You made wrong choice – coaches slam Liverpool star for snubbing national team

Liverpool’s summer signing Ryan Gravenberch, has been told he made the wrong choice but snubbing his county’s U-21 call up.

Gravenberch left Bayern Munich for Anfield in a deal  day in a deal worth €40million (£34m) this summer.

The 21-year-old rejected a call up to the Dutch  Under 21 side during the international break.

He made the decision in order to stay with the Reds and better acclimatise himself to the area and his new club.

This decision engulfed the wrath of U21s boss Michael Reiziger and Oranje manager Ronald Koeman.

“We’re not happy about that. Nigel de Jong [the assistant manager] has been in touch with him,” Koeman told reporters.

As for Reiziger, he said: “No, I don’t think it’s a good decision. That’s what I told him.

“I really don’t think it’s a good decision. I know Ryan, I think he’s a good boy, a nice guy, but he made the wrong choice.

“You have to play with your heart for your country, not with your head. It’s an honour. That’s it, there are no concessions.

‘You really have to want to be there and that’s just really important to me. But he has made his decision and he now wants to stay in Liverpool to acclimatise.

“Should I make a statement to the other players? Yes and no. It would have been played with a statement, but I truly believe it’s an honour to play for your country.

“That’s not a statement, that’s a principle. If you think, “Well, Oranje Jong [U21s] is nice and non-committal…”. At the top, nothing is non-committal. I [told] that to the other guys.”