It’s easy to see how this happened.
Robin van Persie isn’t a bundle of laughs nowadays. The former Manchester United and Arsenal striker has lost starting place for both new side Fenerbahce and his country.
While Memphis Depay either loses the ball, or ignores a passing opportunity, cuts inside and loses the ball.
And both players are Dutch, so it’s no wonder they had a training ground row in the build-up to the Netherlands’ crucial Euro 2016 qualifier against Kazakhstan.
Holland won the game 2-1, with Van Persie coming off the bench for the final three minutes, and Dutch manager Danny Blind attempted to play down the row between his players following Saturday’s game.
“It was a discussion during a training about a ball that should have been given over,” Blind said. “Things like that happen often.”
“There are sometimes situations in training where players think differently. That’s what happened and then it was over.”
Such a disagreement should surprise no-one though, as it’s easy to see how a star player like Van Persie, currently out of the first XI, would take issue with Depay not passing the ball.
And they’re also Dutch footballers.
The Netherlands may be struggling to qualify for next summer’s Euros, but they’d make a world class debate team. If they could just stop arguing amongst themselves.
Dutch footballers feud. Dutch managers feud. Dutch families feud. From Cruyff to Van Gaal to Van Persie, It is the way of the Dutch to feud.
— Elko Born (@Elko_B) October 12, 2015
From Blind's remarks, it sounds like Van Persie might not be fully happy about his role as a reserve. It's all guess work, though.
— Elko Born (@Elko_B) October 12, 2015
