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Ronald Koeman was a more than welcome spectator at the Johan Cruyff Arena last week when Holland booked their place in the knockout stages.
For while it is Frank de Boer who has steered the Dutch into a last-16 tie against the Czech Republic on Sunday it is Koeman who is credited with starting the process of lifting them out of the doldrums.
Koeman was appointed manager in 2018 but when Barcelona came calling two years later the opportunity to return to his former club was not one he could pass up. A year on Koeman may be gone but he is far from forgotten.
Ronald Koeman (right) is gone but far from forgotten at the Holland national side
In 2014, Holland finished third at the World Cup in Brazil under Louis van Gaal but did not qualify for another tournament until Koeman led them to Euro 2020. In between, Guus Hiddink succeeded Van Gaal but lasted just a year before being replaced by Danny Blind.
He failed to salvage their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign and made a poor start to their bid to reach World Cup 2018 and was sacked. Dick Advocaat was unable to repair the damage and he lost his job following a six-month reign. Enter former Southampton and Everton boss Koeman and finally some structure and order was restored, on and off the pitch.
Looking back, one of Koeman’s first decisions — to relocate the team’s base from the seaside location of
