| Errors leading to goals | 1 |
Dutch outlet Voetbalprimeur subsequently blasted the 23-year-old, rating him the second-lowest in the squad at 4.5/10.
Journalist Robin Tijhof said: “Awkward, uncomfortable, disorganised: Maatsen did his best, but is clearly not a controlling midfielder.
“His extremely risky pass through the centre of the defence was the basis for Finland’s second goal.
“With his experience in the Bundesliga, the Premier League and the big Oranje, Maatsen should have known better. After just over an hour, he went to the side.”
Maatsen used as a scapegoat by Dutch media
While the Dutch media have singled out Maatsen for their disappointing draw, he is clearly being used as a scapegoat for the result.
Why a natural left-back was playing in centre-midfield for the first game of a tournament is baffling.
While Maatsen would have been expected to perform better given his experience, he cannot be fully to blame for his poor display when he is completely out of position.
If the Dutch want to get the best out of the 23-year-old, he has to play at left-back, or they will damage his development and confidence at both international level and at Villa Park.