Ronald Koeman lashed out at ‘absurd’ UEFA squad rules

Ronald Koeman has told the media that he and Julian Nagelsmann will be pushing for a change to Euro 2024 squad rules.

Koeman’s Netherlands lost 2-1 to Germany, but after the game, the former Barcelona manager quickly switched his attention.

I find it absurd that you can only select 23 players for the European Championship,he said.

Fortunately, so does my German colleague Julian Nagelsmann. We won’t accept this.

Football players are so heavily burdened, then you get a lot of injuries. We started with 26 players a week and a half ago and four players dropped out in nine days. And that also happens in other countries.

Now I have to hand in my final selection on June 7. After that I can only substitute an injured goalkeeper. And we won’t play our first match at the European Championship until June 16. And at that European Championship, players will get injured again. Just believe me 

Asked what he can do about the problem, Koeman continued: “I have already spoken to Nigel de Jong [Dutch FA director], we have to lobby UEFA with several countries.

I also understand that many more national coaches view it this way. We’re going to the end of the season. Many national teams already have so many injured players that they cannot field. There is a good chance that this will get worse in the coming months.

If one player drops out, you will no longer be able to train eleven against eleven at the European Championship. That cannot be the intention. UEFA should not be stubborn. They have to do what is best for football and the level of the European Championship.

The Covid-hit Euro 2020 championships in 2021 saw squad sizes increase to 26, but that number has gone back down to 23 for the German edition.