Angry Dick Schreuder ruthlessly throws his own player under the bus

Dick Schreuder drew harsh conclusions after NEC's painful 5-0 Europa League defeat to Juventus. The NEC coach was particularly critical of his side and did not spare individual players.

Almugera Kabar in particular came in for criticism from Schreuder. The defender, who is on loan from Borussia Dortmund, gave away a penalty in Turin with a late tackle and again visibly struggled. "Why do I keep picking Kabar? Because I have nothing else," said the ruthless coach. "The boy is new and he will have to play."

Schreuder admitted Kabar is currently struggling with the level being demanded of him. "Kabar is finding it difficult. We can all see that." According to Schreuder, players such as Kabar would normally develop behind the more experienced players, but the circumstances are forcing NEC to use them earlier.

He had actually wanted to take Kabar off after around half an hour, but decided against it after Clement Bischoff was struggling with an injury. The coach also stressed that Bram Nuytinck and Perr Schuurs are still not fully available at the moment. "I'll explain it properly one more time: Bram Nuytinck and Perr Schuurs can only play 20 to 25 minutes. Right now I don't even know whether Perr can play on Sunday."

After nine minutes in Turin, NEC were already behind. A long ball caught out the defence and goalkeeper Nikolas Polster, allowing Nicolás González to score the opener. "With all due respect, but I'd still head that ball away. I'd still see it coming," Schreuder said afterwards.

For Schreuder, the match made it clear that NEC are not yet at the desired level. "So we're not there yet, we need much more time. We simply don't have things right at the back."

By half-time, NEC were already 3-0 down, after which Juventus struck twice more in the second half. "We were clearly not good enough. I didn't expect that. I thought we were better," Schreuder said.