Donyell Malen at centre of ‘big issue’ away from Aston Villa after scenes in Warsaw
Donyell Malen struggled to make a positive impact as the Netherlands were held to a 1-1 draw by Poland on Friday night.
The Aston Villa ace played the full 90 minutes for the Netherlands, who hit back in Warsaw through record goalscorer Memphis Depay after Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring.
The draw means Oranje must wait to confirm their place at the 2026 World Cup, but they need just a point at home to minnows Lithuania on Monday.
Malen has proven a versatile option for Aston Villa this term, but his attacking display against Poland came in for criticism from the Dutch press.
Dutch media critical of Donyell Malen display for Netherlands
Malen impressed in the Netherlands’ win over Malta last month, but he was unable to build on that against Poland.
Indeed, Football Oranje gave Malen a 5/10 rating and added: “Got the ball a lot but did very little with it. Played a role in the goal but only because he missed a point blank header.
“The right-wing position remains a big issue for Oranje, and Malen doesn’t look like the answer.”
De Telegraaf, meanwhile, also pointed out that miss prior to Depay’s equaliser as Malen’s biggest contribution on the game.
The report criticised Malen for the miss, and the Netherlands’ attackers in general for failing to register any meaningful first-half attempts.
If nothing else, though, Malen at least got involved in the action. Indeed, his four shots were at least double the amount of any of his teammates.
Only one of those was on target, though, with Poland goalkeeper Kamil Grabara equal to it. Malen also registered one successful dribble and one key pass
The 26-year-old’s passing accuracy of 96 per cent, meanwhile, was bettered only by Frenkie de Jong (98 per cent) and Micky van de Ven (100 per cent) among the visitors’ starting players.
Perhaps what was more telling was that he only registered 44 touches, which was well behind the Cody Gakpo (56) on the opposite flank.
Where has Donyell Malen been used at Aston Villa?
Malen scored twice in Villa’s 2-1 win over Burnley in early October in his standout display of the season so far.
Quite how Malen missed out on a place in the Team of the Week that week is a mystery.
He has averaged 1.2 shots per game for Villa this campaign, which only Ollie Watkins (1.5) and Emi Buendia (1.7) can better.
Malen started that Burnley game up top alongside Watkins, where he has played five times in the Premier League for Aston Villa this season.
He has been used on the right four times, meanwhile, which highlights his versatility.
Malen is clearly not doing enough to win over the public in the Netherlands, but he simply needs to do his talking on the field with the World Cup now fast approaching.
Nailing down a regular spot in Unai Emery’s favourite XI would go a massive way towards ensuring Malen subsequently starts for the Netherlands next summer once they inevitably confirm their World Cup spot.
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